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In grammar, a clause is a group of words consisting of a subject and a predicate, although, in non-finite clauses, the subject is often not explicitly given. In null subject languages there may not be a subject, either explicit or implicit. A clause is either a whole sentence or in effect a sentence-within-a-sentence. Clauses are often contrasted with phrases, which do not express complete thoughts through combinations of subjects and predicates. Phrases generally do not contain verbs except as verbals (gerunds, participles, and infinitives). Example:
Independent and dependent clauses There are two basic categories of clauses: independent clauses and dependent clauses. Independent clauses An independent clause (or main clause, or coordinate clause) can stand by itself as a grammatically viable simple sentence. Multiple independent clauses can be joined (usually with a comma and a coordinating conjunction) to form a compound sentence. Examples: Dependent clauses A dependent clause (or subordinate clause) cannot stand alone as a sentence. It usually begins with a subordinating conjunction or, in the case of an adverb or adjective clause (see below), a relative pronoun. A sentence with an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses is referred to as a complex sentence. One with two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses is referred to as a compound-complex sentence. Examples: The above sentence actually contains two dependent clauses. "When they told me" is one; the other is "(that) I won the contest." The "that" is understood to precede the "I won" and functions as a subordinating conjunction. Types of dependent clauses Dependent clauses are often classified by which part of speech they function as: a noun clause functions as a noun, an adjective clause functions as an adjective, and an adverb clause functions as an adverb. Examples: | ||||||||
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