ClauseNot Santa

I. Definition:A group of words that

contains a subject and a verb

II. There are two kinds of clauses:

A. Independent (IC)and

B. Dependent (Subordinate) (DC)

A. Independent

A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone

AKA A SENTENCE

Examples of Independent Clauses:

*he memorized a poem last night

*Mary will read her poem *many people enjoy poetry

When an independent clause (IC) starts with a capital letter

and ends with a period or question mark, it is a

SENTENCE.

*He memorized a poem.*Mary will read her poem at

school .*Many people enjoy poetry.

B. Subordinate (or dependent) clause (DC)

It does not express a complete thoughtand

It cannot stand by itself as a sentence

Examples of Dependent or Subordinate Clauses

*because he memorized a poem

*when Mary reads her poem at school

*since many people enjoy poetry

.

III. A. A dependent/subordinate clause (DC) will be a FRAGMENT when the clause begins with a capital letter

and ends with a period or question mark. This is a grammatical ERROR!

* Because he memorized a poem.*When Mary reads her poem at

school tomorrow.*Since many people enjoy poetry.

What makes one clause independent and another

dependent?

...because he memorized a poem…

He memorized a poem.

…when Mary read her poem at school...

Mary read her poem at school.

B. What makes a clause dependent/subordinate?

• A clause is dependent/subordinate (DC) when it begins with a subordinate word. A few examples…

• Who When While Which That Since Because Unless etc. etc. etc.

• Sometimes the subordinate word is understood to be present.

C. Sometimes the subject of the dependent/subordinate clause (DC) is a

pronoun.

• Examples:

• April, which is my favorite month, is going to be cold this year.

• Subject of SC is “which.” Verb of SC is “is.”

• The flower that grew in my yard was a rose.

• Subject of SC is “that.” Verb of SC is “grew.”

D. A dependent/subordinate clause (DC) needs an independent clause

(IC) to create a true sentence.

Because he memorized a poem, Mike will receive extra

credit.

Mike will receive extra credit because he memorized a

poem.

When Mary reads her poem at school, we will applaud.

We will applaud when Mary reads her poem at school.

E. Punctuation: When the dependent clause (DC) comes first,

it is usually followed by a comma.

When the rain stops,

the game will begin.

F. Punctuation: When the dependent clause (DC) comes

last, there is generally no comma.

The game will begin

when the rain stops.