9 Types Of English Grammar Clauses Every Writer Should Know (2024)

March 19, 2024 / 5 minutes of reading

English grammar clauses can make identifying parts of speech confusing, but this guide should clarify what you must know about common types of clauses.

A clause is a group of words with at least one subject and verb. It may or may not be a complete sentence, but it will have that distinction of the subject and verb combo. Clauses make English writing more interesting because they let you break free from the simple sentence structure alone.

As you work to master the English language, clauses can be one of the hardest parts to master. English grammar clauses can function as many different parts of speech, and independent clauses can even look like separate sentences. Here is a closer look at the differenttypes of clausesyou can come across in your reading and writing.

Exploring English Grammar Clauses for ClearerWriting

Before you let different types of clausestrip you up in your writing, make sure you understand the differenttypes of clausesyou can come across. Using clauses well helps you createcomplex sentencepatterns that are interesting to those reading your writing.

1.Independent Clause

The independent clause is the main clause in the sentence. An independent clause states a full thought and can stand alone as a complete sentence.

In fact, a simple sentence is just one independent clause without additional phrases added in, while a compound sentence is two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or punctuation.

Examples:

• The dog ran across the street.
• The woman wept.

2.Subordinate Clause

A subordinate clause does not have a complete thought, so it is also called a dependent clause and if written on its own is a sentence fragment. It starts with a subordinating conjunction and functions as a part of speech in the sentence.

The pattern typically is a subordinating conjunction followed by the subject and the verb.

Examples:

• When the dog ran across the streethe was almost hit by a car
• Because the woman wepther family comforted her.

3.Adjective Clause

Anadjective clausestarts with arelative pronoun, such as who, whom, whose, which or that, or arelativeadverb, such as when, where or why. Anadjectiveclausefunctionsas an adjective. The entiregroup of wordsmodifies the subject or another noun or pronoun in the sentence.

Examples

• The man whom we had never met came over and greeted us warmly.
• The conductorwho led the marching bandwas impressed with his players’ performance.

4.Adverbial Clause

Anadverbclausemodifies thepredicateor anotheradverbin the sentence. These also often start withsubordinating conjunctionslike because, unless, when, although and if. They answer questions like how, when, where, why and to what extent, just likeadverbs.

Examples:

• When Johnathan left the house, he forgot his keys.
• After she graduated from college,Sandra got a job as a nurse.

5.Noun Clause

If agroup of wordswith a subject and verb functions as a noun, it becomes anoun clause. You can identify these by checking to see if you can remove thegroup of wordsand replace it with a pronoun or noun.

Examples:

• You should ask what grandma adds to her cake to make it so sweet.
• Please thankwhoever chose to bring chocolate cake to the party.

6.Relative Clause

A relative clause starts with a relative pronoun, such as that, who or which. It is a type of adjective clause. If the relative clause is necessary for understanding the sentence, it is not offset with commas, but if it is not, then comma placement shows this fact. Read our guide to the best comma placement checkers.

Examples:

• She fell in love with Tom, who had a dashing personality.
• The dogthat whined loudlywas the one they picked at the shelter.

7.Conditional Clause

A conditional clause uses words like if or unless to show something is possible or probable but not necessarily guaranteed. They cannot stand alone without the rest of the sentence, making them dependent.

Examples:

• If it starts to rain,we will have to go inside.
• Unless you start putting in more effort,you will likely fail math.

8. Infinitive Clause

Aninfinitive clauseis a dependent clause that begins with an infinitive verb followed by the base or noun form of the verb. The verb’s infinitive form is usually preceded by the word “To”. Here are some examples:

• To swim in the ocean we will have to get lessons
• To ride a bike he must wear a helmet
• To brew coffee, you need beans, hot water and an AeroPress.

9. Appositive Clause

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames or provides more information about a noun. The appositive can be a short or long combination of words. Here are some examples:

• My sister,a talented musician, justwrote a book review. (Here, the appositive phrase is “a talented author”.)
• Dublin,one of Europe’s most visited cities, is in Ireland. (The appositive phrase is “one of the most visited cities”.)

• If it starts to rain, we will have to go inside.
• Unless you start putting in more effort,you will likely fail math.

A Final Word On English Grammar Clauses

Groups of words with both a subject and a verb are known as clauses. InEnglishgrammar,clauses can be confusing because they add asubject-verbpattern to the sentence, but they may not include the actual subject and verb of the main sentence.

To find clauses and distinguish them from the main sentence, first, ask yourself what the sentence’s main action is. Then, identify the subject that goes with that verb, and any direct objects or prepositional phrases that are part of the main idea.

Any additional subject-verb patterns are likely clauses providing extra information to the sentence. Remember, a clause can serve as a noun, adjective, adverb or main idea of the sentence. Identifying and using them in your writing will make you a better writer.

If you need help with English grammar clauses, using a grammar checker like Grammarly is a good idea. It provides context behind grammar errors like errant clauses! If you’d like to do that, claim our Grammarly coupon.

FAQs onEnglishGrammarClauses