ACT® · English: Sentence Structure and Formation
Faulty Subordination in Long Sentences
Faulty subordination happens when a long sentence buries its real point in a subordinate clause, or uses a subordinator like "because" or "since" to link two ideas that have no actual cause-and-effect relationship.
A sentence with three or four clauses can easily end up saying something the writer never intended, because subordinators like because, although, and since don't just connect ideas, they claim a specific logical relationship between them. If that relationship doesn't actually exist, or if the wrong idea gets stuffed into the subordinate slot, the sentence misrepresents the writer's own point even though every individual fact in it is true.
To check a long sentence, strip out every subordinate clause and every relative clause (the ones starting with because, although, since, which, who, when, and similar words). What's left is the main clause, and it should be the single idea the writer actually wants to assert. In a three-clause sentence, ask which fact is the point and which facts are just support: the point goes in the main clause, the supporting facts get subordinated under words that correctly describe how they relate, contrast, cause, or concede. Position doesn't decide this. A clause that opens the sentence is often subordinate, not main, since writers frequently lead with background before landing on their real claim.
This connects directly to modifier placement and tense agreement elsewhere in sentence structure, because all three problems come from the same source: a long sentence makes it easy to lose track of which clause is doing the real work. When a subordinate clause gets attached to a clause it has no logical relationship with, like treating two unrelated facts as if one caused the other, the fix is never to pick a different subordinator. It's to drop the false logical claim entirely and join the clauses with a neutral word like and.
Key terms
- main clause
- The clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence and carries the writer's actual point.
- subordinate clause
- A clause that depends on the main clause and cannot stand alone, often introduced by a word like because or although.
- subordinator
- A connecting word such as because, since, or although that asserts a specific logical relationship like cause or contrast.
- relative clause
- A clause that modifies a noun and begins with a word like which, who, or that.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow do you map a long sentence into one main clause plus its supporting clauses to check the logic?
- How it worksWalk me through deciding which idea in a three-clause sentence deserves to be the main clause.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the clause that comes first in a long sentence automatically the main one?
- Going furtherWhat happens when a subordinate clause gets attached to a clause it has no logical relationship with?
Check yourself
End of topic.