simple sentence

American  

noun

• simple sentences
  plural

1. a sentence having only one clause, as I saw her the day before yesterday.

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simple sentence British  

noun

1. a sentence consisting of a single main clause Compare compound sentence complex sentence

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simple sentence Cultural  

1. A sentence containing only one independent clause and no dependent clauses: “He went home after class.” (Compare complex sentence, compound sentence, and compound-complex sentence.)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• simple sentences
  plural

Compare meaning

How does simple-sentence compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• simple sentence vs. compound sentence

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

simple sentence

Donovan notes that Sarah suggesting Abraham lie with Hagar in Genesis 16 initially comes across as a straightforward and simple sentence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026

Each word felt heavy on my tongue as I labored through the simple sentence, stunned by the glow that surrounded her.

From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2023

Wiegman, who has demanded more ruthlessness from her players in recent months, summed up her emotions with one simple sentence: "I think I can be very satisfied tonight!"

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2022

The phrases in the long sentence add information, but the sentence remains a simple sentence nonetheless because it has only one clause.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

After she had learned to decipher that first simple sentence, it didn’t take Sefia long to realize that she would never be able to master the words unless she could reproduce them.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee