Read the passage from the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde. "special edition. shocking murder of an m. p.” that was the funeral oration of one friend and client; and he could not a certain apprehension lest the good name of another should be sucked down in the eddy of the scandal. it was, at least, a ticklish decision that he had to make; and self-reliant as he was by habit, he began to cherish a longing for advice. it was not to be had directly; but perhaps, he thought, it might be fished for. mr. utterson’s internal conflict is that he is afraid of mr. jekyll. distrusts his own judgment. misses sir danvers. is upset he will be in the news.

sentences vary by structure as well as by function. there are compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

simple sentence

i like to read.

a simple sentence has one independent clause.

compound sentence

i like to read, and i also like to write.

a compound sentence includes more than one independent clause, connected by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, or yet).

complex sentence

i prefer to read books that are bestsellers.

a complex sentence includes one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. (a dependent clause is one that cannot stand alone.) types of dependent clauses include relative clauses (i kicked the boy who pinched me), adverb clauses (i am going home now because i have a curfew), and noun clauses (i don't know what to do next).

compound-complex sentence

although i prefer to read current bestsellers, i do like to read old agatha christie mysteries, and i also like some 20th-century science fiction.

compound-complex sentences take a bunch of clauses (multiple independent clauses, and one or more dependent clauses) and toss them together like a salad. although these sentences take practice to write in a grammatically correct fashion, they can hold a tremendous amount of meaning, and are common in academic writing.