Subjects
Grades
Compound & Complex Sentences
Concept sheet | English Language Arts
Grade
3-6
| Secondary
1-2
Table of contents
- Top of page
- What are Compound & Complex Sentences?
- Compound Sentences
- Complex Sentences
- What is a Clause?
- Compound Sentence Forms
- Punctuation in Compound Sentences
- Common Compound Sentence Mistakes — Comma Splices
- Common Compound Sentence Mistakes — Run-On Sentences
- Complex Sentence Forms
- Compound-Complex Sentence Forms
- See Also:
What are Compound & Complex Sentences?
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence is a sentence made of two or more simple sentences. These simple sentences are joined by a coordinating conjunction such as and, but or or to form a compound sentence expressing ideas of equal importance.
Each of these simple sentences could exist on its own. Combining these sentences adds fluidity and facilitates comprehension.
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is a sentence made of an independent clause and dependent clause. A dependent clause isn’t a complete sentence and must be connected to an independent clause using a subordinating conjunction, a relative pronoun or an adverb.
*Both with and without the comma are grammatically correct.
What is a Clause?
A clause is made of at least a subject and a verb.
There are two main types of clauses:
-
independent clauses
-
dependent clauses
Independent Clauses
An independent clause makes a complete statement; it can act as a complete sentence.
For example:
Dependent Clauses
A dependent clause cannot act as a complete sentence. To form a complete sentence, it needs to be joined to an independent clause with:
For example:
Compound Sentence Forms
Points to remember when forming compound sentences:
-
They are composed of 2 or more independent clauses.
-
If the subject is the same, it must be stated twice.
-
The independent clauses are joined with a coordinating conjunction.
They are composed of 2 or more independent clauses.
If the subject is the same, it must be stated in each clause.
The independent clauses are joined with a coordinating conjunction.
Punctuation in Compound Sentences
It is also possible to join the two independent clauses with a semicolon to form a compound sentence.
To join two independent clauses, the usage of a transition word (also called conjunctive adverb) is possible.
Common Compound Sentence Mistakes — Comma Splices
A common error when joining two independent clauses is using only a comma between them.
However, if the independent clauses are long, you should use a comma and a coordinating conjunction to join them.
The easiest way to avoid comma splices is to use a comma and a coordinating conjunction all the time to join two independent clauses.
Common Compound Sentence Mistakes — Run-On Sentences
Another common error is what we call run-on sentences (also called fused sentences). This error consists of having multiple independent clauses in a sentence without anything to join them.
Complex Sentence Forms
Points to remember when forming compound sentences:
-
It is composed of at least one independent clause and one dependent clause.
-
The clauses are joined by a subordinating conjunction.
-
Punctuation is necessary if the dependent clause comes first .
It is composed of at least one independent clause and one dependent clause.
The clauses are joined by a subordinating conjunction.
Punctuation is necessary if the dependent clause comes first.
Compound-Complex Sentence Forms
A compound-complex sentence is formed with a minimum of two independent clauses and one dependent clause.
The position of the clauses can be interchanged and the compound-complex sentence will keep the same general meaning.
