Clause in English with Sentence Examples

In this section we’ll discuss about a Clause in English grammar and some examples to understand them better. Later we will see why clauses are so important in sentence formation.

 

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.

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