Compound-Complex Sentence

Compound-Complex Sentence
What is a compound-complex sentence?
A complex sentence is made up of at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clause. Below are
some example of a compound-complex sentence.

1. My old computer broke, so I bought a new one, which cost a huge amount of money.
[Independent Clause] [Independent Clause] [Dependent Clause]

2. What Jack wrote didn’t make any sense, so I called him to ask him about the note.
[Dependent Clause] [Independent Clause] [Independent Clause]

3. I was hungry, but I didn’t eat anything because it was already 10pm, and eating at that time would only.
[Independent Clause] [Independent Clause] [Dependent Clause]

lead to me putting on weight.

[Independent Clause]

There are no rules on the number of independent and dependent clauses you can add to a sentence. However, the
more clauses you add to a sentence, the most confusing your writing will become to the reader. As a general rule,
a sentence with two or three independent clauses and two or three dependent clauses should be the maximum
number to achieve a cohesive writing.

Exercise 1
Please indicate whether the sentences below are complex or compound-complex sentence. Complex sentence is a
sentence with one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
1. The people by the river watched in awe as a man attempted to tightrope across it.
______________________________________
2. Would you be able to attend my party on the 28th, which is a day before my birthday?
______________________________________
3. Sam wanted to go home, but Jack didn’t want to even though it was already so late.
______________________________________
4. After they bought the sofa, which would take four weeks to deliver, the family went to look for a coffee table.
______________________________________
5. The animals were kept in their enclosures so that they could fix the damage caused by the storm.
______________________________________
6. Even though the doctors warned the patient, the patient decided to go home.
______________________________________
7. The train strike, which started a week ago, has caused havoc, so the government has decided to intervene.
______________________________________
8. The TV show was cancelled after the show’s host used inappropriate language, which upset many children.
______________________________________
Exercise 2.
Fill in the blanks in the following sentences to form compound-complex sentences.
1. Sam saw what Chris did ____________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________, but Laura didn’t want to go home.

3. Whenever I feel tired, _____________________________________________________________________.

4. Although it’s cold outside, _________________________________________________________________.

5. Jack will quit his job ______________________________________________________________________.

6. _______________________________________________________________________, so they sold the car.

7. When the movie finished, __________________________________________________________________.

8. The family got to their resort ________________________________________________________________.

 Answer Key
Exercise 1.
1. Complex
2. Complex
3. Compound-complex
4. Complex
5. Complex
6. Complex
7. Compound-complex
8. Complex

Exercise 2.
Answers will vary