Dependent clause

A dependent clause has its own subject and verb but is introduced by a word such as 'because', 'although' or 'when' that stops it standing alone, so it must attach to an independent clause to make a sentence.

Because the key was bent. Subject, verb, and no sentence — the word because has made the clause lean on something else. Remove it and the key was bent stands up on its own.

The words that do this are subordinating conjunctions: because, although, while, if, until, unless, since, after, before, when, whereas, so that. A relative clause beginning with who, which or that is dependent for the same reason.

The craft point is not the grammar; it is the ranking. Subordination tells the reader which half of a sentence carries less weight.

• She apologised, although she had done nothing wrong.
• Although she apologised, she had done nothing wrong.

Identical facts, opposite emphasis. The independent clause is the one the reader walks away with. Any time a sentence is carrying two facts of unequal importance, the smaller one belongs in the dependent clause — and if a writer keeps putting the wrong half there, the prose reads as though it cannot tell what its own scene is about.

Front-loaded dependent clauses also delay the main statement, which is the basic move behind the periodic sentence.