Words We Use to Talk about Clauses

This digital handout categorizes clauses into independent and subordinate (dependent) clauses. This simply means that some clauses can stand by themselves, as separate sentences, and some can't.

Independent Clauses:

*contain a subject and verb

* express a complete thought

Sentence: My mother drove me to school.

                 Since I missed the bus, my mother drove me to school.

Subordinate (dependent) Clauses:

*contain a subject and verb

*do not express a complete thought

Sentence: I had my own horse when I lived in Montana.

Independent Clause: I had my own horse

Subordinate Clause: when we lived in Montana

Another term for dependent clause is subordinate clause: this means that the clause is subordinate to another element (the independent clause) and depends on that other element for its meaning. The subordinate clause is introduced by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun.

Notice how an independent clause, "She is older than her brother" (which could be its own sentence), is turned into a dependent or subordinate clause when the same group of words begins with a dependent word: "Because she is older than her brother, she tells him what to do."

Examples of Dependent Clauses:

Professor Villa, who used to be a secretary for the President, can type 132 words a minute.

My brother, who now teaches math in a small college, never liked math in high school.

The dealership that sold more cars ended up actually losing money.

The Federated Bank, which was founded nearly two centuries ago, folded during the state's economic crisis.

The team had fallen behind by ten points before they were able to figure out the opponent's defense.

Since he started working nights, he doesn't see much of his kids.

While Josie sat inside watching television, Gladys shoveled the driveway.