Question #cb7bf
2 Answers
It’s slightly complicated....
Explanation:
An independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence and makes clear sense, for example “the cat sat on the mat”.
However a dependent clause requires and independent clause to make sense for example, “the cat sat on the mat, it was very tired”.
A simple sentence is a sentence with only one independent clause, a compound sentence is a sentence with more than one clause of any type, usually linked together with a connective/conjunction.
A compound complex sentence has 1 or more dependent clause and 2 or more independent clauses such as:
“Though Mitchell prefers watching romantic films, he rented the latest spy thriller, and he enjoyed it very much.”
Credit to https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/writingcenter/handouts/grammar/compoundcomplex.pdf for the final example. This is a good resource if you wish to expand further upon this topic.
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
An independent clause is a complete thought (a complete sentence).
A dependent clause is an incomplete thought (not a complete sentence) that can't stand on its own.
Explanation:
Example independent clauses:
-- Victor likes the soup.
-- The silence was embarrassing.
Example dependent clauses:
-- his mother made
-- that followed my joke
A dependent clause needs to be paired with an independent clause to form a complete thought. Examples:
-- Victor likes the soup his mother made.
-- The silence that followed my joke was embarrassing.
A simple sentence is a sentence consisting of one independent clause that expresses a complete thought. Examples:
-- Victor likes the soup.
-- The silence was embarrassing.
A compound sentence is a sentence with at least two independent clauses, usually joined by a conjunction, a comma, or a semi-colon. Examples:
-- Victor likes the soup and I like the muffins.
-- The silence was embarrassing, so I smiled and thanked everyone.
A complex sentence is a sentence with at least one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. Examples:
-- Victor likes the soup his mother made.
-- The silence that followed my joke was embarrassing.
A compound-complex sentence is a sentence with two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. Examples:
-- Victor likes the soup his mother made and I like her homemade muffins.
-- The silence that followed my joke was embarrassing, so I smiled and thanked everyone.
