What is a clause

Clauses: Definition, Types & Examples

What is a Clause

A clause is comprised of a group of words that include a subject and a finite verb. It contains only one subject and one verb. The subject of a clause can be mentioned or hidden, but the verb must be apparent and distinguishable.

A clause is “a group of words containing a subject and predicate and functioning as a member of a complex or compound sentence. ” – Merriam-Webster

Example:

Types of Clauses

Independent Clause

It functions on its own to make a meaningful sentence and looks much like a regular sentence.

In a sentence two independent clauses can be connected by the coordinators: and, but, so, or, nor, for*, yet*.

Dependent Clause

It cannot function on its own because it leaves an idea or thought unfinished. It is also called a subordinate clause. These help the independent clauses complete the sentence. Alone, it cannot form a complete sentence.

The subordinators do the work of connecting the dependent clause to another clause to complete the sentence. In each of the dependent clauses, the first word is a subordinator. Subordinators include relative pronouns, subordinating conjunctions, and noun clause markers.

Dependent Clauses are divided into three types and they are –

1. Adjective Clause

It is a Dependent Clause that modifies a Noun. Basically, Adjective Clauses have similar qualities as Adjectives that are of modifying Nouns and hence the name, Adjective Clause. These are also called Relative Clauses and they usually sit right after the Nouns they modify.

2. Noun Clause

Dependent Clauses acting as Nouns in sentences are called Noun Clauses or Nominal Clauses. These often start with “how,” “that,” other WH-words (What, Who, Where, When, Why, Which, Whose and Whom), if, whether etc.

3. Adverbial Clause

By definition, these are Dependent Clauses acting as Adverbs. It means that these clauses have the power to modify Verbs, Adjectives and other Adverbs.

Principal Clause

These have a Subject (Noun/Pronoun), Finite Verb and an Object and make full sentences that can stand alone or act as the main part of any Complex or Compound Sentence. Independent and Principal Clauses are functionally the same but named from different perspectives.

Coordinate Clause

Two or more similarly important Independent Clauses joined by Coordinating Conjunctions (and, or, but etc.) in terms of Compound Sentences are called Coordinate Clauses.

Non-finite Clause

They contain a Participle or an Infinitive Verb that makes the Subject and Verb evident even though hidden. In terms of a Participle, the Participial Phrase takes place of the Subject or Object of the sentence.

What is a Clause? Definition, Examples of Clauses in Sentences

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Clause Definition: A clause consists of a subject and a verb and is the smallest grammatical unit that expresses a thought.

What is a Clause in a Sentence?

What is a clause? In its simplest form, a clause in grammar is a subject plus a verb. The subject is the entity “doing” the action of the sentence and the verb is the action that subject completes. A clause creates a complete thought (an idea or a statement that can stand alone).

A complete thought is also called a main clause or independent clause (IC).

Examples of clauses:

A clause may include the verb predicate as well. But, it must include at least the subject and verb to be considered a clause.

Examples of clauses:

It should be noted, too, that a clause in a sentence is different from a phrase in that it must contain a subject and a verb.

What is an Independent Clause?

Independent clause definition: An independent clause can stand alone in a sentence. It contains a subject and a verb in its smallest form. A clause may also include modifiers and a verb predicate. It is a complete thought and the smallest unit of grammar that is syntactically accurate.

Example of Independent Clauses:

In writing, words and modifiers can be rearranged in independent clauses to create interest.

Example of Independent Clauses:

Here, “I eat” is the subject and verb. An object (“bananas”) and a prepositional phrase (“in the kitchen”) have been added to the clause to make it more specific. The entire sentence is an independent clause because it is a complete thought statement.

Outside Examples of Independent Clauses:

For more information on independent clauses, click here.

What is a Dependent Clauses?

Dependent clause definition: Dependent clauses contain a subject and verb. However, they cannot stand alone as an independent thought. They must be joined with an independent clause to be grammatically correct.

Example of Dependent Clause:

This example contains the IC, “I eat bananas.” However, a dependent clause now opens the sentence. While the dependent clause contains a subject and a verb (“I go”), the dependent clause itself cannot stand alone a complete thought.

Example of Dependent Clause:

This is not a complete thought and therefore not a sentence in English. Every night before I go to bed…what happens? This idea must be joined with an independent clause to be grammatically correct.

Outside Examples of Dependent Clauses:

In the above example, While American forces will not be leading the ground war in Syria is a dependent clause.

For more information on dependent clauses, click here.

More Types of Clauses

What is a Noun Clause?

Noun clause definition: A noun clause is a type of dependent clause that acts as a noun in the sentence. A noun clause will always contain a subject and a verb. However, it cannot stand alone as a complete thought.

Example of Noun Clause:

Here, the underlined portion is the independent clause that can stand alone. The italicized words, “what you said yesterday,” serve as a dependent noun clause.

The noun clause is acting as the object of the sentence. In the noun clause “you said” is a subject plus a verb. This creates the clause (a subject plus a verb). However, “what you said yesterday” cannot stand alone and therefore must be paired with an independent clause.

Additional noun clause examples:

What is an Adjective Clause? (Also called Relative Clause)

Adjective clause definition: An adjective clause is a type of dependent clause that acts as an adjective in the sentence. An adjective clause will always contain a subject and a verb. However, it cannot stand alone as a complete thought.

An adjective clause will always begin with one of the following words:

Relative Pronouns List:

Relative Adverbs List:

Example of Adjective Clause:

The adjective clause is acting as an adjective in this sentence. The adjective clause describes the boy. It contains a subject and a verb, “you saw.” However, it cannot stand alone as a complete thought. “Who you saw at the robbery” is not a complete statement.

Additional adjective clause examples:

For more information on adjective / relative clauses, click here.

What is an Adverbial Clause?

Adverbial clause definition: An adverbial clause is a type of dependent clause that acts as an adverb in the sentence. An adverbial clause will always contain a subject and a verb. However, it cannot stand alone as a complete thought.

Example of Adverbial Clause:

The adverbial clause is acting as an adverb in this sentence. The adverbial clause modifies how you will drive. The adverbial clause contains a subject and verb, “you will continue.” However, it cannot stand alone as a complete thought. “Until you see a stop sign” is not a complete statement.

Additional adverbial clause examples:

Summary: What are Clauses in Grammar?

Clause

1. What is a Clause?

A clause is a set of words containing a subject and a predicate. Every full sentence has at least one clause—it is not possible to have a complete sentence without one. Sometimes, a clause is only two words, but it can be more. Because of this, it is the shortest way you can express a complete thought in English!

It’s easy to remember what a clause is—just use this simple “word equation”:

CLAUSE = SUBJECT + PREDICATE

2. Examples of Clauses

Other times, instead of a single verb, a predicate can be a verb phrase, so a clause can be longer, like these:

3. Parts of a Clause

All clauses have two main things, a subject and a predicate.

a. Subject

A subject is the person, place, idea, or thing that a sentence is about. It’s the noun that is “doing” something in the sentence. Every sentence needs at least one to make sense. Sometimes a subject is only one word, but sometimes it includes modifiers, or can be a noun phrase or gerund.

b. Predicate

A predicate contains a sentence’s action—it tells what the subject does, and always needs a verb. Often the predicate is just a verb, but it can also be a verb phrase: a verb plus its objects or modifiers. Here are three examples of different types of predicates in clause:

4. Types of Clauses

There are two main types of clauses that we use in sentences. They are called independent clauses and dependent (or subordinate) clauses, and each works differently in a sentence and on its own.

a. Independent Clause

An independent clause is a clause that is as a complete sentence. Basically, it’s just a simple sentence. Like all clauses, it has a subject and a predicate, and makes sense on its own.

You can see that each sentence above is complete; you don’t need to add any other words for it to express a complete thought.

b. Dependent (Subordinate) Clause

A dependent clause has a subject and a predicate; BUT, unlike an independent clause, it can’t exist as a sentence. It doesn’t make sense on its own because it doesn’t share a complete thought. A dependent clause only gives extra information, and is “dependent” on other words to make a full sentence. Here are a few examples:

Though all of the examples above contain subjects and clauses, none of them make sense on their own. So, dependent clauses are very important, but they need independent clauses to make a full sentence, which make complex sentences. Alone, a dependent clause makes a fragment sentence (see Section V).

Furthermore, there are several types of dependent clauses, like noun clauses, adjective (relative) clauses, and adverb clauses. In the sentences below, the clauses are underlined.

i. Noun Clause

A noun clause is a group of words that acts as a noun in a sentence. They begin with relative pronouns like “how,” “which,” “who,” or “what,” combined with a subject and predicate. For example:

The dog can eat what he wants.

Here, “what he wants” stands as a noun for what the dog can eat. It’s a clause because it has a subject (he) and a predicate (wants).

ii. Adjective (Relative) Clause

Adjective clauses are groups of words that act as an adjective in a sentence. They have a pronoun (who, that, which) or an adverb (what, where, why) and a verb; or, a pronoun or an adverb that serves as subject and a verb. Here are some examples:

The dog will eat whichever flavor of popcorn you have

Whichever (pronoun) + flavor (subject) + have (verb) is an adjective clause that describes the popcorn. As you can see, it’s not a full sentence.

The dog is the one who ate the popcorn.

“Who” (pronoun acting as subject) + “ate” (verb) is an adjective clause that describes the dog.

iii. Adverb Clause

An adverb clause is a group of words that work as an adverb in a sentence, answering questions asking “where?”, “when,” “how?” and “why?” They begin with a subordinate conjunction.

The dog ran until he got to the county fair.

This sentence answers the question “how long did the dog run?” with the adverb clause “until he got to the county fair.”

After the dog arrived he ate popcorn.

With the adverb clause “after the dog arrived,” this sentence answers, “when did the dog eat popcorn?”

REMEMBER: NO TYPE OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE CAN BE A SENTENCE BY ITSELF!

5. How to Avoid Mistakes

There are a couple of common mistakes that can happen when using clauses. First, you need to remember rules about subject-verb agreement. Second, it’s important to avoid fragment sentences. And of course, always remember: CLAUSE = SUBJECT + PREDICATE!

a. Subject-Verb Agreement

Each sentence has a subject and a verb, but as you know, subjects and verbs both have singular and plural forms. In order for them to function properly, they need to “agree” with each other, or match, which is called subject-verb agreement (SVA). Clauses rely on subject-verb agreement to make sense. Look at these two sentences:

The dog likes popcorn. Correct SVA

The dog like popcorn. Incorrect SVA

The dogs like popcorn. Correct SVA

The dogs likes popcorn. Incorrect SVA

Now, here are some key rules to remember:

You probably already know the difference between singular nouns and verbs and plural nouns and verbs. Here’s a chart to help you remember some:

b. Fragment Sentence

A “fragment” is a small piece of something. So, a fragment sentence is just a piece of a sentence: it is missing a subject, a predicate, or an independent clause. It’s simply an incomplete sentence. As mentioned, using a dependent clause on its own makes a fragment sentence because it doesn’t express a complete thought.

Let’s use the dependent clauses from above:

As you can see, each leaves an unanswered question. So, let’s complete the sentences them:

Here, the independent clauses are underlined. In each of the sentences above, the dependent clause is paired with an independent clause to make it complete. So, always remember: a dependent clause needs an independent clause!

What is a clause?

Definition of clause

A clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a predicate. Every complete sentence is made of atleast one clause.

Examples: Michelle runs every morning.
The sentence has both :
Subject – Michelle
Predicate – runs
The sentence has one subject – Michelle. It speaks about Michelle, who runs every morning. So the sentence has one clause.

Different types of clauses with examples

Independent clause

These clauses can complete a sentence independently.

Examples
Tara is a marathon runner.
This sentence has one clause. It is a simple sentence. You don’t need another clause, to complete it to speak about Tara’s action.
If we need to describe more about Tara, then we need to add more clauses. This makes the sentence compound, complex or compound – complex. The clause that we add will then be a dependent clause or clauses.

Most sentence we use in our language are complex. These sentences are complex.
Michelle runs every morning, but she has never run a marathon.
Tara runs the marathon, because she is fit and strong.
It has one subject and two clause. Can you find them and identify which is the main clause and which is the sub-ordinate clause?

Michelle runs every morning, but she has never run a marathon.
Michelle runs every morning.
Answer : Main Clause
she has never run a marathon
Answer: Subordinate Clause

Tara runs the marathon, because she is fit and strong.
Tara runs the marathon
Answer : Main Clause
because she is fit and strong.
Answer : Subordinate Clause

Dependent clause

A dependent clause cannot complete a thought to be communicated on its own. It will need another clause to complete the sentence.

Dependent or sub-ordinate clause are of three types:

1. Noun clause

The noun clause plays the role of a noun in a sentence. Noun clauses contain a subject and a verb. They cannot stand on their own because they are not a complete thought and must be paired with the main clause. When using a noun clause, no commas are used.

Noun clause use words like Who, Whom, Whose, Which, Whoever, Whatever, Whenever, Whether, That if, What etc, to complete a thought when a single noun is not enough.

2. Adjective clause

The adjective clause plays the role like an adjective and modifies a noun or pronoun. it contains a subject and a verb that provides a description. Adjective clauses do not change the basic meaning of the sentence. They use commas if they are adding information to the sentence.

Adjective clause use words like That, When, Where, Who, Whom, Whose, Which and Why to provide information that is necessary for identifying the word it modifies. It provides additional meaning to a word which is already clear and always contains a subject and a verb.

3. Adverb clause

The adverb clause plays the role of modifying a verb, a clause, another adverb or any other phrase with the exception of determiners and adjectives that directly modify nouns.

Adverb clauses contain subordinate conjunctions that prevent them from containing complete thoughts and becoming full sentences. Adverb clause always answer the questions When, Why and How in a sentence.

Identify the type of clause

1. Is this the white dress you wore last week?
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – adjective clause

2. The doctor said she was ill and that she should take her medicine.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – noun clause

3. You may practice piano till 7 pm daily.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – adverb clause

4. Whatever you choose will be fine.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – noun clause

5. The house that I once lived in is for sale.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – adjective clause

6. Please sit down whenever you drink water.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – adverb clause

7. The lady who drives the red car lives next door.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – adjective clause

8. The magical frog disappeared whenever someone appeared.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – noun clause

9. They have a cat that likes boiled fish.
· Noun
· Adjective
· Adverb
Answer – adjective clause

How to Recognize and Use Clauses in English Grammar

A clause is the basic building block of a sentence; by definition, it must contain a subject and a verb. Although they appear simple, clauses can function in complex ways in English grammar. A clause can function as a simple sentence, or it may be joined to other clauses with conjunctions to form complex sentences.

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. It may be either a complete sentence (also known as an independent or main clause) or a sentence-like construction within another sentence (called a dependent or subordinate clause). When clauses are joined so that one modifies another, they are called matrix clauses.

Independent: Charlie bought a ’57 Thunderbird.

Dependent: Because he loved classic cars

Matrix: Because he loved classic cars, Charlie bought a ’57 Thunderbird.

Clauses can function in several ways, as outlined below.

Adjective Clause

This dependent clause (adjective clause) is also known as a relevant clause because it usually contains a relative pronoun or relative adverb. It is used to modify a subject, much as an adjective would, and is also known as a relative clause.

Example: This is the ball that Sammy Sosa hit over the left-field wall in the World Series.

Adverbial Clause

Another dependent clause, adverbial clauses function like an adverb, indicating time, place, condition, contrast, concession, reason, purpose, or result. Typically, an adverbial clause is set off with a comma and subordinating conjunction.

Example: Although Billy loves pasta and bread, he’s on a no-carb diet.

Comparative Clause

These comparative subordinate clauses use adjectives or adverbs such as «like» or «than» to draw a comparison. They are also known as proportional clauses.

Example: Julieta is a better poker player than I am.

Complement Clause

Complementary clauses function like adjectives modifying a subject. They usually begin with a subordinating conjunction and modify the subject-verb relationship.

Example: I never expected that you would fly to Japan.

Concessive Clause

A subordinate clause, the concessive clause is used to contrast or justify the main idea of the sentence. It is typically set off by a subordinating conjunction.

Example: Because we were shivering, I turned up the heat.

Conditional Clause

Conditional clauses are easy to recognize because they usually begin with the word «if.» A type of adjectival clause, conditionals express a hypothesis or condition.

Example: If we can reach Tulsa, we can stop driving for the night.

Coordinate Clause

Coordinate clauses usually begin with the conjunctions «and» or «but» and express relativity or relationship with the subject of the main clause.

Example: Sheldon drinks coffee, but Ernestine prefers tea.

Noun Clause

As the name suggests, noun clauses are a sort of dependent clause that functions as a noun in relation to the main clause. They are typically offset with «that», «which,» or «what.»

Example: What I believe is irrelevant to the conversation.

Reporting Clause

The reporting clause is more commonly known as attribution because it identifies who is speaking or the source of what is being said. They always follow the noun or noun clause.

Example: «I’m going to the mall,» shouted Jerry from the garage.

Verbless Clause

This kind of subordinate clause may not seem like one because it lacks a verb. Verbless clauses provide tangential information that informs but is not directly modifying the main clause.

Example: In the interest of brevity, I will keep this speech short.