Independent Clause
An independent clause is simply a sentence. It can be as short as “Jill ran.” Which contains only a subject and a verb or be much more complex.
Example: Jill ran down the hill with a pail of water.
Dependent Clause
A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb but not a complete thought. Because it is not a complete thought, a dependent clause on its own is commonly known as a sentence fragment.
Example: As Jill ran down the hill with a pail of water.
This is a dependent, sentence fragment, because nothing tells you what happened to Jill.
Dependent clauses are usually set off by what is known as a dependent clause marker, a word that sets off the clause as being dependent. Some common dependent clause markers are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.
Example: Jill fell as she ran down the hill with a pail of water.
Creating a Connection Between an Independent and Dependent Clause
The most basic method for joining an independent and dependent clause is to use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions are: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.
Example: Jill went up the hill, and she and her pail of water fell back down.
Subordinate Clauses
Subordinate clauses are used to add information that gives further meaning to an existing independent clause. The list of subordinating conjunctions below are all familiar words that you have used before.
as
as if
as soon as
since
until
when
whenever
where
because
before
whereas
so that
in order that
although
even though
even it
provided that
unless
once
rather than
Relative Clauses
A relative clause is a type of dependent clause that serves to modify what is said in the independent clause. In a sentence with a relative clause, the subject of the independent clause that is modified is called an antecedent.
Example: The raffle winner, who lives in Boston, won a $105,000 prize.
