 A clause is a group of words that may contain a

subject and a predicate, and use as a part of a

sentence.

Independent Dependent
 Independent Clause (Main Clause) – is a clause that can
stand alone because its meaning is complete.
Examples:
Although it was raining, I left the house early.
They came late because the car stalled.
The machine that we saw belongs to Mr. Ruiz.
 Dependent Clause (Subordinate Clause) – is a clause that cannot
stand by itself because of its incomplete meaning.
 Adjective Clause – modifies a noun or a pronoun by telling
what kind or which one.
Examples: The man, who saw the incident, refused to testify.
He took the advice that completely changed his life.
 Adverb Clause – modifies an adjective, a verb, and another
adverb.
Examples: She stopped as if she were fainting.
The Congress adjourned when the bill was passed.
a. May have one subject and one verb
 My car stalled three times last week.
b. May have more than one subject
 Malou and Boots went home together.
c. May have more than one verb
 The children smiled and waved at us.
d. May have several subjects or verbs
 Manny, Tom, and Jack lubricated my car, replaced the oil
filter, and cleaned the spark plugs.
– is made up of two or more simple sentences. The two complete
statements in a compound sentence are usually connected by a
comma plus a coordinator (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

Examples:
 The rain increased, so the officials cancelled the game.
 Martha wanted to go shopping, but Fred refused to drive her.
– is made up of a simple sentence, and a clause that begins with a
subordinator, such as the following:
after if, even if when, whenever
although, though in order that where, wherever
as since whether
because that, so that which, whichever
before unless while
even though until who
how what, whatever whose

I checked my money before I invited Tom for lunch.

I love you because you are beautiful inside and out.
– is made up of two or more simple sentences, and one or more
subordinating (dependent) clause.
Examples:
When the power line snapped, Jack was listening to the
stereo, and Linda was reading in bed.
After I returned to school following a long illness, the math
teacher gave me a make-up work, but the history teacher
made me drop her course.
 Words in a pair or series should have parallel structure.
 By balancing the items in a pair or series so that they
have the same kind of structure, you will make the
sentences clearer and easier to read.
 Nonparallel / Non-Balanced
 My job includes checking the inventories, initialing
the order and to call the suppliers.
 Parallel or Balanced
 My job includes checking the inventories, initialing
the order and calling the suppliers.

A balanced series of –ing words: checking, initialing,

calling
 Nonparallel/Not Balanced
 The game-show contestant was told to be cheerful,
charming, and with enthusiasm.
 Parallel or Balanced
 The game-show was told to be cheerful, charming
and enthusiastic.
 A balanced series of descriptive words: cheerful,
charming, enthusiastic
A run-on is two complete thoughts that are run
together with no adequate sign given to mark the
break between them. Some run-ons have no
punctuation at all to mark the break between
thoughts.
1.Fused Sentence – in which two or more sentences joined
with no punctuation.
 Our foreign policy is not well-defined it confuses
many countries.

2. Comma Splice – which have two or more sentences

separated only by commas rather than by commas and
conjunctions.
 Our foreign policy is not well-defined, it confuses
many countries.
Method 1: By Separation
a. Full separation – using a period
 Our foreign policy is not well defined. It confuses many
countries.

b. Partial separation – using a semicolon

 Our foreign policy is not well defined; it confuses many
countries.
Method 2: By Coordination
a. Using the coordinators/coordinating conjunctions (for, and,
nor, but, or, yet, so)
Example:
 Our foreign policy is not well defined, so it confuses many
countries.
Method 3: By Subordination
a. Using adjective clause markers (who, that, which, whose,
whom)
 Example: Our foreign policy which is not well defined
confuses many countries.

b. Using adverb clause markers (if, because, when, where, until,

unless, although, though, since, after, before, while….)
 Examples: Since our foreign policy is not well-defined, it
confuses many countries.
A. Misplaced Modifier (an error in sentence structure)
A modifier is misplaced if it appears to modify the wrong part of
the sentence, or if we cannot be certain what part of the sentence
the writer intended to modify.

 A man leaped into the water over the ship’s rail. (Confusing)
 A man leaped over the ship’s rail into the water. (Clear)

 Armed with high-caliber guns, the bank was robbed by unknown

suspects. (Confusing)
 Armed with high-caliber guns, unknown suspect robbed the
bank. (Clear)
B. Dangling Modifier (an error in sentence structure)
A dangling modifier does not sensibly modify anything in its
sentence.

Dangling: Being crowded in the car, the trip was uncomfortable.

Revised: Being crowded in the car, we were uncomfortable.

Dangling: When he was three years old, Jerry’s uncle entered

medical school.
Revised: When Jerry was three years old, his uncle entered
medical school.
LET’S TRY
Which of the following is not a run-on sentence?
a. I play the piano for many musicals moreover I give lessons
to twenty students.
b. The electricity went out I searched for the candles.
c. I lost the first chess game, but I won the second.
d. The first raindrops fell we raced for cover.
Which of the following sentence construction follows the rule on
coordination and subordination?

My father was upset all day he could not see his car keys.

a. My father was upset all day, but he could not see his car keys.
b. My father was upset all day, yet he could not see his car keys.
c. My father was upset all day, and he could not see his car keys.
d. My father was upset all day because he could not see his car keys.