Grammar-QuizzesClausesClause Structure › A Clause

A Clause

Examine the parts that make up a clause

 

We are going to take a six-week trip to Europe because we want to see its beautiful cities.
 

 

 
DESCRIPTION

A phrase is a word group that:

  • includes a "head", so called because of (1) its primary (initial) position in the phrase or (2) its primary role (meaning) in the phrase.
  • does not express a complete thought.
  • does not meet the requirements of being a grammatical sentence (fragment).
     
NOUN PHRASE (NP) EXAMPLE EXAMPLE

Noun Phrases

 

a six-week trip (Det + Adj + N)

its beautiful cities (Genitive Det + Adj + N)

DETERMINER PHRASE (DP) WITH APPROXIMATIONS WITH DEGREE MODIFIERS

Determiner Phrases

approximately two

at least five

just enough

so few 

practically all

not very many

VERB PHRASE (VP) WITH SECONDARY VERBS WITH DEGREE & FREQUENCY MODIFIERS

Verb Phrase

Secondary Verbs

Degree Modifiers to Verbs

are¹ going² to take  [primary + secondary verbs]

are going to take a six-week trip to Europe 

wants to see (V + Inf)

wants to see its beautiful cities (V + Nonfinite Infin Cls)

really wants

hardly ever take

enjoys very much

enjoys often

ADJECTIVAL PHRASE (AdjP) WITH NUMBER & OTHER MODIFIERS WITH DEGREE MODIFIERS

Adjective Phrases

Number & Color Modifiers

Degree Modifiers to Adj

six-week long  (Det-N + Adj)

southern European  (Adj + Adj)

very beautiful  (Degree Adv + Adj)

rather expensive  (Degree Adv + Adj)

ADVERBIAL PHRASE (AdvP) PREPS WITH ADVERB MODIFIERS ADVERBS WITH DEGREE MODIFIERS

Adverb Phrase

Preps with Modifiers

Degree Modifiers to Adv

similarly to the way we traveled before (Adv + PP)

differently than the way we remembered (Adv + PP)

favorably of the places they saw (Adv + PP)

completely in control

exactly in the middle

much too quickly  (Degree Adv + Adv)

much more slowly (Adv + Adv)

fairly evenly  ( Adv + Adv)

very slowly ( Adv + Adv)

quite well  (Adv + Adv)

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (PP) AS COMPLEMENT TO (COMPLETES) THE VERB AS ADJUNCT (ADD-ON) TO THE CLAUSE

Prep Phrase (def.)

Prep. Phrase Uses

Adjunct / Connective Preps.

They left in the summer.  (P+ NP)

She spoke to me. (P + Prn)

He put the ID tag on his suitcase. (P + NP)

 

They took a trip in the summer. (P+ NP)

We went there because we want to see its beautiful cities. (P + Cls)

He is traveling now instead of in the winter.  (PP [PP[PP]])

 

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).

Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Compcomplement: an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause (e.g., DO – direct object; IO – indirect object; PP - prep. phrase);  Adjunctadjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Suplsupplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.

 

¹ In linguistic description, the primary verb is the verb marked for person or tense, which in this case is the auxiliary verb. [ARE going].  The secondary verb [going] complements the primary verb. See Primary vs. Secondary Verbs.

² In traditional grammar description, the main verb is the lexical verb, the verb with the dictionary meaning (not the auxiliary), [are GOING]. The combination of  the auxiliaries and the lexical verb is a verb group.  See Verb Group for "head" of a verb group.

 

 

 

 

 

A Nonfinite Clause

A dependent type of clause

 

 

Nonfinite Clause—a dependent structure

DESCRIPTION

A nonfinite clause expresses meaning as a verb or as a verb with complements, but it is limited. 

It includes:

  • a secondary verb form—not marked (inflected) for tense, number or person; does not convey tense, aspect or mood. (See Secondary Verbs.)
  • a noun phrase (one or more)occasionally an agent "person or thing that takes action" (Subj), an experiencer "person or thing that experiences change" (Ind Obj), or a patient "person or thing affected by the action" (Dir Obj).
  • an incomplete thought. The clause cannot stand on its own and needs attachment to an independent clause to make sense. (It is a "fragment".)

See Functions of Finite vs. Nonfinite Clauses.

CLAUSE TYPE EXAMPLES EXAMPLES

Nonfinite Clause 

(NF / NF Cls)

 

to take  — "infinitive"  / "infinitival nonfinite clause"

taking  — "gerund" / "gerundial nonfinite clause"

excited — "past participle" / past participial nonfinite clause"

for me to take —  ["for me" Subj + infinitive]

to take me on a trip  — [ infinitive + "me" IO]

to take a trip — Inf NF  [infinitive + "a trip" DO]

taking a trip — Ger NF

located in Paris  — past participial NF

 

our taking a six-week long trip to Europe — Ger NF (with a subject expressed as our)

for us to take a six-week long trip to Europe — Inf NF (with a subject expressed as for us)

having been to Paris before  — Ger NF (w/ an earlier time frame expressed as having + past participle)

to have taken a trip before — Inf NF (w/ an earlier time frame expressed as to have + past participle)

Secondary Verb refers to the verb forms included in nonfinites (base/plain form, infinitive, gerund, past participle). Nonfinite Clause refers to the structure which may consist of just the secondary verb and/or its complements.

-al is a suffix for adjectives: infinitival, gerundial, participial, adjectival  Either the noun form or the adjective form can be used in grammar descriptions.

Gerund – also called a Gerund-Participle as the two forms have been merged. 

Gerund or Gerundial (Adj), Infinitive or Infinitival (Adj), Participle or Participial (Adj).

Gerund Phrase / Infinitive Phrase — These are no longer analyzed as phrases. The term "phrase" is reserved for the examples at the top of this page.

w/ – with; w/o – without

Also see Finite/Nonfinite | Gerunds with Subjects | Infinitives with Subjects | Expressing Earlier Time with Nonfinites.

(Huddleston 14 §1) (Payne Ch 14.2-3)

 

 

 

 

A Finite Clause

An independent clause

 

 
DESCRIPTION

A finite clause is one or more noun phrases together with a predicator (a verb, an action) that combine to express a complete thought. A finite clause can stand alone as a sentence.

It includes:

  • a noun phrase (one or more)an agent "person or thing that takes action" (Subj), an experiencer "person or thing that experiences change" (Ind Obj), or a patient "person or thing affected by the action" (Dir Obj).
  • a predicator—an action, process or state that can be inflected (marked) for tense, person and sometimes number: tense (walk, walked), person (walk, walks; am, is are), number (was were, is, are). (See Primary Verbs.)
  • a complete thought—the subject and the predicate combine with other elements to form a complete thought. See topic and controlling idea.
      
CLAUSE TYPE EXAMPLE EXAMPLE

Finite

(Cls / F Cls)

 

Leave(imperative–subject is understood)  ([NP] + VP)

We are leaving. (NP + VP)

We are taking a trip(NP + VP + NP)

We are going to take a trip. (NP + VP + NF Cls)

We are going to take a six-week long trip to Europe.

because [we want to see its cities.] (ConnPrep. + Cls)

when [we want to see its cities.] (ConnPrep + Cls)

that [we want to see its cities.] (Subordinator + Cls)

and [we want to see its cities.] (Coordinator + Cls)

  

We are travelers. (statement)

We have our tickets. (statement)

We know the dates. (statement)

We age. (process)

We wait in lines. (process)

We travel. (action)

We carry our baggage. (action)

Also see Subject/Predicate | Comma Series |  Semicolons | Dashes | Run-On Sentences | Complete Thought.

 

 

 

 

Fragment vs. Clause

Express a complete thought

luggage
 

Fragment vs. Sentence

FRAGMENT (CLAUSE ELEMENT)

A fragment is a grouping of words that together do not express a complete thought or do not meet the requirements of being a grammatical sentence.

In fact, nearly eighty-six million annually. 

All those amazing things to see! 

How about your visa? 

Having shoes, which are comfortable.

And so do I. 

Over there.

SENTENCE (CLAUSE)

A sentence (a clause) includes at least a subject and a predicate. It expresses a complete thought.                                                                                    

Each year, millions of people travel to the U.S.

There are so many amazing things to see!.

What are you going to do about your visa? / Is your visa up to date?

It is important to have a good pair of comfortable walking shoes.

I have some good shoes too. 

The ticket office is over there.  

 

See  Complete Thought

 

 

 

 

 

A Subordinate Clause

A dependent type of clause

 

 

Subordinate clause vs. subordinte structure

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

A structure with the subordinator that + clause completes the meaning expressed by the subject and predicate. (A subordinator marks the clause as subordinate but does not add meaning to the clause.) A structure headed by a relative pronounthat, which, who, whom, whose, when, where—is a clause that modifies the noun before it. (The relative pronoun is a placeholder within the clause for a person, place, thing, etc.)  

MAIN CLAUSE SUBORDINATE CLS
SUBJ-PREDICATE COMPLEMENT TO SUBJ-PRED

We know

 

that we must take a passport. 

that we should pack our bags light.

(that) the trip is going to be fun.

that is a subordinator

MAIN CLAUSE THAT/WH + SUBORD CLS
CLAUSE WITH NOUN MODIFIER TO NOUN

Marseilles and Nice are cities

that are on the Mediterranean. 

thatrelative pronoun

We will sail to beautiful Malta,

which is rich with history.

whichrelative pronoun

We are travelers

who love a good adventure.

whorelative pronoun personal

We like to go to places

where the lifestyle is simple.

whererelative pronoun locational

This summer will be a time

when we can relax.

whererelative pronoun temporal

SUBORDINATE STRUCTURE

A structure with a preposition, such as before, after, because, while, though, adds extra information about the circumstances of the situation stated in the main clause. A preposition may accept a noun phrase, gerund or clause as its complement. In the examples below, the prepositional phrase (prep + clause) is a dependent of the main clause, and may be called an adjunct, connective or adverbial preposition

MAIN CLAUSE PREP + SUBORD CLAUSE
CLAUSE TEMPORAL PREP + CLS

We are going to call our parents

before we leave on our trip. 

after we leave on our trip. 

when we leave on our trip. 

whenever we can. 

before adjunct prep temporal

CLAUSE CONCESSION PREP + CLS

We are going to take raincoats

though the weather is good now.

even though the weather is good.

thoughadjunct prep concession

CLAUSE CONDITIONAL PREP + CLS

We buy things with Euros

if we cannot use a credit card. 

unless we can use a credit card. 

whether or not we have a card. 

ifadjunct prep condition

CLAUSE CAUSE-EFFECT PREP + CLS

We pack a lot of sunscreen

because our skin is sun-sensitive.

since our skin is sun-sensitive.

becauseadjunct prep reason

CLAUSE COMPARISON PREP + CLS

We pack more things

We pack as many things

 

than we actually need.

as we need.

thanadjunct prep comparison

CLAUSE PURPOSE PREP + CLS

We pack a lot of sunscreen

 

so that we can protect our skin.

in order to protect our skin.

so thatadjunct prep purpose

 

 

travelers (Eng-US) travellers (Eng-Br)

Related pages: Coordinated Clauses (and, but, or ), Relative Clauses, and Adjunct Prepositional Phrases.

See Grammar Notes for grammatical terms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A  Sentence

Spoken vs. Written

 

 

 

Understood vs. Explicit

UNDERSTOOD THOUGHT

Much of what we have to say in speech can be understood from the context of the situation. Consequently, we shorten our comments omitting the parts we think the other person can see or know.

Wonderful!  Oh!  Ah!  Wow!  Oh no!  Ha!

An exclamation is treated as a sentence with end punctuation even though it does not stand alone as a complete idea. 

Leave!   Stop!    Go!   Halt! 

An imperative sentence is treated as a sentence with end punctuation. It has no subject, but it is complete and is understood through the context of the situation. 

The more taxes, the more complaining.   The more the merrier.

Expressions are not punctuated like most sentences. 

Yes.  No.

Affirmative and negative answers, such as yes and no may stand alone and be followed by a period or exclamation mark.

EXPLICIT – CLEARLY STATED

In writing, we need to fully express an idea because we cannot expect the reader to see or know the context of the idea.                                                                                                                          

It is wonderful!   (it = the source of amazement, possibly news)

"It is" (something that both listener and speaker know) is understood. Optionally include the subject and predicate.

(You) leave!

"You" is understood. Optionally include the subject.

The more taxes (we have) , the more complaining (we do).

Understood:  the verbs / Optionally include the verbs. The more, the more

Yes, that is correct.

The question is understood. Optionally restate the question in the response.

 

explicit (Adj) – fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated

understood (Adj) – not fully expressed and requiring context

Also see Discourse Markers. and Interjections.

(Swan 514)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

 

 

 

Errors and Solutions

NOT A SENTENCE

We had a wonderful time there. In fact, great! 

(This is a fragment. It does not have a  subject or a predicate.)

 He crashed his car.  Because he was texting and not paying attention. 

(Because is the head of an adjunct prepositional phrase, which cannot stand by itself as a sentence.)

Put the book there.  On my desk. 

(This is a fragment. It does not have a  subject or a predicate.)

The thing that amazed me. 

(This is a fragment. It does not have a  subject or a predicate.)

The city had fewer than a million people before became a world trading center.

(The clause that complements before does not have a  subject.)  

Keep bedrooms free of clutter where bedbugs can hide and seal wall cracks and crevices.

(The subject is unclear in second clause. Are these crafty little bugs?)

pop questionPop-Q – "In fact" 

A  SENTENCE

We had a wonderful time there; in fact, it was great! 

We had a wonderful time there. In fact, it was great!

We had a wonderful, in fact, a great time there.

(Add a subject, verb and punctuation.)  See Examples

He crashed his car because he was texting and not paying attention.

Because he was texting and not paying attention, he crashed his car. (Separate the adjunct prep phrase with a comma when it is placed before the main clause.)

Put the book there, on my desk.

(Place a comma before the prepositional phrase; it is a comment that restates there.) 

The thing that amazed me was the architecture.  

(The main clause requires a subject and a predicate.)

The city had fewer than a million people before it became a world trading center. (Add a subject to the clause in the adjunct prepositional phrase.) 

Keep bedrooms free of clutter where bedbugs can hide.   Seal wall cracks and crevices.

(The best solution is to separate the clause into its own sentence.)

 

A written sentence needs a subject and a verb to be grammatical. (A sentence may be composed of one or more clauses.) A spoken sentence needs a complete thought and may rely more heavily on contextual information.  See Complete Thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

► Show Grammar Notes and Works Cited ▼ Hide Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Traditional Grammar and Linguistic Description

 

 

Traditional / ESL and Linguistic Descriptions

TRADITIONAL / ESL GRAMMAR
PHRASE

A phrase is a group of words that together have a particular meaning, but do not express a complete thought or do not meet the requirements of being a grammatical sentence. Phrases are the smaller parts that make a clause. (Azar  12-3, 13-11, 14-1, 18-1)

adverb phrase – Before falling asleep, she sucks her thumb.

gerund phrase – Running around the room is tiring.

infinitive phrase – To read her a story is helpful.

noun clause phrase – [What she wants] is unimportant.

participial phrase – The girl running around the room was noisy.

past participle phrase – The girl tired of crying fell asleep. 

possessive phrase – Her crying attracted attention.

prepositional phrase – The girl ran to everyone in the room.

DEPENDENT CLAUSE

"A dependent clause is not a complete sentence."  (Azar 242)

but the girl cried   

where the girl is sitting 

because the girl is tired 

although the girl is crying

if the girl sleeps  

 

(See participial phrase and infinitive phrase above.)

 

INDEPENDENT CLAUSE

An independent  clause includes at least a subject and a verb. It expresses a complete thought, and it can stand alone as a subject.

  • Leave.  (In an imperative, the subject is understood.) 
  • We are leaving.
  • We are taking a trip. 
  • We are going to take a trip.
  • We are going to take a six-week long trip to Europe.
  • We are going to take a six-week long trip to Europe because we want to see its beautiful cities.
LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
PHRASE

Phrasal Categories "Constituents containing more than one word (more specifically, containing a central and most important word augmented by appropriate accompanying words that elaborate its contribution to the sentence) are called phrases, and are assigned to phrasal categories." (Huddleston 1 §4.2.2)

The girl ran over very quickly to almost every person in the extremely noisy room.

NP –noun phrase;  The girl [determiner + noun]

VP – verb phrase;  ran over [verb + prep]

PP – prepositional phrase; in the room [prep + det + noun]

AdvP – adverb phrase; very quickly [adv + adv]

AdjP – adjective phrase;  extremely noisy  [adv + adj]

DetP – determinative phrase; almost every  [adv + det]

  

ADJUNCT

An adjunct is modifier in a clause. It is not essential to completing the meaning of the clause. We can understand the clause without it. Adjuncts include semantic categories such as time, duration, frequency, degree, purpose, reason, result, concession, condition, and so on. (See Huddleston 8 §1-20)

but the girl cried     (coordinative clause)

where the girl is sitting   (locative preposition – PP)

because the girl is tired   (cause-effect preposition– PP)

although the girl is crying  (concession preposition– PP)

if the girl sleeps   (conditional preposition– PP)

CLAUSE (NONFINITE)

A nonfinite clause includes a secondary.  A secondary (nonfinite) verb is one of three verb form types: infinitival, gerund-participle (-ing) or past participle (-ed).   Clauses whose verbs are secondary are called nonfinite clauses. (Huddleston 14 §1-8)

Gerund-participle clause

  • running around the room
  • crying on the floor

Past participle clause

  • tired of crying
  • broken in two

Infinitival clause

  • to leave the room now ("to" form with infinitival)
  • take her home  (plain form)
CLAUSE  (FINITE)

A  finite clause includes a primary verb. A primary (finite) verb can be marked by tense and number. In English, these include the past and the present tense verb forms. All other tenses are formed with one or more verb types: auxiliaries, modals and participles. Clauses whose verbs are primary are called finite clauses. (Huddleston 3 §1.80)

  • The child enjoys running around the room.
  • The child may be tired.
  • The child is falling asleep.
  • The child wants to leave the party now.
  • The child made her mother take her home. 
 

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).

Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Compcomplement: an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause (e.g., DO – direct object; IO – indirect object; PP - prep. phrase);  Adjunctadjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Suplsupplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.

 

 

Works Cited

  • Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
  • Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
  • Payne, Thomas Edward. "The forms of dependent clauses – the scale of grammatical dependency." Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2011.
  • Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.

 

 

 

 

Practice 1

Hiking

hikers
 

Decide whether the words are a phrase or a clause.

  1. Select the response from the list that best describes the example. 
  2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.

 

1.
 


Whenever
2.
 

3.


For example
4.


For example
5.

6.

7.


What
8.

9.

10.

 

 

 

 

 

Practice 2

Istanbul

Istanbul
 

Read for Errors

Istanbul is an amazing city. Because of its rich history and breath-taking location. The city of Istanbul has twenty-seven districts. Which are very different in character. Throughout its long history. It has been a cultural melting pot. 

Istanbul has diverse architectural styles. Because it has had diverse people. Greek, Roman and Byzantine structures.  All stand in harmony in the city of Istanbul. Hagia Sophia is very famous. As it was once the world's largest cathedral. Construction of the Walls of Constantinople began under Constantine the Great. But had to be enlarged as the city grew.

Because Istanbul is located on a Peninsula.  It is surrounded by water. You will see fishing boats and seafood markets. If you visit the port. Istanbul has two international airports. Atatürk International Airport on the European side. Sabiha Gökçen International Airport on the Asian side. The city has had huge growth recently. For example, about one million people in 1901 and now 13 million.

The city was and still is ideally situated. The crossroads to the great trade centers of Europe. Though occasionally it gets cold in the winter. The mild climate makes it an ideal place to live.

melting pot (expression) – mixing of cultures

architectural – building design styles

diverse – varying greatly, different

ideally – perfectly

is situated – is located; is placed, is built

 

 

 

 

Edit and correct the sentence if it needs correcting.

  1. Edit the sentences so that they form one complete sentence.
  2. Compare your response by clicking the "check" button.

 

11.
Istanbul is an amazing city.  Because of its rich history and breath-taking location.



Because of  
12.
The city of Istanbul has twenty-seven districts. Which are very different in character.



Which  
13.
Throughout its long history.  It has been a cultural melting pot. 



Throughout
14.
Istanbul has diverse architectural styles. Because it has had diverse people.  



Because
15.
Greek, Roman and Byzantine structures.  All stand in harmony in the city of Istanbul.



Colons
16.
Hagia Sophia is very famous. As it was once the world's largest cathedral.



As
17.
Construction of the Walls of Constantinople began under Constantine the Great. But had to be enlarged as the city grew.



But
18.
Because Istanbul is located on a Peninsula.  It is surrounded by water.



Because
19.
You will see fishing boats and seafood markets. If you visit the port.  



Conditionals
20.
Istanbul has two international airports.   Atatürk International Airport on the European side. Sabiha Gökçen International Airport on the Asian side.



Punctuation
21.
The city has had huge growth recently. For example, about one million people in 1901 and now 13 million.



Example Words
22.
The city was and still is ideally situated. The crossroads to the great trade centers of Europe.

23.
Though occasionally it gets cold in the winter. The mild climate makes it an ideal place to live. 



Though