Coordination and Subordination Coordination and Subordination are ways of combining words, phrases, and clauses into more

complex forms. The discussion below examines coordination and subordination of clauses. COORDINATION uses coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs (with appropriate punctuation), or punctuation to combine short independent clauses into a single sentence. Coordination implies the balance of elements that are of equal semantic value in the sentence. Example:The football game has been postponed. We'll have to do something else. (2 simple sentences with no coordination or subordination, but note how coordination occurs below).

SUBORDINATION uses subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns to transform independent clauses (main clauses or ideas) into dependent clauses (subordinate clauses or ideas). Subordinate clauses are subordinate to (and thus hold less semantic value than) the independent clause(s) to which they are linked. Example: The football game has been postponed. We'll have to do something else. (2 simple sentences with no coordination or subordination but note how subordination occurs below)

Example: The lab results confirm our diagnosis. They have been sent to the attending physician. (2 simple sentences with no coordination or subordination but note how subordination occurs below)

A note about one type of subject of a verb, a false subject of sorts. Expletives are words that serve a placeholder function in a sentence and often fill in for the real subject of a clause. Expletives often begin sentences and miscue the reader as to what the real subject is. Common expletives are "there," "it," and "here." When you see the words "there," "it," or "here" followed by a "to be" linking verb (e.g., was, were, is, are), you should check whether the sentence is starting with an expletive. See if you can reorder the sentence so that the real subject precedes the verb. Reordering the parts may help you identify the grammatical subject. "There is a car across the street" should really read as: A car is across the street. "It is hard to write well" should really read as: To write well is hard. "Here is the report about the oil spill" should really read as: The report about the oil spill is here When we start discussing style in more detail, we will first discuss expletives as miscues and ways that writers waste words and delay meaning. By the end of the course, we will discover that effective writers can use them sparingly to delay information and intentionally shift the sentence. Relative Clauses An important type of subordinate clause is the RELATIVE CLAUSE. Here are some examples: The man [who lives beside us] is illThe video [which you recommended] was terrific Relative clauses are generally introduced by a relative pronoun, such as who, or which. However, the relative pronoun may be ellipted: The video [you recommended] was terrific

Another variant, the REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSE, has no relative pronoun, and the verb is nonfinite: The man [living beside us] is ill (Compare: The man [who lives beside us]...) Nominal Relative Clauses NOMINAL RELATIVE CLAUSES (or independent relatives) function in some respects like noun phrases: [What I like best] is football (cf. the sport I like best...) The prize will go to [whoever submits the best design] (cf. the person who submits...) My son is teaching me [how to use email] (cf. the way to use email) This is [where Shakespeare was born] (cf. the place where...) The similarity with NPs can be further seen in the fact that certain nominal relatives exhibit number contrast: Singular: [What we need] is a plan Plural: [What we need] are new ideas Notice the agreement here with is (singular) and are (plural).

Nominal Caluses A nominal clause is a subordinate clause that functions as a noun phrase. Examples: I know that he is here. From where I stood, I saw the horse. Subordinate Clause Types

Subordinate clauses may be finite or nonfinite. Within this broad classification, we can make many further distinctions. We will begin by looking at subordinate clauses which are distinguished by their formal characteristics. Many subordinate clauses are named after the form of the verb which they contain: TO-INFINITIVE CLAUSE:You must book early [to secure a seat] An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive [to + simple form of the verb]. It will include objects and/or modifiers. Here are some examples:

To smash a spider To kick the ball past the dazed goalie To lick the grease from his shiny fingers despite the disapproving glances of his girlfriend Gloria Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples: To finish her shift without spilling another pizza into a customer's lap is Michelle's only goal tonight. To finish her shift without spilling another pizza into a customer's lap functions as a noun because it is the subject of the sentence. Lakesha hopes to win the approval of her mother by switching her major from fine arts to pre-med. To win the approval of her mother functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb hopes. The best way to survive Dr. Peterson's boring history lectures is a sharp pencil to stab in your thigh if you catch yourself drifting off. To survive Dr. Peterson's boring history lectures functions as an adjective because it modifies way. Kelvin, an aspiring comic book artist, is taking Anatomy and Physiology this semester to understand the interplay of muscle and bone in the human body . To understand the interplay of muscle and bone in the human body functions as an adverb because it explains why Kelvin is taking the class. BARE INFINITIVE CLAUSE: They made [the professor forget his notes] -ING PARTICIPLE CLAUSE: His hobby is [collecting old photographs] -ED PARTICIPLE CLAUSE: [Rejected by his parents], the boy turned to a life of crime Verbless sentences: A clause-like construction in which a verb element is implied but not present. Such clauses are usually adverbial, and the omitted verb is a form of be. Verbless clauses are clauses in which the verb (usually a form of to be) and

sometimes other elements have been deleted. However, as Erik points out in the Ellipsis of Subject thread, careless ellipting can rapidly lead to ambiguity, other confusion, or at least clumsy style. I'd guess that in the example I am expecting John for dinner at eight the ellipted verb is (to) come (for), while in Pensioners angry about the erosion of their savings is just what the Government didn't want the missing verb is either have (having) or make. When other elements are also ellipted, the scope for misinterpretation is greatly enlarged. Participial phrase A word group consisting of a present participle (also known as an -ing form) or past participle (also known as an -en form), plus any modifiers, objects, and complements. A participial phrase commonly functions as an adjective. A participle phrase will begin with a present or past participle. If the participle is present, it will dependably end in ing. Likewise, a regular past participle will end in a consistent ed. Irregular past participles, unfortunately, conclude in all kinds of ways [although this list will help]. Since all phrases require two or more words, a participle phrase will often include objects and/or modifiers that complete the thought. Here are some examples: Crunching caramel corn for the entire movie Washed with soap and water Stuck in the back of the closet behind the obsolete computer Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence. Read these examples: The horse trotting up to the fence hopes that you have an apple or carrot. Trotting up to the fence modifies the noun horse. The water drained slowly in the pipe clogged with dog hair .

Clogged with dog hair modifies the noun pipe. Eaten by mosquitoes , we wished that we had made hotel, not campsite, reservations. Eaten by mosquitoes modifies the pronoun we.

Absolute clause: A group of words that modifies an independent clause as a whole. An absolute is made up of a noun and its modifiers. It may precede, follow, or interrupt the main clause: Their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, the storks circled high above us. The storks circled high above us, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky. The storks, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky , circled high above us. An absolute allows us to move from a description of a whole person, place, or thing to one aspect or part. An adverbial CLAUSE that has its own subject, and has a participle as its verb or no verb at all: The dinner having been prepared , I had time to take a nap before the guests arrived. Here, the verb is the participle phrase having been prepared and the subject is the dinner. Contrast the adverbial participle clause in Having prepared the dinner, I had time to take a nap, where the subject of having prepared the dinner is understood to be identical with the main subject I. An absolute clause is not introduced by a subordinating conjunction: after having prepared the dinner and while preparing the dinner are not absolute clauses. The participle may end in -ing (trembling in His voice trembling, he described what had happened) or -ed (wasted in Their money wasted on imprudent schemes , they could not expect any further help). With some irregular verbs, the participle may not end in -ed: spent in Their money spent on imprudent schemes, they could expect no further help. Absolute clauses may be without a verb, as in The soldiers emerged from their hiding places, their hands high above their heads, a corresponding participle clause being their hands held high above their heads. (The end of the previous sentence itself contains an absolute clause with the participle being as its verb.) Outside a few set phrases such as all being/going well, weather permitting, present company excluded/excepted, absolute clauses are infrequent and usually confined to formal written English.