Complex sentence

In grammar, a complex sentence is a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. A complex sentence is often used to make clear which ideas are most important, and which ideas are subordinate.

Examples

• " I ate the meal that you cooked." In this example, "I ate the meal" is an independent clause, while "that you cooked" is a relative clause. The independent clause could stand alone as a simple sentence without the relative clause.
• "I enjoyed the apple pie that you bought for me." Here, "I enjoyed the apple pie" is an independent clause and "that you bought for me" is a relative clause.
• "I ate breakfast before I went to work." This has "I ate breakfast" as an independent clause, and "before I went to work" as a dependent clause.

Examples of sentences that have more than one clause but are not complex sentences include the following:

• "I was scared, but I didn't run away." Both of these clauses are independent in this compound sentence but it is not a complex sentence.
• "The dog that you gave me barked at me, and it bit my hand." Here a compound-complex sentence has two independent clauses ("The dog barked at me" and "It bit my hand") and one dependent clause ["that you gave me"].

External links

• Ryan Weber, Allen Brizee. "Sentence Types" Purdue Online Writing Lab
• The Structure of a Sentence
• Complex Sentences: Subordinate Clauses as Adverb Clauses
• The Complex Sentence for Russian + Examples