Complex Sentence
A complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. The independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence, while the dependent clause relies on the independent clause for its meaning. Complex sentences allow for more complexity and variety in sentence structure, enhancing the expressiveness of language.
6 Key excerpts on "Complex Sentence"
eBook - ePubA Sentence Diagramming Primer
The Reed & Kellogg System Step-By-Step
- Judith Coats(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Page Publishing, Inc.(Publisher)
...The Complex Sentence Structure Grammatical explanation. Complex Sentences have one independent clause only and one or more dependent clauses. Remember, there may be multiple phrases within the one independent clause, but there will be only one main independent clause. With one main subject and one main verb (even if they are compound), the independent clause is the only one. Then added to the independent clause may be one or many dependent clauses. The following is a sample Complex Sentence with one independent clause and two dependent clauses: Note: the relative pronoun that is the subject of the adjective clause....
eBook - ePubSpeech to Print
Language Essentials for Teachers
- Louisa Cook Moats(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Brookes Publishing(Publisher)
...A compound sentence, however, is one in which two or more independent clauses have been joined by a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction connects two words, phrases, or clauses that are of equal weight in a parallel relationship and that are in similar syntactic categories. The limited options for coordinating conjunctions linking clauses in compound sentences are captured with the acronym, FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Here are examples of compound sentences: Harry molded the dough, and Hanna baked the bread. Jeff drove off the road, for he was in a blinding snowstorm. Beatrice sold the clunker, but she still had to pay off the loan. Linda wrote well, yet she was unable to publish her book. We were unable to get seats behind home plate, so we sat in the bleachers. They were not wearing parkas, nor were they sporting warm hats. A Complex Sentence is one in which one or more dependent clauses are attached to or embedded in an independent clause. Complex Sentences may introduce a dependent clause with a subordinating conjunction, as in the following: When I was frightened, I hid under the bed. Although she made a good argument, Nancy lost the vote. Believing that the world would end, Paul stashed supplies in his basement. Until she learned how to bid, Melanie refused invitations to play bridge. Complex Sentences may also embed relative clauses, introduced by a relative pronoun that, who, or what. Columbus believed that the earth was flat. He thought that he. would find India. The boy who loved animals saved the injured rabbit. Beauty loved the beast who treated her kindly. The baseball team, which had won 100 games, was leading the league. Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words used together to join similar elements...
eBook - ePubTowards a Contextual Grammar of English
The Clause and its Place in the Definition of Sentence
- Eugene Winter(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...I find that we require three complementary requirements to explain the communicative function of independent clause: (i) a requirement for grammatical and semantic completeness, (ii) a requirement to be told what you don’t know in terms of what you do know, and (iii) a requirement to take the sentence on trust as true unless otherwise signalled. 11.4 Definition 1 in Two Parts 11.4.1 Introduction As already stated, the definition of sentence is a definition of independent clause. As such it is also a definition of subordinate clause since subordinate clause is a basic function of its (main) clause, which means it cannot exist as a clause without the (main) clause to which it is subordinated. At its simplest, this first definition requires that a sentence be both grammatically complete and semantically complete within the bounds of their propositional notions about the topic (clause relational units) as these are signalled by the clause. In this two-part definition, the intelligibility of the second part is a function of the first. 11.4.2 Definition 1.1: Requirement for Grammatical Completion This part requires that the clause not merely be grammatically complete but have the grammatical status of independence so that we would expect the sentence to consist of one or more clauses, one of which is at least independent...
- David Hornsby(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Teach Yourself(Publisher)
...A more technical use of the term grammar refers to the stored linguistic knowledge in the brain of an individual, which enables him/her to produce well-formed (i.e. grammatical) sentences in his/her mother tongue – though not necessarily in a standard or prestige variety. This is what Chomsky refers to as competence (see Chapter 8). For linguists, syntax means the study of the set of rules governing the way that morphemes, words, clauses and phrases are used to form sentences in any given language. However, the distinction between ‘word-level’ and ‘sentence-level’ grammar is far from watertight, and there is a considerable grey area between the two. Linguists sometimes refer to morphosyntax when describing phenomena which straddle both levels: grammatical gender, for example, often manifests itself at word level in inflection, but may also affect relations between items within a sentence in the case of the syntactic phenomenon of agreement (or concord). Subjects and predicates Calling syntax ‘the grammar of sentences’ is all very well, but sentences prove as difficult to define as ‘words’ did in the previous chapter. We are used, in literate societies with a written-language bias, to thinking of a sentence as something that generally begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, but this does not get us very far. A traditional definition of a sentence as ‘the expression of a complete thought’ is not helpful either: are elderberry wine, exactly or good! not ‘complete thoughts’? In traditional grammar, sentences were required to have a subject and a predicate, i.e. something we are talking about (the subject) and then something said about it (the predicate): 1 Dinosaurs existed. 2 Samantha is preparing for her bar examinations. 3 Paul gave a tip to the waiter. Identifying the subject in Latin, Russian or Polish would be straightforward, because the nouns would be case-marked, i.e. inflected according to their function in the sentence...
- Jan McAllister, James E. Miller(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...We will have a great deal more to say about clauses in the next two chapters, but for the purposes of the present chapter, we can define a clause as a sequence of words like (36a) or (36b), which contains a verb (was or slipped in our examples) and can stand alone as simple sentence. The main verb may be modified by one or more auxiliaries, and the clause may also contain a variety of phrases. 3 Exercise 7.4 How many clauses do the following sentences contain? 1. Linguistics is important although it is sometimes complicated. 2. What is your name and age? 3. What is your name and when were you born? 4. Measure two ounces of butter, melt it in a pan and add the onions. 7.5.1 Elements of the clause Descriptions of typical and atypical language development and of language impairment in acquired disorders often include analysis at the level of the clause, because a person who is struggling linguistically may find it difficult to process (produce or understand) all of the constituent parts of the clause accurately. Consequently, many language assessments that SLTs use investigate the clause level; so SLTs need to be able to recognise the elements of the clause. In Section 7.4.8 we noted that on one interpretation the ‘verb phrase’ consists of a main verb plus any associated auxiliary verbs and that this corresponded to the verbal element at the clause level. In the context of a discussion of elements of the clause, we often refer to the verbal element simply as the ‘verb’, but be aware that this may be more than a single word. When analysing a clause, we have to specify what this verbal element is, and also identify any other phrases in the clause, the order in which they occur and the relationship between each phrase and the verbal element. Verbal elements combine with the sorts of phrases described in Section 7.4: noun phrases, adjective phrases, prepositional phrases and adverb phrases...
eBook - ePub- Marina Rojavin(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...PART III Complex Sentences DOI: 10.4324/9781003174738-12 Complex Sentences сложноподчинённое предложéние include two or more simple sentences, one of which is principal while the others are subordinate. These sentences cannot exist separately; they depend on each other. Он с ýжасом уви́дел, что попáл в незнакόмое мéсто. He saw with horror that he had strayed into an unfamiliar place. Subordinate conjunctions (что, чтόбы, как, éсли, так как, and others) or connective words (котόрый, какόй, чей, где, кудá, откýда, почемý, and others) join a subordinate clause to the principal one. Complex Sentences can contain explanatory, attributive, and adverbial clauses. 10 EXPLANATORY CLAUSES DOI: 10.4324/9781003174738-13 Main topics Words, to which explanatory clauses refer The conjunctions что, бýдто, как, чтόбы, как бы не, чтόбы не, ли The connective words кто, что, какόй, как, где, кудá, откýда, почемý, зачéм То in main clauses Explanatory clauses объяснúтельные придáточные предложéния usually refer to a verb, a participle, a verbal adverb, or a short adjective in a main clause. Explanatory clauses function as subjects or objects and fill a missing gap in a main clause, explaining what was said in main clauses; they answer the questions of cases. Ромáн попроси́л Áнну, чтόбы онá рассказáла о своéй поéздке. Roman asked Anna to talk about her trip. О чём Ромáн попроси́л Áнну? What did Roman asked Anna about? The words in main clauses to which explanatory clauses are attached indicate speech, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, or wishes. Explanatory clauses mainly follow main clauses, although they can be placed before them. Что дéлать в э́том слýчае, мы не имéли представлéния. We had no idea what to do in this case...
