Clause and it Types

CLAUSES

    According to Halliday (1994), from the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective:

"A clause is the largest grammatical unit in the rank scale and is the basic unit for expressing a process or experience."
Here, a clause is a unit of meaning, not just form used to convey processes, participants, and circumstances.

    It can be conclude that a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete preposition which is has a subject and a verb.

There are 2 types of clauses, namely Independent Clause and Dependent Clause.

1) Independent Clause

    Independent Clause is a group of words that can stand alone and its own as a sentence. It means that independent clause has a subject, a verb, and its complete thought.

2) Dependent Clause

    Dependent Clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb but it is not complete thought. Because of it a dependent clause can not stand its own as a sentence.

Example: Because I woke up late this morning

        Dependent Clause can be devided in other types of clause such as:

• Adverb Clause
• Noun Clause
• Relative Clause

 EXPLANATION AND EXAMPLES:

Type & Definition	Examples
1. Noun Clause A dependent clause that acts as a noun. It can serve as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence.	- What she said surprised everyone.  - I don’t know where he lives. - That she passed the test made her happy. - He asked if I was okay. - Why she left early is unclear.
2. Adjective Clause (Relative Clause) A dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun; usually begins with who, whom, which, that, whose.	- The book that you gave me is excellent. - The student who won the prize is absent. - The teacher whom we respect is retiring. - The house which was built in 1900 still stands. - The singer whose voice I love is on tour.
3. Adverbial Clause A dependent clause that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb, answering questions like when, why, how, or under what condition.	- I’ll go when the rain stops. - Because she was late, we missed the bus. - Although he was tired, he kept working. - If you need help, call me. - Since it's your birthday, I'll bake a cake.

 

Common subordinators of Adjective Clauses

For People	For Things	For People/Things
Subject : Who	Subject: Which	Subject: That
Object: Whom	Object: Which	Object: That
Possesive: Whose	Possesive: Whose

Example:

The young lady (who visited this school last week) is an archited

Subordinators of Adverbial Clauses

Time	Cause
After As soon as Once When As Before Since Whenever As long as By the time Until While	As now that	As much as
	Because
	Since

 

Subordinators of Adverbial Clauses (Cont)

Condition	Contrast	Manner	Place
If	Although	As	Where
In case	Eventhough	In that	Wherever
Provided	Though
Providing	While
Unless	Whereas
Whether

Clause analysis in sentences

No	Sentence	Dependent Clause (DC)	Type of DC	Function	Independent Clause (IC)
1	Because I studied hard, I passed the exam.	Because I studied hard	Adverbial Clause	Cause	I passed the exam
2	Although it was cold outside, she didn't wear a coat.	Although it was cold outside	Adverbial Clause	Contrast	she didn't wear a coat
3	When he arrived at the station, the bus had already left.	When he arrived at the station	Adverbial Clause	Time	the bus had already left
4	When it rains, the roads are slippery.	When it rains	Adverbial Clause	Time	the roads are slippery
5	She ate her apple quickly because it tasted sour.	because it tasted sour	Adverbial Clause	Cause	She ate her apple quickly
6	We went to school when it snowed heavily.	when it snowed heavily	Adverbial Clause	Time	We went to school
7	Although it was raining, we decided to go for a walk.	Although it was raining	Adverbial Clause	Contrast	we decided to go for a walk
8	When she finishes her book, she will start a new one.	When she finishes her book	Adverbial Clause	Time	she will start a new one
9	Because he was late for the meeting, he missed the important announcement.	Because he was late for the meeting	Adverbial Clause	Cause	he missed the important announcement
10	If you need any help, please let me know.	If you need any help	Adverbial Clause	Condition	please let me know
11	Please tell me who left his shoes on the floor.	who left his shoes on the floor	Noun Clause	Object	Please tell me
12	Whoever is the last one to leave turns off the lights.	Whoever is the last one to leave	Noun Clause (Subject)	Subject	turns off the lights
13	The boy with the red shirt is who I want on my team.	who I want on my team	Noun Clause	Subject Complement	The boy with the red shirt is
14	I believe that he is innocent.	that he is innocent	Noun Clause	Object	I believe
15	I suspect that she eloped with her boyfriend.	that she eloped with her boyfriend	Noun Clause	Object	I suspect

 

More about Dependent Clause

1. Adjective Clause (Relative Clause)
Definition: A dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. It acts like an adjective, giving more information.

Introduced by: who, whom, whose, which, that, where, when

Function: Answers the question "which one?" or "what kind?"
 
 Example: The man who is wearing a red shirt is my teacher.
“who is wearing a red shirt” = adjective clause describing “the man”
Theoretical basis:
"An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that functions as an adjective by modifying a noun."
— Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999), The Grammar Book

2. Adverbial Clause
 Definition: A dependent clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Introduced by subordinating conjunctions: because, although, since, if, when, while, after, before, unless, etc.

Function: Answers how, when, where, why, to what extent, or under what condition.

Example: I stayed home because it was raining.

“because it was raining” = adverbial clause modifying the verb “stayed”

Theoretical basis:
"An adverbial clause functions like an adverb and modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb in the main clause."
— Quirk et al. (1985), A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language
 
3. Noun Clause
 Definition: A dependent clause that functions as a noun in the sentence.
 

Introduced by: that, whether, what, who, whoever, how, why, where, when

Function: Acts as subject, object, or complement.
 Example: What she said was surprising.
The fact that you passed the test is great!

Theoretical basis:

"Noun clauses function as a noun within a sentence. They can be subjects, direct objects, or subject complements."
— Huddleston & Pullum (2002), The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language

Summary Table

Type of Clause	Function	Common Markers	Example
Adjective Clause	Modifies noun/pronoun	who, that, which, where, when	The girl who won is my friend.
Adverbial Clause	Modifies verb/adjective	because, if, when, although, since	I left early because it rained.
Noun Clause	Acts as a noun	what, that, who, where, why	I know that she is honest.