Clause

Not Santa

I. Definition:
A group of words that contains a
subject and a verb
II. There are two kinds of clauses:

A. Independen
t (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.
• Identify the independent clauses in
Quick Check I, p. 929 of EOL. Circle
IND if you think the sentence is an
independent clause. Name the subject
and verb of each independent clause.
B. Subordinate (or dependent)
clause (DC)
It does not express a complete thought
and
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
• Identify the subordinate clauses in the
sentences of Quick Check I, p. 929 of
EOL. Circle SUB if you think the clause
is subordinate, circle SUB. Name the
subject and verb in each subordinate
clause.
 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.
• 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.