Simple, Compound and Complex sentences

By TusharChavan

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Simple, Compound and Complex sentences depend on cluases.

Clauses are of two types-

1. Principal clause (Independent clause)

2. Sub- ordinate clause (Dependant clause)

e.g.

He has a chain which is made of gold.

(The underlined clause is Sub-ordinate clause, and the remaining one is Principal clause.)

According to clauses, there are three kinds of sentences. They are Simple, Compound and Complex sentences.

Let’s see each one in details-

1) Simple sentence-

A simple sentence contains one independent clause, which means it has a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.

e.g.

1) He works hard.

2) The cat sleeps.

Explanation-

The cat sleeps. (Simple Sentence)

This is a simple sentence because it consists of only one independent clause: The cat (subject) + sleeps (predicate).

Features of simple sentence-

a) Only one clause- एकच क्लॉज असतो.
b) Only one finite verb- एकच क्रियापद असते.
c) No sub-ordinate clause- अवलंबून असलेला क्लॉज नसतो.

e.g.
i) Ram plays cricket.
ii) They worked hard.

2) Compound sentence-

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses (principal clauses) joined by coordinating conjunctions (such as and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) or by a semicolon.

e.g.

1) The cat sleeps, and the dog barks.

2) The cat sleeps; the dog barks.

3) He works hard and becomes rich.

Explanation-

The cat sleeps, and the dog barks. (Compound Sentence)

This is a compound sentence because it contains two independent clauses:

i) The cat sleeps.

ii) The dog barks.

They are joined by the coordinating conjunction ‘and’.

The cat sleeps; the dog barks. (Compound Sentence)

This is also a compound sentence, but the independent clauses are joined by a semicolon instead of a coordinating conjunction.

Features of compound sentence-

a) More than one clause- एकापेक्षा जास्त क्लॉज असतात.
b) All are main clauses- सर्व मुख्य क्लॉज असतात.
c) Clauses are joined by coordinating conjunctions- क्लॉज उभयान्वयी अव्ययाने जोडले जातात.

e.g.
i) Ram plays cricket and he goes home.
ii) They worked hard so became rich.

3) Complex sentence-

A complex sentence contains one independent clause (principal clause) and at least one dependent clause. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.

e.g.

1) While the cat sleeps, the dog barks.

2) When he works hard, he becomes rich.

Explanation-

While the cat sleeps, the dog barks. (Complex Sentence)

This is a complex sentence because it contains one independent clause (the dog barks) and one dependent clause (While the cat sleeps).

The dependent clause ‘While the cat sleeps’ cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. It depends on the independent clause to complete its meaning.

Features of complex sentence-

a) One main clause- एक मुख्य क्लॉज असतो.
b) One or more sub-ordinate clauses- एकापेक्षा जास्त अवलंबून असलेले क्लॉज असतात.
c) Clauses are joined by subordinating conjunctions- क्लॉज उभयान्वयी अव्ययाने जोडले जातात.

e.g.
i) When Ram plays cricket, I go home.
ii) If they worked hard, they became rich.

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