Writing what is a clause

Since I have been in college Explanation: This is a dependent clause because it cannot stand on its own. It is not a complete sentence. I have learned so much. Explanation: This is an independent clause because it can stand on its own.

It is a complete sentence because it contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought. The reverse is not true: If a sentence begins with an independent clause, it need not be followed by a dependent clause although it may be. Phrases come in various forms. They are functional parts of speech, and we name them accordingly. Some of the types of phrases that you will encounter are:.

Obviously, a noun phrase includes a noun, a verb phrase includes a verb, and so on. A noun phrase has a noun and its modifier — that is to say, a word or words that describe, or give us more information about, the noun. Keep in mind that the modifier can be a phrase, clause, or a single word. The child who fed my dog The subject is the child , the verb phrase is who fed , and the direct object is my dog. The child smearing paint all over himself The subject is the child , the participle phrase is smearing paint , with a prepositional phrase all over himself.

Single words can also modify nouns, and typically come before the noun. Noun phrases can operate in a sentence as the subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition.

Whereas phrases cannot include both a subject and predicate subject noun and a verb , clauses must includes both parts of speech. This is a clause that cannot stand on its own. It does not represent a complete thought, and is not a complete sentence. Typically this is because there is an extra word that makes it dependent. Since I started going to the gym is a dependent clause. It cannot stand on its own, but needs something else to make it complete. The word since is the culprit. Joe was writing a letter.

After the Berlin Wall fell , Bishop et al. Types of Clauses Clauses themselves fall into two types—independent main and dependent subordinate : Independent main clauses express a complete thought; they can stand on their own as sentences: Chapter II describes the commercial off-the-shelf biosensors that form the basis of this research.

Dependent subordinate clauses are incomplete thoughts; they need—depend on—an independent clause to form a complete thought and therefore a complete sentence: After the Berlin Wall fell. GWC - all topics list heading. All-Topics Index The following index makes searching for a specific topic easier and links to the most relevant page for each item. A-Z content menu.

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