Simple Sentences

A simple sentence contains a subject and a predicate.

It expresses a single complete thought that can stand on its own.
Examples:
1. The baby cried for food.
^There is a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.

2. Professor Maple’s intelligent students completed and turned in their homework.

^ A simple sentence does not necessarily have to be short. It can have adjectives.
In this case, there are two verbs “completed” and “turned in.” However, the
sentence expresses one complete thought and therefore is a simple sentence.

3. Megan and Ron ate too much and felt sick. ^Although there are two subjects
and two verbs, it is still a simple sentence because both verbs share the same
subjects and express one complete thought.
 Compound Sentences

A compound sentence has two independent clauses. Basically, a compound

sentence contains two simple sentences. - These independent clauses are joined
by a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). FANBOYS

Examples: 1. The shoplifter had stolen clothes, so he ran once he saw the police.
^Both sides of the conjunction “so” are complete sentences. “The shoplifter had
stolen clothes” can stand alone and so can “he ran once he saw the police.”
Therefore, this is a compound sentence.

2. They spoke to him in Spanish, but he responded in English.

^This is also a compound sentence that uses a conjunction to separate two
individual clauses.
 Complex Sentences

A complex sentence is an independent clause joined by one or more dependent

clauses. A dependent clause either lacks a subject or a verb or has both a subject
and a verb that does not express a complete thought. - A complex sentence
always has a subordinator (as, because, since, after, although, when) or relative
pronouns (who, that, which).

Examples:
1. After eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, Tim went to the gym to exercise.
^ The independent clause is ‘Tim went to the gym to exercise.” The subordinating
clause before it is dependent on the main, independent clause. If one were to say
“after eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory,” it would be an incomplete
thought.
1. What is a Compound-Complex Sentence?
 Compound-Complex Sentence

Compound-complex sentences are the most complicated sentences, as their

name implies. A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent
clauses and at least one dependent clause. In simple terms, an independent
clause can be a sentence on its own while a dependent clause cannot.

Compound-complex sentences help us express longer more complicated

thoughts, with more parts than other sentences. They’re good tools for explaining
complicated ideas or describing long chains of events.
2. Examples of Compound-Complex Sentences
Example 1

Kate doesn’t like cartoons because they are loud,so she doesn’t watch
them.

This sentence has two independent clauses and one dependent clause. The
dependent clause “because they are loud” cannot stand on its own as a complete
sentence; it is dependent. As you’ve probably figured out, the independent
clauses “Kate doesn’t like cartoons” and “she doesn’t watch them” can be
complete sentences on their own.
Example 2

The dog started barking so the cat ran away and I couldn’t keep up, so I
stopped.

Now we’re dealing with more clauses, but they still follow the same rules. The
independent clauses are complete sentences, while the dependent clause cannot
stand on its own.

Both of these examples contain little words called conjunctions that link up the
clauses. Read on to the next section to find out more about conjunctions and the
other parts of a compound-complex sentence.
3. Parts of a Compound-Complex Sentence
If you know how to look for the separate parts of a complex-compound sentence,
you can understand their structure more easily. We already know the basic rules:
there must be at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent
clause. There are a few more things to know and then you’ll be ready to write
beautiful and grammatically correct compound-complex sentences!

a. Independent Clause: An independent clause can always stand on its own as

a complete sentence. That means it has a subject and a predicate. The subject
will be a noun-phrase and the predicate will be a verb-phrase and describe the
subject or what the subject is doing.
The independent clauses in a compound-complex sentence are called
coordinate clauses. Because they are coordinated (by a coordinating
conjunction) to work together on equal terms within the same sentence, such as
in: “I came, I saw, and I conquered.”

Here are a few examples of independent clauses in compound-complex

sentences, with the independent clauses highlighted in green. You can see that
they’re related to each other, on more or less equal terms, that they can be
complete sentences, and that they are put together using the coordinating
conjunctions but and and, like some of the complex-compound sentence you are
reading now:
● Even though she was tired, Abby knew she had to finish the race and
she ran to meet her team.
● Usually I take a walk every day while the sun sets, but it was raining
today.
● She likes to sleep in but she can get up early if she has work.

The parts of these sentences that are not green are either dependent clauses
or coordinating conjunctions.
b. Dependent Clause

The dependent clauses in compound-complex sentences will not be complete

sentences on their own. They are dependent on the other clauses of the
sentence, because they don’t fully make sense without them. Even though
dependent clauses have a subject and a predicate like independent clauses,
dependent clauses do not express a complete thought, usually because they are
introduced by words like while, if, and because, that don’t make sense without
some words that are not part of the dependent clause.
We’ll use the same examples from earlier to show you dependent clauses. In
general, dependent clauses are a good way to add more information to any
sentence.
Example 1

Even though she was tired, Abby knew she had to finish the race and she ran to
meet her team.

In this sentence, the dependent clause “Even though she was tired” tells us why
Abby was having trouble finishing the race. It doesn’t make sense without the
independent clause it depends on. The clause is also introduced by “Even
though,” which is a subordinating conjunction (you’ll learn about this in the next
section). For now, let’s take a closer look at the second example sentence to see
how dependent clauses give us more information.
Example 2

Usually I take a walk every day while the sun sets, but it was raining today.

As before, the independent clauses are green and the dependent clause is
orange. If we take out “while the sun sets” we can see that it isn’t a complete
sentence. But it does give us some interesting information about when I take
walks! It answers the question of when, and it is introduced by the subordinating
word “while.” Even though we could take out the whole phrase and still have a
correct sentence, we would have less information and a less interesting sentence.
c. Conjunctions

Conjunctions are those little connecting words that can put different phrases and
clauses together into larger more complex sentences. In compound-complex
sentences, we use conjunctions to string together most of our independent and
dependent clauses. The most common conjunctions are and, or, and but.

There are different types of conjunctions that do different things, and there are
more kinds of conjunctions than those covered here, but these are the important
ones for compound-complex sentences.
4. How to Write Compound-Complex Sentences
Step 1: Independent clause - The cat jumped onto the couch.

Step 2: Related independent clause - The cat sat down on top of the remote
control.

Step 3: Dependent clause - just when I was reaching for the remote control

Step 4: Put it together with conjunctions

Let’s gather all of our clauses and decide on an order.

● The cat jumped onto the couch.

● The cat sat down on top of the remote control
● just when I was reaching for the remote control
We can easily put this one together:

The cat jumped onto the couch and (the cat) sat down on top of the remote
control just when I was reaching for it (the remote control).

We might leave out the second the cat and replace the second remote control
with it, because the sentence sounds repetitive otherwise, but it is grammatically
correct either way.
And there it is: a compound-complex sentence! We have our two independent
clauses, one dependent clause, and conjunctions that link everything together.
When you’re out making your own compound-complex sentences, you can use
more clauses than this as long as people can still follow the sentence.

That brings us to our next section about how to write the best compound-complex
sentences you can.
And there it is: a compound-complex sentence! We have our two independent
clauses, one dependent clause, and conjunctions that link everything together.
When you’re out making your own compound-complex sentences, you can use
more clauses than this as long as people can still follow the sentence.

That brings us to our next section about how to write the best compound-complex
sentences you can.
5. How to Avoiding Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
A run-on sentence has two or more independent clauses but doesn’t use the
right punctuation or linking words to connect them.
Example 1

The temperature has dropped, it’s windy outside, wear a jacket.

Even though these clauses are complete and related, they’re not coordinated;
they need a coordinator! When independent clauses are connected only by a
comma, it’s called a comma splice. There has to be a connecting word or
different punctuation for this sentence to be correct. See the next examples for
different ways to fix this sentence.
Example 2

The temperature has dropped and it’s windy outside, so wear a jacket.

Now we’ve got nice connecting words and no comma splice! The conjunction
“and” connects the clauses and makes this a proper sentence. Meanwhile, the
subordinating conjunction “so,” turns the clause “wear a jacket” into a dependent
clause and clarifies the logic of the sentence.
Example 3

The temperature has dropped; it’s windy outside; wear a jacket.

We can use a semicolon to connect clauses without coordinating conjunctions

and still avoid those evil, hateful comma splices.
The temperature has dropped; it’s windy outside; wear a jacket.

As you can see from Example 3, it can seem a little awkward using the same
strategy to fix every comma splice.

Better would be:

The temperature has dropped and it’s windy outside; wear a jacket.
Test your Knowledge QUIZ