“What happened at school?”
The words you are given
- hard
- but
- studied
- the exam
- She
- failed
- and
The order that works
She studied hard but failed the exam.
Build a Sentence
Compound sentence with "but"
"But" joins two contrasting clauses. The second clause presents an unexpected or opposite idea to the first.
6 worked examplesCompound Complex
The pattern
Clause 1, BUT Clause 2: He tried hard, BUT he failed.
Worked examples
6 shown
Word order shown is Reach120’s reading of standard English usage for this sentence. ETS does not publish a correct/incorrect judgement for individual items, and this is not an official score.
“What happened at work?”
The words you are given
- finished
- but
- missed
- the deadline
- and
- He
- the report
The order that works
He finished the report but missed the deadline.
“How did the game go?”
The words you are given
- lost
- the game
- but
- and
- scored
- first
- They
The order that works
They scored first but lost the game.
“What did he do after graduation?”
The words you are given
- and
- a job offer
- continued
- studying
- but
- part-time
- He
- accepted
The order that works
He accepted a job offer but continued studying part-time.
“What happened during the storm?”
The words you are given
- but
- started
- immediately
- working
- the generator
- and
- went out
- The power
The order that works
The power went out but the generator started working immediately.
“Why is the report incomplete?”
The words you are given
- the data
- but
- gathered
- analyze
- the results
- He
- could not
- and
The order that works
He gathered the data but could not analyze the results.
Practice this pattern against the clock.
More compound complex patterns
Build a Sentence
Compound sentence with "and"
OpenComplex sentence with "although/while"
OpenComplex sentence with "because"
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