English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, with Online Practice, 3rd Edition

Chapter 16

Identifying Clauses and Their Effects

IN THIS CHAPTER

Identifying independent and subordinate clauses

Untangling complicated sentences

Combining clauses to emphasize important ideas

Clauses are everywhere, and none of them wear red suits and travel with reindeer and a sled. A clause is a basic unit of expression, the fundamental structure that carries meaning in a sentence. Unless you rely on emoticons, you can’t write without clauses. This chapter deals with clauses and their effect on a sentence: what makes sense alone, what needs a little extra help to express meaning, and how various types of clauses and their placement affect the meaning you convey. By the time you’ve completed this chapter, you’ll be an expert in every type of clause.

Locating Clauses

Clauses are easy to find. Look for a matching subject-verb pair, and you have a clause. When I say “matching,” I mean that the pair makes sense together in Standard English. Bill is watching makes a pair (Bill = subject, is watching = verb). Bill watching isn’t a proper pair. Why? The verb is incomplete. To sum up: Where a matching subject-verb pair appears, so does a clause. Where one doesn’t appear, no clause exists. ...