Use the following sentence to complete the activity.

Question

Billy enjoyed the pizza that his brother made for him.

Identify if the blue words are an independent clause, dependent clause, or phrase. Then explain how you came to your answer.

Answer 1

In the sentence "Billy enjoyed the pizza that his brother made for him," the blue words "that his brother made for him" represent a dependent clause.

Explanation:

1. Independent Clause: An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence. It contains a subject and a predicate that express a complete thought. For example, "Billy enjoyed the pizza" is an independent clause.

2. Dependent Clause: A dependent clause also contains a subject and a predicate, but it does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence. It usually starts with a subordinating conjunction (like "that," "because," "although," etc.) or a relative pronoun (like "who," "which," "that," etc.). In this case, "that his brother made for him" gives more information about "the pizza" but cannot stand alone as a complete thought.

3. Phrase: A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a subject and predicate, and therefore does not express a complete thought.

Since "that his brother made for him" provides additional information about the pizza rather than being able to stand alone, it is identified as a dependent clause.