Question

Combine the following sentences into a complex sentence with a subordinate adverb clause:
The rains had started the mud slides. The homes were not safe to live in.

a) The homes were not safe to live in because the rains had started the mudslides.
b) The rains had started the mudslides, so the homes were not safe to live in.
c) The rains having started the mudslides, the homes were not safe to live in.
d) The rains which started the mudslides made it difficult to live in the homes coming under it.

Answer 1

Hint: A subordinate clause is a clause in a complex sentence that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and that functions within the sentence as a noun or adjective or adverb.

Complete answer:
A subordinate clause that does the work and acts like an adverb is called an adverb clause. Thus, it may modify an adjective, verb, or even another adverb present in the main clause.

In the given question, option (a.) is correct.
Explanation- the principal clause is ‘The homes were not safe to live in’. Since ‘because the rains had started the mudslides’ is the subordinate clause which is acting like an adverb since it is modifying the verb 'safe' present in the principal clause, it is a subordinate adverb clause.

The given option (b.) is not correct as the sentences have been joined together to make a compound sentence using the coordinating conjunction ‘so’.

Option (c.) is incorrect since the two sentences have been joined into one simple sentence.

Option (d.) is not correct because the two sentences have been joined using an adjective clause and not an adverb clause.

Note:
In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall what a complex sentence and compound sentence is. It is a sentence composed of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause. On the other hand, a compound sentence is a sentence composed of at least two coordinate independent clauses.