Notes: Two Types of Clauses

REMEMBER: A clause is a group of words that work together that has both a subject and a predicate.

INDEPENDENT CLAUSE: -expresses a complete thought

-can often be a complete sentence

-can also be a part of a complex sentence

DEPENDENT CLAUSE: -has a subject and predicate but DOES NOT express a complete thought

-is almost always a part of a complex sentence

-is also known as a subordinate clause

Examples of INDEPENDENT CLAUSES:

 I had a puppy.
 The test was easy.

Examples of DEPENDENT CLAUSES:

 When I was a little girl (<---notice there is NO PERIOD AT THE END OF THAT CLAUSE! It's not a
complete thought!)
 Because I said so (<---notice there is NO PERIOD AT THE END OF THAT CLAUSE! It's not a
complete thought!)

A COMPLEX SENTENCE is a sentence with a subordinating conjunction in it. It is what we have been
calling a www.asia.wub sentence.

Examples of a complex sentence:

|------DC-----------| |--------------IC--------------|

Because I said so, you can't go to the mall.

|------IC------| |------------DC----------|

I had a puppy when I was a little girl.

|-----------IC--------------||------DC------|

When I was a little girl, I had a puppy.