Clauses

Definition:

a group of words that contains a subject and a verb

Clause…not Santa

A. Independent (IC)

and

B. Dependent (Subordinate) (DC)

II. There are two kinds of clauses:

A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone.

AKA

A SENTENCE

A. Independent

*he memorized a poem last night

*Mary will read her poem

*many people enjoy poetry

Examples of Independent Clauses:

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.

It does not express a complete thought

and

It cannot stand by itself as a sentence

B. Dependent (or subordinate ) clause (DC)

*because he memorized a poem

*when Mary reads her poem at school

*since many people enjoy poetry

Examples of Dependent (Subordinate Clauses)

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…

He memorized a poem.

What makes one clause independent and another

dependent?

…when Mary read her poem at school...

Mary read her poem at school.

• 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.

What makes a clause dependent/subordinate?

Examples:

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

Subject of DC is “which.” Verb of DC is “is.”

The flower that grew in my yard was a rose.

Subject of DC is “that.” Verb of DC is “grew.”

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

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.

We will applaud when Mary reads her poem at school.

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

When the rain stops, the game will begin.

E. Punctuation: When the dependent clause (DC) comes first, it is usually followed by a comma.

The game will begin when the rain stops.

F. Punctuation: When the dependent clause (DC) comes last, there is generally no comma.