Monosaccharides are carbohydrates which cannot be hydrolysed to smaller molecules. Their general formula is (CH2O)n where n = 3 → 7. These are of two types. Those which contain an aldehyde (-CHO) group are called aldose and those which contain a keto (C = O) group are called ketose. They are further classified as triose, tetrose, pentose etc. according to the no. of carbon atoms present (3, 4, 5 respectively).
