How to use subordinating conjunctions

A conjunction is a word, or words, used to connect two clauses together. A subordinating conjunction is the word/words used to link two clauses together, a main clause and a subordinate clause.

Subordinating conjunctions are words like:

• when
• because
• although
• after
• since
• where
• in order that

Writers often need to add more useful and interesting information to a sentence and one way to do this is to use a subordinate clause.

A subordinate clause allows you to add extra information to a simple sentence using subordinating conjunction to turn it into a complex sentence.

The subordinate clause always depends on another clause for its full meaning. The subordinating conjunctions show the relationship between the two clauses.

Find out more about sentences or conjunctions.

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb. It may form part of a sentence, or it may be a complete sentence in itself.

A complex sentence will contain a main (independent) clause and one or more subordinate (dependent) clauses which add extra detail or information to the main clause.

A subordinating conjunction is the word or words used to join two of those clauses together, words such as because, although, unless, whereas, as soon as. They do the job of showing the relationship between the clauses.

Example 1

Greg stayed behind after the film because he wanted to see the outtakes.

The main clause and idea in this sentence is that Greg stayed behind, the reason or the supporting detail is that he wanted to see the outtakes, indicated by the subordinating conjunction 'because'.

Example 2

Dolly reads the recipe when she is baking a cake.

The main idea is that Dolly reads, the subordinate clause tells us when this happens.

Example 3

Although it is usually my job, Dad watered the plants this week.

Here the main clause tells us that it was Dad who watered the plants, the subordinating conjunction 'although' introduces the extra information.

Notice that when the subordinating clause comes at the start of the sentence then you need a comma to separate the clauses.

We could rewrite the first two sentences using a comma.

Because he wanted to see the outtakes, Greg stayed behind after the film.

When she is baking a cake, Dolly reads the recipe.

Find the subordinating conjunctions

We use subordinating conjunctions to modify a main clause. Modify means to alter or add to something.

In the same way that we might use an adverb to modify a verb and tell us how it was done (she walked quickly) or an adjective to modify a noun to give us more detail (the angry cat), we can use subordinate clauses to do a similar job.

An example of the subordinate clause working like an adverb:

• The match will be cancelled if it rains.

The clause ‘if it rains’ adds detail and gives a reason to the verb 'cancelled'.

An example of the subordinate clause working like an adjective:

• I have seen the place where he was born.

Now read this sentence which gives the same information but instead of using a subordinate clause, it uses an adjective:

• I have seen his birth place.

The same information is given in both these sentences but in different ways. The first adds the subordinate clause ‘where he was born’ to add information to 'the place'. The first simply uses an adjective 'birth' to add detail to 'the place'.

Writers make decisions all the time about how they structure their writing. Some writers might prefer the longer, more poetic-sounding of ‘where he was born’; some might prefer the shorter, more factual-sounding 'birth place'.

Experiment

Experiment with different subordinate clauses and subordinating conjunctions in your own writing.

Other subordinating conjunctions include: before, after, whenever, wherever, once, until, as though, even if, while, in order that.

There are plenty to choose from!

Turn the subordinate clause into a sentence and solve the mystery