Language: clauses, rhetorical questions and sound sequences

Kinds of sentence:

• A simple sentence has one clause.
• A complex sentence joins a main clause with at least one dependent clause.
• A compound sentence has two or more main clauses.

To read a long sentence, find the main clause first, then the clauses that depend on it. Shaw's long list of 'when' clauses all depend on one main clause.

A rhetorical question is really a statement. A positive question implies a negative statement, and the other way round: 'Who would want that?' means 'No one would want that.'

In pronunciation, vowels are at the centre of a syllable (V), and consonants at its edges (C).

Count sounds, not letters: 'see' is CV, 'train' is CCVC, 'boat' is CVC.