A complex sentence has an independent and dependent clause, while a compound sentence has two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction. A complex compound sentence combines both elements to form a single sentence with at least one dependent clause and two or more independent clauses.
In many ways, a sentence composed of complexes is as complicated as its name suggests. Complex sentences are those that contain an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. A compound sentence is one that has two or more independent clauses, which are typically joined by a conjunction such as “and”. As the name indicates, a complex compound sentence combines both of these elements to create a single sentence with two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
To fully understand the structure of a complex compound sentence, it’s usually easiest to consider the most basic forms first. A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause, which has a subject and a predicate, often including a verb and one or more objects. For example, “The cat jumped on the table” is a simple sentence. “The cat” is the subject, while the predicate consists of the verb “jumped” and the prepositional phrase “on the table”.
A complex sentence has an independent clause, which can stand alone as a simple sentence, and a dependent clause. If this dependent section were placed on its own, it would be a fragmented sentence and would not be grammatically able to stand on its own. An example of this is the sentence “The cat jumped on the table, before walking in circles and lying down”. In this sentence, the independent clause remains the same as before, but a dependent clause has been added which consists of “before he walked in a circle and lay down”.
The other essential element of a compound-complex sentence is the “compound” aspect. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses that are combined together. The sentence “The cat jumped on the table and began to purr softly” is a compound sentence. Both “the cat jumped on the table” and “she began to purr softly” are independent clauses and can be used as simple sentences. The word “and” is simply a conjunction joining the two clauses, while “before” in the complex sentence above was part of the independent clause.
A complex compound sentence can then be formed by joining these two elements together, allowing for two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause to form a single sentence. This can be created from the previous examples to do: “The cat jumped onto the table and began to purr softly, before walking in circles and lying down.” The sentence composed here contains an independent sentence, “The cat jumped on the table”, a second one, “he started to purr softly” and a dependent sentence, “before he walked in circles and lay down”.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
