Phrase
A
phrase is a group of related words. It
does not contain a
subject and a
verb. In (a)
His story is a
noun phrase, In (b)
sitting next to me is an
adjective phrase, In (c)
While walking to class is an
adverb phrase, and in (d)
in the library is a
prepositional phrase.
(a)
His story was interesting.
(b) The girl
sitting next to me is Maria.
(c)
While walking to class, I ran into an old friend.
(d) The student studies
in the library.
Clause
A clause is a structure that has a subject and a verb. In (a) What he said is a noun clause, in (b) who is sitting next to me is an adjective clause, and in (c) While I was walking to class is an adverb clause.
(a) What he said was interesting.
(b) The girl who is sitting next to me is Maria.
(c) While I was walking to class, I ran into an old friend.
There are two kinds of clauses:
- independent clause: is a main clause and can stand alone as a sentence.
- dependent clause: cannot stand alone as a sentence; it must be connected to an independent clause.
(a) I met a man = an independent clause; it is a complete sentence.
(b) He lives in chicago = an independent clause; it is a complete sentence.
(c) who lives in Chicago = a dependent clause; it is NOT a complete sentence.
(d) I met a man who lives in Chicago = an independent clause + a dependent clause; a complete sentence.
NOUN CLAUSE
A
noun is a word that is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action) and is typically used in a sentence as
subject or
object of a
verb or as object of a
preposition. In (a) and (b)
Canada and
English are subjects,
country and
language are the objects of the
verb be, and in (c)
desk is the object of the preposition
on:
(a) Canada is a country.
(b) English is a language.
(c) Ann put her books on the desk.
A
noun phrase is used as a
subject or an
object in a sentence but it
does not contain a
subject and a
verb:
(a) I know his address.
In (a), his address is a noun phrase; his address is the object of the verb know.
A
noun clause is used as a
subject or an
object in a sentence and
contains a
subject and a
verb. In other words, a
noun clause is used in the same ways as a
noun phrase.
(a) I know where he lives.
In (a), where he lives is a noun clause. where he lives is the object of the verb know. The noun clause where he lives has its own subject and verb: he is the subject of the noun clause where he lives; lives is the verb of the noun clause where he lives.
1) A
noun clause can begin with a
question word. These common
question words can be used to introduce a
noun clause:
when,
where,
why,
how,
who,
whom,
what,
which,
whose.
Question word order is NOT used in a
noun clause. A
noun or
pronoun comes in front of the
verb in a
noun clause. The
prepositional phrase in the office does not come in front of
be in a
noun clause, as in (c):
(a) I know where my book is.
(b) Tell me whose pen this is.
(c) Tell me who is in the office.
2) A
noun clause can begin with
if or
whether. When
if introduces a
noun clause, the expression
or not sometimes comes at the end of the
clause, as in (b).
Whether has the same meaning as
if. (a), (b), and (c) have the same meaning :
(a) I don't know if Ed is at home.
(b) I don't know if Ed is at home or not.
(c) I don't know whether Ed is at home or not.
3) A
noun clause can begin with
that.
That-clauses are frequently used as the object of
verbs that express mental activity. Some common
verbs followed by
That-clauses are:
believe, feel, hear, hope, know, learn, read, say, suppose, think. The word
that is often omitted, especially in speaking, as in (b):
(a) I know that the word is round.
(b) I know the word is round.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSE
An
adjective modifies a
noun. "Modify" means to change a little. An
adjective describes or gives information about the
noun. An
adjective usually comes in front of a
noun:
(a) I met a kind man.
(b) I met a famous man.
An
adjective phrase is used as an
adjective in a sentence but it
does not contain a
subject and a
verb:
(a) The major was a man of great wealth.
In (a), of great wealth is a adjective phrase; of great wealth describes the noun man.
An
adjective clause is a
dependent clause that modifies a
noun. It describes, identify or gives further information about a
noun. An
adjective clause follows a
noun:
(a) I met a man who is kind to everyone.
(b) I met a man who is famous poet.
(c) I met a man who lives in chicago.
An
adjective clause used
pronouns to connect the
dependent clause to the
independent clause. The
adjective clause pronouns are
who,
whom,
which,
that, and
whose.
1)
Subject pronouns are changed to
who or
that but cannot be omitted to make an
adjective clause when refers to people, and
object pronouns are changed to
whom, who, that or can be omitted when refers to people to make an
adjective clause:
The man is friendly. He lives next to me.
Subject pronoun: he
(a) and (b) has the same meaning
(a) The man who lives next to me is friendly.
(b) The man that lives next to me is friendly.
The man was friendly. I met him.
Object pronoun: him
(c), (d) and (e) have the same meaning
(c) The man who(m) I met was friendly.
(d) The man that I met was friendly.
(e) The man I met was friendly.
2)
Subject pronouns are changed to which or that but cannot be omitted to make an adjective clause when refers to things, and object pronouns are changed to
which, that, or can be omitted when refers to things to make an
adjective clause:
The river is polluted. It flows through the town.
Subject pronoun: it
(a) and (b) have the same meaning.
(a) The river which flows through the town is pollated.
(b) The river that flows through the town is polluted.
The books were expensive. I bought them.
Object pronoun: them
(c), (d), and (e) have the same meaning.
(c) The books which I bought were expensive.
(d) The books that I bought were expensive.
(e) The books I bought were expensive.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT: The
verb in the
adjective clause is singular or plural when the
noun refers to a singular or plural
noun:
(a) I know the man who is sitting over there.
(b) I know the people who are sitting over there.
PREPOSITIONS: When a
preposition precede an
object pronoun, the
preposition is included at the end within the
adjective clause. In very formal English, a
preposition comes at the beginning of an
adjective clase, as in (d) and (h). Remember that
object pronouns are changed to
whom,
who or
that when refers to people, and to
which or
that when refers to things, or also can be omitted to make an
adjective clause:
The man was helpful. I talked to him.
Object pronoun: him
Preposition: to
(a), (b), (c), and (d) have the same meaning.
(a) The man whom I talked to was helpful.
(b) The man that I talked to was helpful.
(c) The man I talked to was helpful.
(d) The man to whom I talked was helpful. (formal)
The chair is hard. I am sitting in it.
Object pronoun: it
Preposition: in
(e), (f), (g), and (h) have the same meaning.
(e) The chair which I am sitting in is hard.
(f ) The chair that I am sitting in is hard.
(g) The chair I am sitting in is hard.
(h) The chair in which I am sitting is hard. (formal)
3)
Possessive adjectives are changed to
whose to make an
adjective clause.
Whose shows possession:
Possessive adjectives: his in (a), her in (b), and their in (c).
The man called the police. His car was stolen.
(a) The man whose car was stolen called the police.
I know a girl. Her brother is a movie star.
(b) I know a girl whose brother is a movie star.
The people were friendly. We bought their house.
(c) The people whose house we bought were friendly.
ADVERB CLAUSES
An
adverb is a word that describes a
verb, an
adjective, another
adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree. The
adverb carefully describes the action of the
verb drives in (a), and the
adverb quiet describes the
noun hometown in (b):
(a) Ann drives carefully.
(b) My hometown is small and quiet.
A
adverb phrase is used to describe a
verb, an
adjective, or another
adverb. but it
does not contain a
subject and a
verb:
(a) He spoke in a polite manner.
In (a), in a polite manner is an adjective phrase; in a polite manner describes the verb spoke.
Adverb clauses are
dependent clauses (NOT a complete sentence) that is used to describe a
verb, an
adjective, or another
adverb. They cannot stand alone as a sentence in written English. They must be connected to an
independent clause:
(a) He drank water because he was thirsty.
(b) Because he was thirsty, he drank water.
PUNTUATION: When the
adverb clause follows an
independence clause, usually no comma is used, as in (a). When an
adverb clause precedes an
independent clause, a comma is used to separate the clause, as in (b).
In spoken English, and
adverb clause can be used as the short answer to a question, as in (a):
(a) Why did he drink some water?
Because he was thirsty.
Adverb clauses are used to express time, cause and effect, contrast, direct contrast and condition.
Summary list of words used to introduce
adverb clauses:
| TIME | CAUSE AND EFFECT | CONTRAST | CONDITION |
after
before
when
while
as
as soon as
since
until | by the time (that)
once
as/so long as
whenever
every time (that)
the first time (that)
the last time (that)
the next time(that) | because
now that
since | even though
although
though
DIRECT
while
whereas | if
unless
only if
whether or not
even if
in case
in the event that |
1) Time clauses are
adverb clauses (
adverb clause of time) that are used to show TIME relationships. The following sentences are introduced by
when, after, before, white, until, and
as soon as:
(a) When the phone rang, I was watching TV.
(b) I went to bed after I finished my work.
(c) Before I went to bed, I finished my work.
(d) The phone rang while I was watching TV.
(e) I stayed up until I finish my work.
(f) As soon as I finish my work, I went to bed.
2)
Adverb clauses are used to show CAUSE AND EFFECT with
because,
now that (means "because now", as in (b)), and
since (means "because", as in (c)):
(a) He went to bed because he was sleepy.
(b) Now that the semester is over, I'm going to rest a few days and then take a trip.
(c) Since Monday is a holiday, we don't have to go to work.
3)
Adverb clauses are used to express CONTRAST (unexpected result) like
even though:
(a) Even though the weather was cold, I went swimming.
4)
Adverb clauses are used to show DIRECT CONTRAST with
while and
whereas. A comma is usually used even if the
adverb clause comes second:
(a) Mary is rich, while John is poor.
(b) Whereas Mary is rich, John is poor.
5)
Adverb clauses are used to express CONDITIONS with
If-Clauses (also called
adverb clauses of conditions). A present tense, not a future tense, is used in an
If-Clause even though the
verb in the
If-Clause may refer to a future event or situation, as in (b). Also may express with
whether or not as in (c),
even if as in (d),
in case as in (e),
in the event that as in (f),
unless as in (g), and when
only if begins a sentence, the
subject and
verb of the
main clause are inverted and no commas are used, as in (h):
(a) If it rains, the streets get wet.
(b) If it rains tomorrow, I will take my umbrella.
(c) I'm going to go swimming tomorrow whether or not it is cold.
(d) Even if the weather is cold, I'm going to go swimming.
(e) I'll be at my uncle's house in case you need to reach me.
(f) In the event you should need to reach me, I'll be at my uncle's house.
(g) I'll go swimming tomorrow unless it's cold.
(h) Only if it rains will the picnic be canceled.
REDUCTION OF ADVERB CLAUSES TO MODIFYING ADVERBIAL PHRASES: Some
adverb clauses may also be changed to
modifying phrases, and the ways in which the changes are made are the same: 1- Omit the
subject of the
dependent clause and the
be form of the
verb, as in (b). Or 2- If there is no
be form of a
verb, omit the
subject and change the
verb to
-ing, as in (d):
(a)
While I was walking to class, I ran into an old friend.
(b)
While walking to class, I ran into an old friend.
(c)
Before I left for work, I ate breakfast.
(d)
Before leaving for work, I ate breakfast.
An
adverb clause can be changed to a
modifying phrase only when the
subject of the
adverb clause and the
subject of the
main clause are the same. A
modifying adverbial phrase that is the reduction of an
adverb clause modifies the
subject of the
main clause,as in (b) and (d).
