ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dependent statement

A dependent statement is like a helper sentence that needs another sentence to make sense. Imagine you're making a sandwich. You can't just eat the bread by itself, you need to add some peanut butter and jelly first! The peanut butter and jelly are like the main sentence, and the bread is like the dependent statement - it needs the other parts to make a complete sandwich.

In grammar, a dependent statement is called a clause. It's a group of words with a subject and a verb, but it doesn't express a complete thought all by itself. So, it needs another sentence (or independent clause) to join onto, like peanut butter and jelly on bread.

Dependent statements come in different varieties. There are adjective clauses, which add more information about a noun (like "The cat, who was sleeping in the sun, woke up when I called her"). There are adverb clauses, which describe when, where, why, or how an action happened (like "After I finished my homework, I went to bed").

Overall, dependent statements are like puzzle pieces that fit together to create clear and complete sentences. Just like you can't have a sandwich with only bread, you can't have a complete sentence without both the main clause and the dependent statement.