1. Compound & Complex Sentences

2. Compound Sentences
Two sentences joined together with a comma AND a conjunction.
The most common conjunctions you’ll use are: and, but, or, so

3. Compound Sentences (continued)
whole sentence + comma + and/but/or/so + whole sentence
Example: She gave the students notes, and the students copied them.

4. Another way to write compound sentences:
Instead of using a comma AND conjunction, you may use a semicolon, which looks like ;
EX: She gave the students notes; the students copied them.

5. Compound Sentence No-No’s:
These common mistakes result in runons:
Putting more than two sentences together
Putting two sentences together with a comma but not a conjunction
Putting two sentences together with a conjunction but not a comma

6. Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is made up of an independent and a subordinate clause.
An independent clause is a sentence all by itself. EX: The little dog barked.
A subordinate clause is a group of words that would be a sentence by itself IF you covered up the first word of the clause. EX: When the girl screamed

7. Complex Sentences (continued)
Those words (that could be covered up to get a complete sentence) are called subordinate conjunctions.
Look for the following words to see if the words that follow make up a subordinate clause:
Since
Because
Although As
With
While
Until
After
Before
During If
Unless
When

8. Two Ways to Write Complex Sentences
Subordinate Clause + Comma + Independent Clause EX: When the girl screamed, the little dog barked.
Independent Clause + Subordinate Clause
EX: The little dog barked when the girl screamed.
(This way does not have a comma. You would not pause in the middle when reading this sentence.)

9. Suggestions for Finding Complex Sentences
Look in the middle for a comma. If there IS a comma, look at the beginning for one of those words to cover up. If you can cover the first word up and have a sentence up to the comma, it’s complex.
EX: When the girl screamed, the little dog barked.
If there’s no comma in the middle, look n the middle of the sentence for the word to cover up (which is the subordinate conjunction.) If you find one, and the second half of the sentence is a whole sentence by itself, it’s complex.
EX: The little dog barked when the girl screamed.