What is a group of words with a subject and verb that does not express a complete thought?

A background knowledge about several types of clauses is not only essential for determining when to use commas, but also for the construction of effective and grammatically accurate sentences. Here are a few quick, key terms to look for, as defined by the Purdue OWL:

Independent Clause: A group of words that contain a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause also could be called a complete sentence.

Dependent Clause: A group of words that contain a subject and verb but does NOT express a complete thought. A dependent clause is marked by one of these words: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though.

Parenthetical Clause: A group of words that provides additional information tha is not essential to the structure of the sentence. If the clause can be ommitted from the sentence and the structure of the sentence is the same, then it is parenthetical.

Introductory Clause: A dependent clause that provides background information before the independent clause.

Conjunction: Words used as connecting word at the beginning of an independent clause. Some examples are and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet.

Commas

These five handy tips adapted from the Hamilton University Writing Center can help guide your usage of commas:

Use a comma after an introductory clause.

According to Smith, the review session is tomorrow at seven.

Use commas before and after a parenthetical clause.

Smith, the new teaching assistant, was not at class yesterday.

Use a comma to separate two independent clauses linked by a conjunction.

Smith promised to share the notes on Brightspace, but he has not posted them yet.

Use a comma to spearate items in a list.

Watching sports, dancing, and studying are Smith's favorite activities.

Use a comma before a quotation when a word like 'say' precedes the quotation.

Smith exclaimed, "That's a lot of homework!"

Adapted from: Hamilton University WC & Purdue OWL

https://hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/comma-rules

Answered By: James WhitmerLast Updated: Jun 09, 2020     Views: 231

A dependent clause is a group of words (with a subject and verb) that cannot make sense on its own because it does not express a complete thought. The reason for this is the clause begins with a subordinating conjunction (e.g. that, which, although, because, since, etc.) that requires more information from an independent clause to form a complete sentence. Below are some examples of dependent clauses:

• if I want to pass my class
• because I love horror movies
• although I planned to attend the party

In contrast, an independent clause is a group of words (with a subject and verb) that can stand on its own because it expresses a complete thought. This is because it does not begin with a subordinating conjunction. Below are some examples of independent clauses:

• I want to pass my class.
• I love horror movies.
• I planned to attend the party.

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Elements of Sentence Construction

Subjects and Predicates

Parts of speech have specific tasks to perform when they are put together in a sentence.

A noun or pronoun functions as the sentence subject when it is paired with a verb functioning as the sentence predicate.

Every sentence has a subject and predicate.

A subject can be a noun or pronoun that is partnered with an action verb.

        Example:

Sometimes a verb will express being or existence instead of action.

        Example:

Sometimes we use sentences in which a subject is not actually stated, but is, nevertheless, understood in the meaning.

        Example:

                A sentence like this gives an order or a request to someone.

Because we use such statements when we are talking directly to someone, we omit the word you.  It is understood in the sentence.  Therefore, in statements like this one, we say the subject is  

                                                    you (understood).

This kind of sentence is an imperativesentence.

A predicate is a verb that expresses the subject's action or state of being.

            Example:

Sometimes the predicate will be composed of two or three verbs that fit together - the main verb preceded by one or more auxiliary (helping) verbs.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  To be a predicate, a verb that ends in -ing must ALWAYS have a helping verb with it.  An -ing verb WITHOUT a helping verb cannot be a predicate in a sentence.

A subject and predicate may not always appear together or in the normal order, as the following examples show:

Phrases

A phrase is a group of related words that 

                1. does not express a complete thought

                2.  does not have a subject and predicate pair

One type of phrase is a prepositional phrase.

                  Examples:                         

Another kind of phrase is a verbal phrase. 

                Examples:  

Even though these phrases contain nouns (pronouns) and/or verb forms, none of the nouns/pronouns/verbs are subjects or predicates.  None of them work as a partnership.

Also, these phrases do NOT express complete thoughts.

Clauses

Words and phrases can be put together to make clauses.

A clause is a group of related words that contain a subject and predicate.

Note the difference between phrases and clauses in the following examples:

Only one of the clauses is a sentence.

Clause #1 gives a thought or an idea that is COMPLETE, that can stand by itself, independent of other words.

However, clause #2 gives an INCOMPLETE thought or idea, one that cannot stand by itself, one that needs some more words to make it whole.  The word after changes the meaning, making the thought incomplete.  After reading this clause, we are left hanging.  

These two clauses illustrate the two kinds of clauses:

            independent clauses and dependent clauses

An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject, a predicate, and a complete thought.

A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate, but does NOT express a complete thought.

Compounding Sentence Elements  

Words, phrases, and clauses may be joined to one another inside a sentence with a conjunction.

The coordinating conjunctions

WORDS

PHRASES
   

DEPENDENT CLAUSES
  

When entire independent clauses (simple sentences) are joined this way, they become compound sentences.

Avoiding Fragments

A complete sentence needs only two elements:

        a subject - predicate unit    AND    a complete thought

In other words, a simple sentence is actually the SAME thing as an independent clause.

Dependent clauses or phrases are called fragments because they are missing one or more parts needed to make a sentence.  

Therefore, they are only pieces or fragments of complete sentences. 

Look at these examples:

Avoiding Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

Sometimes two independent clauses (simple sentences) can be joined to form another kind of sentence: the compound sentence.

Two major errors can occur when constructing compound sentences.

Error #1: The Comma Splice

Writers make this error when they try to separate the two independent clauses in a compound sentence with a comma alone.

A comma is not a strong enough punctuation mark to separate the two independent clauses by itself; thus, using it causes the clauses to be spliced together.

Example of a comma splice:

This sentence can be repaired in three ways:

    1.  by adding an appropriate coordinating conjunction   

    2.  by changing the comma to a semicolon

    3.  by changing the punctuation and adding an appropriate conjunctive adverb

Error #2: The Fused Sentence

Writers make this error by joining two independent clauses into a compound sentence without using any punctuation between them.

No punctuation between the two independent clauses causes them to "fuse" into an INCORRECT compound sentence.

Example of a fused sentence:

This sentence is also repaired in three ways:

    1.  by adding a comma and an appropriate coordinating conjunction

    2.  by placing a semicolon between the two clauses

    3.  by adding the needed punctuation and an appropriate conjunctive adverb

Another way to repair a comma splice or fused sentence is to make each independent clauseinto a simple sentence.

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