Types of Clauses
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb (predicate). This differs
from a phrase, which does not have a subject and a verb, like “to the park.” Clauses
can be independent or dependent.

Independent clauses are called sentences as they can stand alone and
express a complete thought.

Dependent clauses, or subordinate clauses, are subordinate to something
else, usually an independent clause, and depend on it for meaning. Here are
some examples with the dependent clause underlined:



Because he has a college degree, he was given a great job.
When the storm started, she was at the store.
Bob wore the coat that I gave him.
You can see that each underlined clause cannot stand on its own, but needs a clause
to help it make sense or to help it complete a thought.
Adjective Clause
Coordination is a useful way of connecting ideas that are roughly equal in
importance. But often we need to show that one idea in a sentence is more
important than another. On these occasions we use subordination to indicate that
one part of a sentence is secondary (or subordinate) to another part. One common
form of subordination is the adjective clause--a word group that modifies a noun.
Consider how the following sentences might be combined:
My father is a superstitious man.
He always sets his unicorn traps at night.
One option is to coordinate the two sentences:
My father is a superstitious man, and he always sets his unicorn traps at night.
When sentences are coordinated in this way, each main clause is given equal
emphasis.
What if we want to place greater emphasis on one statement than on another? We
then have the option of reducing the less important statement to an adjective clause.
For example, to emphasize that father sets his unicorn traps at night, we can turn
the first main clause into an adjective clause:
My father, who is a superstitious man, always sets his unicorn traps at night.
As shown here, the adjective clause does the job of an adjective and follows the
noun that it modifies--father. Like a main clause, an adjective clause contains a
subject (in this case, who) and a verb (is). But unlike a main clause an adjective
clause can't stand alone: it has to follow a noun in a main clause. For this reason, an
adjective clause is considered to be subordinate to the main clause.
Identifying Adjective Clauses
The most common adjective clauses begin with one of these relative pronouns: who,
which, and that. All three pronouns refer to a noun, but who refers only to people
and which refers only to things. That may refer to either people or things.
The following sentences show how these pronouns are used to begin adjective
clauses:
Mr. Clean, who hates rock music, smashed my electric guitar.
Mr. Clean smashed my electric guitar, which had been a gift from Vera.
Mr. Clean smashed the electric guitar that Vera had given me.
In the first sentence, the relative pronoun who refers to Mr. Clean, the subject of the
main clause. In the second and third sentences, the relative pronouns which and that
refer to guitar, the object of the main clause.
Punctuating Adjective Clauses
These three guidelines will help you decide when to set off an adjective clause with
commas:
1. Adjective clauses beginning with that are never set off from the main clause
with commas.
Food that has turned green in the refrigerator should be thrown away.
2. Adjective clauses beginning with who or which should not be set off with
commas if omitting the clause would change the basic meaning of the
sentence.
Students who turn green should be sent to the infirmary.
Because we don't mean that all students should be sent to the infirmary, the
adjective clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. For this reason,
we don't set off the adjective clause with commas.
3. Adjective clauses beginning with who or which should be set off with commas
if omitting the clause would not change the basic meaning of the sentence.
Last week's pudding, which has turned green in the refrigerator, should be
thrown away.
Here the which clause provides added, but not essential, information, and so
we set it off from the rest of the sentence with commas.
Noun Clause
Many people are fairly comfortable with the idea of nouns, but they might not feel
so confident when it comes to the idea of a noun clause. Noun clauses come in a
variety of forms; and learning about each form is the best way to understand the
concept of noun clauses.
Purpose of a Noun Clause
Noun clauses can be used in a number of ways, and they serve different purposes.
First and foremost, please recognize that these clauses are dependent clauses. A
dependent clause is one that cannot stand by itself. If a dependent clause is placed
alone, it forms a fragment, not a sentence. An independent clause can act as a
sentence by itself, but dependent clauses cannot.
Subject of a Verb
A noun clause can act as a subject of a verb, and we will break down what that
means after a couple of examples. This clause is acting as the subject of a verb is
present in:



What Alicia said made her friends cry.
What Megan wrote surprised her family.
What the man did was not very polite.
When there's a verb in the sentence, you must find the subject. Therefore, in the
first we can ask "What made?" and the answer is "What Alicia said." Therefore,
"What Alicia said" is the subject of that verb. In the next case, we can ask "What
surprised?" and the answer is "What Megan wrote." Do you now see how a noun
clause can act as a subject of a verb?
Object of a Verb
In the same vein, noun clauses can also act as the object of a verb:



She didn't know that the directions were wrong.
He didn't realize that the stove was off.
They now understand that you should not cheat on a test.
Once again, we can use the method of questioning to demonstrate how the noun
clause is being used. What didn't she know? What didn't he realize? And what do
they now understand? The answer in all three cases is the noun clause!
Subject Complement

Carlie's problem was that she didn't do the wash.
Object of a Preposition


Harry is not the provider of what Margie needs.
Josephine is not responsible for what Alex decided to do.
Adjective Complement
A noun clause can also act as an adjective complement.



The group is happy that Meg returned home.
The child is sad that his stomach hurts.
The family is excited that they bought a new house.
Adverb Clause
Adverb clauses are clauses that function as adverbs. Since they are dependent
clauses, they must have a subordinating conjunction to connect them to the other
clause.
Subordinating conjunctions can be arranged according to the purpose of the clause
they begin. Here are some examples of subordinating conjunctions:




Time: after, when, until, soon, before, once, while, as soon as, whenever, by
the time
Condition: if, whether or not, provided, in case, unless, even if, in the event
Cause and effect: because, as, since, so, in order that, now that, inasmuch as
Contrast: though, although, while, whereas, even though
Most of the time, an adverb clause will be separated from the other clause with a
comma. Here are a few examples of sentences with and without commas:


Whether you like it or not, you have to go. (The adverb clause “Whether you
like it or not” puts a condition on the action.)
She enjoyed the party more than he did. (The adverb clause 'than he did'
modifies the adverb “more”.)
Functions of Adverbs
Since adverb clauses function as adverbs, let’s look at the functions of adverbs.



Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
They tell why, when, where, how, how much, and how often an action
occurs.
They can begin a sentence that is a question, and give more information.
Here are some examples according to what the adverb is modifying:



Verbs: We eat pizza weekly. She watched the wild animal carefully.
Adjectives: That is a very nice person. The dog is extremely hyperactive.
Adverbs: She sings quite beautifully. My dog is almost always starving.
Examples of Adverb Clauses
Adverb clauses can modify by telling the place, time, cause, and purpose of an action.
They can also show concession and condition. Basically they answer the questions:
Where?, when?, why?, and under what conditions? Here are some examples with
the adverb clause underlined:






Place: Wherever there is music, people will often dance. Let’s go to the room
where they asked us to wait.
Time: After the chores are done, we will eat ice cream. When the clock
strikes midnight, she has to leave.
Cause: She passed the course because she worked hard. Since he has long
hair, he wears a ponytail.
Purpose: So that he would not ruin the carpet, he took off his shoes. He ate
vegetables in order to stay healthy.
Concession: Even though you are 13, you can’t go to that movie. Although
you gave it your best, you did not win the match.
Condition: If you save some money, you can buy a new game. Unless you
hurry, you will be late for school



Subordinate Conjunction
Some sentences are complex. Such sentences have two clauses, one main [or
independent] and one subordinate [or dependent].
The essential ingredient in a complex sentence is the subordinate
conjunction:
after
once
until
although
provided that
when
as
rather than
whenever
because
since
where
before
so that
whereas
even if
than
wherever
even though
that
whether
if
though
while
in order that
unless
why

The subordinate conjunction has two jobs. First, it provides a necessary
transition between the two ideas in the sentence. This transition will indicate
a time, place, or cause and effect relationship. Here are some examples:

Louisa will wash the sink full of her dirty dishes once her roommate
Shane cleans his stubble and globs of shaving cream from the
bathroom sink.

We looked on top of the refrigerator, where Jenny will often hide a
bag of chocolate chip cookies.

Because her teeth were chattering in fear, Lynda clenched her jaw
muscle while waiting for her turn to audition.

The second job of the subordinate conjunction is to reduce the importance of
one clause so that a reader understands which of the two ideas is more

important. The more important idea belongs in the main clause, the less
important in the clause introduced by the subordinate conjunction.
Read these examples:

As Samson blew out the birthday candles atop the cake , he burned
the tip of his nose on a stubborn fla me.

Burning his nose > blowing out candles.

Ronnie begins to sneeze violently whenever he opens the door to
greet a fresh spring day.

Sneezing violently > opening the door.

Even though Dana persevered at the calculus exam , she was only
adding another F beside her name in Dr. Armour's grade book.

Adding another F > persevering at the exam.
25 Subordinating Conjunctions
by Mark Nichol
A
1. “After dinner, we’ll go see a movie.”
2. “Although I’d rather not, I’ll make an exception.”
3. “As you know, she’s rather eccentric.”
W
4. “When we’re done, let’s get some ice cream.”
5. “Whenever I go, I try to see something I’ve never seen before.”
6. “Whether or not you agree, I think it looks fine.”
7. “Where I go, they always have sales.”
8. “Wherever I go, I try to enjoy myself.”
9. “While I’m there, I play music on a jukebox.”
H
10. “How is it that even though you go there all the time, you’ve never noticed that
before?”
I
11. “If you find out, please let me know.”
12. “In case you hadn’t heard, I couldn’t care less.”
13. “In order to enjoy your trip, take your time and enjoy the sights.”
T
14. “That I like wearing red — that has never been in dispute.”
15. “Though I’m flexible, I draw the line about that.”
E
16. “Even if it is true, I’ll forgive him.”
17. “Even though I’d heard the song before, I hadn’t known who sang it.”
18. “Ever since I met her, I haven’t been able to think about anything else.”
B
19. “Because I’ve been there before, I’d rather go somewhere else.”
20. “Before I saw the house, I was ready to just rent an apartment.”
U
21. “Unless you’re willing to wait, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
22. “Until we find it, we can’t leave.”
S
23. “Since then, I’ve had a different opinion of him.”
24. “So sure were you of your theory about them, you ignored evidence that you
were wrong.”
25. “So that I’m sure I understand you, please repeat what you said.”
Note that the order in which the dependent and independent clauses appear can be
reversed (though often, the comma separating the clauses is then not necessary).
However, because the independent clause generally contains the essential
information, the sentence is usually more effective when the independent clause
trails the dependent clause.

