ShmoopTube

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Compound vs Complex Sentences¸ a la Shmoop As is the case with Christmas, compound and

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complex sentences always start with… clauses. [Santa Claus in a couples house]

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Either independent… or dependent. [Another Santa Claus gets stuck down the chimney]

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Independent clauses stand on their own.

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They’ve got a subject and a verb and ain’t nobody gonna hold them down. [Presents under the tree]

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They can be as simple as “I do” and as complicated as “I suppose I shall marry

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you despite my serious reservations.” [Woman looks unimpressed at wedding]

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Then there are dependent clauses.

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You can’t leave them alone for a minute. [Baby crying in a cot]

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If we stick a period at the end of one and read it like an independent clause, it sounds [Mother puts a dummy in the babies mouth]

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uncomfortable.

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Kinda needy.

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Here are some examples:

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Although he looked like that guy from Twilight.

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Which I found ridiculous.

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How he made friends.

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All right…now onto the meat of the lesson: compound vs complex sentences. [Two boxing gloves touch with compound and complex sentences written on them]

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A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined together in holy matrimony…er,

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in one sentence.

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That’s two fully independent clauses with their own subject and verb. [Independent clauses held together with a wedding ring]

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They’re brought together with a connector called a FANBOYS coordinator: for, and, nor,

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but, or, yet, so.

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So let’s throw some independent clauses together and see what happens.

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Maddie likes to play video games all day.

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Sam likes to be her cheerleader.

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Both independent, both can stand alone.

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And to make a compound sentence, let’s insert one of the FANBOYS. [Girl playing a toy guitar]

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Maddie likes to play video games all day, and Sam likes to be her cheerleader.

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And a few more, just to get the idea: [Sam holding pom poms]

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Sam and Maddie have been dating for eight months, but things are getting tense. [Sam eats the last piece of sushi]

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Maddie doesn’t want to date Sam anymore, for he’s starting to annoy her.

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Sam finds out that Maddie wants to break up so he breaks up with her first to save face. [Sam looks upset]

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Now, complex sentences only have one independent clause, but then they have one or more dependent

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clauses attached.

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There are two ways to attach a dependent clause to an independent clause – a subordinator

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or a relative pronoun.

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A subordinator is a word that subordinates – it makes a clause dependent on another.

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Like because, after, although, and when.

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Maddie was happy to be free of Sam, although she did occasionally miss the encouragement. [Maddie looks upset as she's playing her guitar game]

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After the break up, Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home

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dad blogger. [Sam sat at a computer]

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Relative pronouns describe something with the help of words like that, who, and which.

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Here’s a complex sentence using a relative pronoun:

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Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home dad blogger who was also devastatingly [Worlds best dad blogger mug]

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handsome. [Sam's smile sparkles]

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But why stop there?

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How about a complex sentence with a subordinator and a relative pronoun?

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After Maddie broke up with him, Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home [Sam crying]

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dad blogger who was also devastatingly handsome.

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Compound and complex sentences seem complicated, but they’re all made up of smaller parts.

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Compound – two independent clauses tied together with FANBOYS.

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Complex – an independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses, tied together using

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subordinators or relative pronouns.

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Simple enough.

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Like not saying anything stupid at your wedding… [Sam looks annoyed at the wedding]

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