1. Clause Not Santa I. Definition: A group of words that contains a subject and a verb

2. II. There are two kinds of clauses: A. Independent (IC) and B. Dependent (Subordinate) (DC)

3. A. Independent A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone AKA A SENTENCE

4. Examples of Independent Clauses: *he memorized a poem last night *Mary will read her poem *many people enjoy poetry

5. When an independent clause (IC) starts with a capital letter and ends with a period or question mark, it is a SENTENCE. *He memorized a poem. *Mary will read her poem at school. *Many people enjoy poetry.

6. B. Subordinate (or dependent) clause (DC) It does not express a complete thought and It cannot stand by itself as a sentence

7. Examples of Dependent or Subordinate Clauses *because he memorized a poem *when Mary reads her poem at school *since many people enjoy poetry

8. . III. A. A dependent/subordinate clause (DC) will be a FRAGMENT when the clause begins with a capital letter and ends with a period or question mark. This is a grammatical ERROR! * Because he memorized a poem. *When Mary reads her poem at school tomorrow. *Since many people enjoy poetry.

9. What makes one clause independent and another dependent?...because he memorized a poem… He memorized a poem.

10. …when Mary read her poem at school... Mary read her poem at school.

11. B. What makes a clause dependent/subordinate? A clause is dependent/subordinate (DC) when it begins with a subordinate word. A few examples… Who When While Which That Since Because Unless etc. etc. etc. Sometimes the subordinate word is understood to be present.

12. C. Sometimes the subject of the dependent/subordinate clause (DC) is a pronoun. Examples: April, which is my favorite month, is going to be cold this year. Subject of SC is “which.” Verb of SC is “is.” The flower that grew in my yard was a rose. Subject of SC is “that.” Verb of SC is “grew.”

13. D. A dependent/subordinate clause (DC) needs an independent clause (IC) to create a true sentence.

14. Because he memorized a poem, Mike will receive extra credit. Mike will receive extra credit because he memorized a poem.

15. When Mary reads her poem at school, we will applaud. We will applaud when Mary reads her poem at school.

16. E.Punctuation: When the dependent clause (DC) comes first, it is usually followed by a comma. When the rain stops, the game will begin.

17. F. Punctuation: When the dependent clause (DC) comes last, there is generally no comma. The game will begin when the rain stops.