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§ 5. The length of the compound sentence in terms of the number 
of its clausal parts (its predicative volume), the same as with the 
complex sentence, is in principle unlimited; it is determined by the 
informative purpose of the speaker. The commonest type of the 
compound sentence in this respect is a two-clause construction. 
On the other hand, predicatively longer sentences than two-clause 
ones, from the point of view of semantic correlation between the 
clauses, are divided into "open" and "closed" constructions. Copu-
lative and enumerative types of connection, if they are not varied in 
the final sequential clause, form "open" coordinations. These are 
used as descriptive and narrative means in a literary text. Cf.: 
They visited house after house. They went over them thoroughly, 
examining them from the cellars in the basement to the attics under 
the roof. Sometimes they were too large and sometimes they were 
too small; sometimes they were too far from the center of things 
and sometimes they were too close; sometimes they were too ex-
pensive and sometimes they wanted too many repairs; sometimes 
they were too stuffy and sometimes they were too airy; sometimes 
they were too dark and sometimes they were too bleak. Roger al-
ways found a fault that made the house unsuitable (S. Maugham). 
In the multi-clause compound sentence of a closed type the final 
part is joined on an unequal basis with the previous ones (or one), 
whereby a finalisation of the expressed chain of ideas is achieved. 
The same as open compound sentences, closed compound con-
structions are very important from the point of view of a general 
text arrangement. The most typical closures in such compound sen-
tences are those effected by the conjunctions and (for an asyndetic 
preceding construction) and but (both for an asyndetic and copula-
tive syndetic preceding construction). Cf., respectively: 
His fingernails had been cleaned, his teeth brushed, his hair 
combed, his nostrils cleared and dried, and he had been dressed in 
formal black by somebody or other (W. Saroyan). 

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leasure may turn a heart to stone, riches may make it callous, but 
sorrow — oh, sorrow cannot break it (O. Wilde). 
The structure of the closed coordinative construction is most 
convenient for the formation of expressive climax.