Clauses: Building Blocks

for Sentences

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Aclauseisagroupof
relatedwordscontaining
asubjectandaverb.
Itisdifferentfromaphraseinthataphrasedoes
notincludeasubjectandaverbrelationship.
Therearemanydifferentkindsofclauses.Itwouldbe
helpfultoreviewsomeofthegrammarvocabularywe
usetotalkaboutclauses.
WordsandphrasesinthiscolorarehyperlinkstotheGuidetoGrammar&Writing.

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Clauses consist of a Subject and Verb and

sometimes a subordinating conjunction.
Roger went to Japan last summer.
After he went to Japan, Roger went to Korea.
Roger is the man who went to Japan last summer.
Whoever went to Japan had a great time.

(Independent clause)
(Adverbial clause)
(Relative clause)
(Noun clause)

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Phrases are groups of words without

a complete subject or verb.
After Japan, Roger went to Korea.

(Prepositional
phrase)

Roger gave Roseline a bouquet of

flowers.

(Noun phrase)

She did her work extremely well

(Adverb phrase)

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Clauses
Independent:
Aclausethatcanstandbyitselfandstillmake
sense.
Anindependentclausecouldbeitsown
sentence,butisoftenpartofalargerstructure,
combinedwithotherindependentclausesand
withdependentclauses.
Independentclausesaresometimescalled
essentialorrestrictiveclauses.

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Clauses
Dependent:
Aclausethatcannotstandbyitself.Itdependson
somethingelse,anindependentclause,forits
meaning.
Adependentclausetryingtostandbyitselfwould
beasentencefragment.
Dependentclausesaresometimescalled
subordinate,nonessential,ornonrestrictiveclauses.
Wewillreviewthedifferentkindsofdependent
clauses.

Clauses
Andherearesomeexamplesofindependentclauses....

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1.Independentclauses:
Glaciersoftenleavebehindholesintheground.
Theseholesarecalledkettles,andtheylookjustlike
scoopedoutpots.
Glaciersalsoleavebehindenormousdepositsofglacial
garbage;thesedepositsarecalledmorains.
Kettleholesresultwhenalargeblockoficeisleftbehind
theglacierandthenmeltsaway,leavingalargedepression.
Thislastsentencedeservesfurtherattention....

Clauses

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Noticethatthissentenceconsistsofaverybriefindependent
clausefollowedbyalongandcomplexdependentclause.
Kettleholesresultwhenalargeblockoficeisleftbehind
theglacierandthenmeltsaway,leavingalargedepression.
Thedependentclausebeginswithwhatiscalleda
subordinatingconjunction.Thiscausestheclausetobe
dependentupontherestofthesentenceforitsmeaning;it
cannotstandbyitself.
More on dependent clauses in a moment. . . .

Clauses

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Independentclausescanbeconnectedinavarietyofways:
1.Byacommaandlittleconjunction(and,but,or,nor,for,
yet,andsometimesso).
2.Byasemicolon,byitself.
3.Byasemicolonaccompaniedbyaconjunctiveadverb
(suchashowever,moreover,nevertheless,asaresult,
consequently,etc.).
4.And,ofcourse,independentclausesareoftennot
connectedbypunctuationatallbutareseparatedbyaperiod.

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Clauses: Building Blocks

for Sentences
Dependentclausescanbeidentifiedandclassifiedaccordingto
theirroleinthesentence.
Nounclausesdoanythingthatanouncando.Theycanbe
subjects,objects,andobjectsofprepositions.
WhatTurveydrophasforgottenaboutAmericanpolitics
couldfillentirelibraries.
PresidentJohnsonfinallyrevealedwhathehadinmindfor
hiscongressionalleaders.
SheilaThistlethwaitehaswrittenamarvelousbookabout
howAmericanpoliticsandeconomicprocessesoftenrun
countertocommonsense.

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Clauses: Building Blocks

for Sentences
Dependentclausescanbeidentifiedandclassifiedaccordingto
theirroleinthesentence.
ADVERBCLAUSEStendtotellussomethingaboutthe
sentencesmainverb:when,why,underwhatconditions.
AfterJubalEarlyinvadedtheoutskirtsofWashington,
Congressionalleaderstookthesouthernthreatmoreseriously.
Lincolninsistedonattendingthetheaterthatnightbecauseit
wasimportanttodemonstratedomestictranquility.
Noticehowthedependentclausesbeginwithdependentwords,
wordsthatsubordinatewhatfollowstotherestofthesentence.
Thesewordsarealsocalledsubordinatingconjunctions.

Clauses: Building Blocks

for Sentences

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Dependentclausescanbeidentifiedandclassifiedaccordingto
theirroleinthesentence.
ADJECTIVECLAUSESmodifynounsorpronounsinthe
restofthesentence..

TheInternet,whichstartedoutasameansformilitaryandacademic
typestosharedocuments,hasbecomeahouseholdnecessity.
TimBernersLee,whodevelopedtheWorldWideWeb,couldnever
haveforeseenthepopularityofhisinvention.
Thegraphicaluserinterface(GUI)thatwealltakeforgranted
nowadaysisactuallyalatedevelopmentintheWorldWideWeb.
Notice,now,howthesubjectisoftenseparatedfromitsverbby
informationrepresentedbythedependentclause.

Clauses: Building Blocks

for Sentences

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Sometimesanadjectiveclausehasnosubjectotherthanthe
relativepronounthatintroducestheclauses.
The Internet was started in 1969 under a contract let by the
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which connected
four major computers at universities in the southwestern US
(UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, UCSB, and the University
of Utah).
Suchclausesallbeginningwithwhich,that,oraform
ofwhoarealsoknownasRELATIVECLAUSES.The
relativepronounservesasthesubjectofthedependentclause
andrelatestosomewordorideaintheindependentclause.

Clauses: Building Blocks

for Sentences

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UnderstandingCLAUSESandhowtheyareconnectedwithin
thelargerstructureofyoursentencewillhelpyouavoid
SentenceFragments

RunonSentences

andmakeitpossibleforyoutopunctuateyoursentences
properlyandwriteconfidentlywithavarietyofsentence
structures.

This PowerPoint presentation was created by

Charles Darling, PhD

CapitalCommunityCollege

Professor of English and Webmaster

Capital Community College
Hartford, Connecticut
copyright November 1999