A clause is a group of related words that has a subject and a verb. An independent clause, also known as a simple sentence, is a clause that can be on its own. A dependent clause is a clause that does not express a complete thought and cannot be on its own.

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, expresses a complete thought, and has no dependent clauses. Simple sentences can also contain compound subjects and compound verbs. For instance: Jaida goes to the library and reads every day.

A compound sentence consists of multiple independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) and preceded by a comma. Compound sentences do not contain dependent clauses. For example: Emory tried to speak Chinese, and her friend tried to speak Arabic.

A complex sentence consists of an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when (and many others) or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. For example: After they finished eating snack, Ella and Joey went to body break.

A complex-compound sentence has multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. For example: We decided that the arepas were too spicy, but our children, who like to eat spicy foods, thought that we were wrong.