Do you know what a dependent clause is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on dependent clause, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 22, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is a dependent clause?
According to Grammar Monster, a dependent clause is a part of a compound sentence, compound-complex sentence, or complex sentence that cannot stand on its own as a complete sentence, and is considered a sentence fragment if it is not connected to an independent clause. Different types of dependent clause include a noun clause which can be a subject, predicate nominative, direct object, appositive, indirect object, or object of the preposition, adjective clause, adverb clauses, and more. This can also be called a subordinate clause. Dependent clauses are connected to an independent clause – which is a complete thought or complete sentence on its own – by conjunctions, including a subordinating conjunction, relative pronoun, coordinating conjunction, connecting word, dependent marker word, independent marker words, and more.
Many different languages also contain words that mean dependent clause. You may notice that some of these translations of dependent clause look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of dependent clause is provided by Word Sense.
- Swedish: bisats (common)
- Japanese: 従属節 (じゅうぞくせつ, jūzokusetsu), 付属節 (ふぞくせつ, fuzokusetsu)
- Latvian: palīgteikums (masc.)
- Russian: прида́точное предложе́ние (neut.)
- French: proposition subordonnée (fem.), subordonnée (fem.)
- Mandarin: 從屬小句, 从属小句 (cóngshǔ xiǎojù), 從句, 从句 (cóngjù)
- Finnish: sivulause
- Icelandic: aukasetning (fem.)
- Korean: 종속절 (從屬節)
- German: Nebensatz (masc.)
- Greek: δευτερεύουσα πρόταση (fem.)
- Portuguese: oração subordinada (fem.)
- Latin: sententia subordinata (fem.)
- Scottish Gaelic: fo-chlàs (masc.)
- Irish: fochlásal (masc.)
- Turkish: yan cümle, yan tümce
- Polish: zdanie podrzędne (neut.)
- Spanish: oración subordinada (fem.)
- Thai: อนุประโยค, ประโยคย่อย
- Hungarian: alárendelt mondat
- Dutch: bijzin (masc.)
What are examples of dependent clauses?
Dependent clauses can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of dependent clauses that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these dependent clause examples from Your Dictionary and see how many you can identify the dependent clause in!
- If the dress is on sale
- How they would get there
- Whatever makes you happy
- Since I don’t have enough money
- When the president arrives
- Than his sister can
- Which is located in Italy
- That was a bestseller
- While flowers continue to bloom
- When Jim studied math in the pizza place
- No matter how you look at it
- Supposing that she really wanted to go
- How the butcher did the dishes that had been in the ovens
- As if he knew what was going to happen
- Before the food gets cold
- When the sweet shop opened
- That you are listening
- How the crew carries the mail sacks that were the size of a whale on Saturday
- Who is intelligent
- How he got elected
- What excellent of a gift
- Why the movie was a flop
- Whose writing is always intriguing
- How the hydrogen protons relate to the helium nucleus on the chemistry quiz
- Where I went to elementary school
- Whenever you come to visit
- Because I can’t wait for the bus
- When he decided to contact customer support because the related study materials like practice tests were only available on premium and he could not track course progress
- Why she said that
- What she anticipated
- If you can work on Sundays
- Although I had never considered it
- As the lights were dimming
- Whether he can drive that far
- Unless you have the right size
- Whom we met after the movie
- Who let the cat out of the bag
- Whomever you like
- Who live by the ocean
- That I sold him
- Until the sun sets
- When the leaves turn colors and fall
What are other literary techniques and devices?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
- definite article
- count noun
- direct object
- non-finite
- present participle
- positive
- neuter
- vocative
- double object
- verb (v.)
- appositive
- superlative
- construction
- accusative
- parasynthetic
- locative
- participial adjective
- verbal noun
- stem
- compound | compounding
- collocation | collocate
- second person
- concrete
- possessive pronoun
- non-referential
- that-clause
- simple
- adjective
- agent noun
- objective
- gender
- transitive
- infinitive
- premodify | premodifier
- part of speech
- possessive adjective
- pro-form
- similative
- passive infinitive
- clause
- singular
- apposition
- first person
- conditional
- participle | past participle | present participle
- direct question
- interrogative
- agree | agreement
- cognate object
- head
- indirect speech
- subjective
- proper noun | proper name
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- indirect question
- past tense
- mood
- progressive
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- predicative
- combination
- direct speech
- nominative
- cataphoric
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- attributive
- main verb
- noun (n.)
- person
- complementary
- indirect object
- feminine
- phrase (phr.)
- modify | modifier
- possessive
- intransitive
- reflexive
- bare infinitive
- demonstrative
- third-person
- declarative
- construed (const., constr.)
- tense
- instrumental
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- interjection
- postmodify | postmodifier
- mass noun
- suffix
- phrasal verb
- number
- passive
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- active
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- case
- article
- complement
- masculine
- indefinite
- main clause
- special use
- comparative
- protasis
- adverbial | adverbially
- absolute (absol.)
- apodosis and protasis
- perfect
- combining form (comb. form)
- prepositional passive
- present tense
- to-infinitive
- indicative
- conjunction (conj.)
- intensifier
- plural
- copular verb | copula
- gerund
- base form
- morpheme
- past participle
- dative
- indirect passive
- pronoun (pron.)
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- antecedent
- finite
- object | direct object | indirect object
- causative
- noun phrase
- preposition (prep.)
- element
- ellipsis | elliptical
- anaphoric
- zero
- optative
- dependent clause
- collective noun
- quasi-
- prepositional phrase
- genitive
- common noun
- unmarked genitive
- subjunctive
- abstract
- subordinate clause
- determiner
- subject
- relative
- filler
- prepositional object
- anticipatory
- impersonal (impers.)
- imperative (imper.)
- prefix
- personal pronoun
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- dual
- adverb (adv.)
Overall, a dependent clause is an incomplete sentence or a fragment.
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