Relating Ideas in a Sentence
Clauses
A clause contains both a subject and a verb. There are a variety of clause types.
There are a number of databases in this system that have been completely corrupted.
"Bob, who loves Apple computers, was set the task of defragging the data."
"Roger, who loves James Bond movies, was chosen to develop our telephony product."
Independent Clause
An independent clause is a complete sentence when used alone. It contains the subject and the verb of a sentence. Independent clauses are also named 'main clauses'.
Example:
There are a number of different cursor designs to choose from in this system.
There are a number of sections in the status bar.
Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is not a complete sentence and must be used together with an independent clause.
Example:
who has been lost in cyberspace for 20 years.
that have been streaming on Netflix for three weeks
Relative Clause
A relative clause modifies a noun or noun phrase and is dependent. Relative clauses provide additional information which identifies or describes a noun. Relative clauses are also referred to as adjective clauses.
Example:
The data on that disk which could still be read by a modern Apple computer is too damaged.
There are a number of support specialists on the floor who have been diagnosed with personality disorders.