The Complex Sentence

A complex sentence is formed by subordination and consists of a principle clause and one or more subordinate clauses. The order of clauses often varies. The subordinate clause may precede or follow the principal one. E.g. As I was in a hurry I took a taxi.

A complex sentence may contain several degrees of subordination, when one subordinate clause has another subordinated to it, and so on. There may be clauses of the first, second and third degree of subordination. E.g. The party was held in a large room which was already crowded when Shelton entered.

Sometimes the subordinate clause contains the main idea and the principal one expresses a modal shade of meaning – doubt, certainty, etc. E.g. It is certain that he will come soon.

If a composite sentence contains coordination and subordination together, it is called a compound – complex or complex – compound sentence.

Complex Sentences with Subject clauses

There are two types of complex sentences with the subject clause in English:

1. The subject clause precedes the principal clause which is incomplete (the subject clause is the subject of the whole complex sentence). Such sentences rarely occur in English. E.g. What was done could not be undone. ‘What’ is usually rendered in Russian by ‘то, что’.

2. The subject clause follows the principal clause which begins with the anticipatory ‘it’. Such sentences are commonly used in English. E.g. It appears that he was very hard up. ‘It’ is the auxiliary (formal) part of the subject of the complex sentence; the subject clause is the lexical part of the whole ‘compound subject’.

In M.E. due to the fixed word order the subject cannot follow the predicate unless some formal element is used to fill in the place of the subject. The subject clauses are usually used after the following constructions with ‘it’. E.g. It happened, it turned out, it chanced, it is possible, it is right, it is a pity, etc.

Complex Sentences with the emphatic ‘it’ have the following structure: It is (was) – the emphasized part – a clause. E.g. It was James who saved the situation. Hence the clause ‘who saved the situation’ may be called a subject clause. Emphatic complex sentences are formed as a result of a transformation of an unemphatic sentence. Cf. James saved the situation. It was James who saved the situation.

Any part of the sentence, except the attribute or a verb-predicate, can be emphasized by means of this emphatic construction. The English emphatic complex sentences are rendered in Russian by simple sentences in which the emphatic words именно, как раз, и т.п. are used.

Complex Sentences with Object Clauses

Object clauses perform the function of an object to the verb or verb equivalent in the principal clause.

1) Like objects in a simple sentence, object clauses may be non-prepositional or prepositional: I don’t know what you mean. I’m sorry for what I said to you the other day.

There are few words in English that require ‘it’ (a correlative pronoun) before an object clause (to take, to like, to depend, etc). I like it that you like my work.

In the English sentence the preposition used with a connective pronoun may stand at the end of the sentence: Wonder, what he’s writing to me about.

2) In English the subject is always expressed in an object clause: He told us what he remembered.

In Russian it may be omitted: Он рассказал нам, что помнил.

3) In English the word order in an object clause is always direct: I wonder if he likes this job.

4) In English the sequence of tenses is usually observed in object clauses.

5) As a rule object clauses are not separated by a comma from the principal clause.