Clarity and Accuracy in Writing: A Review of Sentence Types and Subordinate Clauses

Clarity and Accuracy in Writing

A Review of Sentence Types and Subordinate Clauses 

A look at sentence types and subordinate clauses will directly relate to the most important point when it comes to your language improvement: correcting common errors in your written work. For many of you, this will likely be a good review and opportunity to refresh your memory about some important grammar. For others, this may be a relatively new look at the sentence-level grammar as a whole, so be patient with yourself and carefully move through the points.

What do we mean by sentence types” and “subordinate clauses”? When we say “sentence types”, we classify them in two ways: according to their structure and their purpose. Depending on the number and types of clauses they contain, we refer to their structure as:

1. Simple; 

2. Compound;

3. Complex; and 

4. Compound-complex

1. Simple: A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, the minimum requirement for an independent clause to be a sentence. 

      Example: Professor Neanderthal teaches history. 

                      (subject = Professor Neanderthal, verb = teaches)

2. Compound: A compound sentence has two independent clauses joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction. 

    Example: John was late in leaving, but he arrived on time. 

3. Complex: Unlike a compound sentence, a complex sentence is a combination of an independent clause and a subordinate clause (see below for detail)

    Example: Before Jane arrived in New York to begin her professional career, she had lived in  

                     Albuquerque for 26 years. 

4. Compound-complex: A compound-complex sentence consists of more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. 

    Example: John asked Helen to marry him, and even though she was not madly in love with him, 

                    she agreed to be his wife. 

As you can see, clauses are key to understanding all of this. Basically, clauses can be either independent or subordinate (i.e. dependent). If the clause is independent, it contains a subject (i.e. nouns or pronouns) and a predicate (i.e. verbs plus objects, complements or modifiers) and it can stand alone. That is, it can be a complete sentence on its own. In contrast, a subordinate (or dependent) clause functions within a sentence as an adjective, adverb, or noun, even though it also has a subject and a predicate. Even though it is patterned like sentences, having subjects, verbs and sometimes objects or complements, subordinate clauses cannot stand alone.

Subordinate Clauses Identified 

Look at the following sentences and mark the underlined parts with IND for independent and DEP for dependent. The first example is done for you.

1. While gestures are a way of communication without speaking,  they are very important

                        DEP                                                                           

if you do not understand a language well.       

                        IND

Answer: The first clause cannot stand on its own, but the second clause can. Even though both clauses have a subject and a verb, the first clause is dependent because it begins with 'while' and cannot exist by itself without the following clause. In contrast, the second clause is independent because it can stand on its own, i.e., it has a complete meaning. 

1.     If you need to go back and listen to parts again, please do so after you have a general

sense of what the whole lecture is about.

2.     As the rate of interest is increased, the cost of holding money increases.                                                     

3.     If current interest rate is 7% and the rate is increased to 10%, people will prefer to

 save the money at 10% versus 7%.

       

4. The investor will receive interest of $100 a year for ten years, and the government will

                                                                              

 return $1,000 to the investor at the end of year ten.

                                    

5.     The amount will continue to grow at a modest rate as long as investors deposit 2% of

 their income in the mutual fund every month.

                                    

Did you get all the correct answers?  Remember that practice is key to perfection, so keep practicing.  Please check your answers, and if you are still confused about anything, ask your instructor or your classmates to help you understand the difference between independent and dependent clauses.

Tips

It is important to remember that while independent clauses can stand alone as complete sentences, dependent clauses cannot.  Do not be fooled by their appearance.  They are patterned like independent clauses, because they also have subjects and verbs.  However, they are not complete sentences, and usually begin with the following words:

• After
• Before
• Although
• Though
• Even though
• As
• As if
• If
• Because
• Until
• Unless
• Since
• While
• When
• Whether
• Wherever
• In order that
• Rather than

Keep in mind that dependent clauses may appear at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.  The following example will make this point clear:

1. The cost of holding money increases as the rate of interest is increased.

                        IND                                                                  DEP

                                    OR

2. As the rate of interest is increased, the cost of holding money increases.

                        DEP                                                      IND

Okay, I hope this information is sufficient for you to understand how independent and dependent clauses are formed in English.  Keep up the good work, and keep practicing. 

Implications for Your Learning 

It is important to know how the basic sentence works in order to address common English language errors that may occur when you are constructing your own sentences. It is important that you realize that learning “grammar” in the traditional way where you memorize all the language and rules is NOT what we are trying to accomplish here. On the contrary, all the information you are learning will be put to USE when you write, give feedback to classmates, receive feedback from classmates, and generally try to assess what areas of English language production present difficulties in your own clear communication in English.