WRITER’S CHOICE
Pages 535 – 537
Exercises 1, 2, and 3
Main Clauses and
Subordinate Clauses
MAIN CLAUSES
A main clause is comprised of a subject and a verb.
Example:
Manufacturers produce
cars, and consumers buy.
The italicized manufacturers
and consumers are nouns/subjects and produce and buy are verbs.
Page 535, exercise 1, write the entire sentence and
underline the subject and circle the verb.
SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
Pages 536 – 537
Exercises 2 and 3
The relative pronoun connects the subject with the predicate
or the rest of the sentence.
The relative pronouns are: that, which, who, whom, whomever,
whenever, whose, when, etc.
Example: The girl whom
David likes is performing in the show tonight.
(Whom is the relative pronoun; “David likes” is a
subordinate clause which acts like an adjective because it is describing the
girl. Which girl? The girl David likes.)
Subordinating
conjunctions are used to join independent clauses to make complex sentences.
The subordinating conjunctions are as follows: after, although, as, as if,
because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, rather than, since, that,
though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, and
while.
When
a clause begins with a subordinate conjunction (after, although, as, as if,
because, before, even if, even though, if only, rather than, since, that,
though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, and
while) it is a subordinate clause and cannot stand alone.
Although we invited Elizabeth to dinner after the show, she did not join us.
The italicized clause Although we invited Elizabeth to dinner after the show begins with a subordinate conjunction (although), and does not express a complete thought; therefore, it is a subordinate clause.
In exercise 2, on page 536 in THE WRITER’S CHOICE, write the
sentences, underline the subordinate clause and circle the relative pronoun:
that, which, who, whom, whomever, whenever, whose and when. Hint: the relative
pronoun introduces the subordinate clause, which immediately follows the
relative pronoun.
1. The Model T Ford, which people loved,
was discontinued as a model in 1928.
In exercise 3, on page 537, write out the sentence and identify if the italicized
part of the sentence is a main clause or a subordinate clause.
Example:
Shirley Chisholm was a congresswoman from New York, who sought the presidential nomination in
1972. (Subordinate clause)
