{"id":23,"date":"2008-10-27T15:54:31","date_gmt":"2008-10-27T19:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=23"},"modified":"2008-10-27T15:54:31","modified_gmt":"2008-10-27T19:54:31","slug":"complex-sentences-la-phrase-complexe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/complex-sentences-la-phrase-complexe\/","title":{"rendered":"Complex Sentences (La Phrase Complexe)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Just like in English, a complex sentence in French is a sentence with more than one clause. These are often used and many times we don’t even realize they’re so complex because several of them so easily come rolling off our tongues. To begin our discussion, there are two kinds of clauses: main clauses and subordinate clauses. Main clauses can stand alone and can be completed with one or more other clauses to provide more information in a sentence. And these subordinate clauses that complete main clauses can not stand alone as they are dependent on the main clauses and function like nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Let’s take a look at some sample sentences and break the clauses down.<\/p>\n

Le chien est un animal <\/span><\/em>qui souvent habite avec l’homme.
\n<\/strong><\/em>MAIN CLAUSE<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SUBORDINATE CLAUSE<\/strong><\/sup><\/p>\n

Bien que Christ\u00e8le et Julia soient jumelles<\/strong>, elles ne se ressemblent pas<\/span> parce qu’elles ont des personnalit\u00e9s tr\u00e8s distinctes<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Above, we have two subordinate clauses (in bold) and the main clause (underlined).<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let’s talk about four different types of subordinate clauses.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. <\/span>LA SUBORDONN<\/em><\/span>\u00c9<\/em><\/span><\/span>E RELATIVE – <\/em><\/span><\/span>Relative clauses that modify noun phrases and begin with a relative pronoun (qui, que, dont, etc.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span>J’ai un professeur<\/span><\/em> <\/em>qui est am\u00e9ricain.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2. LA SUBORDONN<\/em>\u00c9<\/em><\/span>E COMPL<\/em><\/span>\u00c9<\/em><\/span>TIVE \u2013 <\/em><\/span>Complement clauses that are arguments of a predicate and begin with the conjunction<\/span><\/span> que. <\/em><\/span><\/span>In English, these are sometimes known as \u201cnominal that-clauses\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Je pensais<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/em><\/span>que ce magasin restait ouvert toute la nuit.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

3. <\/span>LES SUBORDONN<\/em><\/span>\u00c9<\/em><\/span>ES CIRCONSTANCIELLES \u2013<\/em><\/span> <\/span>Adverbial clauses that modify other clauses just like adverbs do.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

a. <\/span><\/span>DE CAUSE<\/em><\/span><\/span> (cause)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex:<\/span><\/span> <\/span>Je suis triste <\/span><\/em><\/span>parce que mon mec m’a quitt<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00e9<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

b. <\/span><\/span>DE CONS<\/em><\/span><\/span>\u00c9<\/em><\/span><\/span>QUENCE<\/em><\/span><\/span> (consequence)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Il a <\/span><\/em><\/span>tellement<\/strong><\/em><\/span> <\/em><\/span>cri<\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00e9<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/span>qu’il a mal <\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00e0<\/strong><\/em><\/span> la gorge.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

c. <\/span><\/span>DE TEMPS <\/em><\/span><\/span>(time)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Quand j’ai mal <\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00e0<\/strong><\/em><\/span> la gorge,<\/strong><\/em><\/span> <\/em><\/span>j’aime bien manger de la glace<\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

d. <\/span><\/span>DE BUT <\/em><\/span><\/span>(purpose)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Je ferai tout<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/em><\/span>pour que tu m’aimes encore<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

e. <\/span><\/span>DE CONDITION <\/em><\/span><\/span>(condition)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Tu peux venir avec moi <\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00e0<\/strong><\/em><\/span> condition que tes parents le sachent<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

f. <\/span><\/span>D’OPPOSITION<\/em><\/span><\/span> (opposition)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Bien qu’elles sont soeurs<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, <\/em><\/span>elles ont des go\u00fbts tr\u00e8s diff\u00e9rents.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

g. <\/span><\/span>DE COMPARAISON<\/em><\/span><\/span> (comparison)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Elle parle <\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00e0<\/span><\/em><\/span> sa m\u00e8re<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/em><\/span>comme si c’\u00e9tait sa copine<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

4. <\/span><\/span>LA SUBORDONN<\/em><\/span><\/span>\u00c9<\/em><\/span><\/span>E INTERROGATIVE INDIRECTE \u2013 <\/em><\/span><\/span>Interrogative clauses that function like nominal clauses and begin with interrogative words.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ex: <\/span><\/span>Ma m\u00e8re m’a demand<\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00e9<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/span>si j’avais fait mes devoirs<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Okay, that’s complex enough for now, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

C’est d\u00e9j\u00e0 assez complexe pour aujourd’hui, n’est-ce pas?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Just like in English, a complex sentence in French is a sentence with more than one clause. These are often used and many times we don’t even realize they’re so complex because several of them so easily come rolling off our tongues. To begin our discussion, there are two kinds of clauses: main clauses and…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[346,541],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-french-grammar","tag-phrase-complexe"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t