Formation of Subordinate Clauses:
To make a subordinate clause, add a clause subordinator to the beginning of any main
clause; then supply a new main clause to support it.
Jim arrived early.
Since Jim arrived early,
Since Jim arrived early, he didn't have to wait.
Clause Subordinators:
after, although, as, because, before, even though, if,
once, since, though, unless, until, when
More Examples:
Constance sighed.
When Constance sighed,
When Constance sighed, the other people in the room turned
to see who had done it.
The dog barked incessantly at night.
Because the dog barked incessantly at night,
Because the dog barked incessantly at night, the neighbors
finally lodged a complaint with the town board.
Detecting Subordinate Clauses
When you are analyzing the sentence structure of a passage,
you can pay attention to the writer's use of subordinate
clauses. To find them, look for one of the clause subordinators
listed above. Then look at the words following the subordinator.
If they would be a main clause by themselves, then you
have found a subordinate clause. If they form only a
phrase or if there is only a single word after the
subordinator, then you do not have a subordinate clause:
usually you are looking at a prepositional phrase.
Notice the paragraph just above this one. It contains
the following subordinate clauses:
When you are analyzing the sentence structure of a passage,
If they would be a main clause by themselves,
If they form only a phrase
if there is only a single word after the subordinator,
Let's now mark that same paragraph to highlight the sentences
which contain subordinate clauses and to emphasize the
subordinate clauses themselves. In this example, I have
italicized the sentences that have subordinate clauses, and
I have boldfaced the subordinate clauses themselves.
When you are analyzing the sentence structure of a passage,
you can pay attention to the writer's use of subordinate
clauses. To find them, look for one of the clause subordinators
listed above. Then look at the words following the subordinator.
If they would be a main clause by themselves, then you
have found a subordinate clause. If they form only a
phrase or if there is only a single word after the
subordinator, then you do not have a subordinate clause:
usually you are looking at a prepositional phrase.
Return to Lesson Five