4.2.3. Expressing deeper thoughts-adding a lot of muscle

So far we have dealt almost entirely with simple sentences. By simple sentences, I mean sentences with only one clause. If you've forgotten, a clause is a sort of mini-sentence. The following sentences have only one clause each:

• Please pass the salt.
• This tastes good.
• The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

By contrast, the following sentences have two clauses:

• He came after I left.
• Whenever it rains, I stay home from work.

Sometimes one of the two mini-sentences is chopped down or simplified in some way, as in the following:

• Entering the yard, I looked through the window.
• I told her that in order to escape.

Other times the mini-sentences that make up the bigger sentence cannot be clearly separated because one of them is inside the other:

• The man who I told you about is at the door.

Here the two mini-sentences are The man... is at the door, and who I told you about.

From here on we will be mainly interested in such sentence patterns containing two or more clauses.

Subsections

4.2.3.1 Stringing sentences together

4.2.3.2 The person who I did it to was not the person who did it to me

4.2.3.3 If this, then that

4.2.3.4 When things happen, other things happen

4.2.3.5 Just because, or even in spite of, or perhaps in order to

4.2.3.6 He made me do it

4.2.3.7 Making comparisons

4.2.3.8 Things I thought, or said or at least wished, and maybe even tried