10.07.24: Level 2: Sentence structure [2]; terminology (2)

[i] sentence: simple sentence; compound sentence; complex sentence

[ii] clause: principal / main clause; subordinate clause

[iii] conjunction; coordinating conjunction; subordinating conjunction

In the previous post we looked at two sentence types:

Yesterday I bought a new car. [simple sentence]

Yesterday I bought a new car. [simple sentence] It was very expensive. [simple sentence]

[1] Yesterday I bought a new car and [2] it was very expensive. [compound sentence]

[1] Yesterday I bought a new car [principal / main clause] and [2] it was very expensive [principal / main clause].

Here are examples of a third type:

[1] Yesterday I bought a new car ¦ [2] because the old one couldn’t be repaired.

[1] Yesterday I bought a new car ¦ [2] when I was in town.

The second parts of those sentences cannot stand alone; they need to be connected to another piece of information. When this happens the clause is known as subordinate. These subordinate clauses have different names depending on the type of information being given. These are only two examples, but there are many more.

[1] Yesterday I bought a new car [principal / main clause] ¦ [2] when I was in town [subordinate clause of time].

[1] Yesterday I bought a new car [principal / main clause] ¦ [2] because my old car couldn’t be repaired [subordinate clause of reason].

‘when’ and ‘because’ are conjunctions i.e. they join the two parts of the sentence but they are specifically known as subordinating conjunctions because they introduce a subordinate clause.

Images #1 and #2

[1] Cincinnātus in fundō parvō arābat.│ Cincinnatus was ploughing on a small farm. [simple sentence]

[2] Nūntiī pervēnērunt. │ The messengers arrived. [simple sentence]

[2] Ubi nūntiī pervēnērunt [subordinate clause of time] ¦ [1] Cincinnātus in fundō parvō arābat [principal / main clause]. │ [2] When the messengers arrived, [1] Cincinnatus was ploughing on a small farm [principal clause].

[1] Populus Rōmānus Coriolānum cōnsulem nōn creāvit. │ The Roman people did not make Coriolanus consul. [simple sentence]

[2] Coriolānus erat superbus. │ Coriolanus was arrogant. [simple sentence]

A principal / main clause can surround a subordinate clause:

[1] Populus Rōmānus Coriolānum [principal / main clause] ¦ [2] quia erat superbus [subordinate clause of reason] ¦ [1] cōnsulem nōn creāvit [principal / main clause].

[1] The Roman people did not make Coriolanus consul [2] because he was arrogant.

Image #3: A sentence that contains [1] a principal clause and [2] one or more subordinate clauses is called a complex sentence.