ClausesThe building blocks of sentences

Part 1: The Basics

The SentenceIn its very basic form, a sentence has two parts:1. A subject2. A verb

The subject is the person or thing completing the action (always a noun or pronoun) while the verb is the action being completed.

In English, sentences can very well be made up of only two words. For example: John ate. Mary slept.

Mostly, though, sentences are not this short. We add things to convey more information. When we do this, we are modifying the subject or verb of the sentence.

John slept after a long day at work.Sadly, Mary ate all the cake.

In these examples, the sentences here still only have one subject and one verb, so they are still only made up of one clause.

What’s a clause?

Watch Out!Subjects and verbs can be compound, meaning there is more than one item in the element.

For example:

John and his friends slept after a long day at work.

Sadly, Mary ate all the cake and left none for us.

The ClauseA clause is the technical term we use to describe a group of words that have a subject and a verb.

You might be thinking, wait – isn’t that a sentence?

Not always. There are clauses that contain subjects and verbs which are not complete on their own. In this lesson, we will focus on two primary types of clauses: 1. Independent2. Dependent

Independent ClausesAn independent clause is a sentence. It can stand alone by itself, and it conveys a complete thought.

I went shopping at the mall yesterday. The dog chased the ball.

These clauses contain a subject and a verb AND they convey a complete thought. They are independent.

When a clause does not convey a complete thought, it is dependent.

Dependent ClausesA dependent clause also contains a subject and a verb. Unlike independent clauses, however, a dependent clause does NOT convey a complete thought.

Because I was going to a party this weekend. When I threw the ball in the yard.

These clauses contain a subject and a verb, but they do not convey a complete thought. They require something else to make sense, making them dependent on another part of the sentence.

Dependent clauses must always be attached to an independent clause. Let’s look at a few examples.

More on Dependent ClausesDependent clauses require independent clauses to be complete. That’s why they’re called dependent. If it helps, think of them as needy!

Because I was going to a party this weekend, I went shopping at the mall yesterday.

When I threw the ball in the yard, the dog chased it.

To make these sentences complete, we’ve added independent clauses. These are sentences made of two clauses – one dependent and one independent. This information will come in handy as we learn about fragments in a later module.

Recognizing DependencyMuch of what you’ll learn about commas and common errors this semester will require you to be able to identify types of clauses. Dependent clauses are easy to find when you know what to look for.

Dependent clauses contain special words called subordinating conjunctions. These words identify a clauses as dependent. While there are many of these conjunctions, memorizing just the most common will help you avoid errors in the future with dependent clauses. Let’s take a look at them.

Common Subordinating ConjunctionsThe words to the right are the most common subordinating conjunctions that indicate dependence.

For a more comprehensive list, see page 196 of your Little, Brown Brief.

IfAlthoughBecauseOnceWhenWhileEven thoughUntilAsBefore

Let’s Review!

Independent Clauses Have a subject and verb Convey a complete thought

Dependent Clauses Have a subject and verb Do NOT convey a complete

though Are identified by the

presence of a subordinating conjunction

Must be attached to an independent clause

Additional ResourcesTo learn more about clauses:

See pages 209-211 in your Little, Brown Brief

See the Purdue Online Writing Lab resource on clauses. Click here to visit the page (opens in new window). <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/01/>