Question

Identify whether the following sentence is simple, compound or complex-
His blue shirt hung sideways on the door.
a- Simple
b- Complex- Subordinate adverb clause
c- Complex- Subordinate noun clause
d- Compound

Answer 1

Hint: A sentence refers to a group of words that contain a subject and a predicate, expressing a complete thought, question or statement. There are three main types of sentences- Simple, Compound, and Complex.

Complete answer:
As given in the hint, a sentence typically contains the main clause and a subordinate clause.
Let’s look at the three types of sentences-
Simple sentence- A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought. It lacks the use of dependent clauses. Example- The bus was early.
Compound sentence- A compound sentence contains two independent clauses that are linked with the help of conjunction, comma, or semicolon. Example- This is my car and that is his car.
Complex sentence- A complex sentence contains an independent clause with several dependent clauses that are used to depend on the independent clause. Example- Because I couldn’t stand up properly, I applied a heating pad on my back.
In the given question- We know that X’s blue shirt hung sideways on the door. Here, we can see the use of a single finite verb, ‘hung’, and one main clause. Hence, the given sentence is a simple sentence.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘Simple’ is the correct option because the above-given sentence contains one main clause.
Option b- ‘Complex- subordinate adverb clause’ is an incorrect option, because the above-given sentence does not act as an adverb.
Option c- ‘Complex- subordinate noun clause’ is an incorrect option, because the above-given sentence does not act as a noun.
Option d- ‘Compound’ is an incorrect option, because the above-given sentence does not contain a dependent clause but the main clause.
The correct answer is Option ‘a’.

Note:
A finite verb is a verb that has a tense form, typically past and present forms. Keep in mind, simple sentences can contain objects and modifiers but they will only contain a single independent clause.