Which of the following contains a dependent clause only?
My dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes.
My dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes, and I like walking him to our local ice cream parlor.
Because he loves cold food, my dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes.
Because he loves cold food
because he likes cold food
To determine which of the given options contains a dependent clause only, we need to understand what a dependent clause is.
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought. It relies on an independent clause to form a complete sentence.
Looking at the options provided:
1. "My dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes." - This sentence contains an independent clause ("My dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes"). It expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.
2. "My dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes, and I like walking him to our local ice cream parlor." - This sentence contains two independent clauses ("My dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes" and "I like walking him to our local ice cream parlor") connected by the coordinating conjunction "and".
3. "Because he loves cold food, my dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes." - This sentence contains a dependent clause at the beginning ("Because he loves cold food") followed by an independent clause ("my dog Fred enjoys ice cream sundaes"). The dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence since it does not express a complete thought.
4. "Because he loves cold food" - This option contains a dependent clause only. It starts with the subordinating conjunction "because" and does not express a complete thought.
Therefore, the correct answer is: "Because he loves cold food."
first, can you recognize a subordinate conjunction?
Once you have that, it should be clear.