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 Foreign Language
Success Strategies
 First Edition, Volume I: August 2006  

Part II- English Language Grammar Primer & Exercises

Complex sentences are made up of one independent clause and at least one dependent or subordinate clause. A dependent clause functions as a noun, adjective, or an adverb in a sentence and cannot be separated from its subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun, nor can it stand alone as a sentence. For example: “Before Billy left home.” Kind of leaves you wanting more, doesn’t it? If you try to separate this conjunction/pronoun from the clause, you will find you either can’t do it at all, or the sentence will change meaning, or even become totally senseless. We can call these “disequalizing” conjunctions.

Examples:

although:

because:

that:

while:

unless


  

Although you like tea, I like coffee.

Because you like tea, I like coffee.

It was of little concern to her that he like tea.

I was writing my homework while you were fooling around.

My brother won’t marry any girl unless she is very rich.
Compound complex sentences contain two independent clauses and one dependent clause.

Examples:
They know how to conjugate verbs, but they don’t know how to
conjugate verbs where they should.

I like football although my friend likes basketball, but we both like swimming.

Practically every foreign language allows for ways to create compound and complex sentences. Using this remarkably effective tool will allow you to begin to quickly create more advanced types of sentences in your target language, and better analyze your target language to find Essential Elements of Information (EEI).

TYPES OF CONJUNCTIONS

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