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Coordination vs Subordination | Compound Sentence vs Complex Sentence | Language Structure Usage & Linguistics III

By hndeadmin • April 15, 2023 • Language Structure Usage & Linguistics III • 3,153 views

Coordination and subordination are two ways of combining ideas in a sentence to form a complete thought.

Coordination involves, joining two or more independent clauses of equal importance by using coordinating conjunctions such as "and," "but," "or," "so," "for," and "yet." For example, "I like to read books, and my sister likes to watch movies." Subordination, on the other hand, involves combining an independent clause with one or more dependent clauses, or subordinate clauses, which are less important than the main clause. This is done using subordinating conjunctions such as "although," "because," "since," "unless," and "while." For example, "Although it was raining, she went for a walk." In summary, coordination combines equal ideas while subordination combines unequal ideas where one is dependent on the other. Compound sentences and subordinate sentences are two different types of sentences in English. A compound sentence is a sentence that has two or more independent clauses, which are joined together by coordinating conjunctions, semicolons, or colons. Each independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. Here's an example of a compound sentence: I went to the store, and I bought some bread. In this sentence, there are two independent clauses ("I went to the store" and "I bought some bread") joined by the coordinating conjunction "and."

A subordinate sentence, also known as a complex sentence, is a sentence that contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. The dependent clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions and cannot stand alone as a sentence. They function as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns in the sentence. Here's an example of a subordinate sentence: After I finished my homework, I watched TV. In this sentence, there are two clauses. The independent clause is "I watched TV," and the dependent clause is "After I finished my homework," which is introduced by the subordinating conjunction "after." The dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence.

In summary, compound sentences are made up of two or more independent clauses, while subordinate sentences contain an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

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