Complex Sentence

A Complex sentence consists of a main clause (i.e. the clause containing (he verb of the sentence) with one or more subordinate or dependent clauses.

Complex A merchant, who had much property to sell,

caused all his goods

to be conveyed on camels, as there was no railway

in that country.

Simple A merchant, having much property to sell, caused all his goods

to be conveyed on camels, there being no railway in that country.

The two sentences mean precisely the same thing, and both have a Finite verb in common, “caused”. But in other respects they are very different. In the latter there is but one Finite verb, “caused”, and therefore the sentence is Simple. In the former, besides the Finite verb “caused”, there are two more Finite verbs, “had” and “was”, and therefore the sentence must be either Complex or Double, Which is it?

It is not Double, but Complex, because – (1) the clause “who had much property to sell” is connected with the noun “merchant”, which it qualifies as an adjective would do; and (2) the clause “as there was no railway in that country” is connected with the verb “caused”, which it qualifies as an adverb would do. Neither of these clauses can stand alone. So there is one Main or Containing clause and two Subordinate or Contained clauses.

There are three kinds of Subordinate clauses – the Noun-clause, the Adjective-clause, and the Adverb-clause; and these are defined as follows:

I. A Noun-clause is one which does (he work of a noun in relation to some word in some other clause.

II. An Adjective-clause is one which does the work of an adjective in relation to some word in some other clause.

III. An Adverb-clause is one which does the work of an adverb in relation to some word in some other clause.

Note. – The same clause may be a Noun-clause in one context, an Adjective-clause in another, and an Adverb-clause in another.

Where Moses was buried is still unknown.

- Noun-clause, subject to the verb “is”.

No one has seen the place where Moses was buried.

- Adjective-clause, qualifying the noun “place”.

Without knowing it the Arabs encamped where Moses was buried.

- Adverb-clause qualifying the verb “encamped”.