Grammar Exercise #1: Recognizing Independent Clauses and Dependent Clauses

The following grammar exercise features information taken from Jacqueline Bach's "From Nerds to Napoleons" in Chapter 17 of Navigating America by David Moton and Gloria Dumler.

Independent clauses and dependent clauses both have subjects and verbs. Independent clauses can stand alone as sentences because they express complete thoughts. Dependent clauses are fragments; they do not express complete thoughts because they begin with subordinating words. A dependent clause must be attached to an independent clause to form a sentence. Look at the following clauses. Print this page and write "Ind." if the clause is independent and "Dep." if it is dependent. When you are finished, look at the key.

1. The Yale Law School student graduated Phi Beta Kappa and published in top legal journals                 
2. She completed internships at leading institutions in her field                    
3. After this student interviewed with sixteen firms for a job this summer                
4. She was stunned and disheartened                   
5. When she had zero offers                     
6. Though it is difficult to prove a direct link                      
7. The woman thinks she is a victim of a new form of reputation-maligning             
8. She and other women interviewed by the Washington Post were the subjects of derogatory postings on a widely read message board                 
9. The women spoke on the condition of anonymity                      
10. Because they feared retribution online               
11. The site's founder said the site merely provides a forum for free speech             
12. While the issue of free speech is an important one                     
13. The issues of slander, libel, and harassment are also important               
14. Employers frequently do web searches on prospective employees                     
15. In order to learn more about their characters and habits