How to Subordinate Your Supporting Idea to the Main Idea
Introduction
A supporting idea is a detail that supports the main idea. Generally, a supporting idea is an example of the main idea or an explanation of the main idea.
In order to subordinate your supporting idea to the main point, you need to present it in a way that makes it clear that it is only an example or explanation of what you are trying to say in your essay. You can do this by using phrases such as “For example,” “To illustrate,” and “In order to explain.”
Main Idea
The main idea is the most important point in the paragraph. It’s what you want your reader to take away from it. It should be clearly stated in the first sentence of the paragraph, and then reinforced with supporting points throughout.
The main idea is the central point that a sentence is trying to make.
It can be difficult to identify what the main idea is in a sentence if you’re not sure about how to recognize them. A good way to determine what it is by asking yourself these three questions:
- What does this sentence say?
- Who says it?
- Why do they say it?
Supporting Ideas
Supporting ideas are additional points that support, provide additional information for, or illustrate the main idea. They should be less important than the main idea, but still relevant to it. Supporting ideas can help prove a point, give an example of what you mean, or introduce new information that relates to your original claim.
A supporting idea can be something that happened in the past, something that might happen in the future, or anything in between. The point of a supporting idea is to help build up your argument in order to convince others of your point.
Main and Supporting Idea Examples
Main Idea: The company should do a better job of advertising their product.
Supporting Idea: With more advertising, the company would be able to reach a wider range of people and increase their sales.
Main Idea: The company should offer a better customer service experience.
Supporting Idea: With better customer service, the company will be able to retain more customers and grow their business.
If There are More Than One Ideas Expressed
Some sentences in technical documents express more than one idea. One of the ideas is always the MAIN idea, expressed in the main/principal clause. The other idea SUPPORTS the main one, expressed in a subordinate clause.
When constructing your sentences make sure that the readers understand the difference between those two ideas. You can do that easily by paying attention to the way you SUBORDINATE one idea to the other.
For Example
“The temperature rating of the motherboard was ill-suited for the Antarctic Station, although the panel lasted 25% longer than all the previous ones.”
Here the main idea is the panel lasted longer DESPITE the fact that it was ill-suited for the Antarctic.
Thus the emphasis should be on the fact that it lasted longer (the MAIN idea) although its rating was not correct (the SUBORDINATE idea).
A better sentence would be:
“Although the temperature rating of the motherboard was ill-suited for the Antarctic Station, it lasted 25% longer than all the previous ones.”
Another Example
“The BP oil spill in the Gulf was a disaster. The Obama Administration announced a moratorium on all off-shore oil drilling for six months.”
Here the MAIN idea is Obama Administration announcing a moratorium. And the reason why they did so is the SUBORDINATE idea.
Thus a better sentence would be:
“Since the BP oil spill in the Gulf was a disaster, the Obama Administration announced a moratorium on all off-shore oil drilling for six months.
Assignment
Try to rewrite these sentences as an assignment, with the correct MAIN and SUBORDINATE clauses:
(1) The market orders did not meet the expectations. The project manager slowed down the assembly line.
(2) We take pride in exceeding the expectations of our clients. 78% of our business comes from referrals.
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