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6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 12

Commas & Clauses

Clauses, sentence types and commas

What your child practices

Finding dependent clauses, telling simple, compound and complex sentences apart, and using commas in lists, compound sentences, introductions and appositives.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 6.2.1.1; 6.2.3.2 · commas, clauses and varying sentence structure

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A dependent clause starts with words like if, although, because or when and can’t stand alone.
  2. Simple: one clause. Compound: two independent clauses joined by and, but or so. Complex: an independent clause plus a dependent one.
  3. Use commas in lists, before and/but/so in compound sentences, after an opening clause and around appositives.

Example: “Although it was late, we kept reading.” Why does it need a comma? “Although it was late” is a dependent clause. It comes first, so a comma sets it off. Answer: It sets off an introductory dependent clause.

Commas & Clauses in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 12 in 6th grade English Language Arts, after Sentence Repair and before Roots & Analogies.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Why does this sentence need a comma? “Although it was late, we kept reading.”

    • It sets off a speaker's exact words.
    • It joins two complete sentences with no conjunction.
    • It separates items in a list.
    • It sets off an introductory dependent clause.

  2. Question 2

    Which part is the dependent (subordinate) clause?

    If it snows tomorrow, the field trip will be postponed.

    • If it snows tomorrow
    • the field trip
    • tomorrow
    • the field trip will be postponed

  3. Question 3

    Which word is the subordinating conjunction?

    Although Noah was nervous, he gave a great speech.

    • great
    • Although
    • nervous
    • speech

  4. Question 4

    What type of sentence is this?

    Maya laughed when the puppy sneezed.

    • Simple
    • Complex
    • Compound

  5. Question 5

    Why is there a comma in this sentence? “Ravi made dinner, and Ana washed the dishes.”

    • It separates a dependent clause at the end.
    • It sets off an introductory word.
    • It separates items in a list.
    • It comes before “and” to join two independent clauses.

  6. Question 6

    Which part is the dependent (subordinate) clause?

    Although the water was cold, Priya jumped right in.

    • Priya jumped right in
    • jumped right in
    • Although the water was cold
    • the water

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