Clauses
Clauses are groups of words that contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought. They can stand alone as a sentence or be part of a larger sentence. There are two main types of clauses: independent clauses, which can stand alone as complete sentences; and dependent clauses, which rely on an independent clause to form a complete sentence.
Independent Clauses
Independent clauses are groups of words that contain a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence. These clauses express a complete thought and do not rely on any other part of the sentence to make sense. Independent clauses can be joined together with coordinating conjunctions or punctuation to form complex sentences.
- Mary enjoys painting landscapes in her spare time.
- The company hired a new marketing director to improve sales.
- I prefer reading fiction novels over non-fiction books.
- John went to the gym every day last week to work on his fitness goals.
- The sun is shining brightly outside, making it a perfect day for a picnic.
Dependent Clauses
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb, but does not express a complete thought or idea. It relies on an independent clause to give it meaning and context. Dependent clauses are often introduced by subordinating conjunctions such as "although," "because," "when," "while," or "after." They cannot stand alone as a sentence and need to be attached to an independent clause to form a complete sentence.
- Since she forgot her umbrella, she got drenched in the rain.
- Although he studied all night, he still failed the test.
- When the power went out, the entire neighborhood was left in darkness.
- While I was cooking dinner, the smoke alarm went off.
- Because he missed the bus, he was late for work.
Adjective Clauses
Adjective clauses are dependent clauses that function as adjectives in a sentence. They provide additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause. Adjective clauses typically begin with a relative pronoun (such as who, whom, whose, which, or that) or a relative adverb (such as where, when, or why). They can be essential to the meaning of the sentence (restrictive) or provide extra, non-essential information (non-restrictive). Example of an essential adjective clause: The student who won the award is my friend. Example of a non-essential adjective clause: My friend, who won the award, is a talented student.
- The man who lives next door is a doctor.
- The restaurant that we visited last night had delicious food.
- The book that I borrowed from the library is informative.
- The car that he drives is brand new.
- The student who won the award worked hard all semester.
Adverb Clauses
Adverb clauses are dependent clauses that function as adverbs in a sentence. They usually describe how, when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens. Adverb clauses often begin with subordinating conjunctions such as "because," "although," "when," "since," "if," and "while."
- Before we left, she made sure to double check that all doors were locked.
- Since it was raining heavily, we decided to stay indoors for the day.
- Although he trained hard every day, he still didn't win the competition.
- While most people were sleeping, the night shift workers were starting their shift.
- As soon as the concert ended, the crowd rushed to the exits to beat the traffic.
