by Sentenceworks
Subordinate Clauses
A subordinate clause is a clause which is not a sentence in itself, and must be connected to a main clause.Disrupting The Main Clause
The use or placement of the subordinate clause must not disrupt the meaning of the main clause, or your reader may become confused.
Incorrect: The nuclear family, due to society’s acceptance of alternative lifestyles, is declining in number.
The subordinate clause, “due to society’s acceptance of alternative lifestyles”, has divided the main clause, “the nuclear family is declining in number”. The reader may have to re-read this sentence in order to fully understand it. The subordinate clause should be before or after the main clause.
Incorrect: Parents, wanting to procure the best education available for their children but being warned to maintain control over their children’s lives, are often torn between home-schooling and private schooling.
Sometimes there may be too much information in one sentence. It may be better to change some of the subordinate clauses into full sentences: Parents want to procure the best education available for their children. They also want to maintain control over their children’s lives. These parents are often torn between homeschooling and private schooling.
Verb Tense: past simple instead of past perfect
A subordinate clause is a clause which depends on the action in the main clause; a subordinate clause cannot be a sentence by itself. When the action in the main clause happens before the action in the subordinate clause, the main clause should use the past perfect tense. Look for words like “before”, “when” and “by the time” in the subordinate clause.
Incorrect: Prior to boiling the potatoes, Mary washed and peeled them.
Because the action in the main clause (washing and peeling potatoes) happens before the action in the subordinate clause (boiling potatoes), the verbs in the main clause should be written in the past perfect: Mary had washed and peeled them.
Incorrect: By the time the water boiled, Mary washed and peeled the potatoes.
The phrase “by the time” implies the main clause precedes the subordinate clause. The main clause should read: Mary had washed and peeled the potatoes.