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Similar to a Compound Sentence .


EXAMPLES

  • When I saw what you have done, I was happy.

    • Two dependent clauses and one independent.


  • That you love me makes me happy.

    • A complex sentence with a sub-clause functioning as a subject.


  • It makes me happy that you love me.

    • A Clefted complex sentence with a sub-clause indicating what the Dummy Pronoun "It" refers to.


  • The book is where you have put it.

    • A complex sentence with a sub-clause functioning as subject complement. "Be" is a Copula Verb ; it links the sub-clause to the subject.



CONTRAST

  • I ate the meal which you cooked.

    • ''I ate the meal'' is an independent clause and ''which you cooked'' is Relative Clause . A sentence with a relative clause, a clause that has no function but describes its noun phrase, does not fufill the dependent clause requirement of a complex sentence. A sentence is complex only when it contains a Subordinate Clause which fulfills a syntactic function within the sentence. In the first example above, the sub-clause ''When I saw what you had done'' is Adverb ial; it has a temporal meaning. The sub-clause ''what you had done'' is embedded in the first sub-clause and functions as Direct Object for the Transitive Verb "to see".


  • I was scared, but I didn't run away.

    • Both clauses are independent. Therefore, this is a Compound Sentence but not a complex sentence.