Question

Choose the dependent clause.
a person capable of great sacrifice
since it will be the most memorable night of the whole summer
I am usually here
in a storm of questions about the controversial project

Answer 1

b?

Answer 2

eww kinda hard. They all sound wrong.

Answer 3

lol

Answer 4

Let me think here

Answer 5

Where's smarty pants? lol

Answer 6

A is independent, I'm pretty sure.

Answer 7

so is c

Answer 8

I think it's d because I can't find the verb in that clause.

Answer 9

i think its c

Answer 10

No c is definitely independent. Think about it. I leave your house and tell you I'll be back later. You say, "I am usually here.' It's a complete sentence.

Answer 11

There is no verb in d.

Answer 12

In a storm of questions about a controversial project. What is the action taking place?

Answer 13

Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions.

Answer 14

I'm sticking with d.

Answer 15

D is not a clause.

Answer 16

Ok I think you're right. It must be b then.

Answer 17

This is a hard one dang it.

Answer 18

lol :)

Answer 19

The key is the first word: since. That is the word that makes it dependent. Take it away and you have an independent clause. And it's a clause because there is both a subject and a verb. Options A and D are phrases, not clauses. (Phrases are by definition dependent, and so they would meet one part of the criteria, but -- and this is key -- they are not clauses.)

Answer 20

Makes sense.

Answer 21

From Purdue Owl :

Independent Clause
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence.
Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz.

Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.
When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz . . . (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.)

Dependent Marker Word
A dependent marker word is a word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause.
When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, it was very noisy.

Some common dependent markers are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

SO - I go for (b) aslo *since* it has the word SINCE in it :-)

Answer 22

I perhaps should have said, first review the options and dispense of those which are not clauses. Because that is the first point of order: the group of words must first be a clause, before the group of words can be a dependent clause.

But the shortcut is to look for that subordinating conjunction (the "dependent marker word" of the citation from Purdue Owl). A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, always always begins with one of these words. No subordinating conjunction? No dependent clause.

Eventually, the student should be able to distinguish also between phrases (which lack either a subject or a predicate, or both) and clauses (which always contain at least one subject and one predicate). Sometimes, that distinction comes simply with practice, by "feel" as it were. Though it's certainly preferable to be able to analyze the group of words in question.

And, yes, that was a deliberate sentence fragment at the end there. :)

Answer 23

For an independent clause, it should stand on its own as a sentence. It should have a subject (person, place, thing, or idea) & verb (action, existence & happening [am, is, was, are, etc.]).
In your first example you have just a subject-- "a person capable of great sacrifice". It doesn't complete a thought by saying what that person can do, is like, etc. An independent clause might be, "a person of great sacrifice has a big heart" in the sentence, "A person of great sacrifice has a big heart, but may find it wounded often."
Let's look at the next example you have, "since it will be the most memorable night of the whole summer". Well, since it will be a memorable night....what? We should jump in a lake, remember it forever? What? Again it is an incomplete thought. Here "since" is acting like a conjunction (conjunctions are words like and, but, for, nor, yet).
Look at the 3rd example, "I am here". It has a subject--a person in this case-- "I'. The person "is"--state of being or occurrence--that's the verb requirement. We even know where the person is--though that's not necessary. "I am" could be an independent clause if the "am" means that the person is alive. That would meet the "existence" type of verb. That said, forms of "to be" like am, is, are, was, were, have been, can also be 'linking' verbs that tie a subject to further information like "I am tall." or "I am here."