# What is clause in English? | Meaning |Types of clause| Examples |
This blog includes:
What is clause?
Examples of clause
What is main clause?
What
is Subordinate clause?
What is coordinate clause?
Types of subordinate clause
Noun clause- definition and examples
Adjctive clause- definition and examples
Adverb clause- definition clause and
examples
What is clause in English?
A clause is
a group of words which forms a part of a sentence that contains a subject and a
verb that have a relationship.
Examine the following sentences to understand what is clause.
1. She has
an own cottage.
2. She has
an own cottage which is near the
sea-shore.
The second
group of words, unlike the phrase own cottage, contains a subject (which) and a
predicate (is near the sea-shore)
A clause may
form part of a sentence or it may be a complete sentence. Every complete sentence is made up of at
least one clause.
For example
1. He was
drinking cold coffee. [One sentence –one clause]
2. He bought
a new car, but still he is using the old one. [One sentence- two clauses]
Clauses play
a variety of roles in English and because of this, there are numerous ways to
structure and combine them. Clauses can be a main clause, coordinate clause or
subordinate clause.
Let us see
in detail main clause and subordinate clause.
Main clause
Every
sentence includes at least one main clause. A main clause may form part of a
compound sentence or a complex sentence. But it also makes sense on its own, as
in the following sentence.
I) They are
playing with football. (main clause)
Compound
sentences are made up of two or more main clauses linked by a conjunction such
as, and, but, so, as in the following example
i) I like
cricket and I am captain of our cricket team.
In the above
sentence ‘I like cricket’ is a main clause ‘and’ is a conjunction and ‘I am
captain of our cricket team’ is main clause.
Subordinate Clause
A
subordinate clause depends on a main clause for its meaning. Together with a
main clause, a subordinate clause forms part of a complex sentence. unlike main
clauses, subordinate clauses need a little help to make sense and thay are also
often referred to as dependendent clause. A subordinate clause is a clause that
can’t stand alone as a complete sentence, even though it contains a subject and
a verb. It doesn’t contain a complete thought like a main clause does. It has
to subordinating conjunction.
Following sentence is containing
subordinate clauses.
I first
saw him in the temple where I used to go.
In the above
sentence ‘I first saw him in the temple’ is main clause and remaining part is a
subordinate clause.
Observe the
following sentence
1. I think
2. That you
have committed mistake.
Each part
contains a subject and a predicate of its own, and forms part of a large
sentence. Each part is therefore a clause.
Notice that
the clause, I think, makes a good sense by itself, and hence can stand
by itself as a complete sentence. a clause that makes good sense by itself and
can stand alone in called the Principle or main Clause.
The clause, that
you have committed mistake, cannot make complete sense and cannot stand by
itself. It is therefore dependent on the clause, I think. A clause that cannot
stand by itself and make complete sense is called the Dependent or Subordinate Clause.
Coordinate clause
A coordinate
clause is made when you connect or join two independent clauses that are of
equal importance. These clauses are joined by coordinating conjunctions. Coordinate
clause is very similar to subordinate clause as they both combine two
sentences. So it is not at all easy to get the difference between them. A good
way to remember the difference between them is to think of the meaning of the ‘coordinate’.
To coordinate means to work together on equal status. A coordinate clause contains
two sentences with equal importance. So just remember that in a coordinate
clause, the two sentences are working together as a team to make one coordinate
clause.
Study the
examples of coordinate clause include
i) He wanted
to go to the school but it started raining.
ii) You can
go for a walk or you can watch TV.
In the above sentence, sentence 1 he wanted to
go to the school and it started raining both are two different sentences. But
both sentences can stand alone and independently. They have been joined
together by the coordinating conjunction ‘but’ to make coordinate clause.
There are three kinds of subordinate clause-
i)
Noun Clause
ii) Adjective Clause
iii)
Adverb Clause
Now we’ll
proceed to go deep into these three clauses.
I) NOUN CLAUSE
A NOUN
CLAUSE is a group of words which contains a subject and a predicate of its own,
and does the work of noun.
In other words, you can replace the clause
with noun, and it would still make sense. Noun clauses act I the same way as a
noun or pronoun. It contains subject and verb but cannot make complete sense,
so it cannot stand as its own sentence. a noun clause starts with a pronoun or
a subordinate conjunction.
For example
i) I expect that I shall get a prize.
In the above sentence ‘that I shall get a
prize’, contains a subject and a predicate of its own. Therefore it is a
clause. His clause is the object of the verb expect and so does the work of a
noun. Therefore it is a NOUN CLAUSE.
II) ADJECTIVE CLAUSE
An adjective
clause is a group of words which contains a subject and a predicate of its own,
and does the work of an adjective.
For example
i) He died
in the village where he was born.
In the above
sentence the group of words ‘where he was born’ describes the village. So it
works as an adjective. But because it contains a subject and a predicate of its
own, it is called an ADJECTIVE CLAUSE.
III) ADVERB CLAUSE
An adverb
clause is a group of words which contains a subject and a predicate of its own,
and does the work of an adverb clause.
An adverb clause is a dependent clause that
does not make sense on its own. It relies on another, independent clause to
make sense. This is why they are sometimes called dependent adverb clause too. An
adverb clause offers a description and modifies the sentence, similar to how an
adverb does.
For example [words
in italics are adverbial clause]
i) He fought
as heroes do. [ as heroes do – works as
adverb gives the answer to how they
fought?]
ii) She
walks as if she is an old lady. [ as
if she is an old lady – works as adverb which gives the answer to how she
walks? ]
To know more about Adverb Clause in detail, click the link below and boost your knowledge.
https://learnenglisha1grammar.com/2022/06/07/what-is-an-adverb-clause-types-of-adverb-clause/
Hope my stunning readers have got
clear idea about clauses and types of clauses. Please follow the blog to get
more information about Basic English Grammar. And enhance your English knowledge to build your future.
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