Are you struggling in your English class? Are your getting dismal quiz scores because you have a hard time identifying which part of a sentence is the independent clause and which is the dependent clause?
It’s a good thing we found good examples and tutorials online…
For example: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” (Milton Berle)
What is the subject in the sentence “build a door”?
Try to think of the sentence as: “(You) build a door.”
Dependent Clause – also known as a subordinate clause. Has a subject and a predicate, but cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Types of Dependent Clauses
- adverb clauses
- adjective clauses
- noun clauses
Some students need to count the number of different kinds of clauses in a sentence, so that they can identify what kind of sentence it is.
Simple Sentence – one independent (or main) clause.
Complex Sentence – one independent clause + one or more dependent clauses.
Compound Sentence – contains two or more independent clauses.
Compound-Complex Sentence – contains two or more independent clauses, plus one or more dependent clauses.
Other Things To Read
- Clauses and Phrases – some of these can be quite tricky. It’s a good thing the explanation on this page is quite clear.
- Tameri Guide: Clauses and Phrases – sometimes, prepositional phrases enter the the picture when some teachers talk about dependent clauses.
- Conjunctions – these will help give you clues on identifying a clause.
- The Dependent Clause – some tips to help technical writers. Analytical writing for science and technology.
Phrases and Clauses – I like the way the use background colors to highlight the dependent clauses. Much easier to see.
Good luck! Study hard and get high grades in High School English! 🙂
