A compound sentence has two independent clauses connected by a conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and semicolons can be used. It is different from a simple sentence with one clause and a complex sentence with one dependent and one independent clause.
A compound sentence is a sentence that has two independent clauses connected to each other. A compound sentence must have the two clauses linked together by a conjunction of some sort. This can take the form of a correlative conjunction, a coordinating conjunction, or a semicolon that functions like a conjunction. A comma is also often used to help offset the two independent clauses, although it is usually not necessary grammatically.
One can compare the compound sentence with both the simple sentence and the complex sentence. A simple sentence is a sentence in which there is a subject and a predicate, and in which a complete thought is expressed, allowing it to stand alone. For example, we run outside every day. is a simple sentence, as is The moon is white. A complex sentence, on the other hand, includes both an independent clause and a dependent clause. For example, the sentence, When the stars fall, I like to make wishes. it’s a complex sentence, the dependent clause falls with the stars, and I like to make wishes the independent clause.
To form a compound sentence, take two independent clauses, which could serve as simple sentences on their own, and connect them with a conjunction. The most common type of conjunction used is the coordinating conjunction. There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. These seven can easily be remembered by the FANBOYS mnemonic, with each letter representing the first letter of each coordinator.
For example, we can take two simple sentences: Jane likes to watch football. and Bob learned to knit. We can then connect them with a coordinating conjunction to make a compound sentence like: Jane likes to watch football and Bob learned to knit. or Jane likes to watch football, so Bob learned to knit. The coordinating conjunction we use determines the meaning of our compound sentence, and of course not all coordinators work for all independent clauses, but all independent clauses must have at least one conjunction in order to join.
A compound sentence can also use a pair of words that help each other, known as a correlative conjunction. There are four common pairings of correlative conjunctions: both and and, not only and but also, eo, and neither, and neither. For example, we can take the independent clauses: The moon is full. and the stars are out. We can then join them together using one of our matches to get: the moon is full and the stars are out. o Neither the moon is full nor the stars are out.
A semicolon can also act as a conjunction to form a compound sentence. For example, we can take the two independent clauses we just used and join them with a semicolon to form: The moon is full; the stars are out. In this way we connect the two sentences more closely than if we were to have them as simple completely independent sentences, but we do not connect them any more explicitly than that.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
