Grammer~ Complex Sentences

Rachel, 

This is a complicated topic, so I will try to explain it as simply as possible.

We have three rough categories of sentences: simple, compound and complex.

Simple sentences are usually short and contain only a subject and a predicate.

The cow jumped over the moon.

('The cow' is the subject and 'jumped over the moon' is the predicate.)

Compound sentences are sentences made by joining two complete thoughts or two ideas that could be individual sentences.

So, if we choose two simple sentences:

The cow jumped over the moon.

The dish ran away with the spoon.

We can combine them into a compound sentence using a comma plus 'and', 'but', 'for', 'so', etc..  You could also use a semi-colon (;), but never just a comma.  For example:

The cow jumped over the moon, and the dish ran away with the spoon.

Complex sentences combine complete thoughts (simple sentences) with phrases (clauses) that add information or details. You usually use special words to add these clauses to sentences.  Words often used are: 'although', 'though', 'despite', etc. and 'who', 'when', 'which', etc.

For example:

Despite her greatest fears, the cow jumped over the moon.

The cow, who had jumped over the moon, was sad to learn that the dish ran away with the spoon.

Although the cow was his friend, the dish still ran away with the spoon.

I hope this helps.

Kim