Main and Subordinate Clauses Creating and identifying effective sentences…

Do you remember the difference between The subject The predicate

Mary decided to go home after school. Identify the subject and predicate in this sentence: Mary decided to go home after school.

Mary / decided to go home after school. Divide the sentence into these parts: Mary / decided to go home after school. Mary is the subject of the sentence because the sentence is describing something Mary did. Decided to go home after school is the predicate because it describes what it is that Mary did.

So… If you can find the subject and predicate of a sentence then you should have no trouble picking out the clause of the sentence. A sentence clause is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and is used as a part of a sentence.

There are two main types of clauses… No! Not this kind of Claus!

These type of clauses Independent Subordinate (dependent)

The subject is involved in the action What is a main clause? A Main Clause a.k.a. independent clause, consists of: + Subject Verb The subject is involved in the action The verb IS the action

Let’s See it in Action… The Skippers defeated the Lions. Subject= ___________ (Who?) Verb= ____________ (What did they do?) Mr. Bundy addressed the whole school. Verb= ____________ (What did he/she do?)

Let’s See it in Action… The Skippers defeated the Lions. Subject= Skippers Verb= defeated Mr. Bundy addressed the whole school. Subject= Mr. Bundy Verb= addressed

Subordinate Clauses Whenever you add a subordinate conjunction in front of a subject and a verb you no longer have a complete thought. Subordinate clauses are sometimes referred to as dependent clauses.

Adding Subordinate Clauses to Your Writing When you add a subordinate clause at the front of a main clause, we use a comma. While Ms. Ogle was baking cookies, all of the 500-Wing smelled delicious. subordinate clause + , + main clause

Subordinate Conjunctions After since whenever Although so that where As supposing whereas Because than wherever Before that whether But that though which If till while In order that unless who Lest until why No matter what even though How when provided that

Let’s check it out… After the Skippers defeated the Lions… What happened? Tell me more… Whenever Mr. Bundy addressed the whole school… What happens whenever he addresses the whole school? Note how these clauses leave you wanting more information.

Adding Subordinate Clauses to Your Writing When you add a subordinate clause at the end of a main clause, we generally don’t use punctuation. All the students in D-hall are happy because they love the smell of cookies. main clause + subordinate clause

Let’s practice finding incomplete sentences… Mr. Gregoire supervises the morning announcements. When Mrs. Maranto introduces a new vocabulary list. After the Skippers defeated the Lions, they won three more games. Even though Mr. Gregoire supervises the morning announcements, we know the students run the show. Because Mrs. Maranto is obsessed with words.

Let’s practice finding incomplete sentences… Ms. Turner supervises the morning announcements. When Mr. Mullarkey introduces a new vocabulary list. After the Lady Vikings defeated the Lady Dons, they won three more games. Even though Ms. Turner supervises the morning announcements, we know the students run the show. Because Ms. Miller is obsessed with words.