A clause has
a subject and a verb, but it may or may not be a sentence.
Some examples:
Because he
likes the house. This clause has a subject (he)
and a verb (likes) but it lacks
the main part of the sentence. However, it's okay as an answer
in a conversation. Also, avoid beginning a sentence with "because"
unless you put two clauses together, such as....
Because he likes the house, he decided
to buy it.
In the Orange Level you will learn
about many different kinds of clauses. A good knowledge of clauses
will help improve your writing and speaking. There are two basic
kinds of clauses.
-
Independent Clauses
-
Dependent Clauses
An indendent
Clause has a subject
and a verb and it can stand on its own, serving as a complete
sentence.
A Dependent
Clause has a subject
and a verb but it can not stand on its own. It needs an independent
clause.
Before I
went to school, I ate some
breakfast.
Dependent clauses often begin
with words such as before, after, while,
during, when, because, if, etc.
Knowing how to use clauses will
provide more options for you to express yourself. You can also
say....
I ate some
breakfast before I went to school.
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A phrase is a group of words that
does not have a subject and a verb. For example:
in the morning
This phrase tells us when something
will happen, but there isn't a subject, a person or a thing,
and there isn't a verb describing activity or existence. Here's
how to fix it:
I go to school in the morning.
Phrases are very important in English
because they provide necessary information, as the examples below
(with phrases in blue) demonstrate: |
