UNIT 30 CLAUSE TYPES AND

SENTENCE TYPES
Structure

30.0 Objectives
30.1 Introduction
30.2 Independent and Dependent Clauses
30.3 Types of Dependent Clauses
30.4 Sentence Types
30.5 Let Us Sum Up
30.6 Answers

30.0 OBJECTIVES
After you have studied this unit, you will have learnt about
the different types of clauses, and
the classification of sentence types on the basis of the clauses they
contain.

30.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 21 of Block 5 we tried to answer the question: 'What is a sentence?,
and defined a sentence as follows:

A sentence 1s an ordered string of words which expresses a complete thought.

It generally consists of a subject and a predicate, and the verb in the predicate
agrees with the subject. Every sentence, when it is written, begins with a
capital letter. '

We also pointed out that a sentence could be a statement, a question, a

command, or an exclamation.

Birds sing. (statement)

Who sang at the concert last night? (wh. question)
Did he sing at the concert? (yeshio question)
Sing us a song. (command or request)
How well she sings! (exclamation)

In U n ~ t22 we described five basic sentence patterns and the elements which
made up these patterns - Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (0), Complement (C).
and Adverbials (A). Objects can be direct (DO) or indirect (I), and
complements Include subject complements (SC) and object complements (OC).

So far in our discuss~onsof sentences we have been looking malnly at what

are known as 'simple' sentences, that is, sentences consisting of just one 'part'
(called a 'clause') and only one 'verb' each. We shall now take up sentences
that can be looked upon as combinations of one or more 'parts' (or 'clauses').
<:ompound and Complex
Sentences 30.2 INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT CLAUSES
.Read the following sentences:
1. She is baking a cake today.
2. The dog came up to me when I whistled.

What is the obvious difference between these two sentences? (1) has a subject
(She) and a predicate (is baking a cake). What about (2)? It consists of two
'distinct parts, each with a subject and a predicate of its own. Each is called a
clause. The obvious difference between the two sentences, then, is that
sentence (2) contains two clauses. It is unlike sentence (I), which has only one
clause.

A clause is a group of words which has a subject and a predicate (with a

finite verb) of its own. In this sense, a 'simple' sentence (one subject and one
predicate) can also be called a clause. The conventional way of looking at a
clause, though, is to treat it as part of a larger sentence.

Read the following sentences. Each of them has more than one clause.
1. I stopped smoking because everybody seemed to dislike it intensely.
2. You had better huny up if you want to catch the 5.30 train.
3. Kindly look through the paper carefully before you sign it, as it will be
produced before the higher authorities.
4. I was hoping that they would accept my suggestions, but for some reason
they turned down all of them and put up their own.

In sentences 1-4 which, as you must have noticed, have more than one clause
each and which therefore are not simple ones (i.e., those with a single clause
structure), two types of clauses can be identified':
i. independent clause (also called 'main clause')
ii. dependent clause (also called 'subordinate clause')

An independent clause constitutes the principal part of the sentence. It is

independent in the literal sense that it does not have to depend on the rest of
the sentence to make a complete statement.

The dog carne rtp to rtle when I whistled.

He is saving now so that he can relax after retirement.
I

The italicized clauses ip the above sentences are independent clauses. Each
consists of a subject ( the dog, he) and a predicate (came up to me, is saving
now), and each expresses a complete idea. Each can stand on its own and
abes not require'any additions to make complete sense.

A dependent clause, on the other hand, is one that cannot stand by itself ; it
depends on the main clause for it to be meaningful. '...when I whistled', or
'...so that he can relax after retirement' are incomplete except when they are
read or heard as parts of the longer sentences. They are both dependent
clauses.
Check Your Progress 1
1. Indicate the number of clauses in each of the following sentences.
i. You are an old friend of mine
ii. It is obvious that you are an old friend of mine
 Clause Types and
iii. I reached the station when most passengers had occupied their seats
Sentence Types
and the train had started moving
iv. They and their relatives do not get along very well
v. I am not sure what you want or why you come round so often.
2. Identify the 'main' (or independent) clauses in the following sentences:
i. He passed the examination because he worked very hard last year.
..............................................................................................................
ii. If you come to my house, I will show you my new books.
..............................................................................................................
iii. It is said that he who can control himself can control others.
..............................................................................................................
iv. You did it because you had no choice in the matter.

v. Although he is poor and needy, he is scrupulously honest.

3. Now identify a main (independent) clause in each sentence of the following

passage:
"When my mother learned of my father's decision to send me to the
Dadar School, she was appalled. She had never been to Bombay, and to
her it might have been a foreign country. She could not understand the
reason for sending me nine hundred miles away from home to attend
school with orphans and children of the poorest classes. After all, another
year at home could not but help my development. Yet she placed her faith
in my father's superior judgment, and in her quiet way she acquiesced."
4. Rewrite the following sentences using the wordlwords given against each.
Make each sentence a single clause type (a 'simple' sentence) as in the
example:
Exarnple: He is successful because he works very hard. (because of)
He is successful because of (his) hard work.
i. He is well-known bkcause he is very honest. (for)

ii. He was declared not guilty as there wasn't enough evidence against
him. (for lack of)

ii~.He is a true friend. though he has many shortcomings. (in spite of)

iv. The college will remain closed on Tuesday because it is a national

holiday. (on account of)

! v. He showed up when I needed him most. (in my hour of)

1
I ..............................................................................................................
L
Cun~poundPad Complex
Sentences 30.3 TYPES OF DEPENDENT CLAUSES
A dependent clause, as has been pointed out, depends upon the main or
independent clause to form a sentence. Very often it does the work of a noun,
an adjective, or an adverb. Look at the following:

noun She told me a story

She told me what I wanted to hear.

adjective the old man ......

.
the man who is old ..........
adverb He reached late.
He reached when he was not expected.

Notice In the examples above that dependent clauses have taken the place of
single words - nouns, adject~ves,and adverbs. In (1)' the direct object 'a
story', which is a noun phrase, has been replaced by 'what I wanted to hear',
which is a clause functioning as a noun, i.e. as the object of the verb 'told'. In
(2) 'old' has been replaced by 'who is old' - a clause modifying the noun
phrase the 'man', like an adjective. In (3)' the adverb 'late' has been replaced
by a clause 'when he was not expected', functioning as an adverbial.

A dependent clause is sometimes named after the 'part of speech' whose

function it assumes in the sentence. A clause which does the work of a noun
is called a noun clause. The same is true of the other two types also. We can,
therefore, classify dependent clauses as:
1. Noun clauseq
2. Adjective clauses
3. Adverb clauses

A noun clause may occur in a place where a noun can be used. To take three
common ihstances, it can be (a) the subject of a verb, (b) the object of a verb,
and (c) the object of a preposition.
Examples:

1. The report is doubtful.

Whatever he says is doubtful
(subject: replaces the report)
2. He told me .a story.
He told me what I wanted to hear.
(object: replaces a story)
3. I am not interested in your story
I am not interested in what you have just told me.
(object of 'in')
Here are a few more examples for you to study.
We moved the chair to the front.
We moved the chair' to where the teacher wanted it.
She told me about her early resignation.
She told me that she will/would resign her job soon.
A lot depends on the coalition partners' belief in each other.
A lot depends on how far the coalition partners believe in each other.
 Clause Types and
An adjective clause (also called 'relative' clause; see Unit 27 in Block 8) is Sentence Types
one which modifies the head of a noun phrase. It is connected with the noun
headword that is modified by a relative pronoun like 'which', 'who', 'that', etc.
(Often conjunctive adverbs - 'when' and 'where' - may also be used in place
of relative pronouns.)
Examples:

1. The man whom you have just met is a neighbour of mine.

2. The girl who was here yesterday is a student of mine.
3. The place where I was born has a different name now.
Note: In each of the above sentences the subject noun phrase including the
relative clause (Ex. The man whom you have just met) can be treated as a
s~ngleunit functioning as the subject of the sentence.
Here are a few more examples for you to study:
The woman who(m) he married becatne a well known dancer.
The tunnel that the train just passed through is a marvel of engineering.
The children whom this orphanage is looking after were picked up from the
streets of the metropolis.

The common functions of an adverb clause are to express relationships such as

place, time, manner, purpose, result, condition, etc. The following are a few
illustrative examples:
1. I will go there.
I will go where you want me to work. (place)
2. He waited all the time.
He waited till he heard the sound o f a n approaching car. (time)
3. She appeared as witness willingly.
She appeared as a witness because she knew the truth. (reason)
4. He acted skilljitlly.
He acted as ij' he knew the truth. (manner)
5. $you come to our house, I shall introduce you to my sister. (condition)

Here are a few more examples for you to study:

Take an umbrella with you in case it rains
It rained so hard that all the streets were jloodeti.
As it was rairling hard in Clzennai, the OD1 had to be abandoned.

To summarise, a.clause is a group of words with a subject and a predicate of

its own. There are two types of clauses -- independent and dependent.
Dependent clauses may be classified as Noun, Adjective, and Adverb clauses,
on the basis of the function that each performs.
Check Your Progress 2
1. Pick out dependent clauses from the following paragraph and classify them:
The locality where I wish to stay may not be a well-known one. You
might ask why I should choose to live there at all. Well, I want to live
there because it will be far from the madding crowd, so to say. I prefer a
local~tywhich very few businessmen will want to visit. If it was a popular
place from the businessmen's point of view. ~t wouldn't attract me at all. I
am obviously interested in what no one seems to like very much - a place
Compound and Complex where I can devote my time to reading, writing and meditation. Can any
Sentences
estate agent lead me to what I am looking for?

....................................................................................................
)mplete the following, using clauses as indicated:
I asked him ........................(noun clause)
The story ........................is not convincing. (adjective clause)
I work hard ........................ (adverb clause)
I believe in ........................(noun clause)
......................... he is honest. (adverb clause)
Have vou finished the book ........................ ? (adiective clause)

SENTENC'E TYPES
We can look at sentences in different ways. One way is to classify them
according to function and according to the arrangement of their constituent
elements. In Unit 21 of Block 5 we referred to declaratory, interrogative, I

irnpkFative, and exclarnutoly sentences. They all had different functions and 1
!
different grammatical structures. We can also consider whether a sentence
consists of only one clause or more than one clause; and, if it has more than
one clause, whether the clauses are all independent of each other or any one
ofdthem is a dependent clause.

On this basis we can recognize four types of sentences.

1. A simple sentence
2. A complex sentence
i
3. A compound sentence
4
4. A compound-complex sentence !
A s i mble
~ sentence is on e which conta ins only one subject and one predicate,
such as the following:

I
She likes tea. .
All of us avoid noisy places.
Most of us welcome non-smoking compartments.

Now let's rewrite it as below:

1

iI
She and her sister like tea.
She likes tea as well as coffee.
She and her sister like tea, coffee and milk.

Would you call the above simple sentences? Structurally, the answer is a clear
'yes'. Each sentence has a subject and a predicate. Whether the subject, or
 Clause Types and
the predicate, contains one or more than one element is immaterial, so long as Sentence Types
it functions as a single connected group. Here are two more examples:

Ex. Apples have come into the market.

Fresh fruits and vegetables from Baramulla and Oodi have come into all the
supermarkets today.

Another way of describing a simple sentence is to say it is a sentence which

consists of a single independent clause.

My sister is an athlete.
My sister and I are athletes.
Mohan, his sister, and their cousin Meena are at the same school.

A Complex sentence is one which contains one independent clause and one
or more dependent clauses:
Examples:
I. Everybody knows that the earth is round.
2. He is the one who(m) I like most.
3. If we don't rneet tomorrow, we shall postpone our discussion till next
week.
4. Whether the}? choose to stay away or whether a lnajority of thein are
present at the meeting, we shall go ahead with the general elections if the
majorlty favours it.

(Now study Sentence 4 above to know a) the number of clauses in it and b)

the number of dependent clauses in it)

A compound sentence is one which contains two or more independent

clauses joined together by a 'coordinating conjunction' like 'and', 'or', 'but',
etc. Each clause is independent of the other, and makes a complete statement.
E.rarriples:
1. You can go by train or you can take a bus.
2. 1 believe in democracy but I don't believe in a total lack of control.
3. I like poetry, and 1 don't dislike prose,.but I can't appreciate many modem
specimens of either.
4. Some alternative medicines are capable of treating chronic illnesses and
also providing a healthy life style to both young asd old.

A compound-complex sentence is a combination of a compound sentence

and a complex sentence. Such a sentence contains two or more independent
and one or more dependent clauses.

1. I had nothing against him when I met him last, but I have found out since
that ~iiostof what he says is untrue, and he says it so convincingly.
2. He speaks for the proposition when it suits him and where it serves his
personal goals but we cannot trust him to vote for it when it comes to the
crunch.
Cumpoulid and complex Check Your Progress 3
Sentc~lrer
Taking each sentence in the following paragraph, say whether it is a simple, a
complex, a compound, or a compound-complex sentence.
1. The wind and the sun were good fr~endsbut sometimes they quarreled
with each other.
2. Both were strong in their own way, but they always f o q h t about who was
stronger.
3. The sun grew hotter and hotter when he argued, and the wind grew
rougher and wilder when he argued.
4. One day they started quarrelling over the same point again.
5. The point which had been discussed a thousand times already was taken
up again as if it was a new one.

In this unit, we have discussed independent and dependent clauses in sentences,

and how dependent clauses can be classified. We have also presented various
types of sentences to grasp the nature of the clauses they contain.

Check Your Progress 1

1. i. 1
2
3
1
3
2. i. He passed the examination
ii. I will show you my new books
v. It is said
vi. You did it
vii. He is scrupulously honest
3. - she was appalled
- she had never been to Bombay
- to her it might have been a foreign country.
- She could not understand
- She placed her faith in my father's superior judgment
- In her own quiet way she acqu~esced.
4. i. He is well-known for his honesty
ii. He was dklared not guilty for lack of enough evidence against him.
iii. He is a true friend in spite of many known shortcomings.
iv. T l e college wili remain closed on Tuesday on account of a national holiday.
v. He showed up in my hour of need.
 Check Your Progress 2 Clause Types and
Sentence Types

I 1. where I wish to say (adjective clause)

why I should choose to live there at all. (noun clause, object of 'ask')
because it will be far fiom the madding crowd. (adverb clause, reason)
which very few businessmen will want to visit. (adjective clause)
If it was a popular ....................... point of view. (adverb clause, condition)
what no one seems to like very much. (noun clause, object of 'in')
yrhere I can meditation. (adjective clause)
i
! what I am looking for? (noun clause, object of 'to')
I
i 2. How are a few samples.
1 i. ....................... where he lived.
1 ii. .......................(that you have just told me.
...
m. ....................... because I want to get the first position in the class.
iv. ....................... what you have told me.
v. Although he is poor, .........
vi. (that) I lent you yesterday.
I
Check Your Progress 3
1. compound
2. compound-complex
3. compound-complex
4, simple
5. complex