Define Clause

A clause is a set of words that must have a subject and a verb. No sentence can be made without Clause. Each sentence has one or more clauses. A clause is an association of some words that contain both a subject and a predicate. A sentence must contain a clause at least.

Example:

    He bought a new motorcycle. (One sentence, one clause)
    He bought a new motorcycle, but he still has the old one. (One sentence, two clauses).

How many types of clause ?

There are two types of the clause. These are:

• Independent or Main Clause
• Dependent or Subordinate Clause

Independent or Main Clause:

An independent or main clause can make a complete sentence with a complete thought. It contains both a subject and a predicate and it can alone make a sentence and can be a part/clause of the sentence. Coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) are used to connect two equal independent clauses, using a comma before the conjunction.

Example:

• We visited Comilla in October.
• He ate a bowl of noodles.
• We visited Comilla in October, and then we visited Dhaka in November.

Dependent or Subordinate Clause:

A dependent/subordinate clause doesn’t make any complete sense or complete sentence alone. Dependent clause begins with subordinating conjunctions, relative pronoun, or some other words that help to add an independent clause to make a complete sense.

Example:

• I saw a poor boy, who was hungry.
• The teacher asked many questions, but nobody could answer.
• She went to bed after watching the show.

There are three types of subordinate clause

• Noun Clause
• Adjective Clause
• Adverb Clause

Noun Clause:

The subordinate clause that acts as a noun in a sentence is called Noun Clause. It usually starts with the words such as ‘that, whatever, what, whom, who, whoever’. It works as a noun either at the place of a subject or an object.

Noun Clause acts as a noun in place of a subject or an object in a sentence.

Example:

    Whatever you read increases your knowledge. (Noun as a subject)
    Tell me who left his watch on the field. (Direct object)
    Whoever cleaned the house deserves a reward. (Subject)

Adjective Clause

The subordinate clause that acts as an adjective and modifies noun or pronoun in a sentence is called Adjective Clause. Mostly, it starts with a relative pronoun such as ‘who, whose, whom, that, which, etc.’

Example:

    He saw a poor beggar who was hungry. (Modifies noun: beggar))
    I love the people who respect the teacher. (Modifies noun: people)
    I watch the movie Ainabaji which amused me a lot. (Modifies noun: movie)

Adverb Clause:

The subordinate clause that acts as an adverb and modifies a verb, an adjective-clause or another adverb clause in a sentence is called Adverb Clause. It modifies a verb of the main clause in terms of frequency, time, cause and effect and condition.

It uses the following conjunctions:

    Time: whenever, when, until, since, as, while, after, before, as soon as, by the time.
    Cause and effect: so, so that, as, because, since, as long as, now that.
    Contrast: though, although, while, even, whereas.
    Condition: whether or not, if, unless, only if, providing or provided that, in case, even if.

Example:

    The students had gone before the bell rang.
    Knock me when you need help.
    He worked in a jute mill while he was living in Chittagong.
    I live a happy life as long as I think positively.