INCOMPLETE INDEPENDENT CLAUSES

The structures practiced in this lesson are the ones that are most often tested in the Structure section. About 20% of all
problems in the section (usually three or four per test) involve incomplete independent clauses.

A) Clauses

All sentences consist of one or more clauses. A simple sentence consists of one clause.

People need vitamins.

The man took a vitamin pill.
Judy lives in northern California.
In the summer, Tom walks to his office.

A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (such as and and but).

The man took a vitamin pill, and he drank a glass of orange juice.
Judy lives in northern California now, but she was raised in Ohio.

A complex sentence consists of an independent clause (called the main clause) and a dependent (subordinate) clause.
Subordinate clauses may be adverb clauses, noun clauses, or adjective clauses.

In the sentences below, the independent clauses are italicized.

The man took a vitamin pill because he had a cold.

(independent clause + adverb clause)

I didn't realize that Nancy was here.

(independent clause + noun clause)

Tom walks to his office, which is located on Broadway, every day during the summer.
(independent clause + adjective clause)

B) Missing Subjects, Verbs, Objects, and Complements

All clauses have a subject and a verb. Clauses with an action verb often take a direct object as well.

Subject Verb Object

People need vitamins.

The verb missing from an independent clause may be a single-word verb (need, was, took, had, walked) or a verb phrase
consisting of one or more auxiliary verbs and a main verb (will need, has been, should take, would have had, had walked).
The verbs may be active (need, take) or passive (was needed, is taken).

The missing subject and direct object may be a noun (people, vitamins, Tom) a noun phrase (some famous people, a
vitamin pill, my friend Tom) or a pronoun. (He, she, it, and they are subject pronouns; him, her, it and them are object
pronouns.)

After the verb to be and certain other non-action verbs, a subject complement is used rather than a direct object. (Subject
complements are also known as predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives.)

Subject Verb Complement

She is an architect.
The teacher seemed upset.

e.g.
The art of storytelling ___ almost as old as humanity. (missing verb)
(A) that is
(B) is
(C) it is
(D) being
________ a few of the sounds produced by insects can be heard by humans. (noun phrase)
(A) Only
(B) There are only
(C) That only
(D) With only

____ when lava cools very rapidly. (independent clause)

(A) Because pumice is formed
(B) To form pumice
(C) Pumice is formed
(D) Forming pumice

Duke Ellington wrote ____ during his career. (missing direct object)
(A) that over a thousand songs
(B) over a thousand songs
(C) over a thousand songs were
(D) there were over a thousand songs

C) Clauses with There and It

Some clauses begin with the introductory words there or it rather than with the subject of the sentence. These introductory
words are sometimes called expletives.

The expletive there shows that someone or something exists, usually at a particular time or place.

These sentences generally follow the pattern there + verb to be + subject:

There are many skyscrapers in New York City.

There was a good movie on television last night.

The expletive it is used in a number of different situations and patterns:

It is important to be punctual for appointments.

(with the verb to be + adjective + infinitive)

It was in 1959 that Alaska became a state.

(with the verb to be + adverbial + noun clause)

It takes a long time to learn a language.

(with the verb to take + time phrase + infinitive)

It was David who did most of the work.

(with the verb to be + noun + relative clause)

It and there, along with the verb and other sentence elements, may be missing from the sentence.

e.g.
In Michigan, ____ over six hundred feet deep. (supplies an introductory word, a verb and a subject)
(A) salt deposits
(B) where salt deposits are
(C) having salt deposits
(D) there are salt deposits

____ a tomato plant from 75 to 85 days to develop into a mature plant with ripe fruit. (completes the sentence with an
introductory word and a verb)
(A) It takes
(B) To take
(C) That takes
(D) By taking
Exercise 1

Focus: Completing structure problems involving incomplete independent clauses.

Directions: Choose the one option-(A), (B), (C), or (D)-that correctly completes the sentences, and then mark the appropriate
blank. The first one is done as an example.

1. In the United States, ____________ is generally the responsibility of municipal governments.

___ (A) for water treatment
___ (B) water treatment
___ (C) where water treatment
___ (D) in which water treatment

2. Crop rotation ____________ of preserving soil fertility.

___ (A) it is one method
___ (B) one method
___ (C) a method is one
___ (D) is one method

3. ____________ the dollar as its monetary unit in 1878.

___ (A) Canada adopted
___ (B) Adopted by Canada,
___ (C) It was adopted by Canada
___ (D) The Canadian adoption of

4. ___________ almost impossible to capture the beauty of the aurora borealis in photographs.
___ (A) Being
___ (B) His
___ (C) There is
___ (D) Is

5. Usually, political cartoons _________ on the editorial page of a newspaper.

___ (A) appear
___ (B) whose appearance
___ (C) by appearing
___ (D) when they appear

6. _________ two major art museums, the Fogg and the Sadler.
___ (A) Harvard University has
___ (B) At Harvard University
___ (C) Harvard University, with its
___ (D) There at Harvard University

7. American actress and director Margaret Webster ______ for her production of Shakespearean plays.
___ (A) who became famous
___ (B) famous as she became
___ (C) becoming famous
___ (D) became famous

8. ____________ gas tanks connected to welding equipment, one full of oxygen and the other full of acetylene.
___ (A) It is two
___ (B) Of the two
___ (C) There are two
___ (D) Two

9. ___________ is more interested in rhythm than in melody is apparent from his compositions.
___ (A) That Philip Glass
___ (B) Philip Glass, who
___ (C) Philip Glass
___ (D) Because Philip Glass
10. Compressed air __________ the power to drive pneumatic tools.
___ (A) by providing
___ (B) provides
___ (C) that provides
___ (D) the provision of

11. ___________ by cosmic rays.

___ (A) The earth is constantly bombarded
___ (B) Bombarded constantly, the earth
___ (C) Bombarding the earth constantly
___ (D) The earth's constant bombardment

12. _________ primary colors are red, blue, and yellow.

___ (A) There are three
___ (B) The three
___ (C) Three of them
___ (D) That the three

13. ________ who was elected the first woman mayor of Chicago in 1979.
___ (A) It was Jane Byrne
___ (B) Jane Byrne
___ (C) That Jane Byrne
___ (D) When Jane Byrne

14. Every computer consists of a number of systems ______ together.

___ (A) by working
___ (B) work
___ (C) they work
___ (D) that work

15. On the Moon, ______ air because the Moon's gravitational field is too weak to retain an atmosphere.
___ (A) there is no
___ (B) where no
___ (C) no
___ (D) is no

16. The Glass Mountains of northwestern Oklahoma ______ with flecks of gypsum, which shine in the sunlight.
___ (A) they are covered
___ (B) covered them
___ (C) that are covered
___ (D) are covered

17. In some cases, ______ to decide if an organism is a plant or an animal.

___ (A) difficult if
___ (B) it is difficult
___ (C) the difficulty
___ (D) is difficult

18. The first American novelist to have a major impact on world literature ______
___ (A) who was James Fenimore Cooper
___ (B) James Fenimore Cooper was
___ (C) it was James Fenimore Cooper
___ (D) was James Fenimore Cooper

19. important railroad tunnel in the United States was cut through the Hoosac Mountains in Massachusetts.
___ (A) At first
___ (B) It was the first
___ (C) The first
___ (D) As the first of
20. Generally, __________ in the valleys and foothills of the Pacific Coast ranges.
___ (A) the California poppy grown
___ (B) the growth of the California poppy
___ (C) the California poppy grows
___ (D) growing the California poppy

21. When bats are at rest, ______ hang upside-down.

___ (A) they
___ (B) and
___ (C) to
___ (D) as

22. ____________ that the capital of South Carolina was moved from Charleston to Columbia.
___ (A) In 1790 was
___ (B) There was in 1790
___ (C) In 1790
___ (D) It was in 1790

23. Although not as important as they once were, _______ a major form of transportation in North America.
___ (A) there are still railroads
___ (B) railroads, which are still
___ (C) railroads are still
___ (D) railroads still being

24. The Loop, which is the commercial heart of Chicago, ______ within a rectangular loop of elevated train tracks.
___ (A) that is enclosed
___ (B) enclosing it
___ (C) is enclosed
___ (D) enclosed

25. __________ amino acids that serve as the basic building blocks of all proteins.
___ (A) About twenty
___ (B) For about twenty of
___ (C) About twenty are
___ (D) There are about twenty
INCOMPLETE ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Adjective clauses (or relative clauses) are a way of joining two sentences. In the joined sentence, the adjective clause modifies
(describes) a noun (called the head noun) in another clause of the sentence. It begins with an adjective clause marker.

I wanted the book. The book had already been checked out.

The book which I wanted had already been checked out.

The adjective clause in this example begins with the marker which and modifies the head noun book.

Adjective clause markers are relative pronouns such as who, that, or which, or the relative adverbs when or where.

Adjective
Clause Use Example
Marker

who Subject (people) A neurologist is a doctor who specializes in the nervous system.

whom Object (people) This is the patient whom the doctor treated.

whose Possessive (people) Mr. Collins is the man whose house I rented.
That is a topic which interests me. (which as subject)
which Subject / Object (things)
That is the topic on which I will write. (which as object of preposition)
Art that is in public places can be enjoyed by everyone. (that as subject)
that Subject / Object (people / things)
The painting that Ms. Wallace bought was very expensive. (that as object)
where Adverb (place) Here is the site where the bank plans to build its new headquarters.

when Adverb (time) This is the hour when the children usually go to bed.

Like all clauses, adjective clauses must have a subject and a verb. In some cases the adjective-clause marker itself is the
subject; in some cases, there is another subject.

The painting was very expensive. Ms. Wallace bought it.

The painting which Ms. Wallace bought was very expensive.

The adjective-clause marker in the joined sentence replaces it, the object of the verb bought. In the joined sentence, the
adjective clause keeps the subject -Ms. Wallace- that it had in the original sentence.

This is a topic. It interests me.

This is a topic that interests me.

The adjective-clause marker in the joined sentence replaces it, the subject of the second original sentence. In the joined
sentence, the marker itself is the subject of the adjective clause. Notice that the inclusion of the pronoun it in the joined
sentences above would be an error.

Incorrect: *The painting which Ms. Wallace bought it was very expensive.
*This is a topic which it interests me.

This type of mistake is sometimes seen in distractors.

When the markers which, that, and whom are used as objects in relative clauses, they can correctly be omitted.

The painting Ms. Wallace bought is very expensive. (which omitted)

The adjective-clause markers which and whom can also be used as objects of prepositions:

That is the topic. I will write on it.

That is the topic on which I will write.
You may also see sentences with adjective clauses used in this pattern:

quantity word + of + relative clause

He met with two advisors. He had known both of them for years.
He met with two advisors, both of whom he had known for years.

I read a number of articles. Most of them were very useful.

I read a number of articles, most of which were very useful.

e.g.
Cable cars are moved by cables ____ underground and are powered by a stationary engine.
(A) they run
(B) that they run
(C) run
(D) that run

The melting point is the temperature ____ a solid changes to a liquid.

(A) which
(B) at which
(C) which at
(D) at

There are six types of flamingos, all ____ have long legs, long necks, and beaks that curve sharply downward.
(A) of them
(B) that
(C) of which
(D) they

Exercise 2

Focus: Answering structure problems involving incomplete adjective clauses.

Directions: Choose the one option-(A), (B), (C), or (D)-that correctly completes the sentence, and then mark the appropriate
blank. The first one is done as an example.

1. Most folk songs are ballads ______ have simple words and tell simple stories.
__ (A) what
__ (B) although
__ (C)when
__ (D) that

2. After its introduction in 1969, the float process ______ the world's principal method of manufacturing flat sheets of glass.
___ (A) by which it became
___ (B) it became
___ (C) became
___ (D) which became

3. In 1850, Yale University established Sheffield Scientific School, _____

___ (A) engineers were educated there
___ (B) where engineers were educated
___ (C) in which were engineers educated
___ (D) where were engineers educated

4. Many of Louise Nevelson's sculptures consisted of a number of large wooden structures ______ in complex patterns.
___ (A) which she arranged
___ (B) she arranged them
___ (C) which arranged
___ (D) arranged them
5. In addition to being a naturalist, Stewart E. White was a writer ______ the struggle for survival on the American frontier.
___ (A) whose novels describe
___ (B) he describes in his novels
___ (C) his novels describe
___ (D) who, describing in his novels

6. Diamonds are often found in rock formations called pipes, ______ the throats of extinct volcanoes.
___ (A) in which they resemble
___ (B) which resemble
___ (C) there is a resemblance to
___ (D) they resemble

7. William Samuel Johnson, ________ helped write the Constitution, became the flrst president of Columbia College in 1787.
___ (A) whom he had
___ (B) and he had
___ (C) who had
___ (D) had

8. Seals appear clumsy on the land, are able to move short distances faster than most people can run.
___ (A) but they
___ (B) which they
___ (C) they
___ (D) which

9. The instrument panel of a light airplane has at least a dozen instruments _____
___ (A) the pilot must watch
___ (B) what the pilot must watch
___ (C) which the pilot must watch them
___ (D) such that the pilot must watch them

10. A keystone species is a species of plants or animals ______ absence has a major effect on an ecological system.
___ (A) that its
___ (B) its
___ (C) whose
___ (D) with its

11. The size and shape of a nail depend primarily on the function ______ intended.
___ (A) which it is
___ (B) for which it is
___ (C) which it is for
___ (D) for which is

12. In geometry, a tangent is a straight line _____ a curve at only one point.
___ (A) it touches
___ (B) whose touching
___ (C) its touching
___ (D) that touches

13. It was the ragtime pianist Scott Joplin ______ the "Maple Leaf Rag, " perhaps the best known of all ragtime tunes.
___ (A) wrote
___ (B) the writer of
___ (C) who wrote
___ (D) writing

14. There are over 2.000 varieties of snakes. ______ are harmless to humans.
___ (A) mostly they
___ (B) most of them
___ (C) most of which
___ (D) which most