You must have heard the words "clause," "adverb
clause," "adjective clause," and "phrase"
often throughout your study of the English language. I remember that
such terms used to confuse me a little. In this lesson, I will try to
make these terms as clear as reasonably possible. Do not be
discouraged, and try to enjoy the fun and the challenge of dealing
with such terms.
You have probably heard a thousand times that a clause is a group
of words that includes a subject and a verb, but what does this mean?
Let us see.
Maria is beautiful.
Is this a clause? Well, does it have a subject? Yes,
"Maria" is the subject. Does it have a verb? Yes,
"is" is the verb. Therefore, it is a clause.
Now, compare the above with:
Because she is beautiful.
Is this a clause? Well, does it have a subject? Yes,
"she" is the subject. Does it have a verb? Yes,
"is" is the verb. Therefore it is a clause.
Then, what is the difference between them?
Notice that "Maria is beautiful" is a complete thought.
It is a sentence that can stand-alone. We call this an
"independent clause" and the word "independent"
means exactly that; it is not dependent on anything else.
Now, notice that "because she is beautiful" is not a
complete thought; it is not a sentence, and it does not stand-alone.
It needs another thought to complete it. Therefore, it is
"dependent," meaning that it depends on another thought. An
example is, "Because she is beautiful, people love her."
From the above we can conclude the following:
- A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb.
- A clause can be independent, meaning it can stand-alone as a
complete thought.
- A clause can also be dependent, meaning it cannot stand alone,
and it needs another thought to complete it
There are three types of clauses: (The Adverb Clause will be
discussed later)
- The Noun Clause
As we discussed in lesson seven, a noun clause is used as a
subject or an object. For example, "What he said was
interesting." "What he said" is a noun clause. It
is used as the subject of the sentence. Also, it can be used as
the object. For example, "I listened to what he said."
"What he said" here is a noun clause used as an object.
- The Adjective Clause
An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun. It
describes, identifies, or gives further information about a noun.
An adjective clause is also called a "relative clause."
An adjective clause uses pronouns to connect the dependent clause
to the independent clause. The adjective clause pronouns are who,
whom, which, that, and whose. Adjective clause pronouns are also
called relative pronouns
