English Stack Exchange
English Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [complex-sentences]

A complex sentence is a combination of an independent and a dependent clause.

A complex sentence is a combination of an independent and a dependent clause.
The following are examples of complex sentences.

When we heard how much the repair would cost, we decided to get a new TV set.
We finally decided to get a new set, although we could not really afford it.

174 questions
5
votes
2 answers

Is "a topic about which I could talk for hours" correct?

I'm a little bit confused whether the following sentence is correct or not. It is a subject about which I could talk for hours. As far as I'm concerned with English grammar it should be correct but the part about which just doesn't sound good to…
Petrroll
  • 206
2
votes
2 answers

How to handle verbs that use different preposition when used in pairs

For example the sentence I will widen my perspective and approach to complex interdisciplinary research should it be? perspective of and approach to If this is the correct way, is there a better construction that flows better? At least to…
Herman Toothrot
  • 305
2
votes
2 answers

Complex sentence whose subject is a clause

In Thomas Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Compsition he says: A complex sentence whose subject or predicate only is a clause, need not be separated into principal and subordinate clauses in analysis. Later in the section he gives the example,…
QMord
  • 264
2
votes
2 answers

What the role of this word (available)

I have a sentence. I looked up the word "available" . It is ADJ. So this sentence below have structure : be + adj + N + adj (isn't sufficient detail available) "There isn't sufficient detail available for all sectors to make a fair…
BinhPHT
  • 45
2
votes
1 answer

Is this sentence a run-on sentence?

The milk having soured, Martha drank her coffee black. Is this sentence a run-on sentence, or is it an (grammatically) acceptable sentence?
apaderno
  • 59,185
0
votes
1 answer

What do "it" and "which" refer to in this complex sentence?

Likewise, President Joe Biden’s administration should aim to target NASA’s efforts at the things only it can bring about and for which there is not already a market: high-risk scientific research. This sentence is from here. My questions: What…
Kevin
  • 111
0
votes
1 answer

what does "The investment we brought up to have" mean

I am translating a book called Missing Out (https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Missing_Out/6sgL6iqrHZUC?hl=en&gbpv=0) the book is about psychoanalysis and philosophy which is written not in direct and fluent language. in one of the sentences you…
Mey
  • 149
0
votes
0 answers

Simple or Complex Sentence?

I have a few short sentences here: "I might eat some food." and "I like to eat food." In traditional grammar, it seems like these would be simple sentences. But are they actually complex sentences because there is some sort of infinitival…
Ken Bill
  • 11
  • 4
0
votes
0 answers

How is this sentence with "how" constructed?

If you have a sentence with a noun clause using "how," like this sentence "I didn't know how tall he was." Would the dependent clause just have a state of being verb, or would saying "how tall make it a linking verb? Another sentence,"I knew that…
Seeker
  • 83
0
votes
0 answers

Confused about a complex sentence

In John Seely's Oxford A–Z of grammar and punctuation, he gave the following sentence as an example of a complex sentence: She told him that she did not play again for over a week. 'She told him' is the main clause and 'she did not play again for…
anotherone
  • 101
0
votes
1 answer

Is there an inversion in the sentence?

The following sentence is quoted from the preface of this book. Insisting on the subtle aspects and developments of no-arbitrage theory more than is necessary would take space from the other theory we need to address in the book and that is…
newbie
  • 103
0
votes
1 answer

Is "He then moved to Y and started Z University's W program, from which he graduated ..." correct?

He then moved to New Haven and started Yale University's Environmental and Natural Resource Economics program, from which he graduated earning his Master of Philosophy degree in 2010. Is the above sentence correct? Is it correct to write that…
John Smith
  • 1,748
0
votes
1 answer

"You" reference

when something is written after I said then full stop. can you please explain who said to whom? I don't understand "you" reference. It confuses me. for example, in the below example I have bold that sentence. He continued to look at me, his gaze…
Akshat Tandon
  • 11
0
votes
1 answer

How can I modify this sentence to make sense?

In fact, when people have a big picture when working, they tend to make less mistakes compared to the people who pay much energy on details at the very beginning ,because those people's work is not as coherent. In the sentence above, I use…
zhang yh
  • 5
0
votes
0 answers

sequence of tenses in a compound sentences

I used to play hockey, but now I play football. He ate my cake yesterday, so I will eat his cake today. As these are compound sentences and in both of these sentences the first clause is in past tense and the second clause is in present/future…
user191977
  • 9
1
2