What is Clause?

Clause is a group of related words that contains at least one subject and one verb and is used as a sentence or part of a sentence.

When a clause has complete meaning on its own, it can be used as a sentence. But when it has incomplete meaning, it is used as part of a sentence. Look at the examples below. The subjects are italicized, and verbs are in bold. 

  •  He is a news reporter. (As a sentence)
  •  She loves music. (As a sentence)
  •  We are eating out this afternoon. (As a sentence)
  •  That he doesn't know how to do the assignment  (As part of a sentence)
  •  Where he stays  (As part of a sentence)
  •  Who lives next to my house  (As part of a sentence)

Do not be confused a clause with a phrase; a phrase is a group of related words, but it does not have both a subject and a verb. Look at the examples of phrases below.

  •  A handsome man (Noun phrase)
  •  very fast (Adverb phrase phrase)
  •  absolutely poor (Adjective phrase)
  •  reading a book (Gerund phrase)
  •  to do homework  (Infinitive phrase)
  •  interested in book (Participle phrase)
  •  about money (Prepositional phrase)


INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT CLAUSE


There are two types of clauses: independent clause (or main clause), and dependent clause (also called subordinate clause).

Independent clause

An independent clause has a subject and a verb, and can stand alone as a sentence. For examples,

  •  They work in marketing department.
  •  What products are they going to launch this year?
  •  The company didn't perform well last year.
  •  What shall we do?

Dependent clause 

A dependent clause has a subject and a predicate, but it cannot stand alone as a sentence.
There are three types of subordinate clauses: noun, adjective, adverb.

A noun clause is a subordinate clause used as a noun. For examples,

  •  What you have proposed is acceptable. (Noun clause)
  •  Tell me what your marketing strategies are. (Noun clause)

An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or a pronoun. For examples,

  •  The man who is standing over there is a product development manager. (Adjective clause)
  •  His team has come up with products that have more features for customers. (Adjective clause)

An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. It tells when, where, how, why, to what extent, or under what conditions. For examples,

  •  If the products are fit for the customers, we will maintain sales increase of 10%. (Adverb clause)
  •  There will be some promotion when the new product are available.  (Adverb clause)