Writing Academic English 4th Edition

174 Partn1 I SentenceStructure

Compound-ComplexSentences

PRACT1CE 9

Punctuation

ACompound-complexsentencehasatleastthreeclauses,at leasttwoofwhichare

independent.Youcanusealmostanycombinationofdependentandindependent

clauses.Justbesurethatthereisatleastoneindependentclause.Inthefollowing

examples,independentclausesareunderlinedwitha solidlineanddependent

clauseswitha dottedline.

1. I wantedtotravelQtt~Ll.gmg.WJ;lt~g..fr.Q.m..<;;Q!!~g~;however,I hadtogotowork
   immediately.

2 ..AttSlLI.9,mQ.w.c;M.9...fJ:Qill..QQ!J.li.lQSl.I wantedtotravel,butI hadtogotowork

immediately.

3. I wantedtotravelQtt~x..!.grQg.w.gJ~.g..f.mm..Q.QJ.I.~g~, butI hadtogotowork
   immediatelyP.~Q.~!J~.f?..!..t!Qg.~Q..~W.!?.p..Q.Ij;.m.Y...f9illjJY..


4. I couldnotdecideW.O.f?r.Sl..!..?b.Q!J.lg..w.Qr.~.orw.!'J.gtJ..§O.Q.WJ.9...QQ.soatfirstI did
   nothing.

Punctuatethecompoundpartofa compound-complexsentencelikea compound

sentence;thatis,usea semicolon/commacombination(sentence1),orputa comma

beforea coordinatorjoiningtwoindependentclauses(sentences2,3,and4).

Punctuatethecomplexpartlikea complexsentence.Withadverbclauses,puta

commaaftera dependentadverbclause(sentence2)butnotbeforeit (sentence3).

Withnounclauses(sentence4),useno commas.

Punctuatethefollowingsentences.

Step 1 Underlinetheindependentclauseswitha solidlineandthedependent

clauseswitha brokenline.

Step 2 Addcommasand/orsemicolonsasnecessary.

1. Informationandcommunicationtechnologyis reachingouttohelppeople
   inthepoorestcountriesimprovetheirlivesforexamplefishermenonthe
   BayofBengalcannowreceiveonlineweatherreportsthattellthemwhen
   it is safetogoout.
   2.Furthermore,whenthefishermenbringina boatloadoffishtheycanfind
   outthecurrentmarketpricesfortheirfish,whichwillhelpthembargain
   withthemiddlementowhomtheyselltheircatch.


2. Thecostofthecheapestcomputerisatleast$200andsincethisismore
   thananindividualfishennancanaffordseveralfishingvillagestogethercan
   pooltheirmoneyandbuyonetoshare.


3. TheworldwidereachoftheInternetisalsoprovidingemployment
   opportunitiesindevelopingcountriesandasgreaternumbersofpeople
   learnthetechnologytheseopportunitieswillexpand.


4. WhenyoucallyourU.S.bankyoumayfindyourselfspeakingtoa
   customerservice representativewhoissittinginthePhilippinesorPuerto
   Ricoandwhenyouneedtechnicalsupportforyourhomecomputeryou
   willprobablygethelpfroma programmerinNewDelhi.