Importance of Complex Sentences in IELTS Exam

Complex sentences are a very useful language tool used to establish a connection between two or more separate thoughts. They are produced mostly by combining two simple sentences using conjunction. These are of utmost importance in Writing Task 2 of IELTS Exam, if you wish to score a band score of 6.5 or above.

What are complex sentences?

A complex sentence is a combination of an independent clause and a dependent clause. A clause is independent if in itself it is complete and meaningful. For instance-

‘I heated food in the microwave’

This clause in itself is meaningful and it accurately communicates the message without the requirement of a supporting sentence.

Let’s take another example-

‘Because it was cold’

Do you feel like something is missing here? Yes, the clause in itself is incomplete. This is therefore a dependent clause.

Now let’s combine the independent clause with the dependent one.

‘I heated food in the microwave because it was cold.’

There you go, you have successfully created a complex sentence! As I mentioned before, instead of writing it as two different simple sentences, we combined the two using the conjunction ‘because’ to produce a complex sentence.

A few examples of conjunctions or connectors or linking words are as follows:

• For
• But
• Nor
• Or
• Yet
• So
• And
• After
• While
• Since
• Because
• If
• When

There are more of these conjunctions that you can use to form complex sentences. Remember to practice Essay writing using these as you need to use them to get 6.5 or above in IELTS Writing module. Your ability to use complex sentences accurately and flexibly is assessed in Grammatical Range and Accuracy criteria of the Writing task.

More examples of complex sentences:

Two simple sentences are combined using conjunctions (underlined).

1. Although he was wealthy, he was still unhappy.
2. She returned the computer after she noticed it was damaged.
3. Whenever prices go up, customers buy less products.
4. The museum was very interesting, as I expected.
5. When she was younger, she believed in fairy tales.
6. I have to save this coupon in case I come back to the store tomorrow.
7. I really didn’t like the movie even though the acting was good.

To sum up, complex sentences show the connection between two separate thoughts or clauses. Instead of using a lot of simple sentences, one complex sentence that are a combination of those simple ones can convey the meaning more effectively. This shows your ability to articulate complicated thoughts in one sentence. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to us at Wings Education. We are here to guide you! Happy writing ????

Let’s practice! for IELTS Exam

1. Hosting a party is a bad idea _________ the neighbours will complain. (because)
2. I am extremely happy _______ I retired. (since)
3. The dog jumped on his lap _________ he was eating. (while)
4. Annie was still crying, __________ she had been happy about the news. (even though)
5. _______ her advancing years, Caroline was still the best player on the team. (Despite)
6. Elena has been nothing but trouble ______ she got here. (since)
7. ________ she was lonely, Bonnie called her mother. (Because)
8. I went to the store ________ sunset. (before/after)
9. _________ I twisted the heel on my shoe, it broke. (Because)
10. He forgot to give the teacher his homework _______ he came late to class. (when)