Question

Identify whether the following sentence is simple, compound, or complex:
The child strolled through the meadow.
A. Simple
B. Compound
C. Complex- subordinate adverb clause
D. Complex-subordinate noun clause

Answer 1

Hint: A simple sentence, as the name suggests, has just two parts – a subject and a predicate. It has a simple self-explanatory clause, consisting of just one subject and one predicate, such a clause is known as an independent clause. An independent clause gives a full sense of the expression in just one sentence.
A compound sentence has more than one subject and predicate, it has more than one independent clause (usually two) joined by a conjunction or a comma.
A complex sentence has more components than just subject and predicate, it also has one independent clause and one dependent (subordinate) clause. A complex sentence is not complete without these components.

Complete step by step answer:
Option A is the correct answer, because it has only one subject and one predicate explaining that the child was strolling through the meadow. As the definition goes, we can see that the sentence consists of an independent clause explaining clearly about the boy who was strolling through the meadow.
Option B – Compound: This option cannot be considered because the sentence does not have more than one independent clause, there is no conjunction, nor a comma.
Option C – Complex-subordinate adverb clause: The sentence is not complex and certainly does not have an adverb clause in it.
Option D – Complex-subordinate noun clause: The sentence does not have a subordinate noun clause, also there are no dependent or independent clauses in the sentences.

Thus, the correct option is C.

Additional information:
Here are a few examples of the given options for a better understanding –
Compound Sentence: He was getting late for work, yet he stopped for a coffee. In this sentence, there are two independent clauses joined by a conjunction ‘yet’ and joined together with a comma.
Complex-subordinate adverb clause: I will paint the canvas, after I get it from the shop. This sentence has a subordinate clause that is adverbial in nature, which indicates that I can only paint the canvas after I get it from the shop.
Complex-subordinate noun clause: Rahul likes cookies which have chocolate chips in them. This sentence has a subordinate clause(which has chocolate chips in them) which has a noun that helps complete the meaning of the sentence.

Note:
Some simple sentences may come across as compound sentences and vice versa, in such cases it is best if we can try to divide the sentence and check the number of subjects and predicates.