Sentence Structure Basics: Subordination
Overview:
Subordination creates unequal emphasis between ideas and emphasizes a major idea in one
independent clause, while placing minor ideas in subordinate, or dependent, clauses. Dependent clauses
are marked by subordinating conjunctions, or dependent words. Understanding subordination allows
you to create complex sentences, adding sentence variety to your paragraphs. It also helps you avoid
creating sentence fragments.
Subordination
As the name suggests, subordination creates clauses that are subordinate—or less important—than the
main independent clause because subordination emphasizes a major idea in one independent clause,
while placing minor ideas in subordinate clauses. Choosing the clause to stress, however, depends upon
your intended meaning. The meaning of the sentence will often change based on the idea you
subordinate. Notice how the meaning is different in the following examples:
As I continued to revise my paper, my points became clearer.
Although my points became clearer, I continued to revise my paper.
In the first sentence, the clarity of the author’s points is emphasized. The second sentence, however,
stresses the author’s continued revision. To focus the sentence on revision, subordinate the clarity of the
points and vice versa.
A subordinate clause is separated from the main clause with a comma and would, if it stood alone, be a
sentence fragment. For example, “Although my points became clearer” cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Subordinating Conjunctions
A subordinate, or dependent, clause containing the less important idea usually begins with a
subordinating conjunction.
Here are some common subordinating conjunctions: