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CLAUSES
Having swum for miles, the baby shark was exhausted. (The underlined portion is a phrase .) Because it swam for miles, the baby shark was exhausted. (The underlined portion is a clause .)
Do you see the difference between the two underlined portions? One has neither a subject nor a verb. One has both.
Clause : A group of words that has a subject and a finite verb
“That sounds like a lot like the definition for a sentence.”
Yes, it does. But, if you recall, a sentence has three requirements. A clause only meets two of them—a subject and a finite verb. For example:
Although I hate the SAT .
This is a clause. It has a subject, I , and a finite verb, hate , but it’s clearly not a sentence: it’s not a complete thought (that’s the third requirement of a sentence). A clause that does not form a complete thought is called a dependent clause.
Dependent Clause : A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence
Although I hate the SAT … what? This is a dependent clause. The SAT, which I hate, 93 … what? This is a relative clause.
Not Sentences Phrases Modifiers Dependent Clauses
“Go on. Complete your thought!”
“You giggle while taking it? “Is easily mastered after reading this book?”
Since a dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence, it needs something else to “stand on,” and that something else is an independent clause.
A sentence must have at least one independent clause.
Independent Clause : A clause that can stand alone as a sentence
Although I hate the SAT, I mastered it.
Although I hate the SAT: Dependent Clause (Not a sentence)
I mastered it.: Independent Clause (Sentence)
Although I hate the SAT, I mastered it . : Dependent Clause + Independent Clause
(Complex sentence)
93 A type of dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun (such as who , which , that ).
91
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