Writing Complex Sentences

Directions:

Underline the subordinate clauses in the sentences below.

Example:

Although wild boars have a reputation for being ferocious, they are normally not aggressive.

1.      When a baby elephant first tries to drink its mother’s milk, its trunk gets in the way.

2.      Because statisticians do not keep records of how many engagements are broken, no one knows exactly how common broken engagements are.

3.      Until the guillotine was invented, French nobles were decapitated, but common people were drawn and quartered.

4.      While I drove through the center of Cleveland, I was surprised to see a red-tailed hawk circling overhead.

5.      In mental hospitals, prisons, and soup kitchens, where few pleasures are available, cigarettes are distributed every day.

6.      After a spectacular meteor fall occurred in 1803, scientists could no longer deny the reality of objects falling from the sky.

7.      Before business schools graduate students specializing in international business, they should require each student to learn at least one foreign language.

8.      Jennifer has been baking cookies since she was nine years old.

9.      As the days become longer, many people in our neighborhood are spending more time outside.

10.  Even in apparently unpromising northern waters, you can see hermit crabs, blue crabs, and whelks if you use a diving mask.

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