455. A clause is complex when it contains a modifying clause.
The polar bear, which lives in the Arctic regions when it is at home, sometimes reaches temperate latitudes.
Here the adjective clause which lives in the Arctic regions when it is at home is complex, for it contains the adverbial clause when it is at home, modifying the verb lives.
COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCES
456. Two or more independent complex clauses may be joined to make a compound complex sentence.
The brown bear, of which there are several varieties, is common in the temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere; || and || the polar bear sometimes reaches temperate latitudes when the ice drifts southward.
This is a compound complex sentence, for it consists of two complex clauses joined by the coördinate conjunction and. Each of these two clauses is independent of the other, for each might stand by itself as a complex sentence.
The first complex clause contains an adjective clause, of which there are several varieties, modifying bear; the second contains an adverbial clause, when the ice drifts southward, modifying reaches.
457. A sentence consisting of two or more independent clauses is also classed as a compound complex sentence if any one of these is complex.
- The brown bear is common in the temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere; || and || the polar bear sometimes reaches temperate latitudes when the ice drifts southward.
- The brown bear, of which there are several varieties, is common in the temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere; || and || the polar bear sometimes reaches temperate latitudes.