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Compound Sentences vs. Complex Sentences 9239 Views
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Want more deets on Compound Sentences vs. Complex Sentences? Take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.
Transcript
- 00:04
Compound vs Complex Sentences¸ a la Shmoop As is the case with Christmas, compound and
- 00:10
complex sentences always start with… clauses. [Santa Claus in a couples house]
- 00:13
Either independent… or dependent. [Another Santa Claus gets stuck down the chimney]
- 00:16
Independent clauses stand on their own.
- 00:18
They’ve got a subject and a verb and ain’t nobody gonna hold them down. [Presents under the tree]
Full Transcript
- 00:22
They can be as simple as “I do” and as complicated as “I suppose I shall marry
- 00:27
you despite my serious reservations.” [Woman looks unimpressed at wedding]
- 00:31
Then there are dependent clauses.
- 00:33
You can’t leave them alone for a minute. [Baby crying in a cot]
- 00:35
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]
- 00:39
uncomfortable.
- 00:40
Kinda needy.
- 00:41
Here are some examples:
- 00:43
Although he looked like that guy from Twilight.
- 00:46
Which I found ridiculous.
- 00:48
How he made friends.
- 00:49
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]
- 00:53
A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined together in holy matrimony…er,
- 00:58
in one sentence.
- 00:59
That’s two fully independent clauses with their own subject and verb. [Independent clauses held together with a wedding ring]
- 01:03
They’re brought together with a connector called a FANBOYS coordinator: for, and, nor,
- 01:08
but, or, yet, so.
- 01:10
So let’s throw some independent clauses together and see what happens.
- 01:14
Maddie likes to play video games all day.
- 01:16
Sam likes to be her cheerleader.
- 01:19
Both independent, both can stand alone.
- 01:21
And to make a compound sentence, let’s insert one of the FANBOYS. [Girl playing a toy guitar]
- 01:25
Maddie likes to play video games all day, and Sam likes to be her cheerleader.
- 01:29
And a few more, just to get the idea: [Sam holding pom poms]
- 01:32
Sam and Maddie have been dating for eight months, but things are getting tense. [Sam eats the last piece of sushi]
- 01:37
Maddie doesn’t want to date Sam anymore, for he’s starting to annoy her.
- 01:42
Sam finds out that Maddie wants to break up so he breaks up with her first to save face. [Sam looks upset]
- 01:48
Now, complex sentences only have one independent clause, but then they have one or more dependent
- 01:54
clauses attached.
- 01:56
There are two ways to attach a dependent clause to an independent clause – a subordinator
- 02:00
or a relative pronoun.
- 02:02
A subordinator is a word that subordinates – it makes a clause dependent on another.
- 02:08
Like because, after, although, and when.
- 02:12
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]
- 02:18
After the break up, Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home
- 02:22
dad blogger. [Sam sat at a computer]
- 02:23
Relative pronouns describe something with the help of words like that, who, and which.
- 02:28
Here’s a complex sentence using a relative pronoun:
- 02:30
Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home dad blogger who was also devastatingly [Worlds best dad blogger mug]
- 02:36
handsome. [Sam's smile sparkles]
- 02:37
But why stop there?
- 02:38
How about a complex sentence with a subordinator and a relative pronoun?
- 02:41
After Maddie broke up with him, Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home [Sam crying]
- 02:45
dad blogger who was also devastatingly handsome.
- 02:50
Compound and complex sentences seem complicated, but they’re all made up of smaller parts.
- 02:55
Compound – two independent clauses tied together with FANBOYS.
- 02:59
Complex – an independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses, tied together using
- 03:03
subordinators or relative pronouns.
- 03:06
Simple enough.
- 03:07
Like not saying anything stupid at your wedding… [Sam looks annoyed at the wedding]
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