Table of Contents
Dependent clauses need independent clauses, just as children need adults to care for them.
An Independent Clause Is a Sentence With a Complete Thought.
Sentences take different forms.
A sentence may take the form of a statement, a command, a question, or an exclamation.
Each of these is considered a sentence. “Sentence” used in this blog refers to any of the four.
An sentence has at least a subject and a verb. (For a command, the subject is understood to be “you.”)
Both the subject and the verb may have a more complicated form than a simple subject or a simple verb.
Examples:
- I like apples.
- Georgina likes apples, but she likes pears more.
- Apples and pears grow on trees that lose their leaves in the winter.
- Banana muffins can be made using the same recipe as banana bread.
- Tom, with all his classmates from the eighth grade, relished plucking apples from Eve’s tree, especially sneaking away with them.
- (Subject = “Tom,” verb = “relished”)
- (All the rest is explanation and embellishment.)
The question may be more complicated than a simple subject and a simple verb.
Examples:
- Do you like apples?
- Which does Georgina like better, apples or pears?
- What kind of trees produce apples and pears?
- Would you rather have banana muffins or banana bread?
- Will Georgina and her friends plant a garden, tend it carefully during the summer, weeding on their knees, and harvest the vegetables in the fall?
- (Complete subject= Georgina and her friends”)
- (Verb phrases = “will … plant …,” “tend …,” “harvest …”)
Commands may be as simple as a single word or as complicated as the writer likes.
Examples:
- Eve, eat.
- (Speaking to Eve, the subject is “you.”)
- Tell me which you would rather have for supper.
- (Subject is understood to be “you.”)
- Magician, make my apple trees produce pears.
- (Speaking to the magician, the subject is “you.”)
- Don’t make banana bread! You know I hate it!
- (Subject is understood to be “you.”)
- Oh magician, mighty and powerful, say the magic words to produce the sweet, juicy pears from my poor old apple tree.
- (Complete subject = “magician”)
- (Verb phrases = “please say …”)
Examples:
- Help! The apples are falling!
- Anything but peas!
- Pears from an apple tree? You’re kidding!
- Watch out!
- Don’t use those mushy old bananas! They’re all black and soggy! I can’t even look at them!
Sentences are combined in two ways.
- Two sentences may be put together with a comma and a FANBOYS.
- Two sentences may be put together with a semicolon.
The acronym for the seven coordinating conjunctions is FANBOYS.
- For
- And
- Nor
- But
- Or
- Yet
- So
A comma alone is not strong enough to combine two independent clauses; it must have help. (Using only a comma is a grammatical felony.)
Examples of properly joined independent clauses:
- Jack fell down and broke his crown, but Jill stayed at the top.
- (Clause 1, subject = “Jack,” verbs = “fell” and “broke”)
- (comma)
- (FANBOYS = “but”)
- (Clause 2, subject = “Jill,” verb = “stayed”)
- Hank pulled out his pistol, but the young woman beat him to the draw.
- (Clause 1, subject = “Hank,” verb = “pulled”)
- (comma)
- (FANBOYS = “but”)
- (Clause 2, subject = “woman,” verb = “beat”)
- The storm broke with a fury, so we ran into the house to keep from being soaked.
- (Clause 1, subject = “storm,” verb = “broke.”)
- (comma)
- (FANBOYS = “so”)
- (Clause 2, subject = “we,” verb = “ran”)
Very short sentences may eliminate the comma. (Apparently, it is up to the writer to determine “very short.”)
- The dog sat and the cat walked away.
- Tom can write but he cannot spell.
- They may come or they may go.
The sentences should be closely related.
Even short sentences require the semicolon.
- The dog sat; the cat walked away.
- Tom can write; he cannot spell.
- They may come; they may go.
- Jack fell down and broke his crown; Jill stayed at the top.
- (Clause 1, subject = “Jack,” verbs = “fell” and “broke”)
- (semicolon)
- (Clause 2, subject = “Jill,” verb = “stayed”)
- Hank pulled out his pistol; the young woman beat him to the draw.
- (Clause 1, subject = “Hank,” verb = “pulled”)
- (semicolon)
- (Clause 2, subject = “woman,” verb = “beat”)
- The storm broke with a fury; we ran into the house to keep from being soaked.
- (Clause 1, subject = “storm,” verb = “broke.”)
- (semicolon)
- (Clause 2, subject = “we,” verb = “ran”)
Adverbs usually end in “-ly,” but some very common ones do not.
An adverb modifying the whole independent clause is called a sentence adverb. The comma after it is optional (Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition), but a good plan is to insert a comma after the adverb when needed for clarification. Again, be consistent.
- again
- fortunately
- incidentally
- ironically
- clearly
- certainly
- briefly
- ideally
- however
- evidently
- regrettably
- seriously
- basically
- surprisingly
- thankfully
- hopefully*
*Some grammarians object to the use of “hopefully” as a sentence adjective because it does not follow the pattern of “It is fortunate that … .” However, it has been used this way since before I began learning grammar.
Dependent clauses depend on independent clauses.
A dependent clause has a subject and a verb, just like an independent clause, but a subordinate conjunction (not a FANBOYS) has been added to make it incomplete.
Subordinate conjunctions are words that describe some kind of relationship between the two clauses. They indicate that what follows is a dependent clause.
No comma follows the subordinate conjunction itself.
- before/after
- once
- until
- still
- while
- when
- whenever
- just as
- as soon/long as
- where
- wherever
- whereas
- although
- because
- in order that
- for
- if
- even if
- in case
- unless
- hence
- as
- since
- so
- so that
- provided that
- even though
- therefore
Examples:
- While Jill tumbled, Jack fell.
- (Conjunction = “while,” dependent clause, comma, independent clause)
- Although the rain poured down, the children ran outside to play.
- (Conjunction = “although,” dependent clause, comma, independent clause)
- Unless you arrive in two hours, I will go home at noon.
- (Conjunction = “unless,” dependent clause, comma, independent clause)
- Where the sun shines and the rain falls, grass grows.
- (Conjunction = “where,” dependent clause, comma, independent clause)
Examples:
- Jack fell while Jill tumbled.
- (Independent clause, conjunction = “while,” dependent clause)
- The children ran outside to play although the rain poured down.
- (Independent clause, conjunction = “although,” dependent clause)
- I will go home at noon unless you arrive in two hours.
- (Independent clause, conjunction = “unless,” dependent clause)
- Grass grows where the sun shines and the rain falls.
- (Independent clause, conjunction = “where,” dependent clause)
CRIMES COMMITTED IN COMBINING CLAUSES
A comma splice occurs when two or more independent clauses are insufficiently combined with only a comma instead of a full-powered semicolon.
A comma is limited in its ability to combine clauses. It is not capable of combining two independent clauses by itself. However, adding a FANBOYS gives the comma the power to combine two independent clauses.
Alone, a comma is only able to combine a dependent clause or a phrase with an independent clause.
Example of comma splice:
Comma splice) Ahmad loved to swim, he swam in the ocean every day.
- (With FANBOYS) Ahmad loved to swim, and he swam in the ocean every day.
- (Comma after the first independent clause)
- (FANBOYS “and”)
- (Second independent clause)
- (Rewrite with a dependent clause) Because Ahmad loved to swim, he swam in the ocean every day.
- (Dependent clause with “Because”)
- (Comma)
- (Independent clause)
- (Semicolon to combine clauses) Ahmad loved to swim; he swam in the ocean every day.
- (First independent clause)
- (Semicolon)
- (Second independent clause)
A fused or run-on sentence has no punctuation between two independent clauses. It simply runs on through both sentences from the first capital letter to the period at the end of the second sentence.
Example:
(Runon sentence) Ahmad loved to swim he swam in the ocean every day.
- (With FANBOYS) Ahmad loved to swim, and he swam in the ocean every day.
- (Comma after the first independent clause)
- (FANBOYS “and”)
- (Second independent clause)
- (Rewrite with a dependent clause) Because Ahmad loved to swim, he swam in the ocean every day.
- (Dependent clause with “Because”)
- (Comma)
- (Independent clause)
- (Semicolon to combine clauses) Ahmad loved to swim; he swam in the ocean every day.
- (First independent clause)
- (Semicolon)
- (Second independent clause)
- Make them separate sentences with an ending punctuation mark for each.
- Combine the two clauses with a comma and a supporting FANBOYS.
- Put the two clauses together with a semicolon. (It is important that the two clauses be related.)
- Find a different way to rewrite the clauses, such as with a dependent clause or a participial phrase.
Examples:
(Splice) The sun shone brightly on the ocean below, the wind pushed the waves to the shore.
(Fused) The sun shone brightly on the ocean below the wind pushed the waves to the shore.
- (Separate sentences) The sun shone brightly on the ocean below. The wind pushed the waves to the shore.
- (Comma and FANBOYS) The sun shone brightly on the ocean below, but the wind pushed the waves to the shore.
- (Semicolon) The sun shone brightly on the ocean below; the wind pushed the waves to the shore.
- (Rewrite) The sun shone brightly on the ocean below while the wind pushed the waves to the shore.
(Splice) Three surfers waded out into the water, they dragged their boards behind them.
(Fused) Three surfers waded out into the water they dragged their boards behind them.
- (Separate sentences) Three surfers waded out into the water. They dragged their boards behind them.
- (Comma and FANBOYS) Three surfers waded out into the water, as they dragged their boards behind them.
- (Semicolon) Three surfers waded out into the water; they dragged their boards behind them.
- (Rewrite) Three surfers waded out into the water, dragging their boards behind them.
(Splice) A shark fin slowly approached the area, the surfers reacted quickly.
(Fused) A shark fin slowly approached the area the surfers reacted quickly.
- (Separate sentences) A shark fin slowly approached the area. The surfers reacted quickly.
- (Comma and FANBOYS) A shark fin slowly approached the area, and the surfers reacted quickly.
- (Semicolon) A shark fin slowly approached the area; the surfers reacted quickly.
- (Rewrite) When a shark fin slowly approached the area, the surfers reacted quickly.
(Splice) “Shark!” they yelled over and over, the guard on the beach sounded the alarm.
(Fused) “Shark!” they yelled over and over the guard on the beach sounded the alarm.
- (Separate sentences) “Shark!” they yelled over and over. The guard on the beach sounded the alarm.
- (Comma and FANBOYS) “Shark!” they yelled over and over, and the guard on the beach sounded the alarm.
- (Semicolon) “Shark!” they yelled over and over; the guard on the beach sounded the alarm.
- (Rewrite) “Shark!” they yelled over and over, hoping the guard on the beach would sound the alarm.
(Splice) Everyone reached the shore safely, the shark swam away.
(Fused) Everyone reached the shore safely the shark swam away.
- (Separate sentences) Everyone reached the shore safely. The shark swam away.
- (Comma and FANBOYS) Everyone reached the shore safely, so the shark swam away.
- (Semicolon) Everyone reached the shore safely; the shark swam away.
- (Rewrite) Everyone reached the shore safely except the shark, which swam away.
Credit: Photo by Bonnie Kittle