SENTENCE,

INDEPENDENT AND
DEPENDENT CLAUSES
ENGLISH PARAGRAPH WRITING
2nd MEETING
Summary of 1 Assignment
st
SENTENCE
• A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and a
verb and expresses a complete thought.
These are sentences:
These are not sentences:
 He is a student
 Hot weather. (There is no verb)
 Speed kills
 The man bought. (There is not a
 It’s hot today
complete thought.)
 He looks tired
 Because it rained. (This is not a
 Are you hungry?
complete thought,)
 Who’s there?
 Is very handsome. (There is no
 The man bought a new car.
subject.)
 Does your sister live with you?
 Every morning before breakfast.
 Where did you buy your new car?
(There is no subject or verb.)
 Hurry! (The subject in this sentence is
“you”)
SUBJECT AND VERBS
• Every sentence must have a least one subject and one verb in order
to be a sentence. Some sentences must have other parts in order to
express a complete thought. The man bought is not a sentence
because it does not express a complete thought. We need to know
what he bought.
• Subject and verbs are the most important parts of a sentence. In
English, the subject of a sentence is always expressed except in a
command: Hurry! (We know that the subject is “you.”)

The subject tells who or what did something.

It is a noun or pronoun.
• Example:
• My roommate losts the keys to his car.
• (Who lost the key? – my roommate)

• My car hit the pedestrian.

• (What hit the pedestrian? – the car)

• Skiing and snowboarding are my favorite winter sports.

• (What are my favorite winter sports? – skiing and snowboarding)
 The verb often tells the action. However, sometimes a verb doesn’t tell an action.
Sometimes it just links the subject with the rest of the sentence.

• Action verbs
 The car hit the pedestrian.
 My family lives in a two-bedroom apartment.
 My roommate lost his car keys.
 His girlfriend found them.

• Linking Verbs
 Snow skiing is my favorite winter sport.
 I feel sick
 You look hungry.
 I am lucky that my roommate is a good cook
 The most common linking verbs are be, become, feel, look, seem, smell, sound
and taste.
• END-OF SENTENCE PUNCTUATION
A sentence ends with a period (.), an exclamation point (!), or a questions mark (?).

A sentence normally ends with a period. If a sentence is a question, use a question

mark.
 Where do you live?
 Are you married or single?
 We don’t have any homework tonight, do we?

You can use an exclamation point after words phrases or sentences to show
strong emotion and after an urgent command.
 Wow!
 What a nice surprise!
 We were really scared!
 Help!
CLAUSES
• Independent Clauses
• An independent clause contains a subject and a verb
and expresses a complete thought. It can stand alone
as a sentence by itself.

subject + verb (+ complement)

o  Students normally spend four years in college.
o I will declare my major now, but I may change it later.
o Many international students experience culture shock when they come to the
United States.
• Dependent Clauses
• A dependent clause begins with a subordinator such as when,
while, if, that, or who. A dependent clause does not express a
complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence by itself.

subordinator + subject + verb (+ complement)

o … although students normally spend four years in college…
o … if I declare my major no …
o … when they come to the United States…
o … who was accepted at Harvard University …
o … that the experiment was a success …