There are two types of clauses in English: independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause can stand alone as a simple sentence because it contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. A dependent clause does not express a complete thought on its own and must be attached to an independent clause; it begins with a subordinating conjunction like "because", "after", or "when". Together, the independent and dependent clauses form a complex sentence expressing a full idea. Some common time-related subordinating conjunctions that introduce dependent clauses are after, as soon as, before, until, when, whenever, and while.

1. A clause is a group of words that
contains a subject and a verb.
There are two kinds of clauses in
English: independent clauses
and dependent clauses.
Module 5
Independent and Dependent
Clauses

2. INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
 An independent clause has one SV pair and expresses a
complete thought.
 Independent clause is just another name for a simple
sentence.
Examples:
 It rained.
S V
 Paris has excellent art museums.
S V
 We finished our homework.
S V

3. DEPENDENT CLAUSE
 A dependent clause is an independent clause with a
subordinating word, such as because, after, and when
added to the beginning of it.
 Examples:
… after it rained...
S V
… because Paris has excellent art museums…
S V
… when we finished our homework…
S V
SUBORDINATING
CONJUNCTION
SUBORDINATING
CONJUNCTION
SUBORDINATING
CONJUNCTION

4.  A dependent clause doesn’t express a complete thought,
so it is not a sentence by itself.
 It is only have a sentence.
 It MUST be joined to an independent clause.
 TOGETHER, the two clauses express a complete thought.
Examples:
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE DEPENDENT CLAUSE
Art students should visit Paris because it has excellent art museums.
DEPENDENT CLAUSE INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
After we finished our homework, we watched TV for a while.

5. There are many subordinating words that can make a
dependent clause.
We call them adverb subordinators because they
introduce dependent clauses that act like adverbs. They
answer the questions when?, why?, where?, and so on.
Adverb Subordinators

6.  Certain adverb subordinators introduce time clauses.
Here are some common time subordinators.
 After: I will go to bed after I finish this
presentation.
 As soon as: She felt better as soon as she
took the medicine.
 Before: Wait for a green light before you
cross.

7.  Until: We can’t leave until everyone
finishes.
 When: Where were you when I called?
 Whenever: Whenever I don’t eat, I get
a headache.
 While: She was listening to music
while I was studying.

8. CAUTION!
A few times subordinators are also prepositions.
Prepositions are followed by nouns.
Subordinators are followed by subject-verb combinations.
after my accident (preposition)
Noun
after I had an accident (subordinator)
S V
Before class (preposition)
Noun
Before class begins (subordinator)
S V Information taken from: Hogue, A.
(2008). First steps in academic writing.
Longman: N.Y.