Grammar Extravaganza- Independent & Dependent Clauses, Coordinating Conjunctions, etc.

Due to popular demand, here are the grammar issues and rules we have covered so far when dealing with independent clauses, coordinating conjunctions, compound sentences, dependent clauses and complex sentences. Enjoy!

Independent Clause- a clause that contains a subject and a verb; these can stand on their own as complete sentence.

 
Independent clauses (IC) can be joined together to make a compound sentence in two ways:

       

           1. Coordinating Conjunctions- aka For And Nor But Or Yet So.  

                            FANBOYS must be preceded by a comma ",".   

                            IC + , FANBOYS + IC= Compound Sentence

                  Examples

                    Bob the bear likes to eat pizza.  He goes to Brother's Pizza every Tuesday.

                    Bob the bear like to eat pizza, so he goes to Brother's Pizza every Tuesday.

           2. Semicolons ";"- Semicolons take the place of , FANBOYS.

                            IC + ; + IC= Compound Sentence

                   Examples

                      Tommy the Hippo never eats his vegetables.  He only likes cookies.

                      Tommy the Hippo never eats his vegetables; he only likes cookies.

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Dependent Clause- cannot stand alone as a sentence.  They augment an independent clause with additional information; they depend on an independent clause. 

         
Rules for Dependent Clauses

1. If a dependent clause precedes an independent clause, it must be followed by a comma.

2. If the independent clause precedes the dependent clause, no comma is needed.

                       

Think of it this way:
My little son, Reggie (a dependent clause), is dependent upon me (an independent clause).  If we go to the zoo and he wants to run ahead of me, I need to put him on a leash, so he doesn't run into the tiger pit.
I am connected to Reggie by the leash just as the dependent clause is attached to the independent clause by the comma.  DC (Reggie) , (the leash) IC (me).

But when Reggies gets tired, I have to carry him on my back, and we no longer need the leash or in grammatical terms, the comma.  IC (Me carrying little Reggie on my back) DC (Reggie on my back). No leash or comma needed.

Reggie and I.

An independent clause and one or more dependent clauses, together in a sentence, form a complex sentence.

Check out this video for a brief review of Simple, Compound and Complex sentences.
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