Writing Analytically, 6th Edition - Rosenwasser, David & Stephen, Jill [283]
The most famous revolutionaries of this century have all, in one way or another, offered a vision of a classless society, although most historians would agree that this ideal has never been achieved.
The origin of the word “depend” is “to hang”: a dependent clause literally hangs on the independent clause. In the preceding example, neither “although most historians would agree” nor “that this ideal has never been achieved” can stand independently. The “that” clause relies on the “although” clause, which in turn relies on the main clause. “That” and “although” function as subordinating conjunctions; by eliminating them, we could rewrite the sentence to contain three independent clauses:
The most famous revolutionaries of this century have all, in one way or another, offered a vision of a classless society. Most historians would agree on one judgment about this vision: it has never been achieved.
comma splice A comma splice consists of two independent clauses incorrectly connected (spliced) with a comma. See BWE 2.
conjunction (coordinating and subordinating) A conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses, for example, and, but, although. The conjunction in some way defines that connection: for example, and links; but separates. All conjunctions define connections in one of two basic ways. Coordinating conjunctions connect words or groups of words that have equal grammatical importance. The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. Subordinating conjunctions introduce a dependent clause and connect it to a main clause. Here is a partial list of the most common subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, as if, as long as, because, before, if, rather than, since, than, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whether, and while.
conjunctive adverb A conjunctive adverb is a word that links two independent clauses (as a conjunction) but that also modifies the clause it introduces (as an adverb). Some of the most common conjunctive adverbs are consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, similarly, therefore, and thus. Phrases can also serve this function, such as for example and on the other hand. When conjunctive adverbs are used to link two independent clauses, they always require a semicolon:
Many pharmaceutical chains now offer their own generic versions of common drugs; however, many consumers continue to spend more for name brands that contain the same active ingredients as the generics.
When conjunctive adverbs occur within an independent clause, however, they are enclosed in a pair of commas, as is the case with the use of however earlier in this sentence.
coordination Coordination refers to grammatically equal words, phrases, or clauses. Coordinate constructions are used to give elements in a sentence equal weight or importance. In the sentence “The tall, thin lawyer badgered the witness, but the judge interceded,” the clauses “The tall, thin lawyer badgered the witness” and “but the judge interceded” are coordinate clauses; “tall” and “thin” are coordinate adjectives.
dependent clause (see clause)
direct object The direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action carried by the verb and performed by the subject. In the sentence, “Certain mushrooms can kill you,” “you” is the direct object.
gerund (see verbals)
fused (or run-on) sentence A fused sentence incorrectly combines two independent clauses with no conjunction or punctuation. See BWE 2.
independent clause (see clause)
infinitive (see verbals)
main clause (see clause)
noun A noun is a part of speech that names a person (woman), place (town), thing (book), idea