A clause is a group of words that has

1. a subject and
2. an object,

and it operates as a whole unit. It may or may not express a complete thought, depending on the type of clause.

Independent Clauses

An independent clause expresses a complete thought all by itself. This sentence, for example, is an independent clause. Other examples include:

• I’m going to eat some fruit.
• Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
• I’ve lived here for three years.

Independent clauses are the only component of simple sentences.

Dependent Clauses/Subordinate Clauses

A dependent (or subordinate) clause (The terms are really interchangable.)  cannot stand alone. It simply makes no sense. If left by itself, it is a sentence fragment. It must be conjoined with at least one independent clause in order to be a sentence.

Examples include:

• when I get home today
• since she left the armed forces
• that I bought for my cousin

Dependant clauses usually work either as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.

Adjectival Dependent Clauses

When a dependent clause does the job of an adjective, it is often introduced by a relative pronoun:

• that
• which
• who
• whom
• whose

They function as adjectives in the sentence.

• The guy who bought my car already had one just like it. (“Who bought my car” modifies “guy”.)
• When I get the guitar that I want, I’ll play some music for you. (“That I want” describes the guitar.)

Adverbial Dependent Clauses

When a dependent clauses functions as an adverb, it is often introduced by subordinating conjunctions.

Noun Dependent Clauses

The third option for a dependent clause is to function as a noun. There are some specific pronouns that can introduce noun clauses:

• who
• whoever
• whom
• whomever
• what
• whatever
• which
• whichever
• that

The noun clause can perform the following roles in a sentence:¹

1. These five examples are from Elements of Writing by James Kinneavy and John Warriner. [↩]