Helppo

A compound-complex sentence has at least one subordinate clause and at least two independent clauses.

Let’s look at an example sentence to clarify. Even though the economy was in recession, the government introduced a sales tax on petrol products, and voters were not happy.

In this sentence ‘even though the economy was in recession’ is the dependent clause.

It cannot stand alone.
On the other hand, ‘the government introduced a sales tax on petrol products’ and ‘voters were not happy’ are both independent clauses.

Here’s another sentence to analyze.
The two children were playing outside today, and despite having a disagreement, they both still enjoyed their time together.
‘The two children were playing outside today’ is an independent clause.
‘Despite having a disagreement’ is a subordinate clause.
‘They both still enjoyed their time together’ is another independent clause.

So, we have two independent clauses and one subordinate clause, which is what we need for compound-complex sentences.

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