subordinate clause

noun, Grammar
1.
a clause that modifies the principal clause or some part of it or that serves a noun function in the principal clause, as when she arrived in the sentence I was there when she arrived or that she has arrived in the sentence I doubt that she has arrived.
Also called dependent clause.
Compare main clause.
Examples from the web for subordinate clause
  • Albeit means though: howbeit always nevertheless, beginning not a subordinate clause, but a principal sentence.
  • Do not use a semicolon between a clause and a phrase, or a main clause and a subordinate clause.
  • By their commas ye shall know them, and by their usage of the semicolon and the subordinate clause.
  • Students will understand that a subordinate clause is a dependent clause and does not express a complete thought.
British Dictionary definitions for subordinate clause

subordinate clause

noun
1.
(grammar) a clause with an adjectival, adverbial, or nominal function, rather than one that functions as a separate sentence in its own right Compare coordinate clause, main clause