Complex sentences

Simple, compound, complex sentences – short examples

I like this short, simple presentation, but it does leave out two examples:

1.
A simple sentence may have a compound subject AND a compound predicate:
Tom and Jerry jumped and ran.
Tom and Jerry [COMPOUND SUBJECT] jumped and ran [COMPOUND PREDICATE].

2.
Compound sentences may be joined by a semicolon, a conjunctive adverb, and a comma:
Tom and Jerry jumped and ran; thus, the chase was on.
Tom and Jerry jumped and ran; thus, [CONJUNCTIVE ADJECTIVE] the chase was on.

AND SEE:
• HANDOUT – How to Join Compound & Complex Sentences – Sierra College
• The 8 basic sentence punctuation patterns
• 5+2: the 7 sentence patterns of English
• 3 ways to combine the 7 sentence patterns

Complex sentence

Traditional grammars organize sentences into 4 categories:

  • Simple sentence
  • Compound sentence
  • Complex sentence
  • Compound-complex sentence

A complex sentence has just one independent clause and at least one dependent clause:

Rex barks when the postman comes.
Rex barks [INDEPENDENT CLAUSE] when the postman comes [DEPENDENT CLAUSE].
Rex [SUBJECT] barks [FINITE VERB]
when [DEPENDENT MARKER WORD] the postman [SUBJECT] comes [VERB]

AND SEE:
• Richard Nordquist defines “clause“
• Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses (OWL)
• Clauses (Richard Nordquist at about.com)
• The Main Clause (chompchomp)
• Dependent Clauses: Adverbial, Adjectival, Nominal (Towson)
• Clauses and Sentences (Internet Grammar of English)