All clauses are categorized as one of the following: An independent clause (shown in bold throughout this lesson) can stand alone as a complete sentence. For example: John eats eggs. (This independent clause is literally a sentence. We will use this as our main clause in the next three examples.)
Clauses can be classified according to a distinctive trait that is a prominent characteristic of their syntactic form. The position of the finite verb is one major trait used for classification, and the appearance of a specific type of focusing word (e.g. Wh-word) is another.
Clauses are groups of words that contain a subject and a verb. Learn the different types of clauses and the nuances of using clauses in English writing.
Define Clauses: Learn the definition of English clauses, independent & dependent, with real example sentences. What is a clause in grammar? Find out here.
You might be here because you’re asking, what is a clause? It’s a good question that seems like it would have a simple answer. But there’s a lot to understand about them. Lucky for you, I’m going to go over everything you need to know! Clauses are groups of words containing a subject and a verb.
In English grammar, there are two main types of clauses: independent clauses and dependent clauses. Dependent clauses can take different forms (adverb, adjective, or noun clauses), but they all share the same characteristic of needing another clause to complete their meaning.
An independent clause has a subject + verb AND it forms a complete thought. A dependent clause has a subject + verb BUT it does not form a complete thought. Understand how English clauses work, with clear explanations, examples and sentence usage.