What is clause? Types of clause with examples

What is clause?

Clause is a group of that includes a subject and a verb.

Clause is a group of related words.
It has a subject and verb combination.
It has a complete meaning by itself.

Above 3 conditions are must to define a clause.

We can consider a simple sentence as a clause.

For Example:- He plays football regularly.
Now, is this a clause? We will check or measure all the three conditions that we just discussed.

Is this a group of word ? Yes, this is a group of words, so, it’s satisfied with our first condition.
In the above example, He is the subject & plays is a verb so, it’s satisfied with our second condition.

The whole sentence He plays football regularly has a complete meaning by itself. so, it’s satisfied with our third condition.

Types of clause:-

Clauses are mainly divided into two parts based on it’s uses.

Independent Clause.

Dependent Clause.

1. Independent Clause:-

An independent clause is a complete sentence by itself. It doesn’t need any other clause for his existence.

For Example:-

He wants to travel the world.
In the above sentence He is the subject & travel is the verb and the whole sentence gives a complete thought by itself.

Lets see some more examples:-

Robert decided to buy an Iphone13 pro max.

Safikul teaches Visual Basic in our polytechnic college.
The cricket team won the state cup.
The ants are busy storing food for winter.

Blue whale is the largest mammal in the world.

2. Dependent clause:-

It has a subject verb combination but it doesn’t have a complete thought by itself and it depends on independent or main clause for a complete thought.

For Example:-

Wherever you like

In the above sentence, here you is subject and like is verb and the whole sentence having a meaning as well but it’s incomplete.

Now add a main clause with the above example,

You may go wherever you like.

Here the entire thought is complete with one main / independent clause and one dependent clause.

Lets see some more examples:-

He will come when the president arrives. [ main clause + Dependent clause]
He will not come home until the sun sets. [ main clause + Dependent clause]
Finish your work Before the food gets cold. [ main clause + Dependent clause]

You can travel for your tour If you can work on Sunday. [ main clause + Dependent clause]

Now the Dependent clauses are divided into three parts:-

Noun clause.

Adjective clause.
Adverb clause.

Let’s discuss about each of them,

1. Noun clause:-

Noun clause is a group of words having a subject and verb of its own and acts as a noun in a sentence.

For Example:-

I fear that he may be fall.

In the above sentence that he may be fall is a clause as it is a group of word having subject and a verb and the whole clause acting as an object of the word fear so, it’s a noun clause.

Lets see one more example:-

That you have come pleases me.

Here That you have come is a noun clause as it is acting as a subject of the verb pleases.

So basically the clauses does the work of noun.

Examples:-

Please tell me who broke the window?
Riya encouraged Shiba to remember who he was?
How old you are?

Why did you come here?

2. Adjective clause:-

Adjective clause is a group of words having a subject & verb of its own and it acts as an adjective in the sentence and the adjective describes the noun and showed as an adjective clause.

For Example:-

The bag which has a broken chain is mine.

In the above sentence which has a broken chain is an adjective clause as it has a subject (chain) and a verb (broken) of its own and it describes the noun (The bag).

Lets see one more example:-

He saw a dog whose eyes were brown.

In the above sentence whose eyes were brown is an adjective clause as it has a subject (eyes) and a verb (brown) of its own and it describes the noun (dog).

Examples:-

Rima has dimples on her cheeks which make her attractive to others.
Students who work hard now get good grades in future.

3. Adverb clause:-

Adverb clause is a group of words having a subject & verb of its own and it acts as an adverb in the sentence. The adverbs modifies verb, adjective and other adverbs in the sentence.

For Example:-

You can go home when you have finished working.

In the above sentence when you have finished is an adverb clause as it has a subject (you) and a verb (finished) of its own and it describing verb (go).

Lets see some more examples:-

He got disturbed since I came from vacation.
You can go with your friends after I return.

Must bring your identity card before entering the school.

At the end we must know what is the difference between clause and phrase:-

CLAUSE	PHRASE
A clause sometimes makes complete sense by itself,	A phrase does not make complete sense by itself, because it has no subject and predicate.
Independent clauses can stay alone.	Phrases can’t stand alone.
Clauses sometimes convey complete thoughts.	Phrases can’t convey complete thoughts.