1. Subordination: Dependent Clauses

2. 1. Adverbial 2. Adjectival 3. Nominal
If a clause in a sentence is not independent, it is called a subordinate clause (dependent clause).
Mainly 3 roles of dependent clauses in a sentence:
1. Adverbial
2. Adjectival
3. Nominal

3. 1. Adverbial
Because a weasel is wild, it should be approached with great caution.
Yesterday the teacher called the students lazy when they complained about their assignments.
Some of the conjunctions used for adverbial clauses:
after before until while
since as so that in order that
because if unless whether
although even though where when

4. Adverbial Examples
When will the flowers bloom?: when spring arrives

5. How did he answer the question?: as if he knew the subject quite well

6. Why didn't the poor woman have money?: because she had lost her job

7. 2. Adjectival
Modifier of a noun (relative clause-who, whom, which, that, whose).
The man who lives upstairs bothers the neighbors.
HE bothers THEM
(S) (V) (O)
headword
adjectival
The man who lives upstairs bothers the neighbors.
HE bothers THEM
(S) (V) (O)
Don’t forget! An adjectival clause follows the headword of the noun phrase in the sentence.

8. The neighbors know the man who lives upstairs
They know him
(S) (V) (O)
headword
adjectival
The neighbors know the man who lives upstairs
They know him
(S) (V) (O)

9. Other Adjectival Examples
Which book did Joe read?: the one that I gave him

10. What kind of politician has the support of the people
What kind of politician has the support of the people?: the one who is trustworthy

11. Which season?: the one when everything blooms

12. Which house?: the one where I was born

13. More examples for adjectival clauses
An object that weighs five pounds on earth would weigh two pounds on the planet Mercury.
All the men who/whom citizens of the United States have elected as president have been native-born.
Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, grew up in Hannibal, Missouri.

14. Attention! We USE COMMAS when identification of the noun is not necessary.
E.g.
John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, was the first Catholic president. (a familiar info)
The highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, is located in Asia. (a fact)

15. If the clause answers the question ‘Which One
If the clause answers the question ‘Which One?’, then we DO NOT USE COMMAS.
E.g
The man who came by yesterday is my professor.
Which man?
Without the relative clause, we don’t know which man.

17. 3. Nominal Noun clauses Annie Dillard says that a weasel is wild.
something
Like a noun, a nominal clause names a person, place, thing, or idea. A nominal clause may function in a sentence as any of the following:
subject
Subject complement
Object of preposition
Direct object
Indirect object

18. Nominal clauses may begin with ‘that’ or interrogatives:
who whom what which
whoever whomever whatever when
where how why

19. Nominal Clause as Subject in a sentence

20. Nominal Clause as Subject Complement in a sentence

21. Nominal Clause as Object of Preposition in a sentence

22. Nominal Clause as Direct Object in a sentence

23. Nominal Clause as Indirect Object in a sentence

24. Nominal Clause beginning with That

25. Nominal Clause beginning with Whether

26. Nominal Clause beginning with If