(FTU) Lesson Topic 2: Cranking Out Clauses and Phrases

Lesson Topic 2: Cranking Out Clauses and Phrases

What is a Clause?

Remember that a clause is a group of words containing a subject and verb, which forms part of a sentence.

A subordinating clause depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning. It does not express a complete thought, so it does not stand alone. It must always be attached to a main clause that completes the meaning. They are sometimes called dependent clauses because they "depend" on a main clause to give them meaning.

Subordinate Clause

A subordinate clause is usually introduced by a subordinating element such as a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun. It depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning. It does not express a complete thought, so it does not stand alone. It must always be attached to a main clause that completes the meaning.

Subordinating Clause

A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate clause to a main clause. The following list includes the most common subordinating conjunctions. If you can locate the subordinating conjunction, you can easily locate the subordinate clause in the sentence.

after	even though	that
although	how	though
as	if	till (or 'til)
as if	inasmuch	unless
as long as	in order that	until
as much as	lest	when
as soon as	now that	whenever
as though	provided (that)	where
because	since	wherever
before	so that	while
even if	than