Dependent and Independent Clauses Explained

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A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.

An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself as a

complete sentence.
A dependent clause, or subordinate clause, contains a subject and a verb but

cannot stand alone as a sentence. A subordinate clause must always be combined with an
independent clause.
A dependent clause begins with a subordinating conjunction (before, although, after,

while, because, since, etc.)

A Santa Clause climbs down your chimney on Christmas Eve.
Understanding different types of clauses helps eliminate fragments and run-ons.

Adverb and Adjective Clauses

Types of dependent clauses include:

Adjective Clause: these function as adjectives in a sentence. Adjective clauses

answer the questions which one, what kind, how much, how many. They are introduced by a
relative pronoun (who, whom, that, whose, which). They function as an adjective, are sometimes
separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma, and should be placed next to the noun or
pronoun they modify.
Example: Santa Clause,who grew impatient with every second, gave Blitzen thirteen whipstrokes
across the face.In this example, the dependent clause beginning with whomodifies Santa Clause.

Adverbial Clause: these function as adverbs in a sentence. Adverbial clauses answer

the questions how, why and to what extent. They are introduced by a relative adverb (when, where,
and why). They function as an adverb, and are not separated from the rest of the sentence with a
comma.
Example: Investigators claim Rudolph's red nose derives from alcohol abuse. Apparently, he knocks
back whiskywhenever the other reindeer play their games.

Noun Clauses

These function as nouns in a sentence, may be used anywhere in the sentence and can

serve as subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, or object of the preposition.
Noun clauses are usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction or relative adverb.
Example: What you invest in may determine the quality of your retirement. (subject)
Example: The wounded reindeer wondered why Santa was not so jolly this Christmas Eve. (direct
object)
Example: Santa brought whoever was in his angry path fear and loathing. (indirect object)
Example: Shark attacks are what the scuba diver did not want. (predicate nominative)
Example: The scuba instructor's safety depended on how much faster he could swim than his
students.(object of the preposition)

Revisions: Cutting the Passive Voice/Weak Writing

Something drove me crazy in revisions. Passive voice and weak writing. Id already been through a few
drafts and caught a lot of problems, but still itd snuck in in a few places. Getting rid of passive voice really
shines up the story and makes it much more alive active, moving quickly. Ive gotten rid of most of it
now and Ive already noticed its not as prevalent in the new novel Im working on, so I guess something is
sinking in, I hope! ha!

Anyway, in an attempt to possibly help others during their revisions, Im compiled a list from various
sources that helped me pinpoint problem areas/searches to do in a later draft to look for passive
words/weak phrases.

Enjoy!
*As has been pointed out to me by my grammar nerd friends, technically the following examples are not
all passive voice but examples of plain old weak writing as well.*

Definition of passive voice: A verb form or voice in which the grammatical subject receives the verb's
action. Contrast with active voice.

Some searches to do:

Search for all forms of to be verb. (are, were, been, being, be, am, is, etc.)

Change the noun to a verb.

The sentence, "I am a dancer," uses the passive verb "am." Change the noun "dancer" to an active verb: I
dance." Four words became two.

Look for "by."

In, "The paper was written by the girl." uses the passive verb "was." A simple change to The girl wrote the

paper. solves the sentence structure and makes it more active.

Search for sentences or phrases beginning with "there" or "it" plus a form of the verb "to
be."
Instead of using the passive verb "are" in a sentence such as "There are things we can do to change her
mind," say, "We can change her mind." Again, the change is clear, concise and active.

Look for "ing."

Example: "I am climbing," uses the passive verb "are." A stronger and more active sentence is: "I climb."
Three words became two, and it moves better, stronger, more alive.

Search for "been."

I found a lot of passive phrases hiding behind it. Your work has been reviewed. is better as, We have
reviewed your work.

Search for "felt," "heard," etc.

These arent as obvious, but a few snuck into my prose. I felt my heartbeat quicken. can simply be, My
heartbeat quickened. OR I heard his voice change; he was scared. Can be, His voice changed; he was
scared.
Search for other problem words
Another friend just gave me another tip for things that may crop up in first drafts. Sentences like: "She
began walking" should be changed to "She walked." Or, "The crowd started to part." to, "The crowd
parted." I guess in this case you could search for things like began, started or any other problem
words/phrases like those, that you find as recurring problems in your manuscript.

Avoiding Weak Verbs and Passive Voice:

Linking verbs include the following forms of the verb to be:
be, am, is, are, was, were, being, and been.

Contractions such as I'm, we're, and he's are also built upon linking verbs
and express a state of being.
Many writers, teachers, and professionals consider these verbs weak because
they do not express any action; instead, they simply tell the reader that
something exists.

Passive voice consists of a form of be and a past participle (look for -ed
endings):
The student's name was mentioned in the newspaper.
Passive voice tends to conceal rather than reveal information. In the sample
sentence above, we do not know who mentioned the student's name or why
he or she mentioned it. The following sentences also conceal important
information:
The decision was made. (Who made the decision?)
The telephone bill was paid last week. (Who paid it?)
On the other hand, these revisions provide clear evidence of "who did what to
whom":
The senator made the decision.
His parents paid the phone bill last week.
Weak verbs allow sentences to ramble on; often the predicates of such
sentences are too lengthy and contain confusing prepositional phrases:
Both Becky Crawley and Lily Bart are looked upon with disfavor on the
very evenings of their greatest triumphs in front of audiences.
A revision of this sentence might eliminate some of the unneeded prepositional phrases and clearly state
who disapproves of Becky and Lily:

Their audiences disapprove of Becky Crawley and Lily Bart even on the
evenings of their greatest theatrical triumphs.
1. Was when used in passive sentences.
Many people think of passive voice as soon as they hear someone talk about was, but
was can be both passive and active. Passive voice is in use when the first object in the
sentence is being acted on by the second. The fix is simply to have the objects switch
places, which eliminates the weak word was along with the passive voice.

Weak: The door was slammed by the angry teenager.

Stronger: The angry teenager slammed the door.
2. Forms of be in sentences that arent passive.
Weak: She was hungry.
Stronger: Her stomach rumbled.
3. Vague uses of it.
Weak: She savored the cheesecake. It tasted great.
Stronger: She savored the cheesecake. The rich dessert tasted great.
4. The combination of it and was.
Weak: It was a dark, dreary day in the city.
Stronger: Fog entered the city uninvited and refused the sun admittance.
5. Vague uses of there.
Weak: She walked into Starbucks. She went there every morning.
Stronger: She entered Starbucks, which she did every morning.
6. Adverbs used as modifiers in exposition and dialogue tags.
Weak: She drove quickly across town to the Emergency Room.
Stronger: She raced across town to the Emergency Room.
Weak: Excuse me. I need to slip out for a moment, she said softly.
Stronger: Excuse me. I need to slip out for a moment, she whispered.
7. Was used with ing form of a verb.
Weak: Ever since she received The Call, she was dancing on the clouds.
Stronger: Ever since she received The Call, she danced on the clouds.
8. Simultaneous action using the ing form of a verb when the two things
cant be done at the same time.

Weak: Walking across the stage, she took her position at the piano.
Stronger: She walked across the stage and took her place at the piano.
9. Awkward had had construction.
Weak: She had had enough of his empty promises.
Stronger: She wouldnt listen to any more of his empty promises.
10. Multiple prepositions.
Weak: She hit the volleyball up over the net.
Stronger: She hit the volleyball over the net.
11. Unnecessary prepositions.
Weak: He stood up and stretched his weary limbs.
Stronger: He stood and stretched his weary limbs.
12. Redundancies.
Weak: He shrugged his shoulders.
Stronger: He shrugged.
Weak: Lets meet for lunch at twelve noon.
Stronger: Lets meet for lunch at noon.