Below are explanations for the two Subordinator Samples:

Subordinators from The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Pavlovitch looked for some time as if he did not understand what child he was talking about, while, at the same time, he expressed surprise to hear that he had a little son in the house.

As the interactive exercise instructs, the first step is to highlight any words that could be subordinators:

Fyodor Pavlovitch looked for some time as if he did not understand what child he was talking about, while, at the same time, he expressed surprise to hear that he had a little son in the house.

There appear to be two subordinators in this sentence:

1. AS IF: precedes (and is bound to) a clause (HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND)
2. WHILE: precedes (and is bound to) a clause (HE EXPRESSED SURPRISE)

Challenge Sample from Robinson Crusoe

Since I told my mother that my thoughts were bent upon seeing the very wide world and that I should never settle to anything with resolution enough to go through with it, my father should give me his consent rather than force me to go without it.

Again, the first step is to highlight any words that might be subordinators:

Since I told my mother that my thoughts were bent upon seeing the very wide world and that I should never settle to anything with resolution enough to go through with it, my father should give me his consent rather than force me to go without it.

For this sample, there appears to be only one subordinator in this sentence:

1. SINCE: precedes (and is bound to) a clause (I TOLD MY MOTHER)

Tips to Keep in Mind

The KEY MARKER for subordinators is if it precedes a clause (subject and Main Verb). Remember that subordinators and prepositions share, in most respects, the same list of words, so remember that the difference is that a preposition precedes a nominal ONLY, and a subordinator precedes a clause (subject and Main Verb).

If you have questions about these sample analyses, please contact your instructor or start a conversation in your work group.