Pamela rice hunt.

No 24-25
THE COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE
A compound-complex sentence contains two or more main clauses and one
or more subordinate clauses. (It is a compound sentence and a complex sentence
joined together.)

SENTENCE TYPES
Sentences can be simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence only has one main clause, contains no subordinate clauses,
and is limited to one subject and one predicate. The sentence, however, may
contain modifying words or phrases:
e.g.
Assignment deadlines are important.
Washington is the capital of the nation.
24 Hour 2
THE COMPOUND SENTENCE
A compound sentence has two or more main clauses joined by a coordinating
conjunction or a semicolon. (See Hour 8, Other Considerations, for a
review of coordinating conjunctions and Hour 11, Controlling the Comma
and the Semicolon, for a review of semicolons.)
e.g.
Darren went on vacation, and Leslie traveled with him.
Darren visited the seashore, but he felt the waves were disappointing.
Leanne enjoyed the trip; she doesnt like waves.
THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
A complex sentence has one main clause and one or more subordinate
clauses. In the following examples, subordinate clauses are in bold and
main clauses are in italics:

The introduction to this chapter points out that a sentence must contain at
least one main clause. A sentence that contains only one main clause and no
other clauses is called a simple sentence. However, a simple sentence is not
necessarily an uncomplicated or short sentence because, in addition to its one
main clause, it may contain a variety of phrases and modifiers.
The basic pattern for the simple sentence is subjectverb (SV). This pattern
may vary in several ways:
iEXAMPLES S V
subjectverb (SV): The plane flew over the stadium.

Hal 93

subordinate clauses. The basic pattern of the clauses may be expressed as

subjectverb/subjectverb (SV/SV). The main clauses are always joined in
one of three ways:
1. Two main clauses may be joined by a comma and one of the seven
coordinating conjunctions (and, or, nor, but, for, so, yet).
iEXAMPLE S V S V
Maria registered for all of her classes by mail, but Brad was not
able to do so.
Remember, the two main clauses must be joined by both a comma and
a coordinating conjunction, and the comma always comes before the
coordinating conjunction.
2. Two main clauses may be joined by a semicolon (;).
iEXAMPLE S V S V
Maria registered for all of her classes by mail; Brad was not able
to do so.
3. Two main clauses may be joined by a semicolon and a transitional word or
phrase. Such transitional words or phrases are followed by a comma.
iEXAMPLE S V S
Maria registered for all of her classes by mail; however, Brad
V
was not able to do so. Hal 95

The complex sentence has the same subjectverb pattern (SV/SV) as the
compound sentence. However, the complex sentence features only one main
clause and always contains at least one subordinate clause and sometimes more
than one. The subordinate clauses in a complex sentence may occur at any
place in the sentence.
iEXAMPLES S V S V
Before a main clause: After he retired from the Army, Eisenhower ran for
president.
SVSV
After a main clause: Rugby is a sport that I have played only once.
SSV
Interrupting a main clause: Emilios grandfather, who fought in World
V
War II, told him about his experiences during the war.
SV
Before and after a main clause: When the pianist sat down at the piano,
SVSV
she played a melody that she had written recently.

Hal 98

complex sentence patterns. It is made up of two or more main clauses and one
or more subordinate clauses. Therefore, it must contain a minimum of three
sets of subjects and verbs (at least two main clauses and at least one subordinate
clause).
iEXAMPLES main clause sub. clause
[On the day-long bicycle trip, Ophelia ate the food] [that she had packed,]
main clause
[but Henry had forgotten to bring anything to eat.]
sub. clause main clause
[Although he was exhausted,] [Ernesto cooked dinner for his mother,]

Hal 99
The Compound-Complex Sentence
The compound-complex sentence is a combination of the compound and the
complex sentence patterns. It is made up of two or more main clauses and one
or more subordinate clauses. Therefore, it must contain a minimum of three
sets of subjects and verbs (at least two main clauses and at least one subordinate
clause).
iEXAMPLES main clause sub. clause
[On the day-long bicycle trip, Ophelia ate the food] [that she had packed,]
main clause
[but Henry had forgotten to bring anything to eat.]
sub. clause main clause
[Although he was exhausted,] [Ernesto cooked dinner for his mother,]

Inside writing
Thomson( 2004 : 51) A simple sentence contains one independent clause. The most common
construction is subject-verb-object. Politicians dodge issues. (subj.) (verb) (obj.) We can add
modifiers single words or phrases or a combination of Bot but regardless of the number of
words, the sentence remains simple if it contains a single, independent clause.

Subject is the person or a thing who or which carries out the action of the verb.

Examples:
Mr. Clinton is teaching Algebra to the students.

In the first sentence, the action is teaching". That action is carried out by Mr. Clinton. So,
Mr. Clinton" is the subject of the verb

The object is the person or a thing upon whom or upon which the action of the verb is carried
out.

Examples:

Monkeys are destroying the garden.

In this sentence the action is destroying". That action is carried by the monkeys. But the
action (destroying) is carried upon the garden. So Monkeys" is the Subject and garden" is
the object of the verb.

Compound Sentences
Thomson( 2004 : 52) A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses, each
containing a subject and a predicate and each expressing a complete thought.

The issues may be divisive, but talking about them is crucial to

(indep. clause) (conj.)(indep. clause)
a healthy society.
The issues are divisive; talking about them is crucial to a healthy
(clauses linked by semicolon)
society.
The issues are divisive, but one thing is clear: Talking about them
(three indep. clauses, linked by comma and conj., and colon)
is crucial to a healthy society.
Punctuation is probably the most common problem associated
with compound sentences. Because the two (or more) clauses are
independentactually complete sentences on their ownthey

hal 52

cannot be linked by a comma or a conjunction alone. A compound

sentence needs both a comma and a coordinating conjunction. If
you do not want to use a coordinating conjunction, use a semicolon
or, occasionally, a colon. For more on punctuation, see Run-On
Sentences later in this chapter and Chapter 8, which focuses on
punctuation.
Complex Sentences
Thomson( 2004 : 53) A complex sentence contains one independent (main) clause and at least
one dependent (subordinate) clause. The subordinate clause depends on the main clause for
both meaning and grammatical.
A dependent clause can also be subordinated to the main clause by relative pronouns (who,
whom, whose, which or that).

When politicians avoid tough issues, voters tend to stay home.

(dep. clause) (indep. clause)
Voters are apathetic because politicians are spineless.
(indep. clause) (dep. clause)
In the two preceding complex sentences, conjunctions (when, because)
introduce the dependent clauses. These words, sometimes called subordinating
conjunctions, establish the relationship between the two sentence
parts. Our language has a variety of such words, each with its own precise
meaning. The careful writer chooses the subordinating conjunction that
best expresses the specific relationship between the dependent and the
independent clauses. For example:
Relationship Conjunctions
cause and effect because, due to, as a result of, if
sequence after, before, during, while
time, place when, whenever, since, where, until, as long as
A dependent clause can also be subordinated to the main clause by
relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which or that). Note in the first
of the following examples that the main clause can be interrupted by
the dependent clause:
The one politician who spoke out on the issues made many enemies.
(dep. clause)
She also made friends whose support and loyalty won her the race.
(dep. Clause

Hal 53

CompoundComplex Sentences
Thomson( 2004 : 53) A compoundcomplex sentence contains at least two main clauses and
one dependent clause. The construction seems to invite wordiness, but a careful writer will
refuse to fall into the trap.
Here is a three-clause
sentence that works:
After the politician went on record against the issue, the media
(dep. clause) (indep. clause)
called her principled, and campaign contributions poured in.
(indep. clause)
If you find that a compoundcomplex sentence is out of controlso
complicated that readers will lose the thread, so long that broadcasters will
gasp for breathbreak the sentence into two (or more) parts, being careful
to maintain the relationship between subordinate and main thoughts.

2004 thomson