Which of the following is a complex sentence?
A.
I brushed my teeth while the coffee brewed.
B.
Time was running short, so I hurriedly brushed my teeth while breakfast was warming up.
C.
Since time was running short, I hurriedly brushed my teeth while breakfast was warming up.
D.
I used the time while the coffee was brewing to brush my teeth.
The correct answer is:
C. Since time was running short, I hurriedly brushed my teeth while breakfast was warming up.
Explanation:
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. In option C, the sentence includes:
Independent clause: “I hurriedly brushed my teeth.”
Dependent clauses: “Since time was running short” and “while breakfast was warming up.”
Option A (“I brushed my teeth while the coffee brewed.”) is a complex sentence but less complex compared to option C, as it contains only one dependent clause.
Option B (“Time was running short, so I hurriedly brushed my teeth while breakfast was warming up.”) is a compound-complex sentence because it includes two independent clauses (“Time was running short” and “I hurriedly brushed my teeth”) and one dependent clause (“while breakfast was warming up”).
Option D (“I used the time while the coffee was brewing to brush my teeth.”) is a simple sentence with a subordinate clause (“while the coffee was brewing”), but it does not contain multiple clauses interacting in the way that a complex sentence does.
Thus, option C is the best example of a complex sentence with multiple interacting clauses.