Examples. It was nearly night when we heard the glad news. Before help could reach the city, it had been captured by the enemy.
A compound sentence contains two or more independent or principal clauses, either with or without dependent or subordinate clauses.
Examples. Every minute seemed a day; every hour was a year. Finally, I dropped into an exhausted slumber, but I was awakened by the sound of bells. The sun, which resembled a ball of fire, touched the horizon and passed beneath it, and the darkness of the tropical night came swiftly over us.
Exercise 4.—Which sentences are simple? complex? compound? In the complex sentences, which clauses are dependent? In the compound sentences, separate the independent clauses from each other. Mention any dependent clauses which you find in the compound sentences.
1. It was now near the beginning of the month of June, and we had twelve weeks of bad weather before us.
2. Our rocky home was greatly improved by a wide porch, which I made along the whole front of our rooms and entrances.
3. The weeks of imprisonment passed so rapidly that no one found time hanging heavy on his hands.
4. As the rainy season drew to a close, the weather for a while became milder.
5. Thunder roared, lightning blazed, torrents rushed toward the sea, which came in raging billows to meet them.
6. Nature resumed her smiling aspect of peaceful beauty; and soon all traces of the ravages of floods and storms disappeared beneath the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics.