Dependent and Independent Clauses

Adverbial Clause

• A type of independent clause that expresses a complete thought.

• A dependent clause that functions as an adverb, telling when, where, why, or under what condition.

• A phrase that modifies a noun in a sentence.

• A clause that provides additional information about a verb.

Relative Clause

(Adjective Clause)

• A dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun

• A clause that can stand alone as a sentence

• A type of independent clause

• A phrase that describes a verb

The key to identifying clauses is to:

• Look for subject verb pairs.

• Identify the main idea of the sentence.

• Count the number of words in the sentence.

• Notice the connecting words in the sentence.

Subordinating Conjunctions

• They start independent clauses.

• They start dependent clauses.

• They connect two independent clauses.

• They are used to form questions.

Noun Clause

• A type of independent clause that can stand alone as a sentence.

• A dependent clause that functions as a noun in the sentence (as subject, object, or complement)

• A phrase that describes a noun in detail.

• A clause that provides additional information about a verb.

Independent Clause

• A group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought; can stand alone as a sentence.

• A phrase that lacks a subject and verb, making it incomplete.

• A collection of sentences that are related but do not express a complete thought.

• A type of sentence that asks a question.

Dependent Clause

(Subordinate Clause)

• A group of words that can stand alone as a complete thought.

• A group of words that contains a subject and verb but cannot stand alone as a complete thought.

• A type of independent clause that expresses a complete idea.

• A phrase that does not contain a subject or verb.