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Since a dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence, complex sentences must also have at least one independent clause. In short, a sentence with one or more dependent clauses and at least one independent clause is a complex sentence. A sentence with two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses is called compound ...
One clause is subordinate to another if it depends on it. The dependent clause is called a subordinate clause and the independent clause is called the main clause (= matrix clause). Subordinate clauses are usually introduced by subordinators (= subordinate conjunctions) such as after, because, before, if, so that, that, when, while, etc. For ...
A clause typically contains a subject (a noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb phrase in the terminology used above; that is, a verb together with its objects and complements). A dependent clause also normally contains a subordinating conjunction (or in the case of relative clauses, a relative pronoun, or phrase containing one).
A clause is a content clause if a pronoun (he, she, it, or they) could be substituted for it. Examples: I know who said that. (I know them. The dependent clause serves as the object of the main-clause verb "know".) Whoever made that assertion is wrong. (They are wrong. The dependent clause serves as the subject of the main clause.)
Clauses can be classified as independent (main clauses) and dependent (subordinate clauses). An orthogonal way of classifying clauses is by the speech act they are typically associated with. This results in declarative (making a statement), interrogative (asking a question), exclamative (exclaiming), and imperative (giving an order) clauses ...
Whether is always a subordinator. It marks closed interrogative content clauses such as I wonder whether this would work.It is often possible to substitute if for whether, the main exceptions being when the subordinate clause functions as the subject, as in Whether it's true is an empirical question and cases with or not, such as I'll be there whether you are there or not.
These clauses are joined together using conjunctions, punctuation, or both. A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. A compound–complex sentence (or complex–compound sentence) consists of multiple independent clauses, at least one of which has at least one dependent clause.
In linguistics, an absolute construction is a grammatical construction standing apart from a normal or usual syntactical relation with other words or sentence elements. It can be a non-finite clause that is subordinate in form and modifies an entire sentence, an adjective or possessive pronoun standing alone without a modified substantive, or a transitive verb when its object is implied but ...