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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 4 of 13

Clauses & Sentences

Simple, compound, complex and more

What your child practices

Finding independent and dependent clauses, naming the four sentence types, and fixing fragments, run-ons and comma splices, the building blocks of varied, clear sentences.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.L.1 · simple, compound and complex sentences

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An independent clause stands alone. A dependent clause starts with a word like if, because or when and can’t.
  2. Simple: one independent clause. Compound: two joined by and, but or so. Complex: independent plus dependent. Compound-complex: two independent plus a dependent.
  3. Fix fragments, run-ons and comma splices by adding what’s missing or joining clauses correctly.

Example: “When the bell rang, we ran outside.” What type of sentence is this? “We ran outside” is independent. “When the bell rang” is dependent. Answer: Complex

Clauses & Sentences in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 4 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Persuasive Power and before Modifiers & Parallelism.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What type of sentence is this?

    Although the movie was long, Noah enjoyed it, and he wants to see it again.

    • Compound-complex
    • Compound
    • Simple
    • Complex

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence is a comma splice?

    • It started to hail; the players ran for cover.
    • It started to hail, so the players ran for cover.
    • When it started to hail, the players ran for cover.
    • It started to hail, the players ran for cover.

  3. Question 3

    Which part of this sentence is the dependent clause?

    The book that Amir recommended was excellent.

    • The book
    • was excellent
    • that Amir recommended

  4. Question 4

    What type of sentence is this?

    If it snows tomorrow, the game will be canceled.

    • Compound-complex
    • Simple
    • Complex
    • Compound

  5. Question 5

    Which word is a subordinating conjunction?

    • and
    • while
    • but
    • so

  6. Question 6

    Which part of this sentence is the independent clause?

    Because the trail was muddy, we wore our boots.

    • Because the trail was muddy
    • we wore our boots
    • our boots

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