17)The Complex sentence. Adverbial clauses of time, place, cause, purpose, condition, concession, result, manner, comparison

A clause is a combination of related words containing a subject and a verb. It can be itself a simple sentence or a part of a compound sentence that has more than one clause.

Clauses have two major types:

There are various types of sentences that we can use in our writing, helping to keep the reader interested and engaged. These different types of sentences vary based on their structures and the type and number of clauses they contain. This article will introduce the four main sentence types in English, explain how we form them, and provide plenty of examples.

Что такое условное предложение в английском языке

Главная функция Conditional Sentences — помочь нам выразить мысль о том, что что-то может произойти или могло бы произойти. И да, рассказать о наших мечтах и фантазиях.

Условное предложение в английском языке состоит из двух частей: само условие (придаточное предложение, или if-clause) и результат (главное предложение, или main clause). Союз «если» (if) поможет узнать условие, после или перед которым идёт результат.

Main clause (главное предложение). Его основная задача — сообщить нам, что произойдёт, если условие будет или не будет выполнено. Различные типы условных предложений в английском языке созданы для того, чтобы показать, насколько реально или нереально выполнение условия.

If-clause (придаточное предложение). Условие в английском языке может стоять как в начале, так и в конце предложения. Когда условие стоит в начале — оно всегда отделяется запятой от результата. Запятая не ставится, если условие стоит после результата.

Получай лайфхаки, статьи, видео и чек-листы по обучению на почтуЗанимайтесь английским бесплатно!Выполняйте интерактивные упражнения и прокачивайте языковые навыки

The compound sentence is a composite sentence built on the principle
of coordination. Coordination can be expressed either syndetically or
asyndetically.

A compound sentence consists of two or more clauses of equal rank
which form one syntactical whole in meaning and intonation. Clauses
that are parts of a compound sentence are called coordinate, as they
are joined by coordination.

Hence come two syntactical features of the compound sentence which
distinguish it from the complex sentence: 1) the opening clause
mostly plays the leading role, and each suc­cessive clause is
joined to the previous clause; 2) the clauses are sequentially fixed.
Thus a coordinate clause cannot change place with the previous one
without changing or distorting the meaning of the whole sentence.

Speaking about communication types it should be mentioned that there
are compound sentences consisting of clauses belonging to different
communication types. In this case it is impossible to state to what
type the compound sentence as a whole belongs.
e.g. These came
nearer than most to meaning something to her, but what? (declarative
+ interrogative)

From the point of view of the relationship between
coordinate clauses four kinds of coordinate connection are
distinguished: copulative, adversative, disjunctive and
causative-consecutive. The type of
connec­tion is expressed not only
by means of coordinating con­nectives, but also by the general
meaning of clauses con­veyed by their lexical and grammatical
content.

Adversative coordination joins clauses containing opposi­tion,
contradiction or contrast. Adversative connectors are: the
conjunctions but, while, whereas, the conjunctive adverbs how­ever,
yet, still, nevertfaless, and the conjunctive particle only.
Adversative coordination may also be realized asyndetically. E.g. The
story was amusing, but nobody laughed.

Causative-consecutive coordination joins clauses connected in
such a way that one of them contains a rea­son and the other — a
consequence. The second clause may contain either the reason or the
result of the event conveyed by the previous clause. The only
causative coordinating conjunction is for. E.g. The days became
longer, for it was now springtime.

An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that
serves as adverbial modifier to the predicate or another member of
the main clause: Andrea couldn’t type
any more letters as her eyes were tired.

According to their meaning we distinguish:
adverbial clauses of time, place, cause,
purpose, condition, concession, result, manner, comparison.

Adverbial clauses of Time
are used to say when something happened
by referring to another event: e.g.

Future tenses are not found in clauses of time;
present tenses with a future reference are used instead. Main clauses
opening with the endorsing items barely,
hardly, scarcely and no
sooner have inverted word order. If
these endorsing items occur in medial position, the word order is
normal. These sentence models generally use the past perfect tense in
the main clause and the simple past in the time clause.

If a clause of time preceding the main clause
opens with only after, only when
or not until,
the main clause has inverted word order.

After wherever
(and other -ever
compounds in various types of subordinate clauses) we sometimes find
the modal auxiliary may,
which can imply a remote possibility.

Minor
breakdowns, whenever they may occur, will be fixed promptly.

Adverbial clauses of Place
are used to say where something
happened by referring to the scene or direction of another event or
process. They are introduced by the subordinators where,
wherever,
anywhere,
everywhere:
e.g. Where buildings were destroyed by
the earthquake, rescue parties are now at work.Sometimes
an adverbial clause of place is preceded by a preposition: e.g. I
can see it clearly from where I’m sitting. Present
simple is normally used to denote a future action after the
subordinators anywhere,
everywhere
and wherever.

They are introduced by as
occasionally have inverted word order, with a predicative of the
subordinate clause moved to the front. Cf.: Tired
as she was, I didn’t like to disturb her. As she was tired, I didn’t
like to disturb her.

As
purpose clauses refer to hypothetical or future events, they often
employ a modal, a future verb or a subjunctive mood form. When the
verb in the main clause is in the present or future, or else in the
imperative mood, the purpose clause employs may, can or will. The
present simple is also possible.

Besides, the purpose clause frequently employs the
present simple if the predicate of the main clause includes a modal
verb or a subjunctive mood form: e.g. He
should drive carefully so that he doesn’t get fined.

When the verb in the main clause is in the past,
the purpose clause employs might,
could,
should or
would:
e.g. Before coming to class I put my
name on the cover so that nobody would take my course book.

An
adverbial clause of condition can be joined asyndetically provided
that it has inverted word order.

In asyndetic conditional sentences, the contracted
forms Weren’t,
Shouldn’t
and Hadn’t
cannot be used to open a conditional clause; the corresponding full
forms should be used.

We
distinguish three basic models of conditional sentences:

Type 1:
situation thought of as real; present, past or future time reference.

Type 2:
situation thought of as unreal or hypothetical; present or future
time reference.

Type 3:
situation thought of as unreal; past time reference.

Within
these types there is considerable variation of form and meaning.

In this kind of structure as
has a concessive meaning, as distinct from clauses of reason, where
as retains
its causal meaning whether the word order is inverted or not. Cf.:
Tired as she was / As she was tired, I
didn’t like to disturb her. (an adverbial clause of reason)

Tired
as she was, she went on typing. (an adverbial clause of concession).

Result clauses introduced by so
that may look similar to clauses of
purpose, but their verb forms are different. A result is a «real»
fact; therefore, the predicate of a result clause stands in the
indicative mood. A purpose is an «unreal» fact, or an
intended result; therefore, the predicate of a purpose clause often
includes a modal verb (usually should / would), or a verb in the
future tense. Otherwise, the unreality is shown by the verb form in
the main clause.

George
writes as if he is left-handed. (One can infer from his handwriting
that he is left-handed.)

George
writes as if he was/were left-handed. (but he is not)

Adverbial
clauses of manner joined by as can optionally have inverted word
order, particularly when the subject is expressed by a long noun
phrase.

The
meaning of manner often implies comparison. However, clauses of
manner differ structurally from clauses of comparison in that they do
not correlate with an endorsing item in the main clause.

Adverbial clauses of Comparison
are used to compare two things or facts
so as to say how they are similar or different. They are introduced
by the correlative subordinators as
and than,
with an endorsing item in the main clause (an adverb (as,
more,
less) or a
morpheme (-er),
modifying a comparative element).

Второй тип условных предложений (Second Conditional)

Второй тип условных предложений используется в двух случаях:

Условные предложения 1 и 2 типа в английском языке можно отличить друг от друга по смыслу: второй вид используется, если мы говорим о событиях, которые являются более невероятными и гипотетическими, чем события в первом условном предложении.

Если вы представляете себя арабским принцем или принцессой с золотыми слитками в банке, то вы можете сказать что-то вроде:

Обратите внимание, что глагол to be в данных предложениях может стоять как в форме were, так и в форме was с местоимениями I, he, she, it. Was используется больше как разговорный вариант, в то время как were чаще встречается в формальном контексте.

Ещё один вариант использования второго условия — это когда нам хочется дать совет и мы ставим себя на место человека, которому этот совет адресован. Естественно, стать этим человеком по-настоящему мы не можем, чем и обоснован выбор второго нереального условного предложения. На русский язык такие предложения переводятся с использованием выражения «если бы я был на твоём месте».

Main clauses

The
main clause is the group of words within a sentence that makes sense
on its own. It tells us the main piece of information in that
sentence. Any simple sentence will have only one clause.

Steven
opened the door.

It
is usually quite easy, however, to pull out the main clause even
from a complex sentence. Just ask yourself what the main piece of
information is in the sentence.

Having
finished his dinner, John
put the dishes in the sink.

Claire,
who was feeling unwell, went
home for the evening.

Complex Sentence

Linguists explain the complex sentences as units of unequal rank, one
being categorically dominated by the other.

The complex sentence is a polypredicative construc­tion built up
on the principle of subordination. The com­plex sentence of
minimal composition includes two clauses — a principal one and a
subordinate one.

The subordinate clause is joined to the principal clause either by a
subordinating connector (subordinator), or, with some types of
clauses, asyndetically.

Subordination is marked by some formal signals.
These formal signs
may be conjunctions or connectives.

Conjunctions are
specialized formal devices (con­nectors) the only function of
which is to link clauses and express the relation between them. They
usually stand at the
beginning of a subordinate clause. The only exception to this rule is
the complex sentence with a concessive clause, where owing to partial
inversion the conjunction may come second, after the word which is
the focus of concessive meaning.

Connectives combine two functions — that of linking clauses
and that of a part in the subordinate clause. Connec­tives are
subdivided into conjunctive words (conjunctive subordinating pronouns
and adverbs), which are used to join nominal clauses and relative
words (pronouns and ad­verbs), used to join attributive clauses.
Some con­junctive and relative words coincide in form, and it is
there­fore necessary to give some criterion according to which
the two types can be distinguished.

The difference between conjunctive words and rela­tive words lies
in their role within the sentence or clause. In the case of
conjunctive words the choice is determined by the structure and
meaning of the subordinate clause itself. In the case of relative
words the choice depends on the antecedent in the main clause.

In accord with the functional
principle, subordi­nate clauses are
to be classed on the analogy of the posi­tional parts of the
simple sentence. Subordinate clauses function as different parts of
the sentence (subject, predi­cative, object, apposition,
attribute, adverbial modifier). Traditionally these numerous types of
clauses are ar­ranged in three groups:

e.g. What I need is a piece of good advice.

2) at­tributive clauses e.g. A man whose
voice seemed familiar to me gave commands.

3) adverbial clauses e.g. When it rains I usually
stay at home.

All
nominal clauses
have a function approximating to that of a noun or a nominal phrase.
They may fulfill the function of a basic part of the main clause:

— a subject clause
functions as subject of the main clause which has no subject of its
own (e.g. How the book will sell depends on its plot and the
author.),

— a predicative
clause functions as predicative to the
link verb within the main clause (e.g. That’s what I want you to
do.);

— an ob­ject
clause refers to verbs in different
forms and functions, to adjectives, statives and occasionally to
nouns, and may be obligatory or optional (e.g. I don’t know why I
like you so much.).

All nominal clauses are very closely connected with the main clause,
and if such a clause is removed, both the structure and meaning of
the sentence are changed or become ungrammatical.

Attributive limiting clauses are very closely con­nected
with the antecedent and cannot be removed from the sentence, because
the information contained in the attributive clause singles out,
determines, or particular­izes the person, thing, idea, etc.,
expressed by the antecedent (e.g. This is the man who we spoke about
yesterday.). Therefore the meaning of the main clause is not complete
or is altogether changed without the subordi­nate clause. The
lack of completeness is manifested by some deictic elements
(determinants) before the antece­dent (mainly articles,
demonstrative pronouns, or words with a demonstrative or
particularizing meaning, such as the same, the only, the best).

Attributive descriptive clauses
are characterized by a looser connection with the main clause (e.g.
I returned to London, where I remained for a week.). Usually they
contain additional information about the antecedent and may be left
out without any serious change in the mean­ing of the main
clause. Attributive descriptive clauses are generally comma off. They
are joined by the same connectives as limiting clauses, except the
relative pronoun that, and asyndetic connection hardly ever occurs.
The additional descriptive character of the attributive clause is
determined by the fact that the antecedent denotes a definite person,
place, thing, notion, etc. It is either specified by a limiting
at­tribute, or is expressed by a proper name, or else denotes a
unique notion (or one specified by the situation). An attributive
descriptive clause referring to a whole clause, sentence, series of
sentences, or even a whole story is called a continuative
(or sentential) attribu­tive
clause. It is generally introduced by the connective which,
occasionally by that.

Adverbial clauses are usually classified according to their
meaning, that is, according to the relation they bear to the main
clause. They differ from nominal and attribu­tive clauses in that
they are introduced by conjunctions with a more distinct meaning.
Some types of adverbial clauses may be introduced by at least a dozen
different conjunctions (as for instance adverbial clauses of time).
Conditional clauses may be joined asyndetically, though they have
link-inversion in this case. Here the meaning and function of the
clause can be inferred only from the meaning of the subordinate and
the main clause. An adverbial clause may qualify the whole main
clause, the verbal predicate or any verbal part, and also parts
expressed by an adjective or adverb. Its position therefore varies:
it may be initial, medial, or final — de­pending on the position
of the part of the sentence it re­fers to and on the general
structure of the main clause.

According to their semantics several types of
adver­bial clause are distinguished:

Types of Sentence — Key Takeaways

Всего существует четыре основных типа English Conditionals:

Какой из четырёх типов выбрать? Каждый раз при использовании условных предложений ваш выбор определяется двумя параметрами. Для начала вам нужно понять, реально ли осуществление ситуации или же выполнение условия возможно только гипотетически. Далее вам нужно определить время для каждой части сложноподчинённого предложения, так как в таких предложениях время в условии и время в результате не зависят друг от друга и каждое определяется по смыслу.

Например, в случае, когда речь идёт о реальном условии, для построения конструкции достаточно простых глагольных времён. Правила применения Conditionals в английском языке мы детально разберём чуть дальше, а пока давайте рассмотрим пример ниже:

Когда условные придаточные предложения относятся к нереальным и фантазийным ситуациям, которые не происходят в жизни, в конструкциях появляется сослагательное наклонение (добавляется частичка «бы»). При этом это фантазийное событие может относиться к настоящему, будущему или прошлому.

А теперь познакомимся с каждым типом условных предложений — на старт, внимание, поехали!

Проверьте, хорошо ли вы знаете слова по теме

There are four different types of sentences in the English language. They are:

We now know that sentence types vary depending on the clauses, and we know what the two types of clauses are. So, let’s look at how we identify each sentence type.

Fig 1. Varying your sentence types can make your writing more engaging

Now that we know the different types of sentences let’s look at each one in more detail and provide some examples.

As the name suggests, this sentence type is the most simplistic of the three. It is made up of just one independent clause. Simple sentences can also contain modifiers and an object, but these aren’t necessary for the sentence to make sense.

Examples of simple sentences

Here are some examples of simple sentences:

Remember that independent clauses always have a subject and a verb. We can see this in the previous sentences. For example, in the first sentence, ‘train’ is the subject, and ‘leaves’ is the verb.

Simple sentences are often used to communicate things clearly The sentences do not need added information and make sense on their own

Compound sentences combine two or more independent clauses (main clauses), joining them with a comma and coordinating conjunction or a semicolon (;).

do not contain dependent clauses (clauses that rely on the rest of the sentence). If the two (or more) independent clauses weren’t joined together, they would still work independently as simple sentences. Each independent clause must contain its own subject and verb.

Let’s break down a compound sentence, explaining all the aspects that make it a compound sentence.

I need to go to work, but I am too sick to drive.

The first independent clause is ‘I need to go to work’ — it contains a subject (I ) and two verbs (need and go).

The second independent clause is ‘I am too sick to drive’ — it contains a subject (I ) and a verb (drive).

The two clauses are joined together with a comma and the coordinating conjunction but. If the two clauses were separated into two sentences, they would still make sense. E.g. I need to go to work. I am too sick to drive.

A common grammar mistake many people make when forming compound sentences is the comma splice. A comma splice is when two independent clauses are joined together with only a comma — this is incorrect and should be avoided! For example, ‘Spiders have eight legs, they are arachnids.’ is a grammatically incorrect sentence. When joining two independent clauses, we must use a comma alongside a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon. E.g. ‘Spiders have eight legs; they are arachnids.’

Examples of compound sentences

Here are some examples of compound sentences:

Complex sentences are slightly different from the other two types of sentences as they (also known as a subordinate clause) and an independent clause.

The dependent clause adds extra information about the independent clause and cannot stand on its own as a complete thought. However, the dependent clause must still contain a subject and a verb. The two clauses are

Let’s look at the first sentence in more detail. The dependent clause ‘it had gone cold’ contains a subject and a verb, but doesn’t make sense on its own as we wouldn’t know what ‘it’ was referring to.

This type of sentence is made up of — as the name suggests!

contain two (or more) independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. As they can include a lot of clauses, they are usually the longest sentence type.

The rules for linking the clauses together are the same for both compound and complex sentences:

Examples of complex-compound sentences

Here are some examples of complex-compound sentences. The independent clauses are in blue, the dependent clauses are in green, and the connectives are in red.

Fig 2. Who could blame you for buying this kitten?

Третий тип условных предложений (Third Conditional)

Третий тип условных предложений нам нужен, чтобы говорить о событиях прошлого, которым не дано было случиться, и представлять их гипотетический результат. Хочется погоревать о несбывшихся надеждах и мечтах? Или, наоборот, порадоваться тому, как удачно вы справились со сложным выбором, потому как если бы решили действовать по-другому, то неприятностей было бы — мама не горюй. В обоих случаях смело выбирайте Third Conditional!

Примеры с Third Conditional

Очень часто сокращённая форма глагола would — ’d — может сбить с толку. Всё дело в том, что глагол had также на письме может сжиматься до одной лишь буквы ’d. Чтобы не запутаться, запомните эти правила.

Как распознать сокращённую форму would и hadГлагол would никогда не используется в условной части предложения. Если в условной части сложноподчинённого предложения с if появляется ’d, то это сокращение had. I’d (had) known that he is such a liar, I would have never trusted him. — Если бы я знал, что он такой лгун, я бы ему не доверял.Если ’d стоит перед have, то это сокращение would.She’d become a millionaire if she had won a competition. — Она бы стала миллионером, если бы выиграла соревнование.

Таблица условных предложений в английском языке

Сохраните табличку-шпаргалку на телефон или распечатайте и храните в учебнике.

5 The subject

The notional subject denotes
or points out a person or non-person, that is, various kinds of
concrete things, substances, abstract no­tions or happening.

The formal
subject expressed by it
is found in two patterns of sentences: those with impersonal
it
and those with introductory
it.

John often
comes late to class.

The
old hotel at the end of the street is
going to be knocked down to make way for a new supermarket.

On
Saturdays I never
get up before 9 o’clock.

The predicate contains
information about the someone or something that is the subject. The
example sentences above are shown again, this time with the predicate
marked in green.

The
grade 7 Korean boy who has just started at FIS speaks
excellent English.

Lying
on the sofa watching old films is
my favourite hobby.

Нулевой тип условных предложений (Zero Conditional)

Этот тип используется для того, чтобы говорить о вещах, которые всегда будут правдой: научных фактах, общепринятых нормах или очевидных утверждениях, законах природы. Например, что бы ни случилось, снег будет таять, когда температура поднимется выше нуля градусов, и люди всегда будут улыбаться, если услышат хорошую шутку. В обеих частях предложения нулевого типа глаголы всегда стоят в простом настоящем времени.

На русский язык такие предложения чаще всего переводятся с помощью настоящего времени, так как их содержание всегда будет актуально и верно. Zero Conditional образуется по следующей схеме:

Примеры Conditional Sentences

Нулевое условие также может использоваться, чтобы проинструктировать собеседника или дать указания. В этом случае ставьте условную часть предложения в Present Simple, а главную часть — в повелительное наклонение.

Поможем заговорить по-английски без стесненияТвоя пятёрка по английскому.С подробными решениями домашки от Skysmart

Understanding the ‘Main Clause & Subordinate Clause’

The above sentence has two clauses: ‘I saw a man’ and ‘who was crying’. The first clause ‘I saw a man’ can stand alone as a complete sentence because it gives a complete meaning on its own. This is called the main clause (or independent clause) because it can stand alone as a sentence to give a complete meaning.

On the other hand, the second clause ‘who was crying’ cannot stand alone as a sentence because it cannot give complete meaning on its own. It depends on the main clause to give a complete meaning or sense. Such a clause is called a subordinate clause or dependent clause.

Identifying Sentence Types

Now that you’ve learned the differences between the four sentence types, let’s think about how to identify them.

One way of doing this is to look out for the number of independent and dependent clauses:

We can also look at the types of connectives used in a sentence:

4 Levels of syntactical analysis

Within the
sentence we usually distinguish two syntactical levels of analysis,
one belonging to the sentence proper, which is called the
sentence level,
and one belonging to various phrases treated as a whole and
functioning in the sentence with the same force as separate words.
This level is called the
phrase level.

The subject and the predicate
belong to the sentence level only. The object, the adverbial
modifier, the attribute, and the apposition may belong either to the
sentence level or to the phrase level.

He did not
tell me
anything about it. (Me, anything, about it
are objects to the verb-predicate — the

You are
unhappy about
something,
aren’t you? (About
something
is an object to the predicative unhappy,

which is part of the predicate
— the sentence level.)

He will
come tomorrow.
(Tomorrow
is an adverbial modifier to the verb-predicate — the sentence level.)

You seem
very
tired. (Very
is an adverbial modifier to the adjective tired,
which is part of the predicate –

Poor
Amy could not answer. (Poor
is an attribute to the noun, which is the subject — the sentence
level.)

In other cases objects,
adverbial modifiers, attributes and appositions are included in
various phrases within which they are not usually treated separately,
the whole phrase functioning as part of the sentence on the sentence
level.

He insisted
on
going by train. (On going by train
is an object to the verb-predicate — the sentence level;

within the
phrase on
going by train
we distinguish an adverbial modifier by
train
referring to the word-

form going
—
the phrase level.)

When
analysing a sentence we deal mainly with the sentence level
only,
unless it is necessary for some reason to state the syntactical
relations between the words within a phrase.

Первый тип условных предложений (First Conditional)

Как использовать первый тип условных предложений? Всё очень легко, нужно просто запомнить правило о First Conditional: условие первого вида основывается на фактах, реальных и конкретных ситуациях.

Выбирайте именно этот тип Conditionals, если вы говорите о вещах, которые с большой вероятностью могут произойти в будущем. Довольно часто 1 тип появляется в предложениях с каким-либо предупреждением.

Примеры с First Conditional

Для выражения степени уверенности, разрешения или рекомендации относительно результата в главной части сложноподчинённого предложения вместо простого будущего можно использовать модальные глаголы.

На первый взгляд, нулевой и первый типы условных предложений не сильно отличаются друг от друга. Однако разница состоит в том, что First Conditional описывает определённую ситуацию, в то время как Zero Conditional описывает то, что происходит вне зависимости от обстоятельств, то есть всегда. Сравним:

Difference Between Sentence Types and Sentence Functions

In this article, we have learned about the four sentence types: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. However, we have to be careful not to confuse sentence types with sentence functions (of which there are also four).

The four sentence functions are:

The difference between the types of sentences covered in this article and the functions of sentences is quite simple. refers to the layout and structure of the sentence, whereas ‘sentence function’ is talking about the content (i.e. what the sentence is used for).

Take a look at this sentence.

Will you wash the dishes?

This is a simple sentence (sentence type) and is also an interrogative (sentence function). This is because it only contains one independent clause and is an interrogative because it is asking a question.

Смешанный тип условных предложений

До сих пор мы рассматривали условные предложения, в которых «если» и «то» относились к одному и тому же времени. Но в английском есть ещё и смешанные условные предложения. В них одна часть относится к прошлому, а другая — к настоящему.

Mixed Conditionals бывают двух видов. Первый вид смешанных условных предложений описывает нереальную ситуацию в прошлом, которая могла бы отразиться на настоящем. Необязательно, но могла бы. Если бы мама отвела вас в детстве в музыкалку, вы бы сейчас были всемирно известным пианистом.

Второй вид смешанных предложений мы используем, когда условие в if-clause не привязано к конкретному времени, а последствия, описанные в main clause, относятся к прошлому. Если бы ваш товарищ не боялся телефонных звонков (постоянная, не привязанная ко времени характеристика), он бы сам позвонил в ресторан и забронировал столик — вот типичный случай использования этого вида Mixed Conditionals.

Subordinate clauses

A
subordinate clause is a group of words in a sentence, with a verb in
it, which usually does not make sense on its own. It depends on
the main clause for its sense.

Having
finished his dinner,
George put the dishes in the sink.

Claire, who
was feeling unwell,
went home for the evening.

These clauses can be made as
complicated as you want to make them. Just be wary of using too many
of them as the meaning of the sentence can be lost.

Main or Independent Clause

Main or independent clauses can stand alone as a sentence because it can express a complete meaning. It is called an independent clause because it is not dependent on the remaining part of a sentence to give a complete meaning. This means it can give a complete meaning even if written or spoken without the remaining part of the sentence. It is called the main clause because it provides a basis to the remaining part of the sentence (e.g., the subordinate clause) to complete meaning of the remaining part if written along with it. However, it itself can stand as a lone sentence and does not require the remaining part of the sentence for expression of its own meaning.

Subordinate or Dependent Clause

A subordinate or dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence because it (as an alone part) cannot express complete meaning or sense. It is called a dependent clause because it depends on the main clause to give a complete meaning. It is called a subordinate clause because it plays a subordinate role in relation to the main clause within a sentence.