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Grammatical Analysis: Clause

Clauses are building blocks of language that are larger than individual words and smaller than full sentences. There are two main types of clauses: main/independent clauses that can stand alone as complete thoughts, and subordinate/dependent clauses that require a main clause and cannot stand alone. Noun, adverbial, and adjective clauses are three common types of dependent clauses that function as nouns, adverbs, or adjectives respectively within sentences.

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33 views9 pages

Grammatical Analysis: Clause

Clauses are building blocks of language that are larger than individual words and smaller than full sentences. There are two main types of clauses: main/independent clauses that can stand alone as complete thoughts, and subordinate/dependent clauses that require a main clause and cannot stand alone. Noun, adverbial, and adjective clauses are three common types of dependent clauses that function as nouns, adverbs, or adjectives respectively within sentences.

Uploaded by

Vindy Yusovi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Grammatical Analysis

Clause
Clauses are building blocks of language that are
larger than phonemes, morphemes and words,
and smaller than sentences and utterances.

The clause is a group of words that usually


contains a (finite) verb, and often arguments of
the verb. Clauses are the basic elements of what
is called an utterance in oral language and a
sentence in written language.
Clause
Clauses come in two types: main clauses and
subordinate clauses. Both types of clause are
organized around a verb. They are made of a verb
phrase, some noun phrases that are arguments or
complements of the verb and, if required, some
adjuncts (which can also be phrases). Some specific
types of clause can be constructed without a verb.
They are usually adverbial phrases or nominal phrases
and are found more often in oral language. In some
languages, they are more frequent than in English.
Main/Independent Clause
• Main clauses can stand on their own and can
form a complete sentence by themselves. For
this reason, this type of clause is considered as
an independent clause.
Subordinate/Dependent Clause
• Subordinate clauses (i.e. embedded clauses)
depend on main clauses and are therefore referred
to as dependent clauses. These clauses have a verb
and can have arguments or complements, but they
do not express a complete thought. They are often
linked to main clauses by a subordinating
conjunction or a relative pronoun (e.g. that, since,
who). There are three types of dependent clauses,
depending on their functions: adjectival (relative),
noun and adverbial
Noun Clause
• A noun clause serves as a noun in a sentence
Ex:
1. What I want for dinner is a hamburger. (subject of the
predicate is)
2. The host told us how he escaped. (object of the
predicate told)
3. The vacation is what I need most. (complement of the
linking verb is)
4. Give it to whoever arrives first. (object of the
preposition to)
Who, Whom, Whoever, Whomever
• In deciding which case of who you should use in a clause, remember the
important rule: The case of the pronoun is governed by the role it plays in its
own clause, not by its relation to the rest of the sentence. Choosing the right
case of pronoun can be especially confusing because the pronoun may appear
to have more than one function.

Ex: They gave the money to whoever presented the winning ticket

At first, you may be tempted to think whomever rather than whoever should be
the pronoun here, on the assumption that it is the object of the preposition to.
But in fact the entire clause, not whoever, is the object of the preposition. Refer
to the basic rule: The case should be based on the pronoun’s role within its own
clause. In this clause, whoever is the subject of the verb presented. (A good way
to determine the right pronoun case is to forget everything but the clause itself)
Adverbial Clause
• Many subordinate clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions called adverbial
clauses. Examples of these conjunctions are because, unless, if, when, and
although. What these conjunctions have in common is that they make the clauses
that follow them unable to stand alone. The clauses act as adverbs, answering
questions like how, when, where, why, to what extent, and under what conditions.

Ex: While Mauna Loa was erupting and spewing fountains of lava into the air, we
drove away as quickly as we could.

In the preceding sentence, while is a subordinating conjunction introducing the


adverbial clause; the subject of the clause is Mauna Loa and the predicate is was
erupting and [was] spewing. This clause is dependent because it is an incomplete
thought. What happened while the volcano was erupting? The independent clause
we drove away as quickly as we could completes the thought. The adverbial clause
answers the question “When did we drive?”
Adjective Clause
• In the following sentence, the relative
pronoun that is the subject of its clause and
won is the predicate. This clause couldn’t
stand by itself. Its role in the complete
sentence is to modify novel, the subject of the
independent clause.
Ex: The novel that won the Pulitzer Prize didn’t
sell well when it was first published.

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