Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hey there, and welcome back.

  • In this lesson, we're going to learn all about simple, compound and complex sentences.

  • Many of you have asked me to do a lesson on this topic, so here we are.

  • Now, in this video, I'll show you the differences between these three types of sentences, and

  • there are exercises within the lesson for you to practice what you learn.

  • So, let's begin.

  • So, what is a simple sentence?

  • A simple sentence is just a sentence that contains a subject and a verb.

  • For example, I am a teacher.

  • Here, the subject is “I” and the verb isam.”

  • Here's another one: She took a cab to the airport.

  • Can you identify the subject and the verb here?

  • The subject issheand the verb istook.”

  • One more example: We're having pizza for dinner tonight.

  • In this sentence, the subject iswe,” and the verb is actually the phraseare

  • having.”

  • It has two words: first, the auxiliary or the helping verbareand then the main

  • verbhaving,” but still, “are havingis a phrase that acts as a single verb.

  • So, in all of these sentences you see that they have a subject and a verb, so these are

  • simple sentences.

  • Now, there's another name for a simple sentence, and that is an independent clause.

  • This means more or less the same thing as a simple sentence, but just remember that

  • it's another name for a simple sentence.

  • So, what's a compound sentence then?

  • Well, a compound sentence is just a sentence that has two independent clauses.

  • We saw that a simple sentence has just one clause, but a compound sentence has two (or

  • sometimes more) independent clauses.

  • Take a look at this example: I am a teacher.

  • My wife is a lawyer.

  • What we have here is two separate independent clauses or simple sentences, and the problem

  • with this is that it sounds choppy and disconnected when we say it like that: I am a teacher.

  • My wife is a lawyer.

  • Instead, we can combine them like this: I am a teacher, and my wife is a lawyer.

  • This sounds much better, and now we have one compound sentence with the two independent

  • clauses connected by the conjunctionand.”

  • Here's another example: She tried to lift the suitcase.

  • The suitcase was too heavy.

  • We can combine these clauses usingbut”: She tried to lift the suitcase, but it was

  • too heavy.

  • Notice that we have the worditin the second part.

  • Now, “itis a pronoun that just refers to the suitcase.

  • It makes the sentence sound better by avoiding repetition.

  • Next example: He didn't have enough cash.

  • He paid by credit card.

  • We can connect these clauses usingso”: He didn't have enough cash, so he paid by

  • credit card.

  • One last example: We can take a bus to the museum.

  • We can just walk there.

  • What we see here is two options; two different ways to get to the museum.

  • We can connect these usingor”: We can take a bus to the museum, or we can just walk

  • there.

  • Now, the connecting words that you see in these examples, “and,” “but,” “so,”

  • or,” etc.

  • These words are called coordinating conjunctions.

  • That's a fancy word, but it just means that these are connecting words that connect two

  • independent clauses.

  • And there's another important point here: you see that in all of the examples, when

  • we connect the two independent clauses, we put a comma after the first clause.

  • Now, this is the proper form: you write the first independent clause, then you put a comma

  • after it, and then a conjunction, and then you write the second clause.

  • Remember this rule.

  • OK, we're going to practice this now.

  • You see five items on the screen.

  • In each one, I want you to combine the simple sentences into one compound sentence.

  • Use a coordinating conjunction likeand,” “but,” “or,” orsoto make the

  • compound sentence.

  • Stop the video now, try the exercise, and then play the video again and check.

  • OK, let's discuss them.

  • Number one: She dropped her phone on the floor, and it broke.

  • Number two: I'm not very hungry, so I'll just have an orange juice.

  • Three: You should study harder, or you'll fail the exam.

  • Four: We'd like to buy a car, but we can't afford one right now.

  • And number five is a little tricky because there are three simple sentences or three

  • independent clauses.

  • But we can connect them using coordinating conjunctions.

  • I told my roommate to turn down the TV, but he didn't, so I got up and left.

  • How many did you get right?

  • Alright, let's now move on and talk about complex sentences.

  • Here's a clause first: When I got home from work yesterday.

  • What do you notice about it?

  • Well, it has a subject “I” and a verbgot,” but this clause is just not a complete

  • sentence.

  • And that's because if I say to you, “When I got home from work,” yesterday you will

  • ask, “OK, what happened?

  • What did you do?

  • So, you see this thought is not complete, so this is not an independent clause.

  • This type of clause is called a dependent clause.

  • To make it a complete sentence, you have to add an independent clause.

  • For example, When I got home from work yesterday, I watched TV for an hour.

  • So, you see that there is a dependent clause and an independent clause, and now it's a

  • complete sentence.

  • And this type of sentence is called a complex sentence.

  • Here are some more examples, but before I talk about them, in each one, I want you to

  • identify the dependent clause and the independent clause.

  • Stop the video and try the exercise, then play the video again and continue.

  • Alright, in number two, “I love to travelis the independent clause andbecause I

  • get to meet a lot of interesting peopleis the dependent clause.

  • Now, in sentence number one, we saw that the dependent clause came first, and here in number

  • two, the dependent clause comes second.

  • That's OK.

  • In complex sentences, you can put the clauses in any order; that's no problem.

  • Alright, number three: “Even though the exam was quite difficultis the dependent

  • clause, andAll the students passedis the independent clause.

  • And number four: “Let me knowis independent, andif you need any helpis dependent.

  • And finally, number five: “You can't go out and playis the independent clause,

  • anduntil you finish your homeworkis the dependent clause.

  • Just remember that to decide whether a clause is dependent or independent, you ask the question,

  • Can this clause be a complete sentence on its own?”

  • If it can be a complete sentence, then it's an independent clause, and if it cannot be

  • a complete sentence, then it's a dependent clause.

  • Now in all of these examples, you see that the dependent clauses start with a linking

  • word likewhen,” “because,” “even though,” “if,” anduntil.”

  • These words are conjunctions, but they're called subordinating conjunctions.

  • The dependent clauses are also called subordinate clauses; it means the same thing, so the conjunctions

  • are subordinating conjunctions.

  • If you remember from the previous section, we connected the independent clauses using

  • coordinating conjunctions, and here we're using subordinating conjunctions.

  • Now, there's one more thing I want you to notice here, and that is the use of commas.

  • In sentences 1 & 3, you see that there is a comma, but in sentences 2, 4 & 5 there's

  • no comma.

  • And this is because in 1 & 3, the dependent clause comes first.

  • If the dependent clause comes first, we put a comma after it, and then we write the independent

  • clause.

  • But in 2, 4 & 5, an independent clause comes first.

  • If that's the case, we don't put a comma after it.

  • Now, if you want to learn more about punctuation and about the proper use of commas, I have

  • a separate lesson just on that topic.

  • It's called punctuation masterclass; I will leave a link in the description.

  • You can go and check it out.

  • There's another type of dependent clause that you need to know about, and that is the relative

  • clause.

  • A relative clause uses a relative pronoun likewho,” “that,” “which,” etc.

  • For example, I know a guy who plays guitar in a rock band.

  • This sentence is actually a combination of two sentences: I know a guy, and He plays

  • guitar in a rock band.

  • Both of those are simple sentences, and we combine them using the relative pronounwho.”

  • So, “who plays guitar in a rock bandis a relative clause that gives us information

  • about the guy.

  • It tells you who that guy is.

  • But, that clause is not a complete sentence, and so, it's a dependent clause.

  • And the entire sentence is a complex sentence.

  • Here's another example: Synonyms are words that have similar meanings.

  • Here, “that have similar meaningsis the relative clause.

  • And one last example: The boss wants me to give a speech at the event, which is tomorrow.

  • Here, “which is tomorrowis the relative clause.

  • Now, I'm not going to go into detail on relative clauses here because they're a big topic,

  • and we'll have to explore them in a different lesson.

  • But for now, just remember that relative clauses can also be part of a complex sentence.

  • OK, I have another exercise for you.

  • You see six items on the screen.

  • In each one, I want you to combine the simple sentences into one complex sentence.

  • Use the word in the parentheses to do this.

  • Stop the video now, try the exercise, then play the video again and continue.

  • Now, there are different ways to rewrite each sentence.

  • I'll give you my answers.

  • Here's how I wrote the first one: People eat a lot of fast food nowadays even though they

  • know it's bad for their health.

  • Number two: You can't borrow any books from the library unless you have a membership.

  • Number three: She couldn't log in to her Gmail account because she had forgotten her password.

  • Four: Harvey was a vegetarian until he married Susie.

  • Now, this sentence is much shorter than the original two sentences, but it has the same

  • meaning.

  • Number five: The man who lives in that house is a millionaire.

  • And finally, number six: Children shouldn't be allowed to play video games that contain

  • violence.