Dependent statements are incomplete sentences that require an independent clause to form a complex sentence. They begin with dependent words indicating time, detail, or conclusion and can come before or after the independent statement. Dependent clauses can only be inserted after the independent clause if they begin with “who” or “which”. Placing a “who” clause at the beginning of a sentence creates a disconnect between dependent and independent statements.
Also called a dependent clause, a dependent statement is a sentence that is not a complete sentence on its own, but can be combined with a complete sentence or an independent statement to form a complex sentence. These statements always begin with dependent words that indicate a logical conclusion, time frame, or additional detail. Dependent statements can come before or after the independent statement in a sentence.
They are not complete thoughts, so dependent statements alone cannot be complete sentences. Often, sentence fragments are simply dependent statements trying to stand on their own. Dependent statements, however, are complete sentences made dependent on a dependent word. For example, “he ran errands” is a complete sentence, but adding a word indicating a time interval at the beginning of the sentence can make it a dependent statement: “while he ran errands.” Adding “while” indicates that there is more to the thought: “While he was running errands,” something else was happening.
To complete the thought, the dependent statement must be joined with an independent statement. For example, “she cooked dinner while she ran errands” combines the independent clause “she cooked dinner” with the dependent statement. An independent clause combined with a dependent clause is called a complex clause.
Although a dependent statement often comes at the end of the sentence, it can appear at the beginning of the sentence. For example, “while she ran errands, he cooked dinner” changes the position of the independent and dependent clauses. When a dependent clause occurs at the beginning of a sentence, however, a comma must be placed after the clause.
Some dependent statements can only be inserted after the independent statement. “Who” and “which” – dependent words that double as interrogative words – force the dependent statement to occur only at the end of the sentence. Generally, this restriction applies because clauses beginning with “who” or “which” refer to the object of a sentence, not the subject. For example, “I introduced her to Jamie, who worked with his father.” The clause “who worked with his father” refers to “Jamie”, not “I”, so it should be placed next to the name it refers to.
Placing a “who” clause at the beginning of a sentence creates a disconnect between dependent and independent statements, as in “who used to work with your father, I introduced her to Jamie”. There is no longer any logical connection between these two thoughts. The “who” statement reads as a question, despite the lack of a question mark, and the “I” statement does not answer the question.
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