CLAUSE
Read the
following:
She loves cats.
Ask these three questions:-
1. 1. Does it have Subject and Predicate? YES
(She loves cats)
Subject
Predicate (it means it has a finite verb)
2. 2. Does it have complete/ incomplete
meaning? YES (Complete)
3. 3. Is it a part of a sentence? NO (It
is not a part, but a complete sentence)
She loves cats which are white.
1.
Does the part “She loves cats” have
Subject and Predicate? YES
(She loves cats which are
white)
Subject Predicate
2.
Does the part “She loves cats” have
complete/ incomplete meaning? YES (Complete)
3.
Is it a part of a sentence? YES
(It is a part of the
entire sentence)
4.
Does the “Which are white” have subject and
Predicate YES
Subject Predicate
(The given sentence “She loves
cats which are white” can be broken into two sentences- ‘She loves cats’ and
‘The cats are white’. The second identical word is replaced by a relative
pronoun ‘which’ as it relates to a word mentioned earlier, that is, ‘Cat’)
Therefore, the given sentence can be
analysed in the following way:-
1. 1. Does the part “She loves cats” have
Subject and Predicate? YES
(She loves cats which are
white)
Subject Predicate
2. 2. Does the part “She loves cats” have
complete/ incomplete meaning? YES (Complete)
3. 3. Is it a part of a sentence? YES (It is a part of the entire sentence)
4. 4. Does the “Which are white” have subject and
Predicate YES
Subject Predicate
(The given sentence “She loves
cats which are white” can be broken into two sentences- ‘She loves cats’ and
‘The cats are white’. The second identical word is replaced by a relative
pronoun ‘which’ as it relates to a word mentioned earlier, that is, ‘Cat’)
Therefore, the given sentence can be
analysed in the following way:-
↘
1. Subject-Predicate Subject-Predicate
Yes Yes
2. Meaning Meaning
Complete Incomplete/ Dependent
3. Part of a
sentence Part
of a sentence
Yes
Yes
HENCE, Group of words having
(i)
Subject and Predicate
(obviously will have a finite verb)
(ii)
Meaning-complete or
incomplete/dependent
(iii)
MUST be a part of a
complete sentence
is a CLAUSE.
Therefore, “She loves cats.” is a not a clause because
it is the entire sentence whereas “She loves cats….” In the sentence “She loves
cats which are white” is a clause as it is a part of the entire sentence and
fulfills the three criteria as shown above.
There are three parameters to name the clauses.
Complete / incomplete meaning its function in the sentence condition-result
Named as:
Main (Principal)/ Subordinate Noun
/ Adjective/Adverb/ ‘If’/
Conditional
Relative/
non-finite
Main/
Principal/ Independent Clause and Subordinate clause
I saw
a girl who was dancing.
Principal
subordinate
Main/Principal/
Independent Clause is so named because it has some important factors:
(i)
It provides the basis for the
remaining part of the sentence. Hence, Main Clause
(ii)
It is the Principal clause and so,
its verb is the verb of the whole sentence
(iii)
It can express a meaning without the
remaining part, and so, Independent clause
I saw
a bird which was singing.
Principal
subordinate
Subordinate
is so named as this part of the sentence is under control of the other part
(Principal Clause) and lesser in importance than the other part.
(i)
‘Which’ is controlled by ‘bird’.
Hence, this part is subordinated by the previous part
(ii)
This part has to depend on the
previous part to complete its meaning. Hence, subordinated.
Noun /
Adjective/Adverb/ Relative/ non-finite/ ‘If’ clause
Noun
Clause
· We know that a subject
or object or complement has to be noun
or pronoun
· Therefore, any dependent clause doing this work (acting as subject or object or complement) will be a noun clause.
Compare:-
Bermuda
Triangle is a
mystery Vs. Why do you
bother me is a mystery
Subject (Noun) Subject and dependent clause
(Since this clause is working as Subject, so Noun Clause)
I
love cats Vs. I love what you said
Object Object and dependent clause
(Since this clause is working as object, so Noun Clause)
I am
a doctor Vs. I am what I
am
Complement complement and a dependent clause
Look at the Indirect speech
He, "I love dogs" → He said that he loved dogs
↑Working as the object of the verb, hence noun clause
Hence, NOUN CLAUSES
are place holders which enable them to behave like a noun by being placed in
the position of a subject or an object or a complement.
Adjective
Clause (Relative Clause)
Adjective clauses
(i)
are dependent clauses and begins with a
relative pronoun
(ii)
Modifies a Noun or Pronoun
(iii)
Come next to the noun it modifies
(iv)
That Noun which is modified is also
called antecedent
(v)
the relative pronoun connects the clause
and the noun it modifies
The tree bears fruits
which are
very sweet.
Antecedent Modifier. Hence, Adjective
The tree, which bears sweet fruits, is very old.
Next to the antecedent
(the Adjective clause must be next to the Noun/ Pronoun it modifies)
He, who is brave, fears none.
Modifying a pronoun
Look at the BLUE shaded relative pronouns. They connect to the noun or pronoun they modify
The relative pronoun is the subject/object of the
relative clause, so should not be repeated as it is already denoted by the
antecedent (the noun or pronoun). For example:
This is the box that/which I made it.
With prepositions - If the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition and is left out, the preposition has no choice but to hang at the end. This is accepted in informal English. However, in formal English it is better to put the preposition before the pronoun. Note that the preposition is part of the dependent clause.
This was the book (that) we had been looking for. (Informal)
This was the book, which we had been looking for. (Informal)
This was the book for which we had been looking. (Formal)
With Relative adverbs – Adjective clauses (dependent clauses) can also start with relative
adverbs. These relative adverbs connect the dependent clause to a noun or
pronoun in the Main/Principal/ Independent clause.
Example:- This is the place where you and I met for the first time.
9 ‘O’ clock was the time
when the train reached
the station.
This is the reason
why I love you so much.
Relative clauses are so named as these clauses begin with a relative pronoun (who, which, whom, whose, that etc.) or with a preposition like ‘with whom’ (He is the person with whom I was talking)
RELATIVE CLAUSE
↙ ↘
Defining/ Restrictive Non-defining/Non-restrictive
Defining/ Restrictive
This
dependent clause gives essential information about the noun and that piece of
information helps to identify/ define the noun.
Example:- Students who play
digital games are prone to sleep loss.
(The above sentence means that only those students who play digital games, not others. Hence, it is an essential information to identify the noun, that is, ‘STUDENTS’).
I hate the cat.
(Does the sentence clarify ‘which cat’? NO. So we add
some other information to define the cat.)
I hate the cat. The cat bit me.
I hate the cat that/ which bit me.
Zomato will deliver the eatables to
our house. Zomato is a popular food delivery service.
Zomato which is a popular food
delivery service will deliver the eatables to our house.
(Here the essential information is not separated by comma. Therefore, Restrictive / Defining relative clause will not be separated by comma)
Non-Defining/ Non-Restrictive
This dependent clause provides extra information, NOT ESSENTIAL information. Commas are mandatorily used before and after this dependent clause to indicate that if this information is removed, it does not affect the identification of the Noun.
My brother is planning to buy a
car. My brother enjoys driving.
My brother, who enjoys driving, is planning to buy a car.
(Here it doesn’t say that I have
many bothers and among them the one who loves driving is going to buy a car.
Hence, Planning to buy a car has an additional, NOT ESSENTIAL information, that
is –he loves driving).
‘THAT’ cannot replace ‘WHICH/ WHO’ in a non-defining/
non-restrictive relative clause which provides additional information.
Children love stories. Children enjoy music.
The second sentence does not clarify or explain the ‘Children’ in the
First sentence. It only provides additional information. Hence, it can be
written in both the ways:- ‘Children, who enjoy
music, love stories’ OR Children love stories AND enjoy music.
ADVERB CLAUSE (ADVERBIAL CLAUSE)
These dependent clauses are used as adverbs and modify or describe another verb or adjective or adverb. Adverb clauses add descriptive content to the main sentence.
Usually, an adverb clause begins with a
subordinate conjunction-
Although, because, after and ‘it’.
Adverbial
clauses provide the following descriptive contents to the sentence-
i)
Manner- ‘He
talked to her as he practiced before the mirror.
ii)
Place - ‘A quarrel started in the village where the same happened a week ago.
iii)
Condition-
‘We will wait here until the train arrives.’
iv)
Reason- She
took a cab since/ because she missed the train
v)
Time- Before my father returned home, we started our study.
vi)
Purpose- We
studied hard so we would pass the test.
Non-Finite
Clauses
Infinitive present participle past participle
All
non-finite clauses are made up of a non-finite verb, lack a subject and also
lack a finite verb.
These
non-finite clauses are used as a SUBJECT, VERBAL COMPLEMENT (OBJECT),
PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT (OBJECT) AND NOUN MODIFIER.
A complement
is a word or group of words that completes the meaning of another word or words
Ex: He is a teacher (‘a teacher’
completes the meaning of ‘He’ and so, ‘a teacher’ is a subject complement)
My brother is the first person (who is) to enter the office.
Infinitive clause
DO NOT CONFUSE ‘to enter the office’ as nonfinite phrase
They heard the noise. They woke up.
Hearing the noise, they woke up.
(Present participle)
The teacher encouraged him. He studied hard.
Encouraged by the teacher, he studied hard. (Past Participle)
My
sister loves to cook continental
dishes
(Complement
of the verb)
He
smiled after winning the toss.
(Complement of the preposition ‘after’)
All the non-finite
clauses have a ‘form’ of verb but have to depend on the verb of the Principal
clause to complete the meaning.
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