Clauses
by Dustin Pascoe
In order to fix some common sentence errors, such as the run-on sentence and the sentence fragment, some definitions are required.
A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate.
An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. For example:
Polo is a video game aficionado.
A dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence. For example,
because there are bright colors and few cats
Note: if a dependent clause is by itself, it is a sentence fragment.
A relative clause is a subordinate (dependent) clause that refers to a previous part of the sentence (most often a noun). A relative subordinate clause begins with a relative pronoun: who, whom, which, or that. For example:
Polo, who is a dog, likes playing Call of Duty.
Two independent clauses can be linked by a semicolon or a comma following by a coordinating conjunction:
| and | but | for | nor |
| or | so | yet |
For example:
Polo is a video game aficionado, and he likes playing Call of Duty.
Note: If two independent clauses are connected by a comma only or nothing at all in a sentence, that sentence is a run-on.
In a complex sentence, which is a sentence containing more than one clause, the clauses are always related somehow—that is why they find themselves in the same sentence. A dependent clause is linked to an independent clause with a subordinating conjunction. The subordinating conjunction (or subordinating word) not only links a dependent clause to the independent clause it depends on, it also indicates the kind of subordinate relationship it has to the independent clause. I call this relationship its logical relationship. The following table indicates the logical relationship and the subordinating words that are used to denote that relationship.
| Relationship | Time | Place | Cause | Contrast | Condition |
| when | where | because | although | if | |
| after | wherever | since | though | unless | |
| whenever | in order that | while | since | ||
| while | so that | than | as long as | ||
| before | provided that | ||||
| until | |||||
| then |
Note: Check all your sentences. If a sentence begins with a relative pronoun or a subordinating word, there must be an independent clause in the same sentence. Otherwise, you have a fragment.
Here are some exercises to do to check if you understand the concepts.
Exercises
1. Name the logical relation between the last two sentences. Combine them.
Joe Pellopi is afraid of lizards.
Joe Pellopi goes to the store.
There are no lizards on the streets.
2. Combine these sentences, first through coordination, then through subordination. Name the logical relation.
Monique washes her BMW.
Monique listens to music.
3. Combine these sentences, first using both subordination and coordination, then using subordination only.
The fog comes.
Lizards crawl underneath their rocks.
Joe Pellopi is able to go to the store.
4. Combine these sentences using coordination, subordination, and a semicolon.
Mountains disappear in a snow storm.
You can’t see through the whiteness.
It is a marvelous sight.
Lizards are nowhere to be seen.
BMWs are nowhere to be seen.
