Clauses are a group of related words that include BOTH and subject and a verb. Our writing is made up of clauses and it is critical to understand the differences between the two main types of clauses.

The two main types of clauses are:

Independent Clauses

These are clauses because they include both a subject and a verb, but they are considered to be independent because they can stand on their own.

And the other type is…

Dependent Clauses

This type of clause is also known as a subordinate clause. They also fit the standards for being a clause, as they have a subject and a verb, but they differ from independent clauses because they CANNOT stand alone.

On the following page, you can find a video that illustrates how these clauses work.

Here are some examples of

Independent Clauses:

Brian goes to the market.

The cat eats her dinner.

The text that is underlined and in the color blue would be the subject of the clause. The green and underlined text is the verb of the clause.

Each of these sentences are complete thoughts and can stand alone as independent clauses, as they do not require any more information for the sentence to make sense.

Now let’s explore a couple of examples of

Dependent Clauses:

since Maria ate dinner.

Although Peter did his homework

Again, the subject within the clause is blue and underlined, while the verb of the clause is green and underlined.

These clauses are dependent because they require more information. In order to make these complete sentences, we must add an independent clause. Dependent clauses work somewhat like puzzle pieces because they need another piece in order to be complete.

Let’s practice!

Please identify which of the following clauses are independent and dependent. If they are dependent, do your best to be creative and complete the sentence with an independent clause.

1) we went to the grocery store

2) because she didn’t do her homework

3) when you were a little kid

4) the dog is thirsty

5) as they were walking

Now, let’s apply what we learned to our own writing!

On a separate sheet of paper, please write a small paragraph, at least 5 sentences, describing what you did this morning before getting to school.

Be sure to:

• Label the independent and dependent clauses within your paragraph. Please underline the independent clauses to separate them from the dependent clauses.

• No solo dependent clauses! Don’t forget that dependent clauses must have an independent clause in order to be a complete sentence.