Sentences are divided into four structural types: simple sentences, complex sentences, compound sentences and compound-complex sentences. In this quiz we are going to look at complex sentences and compound sentences. A simple sentence consists of a single subject and a single predicate: there are no clauses, e.g. 'Paul likes swimming': 'Paul' is the subject, 'likes swimming' is the predicate and 'likes' is the predicate verb. A compound sentence consists of two simple sentences (independent clauses) joined with one of the following conjunctions: 'and, but, for, nor, yet, so', e.g. 'He loved watching horror movies, and he had a large collection of horror DVDs'. A complex sentence consists of a simple sentence joined with one or more dependent clauses, e.g. 'He was late for work because he missed the 8 o'clock bus'. A dependent clause is a clause that is not a complete thought; therefore, it cannot stand alone as a sentence, e.g. 'because he missed the 8 o'clock bus' makes you ask 'What happened?'
It would be a good idea to do the 11-plus English Clauses and Phrases quiz before you do this quiz.