Clauses

Clause:
A group of words that
contain a subject and a
predicate.
It forms part of a sentence.
If a clause makes complete sense
in itself, it is called the main
clause or the principal clause
of that sentence.

If it is dependent on another
clause to complete its meaning,
it is called the subordinate
clause.
Example:
 I woke up when the alarm rang.

Main Clause Subordinate

Clause
The word or words that join a
subordinate clause with the
main clause are called
subordinating conjunction.
There are three types of
subordinating clauses:
 Noun clause
 Adjective Clause
 Adverb Clause
 Noun Clause

A noun clause is a
subordinate clause that
does the work of a noun in
a sentence.
Example:
 I know that she left for dance class.

Main Clause Noun Clause

How to identify a noun clause

Example:
 I know that she left for dance
class.

Question: I know what?

Answer: That she left for dance class

The answer to this question is the

subordinate clause. It is the noun
clause of the sentence.
How to identify a noun clause

Example:
 What you do now is most
important.

Question: What is most important?

Answer: What you do now.

The answer to this question is the

subordinate clause. It is the noun
clause of the sentence.
A noun clause usually
begins with words like
that, what, if,
whether,how,where,
who, whom, whose, why,
however, whatever,
wherever, whoever, etc.
Example:
 She does not know where he went.

Noun Clause

 Whether he will win is undecided.

Noun Clause
Noun Clause Functions
• As subject
• As object
• Object of participle
• Object of preposition
• Object of infinitive
• Adjective compliment
• Complement of a Verb of
Incomplete Predication
• Apposition to a noun or pronoun
A noun clause acts as a noun in
a sentence. It can function in
different ways.

As Subject of a Verb

What route we take is our choice.

As Object of a Verb

I thought that we would watch a movie.

 As Object of a Participle

Discovering that it was right, I jump with joy.

As Object of a Preposition

Sometimes I think of what he said.

As Object of an Infinitive
Jim wants to know where his friends are.
 As Adjective Compliment

The girls were happy that Saturday was a holiday.

As Complement of a Verb of Incomplete Predication

The problem is that we do not have a leader.

In Apposition to a Noun or a Pronoun

The news that he is alive made us happy.

Another examples:

 Your statement that you did

not take the money can not be
trusted.
 The belief that the soul is
immortal is almost universal.
 His faith that someday he
would succeed cheered him
through failures.
 Adjective Clause

An adjective clause is a
subordinate clause that does
the work of an adjective in a
sentence.
Example:
 The book that you gave me is very
useful.

Adjective clause
 Remember

The adjective clause modifies a

noun or a pronoun in a sentence
and is placed nearest to the word
it qualifies.
How to identify an adjective clause

An adjective clause is introduced by a relative

pronoun such as who, whom, whose, which,
and that.

Example:
 The person who won a car is here.

Adjective clause
How to identify an adjective clause

An adjective clause can also be

introduced by when, where, why, and
how.
Example:
 This is the building where I work.

Adjective clause
The usage of an adjective clause

An adjective clause can be used to

modify the subject in a sentence.

Example:
 The movie that she saw is three hour
long.
Adjective clause
The usage of an adjective clause

An adjective clause can be used to modify a

noun in the predicate.

Example:
 She is the girl who painted the picture.

Noun of Predicate Adjective clause

The usage of an adjective clause

An adjective clause can be used to modify the

direct object in the main clause.

Example:
 I took the coffee that Anne offered.

Direct object Adjective clause

The usage of an adjective clause

An adjective clause can be used to modify the

indirect object in the main clause.

Example:
 We wrote our friend who is in Greece a letter.

Indirect object Adjective clause

Sometimes the adjective clause marker is
not used to introduce an adjective clause.
It can be omitted.

Example:
 This is the tie I bought.

Adjective clause
Another examples:
 The room where he stays is locked.
(modifying the subject)
 He is the boy that you are looking for.
(modifying a noun in the predicate)
 I found the letter which you threw away.
(modifying the direct object)