1. 8th Grade English Clauses and Verbals Unit
Complex Sentences
8th Grade English
Clauses and Verbals Unit

2. Today’s Notes: Mar. 31, 2010 II. Complex Sentences
A. Independent clauses stand alone.
B. Subordinate Clauses can not stand alone.
1. Subordinate clauses have a subject and a predicate.
2. Whenever we go to the movies, we have fun.
3. They always start with a subordinating conjunction.
-Ex. Because, That, whichever, whenever, etc
C. Complex sentences: joining an independent and a subordinate clause (or more than one sub. clause)
1. Use a comma when the subordinate is at the beginning, don’t at the end.

3. Yesterday…
We reviewed what a sentence was. What exactly is a sentence?
We also reviewed simple and compound sentences. What are they?
We finally introduced the idea of a main, or independent, clause. What is an independent clause?

4. Today…
We are going to get complex…very complex.

5. Remember…
A main clause has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.
This is important because it will affect what you are doing today.

6. Because…
Sometimes sentences have a main clause and something called a subordinate clause.

7. A Subordinate Clause
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate but DOES NOT express a complete thought.
It is always combined with a main clause.

8. A Complex Sentence
A complex sentence has a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

9. Complex Sentences
In the complex sentence below, the main clause is in green, the subordinate is in yellow.
Many basketball fans visit Springfield Massachusetts, which was the birthplace of basketball.

10. Other Examples:
Basketball has increased in popularity since it began in Springfield.
Many people know that basketball is played by men and women.

11. Subordinate Clauses So, what can these subordinate clauses do?
They can function in three ways:
As adjectives
As adverbs
As Nouns

12. For Example: In this sentence:
Many basketball fans visit Springfield Massachusetts, which was the birthplace of basketball.
The subordinate clause is an adjective clause that modifies the word Springfield.
It tells more about Springfield.

13. In the other two examples…
Basketball has increased in popularity since it began in Springfield.
This is an adverb clause because it is modifying the verb phrase has increased.
Many people know that basketball is played by men and women.
This is a noun clause that is the direct object of the word know (Know what?)

14. Subordinate Clauses
Are used the same way that you use single-word adjectives, adverbs, and nouns.
The team waits on the sidelines while the substitute warms the bench.

15. Subordinating Conjunctions
A subordinate clause is always introduced by one of the following subordinating conjunctions.
Look for these words at the beginning of a subordinate clause.

16. Subordinating Conjunctions
After
Although As
Because
Before If
Since
than
Though
Unless
Until
When
Whenever
Where
Whereas
wherever

17. Exercise A: Identifying Complex Sentences
Identify the main clause in the following sentences. Then label each sentence complex or simple.

18. Exercise A
Professional basketball is played during the winter, which was once a dull season for sports.
James Naismith developed the game when he saw a need for an indoor sport.
He was an instructor for the YMCA in Massachusetts.
A soccer ball was the ball that was first used.
The first baskets were two half-bushel peach baskets that were hung from balconies.

19. Exercise A
6. Naismith planned a game with little physical contact because he did not envision basketball as a rough sport.
7. The gules of the game were adopted in 1891.
8. There were thirteen rules that penalized players for rough conduct.
9. Before the first official game was played in 1892, probably no one outside of Naismith’s YMCA had heard of basketball.
10. Basketball still follows most of Naismith’s original thirteen rules.

20. Let’s Recap
A complex sentence has a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate but DOES NOT express a complete thought.
It is always combined with a main clause.

21. Our List
A sentence is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.
A simple sentence has one complete subject and one complete predicate.
The complete subject names whom or what the sentence is about.
The complete predicate tells what the subject does or has. Sometimes it can also tell what the subject is or is like.
A compound sentence contains two or more simple sentences.
Each simple sentence is called an independent, or main, clause.
A main clause has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.

22. Our List…
A complex sentence has a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate but DOES NOT express a complete thought.
It is always combined with a main clause.

23. Subordinate Clauses!