Complex Sentences

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.[1] 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"]. A complex sentence is made from an independent clause and a dependent clause joined together. Some examples: After I came home, I made dinner. (dependent clause: "After I came home") (indpendent clause: I made dinner) We visited the museum before it closed. (dependent clause: before it closed.) (independent clause: We visited the museum) Complex sentences are often formed by putting these words at the beginning of the dependent clause: as, as if, before, after, because, though, even though, while, when, whenever, if, during, as soon as, as long as, since, until, unless, where, and wherever. These words are called subordinating conjunctions. I jumped when he popped the balloon. I jumped is the main clause. It could stand alone as a sentence. When he popped the balloon cannot stand alone. It is the dependent clause. Notice that the clauses are connected with a dotted line.