Complex Sentences

Complex Sentences :


The simple sentence may be made complex by means of a subordinate clause used as a modifier.

The polar bear, which lives in the Arctic regions, sometimes reaches temperate latitudes.

The polar bear sometimes reaches temperate latitudes when the ice drifts southward.

In the first example, the simple subject (bear), besides its two adjective modifiers (the and polar), takes a third, the adjective clause which lives in the Arctic regions. The sentence, then, is complex: the main clause is the polar bear sometimes reaches temperate latitudes; the subordinate clause is which lives in the Arctic regions.

The second sentence is also complex. The main clause is the same as in the first (the polar bear sometimes reaches temperate latitudes). The subordinate clause is when the ice drifts southward, an adverbial modifier of the predicate verb reaches.

Complex Sentences :

Grammar Index


Complex Sentences To HOME PAGE