Transcript the clause - East Penn School District

The Clause
Mrs. Robilotto
9 CP
Definition
THE CLAUSE
 A group of related words that is used as part of a
sentence
 Contains a verb and its subject
 Can be a complete thought; does not have to be
Example: because English is so great
Spiderman is an outstanding movie
NOT: was laughing
in front of the school
Types
 All clauses are either INDEPENDENT or SUBORDINATE
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INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
Expresses a complete thought
Can stand alone as a sentence
Often joined with other clauses to make a longer sentence
Example: Britney Spears is a popular singer.
Britney Spears is a popular singer, but I like Christina’s music
better.
*Independent clauses are often joined by coordinating conjunction
(FAN BOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Types of Subordinate Clauses
 A subordinate clause cannot stand alone.
 It needs an independent clause to make
sense.
 There are 3 types of subordinate clauses
-adjective
-adverb
-noun
Adjective Clause
 THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE:
 A subordinate clause used as an adjective
 Modifies a noun or a pronoun
 Always follows the noun or pronoun that it
modifies
Example:
My sister, who is a good swimmer, will be
going to train in Florida in December.
Jenny, who is sixteen, watches the film
Mean Girls at least once a month.
Adjective Clause con’t
 ADJECTIVE CLAUSES ARE INTRODUCED BY
RELATIVE PRONOUNS:
 who
 whom
 whose
 which
 that
 Relative pronouns relate the clause the word it
modifies
 A relative pronoun also plays a role in the
clause
 Antecedent—the noun or pronoun modified by the
adjective clause.
Examples Adjective Clause
Example: Miss Smith suggested that
outstanding novel that I am reading.
Exceptions:
The relative pronoun is “understood”
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Is that the sweater [that] you bought yesterday?
The clause is introduced by an adverb
This is the place where I bought the sweater.
Adverb Clause
 2. THE ADVERB CLAUSE
 A type of subordinate clause
 Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb
 Answers the following questions:
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How
When
Where
Under what conditions
Why
Adverb Clause
 Examples: When Billy-Bob went out with his friends, he lost his
wallet.
 I decided to save my money so that I could get a new stereo
for my car.
Adverb clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions
 What makes the clause subordinate
 Does NOT play a role in the clause itself
 Examples of subordinating conjunctions (p. 131 in grammar
book) after, if, as long as, because, so that, until
NOUN Clause
THE NOUN CLAUSE

A type of subordinate clause that is used as a noun
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Can function in the following ways:
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Subject: That he was ill was Todd’s excuse.
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Predicate Nominative: The answer to the problem is what I have
been looking for.
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Direct Object: She did not understand what the point of writing
papers is.
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Indirect Object: The teacher will give whoever is talking a detention.
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Object of the Preposition: Many complaints have been made about
how Ed sings.
Noun Clause
 Noun clauses are introduced by an
“introductory word”
Examples: that, whether, what, who,
whoever, whose, where, why, how
Sentence Structure
 Steps to classifying sentences:
 Cross out any prepositional phases
 Label the subjects and the verbs within each
sentence
 Label each clause as being either
INDEPENDENT or SUBORDINATE
 Based on the number of independent and
subordinate clauses, classify the sentence
Structure
 THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
 Contains 1 independent clause
 Contains no subordinate clauses
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Examples: I am happy.
 On the way home from school, she stopped
for a hamburger at McDonald’s with her
friends.
Structure
 THE COMPOUND SENTENCE
 Contains 2 or more independent clauses
 Contains no subordinate clauses
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Example: I studied for my math test, but I
failed it anyway.
Structure
 THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
 Contains 1 independent clause
 Contains 1 or more subordinate clauses
 When I write a paper for English, I feel great
joy.
Structure
THE COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE
 Contains 2 or more independent clauses
 Contains 1 or more subordinate clauses
 The room that the boy painted had been
white, but he changed the color to bright
orange.
Putting it all together
 When she tripped, Alyssa turned bright red.
ADV, ADJ. NOUN
 The dancer was a woman who was dedicated to her
art.
ADV, ADJ. NOUN
 The painter knew that the house wouldn’t be try in
time for the approaching storm
ADV, ADJ. NOUN