Clauses

A clause is a group of words that have a subject and a predicate (usually a verb). A sentence
can contain one or more clauses. Clauses can take two forms independent and dependant
clauses. These are the two forms of clauses. Also, it is important to know the difference
between a phrase and a clause. Basically, a clause contains a subject-verb relationship
whereas phrases do not.

Independent and dependant clauses

An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone. It does not require any additional
information to express its idea. It can stand alone as a sentence.

Example:

Jet lag affects most long distance travellers. In this clause, the subject jet lag and the predicate
affects most long distance travellers, explains that jet lag affects people. It requires no further
explanation. However, the clause

Although, there is no sure way to prevent jet lag, requires additional information as, why is
there no sure way to prevent jet lag, why is the clause talking about jet lag, and so on. There
are many holes to this clause.

Therefore, from the two examples above. We can basically conclude that independent clauses
contain ‘full’ ideas, whereas dependent clauses only contain ‘partial’ ideas.

Here are some more examples:

Independent clauses:

- I am a lawyer.
- I drive a bus.
- My wife is a nurse.
Dependent clauses:

- I like him very much.

- She did way more than I did.
- The reason why I came here.

Clauses are combined in three different ways: coordination, subordination, and by means of a
semicolon.
1. Coordination involves merging independent clauses with one another using one of the
coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, or, nor, for ,and yet,.
Example:
Jerry has always wanted to join the choir.
Jerry has never talked to anyone about his wish to join the choir.
Jerry has always wanted to join the choir, but he has never talked to anyone about it.

2. Subordination involves turning one of the clauses into a dependant clause (one that
cannot stand on its own) through the use of a Subordinating Conjunction (sometimes
called a dependent word) or a Relative Pronoun. When the clause begins with a
subordinating word, it is no longer an independent clause. Once it begins with a
subordinating word it is called a dependent clause.

Example:
Although Ramonita often thought about joining the choir, she never talked to her friends
about it.
Ramonita never talked to her friends about joining the choir, because she was afraid they
would make fun of her.

3. Semicolons can connect two independent clauses with or without the help of a
conjunctive adverb. Semicolons should be used sparingly and only when the two
independent clauses involved are closely related and nicely balanced in terms of
length and import.

Example:
 - Ramonita has such a beautiful voice; many couples have asked her to sing at their
wedding.
- Ramonita's voice has a clear, angelic quality; furthermore, she clearly enjoys using it.

All information about combining clauses was taken from

Clause types:

There are 3 main types of clauses, noun clauses, adverbial clauses, and adjectival clauses.
However, its important to remember that all these clauses belong to the dependant form of the
clause and not the independent form.

Noun clauses:

A noun clause is a group of words that take the place of a noun in a sentence. It functions as
the subject or object of a verb or preposition.

Examples:

I know Latin.

I know Latin is no longer used as widely as it used to be.

I drive a Bentley.

I drive an old Bentley model from the 1960s.

Now there are 3 types of noun clauses, they are that- clauses, whether/if clauses and wh-
clauses.

- That-clauses are noun clauses that are usually introduced with the word that. For
example, That Billy even dared to jump off the pier surprised everyone. It does not
always have to contain the word that.
- Next, we have whether/if clauses. These types of clauses are usually related to yes or
no questions. For example, I don’t know whether or not he lives by the seaside, and I
don’t know if he lives by the seaside.
 - Lastly, we have wh-clauses. These clauses are also mostly related to questionnaires.
However, study these 2 examples,

Where does he live?

I don’t know where he lives.

Wh-clauses are mostly question based statements.

Adjectival clauses:

Also known as relative clauses an adjectival clause is a group of words that take the place of
an adjective. It functions to modify the noun or pronoun, an adverb and even the entire
sentence its placed in. Examples:

The coat which I bought yesterday.

Jessica’s friends are one of the main reasons why Teddy can’t stand going out with her.

One of the reasons an adjectival clause is a dependent clause is due to the fact that it
requires a subordinating conjunction. They are

 Who –
 Whom –
 Which –
 That –

These can also be used as relative pronouns

 Whose
 When
 Where

There are two types of adjectival clauses they are

  Restrictive –

 Non-restrictive –

Adverbial clauses:

An adverbial clause is a group of words that act as the adverb of a verb. It functions to
modify the verb. There are many kinds of adverbial clauses.

1. Time clauses:
These clauses function to classify an event or give more information about an event
by giving it a time frame. For example, Sandra’s pet cat died when she was just 7
years old.
2. Conditional clauses:
This clause is used to talk about possible situations and their possible effects. For
example, If that castle falls, so does the rest of England.
3. Purpose clauses:
Used to indicate the purpose of an action. For example, In order to build a new
hospital they had to demolish the old church building.
4. Reason clauses:
Used to tell the reason behind something. For example, I just couldn’t stay angry with
her because she looked so cute.
5. Result clauses:
Used to describe the result of something. For example, The ship took such severe
damage that it was beyond saving.
6. Concession clauses:
Used to make describe situations that contradict each other. For example, He used to
have the body of a swimmer, though that isn’t true anymore.
7. Place clauses:
Used to describe the position or location of an object. For example, He could be
anywhere in India by now.
8. Clause of comparison:
Used to compare two objects. For example, He’s as fit as an Olympian.
9. Clauses of manner:
 Used to describe behaviour, or how things are done. For example, I was never
allowed to do as I like.

Also, for each of these clauses there is a common conjunction at the very beginning of each
sentence that acts as a marker to the beginning of the clause.

kind of clause common conjunctions

when, before, after, since, while, as, as long as, until,till, etc. (conjunctions
time clauses
that answer the question "when?"); hardly, scarcely, no sooner, etc.
conditional
if, unless, lest
clauses
purpose clauses in order to, so that, in order that
reason clauses because, since, as, given
result clauses so...that
concession
although, though, while
clauses
where, wherever, anywhere, everywhere, etc. (conjunctions that answer the
place clauses
question "where?")
Clause of
as
Comparison
Clauses of
as, like, the way
manner