The structure of the English sentence

by Lillian Kimball Stewart

CHAPTER XVIII

THE COMPOUND SENTENCE

In our study of dependent propositions, we have considered in the main the complex sentence. We shall now take up the compound sentence, whose distinguishing characteristic is that it contains at least two independent propositions. These propositions with their accompanying clauses, if any, constitute the members of a compound or complex-compound sentence, and such a sentence may be classified according to the relation subsisting between its members. On the basis of this relation we have the following classification:—

1. Members may be in the same line of thought; that is, they may denote related events succeeding each other in time, or they may tell similar things about the same subject, or the second may be added to the first by way of supplementing or explaining it, etc. Sentences of this kind are very common; as, “We consecrate our work to the spirit of national independence, and we wish that the light of peace may rest upon it forever.”—Webster.

Connective.—For members in the same line of thought the typical conjunction is and. All the other connectives so used are equivalent to and, though they may have a slight additional meaning. These are,—

(a) The coördinating conjunction nor or neither, equivalent to and not; as, “Bolts and bars are not the best of our institutions, nor is shrewdness in trade a mark of wisdom.”—Emerson.

(b) While.—This must be carefully distinguished from the subordinating conjunction while, and from while used to coördinate but equivalent to but; as, “His lower limbs were sheathed like his body in flexible mail, securing the legs and thighs, while (= and) his feet rested in plated shoes which corresponded with the gauntlets.”—Scott.

A common type of sentence which it seems best to classify here is one in which the first member is imperative, the second declarative, and the two joined by and; as, “Tell me what you like, and I will tell you what you are.”—Ruskin. This is equivalent in meaning to a complex sentence containing a clause of condition,—“If you tell me what you like, I will tell you what you are.” But, inasmuch as the author used and between his two propositions, it would seem that he intended the condition to be equally important with the second statement. Sentences of this kind have a directness of appeal to the reader that gives them a peculiar force.

2. The members of a compound sentence may denote contrasting thoughts; as, “In cities we study those around us, but in the retirement of the country we learn to know ourselves.”—Longfellow.

The second member often denotes a thought not to be expected after the first has been accepted; as, “Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people.”—Lamb. This sentence reminds us of the complex sentence containing a clause of concession, for it might easily be recasted into one,—Though boys are capital fellows, etc.

Connective.—The typical conjunction for this sentence is but; all the substitutes for but are merely its various equivalents. These are,—

(a) The conjunctions yet, while, and yet, whereas; as, “It is no longer a reality; yet it was one.”—Carlyle.

(b) The adverbs still, only, nevertheless, however. These are conjunctions when used alone between independent propositions, adverbs when associated with but. They all imply an opposition between the two members; for example, “He is glad of his pay—very properly so, and justly grumbles when you keep him ten years without it—still, his main notion of life is to win battles, not to be paid for winning them.”—Ruskin.

3. Members of a compound sentence may present an alternation or choice between two thoughts. In such a case only one of the members is true; as, “Come down and help us, Rustum, or we lose.”—M. Arnold. If the first proposition here is fulfilled, the second will not be true. If the second should be true, it would be because the first was not fulfilled. Often, as in this example, the second member denotes a consequence of something which is the direct opposite of what is stated in the first member.

Connective word.—(a) The typical connective is the coördinating conjunction or. Sometimes the first member is preceded by either, a correlative of or. It may be remarked here that or is much oftener met between words or phrases than between propositions.

(b) The adverbs else and otherwise when equivalent to or may be used in its stead.

4. The second member of a compound sentence may denote a result of the first, either a direct consequence or a conclusion. In other words, the first member may denote (a) the cause of the second member; as, “They speak English there, so your difficulties are now pretty well over.”—Brontë. (b) The evidence which supports the second member; as, “He was not at church Sunday, hence he must have been ill.” Such sentences suggest the complex sentences containing a clause of real cause or a clause of reason; and owing to the causal relation between the two members, it may seem at first sight that one of them is a dependent proposition. But such is not the case. Each of them is grammatically independent; for both are presented as equally important, and the coördinating conjunction and could be supplied between them in addition to the other conjunction.

Connective.—The typical conjunction is therefore. We also find hence, wherefore, so, so that, so then, consequently and accordingly, all of which are equivalent to therefore.

5. Frequently one member is added to another by way of explanation, giving the author’s reason for making the first statement. It is introduced by for and usually preceded by a semicolon; thus, “Always pay; for first or last you must pay your entire debt.”—Emerson.

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether the second member is independent or dependent, whether for is a coördinating or a subordinating conjunction. The tests for the independent proposition must be these:—Did the author intend the second member to stand equal in importance to the first? Does the second member add something not necessary to the first member or affecting its meaning? Does the second member express a thought not perhaps in the author’s mind when he wrote the first?

Omission of the Conjunction in Compound Sentences.—Often when the relation between two members is perfectly evident, the connective is omitted. This frequently occurs when the members are in the same line of thought; as, “The place to observe nature is where you are; the walk to take today is the walk you took yesterday.”—Burroughs.

The connective is also omitted to avoid repetition when the sentence contains several members, all sustaining the same relation to one another. It should, however, be noticed here that authors differ in their mode of punctuation. One author might combine two sentences into one compound sentence by placing a semicolon between them, whereas another would place a period after each.

The Number of Members in a Compound Sentence.—In illustrating compound sentences we have given those that contain only two members, but it must not be supposed that the number is restricted to two. On the contrary we often find three or more. However, these are not often all of the same rank, and the sentence must first be separated into coördinate members, then if these members are compound they must be separated in like manner, and so on. Take, for instance, the sentence,—“Genius is mainly an affair of energy, and poetry is mainly an affair of genius; therefore a nation whose spirit is characterized by energy may well be eminent in poetry,—and we have Shakespeare.”—M. Arnold. This complex-compound sentence is, first of all, made up of a compound sentence and a complex-compound sentence. The relation between these two members is that of cause and result, the second being a consequence of the first, as is indicated by the conjunction therefore. The first of these members is made up of two simple sentences in the same line of thought, therefore joined by the conjunction and. The second member is made up of a complex sentence and a simple sentence, the second being an addition to the first and therefore joined to it by and.

Exercise 21

Reduce the following sentences to their component members—simple, partially compound, or complex. State whether these members are declarative, interrogative, or imperative. State also the relation existing between members, and point out the connective.

1. Occupy a youth early and wisely, in agriculture or business, in science or in literature, and he will never think of war otherwise than as a calamity.—Ruskin.

2. One lackey carried the chocolate pot into the sacred presence; a second milled and frothed the chocolate with the little instrument he bore for that function; a third presented the favored napkin; a fourth (he of the two gold watches) poured the chocolate out.—Dickens.

3. There was not a nook or a corner in the whole house fit to lodge any respectable ghost; for every part was as open to observation as a literary man’s character and condition, his figure and estate.—Holmes.

4. The word lengthy has been charged to our American account, but it must have been invented by the first reader of Gower’s works, the only inspiration of which they were ever capable.—Lowell.

5. Whenever and wherever we turned, a sudden “tinkle-tankle” would show that we had nearly fallen over a prostrate cow; therefore after half an hour of darkness, ditches, and cows, we returned to the hotel and its comforts.—Bolles.

6. Ye have quitted the ways of God or ye would not have been unhappy.—Carlyle.

7. Glossy hammock-cloths concealed the persons of those who were on the deck, while the close bulwarks gave the brigantine the air of a vessel equipped for war.—Cooper.

8. The trees have formed their buds in autumn every year since trees first waved; yet you will find that the great majority of persons have never made that discovery, but suppose that nature gets up those ornaments in spring.—Higginson.

9. Marble columns may, indeed, moulder into dust, time may erase all impress from the crumbling stone, but their fame remains; for with American liberty it rose, and with American liberty only can it perish.—Webster.

10. Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass.—Emerson.

11. The first attempt of the season, I suspect, had failed in a more secluded place under the hill, so the pair had come up nearer the house for protection.—Burroughs.

12. With a very few exceptions, both the red and the white coral polyps are, in their adult state, firmly adherent to the sea-bottom; nor do these buds naturally become detached and locomotive.—Huxley.

13. But hospitality must be for service and not for show, or it pulls down the host.—Emerson.

14. The wide expanse of grassy upland stretched before them; overhead the arch of heaven, chequered by the white clouds, was full of life and light and motion; across the water of the lakes the church bells, rung for amusement by the village lads, came to the ear softened and yet enriched in tone; the spring air, fanned by a fresh breeze, refreshed the spirits and the sense.—Shorthouse.

15. Milton’s nature selected and drew to itself whatever was great and good, while it rejected all the base and pernicious ingredients by which those finer elements were defiled.—Macaulay.

16. Let us drive her away or hide the pomeloes, else she will go and tell her mother all about it, and that will be very bad for us.—Old Deccan Days.

17. As a matter of fact we find ourselves believing, we hardly know how or why.—Wm. James.

18. A man can have himself shot with cheerfulness, but it needs first that he see clearly for what.—Carlyle.

Exercise 22

Analyze the following compound, and complex-compound sentences. They should first be separated into members, as was done with sentences in Exercise 21.

1. A discovery results in an art; an art produces a comfort; a comfort made cheaply accessible adds family on family to the population; and a family is a new creation of thinking, reasoning, inventing, and discovering beings.—Everett.

2. All healthy people like their dinners, but their dinner is not the main object of their lives.—Ruskin.

3. Human nature has a much greater genius for sameness than for originality, or the world would be at a sad pass shortly.—Lowell.

4. They come together, not for exercise, but pleasure, and the more they crowd and cram and struggle, and the louder they scream, the greater the pleasure.—Warner.

5.

Each shrub and tree is eloquent of him;

For tongueless things and silence have their speech.

—Aldrich.

6. William had only a two-wheeled sulky, which could scarcely carry three; so it was a relief to all of us when we saw, coming from the bar, a youth in a wagon, driving a sprightly nag at a rattling pace.—Bolles.

7. Give man air, sun, proper food and clothing, ample and varied exercise, and there is no curve of grace in ancient statuary which would not be reproduced today.—J. F. Clarke.

8. By Red Flower Bagheera meant fire, only no creature in the jungle will call fire by its proper name.—Kipling.

9. You must make it quite clear to your mind which you are most bent upon—popularity or usefulness—else you may happen to miss both.—George Eliot.

10. Nature comes home to one most when he is at home; the stranger and the traveler finds her a stranger and a traveler also.—Burroughs.

11. A book without art is simply a commodity; it may be exceedingly valuable to the consumer, very profitable to the producer, but it does not come within the domain of pure literature.—Higginson.

12. Either the well was very deep or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next.—Lewis Carroll.

13. Nothing sooner inspires people with confidence in a business man than punctuality, nor is there any habit which sooner saps his reputation than that of being always behind time.

14. Three sisters they are, of one mysterious household; and their paths are wide apart; but of their dominion there is no end.—De Quincey.

15. It is a blessed thing, indeed, that none of us can take our rubbish to another world; for, if we could, some of the many mansions would be little better than lumber rooms.—Jean Ingelow.