What are Clauses?

A clause is a group of words that encompasses a subject and a verb. Clauses are instrumental in expressing the thoughts and ideas of an individual. In other words, clauses allow us to express ourselves and convey our expression to others. For instance, ‘I love pizza, especially with cold drinks’. Clauses are entirely different from phrases. A phrase is a collection of related words that does not contain a subject-verb agreement. For example, ‘A small, white kitten’. Here, the phrase contains a subject, but it does not have a verb. There are two types of clauses, including independent clause and a dependent clause.

1. Independent Clause: An independent clause is also known as a main clause. It can stand on its own therefore it is called as an independent clause. An independent clause has all information to complete a sentence. In an independent clause, a subject gives a better idea about the sentence and the verb explains what the subject is doing. In simple words, an independent clause describes a complete thought. 

For example:

•    Nancy is playing with a dog at the park. (Here, ‘Nancy’ is the subject and ‘Playing’ is the verb. It expresses a complete thought) 

•    The pizza burned because I forgot to take it out of the oven on time. (Here, ‘Pizza’ is the subject and ‘Burned’ is the verb. Hence, the clause explains a complete thought and stand on its own)

2. Dependent Clause:

A dependent clause is recognized as a subordinate clause. It contains a subject or a verb, but it does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot stand on its own. It is combined with one or more independent clauses to form a sentence. It is dependent because it begins with dependent words such as although, since, before, after, though, in order to, because, if, what, when, who, which, why, etc.

For example:

•    Does anyone know where we are going tonight? (Here, ‘We’ is the subject and ‘Going’ is the verb, but the clause does not express a complete thought)

•    I forgot where I put the house keys. (Here, ‘I’ is the subject and ‘Put’ is the verb, but the clause does not explain a complete thought and cannot stand on its own as a sentence)

Types of Dependent Clause

•    The Adjective Clause

•    The Adverbial Clause

•    The Noun Clause