Subordinating Conjunctions

Compare the following expressions of the same overall ideas:

I rushed home from work. I remembered something. I had left the coffee pot on.
I rushed home from work because I remembered that I had left the coffee pot on.

Subordinating conjunctions, such as the words because and that in the above example, connect dependent clauses to independent clauses and clarify the relationships between them. Subordinating conjunctions include the following:

after, although, as, because, before, if, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, while

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Next stop: Examples

Which of the following expresses ideas more clearly? I reached the river. I heard it burbling. The sound came through the woods. Before I reached the river, I heard it burbling through the woods.