Types of Clauses

CLAUSES &

CLAUSE TYPES

by Nguyen Tran Ai Duy

This presentation aims at learners

whose level of English is at least Intermediate.

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​There is no way that errors do not occur due to limited research time.

If you spot any, please inform me. Thank you so much!

Let's try!

Look at the following sentences, and decide the number of clauses that each sentence has.

1. Mr AD wanted to be a teacher.

2. That he is really strict in class is barely known.

3. ​If I had to live my life without you near me, the days would all be empty, the nights would seem so long.

4. ​Globally, there have been more than 218.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 4.5 million associated deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

5. ​​If it falls on a weekday it will be left to the discretion of employers to give their staff the day off, and there will be no substitute day off if it falls on a weekend.

Answers

1. Mr AD wanted to be a teacher. (1)

2. That he is really strict in class is barely known. (2)

3. ​If I had to live my life without you near me, the days would all be empty, the nights would seem so long. (3)

4. ​Globally, there have been more than 218.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 4.5 million associated deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. (1)

5. ​​If it falls on a weekday it will be left to the discretion of employers to give their staff the day off, and there will be no substitute day off if it falls on a weekend. (4)

What is a clause?

A clause is a group of words/ phrases that

• consist of a subject and a finite form of a verb (CALD).

• ​express a complete meaning

• need a full stop to become a complete sentence. (Independent clauses only - more later)

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What is a clause? (cont.)

​​Let's look at the previous examples: ​

1. I love you. => 1 clause

2. That he is really strict in class is barely known. => 2 clauses

3. ​​If I had to live my life without you near me, the days would all be empty, the nights would seem so long. => 3 clauses

4. ​If it falls on a weekday it will be left to the discretion of employers to give their staff the day off, and there will be no substitute day off if it falls on a weekend.  => 4 clauses

​Clauses can be classified as follows:

• ​Dependent & Independent (structure-based)

• ​Purpose, Adjective, Adverb/ Adverbial, Relative, etc. (function-based)

​The focus of this presentation is on Dependent and Independent clauses.

Dependent

vs

Independent

Hands-on Experience of Clause Types

What types of clause are used in these sentences? Identify them in terms of Dependent and Independent.

1. That he is really strict in class is barely known.

2. As many don't know he's so strict, they keep trifling with him.

3. ​If I had to live my life without you near me, the days would all be empty, the nights would seem so long.

4. ​​​If it falls on a weekday it will be left to the discretion of employers to give their staff the day off, and there will be no substitute day off if it falls on a weekend.

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DEPENDENT means "cannot stand alone".

=> Dependent clauses:

• ​cannot stand alone to make a complete sentence.

• cannot form complete sentences, so a sentence with only dependent clause(s) is grammatically wrong.

• normally come with dependent marker(s), also known as subordinating conjunction(s).

  only appear in complex and compound-complex sentences.

• Most common dependent markers are: after, as/ when, as if/ as though, because, before, in order that, so that, even if, since/ for/ as, although/ (even) though, than, until, if, unless, until, whatever/ whenever/ whatever/ however, whether, while/ whilst, provided that/ providing that.

• ​Dependent clauses with the presence of dependent markers are function-based clauses, i.e. Purpose, Concession, Adverbial, Relative, Emphatic.

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​Examples:

• ​Because he does adore her, he is so determined to marry her.​

• Few people are aware that he keeps hiding his agonized eyes from the public.

• ​"And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind."

• ​When you need anything else, it's ok to call me.

• ​​That Mr AD is really strict in class is not known by his students.

• ​​​​If it falls on a weekday it will be left to the discretion of employers to give their staff the day off, and there will be no substitute day off if it falls on a weekend.

• ​He tried really hard so that the results would be better.

INDEPENDENT means "can stand alone".

=> Independent clauses:

• can stand alone to make a complete sentence.

• ​​​normally comes with coordinating conjunctions (and, or, so), independent marker(s), and/or stance adverb(s).

• ​appear in any kind of sentences (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex)

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• ​​It may come with some coordinating conjunctions: and, or, so

• It may also have independent marker(s) like also, hence, consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore, thus, on the one hand/ on the other hand.

• ​It might be introduced with stance adverb(s) (= "opinion adverbs") like apparently, clearly, obviously, regrettably, typically, ubdoubtedly,

​Examples:

• ​Because he does adore her, he is so determined to marry her.​

• ​​Few people are aware that he keeps hiding his agonized eyes from the public.

• ​​"And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind."

• ​When you need anything else, it's ok to call me.

• ​​That Mr AD is really strict in class is not known by his students.

• ​​​​If it falls on a weekday it will be left to the discretion of employers to give their staff the day off, and there will be no substitute day off if it falls on a weekend.

PRACTICE

Task: How many clauses are there in each sentence?

​Example:

• ​I love the versatility of the Fold 3 (and Fold 2). -> 1 clause

• It’s a small phone I can use with one hand easily. -> 2 clauses

• Unfolded, it’s a small tablet that shows more information than any smartphone else does. -> 3 clauses

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1.  Webb is the world’s most complex space science observatory.

2. It consists of a 6.5-metre mirror and a tennis-court-sized sunshield, all of which will be folded into the nose-cone of a European Space Agency Ariane 5 rocket for launch later this year. ​

3. Ensuring that it will unfold correctly once in space has generated a huge number of technical challenges, and this has led to many delays and a budget that has ballooned to about $10bn. ​

4. Since then, Hubble has been extraordinarily successful, making substantial scientific contributions to almost every branch of astronomy.

5. To power the acceleration, cosmologists now believe that a mysterious energy field, known as dark energy, must be among the universe’s principal components.

6. According to a new report, federal officials have told the Biden administration they may need more time to review data before they recommend COVID-19 booster shots to most of the U.S. public.

​7. Reportedly, they may only have information for people who already received the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

​8. At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is uncommon among children.

​9. The study is a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.

​10. Labour should seize the opportunity to make the case for alternative ways of funding social care.

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ANSWERS

1. ​1

2. ​2

3. 4

4. 1

5. 2 ​

​6. 3

7. 2

8. 2

9. 1 (*)

10. 1

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​More practice can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iBIyxmjaTbkeqx36vjy1Gc1v5D6xybTR/view?usp=sharing

​Thank you for viewing!