Clauses

What is a Clause?

A clause is a group of related words that contains both a subject and a verb. It is important that you recognize the two types of clauses so that you can punctuate them correctly.

Two Types of Clauses:

1. Independent (or main) Clause

An independent clause makes a complete statement and can stand alone as a sentence.

s v

Ex: Los Angeles is a highly populated city.

s v

Ex: Weight training directly affects metabolism.

2. Dependent (or subordinate) Clause

Even though it contains a subject and a verb, a dependent clause does not make a complete statement and cannot stand alone.

s v

Ex: Before they arrived in Beverly Hills

s v

Ex: After the heart rate was measured

Basic Rules about Dependent Clauses:

· A dependent clause begins with one of the following subordinating conjunctions or functional connectives:

after, although, as, as far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, because, before, how, if, in order that, provided that, since, so, so that, that, though, unless, until, what, whatever, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, which, while, who, whoever, whom, whomever, and why.

· A dependent clause must be linked to an independent clause with the proper punctuation to make sense.

DC IC

Ex: Because she practices every day, she is the leading scorer.

DC IC

Ex: After I run along the bay, I feel invigorated.

· A dependent clause may follow an independent clause. If so, no punctuation is needed to connect the two clauses.

IC DC

Ex: I feel great when I wake up in the morning.

IC DC

Ex: He likes to study because he wants to make good grades.

· A dependent clause can be embedded in the independent clause. If so, the dependent clause will often begin with the relative pronoun "who," "that," or "which."

IC DC IC

Ex: The woman who crashed the car was drunk.

IC DC IC

Ex: The cat that jumped on the table startled the little girl.

IC DC IC

Ex: The 1998 Volvo, which was purchased last week, was a lemon.

Note: In this last example, the relative pronoun "which" introduces a nonrestrictive modifier that is not needed to identify the Volvo. Thus, commas must be used to set off the dependent clause.

Remember:

A clause is a group of related words that contains both a subject and a verb. There are two types of clauses: independent and dependent.