#7. English Grammar Web: All types of Clauses with their Examples and Diagram

            Lesson No.7            

All types of Clauses with their Examples and Diagram

A clause is a grammatical unit that consists of a subject and a predicate. There are two main types of clauses: independent and dependent.

Independent clauses can stand alone as a complete sentence. They have a subject and a verb and express a complete thought.

Examples:

• The dog barked loudly.
• I am going to the store.

Dependent clauses, also known as subordinate clauses, cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. They depend on an independent clause to complete their meaning.

Examples:-

• Because the dog barked loudly, the neighbors complained.
• While I was going to the store, I saw a movie poster.

There are also other types of clauses, such as Relative clauses, Noun clauses, and Adverbial clauses, which function as different parts of speech within a sentence.

2. Relative/Adjective Clause:-

A Relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or pronoun and is introduced by a relative pronoun such as "who," "that," or "which." For example, in the sentence "The man who is talking to Mary is my brother," the clause "who is talking to Mary" is a relative clause that modifies the noun "man." Another example is "The car that I bought yesterday is red" the clause "that I bought yesterday" modifies the noun "car".

3. Noun Clause:-

A noun clause is a clause that functions as a noun in a sentence. It typically begins with a subordinating conjunctions, such as "that," "if," "whether," "what," "whatever," "when," "where," "which," "who," "whom," "whose," "why," "how," etc.

For example:-

• "What he said made no sense."
• The noun clause "What he said" is the subject of the sentence.
• "I don't know whether he will come."
• The noun clause "whether he will come" is the object of the verb "know."
• "It's unclear what the problem is."
• The noun clause "what the problem is" is the object of the preposition "is."
• "I wonder why he left so early."
• The noun clause "why he left so early" is the object of the verb "wonder"

In these examples, the noun clauses act as a subject, object, and the object of preposition respectively in the sentence.

4.Adverbial Clause:-

An adverbial clause is a clause that functions as an adverb in a sentence, typically providing information about time, cause, condition, manner, or degree. An adverbial clause is introduced by a conjunction such as "when," "because," "if," "although," "since," "while," "as," "until," "where," "how," etc.

Examples:-

• "After he finished his homework, he watched TV."
• The adverbial clause "after he finished his homework" tells us when he watched TV.
• "Because it was raining, we stayed indoors."
• The adverbial clause "because it was raining" tells us the reason for staying indoors.
• "If you study hard, you will pass the exam."
• The adverbial clause "if you study hard" tells us the condition for passing the exam.
• "Although he was tired, he decided to go for a run."
• The adverbial clause "although he was tired" tells us the contrast to the decision.
• "While I was cooking dinner, my phone rang."
• The adverbial clause "while I was cooking dinner" tells us when the phone rang.

In these examples, the adverbial clauses provide information about time, cause, condition, contrast, and time respectively in the sentence.

Summary:

However, a general diagram for clauses can be represented as below:

Sentence -> Independent Clause + [Dependent Clause]

An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence, while a dependent clause cannot. A dependent clause is a clause that relies on an independent clause to form a complete sentence.

Dependent clauses can be further categorized as:

• Adverbial clause
• Noun clause
• Relative clause

Independent Clause -> Subject + Verb + Object

An independent clause consists of a subject, a verb, and an object. The subject is the noun or pronoun that performs the action, the verb is the action that is performed, and the object is the noun or pronoun that is affected by the action.

Some examples of a sentence with all type of clauses:

"While I was cooking dinner, my phone rang and I answered it even though I was busy, that was my best friend who I haven't spoken to in a while"

In this sentence, "while I was cooking dinner" is an adverbial clause, "my phone rang" is an independent clause, "even though I was busy" is an adverbial clause, "that was my best friend" is a relative clause and "who I haven't spoken to in a while" is a relative clause.