Identify Main and Subordinate Clauses

Clauses are different parts of a complex sentence.

The following sentence contains two clauses linked by the conjunction because.

We can easily find our suitcase at the airport because we put stickers on it.

The main clause in a complex sentence makes sense on its own.

We can easily find our suitcase at the airport because we put stickers on it.

The subordinate clause begins with the conjunction and does not make sense on its own.

We can easily find our suitcase at the airport because we put stickers on it.

A subordinate clause can be at the beginning of a sentence as well as at the end.

Because we put stickers on it, we can easily find our suitcase at the airport.

If the subordinate clause is at the beginning of the sentence we use a comma to separate the clauses.

Does that make sense?

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