Sandra Boyd

Sandra Boyd

Sentences and Clauses A sentence is a group of words that has a subject and predicate and expresses a complete thought.  A simple sentence has one complete subject and one complete predicate. Complete Subject Complete Predicate Some people travel. Neither cars nor jets are completely safe. Trains and buses carry passengers. Freight trains transport products. 

Sentences and Clauses A compound sentence is a sentence that contains two or more connected simple sentences. Each simple sentence in a compound sentence is called a main clause.  A main clause has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence. 

Millions of people live in cities, but many others reside in the suburbs. Commuters take trains, buses, and cars; some even fly. The connectors are shown in red.

Clauses A main clause has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.  Sometimes sentences have more than one clause, with only one of the clauses being a main clause. The other clause is called a subordinate clause. 

A subordinate clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate but does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence. A subordinate clause is always combined with a main clause in a sentence.

Complex Sentences A

complex sentence is a sentence that has one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

In each complex sentence below, the main clause is in light type, and the subordinate clause is in dark type.

When the sun set, the caravans stopped for the night. The dromedary has one hump, which stores fat. Most people know that camels are stubborn. We didn’t know what they had done.

Adjective Clauses  Sometimes

a subordinate clause acts as an adjective. An adjective clause adds information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause.

Ed’s bicycle, which he bought on sale, is a ten speed.

He paid a price that was incredibly low.

Adverb Clauses  Sometimes

a subordinate clause acts as an adverb. An adverb clause adds information about the verb in the main clause.

Before Julia bought a bicycle, she compared models.

She likes ten-speeds because they are versatile.

Noun Clauses  Other

subordinate clauses act as nouns. Notice how the noun in dark type below can be replaced by a noun clause.

Bicyclists should wear a helmet.

Should whoever rides a bike wear a helmet?.

Noun Clauses  You

can use a noun clause in the same ways that you can use a noun—as a subject, a direct object, an object of a preposition, or a predicate noun.

Subject: Whoever uses a bike rides for fun or exercise. Direct Object: Suzi says that she wants a ten-speed bike. Object of Preposition: She looks at whatever is on sale. Predicate Noun: The flea market is where she can find a good deal.