Clause

Introduction

A clause normally has a subject and a verb plus other words.

1. ^subjectThe weather ^verbseems nice today
2. ^subjectOne of the children ^verbis reading a book
3. ^subjectProfessor Prune ^verbgave the students an assignment

Sentences can have two or more main clauses, joined by a coordinating conjunction such as and, or, but.

1. ^clauseAndrew teaches economics and ^clauseRichard teaches business studies.
2. ^clauseThe weather is nice today but ^clauseyesterday it rained.
3. ^clauseWe could go out this evening or ^clausewe could meet at the weekend.

Sentences can have subordinate clauses, introduced by a subordinating conjunction such as after, although, as, because, before, even though, if, once, since, so long as, though, unless, until, when, whenever, whereas, wherever, while.

1. ^{subordinate clause}Before I met you, ^{main clause}I had no idea what love was.
2. ^{main clause}She sat down ^{subordinate clause}because she was tired.
3. ^{subordinate clause}When the Moon is low on the horizon, ^{main clause}it can look unusually large.

👉 See also Conjunction

Websites

• Clause structure and verb patternsBritish Council
• Clauses: the essential building-blocksCapital Community College
• Building clausesUniversity of Ottawa
• ClausesCambridge Dictionary
• Sentences and clausesCollins Easy Learning Grammar

Relative clause

• Relative pronouns and relative clausesBritish Council
• Defining vs. non-defining clausesPurdue University
• Relative clausesCambridge Dictionary
• What are relative clauses and relative pronouns?Collins Easy Learning Grammar