As you become better and better at English, you will probably want to describe more complicated ideas and tell stories with more detail. Using very short, simple sentences in your writing doesn’t always flow or feel natural. At the same time, trying to move between different ideas in the same sentence, as you would in your own language, can be difficult.
Let’s look at that last sentence for a moment:
At the same time, trying to move between different ideas in the same sentence, as you would in your own language, can be difficult.
This is an example of the kind of complicated sentence you might want to use in your writing.
The first part “at the same time”, is a useful way of connecting this sentence to the last one. It makes your writing flow better, which makes you sound far more fluent in English.
Okay, let’s take that part out for a moment. What about the rest of the sentence?
Trying to move between different ideas in the same sentence, as you would in your own language, can be difficult.
Look at the parts before the first comma and after the last comma. If you put them together, you get this:
Trying to move between different ideas in the same sentence can be difficult.
That’s a complete sentence by itself. It’s a straightforward statement and it makes perfect sense. So, what does the middle section do?
as you would in your own language
This is used to help make the meaning a little bit clearer. You are emphasising that it is hard to cover different ideas at once in a foreign language even though this is easy in your native language.
However, it’s not a sentence in its own right. It only makes sense because it is connected to the main part of the sentence in some way. This is what we call a subordinate clause or “sub-clause”. If you said it by itself, it wouldn’t make sense.
If you wanted to turn this into a full sentence, you would need to say something like:
When you speak in your native language you often move easily between different ideas in the same sentence without really thinking about it. It is more difficult to do this when English is not your first language.
This is obviously much longer and takes you away from your main point, which is that moving between different ideas in the same sentence is hard.
Instead, when you are speaking or writing in English, it’s often easier to use a sub-clause that builds on the original point without having a completely new sentence. It also helps to make your sentences more interesting and complex.
There are plenty of other, simpler, types of sub-clause.
As a general rule, something that starts with the word “while” or “although” is often a sub clause.
This can be at the start of a sentence, for example:
Although I usually prefer chocolate, I really liked the cheesecake.
While it’s not always sunny, London is a great place to visit in the summer.
Or breaking up the sentence, like this:
The dinner, although a little burnt, was delicious.
Harry Potter, while written for children, is popular with adults.
Or at the end of a sentence, like this:
I really enjoyed the party, although I wish I had got there earlier.
I loved the play, while my friends thought it was boring.
In these cases, you would use “although” or “while” to show that the main statement you are making is true, even though there are reasons why it might not be.
What makes it a sub-clause is that this piece of the sentence wouldn’t make sense on its own. It only means something when it is linked to the main part of the sentence.
For example, “although I usually prefer chocolate” doesn’t make sense by itself. It only means something when you attach it so something else, e.g. “I really liked the cheesecake”.
However, when you take out the sub-clause, the rest of the sentence must still make sense by itself. E.g. “I really liked the cheesecake” makes perfect sense all on its own.
Using sub-clauses in your sentences is a great way to put across ideas that aren’t completely straightforward. It means you can talk about more complicated ideas and speak naturally instead of in short, simple phrases. Just make sure you don’t over-use them as you write or speak, or it can be hard to follow what you say. One sub-clause in a sentence is definitely enough!
Do you have any questions about using sub-clauses? Let us know in the comments section below!
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