Major and Subordinate Clauses…
A major clause can stand on its own, whereas a subordinate clause relies on another part of the sentence and cannot stand on its own.
For instance, ‘Helicopters can fly.’ This is a major clause. It can be used as a sentence on its own. ‘Helicopters can fly.’ That makes sense.
We could add another clause. For example, ‘when they have fuel’.
‘When they have fuel’ is a subordinate clause because it doesn’t work as a sentence on its own. It relies on the major clause to make it work, like the helicopter which relies on fuel to fly.
Oh dear!
So there’s your crash course in major and subordinate clauses.
A major clause can stand on its own, whereas a subordinate clause relies on another part of the sentence and cannot stand on its own.
Video summary
Part of a series of animated films following a cast of characters’ adventures and mishaps as they get to grips with grammatical terms.
In this film, Monty Huntington-Smythe gets a crash course in major and subordinate clauses whilst taking his helicopter out for a spin.
This clip is from the series Grammar for 11-14 year olds.
Teacher Notes
Ask students to choose the correct main or subordinate clause to complete a set of sentences before making up one of their own.
Complete a matching activity for main and subordinate clauses before using this knowledge to construct a paragraph relevant to the lesson content.
This clip is suitable for teaching English at Key Stage 3 or Third Level.
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