ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Writing Elements and Process Videos 47 videos
Choosing a topic can be extremely difficult—even more difficult than deciding which Ben & Jerry's flavor to try next. No, scratch that. Nothing w...
No busque una palabra negativa. Sino una palabra que pueda ser positiva. Tales son "no se caiga", " no molestes a tus maestros" "no se coma toda...
Reading repetitive essays can bore teachers to death because the essays repeat the same ideas repetitively. You don’t want your teacher to get bo...
Compound Sentences vs. Complex Sentences 9233 Views
Share It!
Description:
Want more deets on Compound Sentences vs. Complex Sentences? Take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.
Transcript
- 00:04
Compound vs Complex Sentences¸ a la Shmoop As is the case with Christmas, compound and
- 00:10
complex sentences always start with… clauses. [Santa Claus in a couples house]
- 00:13
Either independent… or dependent. [Another Santa Claus gets stuck down the chimney]
- 00:16
Independent clauses stand on their own.
- 00:18
They’ve got a subject and a verb and ain’t nobody gonna hold them down. [Presents under the tree]
Full Transcript
- 00:22
They can be as simple as “I do” and as complicated as “I suppose I shall marry
- 00:27
you despite my serious reservations.” [Woman looks unimpressed at wedding]
- 00:31
Then there are dependent clauses.
- 00:33
You can’t leave them alone for a minute. [Baby crying in a cot]
- 00:35
If we stick a period at the end of one and read it like an independent clause, it sounds [Mother puts a dummy in the babies mouth]
- 00:39
uncomfortable.
- 00:40
Kinda needy.
- 00:41
Here are some examples:
- 00:43
Although he looked like that guy from Twilight.
- 00:46
Which I found ridiculous.
- 00:48
How he made friends.
- 00:49
All right…now onto the meat of the lesson: compound vs complex sentences. [Two boxing gloves touch with compound and complex sentences written on them]
- 00:53
A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined together in holy matrimony…er,
- 00:58
in one sentence.
- 00:59
That’s two fully independent clauses with their own subject and verb. [Independent clauses held together with a wedding ring]
- 01:03
They’re brought together with a connector called a FANBOYS coordinator: for, and, nor,
- 01:08
but, or, yet, so.
- 01:10
So let’s throw some independent clauses together and see what happens.
- 01:14
Maddie likes to play video games all day.
- 01:16
Sam likes to be her cheerleader.
- 01:19
Both independent, both can stand alone.
- 01:21
And to make a compound sentence, let’s insert one of the FANBOYS. [Girl playing a toy guitar]
- 01:25
Maddie likes to play video games all day, and Sam likes to be her cheerleader.
- 01:29
And a few more, just to get the idea: [Sam holding pom poms]
- 01:32
Sam and Maddie have been dating for eight months, but things are getting tense. [Sam eats the last piece of sushi]
- 01:37
Maddie doesn’t want to date Sam anymore, for he’s starting to annoy her.
- 01:42
Sam finds out that Maddie wants to break up so he breaks up with her first to save face. [Sam looks upset]
- 01:48
Now, complex sentences only have one independent clause, but then they have one or more dependent
- 01:54
clauses attached.
- 01:56
There are two ways to attach a dependent clause to an independent clause – a subordinator
- 02:00
or a relative pronoun.
- 02:02
A subordinator is a word that subordinates – it makes a clause dependent on another.
- 02:08
Like because, after, although, and when.
- 02:12
Maddie was happy to be free of Sam, although she did occasionally miss the encouragement. [Maddie looks upset as she's playing her guitar game]
- 02:18
After the break up, Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home
- 02:22
dad blogger. [Sam sat at a computer]
- 02:23
Relative pronouns describe something with the help of words like that, who, and which.
- 02:28
Here’s a complex sentence using a relative pronoun:
- 02:30
Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home dad blogger who was also devastatingly [Worlds best dad blogger mug]
- 02:36
handsome. [Sam's smile sparkles]
- 02:37
But why stop there?
- 02:38
How about a complex sentence with a subordinator and a relative pronoun?
- 02:41
After Maddie broke up with him, Sam went on to become a wildly successful stay-at-home [Sam crying]
- 02:45
dad blogger who was also devastatingly handsome.
- 02:50
Compound and complex sentences seem complicated, but they’re all made up of smaller parts.
- 02:55
Compound – two independent clauses tied together with FANBOYS.
- 02:59
Complex – an independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses, tied together using
- 03:03
subordinators or relative pronouns.
- 03:06
Simple enough.
- 03:07
Like not saying anything stupid at your wedding… [Sam looks annoyed at the wedding]
Related Videos
This video defines a primary source and what makes it different from a secondary source. What counts as original material? And where can we find th...
Want even more deets on wordiness? Click here to review. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.
Want even more deets on tenses? Click here to review. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.
Want even more deets on semicolons? Click here to review. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.
Asking questions can help spice up an essay. Just make sure you don't get too spicy and forget to answer those questions. You don't want to leave y...