This week I will be illustrating the use of a complex sentence, with the dependent clause and subordinating conjunction first, and then followed by a comma before the independent clause. This is a grammatical pattern I am aware of and know how to use, but it is not one I use very often. I really have no particular for this I just don't use it much. However, this really is a decently common usage, and is fairly simple to learn.
To help show this pattern I used examples from a paper I wrote on Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I was only able to find one example of this throughout my entire paper. The paper was only two pages long, but I still expected to find more examples of this.
Example:
Before the cops arrive, Christopher hides himself in the baggage closet.[Pattern 2]
This is actually not the exact way I originally used this sentence. In my first attempt I used the opposite pattern of a complex sentence with a dependent clause following the independent clause, and without a comma.
Original Example:
Christopher hides himself in the baggage closet before the cops arrive. [Pattern 3]
As you can see this example features all of the same parts as the first, only without a comma and with a slightly different order. I personally prefer this way of using complex sentences. I feel as if this style just fits better in my writing, or possibly I am just more comfortable with it. I also understand, partially, why this pattern does not often appear in my writing. For me, these patterns work very well to summarize something, and in most of my papers I am not supposed to summarize excessively. This is not to say that these patterns are meant only for this use, but it is how I prefer to use them. Since, I do not summarize often I believe I do not consider using this pattern quite as much as maybe I should. Looking through my other I really stick to the trend of using this pattern in a summary. Because of this I don't use the pattern as often as I could. I believe this should change simply to add something different to my writing, and I plan on using this pattern more.
Trevor,
ReplyDeleteI do not have any corrections to make. You used both patterns well and I understand how every writer has their own style. However, I think yo uwould benefit from complex sentences not only in summary but also in writing. You can construct an argumentative sentence like: Because the cops arrived, Christopher hid himself in the baggage closet. This is not necessarily the what you would find in an argumentative essay but the idea is still the same. With your dependent sentence you construct a situation, and the independent sentence will provide a resolution to the situation. This is just something to think about and you did a great job in your pattern usage :-)
Trevor, I agree with your statement on how different types of sentence structures will fit certain writers styles or comfort ability level. I have no direct corrections to make, I believe you used both of your examples properly. The only piece of advise I might give to you is to maybe use another dependent clause word other than "before." This slight change might give your writing even more spice or creativity. I also believe that this type of pattern(s) could be used in any style of writing, it just takes pushing yourself to incorporate them. I am by no means saying I use this pattern style in all of my writing styles, but its just a thought. Overall, great job and usage.
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