A guide for ESL students. I made this for my university students who are at about an intermediate level. Hopefully some other teachers (or students) can make use of it. Enjoy! Check out my websites www.ted-ielts.com adn www.davidteaching.blogspot.com if you like.

1. Complex and
Compound-Complex
Sentences

2. But first… a review
Looking back at last week – simple and compound clauses

3. Clauses
Independent Clauses
An independent clause must have three elements:
●A subject
●A verb
●A complete thought
Let’s look at some examples:
●Sally sings.
●She loves you.
●We are going to the mall this weekend.

4. Sentence Types
There are four types of sentence in English:-
Simple
● We play football.
Compound
● We play football, and they play rugby.
Complex
● We play football when we’re not busy at school.
Compound-complex
● We play football if it’s sunny, and sometimes we play tennis.

5. Clauses
Dependent Clauses
A dependent clause only has two elements:
●A subject
●A verb
●A complete thought
They will also begin with either a subordinating conjunction or
a relative pronoun.

6. Simple Sentences
A simple sentence is just one independent clause.
● I like eating fast food.
● She went to the park yesterday.
● They were last seen six days ago.

7. Compound Sentences
A compound sentence is made up of two (or more)
independent clauses. They may be joined by:-
● a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
○ I like tea, but I prefer coffee.
● a semi-colon
○ I like tea; I prefer coffee.
● a semi-colon and a conjunctive adverb.
○ I like tea; however, I prefer coffee.

8. Mistakes
There are three big mistakes to watch out for:-
Comma splice
● The mountain is tall, it’s really dangerous.
Fragment
● Although the fog was really thick.
Run-on sentence
● The man came to the door he said his name was Frank.

9. Complex Sentences
Adding colour to your language

10. Complex Sentences
A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one
dependent clause.
The two clauses will be joined by a subordinator (although,
because, since, as) or relative pronoun (who, which, that).
Although it was raining, I walked to work.
Subordinator
Dependent clause
Independent clause

11. Complex Sentences
This can be written in two ways:
Although it was raining, I walked to work.
I walked to work although it was raining.
Notice: When the dependent clause comes first, it is followed by a
comma.
comma
no comma

12. Complex Sentences
The formula looks like this:
independent clause + dependent clause
or
dependent clause + comma + independent clause
= complex sentence

13. Complex Sentences
You can drop the dependent clause, but you cannot drop the
independent one.
● I walked to work.
● Although it was raining.
The first example is now a simple sentence, but the second is a
sentence fragment. Any single clause beginning with a
subordinator is a fragment.

14. Subordinators
after how until
although if unless
as in as much as if
in order that when as long as
at least whenever as much as
now that whereas soon
wherever as though since
while because so that
before even if that
even though though

15. Subordinate Clauses
Subordinate clause is another way of saying dependent clause.
Subordinate means that a clause is less important than the main
clause.
Look at these two simple sentences:
● I was tired. I went to the shop.
Now look at this compound sentence:
● I was tired but I went to the shop.
In each case, the
sentences have
equal meaning. They
are equally
important.

16. Subordinate Clauses
In a complex sentence, however, one clause is more important
and one is less important.
● Although I was tired, I went to the shop.
Now the reader knows which part of the sentence is the main idea
– “I went to the shop.”

17. Examples
Let’s explore further

18. I can’t do any work here
because it’s too noisy.
Independent
clause
Dependent
clause
Subordinator

19. He will keep studying
until he passes the exam.
Independent
clause
Dependent
clause
Subordinator

20. When I first came here,
I had no friends.
Dependent
clause
Subordinator
Independent
clause
comma

21. Review

22. Complex Sentences
A complex sentence must have 1 independent clause and at least
1 dependent clause.
Both parts are not equal.
Remember a comma is needed if the dependent clause comes
first.
Bob is popular even though he is ugly.
Even though he is ugly, Bob is popular.

23. Compound-Complex
Sentences
The longest sentence type.

24. Compound-Complex
Sentences
This type of sentence must have at least two independent
clauses, and one dependent clause.
We use the same conjunctions (subordinators or FANBOYS) to
join the different parts.

25. Compound-Complex
Sentences
Formula
Independent clause + coordinating conjunction +
independent clause
+ dependent clause
= compound-complex sentence
Note: The clauses can be in any order.

26. Compound-Complex
Sentences
Example
Although she was well-know in her industry, most
people had never heard of her, and she felt
somewhat unaccomplished. .

27. More Examples
The dog barked loudly, and she ran all around
the room as her owner tried to relax with his
newspaper.
The scouts did not think they’d make it to the
destination because it was so far away, and they
were exhausted from the long journey.

28. More Examples
Supermarkets are very popular because they sell
so many things, and they often have other
services.
Stanley went to work, but his wife stayed at home
because she had a sore throat.

29. Test
Label the following sentence types

30. ●Most of the rotten eggs missed the
actors, but one hit the orchestra.
●Because the weather along the coast
was cold and rainy, we spent the day in
the desert.
●When he had finished the test, Ernie ate
a gallon of chocolate ice cream, and
Sandra drank a chocolate shake.
●A lion, a tiger, and a bear appeared on
stage.
compound
compound-complex
complex
simple

31. ●Saul’s car started to fall apart after the
mechanic adjusted the carburetor.
●When his computer crashed for the third time,
Bill began to weep, and his mother tried to
console him.
○
●Sylvia, who is my sister’s best friend, set out to
find a red rose.
● If he wins the competition, he’ll buy himself a
new car, and get his mum one, too.
Compound-
complex
Complex
Complex
Compound-
complex