The complex sentence

A complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses (Crystal, 1980). When these two types of clauses appear in a sentence, a complex sentence is created. This means that the clauses are not equal, they use a coordinating conjunction that changes the rank of one or more of the clauses to make them equal (Van Rooyen et al., 1982).

• Uthenga inyama ukuze ayitye. ‘He/she buys meat in order to eat it.’
• Uhlamba izitya ukuze azosule. ‘He/she washes dishes to dry them.’

The use of the conjunction ukuze connects the clauses but displays a complex relationship between the two, indicating which is independent and which is dependent. A complex sentence can either start with the independent clause or the dependent clause. If the dependent clause comes first, a comma must be added. This is not needed if the independent clause comes first.

• Noxa abahlobo bam bebendicenga, ndikhethe ukungayi ethekweni. ‘Although my friends begged me, I chose not to go to the ceremony.’
• Ndikhethe ukungayi ethekweni noxa abahlobo bam bebendicenga. ‘I chose not to go to the ceremony although my friends begged me.’

In the first example there is a comma because the dependent clause came first and in the second example the independent clause comes first therefore there is no need of the comma.

Moods demonstrate the relationship between the action of the verb being done unto the subject but not by the subject. In simple terms verb moods are classifications that indicate the attitude of the speaker. In isiXhosa language five types of moods have been identified in as shown the section on simple sentences. In this topic the focus is on subjunctive and participial moods.

Subjunctive mood

A verb in the subjunctive mood expresses an action or a state as a visualised event and not as a reality. It usually denotes a subordinate clause on which the action follows, and it is often dependent on another action. A verb in the subjunctive mood is also not marked for tense because it does not mark the time of the action (Taljaard & Bosch, 1988). The subjunctive mood is used to a great extent to connect predicates in sequence, following certain conjunctives and auxiliaries (Van Rooyen et al., 1982).

Pahl’s (1983: 138) opinion is not different from the other writers as he argues that: “The most important function of the subjunctive mood has to do with predicates that follow after each other and describing acts that follow each other. The first verb (in the preceding clause) is usually in the indicative mood, and those that follow are in the subjunctive mood.”

From the above facts it is clear that the subjunctive mood helps to connect predicates to form different types of sentences. Some of them will be of a compound nature.

• Walala, wavuka, watya. He/she slept, woke up, and ate.
• Ndacaphuka, ndamngxolisa, walila. I got angry, shouted at him/her and he/she cried.

Functions of subjunctive mood

The most important function of the subjunctive mood is to indicate that a predicate in the participial mood is simultaneous with a previous predicate in a complex sentence (Van Rooyen et al., 1982).

• Ndimbone efunda. I saw her reading.
• Ndimbone engafundi. I saw her not reading.
• Ndambona efunda. I saw her reading.

The subjunctive in some instances function as a complement of some auxiliary verbs.

• Soze andibone. He/she will never see me.
• Zange simbethe. We never beat him/her.

The subjunctive mood is used to express:

• Want, desire, purpose, commands

  Frequently subjunctive clauses expressing these meanings are introduced by the conjunction ukuthi that, ukuba ‘in order that’, ukuze ‘so that’.

  • Pheka ukuze sitye. ‘Cook in order for us to eat. (Want)’
  • Sinqwenela ukuba ubuye ngokukhawuleza. ‘We want that you return with haste. (Desire)’
  • Khawuleza, hleze ushiywe lixesha. ‘Be quick in case you run out of time. (Command)’
• Consecutive actions

  Consecutive actions are expressed without preceding conjunctives and are translated as ‘and then’. The main clause is either in the imperative or indicative mood:

  • Sivula isango singene. ‘We open the gate and go in.’
  • Yityani nigqibe bafana. ‘Eat and finish, young men.’
• Polite requests (the hortative)

  Polite requests or commands are expressed by prefixing a hortative formative, i.e., khe-, ma-, to the subjunctive form of the verb.

  • Khe sibone. ‘Let us see.’
  • Masihambe. ‘Let us go.’
• Stronger requests (-bo-)
  • Ubokufika ngeCawa. ‘You must come on Sunday.’
  • Nibokuhamba kusasa. ‘You must go in the morning.’

The subjunctive is also used after copula constructions (especially those with the impersonal concord ku-)

• Kungcono bahambe namhlanje. ‘It is better that they go today.’
• Kutheni bembetha? ‘Why do they hit him?’

The participial mood

The participial mood of the verb generally denotes a subordinate clause where the action takes place simultaneously with another action. Therefore, the participial is always dependent upon some other verb or clause and can never form the main predicate of a sentence (Taljaard & Bosch, 1988).

• Ndifike esebenza egadini. ‘I found him working in the garden.’
• Sifike ehlamba iimbiza. ‘We found him washing pots.’

The most important function of the participial mood is to indicate that a predicate in the participial mood is simultaneous with a previous predicate in a complex sentence (Van Rooyen et al., 1982).

• Ndimbone efunda. ‘I saw her reading.’
• Ndimbone engafundi. ‘I saw him not reading.’ (Negative)
• Ufike ndidlala. ‘He/she found me playing.’
• Ufike ndingadlali. ‘He/she found me not playing.’ (Negative)

The participial mood is always preceded by a predicate which is in another mood. For example, the predicate that precedes the above verb that is in the participial mood is in the indicative mood. Only one predicate is in the negative form. The predicate that precedes remains in its original form as observed on the above example. Even if the predicate is in the past tense, only one verb is affected.

Types of the participial mood

There are two types of participial moods that occur in isiXhosa, i.e., the real participial and the relative participial moods as identified by Van Rooyen et al. (1982), Pahl (1983), Satyo (1997).

The real participial mood

The real participial mood can be used as a complement of various auxiliary verbs. It is used to form some compound tenses with the use of –ba. “Many of these tenses are continuous”, i.e., the auxiliary verb and its complement cannot be separated by another word (Van Rooyen et al., 1982: 38)

• Ube esiza. ‘He/she was coming.’
• Ube ehamba. ‘He/she was going.’

Other auxiliary verbs that are used with verbs in the participial mood are fudula (fuda) ‘always’, soloko ‘often’, hlala ‘continuously’, sele ‘already’.

• Fudula ndimxelela. ‘I have always told him/her.’
• Soloko emyala. ‘Have often warned her/him.’
• Uhlala emnqanda. ‘Have continuously reprimanded him/her.’
• Sele ehambile. ‘He/she has already left.’

The relative participial mood

The relative participial has the suffix –yo of the relative and the subject concord a- for Class 1. This type of participial is observed after certain conjunctives, like, xa ‘when’.

• Undixelele xa ufikayo. ‘Inform me when arriving.’
• Utsho xa ulambile. ‘Tell me when you are hungry.’

The relative participial may function as a complement of some auxiliary verbs, like: hlala ‘always/usually’ and phantse ‘nearly’.

• Siphantse sambulala. ‘We nearly killed him.’
• Hlala ndimxelela. ‘Have always told him/her.’

The functions of the participial mood

The participial is used:

• To express a concurrent action. Thus, it is a dependent form in the sense that it can be used with another predicate.
  • Sibabone behamba. ‘We saw them going.’
  • Siwafumene esitya izityalo amahashe. ‘We found the horses eating plants.’
• To express ‘after’ with the exclusive –se in the perfect of the participial.
  • Usibulise sengenile endlwini. ‘He/she greeted us after entering the house.’
  • Ufike sesiphumile isikolo. ‘He/she arrived after school.’

• After certain conjunctions such as xa ‘when’ bathi ‘at the time’.
  • Xa ecula siyonwaba. ‘When he/she sings we are happy.’
  • Bathi bephuma endlwini yaqala ukunetha. ‘At the time they were exiting the house, it started to rain.’
• To express ‘without’ in the negative.
  • Ulila engatsho ukuba unantoni. ‘He/she cries without telling us what is ailing him/her.’
  • Wangena endlwini akasibulisi. ‘He/she entered the house without greeting us.’
• After certain interrogatives such as kutheni ‘why’
  • Kutheni ungayanga esikolweni? ‘Why did you not go to school?’
  • Kutheni ungayihlambanga imoto? ‘Why did you not wash the car?’

Clause structure is the most widely studied phenomenon within syntactic theory because it refers to how words and phrases are embedded within a sentence, their relationships to each other within a sentence and ultimately, how sentences are layered and represented in the human brain. (Finlayson et al., 1990)

Clause types

• An independent clause is a clause that can stand by itself as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and makes sense by itself. Independent clauses can be joined by using a semicolon or by using a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction.
  • Abantwana badlala ibhola. ‘The children play ball.’
  • Isitya sizele ukutya. ‘The dish is full of food.’
• A dependent clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought. It cannot be a sentence but starts with a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun.
  • Xa besitya kakhulu. ‘When they eat a lot.’
  • Ukuze aphumle kakuhle. ‘So that he/she should rest properly.’

Independent clause plus dependent clause

• Independent and dependent clauses are the building blocks of sentences. Using conjunctions and proper punctuation, dependent and independent clauses can be joined to create interesting and complex sentences that are fun and engaging to read.
  • Akonwabanga noxa esisityebi. ‘He/she is not happy though he/she is rich.’
  • Maxa onke amaxabiso enyuka, abathengi bathenga izinto ezimbalwa. ‘Whenever prices go up, customers buy less products.’
• Subordinate conjunctions are connecting words that are used between two clauses, phrases or words. They join independent clauses to dependent clauses. They establish relationships between these clauses, such as time, place, purpose, condition or cause.
  • Zafika iindwendwe xa sigqiba ukucula. ‘The visitors arrived just after we had finished singing.’ (Time)
  • Baye eGqeberha apho banokufumana uncedo khona. ‘They have gone to Gqeberha where they will be able to find help.’ (Place)
  • Ndimqeqeshela ukuba abe ngumfundisi. ‘I am training him to become a minister.’ (Purpose)
  • Ungatya ukuba ulambile. ‘You can eat if you are hungry.’ (Condition)
• Subordinate conjunctions that join adverbial dependent clauses start with subordinating conjunctions such as after, even though, because, if, as soon as.
  • Ukuba ikhompyutha yonakele ndicela uyibuyise. ‘If the computer is damaged please return it.’
  • Kuba ikofu yam ibibanda ndiyifudumeze esitovini. ‘Because my coffee was too cold, I heated it in the stove.’
• The participial mood may be used with the following conjunctions:

  kuba ‘because’; ngokuba ‘because’; ngokokuba ‘because’; nakuba ‘even if’; ekubeni ‘when’; nangokuba ‘because’; njengokuba ‘as’; kangangokuba ‘as much as’

  • Ndilapha kuba ndimenyiwe. ‘I am here per invitation.’
  • Ekubeni ehambile baye balala. ‘After he left they went back to sleep.’
  • Nakubeni evile, khange eze. ‘Even though he knew, he never showed up.’
  • Wenze kangangokuba enakho. ‘He/she did as much as he/she could.’

Conjunction is a term used in grammatical classification of words to refer to an item whose primary function is to connect words and to link two sentences (Crystal, 1980). They are classified as coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Some conjunctions have no influence on the following verb and some do, e.g., xa ‘if, when’ which is usually followed by the participial mood and ukuba ‘that, in order that’ e.g., (Van Rooyen et al., 1982)

• Yitya xa uza kusebenza. ‘Eat before you work.’
• Nangona eligwala uyazithethelela. ‘Though he is a coward, he speaks for himself.’

There is a problem regarding the conjunctive in isiXhosa because it has no form that can make it belong to a part of speech (Van Rooyen et al., 1982). There are only a few conjunctives which are called primitive conjunctions by linguists, e.g., futhi.

• Ndimkhwelisile futhi ndamgodusa. ‘I gave him/her a lift and took him/her home.’
• Ndimphakele futhi watya. ‘I dished for him/her and he/she ate.’

Types of conjunctions

• Coordinating conjunctions:

  A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins two elements of equal grammatical rank and syntactic importance. They can join two verbs, two nouns, two adjectives, two phrases, or two independent clauses. Certain conjunctions may be associated with coordinating clauses, i.e., they are coordinating clauses, e.g., kodwa ‘but’; okanye ‘or’; kanti ‘but’.

  • Usifanele esi sikhundla kodwa akayiqondi loo nto. ‘He/she deserves this position although he/she does not understand that.’
  • Vuka ngexesha okanye akuyi kuyifumana ibhasi. ‘You should wake up on time or else you will not catch the bus.’
• Subordinating conjunctions:

  A subordinating conjunction is a word or phrase that links a dependent clause to an independent clause. This word or phrase indicates that a clause has informative value to add to the sentence’s main idea, signalling a clause and effect relationship or a shift in time and place between the two clauses.

  Certain conjunctions may be associated with subordinate clauses, i.e. they are subordinating conjunctions, e.g., ukuze ‘so that’; xa ‘if’.

  • Funda ukuze uphumelele. ‘Learn in order that you should pass.’
  • Xa esitsho njalo, masimleqe, simbethe. ‘If he says so, let us chase him and beat him up.’

Uses of conjunctions

There are words used in syntactical positions where they function like conjunctives though they belong to particular parts of speech. Infinitives of auxiliary stems ukuba and ukuze are used to introduce and connect sentences to other sentences.

• • UZola ulilela ukuba afumene inyama. ‘Zola is crying that he may get meat.’
  • Ndilungiselela ukuze ndiye enkonzweni. ‘I am getting prepared so that I can go to church.’

Sometimes demonstratives can be used as conjunctives, i.e., apho ‘where’; oku ‘this’; and the many compounds of which they form part. This is very common in isiXhosa:

• Sukuthetha kakubi ngomntu oku akulunganga. ‘Do not talk ill of a person, this is not right.’
• Apho kukho uthando kukho uxolo. ‘Where there is love there is peace.’

The use of nga- of the instrumental is very general with words which are used in a conjunctive manner, i.e., ngokuba ‘because’.

• Ndifuna ukugoduka ngokuba ndihlala nabantwana. ‘I want to go home because I stay with the children.’
• Ndibapha ukutya ngokuba balambile. ‘I give them food because they are hungry.’

In the examples given for isiXhosa, na- appears numerous times. This connective formative is very common in words used in a conjunctive manner, e.g., nakuba ‘whilst’; nangona ‘although’.

• Nangona embi uluphumelele ugqatso loonobuhle. ‘Although she is ugly she won the beauty contest.’
• Nakuba kushushu kuyanetha. ‘Whilst it is hot, it is also raining.’

Nouns and forms derived from nouns may be used in a conjunctive manner, ilixa > xa, kuxa ‘when’; Ixesha > xenikweni, xeshikweni ‘whilst’.

• Xenikweni sihamba ngemoto sibuka nelizwe. ‘Whilst travelling by motor we are also site-seeing.’
• Izinja ziyakhonkotha xa zibona into. ‘Dogs bark when they see something.’

Finlayson, R., Jones, C. J., Mfusi, J. M. & Podile, K. (1990) Study guide for XHS202-4. Pretoria; University of South Africa.

Pahl, H. W. (1983) IsiXhosa. Johannesburg: Educum Publishers.

Satyo, S. C. (1997) Igrama Noncwadi LwesiXhosa. Pretoria: Via Afrika.

Taljaard, P. C. & Bosch, S. E. (1988) Handbook of isiZulu. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

Van Rooyen, C. S., Louw, J. A., Cantrell, J. V., Taljaard, P. C., Satyo, S. C., Ntuli, D. B. & Davey, A. S. (1982) Xhosa only guide for XHS201-3. Pretoria: University of South Africa.