Independent and dependent clauses worksheet - Free Printable

Let’s go through each part of the worksheet step by step.

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Part 1: Determine whether the underlined words are dependent clauses, independent clauses, or not a clause.

We need to remember:
- An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence (has subject + verb and makes sense).
- A dependent clause has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone — it starts with a word like “although,” “when,” “because,” etc.
- Not a clause means it doesn’t have both a subject and a verb — maybe just a phrase.

Now let’s look at each one:

1. *Although it was raining* → This starts with “although” — that’s a subordinating conjunction. It has subject (“it”) and verb (“was raining”), but it can’t stand alone. So this is a dependent clause.

2. *whenever she gets a poor grade in math* → Starts with “whenever” — another subordinator. Has subject (“she”) and verb (“gets”). Can’t stand alone. → Dependent clause

3. *After the flood* → This is just a prepositional phrase. No verb! “After” is a preposition, “the flood” is the object. Not a full clause. → Not a clause

4. *John saw a raccoon eating potato chips* → Wait — actually, looking again, the underline is only on “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips”? But that’s almost the whole sentence. Let me check the original:
Actually, in #4, the underlined part is likely meant to be “While walking at the park” — because otherwise it wouldn’t make sense for the question. But according to what’s written:
The text says: “While walking at the park, John saw a raccoon eating potato chips.” And the underline is under “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips”. That part HAS a subject (“John”) and verb (“saw”) — so it CAN stand alone. BUT — wait, if we take the whole thing after the comma, yes — it’s an independent clause. However, sometimes worksheets trick you — let’s double-check.

Wait — no, re-reading: In #4, the underlined portion is “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips” — which IS an independent clause. But hold on — the first part “While walking at the park” is NOT underlined. So the underlined part is the main clause → Independent clause

But wait — I think there might be a typo in how the problem is presented. Let me assume the underlining is correct as shown.

Actually, looking back at your image description — in #4, the underlined part is “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips” — which is indeed an independent clause.

BUT — let’s check #5: “Students who fail to show up for the Regents' test” — this is underlined. Does this have a verb? “fail” is a verb, “who” is the subject of “fail”, but the whole thing is modifying “Students” — it’s a relative clause. It cannot stand alone — you can’t say “Students who fail to show up...” as a complete sentence without more. So this is a dependent clause (specifically, a relative clause).

#6: *When you finish your homework* → starts with “when”, has subject “you”, verb “finish” → can’t stand alone → Dependent clause

#7: *Before completing the assignment* → “Before” is a preposition here, “completing” is a gerund (verb form acting as noun), no subject → this is a prepositional phrase → Not a clause

So summarizing Part 1:

1. Dependent clause
2. Dependent clause
3. Not a clause
4. Independent clause
5. Dependent clause
6. Dependent clause
7. Not a clause

Wait — let me double-check #4. If the underlined part is “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips”, then yes — that’s independent. But sometimes in these exercises, they underline the introductory phrase. Since the user wrote: “While walking at the park, John saw a raccoon eating potato chips.” and underlined “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips”, then yes — independent.

But let’s confirm #5: “Students who fail to show up for the Regents' test” — this is a noun phrase with a relative clause inside. The entire underlined part is not a full clause by itself — it’s missing a main verb for the subject “Students”. Actually, “who fail...” is the dependent clause within it. But since the whole thing is underlined, and it includes the subject “Students” plus the relative clause, technically it’s still not a full independent clause — because “Students who fail...” needs a predicate. For example, “Students who fail... must enroll...” — so the underlined part alone is not a complete thought. So it’s a dependent clause? Or is it a noun phrase?

Actually, grammatically, “Students who fail to show up...” is a noun phrase — the head noun is “Students”, modified by the relative clause “who fail...”. Since it lacks a main verb for the subject “Students”, it’s not a clause at all — it’s a phrase. But many textbooks treat relative clauses as dependent clauses even when embedded.

This is tricky. Let’s simplify for student level:

In most middle/high school grammar, if it has a subject and verb but can’t stand alone, it’s dependent. Here, “who fail...” has subject “who” and verb “fail”, so the relative clause is dependent. But the whole underlined part includes “Students” — so it’s a complex noun phrase. However, since the instruction says “underlined words”, and if the whole thing is underlined, perhaps they consider it as containing a dependent clause.

To avoid confusion, let’s follow common textbook approach:

For #5: The underlined part contains a relative clause (“who fail...”), which is dependent. But the entire underlined string is not a clause — it’s a noun phrase. However, many worksheets will label this as “dependent clause” because the key part is the relative clause.

I think for consistency, since #3 and #7 are clearly phrases (no verb), and #5 has a verb (“fail”), it should be considered a dependent clause.

Actually, let’s look at standard answers for similar problems.

Upon second thought — in #5, “Students who fail to show up for the Regents' test” — this is the subject of the sentence. It is not a clause by itself; it’s a noun phrase. A clause must have a subject and a predicate. Here, “Students” is the subject, but there’s no verb attached to “Students” in the underlined part — the verb “must enroll” is outside. So the underlined part is not a clause — it’s a phrase.

But that contradicts some teachings. To resolve this, let’s define:

- Clause = subject + verb (finite verb)
- In #5, “who fail” has subject “who” and verb “fail” — so that part is a clause (dependent). But the whole underlined part includes “Students” — so it’s “Students [who fail...]” — which is a noun + relative clause. The entire thing is not a clause; it’s a noun phrase with an embedded clause.

However, for educational purposes at this level, teachers often say that if there’s a subject and verb connected by a subordinator or relative pronoun, it’s a dependent clause — even if it’s part of a larger phrase.

Given that, and to match typical worksheet expectations, I’ll classify #5 as dependent clause, because the core of it is the relative clause.

Similarly, in #4, if “John saw a raccoon eating potato chips” is underlined, that’s independent.

But let’s check online or standard practice.

Actually, I recall that in such exercises, for #5, it’s usually labeled as a dependent clause because of the “who” clause.

To be safe, let’s go with:

1. Dependent
2. Dependent
3. Not a clause
4. Independent
5. Dependent
6. Dependent
7. Not a clause

Yes.

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Part 2: Identify sentences as DC or IC

Remember:
- IC = can stand alone as a sentence
- DC = cannot stand alone, often starts with subordinating conjunction

1. “I went to the park.” → Subject “I”, verb “went” — complete thought → IC

2. “Sandra and Lara have been good friends since first grade.” → Subject “Sandra and Lara”, verb “have been” — complete → IC

3. “Although Shaina likes Mexican, Iraqi, Somali, and Italian food.” → Starts with “Although” — this makes it dependent. Even though it has subject and verb, it can’t stand alone — it leaves us hanging. → DC

4. “After swimming in the ocean.” → Prepositional phrase, no subject, no finite verb → not a clause? But the question asks to identify as DC or IC — implying it’s a clause. Actually, “after swimming” is a phrase, not a clause. But perhaps they mean the whole thing as intended to be a clause. Since it has no subject, it’s not a clause — but the options are only DC or IC. This is problematic.

Looking at the sentence: “After swimming in the ocean.” — this is incomplete. It should be part of a larger sentence. Grammatically, it’s not a clause because no subject-verb pair. But since the worksheet forces us to choose DC or IC, and it starts with “After”, which is a subordinator, they probably expect DC, even though strictly speaking it’s not a clause.

In many curricula, they teach that any group starting with a subordinator is a dependent clause, even if elliptical.

So for #4: DC

5. “Animal communication is not considered to be a legitimate language by some scientists.” → Full sentence, subject “Animal communication”, verb “is considered” → IC

6. “When Jim and Ayman eat lunch together in the breakroom.” → Starts with “When”, has subject “Jim and Ayman”, verb “eat” — but can’t stand alone → DC

So Part 2:

1. IC
2. IC
3. DC
4. DC
5. IC
6. DC

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Part 3: Properly join the clauses

We need to combine the two parts into one grammatical sentence.

1. “When I went to the zoo + I looked at the animals.”

“When I went to the zoo” is a dependent clause. “I looked at the animals” is independent. We can join them with a comma:

→ When I went to the zoo, I looked at the animals.

Or we could reverse: I looked at the animals when I went to the zoo. (no comma needed)

Both are correct. Usually, if the dependent clause comes first, use a comma.

So: When I went to the zoo, I looked at the animals.

2. “He came to class + He forgot his homework.”

These are two independent clauses. We can join them with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so, etc.) and a comma, or with a semicolon, or make one dependent.

Common ways:

- He came to class, but he forgot his homework. (using "but" to show contrast)
- He came to class; however, he forgot his homework.
- Although he came to class, he forgot his homework. (making first clause dependent)

The simplest is using “but”:

→ He came to class, but he forgot his homework.

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Final Answer:

Part 1:
1. Dependent clause
2. Dependent clause
3. Not a clause
4. Independent clause
5. Dependent clause
6. Dependent clause
7. Not a clause

Part 2:
1. IC
2. IC
3. DC
4. DC
5. IC
6. DC

Part 3:
1. When I went to the zoo, I looked at the animals.
2. He came to class, but he forgot his homework.