Clauses

A CLAUSE, in any language, has a subject (sometimes indicated just by the verb ending in Spanish) and a verb. 1. I am here.(Yo) estoy aquí. 2. When you finish…Cuando (tú) termines… 3. He loves his wife.(El) quiere a su esposa. 4. …that you read.…que (tú) lees.

Numbers 1 & 3 are independent clauses. They can stand alone. They are sentences all by themselves. Numbers 2 & 4 are dependent (subordinate) clauses. They can’t stand alone. The subordinators (when & that) link them to another clause, & they are subordinate to that clause.

PHRASES are written below. They don’t have a subject/verb combination: in the room walking to the store written in English to be honest These are PHRASES. The difference between clauses & phrases is that clauses have a subject & verb and phrases don’t.

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Clauses & phrases HAVE to function as some part of speech. They can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Noun I know the truth. – I know that he is here. Truth & that he is here are direct objects. Your brain could fit in a thimble. -- What you understand could fit in a thimble. Your brain & What you understand are subjects. I’ll give it to you. – I’ll give it to whoever wants it. You & whoever wants it are objects of the preposition (to).

Adjective The tall boy is my son. – The boy who lives here is my son. Both tall & who lives here tell you which boy. I know the pretty girl. – I know the girl who is eating. Both pretty & who is eating tell you which girl. I visited my sick mother. – I visited my mother, who is sick. Both sick & who is sick describe “mother.”

Adverb Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, & other adverbs & USUALLY answer one of the following questions: when, why, where, how, how much, under what circumstances. He left yesterday. – He left when she called. Both yesterday & when she called answer the question when. He left because he was tired. Because he was tired answers the question why.

Most noun & adjective clauses start with that, who, whom, or which. Virtually every other subordinating conjunction (the word that connects the dependent clause to the independent clause) introduces an adverb clause: if, because, before, after, although, when, where, until, unless, etc.

NOTE Subordinating conjunctions (that, when, after, although, if, etc., as mentioned on previous slides) are one type of conjunction. The other type is coordinating conjunctions. They link 2 INdependent clauses. It’s like 2 sentences joined together, not a sentence that has another clause dependent on it: Juan left early, and the teacher lowered his grade. There are only 7 of these, so they’re easy to memorize: and butornorforsoyet

Knowing what type of clause you have is essential in understanding how to use the subjunctive in Spanish. It’s also pretty important if you’re going to be teaching English.

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