subordinate clause

American  

noun

Grammar.

1. a clause that modifies the principal clause or some part of it or that serves a noun function in the principal clause, as when she arrived in the sentence I was there when she arrived or that she has arrived in the sentence I doubt that she has arrived.

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subordinate clause British  

noun

1. grammar a clause with an adjectival, adverbial, or nominal function, rather than one that functions as a separate sentence in its own right Compare coordinate clause main clause

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Example Sentences

The main clause expresses the main idea of the sentence, and the subordinate clause expresses the less important idea.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Like a main clause, a subordinate clause has a subject and verb; however, unlike a main clause, it cannot stand alone as a sentence.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

A subordinate clause to these statements, drawn from Pages 9 and 10 of the Mueller report, would help illuminate the troubling reasons Mueller postulated for his findings of insufficient evidence:

From Washington Post • May 17, 2019

Revisions pursued through six or seven drafts allowed for the chance to find the right word, to control the balance of a subordinate clause, to replace the adjective with a noun.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2014

Since a subordinate clause does not express a complete thought, it cannot stand alone, but must be joined to a main clause to form a sentence. c.

From The Century Handbook of Writing by Greever, Garland