3.2 Making more complex sentences
Another way to make longer sentences is to combine clauses so the sense of one clause depends on another. For example, clauses can be connected to show that one of the clauses is the reason, result or condition of the other, or because they are related in time. This is done by using subordinating conjunctions: so (that), because, if, whether, while, when, then, since, and others.
He’ll do it if you ask him nicely enough.
I’ll scream and scream until I’m sick!
They won’t hear you unless you shout really loud.
She gave up the job, although it paid a lot.
Instead of just adding one simple sentence to another with and or but, these conjunctions put one part of the sentence (the main clause) in charge, while the other (the subordinate clause) is made dependent. For example, the subordinate clause although it paid a lot doesn’t really make sense on its own. We need to attach it to the main clause She gave up the job to grasp the full meaning of the sentence. (By contrast, the main clause she gave up the job can stand on its own as a simple sentence.)
Activity 2 Sentence types
a.
Compound
b.
Simple
c.
Complex
The correct answer is b.
a.
Complex
b.
Simple
c.
Compound
The correct answer is a.
a.
Simple
b.
Compound
c.
Complex
The correct answer is c.
a.
Compound
b.
Complex
c.
Simple
The correct answer is c.
a.
Compound
b.
Simple
c.
Complex
The correct answer is a.
a.
Compound
b.
Simple
c.
Complex
The correct answer is b.
a.
Complex
b.
Simple
c.
Compound
The correct answer is a.
a.
Compound
b.
Complex
c.
Simple
The correct answer is c.
a.
Complex
b.
Simple
c.
Compound
The correct answer is a.
a.
Simple
b.
Compound
c.
Complex
The correct answer is b.
Discussion
To decide if a sentence is compound or complex, look at the type of conjunction used. You can also ask yourself whether both clauses can stand alone as simple sentences. You might also have spotted that the subordinate clause can come at the start of the sentence, as long as the conjunction goes with it (compare with He had stayed in the same house since he left university).
The final thing to note about different sentence types is that we can combine compound and complex sentences (called compound-complex sentences):
If he wanted to stay he should have said something and I would have let him.
Here we have the subordinate clause If he wanted to stay and two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction: he should have said something and I would have let him.