Subordinate Clauses
A subordinate or dependent clause is a clause that doesn’t make sense fully on its own and always needs an independent clause to express a complete thought.
Subordinate clauses can be introduced by a:
after, although, as, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order that, once, provided that, rather than, since, so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether, while, why
2. relative pronoun:
that, which, whichever, who, whoever, whom, whose, whosever, whomever
If you put a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun in front of a clause you get an incomplete sentence:
even though the man smiled
Whenever the man smiled
In other words, you need an independent clause to make sense of the whole thing:
I walked away even though the man smiled.
Whenever the man smiled I walked away.
