COMPLEX SENTENCES
WHAT DO THESE SENTENCES HAVE IN
COMMON?
 After the game was over, I went home.
 Since it’s raining, the concert was canceled .
 Although it’s cold, Vanessa did not wear a jacket.
DEPENDENT, INDEPENDENT.
 After the game was over, I went home.
 Since it’s raining, the concert was canceled.
 Although it was cold, Vanessa did not wear a jacket.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
 A sentence containing at least one subordinate
(dependent) clause with an independent clause.
Since it’s raining, the concert was canceled.
Subordinate/dependent clause
= doesn’t make sense without
the rest of the sentence (not a
complete thought)
Independent clause (full
sentence) = stands on its own
WHAT IF YOU REVERSE THE ORDER?
( W H AT I S N O LO N GE R N E E DED?)
 After the game was over, I went home.
I went home after the game was over.
 Since it’s raining, the concert was canceled.
The concert was canceled since it’s raining.
 Although it was cold, Vanessa did not wear a jacket.
Vanessa did not wear a jacket although it was cold.
Independent dependent.
TRY THESE:
1. Before:
 You can win a game.
 You have to not lose it.
2. If:


You can believe it.
The mind can achieve it.
“Before you can win a game, you
have to not lose it.”
~Chuck Noll (football coach)
“If you can believe it, the mind
can achieve it.”
~Ronnie Lott (football player)
3. When:
 Anyone tells me I can’t do anything.
 I’m just not listening anymore.
“When anyone tells me I can’t do anything,
I’m just not listening anymore.”
~Florence Griffith-Joyner (track athlete)
AAAWWUBBIS
Subordinating conjunctions:
 After
 Although
 As
 When
 While
 Until
 Before
 Because
 If
 Since
TRY 2 OF THESE:
(USE THE EXAMPLE AS A MODEL STRUCTURE: KEEP THE AAAWWUBBIS WORD AND
T H E P U N C T U AT I O N B U T C H A N G E T H E I D E A S T O B E Y O U R O W N . )
1. Because Ramona wanted to save the best for last, she ate
the center of her sandwich—tuna fish—and poked a hole in
her orange so she could suck out the juice. Third -graders did
not peel their oranges.
—Beverly Cleary, Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981)
2. I love the repor ter with the totally fake white hair. When
something is fake, I want it to look that way.
—Gail Giles, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters (2004)
3. Since Roy had last seen her, she’d developed deep furrows
in her forehead and an angr y voice.
—Peter Abrahams, Ner ve Damage: A Novel (2007)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Common mistake in student writing:
incomplete sentences (sentence fragments)
Which of the following pairs of sentences contains a fragment?
1. I love thunderstorms. When I’m at home and can curl up
with a good book.
2. I love thunderstorms. When I’m at home, they make me
want to curl up with a good book.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Common mistake in student writing:
incomplete sentences (sentence fragments)
Which of the following pairs of sentences contains a fragment?
1. I love thunderstorms. When I’m at home and can curl up
with a good book.
2. I love thunderstorms. When I’m at home, they make me
want to curl up with a good book.
This is a sentence fragment: it’s an incomplete thought. Avoid
these types of errors in your writing. Remember that a full
sentence includes a subject (main noun), predicate (main verb),
and is a complete thought.
TRY THESE:
 For each sentence, write down whether it is compound or
complex. Then rewrite your own sentence with the same
structure.
1. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but it’s the size of
the fight in the dog.” ~Archie Grif fin (football player)
2. “As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do
something, you can do it.” ~Arnold Schwarzenegger
(actor/politician)
3. “Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having of f the
field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.” ~Hank Aaron
(baseball player)
TRY THESE:
 For each sentence, write down whether it is compound or
complex. Then rewrite your own sentence with the same
structure.
1. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight , but it’s the size of
the fight in the dog .” ~Archie Grif fin (football player)
Compound; example: “It’s not the quantity of work you do, but it’s the
quality of your work that counts.”
2. “As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do
something, you can do it.” ~Arnold Schwarzenegger
(actor/politician)
Complex; example: “As long as I don’t have too much to do tonight, I
am going to finish this book.”
3. “Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having of f the
field, the only thing to do was keep swinging .” ~Hank Aaron
(baseball player) Complex; example: “Whether I am at home, in the car, or
in the classroom, I am always hungry.”