Clause
What is a Clause? Children's Definition
A clause is a feature of written English. Put simply, a clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb.
Clauses are what make up a sentence. They are groups of words that contain a subject and a verb. They can be a main clause, coordinate clause or a subordinate clause. It's important that children understand what a clause is because it's one of the building blocks of written English.An clause example is:
The subject of this clause is the fast, red squirrel, and the verb is 'darted'. This can also be called a simple sentence.
There are three basic forms of clause that can be used in a sentence, these include a main/ independent clause, subordinate clause, the adjective clause and the noun clause. While the independent clause could be used by itself as a complete sentence, the subordinate clause could not. For it to be correct, it would need to be paired with another clause: 'When the man broke into the house, the dog barked at him.'
A word is a small unit that has meaning, for example, 'Car' can be embellished by addingsmall groups of words that allow meaning to be explained. For example:
The shiny, blue car
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb that are normally used to add more detail to the noun in a sentence. A subject is a noun or pronoun in the sentence, while the verb is the action. An example of this clause is:
The shiny, blue car raced around the track.
The subject of the clause here is the 'shiny, blue car' and the verb is 'raced.' This is also known as a simple sentence.
What Are The Different Types of Clause?
1. What is a main clause?
A main clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and can form a complete sentence on its own.Main clauses are also often referred to as an independent clause as they don't need any additional information to make sense. They can stand alone perfectly fine without the support of another clause. They express a complete thought.
Sentences can consist of two main clauses or a main clause and another type of clause. When there is only one main clause and another different type of clause, the second clause depends on the main clause to make sense.
Examples of main clauses include:
- The cat mewed.
- His car broke down at the station.
- The girl laughed loudly.
2. What are subordinate clauses?
Unlike main clauses, subordinate clauses need a little help to make sense and they are also often referred to as dependent clauses.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 be linked to the main clause, using a subordinating conjunction.
Examples of Subordinate clause include:
- Sitting happily, the chicken laid eggs.
- The chicken, who was busy laying eggs, sat happily.
- Looking over the hill, she sighed wistfully.
- She sighed wistfully,looking over the hill.
- The girl,who was looking over the hill, sighed wistfully.
'Sitting happily' is a subordinate clause because it's not a complete thought. It needs the main clause, 'the chicken laid eggs', to make any sense to the reader. Because of this, a subordinate clause is known as a type of dependent clause.
3. What are coordinate clauses?
A coordinate clause is made when you connect two independent clauses that are of equal importance. These clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions. Similar to subordinate clauses,coordinate clauses also combines two sentences, so it can be difficult to get the difference between them right. A good way to remember the difference between the two is to first think of the meaning of 'coordinate'. To coordinate means to work together on equal standing. 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.
Examples of coordinate clauses include:
- He wanted to go to the beach but it started raining.
- You can feed the dog or you can wash the dishes.
- They have homework to do yet they keep putting it off.
Theses to clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction.
- I like chocolate and I like sweets.
Both 'I like chocolate' and 'I like sweets' are main clauses that can make sense independently. They've been joined together by the coordinating conjunction, 'and', to make a coordinate clause.
4. What are adjective clauses?
An adjective clause begins with a relative pronoun (such as whom, whose, which, or that) or a relative adverb (when, where, or why). This type of clause includes a relative pronoun or adverb alongside a subject and / or a verb.Similar to a subordinate clause, an adjective clause is a dependent clause because it relies on the rest of the sentence to make sense.
A good tip for remembering how to spot an adjective clause is to watch out for certain words. The only words that can be used to introduce an adjective clause arerelative pronouns(who, whose, whom, which or that) andsubordinating conjunctions(when and where).
Examples of adjective clauses include:
- The girl who has short hair is laughing.
- Toby whose dad is a vet lives next door.
- The book which has the dragon on the cover is my favourite.
- The stray cat that I pet sometimes is friendly.
- Those people whose names are on the list will go to camp.
Similar to a subordinate clause, an adjective clause is a dependent clause because it relies on the rest of the sentence to make sense. The phrase 'whose names are on the list' isn't a complete thought, so it wouldn't make sense all on its own.
5. What are noun clauses?
A noun clause is any clause that works in the same way as a noun. In other words, you could replace the clause with a noun, and it would still make sense. Noun clauses act in the same way as a noun or pronoun. It contains a subject and a verb, but not a complete thought, so it can't stand as its own sentence. A noun clause starts with a pronoun or a subordinating conjunction.
Examples of noun clauses include:
- Do you know what you're going to wear?
- Do you know what dress to wear?
- Do you knowwhere the café is?
- The caféwhere I workis just over there.
6. What are adverb clauses?
An adverb clause is a dependent clause that doesn't make sense on its own. It relies on another, independent clause to make sense. This is why they're sometimes called dependent adverb clauses too. An adverb clause offers a description and modifies the sentence, similar to how an adverb does. It contains a subject and a verb, but it doesn't express a complete thought.
Examples of adverb clauses include:
- She walked slowly.
- She walked like an old lady.
- She walked as if she were heading to the gallows.
What Are Clause Examples?
- During the day, Dracula slept in a coffin - The subject of this clause is 'Dracula'. The verb is 'slept'. 'During the day' is a phrase because there's no verb.
- When the Moon shone, he lurked in the shadows. - The subject of the first clause is 'the Moon'. The verb is 'shone'. The subject of the second clause is 'he'. The verb is 'lurked'.
- He stalked a pretty milkmaid, who lived in the neighbouring village. - Here, the subject of the first clause is 'he', the verb is 'stalked' and the subject of the second clause is who'.
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