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Subordinate clauses, also known as dependent clauses, are parts of speech that, despite having a subject and a verb, cannot form a sentence on their own. An example of a subordinate clause or clause would be: When she was sick, the doctor prescribed her some medication. / «When she was ill, the doctor prescribed some remedies».
sentences in english
In English, sentences or sentences are grammatical structures that make up a unit with complete meaning and contain at least one verb.
The sentences can be divided into:
- Simple ( simple sentence s): these are independent sentences where there is a single subject and a single verb. For example: Katy loves candies. / “Katy loves sweets.”
- Compounds ( compound sentences ): join two sentences by means of a subordinating conjunction. Example: Katy loves candies but Tom hates them. / “Katy loves candy but Tom hates it.”
- Complex: ( complex sentences ): these sentences join a subordinate sentence to a main one using a subordinating conjunction. For example: Although Tom dislikes candies, he usually gets some for Katy. / “Although Tom doesn’t like sweets, he often buys some for Katy.”
The propositions or clauses
A clause or proposition is always formed with a subject and a predicate, and is joined to another to create compound or complex sentences. The clauses can be:
- A main clause ( main clause ): it is also known as an independent clause. It is characterized by making sense by itself and is made up of a subject, a verb and a complement. The verb is conjugated according to the personal pronoun and the verb tense that you want to use. For example: Susan has three puppies. / “Susan has three puppies.”
- A subordinate clause ( subordinate clause ): it is also called a dependent clause and does not convey a complete meaning. These sentences are always linked to the main clause through subordinating conjunctions. For example: Although Susan had three puppies. / “Although Susan had three puppies.” This sentence is meaningless without its main clause: you don’t know what happens even though Susan has three puppies.
Subordinate clauses and subordinate conjunctions
Propositions or subordinate clauses ( subordinate clauses ) are also called dependent clauses ( dependent clauses ) because by themselves they do not convey a complete meaning. They are always linked to a main clause by means of a subordinating conjunction; they depend on it to make sense.
Also, they have a verb that may or may not be conjugated depending on the subject of the main clause. The subordinate clauses do not reflect a complete idea, but depend on the main clause to be able to convey it in its entirety. For example:
Susan fed the three puppies before going to sleep . / “Susan fed the three puppies before going to sleep.”
As can be seen in this example, the subordinate clause is before going to sleep / «before going to sleep», since by itself it does not have a complete meaning but depends on the main clause Susan fed the three puppies / «Susan fed the three puppies.” It also stands out because it is preceded by a subordinating conjunction: before / «before».
As mentioned above, in English grammar subordinate clauses or “subordinate clauses” are a group of words that are usually preceded by subordinate conjunctions, such as: when / “when”, if / “if”, and because / “because “, among other. In addition, they always accompany a main clause, on which they depend for their complete meaning.
Subordinate or dependent clauses, in turn, can be divided into:
- Participle clauses: Having already fed the puppies, Susan fell asleep. / “After feeding the puppies, Susan fell asleep.”
- Relative clauses: Susan found the puppies, whose names are Orion, Blake and Yoshi, on the street. / “Susan found the puppies, whose names are Orion, Blake and Yoshi, on the street.”
- Conditional clauses: If Susan didn’t love dogs so much, she would never have taken the puppies home that day. / “If Susan didn’t love dogs so much, she never would have brought them home that day.”
What are subordinating conjunctions?
In English, conjunctions can be divided into coordinating and subordinating. The former join sentences that have the same hierarchy, that is, two main clauses. For example: Katy fed the puppies and Susan gave them a bath. / “Katy fed the puppies and Susan bathed them.”
On the other hand, subordinate conjunctions are connectors or links that allow the main clause to be joined with the subordinate clause. They can be classified into:
- Simple conjunctions: when / «when»; where / “where”; because / «porque», if / «si»; unless / “unless”; until / “until”; as long as / “while”.
- Compound conjunctions: as if / “as if”; even if / “even if”; though or although / “although”; even when / “even when”; a bit later / «a little later; not before / “not before”.
- Complex conjunctions:
- Derivatives of verbs: provided that / “whenever”; taking into account / “considering that”; assuming that / “assuming that”.
- That include a noun: in case of / «in the case that».
- Adverbials: such / «so»; meanwhile / “while”; as soon as / “as soon as”.
Types of subordinating conjunctions according to their meaning
Subordinating conjunctions can also be of:
- Time: indicate or establish a period of time: as soon as / “as soon as”; once / “once”; before / “before”; still / “still”; whenever / “whenever”.
- Comparison: they establish a comparison: though or although / “although”, whereas / “while”; just as / “like”; in contrast to / «unlike».
- Cause: they indicate the reason for the main sentence: because / «porque»; since / “as”; so that / “since”.
- Condition: they indicate the conditions that must exist for the main sentence: in case / “in case”; even if / “even if”; unless / “unless”.
- Place: defines the place where the action occurs: wherever / “wherever”; whereas / “where”.
- Concession: they provide additional information for an action that occurred despite some obstacle: although / “although”; even though / «despite that».
Other examples of subordinating conjunctions
The most used subordinating conjunctions are:
- Since : which means “since”, “since”, “since”.
- If : meaning “if” in the conditional sense.
- As : which has various meanings, depending on the context, such as “although”, “as”, “while”, “despite”.
- After : which means “after”.
However, there are many other subordinating conjunctions, including:
| Conjunction / «Conjunction» | Meaning |
| On the condition that | On condition that |
| so that | In order to |
| Unless | Unless |
| Before | Before |
| Though – Even though | Although |
| As long as – Provided that | Provided (of) that – As long as – Whenever |
| When | When |
| In case | If |
| Until | Until |
| so that | So that |
| Because | Because |
| For–Because | Well |
| That | That |
| In view of the fact that | In view of that |
| Without | Without |
| as soon as | As soon as |
| In order that | So that |
| Now that | Now what |
| Whether | Yeah |
| while | While |
| Only if | Only if |
Examples of sentences with subordinate clauses
Some examples of sentences with subordinate clauses are:
- Because he said so, I went to the office earlier. / «As he said, I went to the office earlier».
- When I was four years old , my parents got me a small bicycle. / “When I was four years old, my parents gave me a small bicycle.”
- Since it will rain today , we should bring an umbrella . / “Since it will rain today, we should bring an umbrella.”
- If you pass the test, I will get you a gift . / “If you pass the exam, I’ll give you a gift.”
- When they went on a trip, they had so much fun . / “When they went on a trip, they had a lot of fun.”
- Although this shirt is a bit tight , I really like it. / “Although this shirt is a little tight on me, I really like it.”
- Since the TV show started , I haven’t been able to focus on anything else. / “Since the TV show started, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.”
- In order to finish this task , you need to write some few examples . / “In order to finish this task, you need to write some examples.”
- Even though he didn’t sleep last night, he was able to study well for the exam. / “Even though he didn’t sleep last night, he was able to study well for the exam.”
- As long as you take the bus before 7 am , you will be able to arrive on time. / “As long as you catch the bus before 7 am, you will be able to arrive on time.”
Bibliography
- Weal, E. Grammar of English: Step by Step 1. (2010). Spain. Tenaya Press.
- dk. English For Everyone English Grammar. (2020). Spain. dk.
- Wuori, S. English: A Complete Grammar. (2017). Spain. Stephan Wuori.
- Traffis, C. What Is A Subordinate Clause? Grammarly.
