S is for SUBORDINATE CLAUSE OPENERS--Understanding the Subordinate Clause

Studying subordinators, subordinate clauses, and subordinate clause openers...

Did you memorize subordinators, so you can write with subordinate clause openers properly? If not, you can find the post on there here.

Once you memorize subordinators, you are ready to write with subordinate clauses. Specific to this lesson, you will be ready to write subordinate clause openers (subordinate clauses that are added to the beginnings of sentences).

As far as a subordinate clause is concerned, it contains a subordinator and a subject and a verb.

Subordinator + Subject + Verb



When she drove,

As he said,

After she left,

When they arrived,

Because he smiled,



Did you notice anything about those subordinate clauses? If you noticed that each one would be a sentence if the subordinator were removed, you are correct!

A subordinate clause is a sentence (subject + verb) that has a subordinator at the beginning of it!

Sentence: She drove.
Subordinate clause:  When she drove,


Sentence: He said.
Subordinate clause: As he said,


Sentence: She left.
Subordinate clause: After she left,



Sentence: They arrived.
Subordinate clause: When they arrived,



Sentence: He smiled.
Subordinate clause: Because he smiled,


So....a subordinate clause is a sentence (independent clause-can stand
alone) that has a subordinator added to the beginning of it (which makes it a dependent clause-is dependent upon something else in order to be used {has to have a real sentence put with it in order to be used}).

Think of subordinate clauses by either of their two names:

1. Subordinate clause--subordinate to the rest of the sentence
2. Dependent clause--dependent on something else to go with it (a real sentence/independent clause) in order to be used

COMMA CLUE #4: Comma Following a Subordinate Clause Opener Part I of III

Today's Comma Clue can be confusing--but it is one of the most needful for comprehension as well as for sentence fluidity when reading aloud. 



When you start a sentence with a subordinate clause,
Put the comma in when you hear the pause!


That is a cute rhyme (don't you think?)....but unless you know what a subordinate clause is (and prior to that, what a subordinator is), it will not do you much good to recite it. So this post will go back to what subordinators are first. 

Maybe you were taught that subordinators (words that make the part of the sentence that they are in be "subordinate" to the rest of the sentence) are called other things, like conjunctives or subordinate conjunctions. Some grammar handbooks do not even classify subordinators at all but call them whatever other class they fall under (i.e. the preposition before might always be called a preposition, even though it is a subordinator when it has a subject and verb following it).

Regardless of what you were taught about subordinators, they are extremely important to good writing. Why? 

1. A subordinator is a word that falls at the beginning of a subordinate clause.
2. A subordinate clause is a group of words that begins with a subordinator and has a subject and verb following it.
3. A subordinate clause is subordinate to the rest of the sentence--that is, it is "less than" the real sentence.
4. A subordinate clause may not stand alone as it is not a real sentence.
5. A subordinate clause sounds as though something is missing when it is read--because something is (the real sentence!).
6. A subordinate clause may be joined with a complete sentence to create a complex sentence, but the subordinate clause may never stand alone.

So....what are subordinators?

Let's start with the first six that we teach our youngest language arts students in our books:

Since, when, though
Because, if, although.

Yeah, it's a rhyme! Cute, huh? (I love teaching!)

Anyway, for you older folks, we have a Subordinator-Check Sentence that most subordinators fit into. In a nutshell, if a word fits in the check sentence and the word is not an adverb, it likely a subordinator:

________________________ the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


Since the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


When the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


Though the submarine went down, we could STILL  see it.


Because the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


If the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


Although the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.

Okay, that is the first six. Here is a lengthy, but not exhaustive list of subordinators:

-after (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-although
-as (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-as if
-as long as
-as soon as
-as though
-because
-because of (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-before (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-even
-even if
-even though
-if
-inasmuch as
-in order that
-lest
-now (more commonly used as an adverb)
-now since
-now that
-now when
-once
-provided
-rather than
-since
-than (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-that
-though
-til (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-unless
-until (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-when
-whenever
-where
-where ever
-where as
-whether
-which
-which ever
-while
-who
-whoever
-why


In as much as the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.

Until the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.

While the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.



 We will stop here and give you time to memorize these before we go on in a day or two working on punctuating sentences that begin with subordinate clauses. Just looking at the Subordinator-Check Sentence, though, you can probably deduce that the first rhyme in this post is accurate: a subordinate clause opener is followed by a comma. More later!


Picture from http://staff.jccc.net/mfitzpat/style/bd04892_.gif

day 82: homework help—final sentence writing help

A few more ideas for encouraging/helping your child with sentence writing, then we’re on to something new!

1. If your child is hesitant to write because of penmanship difficulties, either teach him how to type (use a typing program for young kids) or write for him as he dictates to you. He needs to see that penmanship difficulties do not mean that he is unable to write. Writing is thinking. Penning is art.
2. Try having him write sentences about things you are doing. For example, have him write a sentence each day in a journal about that day or every Saturday about the weekend.
3. Or have specific things listed at the top of a journal for him or her that he/she writes about:
1. Monday: Weekend
2. Tuesday: Food
3. Wednesday: Book
4. Thursday: Animal
5. Friday: Person
6. Saturday: Movie
4. Have him write a sentence under a picture, similar to captions. These pictures may be ones that he has drawn or colored or cartoons or pictures from a book.
5. Make a list of nouns and a list of verbs. Have him write a sentence using one word from the noun list and one word from the verb list. For example:

NOUNS                                               VERBS

Dog                                                     run

Boy                                                      jump

Girl                                                     catch

Radio                                                  blare

Cow                                                    ate

For more sentence writing help, along with help in other areas of language arts, for the second/third grade level (i.e. already reading well), check out the sample of the our books, “Character Quality Language Arts,” Level Pre A (http://www.tfths.com/samples.php ). There is a full month that you may use with our child free of charge. Happy writing!

day 81: homework help---more sentence help

Just a couple of most posts about sentence writing for our “Homework Help” feature this month—then back to more tips and tricks for all readers, writers, speakers, and thinkers! Below is a list of other sentence writing ideas for you and your student/child:

1. If your child likes the feeling of creating through writing, but doesn’t think he can write sentences, you may want to try one of the following:
1. Have him copy sentences that you write for him or sentences out of one of his favorite books.
2. Write sentences for him with a light colored highlighter and have him write over the highlighter with his pencil.
3. Write “fill in the blank sentences for him.” When I was in teacher’s college, these were called “cloze sentence” (for those who want to google to find out more). This is where you write sentences but leave blanks for him to fill in key words. This way you have started the sentences for him, but what happens in the sentence and to whom is still his creation. (There’s a site that lets you build these and print them for your kids/students at http://www.theteacherscorner.net/printable-worksheets/make-your-own/fill-in-the-blank/ .)

2. If he can’t think of anything to write about in his sentences, ask him questions that he must answer in sentence form. “What is your favorite animal?” “What is your favorite color?” etc.
3. If he is having trouble writing “real” sentences (i.e. write fragments or dependent clauses instead), have him say it aloud and ask him more questions. For example, if he says “Blue” (to the favorite color question), say “Blue what?” If he says “favorite color,” continue to coach him. “Try this…Blue is…can you make that into a complete sentences instead of just words?” (Coaching is a huge part of teaching writing!)
4. If he likes to write stories, have him dictate sentences to you (or alternate giving sentences—he then you) that you pen for him.
5. Finally, have him write a sentence a day to get used to sentence writing. We had journals for our kids that they copied verses and quotes in—one a day—to help them get a feeling for sentence writing.

Tomorrow—final homework help for sentences. Thanks for joining us!

day 80: homework help—helping young students learn to write sentences

After a student is reading well (and sometimes even before if things are not quite taught in order), he will start learning to write. Remember this is not penmanship. Penmanship is penning words. Writing is putting words together to form sentences. Sentences are then put together to form paragraphs. And paragraphs are put together to design essays, reports, and stories.

A student can learn to write sentences either by writing them himself or by dictating to you and having you pen the sentences for him. Either way, here are some “sentence writing tips”:

1. The CAVES acronym shows that a sentence must contain five parts: Capital; All makes sense; Verb; End mark; Subject. You can use this with your child as he writes sentences to evaluate if he truly has written sentences or just a group of words. (If he doesn’t fully understand the subject-verb part, ask him if his sentence has someone or something that it is about. And that someone or something doing or being something (verb). He doesn’t even have to know the terminology to see if the subject or verb is missing from a sentence.
2. The other two “easily visible” part of CAVES—capital and end mark—can be spotted quickly by your student as you ask him for each one.
3. The last one, All makes sense, is best discovered orally (both now and in writing for years to come). This is because what a person thinks he wrote (and reads silently) is not always what he truly wrote. Thus, if he reads something silently, he will often read in his head what he meant to write, not what he actually wrote. If he reads it aloud, he will “hear” it. (Incidentally, we use this “hear” your errors approach in our writing books for high schoolers as well—not just for individual sentence writing.)
4. If he is learning to write sentences and feels at a loss as to what to write, point out the speaking-writing connection to him by dialoguing:

Student: I can’t think of anything to write.

Teacher/Parent: What did you do today?

Student: school

Teacher/Parent: Say it in a complete sentence with “I” as the subject.

Student: I went to school.

Write this down for him, showing him once again that the written word is simply the spoke word written down.

More homework help for early writing tomorrow. Happy learning!

day 79: homework help—the reading and writing connection for young students ii of ii

If you have a child/student who is learning to write sentences and simple paragraphs (and has reached reading fluency—the stage in which he or she does not rely on controlled readers but can pick up most things at an upper elementary/beginning middle school level and read them), there are many things that you can do to help him or her.

1. Teach him/her the five parts of a sentence---CAVES—Capital; All makes sense; Verb; End mark; Subject. Help the student find these things in his sentences or in sentences that he reads.
2. Teach anything about the writing process informally that can be taught informally. This is for parents and educators alike. Point out that a sentence begins with a capital letter as he reads to you. Ask him what the (?) at the end of the sentence means. Talk about why a word is capitalized in a sentence (it’s at the beginning or is someone’s name). These informal teaching times will carry over to his real writing.
3. Understand the difference between penmanship and writing. Penmanship is art. Pure and simple. I would almost say (but can’t bring myself to do so since I have a degree in elementary education and a two hour credit in penmanship!) that “you either have it or you don’t.” Writing is putting words together to form sentences then paragraphs, then stories/reports/essays/letters—anything! If your child has penmanship difficulties (as many young boys do), do not let this distract him from writing. Pen for him as he dictates to you. Teach him to type. Remember, penmanship is not writing. Writing is writing.
4. Show him that writing is just the spoken word written down. Have him talk slowly to you while you type. Read it back to him. Tell him that if he can speak, he can write (even if the penmanship and spelling are not there yet!).
5. When he is first learning to write sentences, do not make him sound out every word. Just tell him how to spell the tough ones and move on. (There is even research out there now strongly suggesting that when it comes to spelling, “you either got it or you don’t.” Nowadays with computers and spell check, no person should be uneducated or feel stupid because of spelling problems.)
6. Have him dictate sentences about anything (his day; his favorite show; his favorite game; etc.) and write them in large letters with a highlighter. Have him write over the highlighter with his pencil. Have him read the sentences back to you. Then make a big deal out of it—your child can write!

When starting to read and starting to write, a child needs a great measure of success to keep going and feel confident in what he is learning. Making the reading and writing connection in the elementary grades can help do that for your child.

day 74: phrases, clauses, and sentences

We have talked at length about what a sentence contains:

C apital

A ll makes sense

V erb

E nd mark

S ubject

CAVES!

Again, most people have trouble witht the A one--All makes sense. When a "sentence" doesn't make sense, it is often because it is not a sentence at all, but it is a phrase or a clause.

We are going to talk in detail about phrases and clauses in the upcoming weeks because we are going to talk a lot about sentence structure--openers, simple sentences, compound sentences, etc.

So...a little "phrase and clause" lesson is in order first:


1. Phrase--

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that is not a sentence

c. Group of words that is not a sentence and does not usually contain a subject and a verb (though may seem to have one or the other)

d. There are various types of phrases--the one that people are most familiar with is the prepositional phrase--begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition:
      i. over the clouds
     ii. into the clouds
    iii. around the clouds
   iv. within the clouds
    v. under the clouds


2. Clause

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that might or might not be a sentence

c. Group of words that contains a subject and a verb

d. Two kinds of clauses

     i. Independent clause--also called a sentence

     ii. Dependent clause--also called a subordinate clause


Don't despair! These are not as complicated as they sound! You write with them all the time--but I hope to help you recognize them and punctuate them correctly in sentences--over the next few weeks!

Happy writing!

    

day 52: main subject pop quiz—answer key

 In the sentences provided, highlight the main subjects.



Hint: The main subject is usually one of the first few words of a sentence!


 

           

            1. Sickness is caused by different things.

           

       2. Some animals carry sicknesses. (You may have indicated the one-word subject animals or the describer with the one-word subject.)

           

       3. People can get sick from them.

           

       4. Other diseases are in the air.

           

       5. People breathe them in.

           

       6. Then they get sick.

           

           

       7. People would get sick less often if they would stay clean.

          8. Children need to learn to wash their hands frequently.

1. People can use anti-bacterial soap.

1. We can “wash away germs.”

day 51: main subject pop quiz!

 In the sentences provided, highlight the main subjects.



Hint: The main subject is usually one of the first few words of a sentence!


 

           

            1. Sickness is caused by different things.

           

       2. Some animals carry sicknesses.

           

       3. People can get sick from them.

           

       4. Other diseases are in the air.

           

       5. People breathe them in.

           

       6. Then they get sick.

           

           

       7. People would get sick less often if they would stay clean.

          8. Children need to learn to wash their hands frequently.

1. People can use anti-bacterial soap.

1. We can “wash away germs.”

Answers tomorrow!

           

day 50: final subject review—and a subject is not in a prepositional phrase

The main subject of a sentence is never in a prepositional phrase.

This is why we spent so much time on prepositions last month. If you can find prepositions, you can find prepositional phrases. If you find prepositional phrases, you can isolate them (mentally or with parentheses) and discover that the main subject is not in a prepositional phrase. This will help you determine subject verb agreement in your sentences more clearly.

For example:

1.                      Kara, (along with her sisters), is coming.

a.      Kara is the subject and needs the verb is

b.     Sisters is not the sentence’s subject.

2.                      Josiah and Jake, (though not Jonathan), are at basketball.

a.      Josiah and Jake are the subjects of the sentence, not Jonathan.

b.     Thus, Josiah and Jake need a plural verb—are.

In review, a sentence’s main subject has the following traits:

            a. It is the person or thing that the sentence is about.

            b. It usually comes at the beginning of the sentence.

            c. It is usually a noun or a pronoun.

            d. It is the source (person or thing) of the action.

            e. It is never found in a prepositional phrase.

Better study up! Tomorrow is a pop quiz! Smile…

day 49: still more about the main subject—compound subjects and more

          A sentence’s main subject is usually one of the following:

  a. A noun (person, place, thing, or idea)

            b. A pronoun (a word that replaces a noun—he, she, it, they,
etc.)

A sentence can have one subject, two subjects, or even three or more
subjects.

            a. One subject: Kayla is my first daughter.

b. Two subjects: Kayla and Cami are my first two daughters.

                         c. Three subjects: Kayla, Cami, and Kara are my daughters.

          
A sentence can have one subject at the beginning, and then later in the
sentence have another subject. However, most of your sentences will have
only one subject until you are at a more advanced level of writing.

Tomorrow—putting together the subject lessons and preposition lessons---a sentence’s main subject (and actually most other subjects in the sentence) are not usually found in prepositional phrases!

day 44: examining caves more closely--subject

If you learn that a sentence contains five things—and you learn to recognize these things easily, you will learn to evaluate whether every sentence you write is a “real” sentence or not more easily.

Remember, CAVES is the acronym we will use to examine a sentence.

C apital

A ll makes sense

V erb

E nd mark

S ubject

The last letter of CAVES—subject—is what we will examine today. Each “simple sentence”—that is, each “real” sentence must contain a subject. We will call this the sentence’s main subject—because a sentence may contain other subjects in other parts, but a sentence must only contain one subject (the main subject) to be a real sentence.

Tomorrow we will learn the details of a sentence’s main subject—the S of CAVES—subject--each sentence must have a subject.

day 43: three types of sentences

Most second graders learn about three types of sentences—the declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory. Children do not have a lot of trouble with the three types of sentences—it is relatively easy to discover the difference between a statement (or declarative sentence) and a question (or interrogative sentence), etc.

Again, the problem most writers (of all ages) have is not determining what the ending punctuation should be for a sentence or determining if a sentence should begin with a capital letter or not. The real difficulty lies in determining whether a group of words is a sentence or not a sentence. We will examine that more closely as the month progresses.

For today, we will introduce the three types of sentence first learned in grade school.

1. A declarative sentence is a statement.

            a. It declares (tell or state) something.

            b. It ends with a period.

            c. It is sometimes called a telling sentence.

     

 2. An interrogative sentence is a question.

            a. It asks a question. (To interrogate someone is to ask him a
lot of questions.)

            b. It ends with a question mark.

            c. It is sometimes called an asking sentence or a question.

    

3. An exclamatory sentence is an excited sentence.

            a. It is used to show strong emotion or excitement.

            b. It ends with an exclamation point (or excited mark!).

            c. It is sometimes called on excited sentence.

 

day 41: sentence or not—pop quiz answers

Read the phrases below. Put an S beside the phrases that are
complete sentences and an N beside those that are not.

         1. A raccoon is an intelligent animal.    Sentence         

           

        2. He does not avoid danger.  Sentence           

           

        3. That he will go right into it.     Not a sentence        

           

        4. When a raccoon studies sounds, smells, and sights that are new to
him.     Not a sentence        

           

        5. Like tin cans and mirrors.     Not a sentence        

           

        6. One trap a trapper likes to set is called a mirror trap. Sentence

7. When he puts a trap in shallow water and ties a mirror to it. Not a sentence

8. When the light hits the mirror.    Not a sentence         

           

        9. When the raccoon sees the light.   Not a sentence          

           

       10. When he does, the raccoon’s paw becomes caught in the trap. Sentence

day 40: pop quiz--sentence or not?

Read the phrases below. Put an S beside the phrases that are
complete sentences and an N beside those that are not.

         1. A raccoon is an intelligent animal.             

           

        2. He does not avoid danger.             

           

        3. That he will go right into it.             

           

        4. When a raccoon studies sounds, smells, and sights that are new to
him.             

           

        5. Like tin cans and mirrors.             

           

        6. One trap a trapper likes to set is called a mirror trap.

7. When he puts a trap in shallow water and ties a mirror to it.

8. When the light hits the mirror.             

           

        9. When the raccoon sees the light.             

           

       10. When he does, the raccoon’s paw becomes caught in the trap.

Answers tomorrow! Smile…

day 39: more on caves—five parts of a sentence

When you write, it is vital that you know what is and what is not a
sentence.

A sentence must have five things in order to be complete:

            1. Capital at the beginning

            a. The first letter of the first word in a sentence must be
capitalized.

            b. It does not matter what the first word is; it is always
capitalized.

For example: A kindergarten child is so cute.

            2. All makes sense

            a. A sentence must make sense.

            b. If a phrase has four of the other things a sentence must
have, but it leaves you hanging and does not make sense, then it is not a
sentence.

Examples:

                        1) When the boy ran. This is not a complete sentence
because it leaves you hanging.

                        2) The boy ran though the woods. This is a complete
sentence because it has all five things a sentence must have.

            3. Verb

            a. A sentence must have a verb (action or BHL—being verb, helping verb, linking verb).

            b. This tells what the subject does or is.

For example: The boys played football in the snow.

            4. End mark

            a. A sentence must have ending punctuation: 

                        1) a period (.)

                        2) an exclamation point (!)

                        3) question mark (?)

            b. Examples:

                        1) The boys are playing football.

2) Watch out for the football!

3) Are they playing football?

            5. Subject

            a. A sentence must have a subject.

            b. This is what or whom the sentence is about.

 The following acronym will help you to remember these five things:

Capital at the beginning

All makes sense

Verb

End mark

Subject

day 38: parts of a sentence--caves

Now that “word” month is over (January) and January’s “homework help” week-plus is over, we can turn our attention to February’s topic—phrases, sentences, and clauses.

It has been said that when a banker or a counterfeit money “agent” learns about counterfeit money, he or she begins by learning what the real thing looks like. We use this same approach to teach about sentences, clauses, and phrases in our language arts books: teach the students what a real sentence looks like—and then teach what are not real sentences.

Thus, we will also start with sentences here on LL 365 and work backwards.

 We will begin with a simple acronym that we use to teach students the five things a sentence must contain in order to be a sentence:

CAVES

C  apital letter

A  ll makes sense

V  erb

E  nd mark

S  ubject

We will learn more about sentences throughout February, but for now, if you write a sentence and you are unsure of whether it is a “real” sentence, use CAVES.

When a sentence is not a "real" sentence, the culprit is usually the A one—All makes sense. And that “A” one will take us into sentences vs. phrases and clauses…on another day. Happy writing!