Compound-complex sentences | Syntax | Khan Academy

Hello Garans, hello Rosie, hi Paige. So in this video, we're going to talk about compound complex sentences. We just covered complex sentences in the last video, which is where you've got a simple sentence or one independent clause, and then that's accompanied by at least one dependent clause.

So the compound complex sentence is a little bit different. In this one, you have a compound sentence, which is more than one independent clause and also at least one dependent clause. Okay, so it's like there's compound and there's complex, and this is a combination of both of them. That's right, right?

Okay, so compound complex takes the more than one independent clause from a compound sentence and the dependent clause, or more than one from a complex sentence, and puts them together. So you have at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. I say at least because you can have more than one or more than two of either of those, but it has to be at least that, right?

So Rosie, just to make sure this all makes sense, can we get an example of a compound complex sentence?

"After the storm passed, I went outside and I picked flowers."

That's lovely! Isn't that nice? Okay, so "I went outside" and "I picked flowers" are both independent clauses. Ignoring "After the storm passed," if we just had "I went outside and I picked flowers," that's a compound sentence; that's two independent clauses. So then we add "After the storm passed," which is a dependent clause, and that makes it compound complex. We have at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, so in this case, exactly two and exactly one.

Rosie, can you tell me about your friend Alberto in a compound complex sentence, please?

"Sure! My friend Alberto—well, you'll see—though he has a crippling walnut allergy, Alberto bravely walked through the walnut grove, but he made sure to wear long sleeves."

That's a good call! Yeah, he's smart! Yeah, smart kid. So again, if we just say "Alberto bravely walked through the walnut grove but he made sure to wear long sleeves," that's a compound sentence. There's two independent clauses. "Alberto bravely walked through the walnut grove" is one, and then the second one is "but he made sure to wear long sleeves." But then again, we add a dependent clause at the beginning, "though he has a crippling walnut allergy." That is what makes it compound complex. It has elements of compound—the two independent clauses—and it has an element of complex—the dependent clause.

But Rosie, these are both the minimum number; these sentences both have the minimum number of each independent and dependent clauses. So can we see something maybe that has like more clauses?

Yeah, sure! Well, let's take a look at this first sentence. We have, uh, I think we can add a dependent clause. Let's give it a try: "After the storm passed, I went outside and I picked flowers because they were beautiful."

Okay, I see. Right, so this is a case where we see we can have more than one dependent clause if we want to, right?

I know I keep saying this, but like two independent clauses and one dependent clause are the minimum for a compound complex sentence. It can have more, and it still qualifies as compound complex.

So that's compound complex sentences! They are like compound in that they have more than one independent clause, and they're like complex in that they also have dependent clauses.

You can learn anything. Paige out. Rosie out.