What is a complex sentence?
• Concept module: complex sentence • In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): C • In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor) • In bookshelf: Linguistics This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.
A complex sentence is one in English in which includes, at minimum, one dependent clause and one independent clause. The dependent clause, which is also known as a subordinate clause, is connected by either a relative pronoun or a subordinate conjunction. The complex sentence can be contrasted with a simple sentence, which has no dependent clause. Other types of sentences include the compound sentence, which need to have at least two independent clauses, and the complex-compound sentence, which need to have at least two independent clauses, and at least one dependent clause.
