{"id":3121,"date":"2019-04-30T23:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=3121"},"modified":"2022-07-18T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T21:47:22","slug":"becoming-savvy-with-sentence-structures-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/verbs\/becoming-savvy-with-sentence-structures-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming Savvy with Sentence Structures: Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

Understanding sentence structures helps us shape the art of good writing. In\u00a0Part One<\/a>\u00a0of our discussion, we identified the four foundational sentence constructions and reviewed the first two, simple and compound sentences.<\/p>\n

We’ll next look at complex and compound-complex sentences.<\/p>\n

Complex Sentence<\/h2>\n

A complex sentence has one independent main clause and at least one dependent clause, a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses usually begin with a word such as\u00a0when, because<\/em>, or\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0to indicate their reliance.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/em>
\n<\/strong>
\nwhen we go to school<\/em><\/p>\n

because it is raining<\/em><\/p>\n

that are collected<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In complex sentences, dependent clauses function as sentence modifiers:<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/em>
\n<\/strong>
\nWhen we go to school<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause),\u00a0we will receive the assignment\u00a0<\/em>(main clause).<\/p>\n

We cannot go out<\/em>\u00a0(main clause)\u00a0because it is raining<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause).<\/p>\n

The team owners give the star all of the accolades<\/em>\u00a0(main clause)\u00a0that should be shared among several players<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause),\u00a0which causes unspoken tension in the locker room<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Compound-Complex Sentence<\/h2>\n

A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent main clauses and at least one dependent clause:<\/p>\n

While Sheila painted<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause),\u00a0Ricardo installed the new shelves\u00a0<\/em>(main clause);\u00a0they wanted to finish the work before dinner<\/em>\u00a0(main clause).<\/p>\n

The game stops<\/em>\u00a0(main clause)\u00a0if it rains\u00a0<\/em>(dependent clause),\u00a0but it resumes<\/em>\u00a0(main clause)\u00a0if the rain lets up<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause).<\/p>\n

The people <\/em>[who are still in line<\/em>\u00a0(dependent clause)]\u00a0will have to wait another hour<\/em>\u00a0(main clause),\u00a0and even then they might not get in<\/em>\u00a0(main clause).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Avoiding Loose\/Protracted Sentences<\/h2>\n

Complex sentences give us a tool for avoiding loose and protracted compound constructions similar to those we considered in\u00a0Part One<\/a>. Such constructions can occur when we string multiple clauses together.<\/p>\n

Loose\/Protracted:<\/strong>\u00a0The Amazon rainforest is the world’s biggest, and it is larger than the next two largest rainforests combined, and it covers an area about the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States.<\/em>
\nBetter as Complex:<\/strong>\u00a0The Amazon rainforest, which is the world’s biggest, is larger than the next two rainforests combined, covering an area about the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Loose\/Protracted:<\/strong>\u00a0She is a prolific corporate attorney, and she earns a notable salary, but she works long hours, and she has little time on the weekends.\u00a0<\/em>
\nBetter as Compound-Complex:<\/strong>\u00a0She is a prolific corporate attorney who earns a notable salary, but she works long hours, leaving little time on the weekends.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Part Three of “Becoming Savvy with Sentence Structures,” we will recap the four sentences types and how to use them for style and effect in our writing.<\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Using what you’ve learned in this article, identify whether each example is a complex sentence or a compound-complex sentence.<\/p>\n

1. I won’t go unless she goes too.
\na. Complex
\nb. Compound-Complex<\/p>\n

2. Because I am young, I am impetuous, and because I am impetuous, I make others aware of my youth.
\na. Complex
\nb. Compound-Complex<\/p>\n

3. The hourglass will run out if the wizard does not soon return with his potion.
\na. Complex
\nb. Compound-Complex<\/p>\n

4. The teacher, who is also my neighbor, is leading tonight’s roundtable discussion; it will begin at around seven p.m.
\na. Complex
\nb. Compound-Complex<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. I won’t go unless she goes too.
\na. Complex (The sentence has one main clause and one dependent clause.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Because I am young, I am impetuous, and because I am impetuous, I make others aware of my youth.
\nb. Compound-Complex (The sentence has two main clauses and two independent clauses.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. The hourglass will run out if the wizard does not soon return with his potion.
\na. Complex (The sentence has one main clause and one dependent clause.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. The teacher, who is also my neighbor, is leading tonight’s roundtable discussion; it will begin at around seven p.m.
\nb. Compound-Complex (The sentence has two main clauses and one dependent clause.)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Understanding sentence structures helps us shape the art of good writing. In\u00a0Part One\u00a0of our discussion, we identified the four foundational sentence constructions and reviewed the first two, simple and compound sentences. We’ll next look at complex and compound-complex sentences. Complex Sentence A complex sentence has one independent main clause and at least one dependent clause, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-subject-and-verb-agreement","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3121"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6125,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3121\/revisions\/6125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}