subordination

AAAWWWWUUBBIS, some may know what these letters mean, others may not. Before this week I didn’t know these letters, capitalized and put together are actually a name for subordinating words and phrases. In most writing whether it be newspapers, magazines, or books you will find subordinating phrases used very often. I have used a lot of these in my own writing not even knowing that what I was doing had a name. I have found that most things have a name so I should just assume that anything I do or use is called something specific and that I am not the only one that uses it. So I’ll explain what subordinating words are so that you can identify them in your own writing or reading.


Subordinating words are specific words that act as a linking word or time/place description. Most specifically they link a dependent clause with an independent clause. As I stated in my previous weeks blog an independent clause is a statement or fact that can stand alone and a dependent clause cannot stand alone. These words can be placed at the beginning of a sentence or within a sentence but they include words like: after, although, because, before, unless, until, where, or whenever. There are several more but these are some common ones. I think these subordinating words are important in writing because they connect ideas and help make a sentence complete. If you didn’t have these words you probably would have a lot of questions while you’re reading.


While the subordinating words are important, so too are the subordinating phrases. The phrases use some of the same subordinating words but add in other words to make it a phrase. Even though that was an obvious statement I wanted to try and explain the difference. Phrases include: as if, as though, even after, in order to, and rather than. These help to make the already specific words more specific and able to flow within a sentence. Phrases also help connect parts of a sentence that are not of equal rank. That is what I have learned this week pertaining to sentence structure. Along with subordinate clauses are relative clauses. These clauses also help answer questions while you’re reading with words like: who, which, and that. Subordinate clauses act as a single part of speech like a noun or adjective.

Question: As we were looking for subordinating words and phrases in the newspaper I was confused as to whether or not every time I saw the words was important. I’m wondering if when looking for these words and phrases, does it matter where they are in the sentence or does every time you see one count as something I should highlight?