a simple or complex sentence?

[Freeguy]

What I need is money.


Is it a complex sentence?

 

[jutfrank]

Why are you asking this, Freeguy? Did somebody ask you to answer this question?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's a cleft sentence and therefore complex. [link]

 

[Freeguy]

Why are you asking this, Freeguy? Did somebody ask you to answer this question?

Why? Why do we ask our questions here? I want to know what kind of sentence cleft sentences are. To me, they are not simple.

 

[Rover_KE]

We want to be sure you're not asking us to help with a homework assignment.

 

[jutfrank]

Technically, cleft sentences are complex by definition since they contain subordinate clauses.

(Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

[Rover_KE]

I've just undeleted my post #3, but I'm still waiting for Freeguy's response to post #2.

 

[PaulMatthews]

What I need is money.

Is it a complex sentence?

Yes: it’s a complex sentence -- more specifically it's a pseudo-cleft construction, where the foregrounded element "money" is complement of "be", and the residue is backgrounded in a fused relative clause construction, i.e. "what I need" ("that which I need").

It qualifies as a complex sentence by virtue of it having a matrix clause (the whole sentence) and an embedded fused relative clause.

 

[Freeguy]

Again and again, I am not a student. I am an English teacher and share my problems here. I want to consult with you about the nuanced point in English.
How can a short question like this be homework? Do we have such homework?

 

[jutfrank]

Okay, Freeguy. Your question did sound like it could be part of an assignment. We understand now that it isn't.

Please understand that since it goes against forum policy to give answers to academic assignments, we have to err on the side of caution when there's doubt. Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

If you're an English teacher, please update your profile information to reflect that. At the moment, it says "Student or learner" - that, understandably, might well lead us to think you are a student looking for free answers to homework.

And yes, it's exactly the kind of homework question we might expect. What makes you think this couldn't be given to a student as an assignment? Don't you ask your students to look at sentences and work out if they are simple or complex?

 

[Rover_KE]

Again and again, I am not a student. I am an English teacher ...

In that case you need to amend your profile, which says you are a student or learner.

(Cross-posted)

 

[Freeguy]

I will.
I thought it would be unnecessary to update my profile because I always consider myself a learner in English. My knowledge is limited, compared to each and every one of you, as English native speakers.

The second reason, of course, is that I think English native speakers may raise their eyebrows if I tell them I am a non-native English speaker. I don't know why, but it sounds arrogant to them. I may be mistaken, though.

 

[Freeguy]

And no, I have never given such short homework to my students, nor have I seen any grammar-related book covers this type.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wasn't suggesting that you would give your students just a single sentence as homework. However, look at this from our point of view. Your profile says you're a learner. You posted one question. My suspicion was that you had been given a set of sentences and asked to sort them into simple and complex, and that the one you posted was the only one you weren't sure about.
I can assure you that some teachers and textbooks use "Is this sentence simple or complex?" exercises.

We won't think you're arrogant if you use "English teacher" in your profile because it's true. We take a much dimmer view of people giving inaccurate information in their profile.