The Compound-Complex Sentence

Demystified

Compound-Complex SentencesDefinition

A compound-complex sentence has one complex sentence joined to a simple sentence with a conjunction. Example: While Clara reads comic books, Clarence reads romances, but David only reads nonfiction.

*Notice, the example sentence above contains both a subordinating conjunction and a coordinating conjunction.

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Because Kim Jong Un has many pairs of Air Jordan shoes, he would like to meet Michael Jordan, but Michael Jordan will not visit him at his home.

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Even though the zombie attacked the great white shark, the shark ate the zombie for lunch, yet the zombie continued to attack the shark from inside.

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Because the panda eats shoots and leaves, he is able to play, and playing makes him happy.

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So, a compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

Fill in the blanks: Because ____________, we______________, and we_________________.

I had to ___________, and I had to _________ because ________________________.

Remember, the types of conjunctions being used will help you to determine whether a sentence is compound, complex, or compound complex.