LESSON

STRUCTURE
SENTENCE STRUCTURE BASICS
A main Independent Clause has the elements of a complete sentence.

A complete sentence contains Subject, and predicate verb, and it expresses a complete thought.

Subject: is the noun that perform the action or whose state is being described.

A predicate verb: is a word that indicates what the subject is doing or revels information about the subject’s
state of being.

Independent Clause: Dan ran on the boardwalk.

Dan: is the Subject Ran: The predicate verb.

The sentence expresses a complete thought.

A dependent Clause: contains a subject and a verb, but it doesn’t express a complete thought.

Dependent Clause: Even though I was tired.

The above clause is dependent because it can’t stand alone.

Complete sentence: I was tired. - Removing ‘’even though’’ generates an independent clause.

  Complete sentence: Even though I was tired, I still attended the party.
 
 
When the dependent clause is connected to an independent clause, the sentence becomes complete.
 
 
 
 
 Adverb {Subordinate) Clauses:

Are dependent Clauses that functions as adverbs.

They answer questions such as { Why? How? When?, to what extent/degree?, Under what conditions?
And ‘with what goal/result’?}

Cause: Since it was raining, she wore boots.

Purpose: I practiced in order to improve my skills.

Place: Wherever there is trouble, Carl is found.

Time: I listened to music, while I exercised.

Condition: In order to succeed, you must work hard.

Concession: Although I wanted to attend the event, I had another obligation.

Degree: I studied until I memorized the material.

Remember: Common words found in subordinate clauses { after, although, as , as soon, as, because, before, even though,
given that, if, in order to, once, provided that, since, though, unless, until, when, whenever, while’
2) Relative (adjectives) clauses:
Are dependent clauses that function as adjectives. They answer questions such as:
Which one? What kind
They include relative pronouns (who, which, whose, that, whom) and relative adverbs (when, where, why)

- I attended the university, where I studied philosophy.

- The convention was attended by people who like comic books.

3) Noun Clause: are clauses that stand for nouns. They function similarly to personal pronouns. Common pronouns
included
 . in nouns clauses are whichever, whatever, whoever and whomever.
 
- Whoever was at the game had a good time.
 
- That you called in advance was important.

Note: The word that can sometimes mean ‘the fact that’ when it begins in a sentence, In this case ‘the fact’ was important.
Coordination and Subordination
Coordinating Conjunction : the FANBOY conjunctions ( for, and, nor, but , or , yet, so) they connect two equal parts of a
sentence (word, phrases or clauses)

Conjunction Relationship Example

And Conjunction Addition He is kind and smart.

But, Yet Contrast The sandwich was uninviting , yet it

was tasty.

or Alternative (When at least one I will order either orange juice or

alternative is true) soda.

Nor Alternative (When at each alternative I will not eat chicken, nor will eat
is untrue or doesn’t happen) meat.

So Effect (result) I felt hot , so I switched on the AC.

For Cause I took off the jacket, for I was

Note

Nor is used instead of and when the noun or the pronoun in the second clause follows a helping verb { e.g. do,
did, can, could, will, would}

- I didn’t eat, and I didn’t drink.

I didn’t eat, nor did I drink.

- I will not go today, and I will not go tomorrow.

I will not go today, nor will go tomorrow.

Correlative Conjunctions
They appear in word pairs and connect equal grammatical items ( words, phrases, clauses)
1- either… or
- We will watch either a comedy or an action movie.
2- neither… nor
- The movie was neither entertaining nor good.
3- not only… but also
- Not only we arrived late, but also missed the beginning of the movie.
4- whether… or
- We weren’t sure whether you arrive on time or miss our appointment as usual.
5- at once… and
- That drink is at once refreshing, and delightful.
6- between …and
The competition between team A and team B was exciting.