What is a Clause ?
A clause is a collection of words having a subject and a verb or verb phrase to express an action. Every sentence consists of at least one clause to express it’s meaning.
Therefore A Sentence = 1 Clause + ……… more Clauses.
Let us see some simple examples of Clauses :
- He smiled.
- The boy is running.
- He is going.
Sentences can consist of a single clause, but they often include broadly two types of clauses that are independent (main / principal ) and dependent (Subordinate) clauses.
The above examples show that a Main/Principal clause can form a complete simple sentence in itself. While Subordinate clauses are dependent on a main clause to provide some extra details about the primary content, which is why they are called a dependent clause.
Examples of Clauses
Let us see some example of sentences with one or more than one clause. The section of sentence representing a clause has been italicized and words joining clauses are in bold for easy identification.
Note : count in the brackets gives the count of clauses in the example sentence.
- He is driving. – ( 1 )
- I love cricket because I want to be a cricketer. ( 2 )
- The child cried. ( 1 )
- She asked us, but we didn’t replied. (2 )
- John loves playing, but Robert loves studying because he wants to be a scientist. ( 3 )
Read the above examples carefully and notice following two things :
1. Each clause expresses it’s meaning clearly just like a simple sentence.
2. How multiple clauses are joined by conjunctions like but, because etc.to form a complete sentence.
Importance of Clauses in Sentence Formation
Clauses are groups of words that make up a sentence. Without dependent clauses, sentences lack important details. Without independent clauses, sentences don’t exist at all!.
That’s the reason clauses play a vital role in sentence formation and if we don’t have them we wouldn’t have any sentences.
Keep exploring EnglishBix to learn about different types of clauses in English.