Kí ló jẹ́ àkópọ̀ gbolohun: Ọmọ náà wà ní ilé. Ó ń ka iwe rẹ?

The two simple sentences Ọmọ náà wà ní ilé (the child is at home) and Ó ń ka iwe rẹ̀ (he/she is reading his/her book) describe two separate but related actions happening at the same time. The standard way to combine two such simple sentences into one compound sentence in Yoruba is with the connector sì (and/also), giving Ọmọ náà wà ní ilé, ó sì ń ka iwe rẹ̀.

The other combinations either force an unnatural focus construction, or turn the second sentence into a relative clause describing the child rather than simply joining two parallel actions, which changes the sentence type from a compound sentence to a complex one.

To build a compound sentence from two short Yoruba sentences, keep both actions as independent clauses and link them with sì rather than folding one inside the other with tí.