VII. Clause

        WHAT IS CLAUSE?

                                  - part of sentence that contains subject and predicate. Every clause has at least one subject and a verb or predicate.


               2 Classes of Clause: Main Clauses and Subordinate Clauses 

                                    According to icosa.hkbu.edu.hk, A main clause is a clause that makes sense on its own and can also exist in a sentence on its own. On the other hand, subordinate clause is a clause that does not make sense on its own and cannot be a sentence on its own but is a complete sentence with subject and predicate. Mostly, subordinate clauses can be found together with the subordinating conjunctions such as "because", "although", "even though", etc. For example:

                   The ball is flying away from the basketball court because the players kick the ball furiously. 

                                   The bold clause is an example of a main clause because it can stand on its own and it does not use subordinating conjunctions after all. On the other hand, the underlined clause make use of a subordinating conjunction "because", therefore it is a sign that it is an example of a subordinate clause. 

               2 Types of Clause: Independent Clauses and Dependent Clauses 

                         According to www.towson.edu, an independent clause contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought while a dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but no complete thought and can be identified by looking to its dependent word marker or subordinating conjunctions just like the subordinate clause.

    5 Forms of Clause:

  1.  Noun Clause - is a dependent/subordinate clause that plays the role of a noun
  2.  Verb Clause - is an independent clause that performs a verbal function and that consists of a subject and a predicate.
  3.  Adverbial Clause - is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb. That is, the entire clause modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
  4.  Subordinate Clause -  a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence; it merely complements a sentence's main clause, thereby adding to the whole unit of meaning
  5.  Relative Clause - is one kind of dependent clause. It has a subject and verb, but can't stand alone as a sentence. It is sometimes called an “adjective clause” because it functions like an adjective—it gives more information about a noun.