Type Three Complex Sentences:

Complex sentences have one independent clause, or main clause, and at least one dependent clause. A dependent clause is a group of words which has a subject and a verb but is not a complete idea and cannot exist alone, for example, “after the government changed the law, because it was extremely difficult, if a person has clear goals", etc. There are two main options for the structure of a complex sentence:

Option A

Independent Clause Dependent Clause

Option B

Dependent Clause , Independent Clause
Note that the independent and dependent clauses can come in either order, but the punctuation is different. The general rule is that if the sentence begins with the dependent clause, the dependent clause should be followed by a comma.

Examples:

  • The student did poorly on the exam because he misunderstood the essay question.
  • Because he misunderstood the essay question, the student did poorly on the exam.
Common subordinating conjunctions that begin a dependent clause:
  • although
  • as
  • after
  • since
  • before
  • because
  • if
  • though
  • until
  • unless
  • whereas
  • when
  • whether
  • while
Dependent clauses also include relative clauses (adjective clauses) and noun clauses:

Examples:

  • The students who misunderstood the instructions did poorly on the exam.
  • The student knew immediately that he had not done well on the exam.

Type Four: Compound-Complex Sentences

A Compound-Complex sentence is exactly what it sounds like; it is a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence.
  • Compound
    • Sara needs an IELTS score of 7, so she is taking extra classes.
  • Complex
    • As Sara is trying to get accepted into a Masters program, she needs an IELTS score of 7.
  • Compound-Complex
    • As Sara is trying to get accepted into a Masters program, she needs an IELTS score of 7, so she is taking extra classes.
Compound-Complex sentences must consist of at least Two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

Example:

  • Toronto, which is Canada's largest country, is often mistaken to be its capital; however, Ottawa, which is also located in the province of Ontario, is the country's capital city.
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