Whereas sentence types focus on the function of the overall sentence, sentence structures are based on the clauses within the sentence. Clauses are individual points in a single sentence, which can be separated by commas.
There are 4 types of sentence structure:
1. Simple sentences- one single clause with no added conjunctions or dependent clauses.
2. Compound sentences- Two independent clauses connected with a conjunction (E.g. 'and', 'but', 'yet', 'so').
3. Complex sentences- one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. The clauses use conjunctions and subordination's, where the subordination shows a relationship between the independent and dependent clause/s (E.g. 'which', 'who', 'since', 'while', because', 'if').
4. Compound-complex sentences- multiple independent clauses (not reliant on each-other to make sense, like dependent clauses) with conjunctions and subordination's.
Varying use of these sentence structures alternates sentence lengths, which helps make writing more engaging for a reader.