dependent clause


noun
  1. grammar another term for subordinate clause

Words Nearby dependent clause

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use dependent clause in a sentence

  • When a sentence is introduced by a participial phrase or a dependent clause it is in part or wholly periodic.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • If the sentence last quoted were inverted, a comma would be placed after the dependent clause.

    "Stops" | Paul Allardyce
  • After a verb of wishing, the subjunctive is regularly used in the dependent clause.

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
  • Subordinate, joining a subordinate or dependent clause to a principal or independent clause.

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
  • A subordinate or dependent clause is one which makes a statement depending upon or modifying some word in the principal clause.

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell

Cultural definitions for dependent clause

dependent clause

A clause that does not stand alone as a sentence but depends on another clause to complete its meaning: “When I get my braces off, I will be very happy.” Dependent clauses are also known as subordinate clauses. (Compare independent clause.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.