1. Clauses
English 10
2007

2. What is a clause?
A clause is a group of words WITH A SUBJECT AND A PREDICATE.

3. BACK UP! What’s a subject?
A subject is that part of the sentence about which something is being said.
It’s the person, place, thing or idea being discussed.
Mr. Morton is the subject of the sentence.
Suzanne quit her job.
Her job was boring.

4. Okay, that’s easy. What’s a predicate?
The PREDICATE is the part of the sentence which says something about the subject.
Suzanne quit her job.
Her job was boring.
The SIMPLE PREDICATE is the VERB of a sentence.

5. How is a clause different from a phrase?
A phrase doesn’t have both subject and a predicate.
A phrase can never be a complete sentence.
Some clauses CAN be sentences.
An INDEPENDENT clause is a sentence.

6. Independent Clauses
Independent clauses are sentences. They can stand alone, and they make sense.
I ate all my Halloween candy.
Julie loved her Sponge Bob pajamas.
The light bulb burned out.

7. Find the subjects and predicates
I ate all my Halloween candy.
Julie loved her SpongeBob pajamas.
The lightbulb burned out.

8. Subjects are circled. Predicates are underlined
I ate all my Halloween candy.
Julie owns SpongeBob sheets.
The lightbulb burned out.

9. Now, try some harder ones
Now, try some harder ones. Find the subject and simple predicate (verb):
After the game, the Vikings wept.
Bart, a boy who always caused trouble, liked to play tricks on Mr. Skinner.
The birds swooped down and grabbed the fish.

10. Key Fact:
Independent Clauses can be complete sentences by themselves.

11. Dependent Clauses
Still have both a subject and a verb/ predicate, but cannot stand by themselves.
DEPENDENT CLAUSES are dependent on something else to make a sentence.
They are also called “SUBORDINATE CLAUSES.”

12. Dependent clauses don’t make sense all alone.
Even though I slept all day
Subject: I
Predicate: slept all day
There is a subject and a predicate:
But it doesn’t make sense! The “even though” is in the way!

13. Dependent clauses need help!
Even though I slept all day, I was still tired.
Even though I slept all day, my mom made me go to bed at 8.
I finished my homework, even though I slept all day.
Dependent clauses need to be attached to an independent clause to be a sentence.

14. Other dependent clauses
Because she liked the other guy
If you want to pass this class
After the CD was finished
Whether the ring was real gold
That they laughed all hour

15. The dependent clause is underlined.
Nathan ran two miles after he warmed up.
Sally didn’t know if she could stand the smell of Linus’ blanket.
Although the test was difficult, Jon earned an A-.

16. Clauses
A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate.
An independent clause is a sentence.
A dependent clause cannot stand alone because it’s not a complete sentence.