What kind of sentence is this and why (complex, simple, etc)?

Question

Standing on a ladder, I slipped and broke a window.

(NOTE:the punctuation may be inncorrect. can someone check that too?)

Answer 1

Compound because of fubject and verb. Punctuation is correct.

Answer 2

It is a simple sentence because it contains only one subject "I." If you had said "I slipped, and I broke a window," it would have been compound because "I broke a window " could stand alone as a  separate sentence, i.e. an independant clause. "Standing on a ladder, I slipped" could also stand alone as a sentence. Two or more independant clauses are compound; anything less is simple.

Answer 3

It would sound better if it were: "While standing on a ladder, I slipped

and broke a window."

It's a simple sentence.  It has a compound verb + a gerund phrase, but

so what?  A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses.

A complex sentence has at least one dependent clause.

Answer 4

"Standing on a ladder"  -- phrase, no subject, no verb -- not a clause, doesn't count.

"I slipped and broke a window" -- independent clause

Complete subject:  I

Compound verb:  slipped and broke

Direct Object:  a window -- not a subject, not a verb, doesn't count

Although the verb is compound, the sentence is simple.  There is exactly one independent clause, exactly one subject/verb pair.  In this case, one simple subject paired with a compound verb.

A compound sentence would have more than one independent clause.  

A complex sentence would have at least one dependent clause (either subordinate or relative)

A compound/complex would have at least one independent clause, at least one dependent clause, and at least two of either dependent or independent.  In other words, a complex sentence where either the independent or the dependent part is also compound.

Compound subjects and compound predicates can be confusing.  If you count just one or just the other, you can get the wrong answer about the whole sentence.

"John and I were running around town."  -- compound subject, simple sentence

"John was running and jumping everywhere." -- compound verb, simple sentence.

"John and I were running around town and bouncing off the walls." -- compound subject, compound predicate, but still a simple sentence.

"John was running around town and I was bouncing off the walls." -- compound sentence.  

In the last example, I'm not running, and John's not bouncing.  There are two separate subject/verb pairs.  In the example just above the last, both John and I are both running and bouncing.  That's one subject/verb pair.

See the difference now?