Subordination — English definition
Placing a less important idea in a dependent (subordinate) clause so that a more important idea can occupy the main clause, where the emphasis falls.
Where it is taught
- Advanced Syntax & Style — Language, Style & Conventions, English 11: American Voices, Identity & Public Memory, Grade 11
In use
The first advanced move is subordination — demoting the less important idea into a dependent clause so the idea you actually care about occupies the main clause, where the reader's attention naturally lands.
Advanced Syntax & Style
Questions using subordination
Problem 1
A writer wants to emphasize that the volunteers kept working while treating the storm as background. Which revision does this best through subordination?
- Even as the storm intensified, the volunteers kept working.
- The storm intensified. The volunteers kept working.
- The volunteers kept working, but the storm intensified.
- The storm intensified, and the volunteers kept working.
Answer and explanation
Even as the storm intensified, the volunteers kept working.
Placing 'Even as the storm intensified' in a subordinate clause demotes the storm to background and leaves 'the volunteers kept working' as the main clause, where the emphasis falls. The other options either coordinate the ideas as equals or end on the storm.