Day 58 – compound and complex sentences
- An independent clause is a group of words that express a complete thought. A simple sentence is an independent clause.
- I like pizza
- That phrase can stand independently on its own. It’s an independent clause.
- A dependent clause is a group of words that cannot stand on its own. It may have a subject and a verb, but it depends on another clause to make a complete sentence.
- When you get home
- That clause does not stand on its own. It’s missing something. It needs an independent clause to come along aside it to turn it into a complete sentence.
- A compound sentence is when two independent clauses are joined together with a conjunction. A comma is usually placed before the conjunction.
- I like pizza, but I also like chicken noodle soup.
- Would you like pizza, or would you like soup?
- Each half of the sentence is an independent clause. “I like pizza” stands on its own independently, and “I also like chicken noodle soup” stands on its own independently.
- A complex sentence is when a dependent and independent clause are combined into a sentence.
- If you come now, you’ll be able to see it.
- I don’t want to because I don’t like that.
- In the examples, I underlined the independent clauses and put the dependent clauses in italics.
- Read each clause and make sure you can recognize that it can stand on its own (independent) or that it can’t stand on its own (dependent).