Clause explained with its types

What is a Clause?

A clause is a grammatical term referring to a group of words containing a subject and a verb. The words comprising a clause may (or may not) make up a complete grammatical sentence.

Recall that the subject of a sentence is an entity that forms the first part of that sentence. It always performs an action. The verb is the action performed by the subject.

The instances below shows the subject and verb respectively in a sentence:

1. I ate rice and beans. ('I' is the subject and 'ate', the verb).
2. She danced. ('She' is the subject and 'danced', the verb).
3. We all laughed. ('We' is the subject and 'laughed', the verb).
   Please read more on transitive and intransitive verbs explained with examples here.

A clause may include the verb predicate. Think of a predicate as the second part of a sentence that tells us something about the subject; (the subject is the first part of a sentence). The predicate always begin with a verb.

Below are some examples that shows the predicate (underlined) and the verb predicate (written in color green):

• I ate rice.
• She danced joyfully.
• They laughed simultaneously.

Please read on phrases here.

Types of Clause

Depending on the type of clause, a clause may or may not create a complete meaning. In other words, a clause can be independent or dependent.

Once again, it is important to state that a clause must contain a subject and a verb, regardless whether it's independent or dependent.

1. Independent Clause

As the name implies, an independent clause will always stand alone and must contain at least, a subject and a verb (or a verb predicate). They are also referred to as the main clause.

The components of an independent clause are shown below:

Independent Clause = Subject + Verb

Independent Clause = Subject + Verb Predicate

An important point to note is the fact that grammatically correct sentences must contain at least, one main (or independent) clause.

Below are examples of independent clauses in sentences:

• I sang.
• At the party, I danced. (The independent clause is underlined in this instance).
• The little boy eats rice daily.
• She is a cheerful young woman.
• All good students read their books everyday.
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Notice that the above examples contain a subject and a verb. They are all grammatically correct and do not necessarily require an additional clause to make a complete sentence; (although the second example began with an additional clause: 'at the party').

2. Dependent Clause

They contain a subject and verb. However, they don't stand alone and cannot make complete sense.

As the name implies, a dependent clause will always depend on the main clause. In fact, a dependent clause must be joined to an independent clause for a sentence to become grammatically correct.

It is noteworthy to state that a dependent clause is also referred to as a subordinate clause.

Importantly, subordinate clauses may be introduced by relative pronouns like 'who, whom, that, which, what, whose, whomever, whatever and whichever'. Similarly, they may also be introduced through subordinating conjunctions like 'until, although, because, if, with, after, since, unless, even, through and when'.
Please read more on relative pronouns and compound relative pronouns here.

Below are examples of dependent clauses:

• Before I go to work
• Whenever I ask the question

From the above examples, the dependent clauses do not make a complete sentence. They will therefore require an independent clause to make a complete thought.

In the examples below, the dependent clause had been added to an independent clause (written in color green):

• Before I go to work, I say a prayer.
• Whenever I ask the question, Alfred replies.

Other examples of dependent clauses include:

• Until Mr. Ade comes
• Although the gods are not to blame
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• Since you love football
• When he read the motivational quotes
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• Because he showed mercy
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• If he wins

Notice that the above dependent clauses are all introduced by relative pronouns and subordinate conjunctions.

Always understand that dependent clauses does not make a complete sentence; rather they function in sentences as adjectives, nouns, and adverbs, thus giving rise to other types of clauses. These are:

• Noun or Nominal Clause

A nominal clause contains a subject and a verb, while also acting as a noun in a sentence. On it's own, a nominal clause cannot make a complete sentence. It are written in color green in the example below:

• I know what he is attempting to do.

Notice that the noun or nominal clause 'what he is attempting to do' is a noun because it refers to a person.

A nominal clause will always be traced to a person, animal, place or thing.

Please read on nouns formed from adjectives here.

Other examples of nominal clauses are written in color green in the sentences below:

• What I need is education.
  Please read on the causes of illiteracy here.

I need you to tell me how you got the knowledge.

• Whoever does his civic responsibilities will become successful.
  You can read on the responsibilities, duties and obligations of a citizen here.

• Adverbial Clause

Adverbial clause acts as an adverb in a sentence. Although they contain a subject and a verb, they cannot stand alone as a complete thought. An instance is shown below:

• They left for Abuja after the seminar was over.

Notice that the adverbial clause 'after the seminar was over' gives more detail to the verb 'left'.

It is the function of an adverbial clause to give more information about a verb.

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Below are more examples of adverbial clauses:

• The lazy student cheated until he was caught.
• The young man was heard even without a microphone.
• The centre back scored through a powerful header.

• Adjectival or Relative Clause

Adjectival clause acts as an adjective in a sentence. It contains a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. Below is an example:

• The young man, who gave you sweets yesterday, is my brother.

Notice that the adjectival clause 'who gave you sweets yesterday' gives more detail about the young man.

It is the function of an adjectival (or relative clause) to describe a noun. This means that it gives more information about a noun.

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Other examples of adjectival clause include:

• Everyone likes Joseph because he's a great leader.
  Please read on the leadership qualities of Joseph that has transformed lives here.
• The dark lady with blonde hair is here.
• The teacher is very experienced, although hilarious too.