Study of Complex Sentence

SANSKRATI JAIN
Programme: B.A. LL.B (Hons.)
Subject: English
Semester: I
Roll No. :BALLB/116/20
Supervisor
Dr. Vimal Kumar Vishwakarma
Assistant Professor of English

DHARMASHASTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Jabalpur
December 14, 2020
 Abstract

This project is an attempt to examine and research about complex sentences its structure and
parts and its usage. It tries to throw light on parts of complex sentence in particular. As complex
sentences are a bit lengthier and not easy to comprehend, require a little practice before use. So,
it tries to make the comprehension and understanding it easier.

Moreover, it aims to shed light on parts of complex sentences. It also compared and facilitated us
to identify among three types of sentences. It also intends contribute towards enrichment of my
knowledge and researching skills.

The project first throws light on brief outline of project and then introduces sentence and its
types and briefly discusses them. A short definition of complex sentence and other sentences has
been given. Then complex sentence has been discussed in detail and parts have been elaborated.
Some sentences from literature have been quoted. A comparative study among sentences has
been done and on various aspects has been distinguished. Then a conclusion of project has been
prepared and written down in the project.
 Acknowledgements

The completion of this project required counselling and assistance from many people and I’m
really thankful towards them for their counselling in my project.

I would like to express my deep gratitude towards my teacher asst. Professor,Dr. Vimal K.
Vishwakarmawho took acute interest in my project and guided me all along. I’m feeling
extremely privilege to have her as my instructor in the project. I owe my deep gratitude to the
vice-chancellor Prof. Balraj Chauhan for his valuable support throughout the project. This
project helped me in gathering a lot of knowledge and becoming more aware of things related to
my topic.

I would like to extend my gratefulness to my parents and friends for their valuable support and
advice.

I am making this project not only to get but also to enhance my knowledge. At the end I would
like thank everyone who helped me and invested their valuable time for this project.

Sanskrati Jain
 Table ofContents

S.R.No. Name of the Topic

1. Abstract
2. Acknowledgement

Introduction
3.  Sentences
 Types of sentences

Complex sentences : Overall analysis

 Definition and explanation
 Parts of complex sentences
 Independent clause
4.
 Dependent clause
 Subordinating conjunction
 Complex sentences from
literature

Simple vs. Compound vs. Complex

Sentences
5.
 Simple vs. Complex
 Compound vs. Complex

6. Conclusion
7. References
 Introduction
Learning a language is not easy. It includes learning its four basic skills, namely listening,
reading, speaking and writing, and three elements, namely pronunciation, grammar structure and
vocabulary. Grammar, specifically, is one of the most important elements to learn in order to be
fluent in the four basic language skills mentioned previously. Emphasizing the importance of
grammar, Radford (1990) stated that “a grammar of a particular language will take the familiar
form of a set of rules or principles which tells how to speak and understand the language” (p. 2).
In other words, it is about principles specifying how to form, pronounce, and interpret phrases
and sentences.

The linguistic study of a language involves the discovery of the facts and principles that
determine the structure of the sentences of that language. One who undertakes this venture often
finds that the more one digs the more there is more to dig for language is among human
institutions one of the most mysterious. The discoveries of the mysteries that go to make a
language are a creative enterprise in its own right.

Sentences form a very important part of

language and grammar. A sentence is the
largest unit of any language. In English, it
begins with a capital letter and ends with
a full-stop, or a question mark, or
an exclamation mark. “The sentence is
generally defined as a word or a group of
words that expresses a thorough idea by
giving a statement/order, or asking a
question, or exclaiming”.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary a sentence is “a word, clause, or phrase or a group of

clauses or phrases forming a syntactic unit which expresses an assertion, a question, a
command, a wish, an exclamation, or the performance of an action, that in writing usually
begins with a capital letter and concludes with appropriate end punctuation, and that in
speaking is distinguished by characteristic patterns of stress, pitch, and pauses”

Structurally, sentences are of three types:

 Simple sentence

 Compound sentence

 Complex sentence
  Simple sentence

A simple sentence must have a single clause (a

single verb) which is independent, and it cannot
take another clause.

For Example:

I always wanted to become a writer. (One

clause – one verb)

 Compound sentence

A compound sentence must have more than one

independent clause with no dependent clauses.
Some specific conjunctions, punctuation, or
both are used to join together these clauses.

For Example:

I always wanted to become a writer, and she

wanted to become a doctor. (Two independent
clauses – two verbs)

 Complex sentence

A complex sentence also has more than one clause but of one them must be an independent
clause and the other/others must be (a) dependent clause (es). There are also some particular
connectors for the clauses of a complex sentence to be connected. For Example:

I know that you always wanted to be a writer. (Here, a dependent clause is followed by a
connector and an independent clause. The other way around is also possible.)

Complex Sentences: Overall Analysis

They have “complex” right in their name, but
forming complex sentences isn’t as hard as it
sounds. Complex sentences vary your sentence
style and length, making your writing more
interesting for readers. Complex sentences can be
deciphered by understanding its definitions and
parts in particular.
Complex sentences contain an independent
clause and at least one dependent clause
(sometimes called a subordinate clause). Unlike
compound sentences, which connect two
independent clauses, at least half of a complex
sentence can’t stand alone as its own complete
thought.

According to Lexico a complex sentence is “A

sentence containing a subordinate clause or
clauses.” A complex sentence is a sentence that
contains one independent and at least one
dependent clause (sometimes called a
subordinate clause). And according to
dictionary.com “complex sentence is one that
contains one or more dependent clauses in
addition to the main clause”

Parts of complex sentence

We have mentioned several times that a complex sentence contains an independent clause and at
least one dependent clause. But what are clauses in a sentence? And why are they important in
grammar? Along with it complex sentences contains subordinating conjunctions.

 Independent Clause

The independent clause in a complex

sentence contains a subject and a verb. It can
stand by itself without additional parts of a
sentence. Examples of independent clauses
would be:

 Dinner was very tasty.

 She returned the earrings.
 John didn’t buy coffee.

You get the general idea of what is happening in each sentence. However, they aren’t very
interesting by themselves. They need a bit more detail to engage the reader.

 Dependent Clause
Dependent clauses, also known as subordinate clauses, are incomplete thoughts. They provide
more details to a sentence but can’t stand alone as their own sentences. Some examples of
dependent clauses include:

 Because Mateo is a wonderful cook

 After noticing they were scratched

 When he realized he had no money

These clauses contain interesting details, but without the context of an independent clause,
they don’t make much sense. Complex sentences can have one or more dependent clauses
joined by subordinate conjunctions.

 Subordinate Conjunctions

Conjunctions are connecting words between two clauses, phrases, or words. Subordinating
conjunctions join independent clauses to dependent clauses. They establish relationships between
these clauses, such
as time, place, purpose, conditio
n, or cause.

Some examples of subordinating

conjunctions include:

After, although, as, because,

before, even though, now that,
though, unless, when, where,
while, etc.

We have been taught that you can’t start sentences with these words. That’s true if we are trying
to make a dependent clause work as a complete sentence. However, if we’re writing a complex
sentence that ends with an independent clause, we can start sentences with because, unless,
while, after, or any other subordinating conjunction.

Complex Sentences from Literature

Below are some quotes from those classic books that can be considered complex sentences:

 “Because he was so small, Stuart was often hard to find around the hou”
E.B White – Stuart Little

 “I’ve never any pity for conceited people, because I think they carry their comfort about
with them.”
George Eliot – The Mill on the Floss
  “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
John Steinbeck — East of Eden

Simple vs. Compound vs. Complex Sentences

 Simple vs. Complex Sentences

 A simple sentence has only the most elemental building blocks of a sentence: a subject
and a verb used in a complete thought, also
called an independent clause.

Here are some examples of simple sentences:

 Kristina drank her morning coffee.

(Kristina = subject, drank = verb)

 Kristina showered and dressed.

(Kristina = subject, showered and dressed =
compound verbs)

Simple sentences are usually short. You may use

compound subjects and verbs to add length, but for
the most part, using too many simple sentences
makes your writing choppy.

 A complex sentence uses an independent clause combined with one or more dependent
clauses. A dependent clause is similar to an independent clause, but it can’t stand on its
own as a complete sentence. Complex sentences use conjunctions to tie them together,
too.

Example:

 Because she woke up late when her alarm malfunctioned, Kristina missed her morning
train. The dependent clauses can also fall at the end of an independent clause as in these
examples:

 Kristina missed her morning train because she woke up late when her alarm
malfunctioned.

Here’s a complex sentence with two compound independent clauses and one dependent
clause:

 Kristina missed her morning train, and as she watched it pull out of the station, she
realized she would be late for work yet again.
  Compound vs. ComplexSentences

It’s easy to mix up compound and complex sentences, but the difference is easier than you
think. You can tell these sentences apart with these definitions:

 Complex sentences – Independent

clause and dependent clause(s)
connected with a subordinating
conjunction.

 Compound sentences – Two

independent clauses connected
with a coordinating
conjunction (FANBOYS: for, and,
nor, but, or, yet, so).

You can also remember the difference by looking at each clause. Does each clause provide
equally important information, or is one clause more important than the other? For example:

 Jessica loves the beach, and she also loves the mountains. (Compound)

 Jessica loves the beach because the weather is warm. (Complex)

Jessica loves the beach and the mountains equally in the compound sentence. The dependent
clause in the complex sentence only explains why she loves the beach; it’s not a new idea.
Here’s an example of compound and complex sentences that use the same conjunction in
different ways:

 We decided to buy a
car, so we went to the
dealership.
(Compound)

 We decided to buy a
car so we can travel
more easily. (Complex)

This is a tricky one

because so is a
coordinating conjunction in
the first sentence and a subordinating conjunction in the second sentence. But the first
sentence puts the speaker in a new place (the dealership) while the complex sentence simply
explains why they want to buy a car.
 Conclusion

At last I have completed my English language project successfully. I have learned many new
things and facts. I had fully understood and discovered about the complex sentences and its
usage. I got access some articles related to the theme. The theme ix complex sentence and its
usage and I got various articles based on the topic from various sources such as from online
articles.

Based on this assignment I had learned all important points to gain information from various
sources in order to apply the knowledge into my assignment task. The knowledge that I had
gain is a new thing for me so; I will make sure I use that knowledge in best possible way and
further enhance it. Besides that the experience that I had gained is from my own hard work
so, it is impossible to forget them.

Above all this project presented a systematic description of complex sentences it’s usage with
examples, graphs and pictures in English. Its primary objective was to explore the nature of
sentence complexity in English and to examine the structure of the complex sentence. After
completing this project I can say that complex sentences are not complex in understanding as
the name suggests or it seems to be.

Complex sentences are used lesser in writing and speaking as they are longer than usual
sentences and requires more theoretical knowledge before their usage. But they have a huge
scope to be studied and analysed and can be used impeccably with little practice and analysis.
Lastly, I am proud of myself to finally learn a new thing in my life regarding the complex
sentence and its usage.
 References

 https://www.researchgate.net/

 https://prowritingaid.com/

 https://www.slideshare.net/

 https://isme-special.blogspot.com/

 https://spcollege.libguides.com/

 https://www.dictionary.com/

 https://www.lexico.com/

 https://www.thoughtco.com

 https://7esl.com/