Which term relates a subordinate or dependent clause to the independent clause?

• A. Subordinating conjunction
• B. Coordinating conjunction
• C. Preposition
• D. Adverb

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how a dependent (subordinate) clause is connected to the main clause in a sentence. The term that does this work is a subordinating conjunction. It is the word that introduces the dependent clause and signals how it relates to the independent clause—showing reasons, time, condition, contrast, and so on. For example: Because it was raining, we postponed the picnic. The word Because starts the dependent clause and makes clear its relationship to the main clause that follows.

Coordinating conjunctions, by contrast, join two independent clauses, not a dependent one. A preposition links nouns or pronouns to other words in a phrase, not the dependent-indepentent clause relationship. An adverb can modify a verb or an adjective and may indicate time or manner, but it doesn’t serve to connect a dependent clause to the main clause.