Sentences require three things:a subject, a verb, and a complete thought
Example: Hewentto the store. (subject =he; verb=went; this expresses a complete thought.)
Complete thought: When a group of words makes sense by themselves without having to be attached to other words.
Example: When he goes to town, he will buy some ice cream.
(“When he goes to town” is not a complete thought unless it is with the rest of the sentence.)
Clause: a group of words with a subject and a verb, but it is only used as part of a sentence.
Example: When he goes to town. (subject=he; verb=go; no complete thought)
• There are two types of clauses: independent clauses and dependent clauses
Independent clause: a group of words with a subject and a verb that is used as part of a sentence, but it could stand alone as a sentence because it expresses a complete thought.
Example: Mr. Smith cut pieces of stained glass, and his partner put them together.
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independent clause independent clause
In the above example, the two underlined groups of words are independent clauses:
• They could each stand alone as a sentence.
• They each have subjects, verbs, and express complete thoughts.
• What makes them independent clauses is that they are used as parts of one sentence.
If they were written as separate sentences separated by a period, they would no longer be independent clauses;instead they would be 2 sentences:
Example: Mr. Smith cut pieces of stained glass. His partner put them together.
Dependent Clause: a group of words with a subject and a verb, but it does not express a complete thought. It is used as part of a sentence, but it cannot stand alone as a sentence because it doesn’t express a complete thought.
Example: Since Ben earned good grades. (subject =Ben, verb=earned; no complete thought)
• A dependent clause needs to be attached to an independent clause to make a sentence:
Example: Since Ben earned good grades, his mother has been proud.
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dependent clause independent clause
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