GRAMMAR DEFINITIONS - CLAUSES
1. sentence: a group of words with a predicate (action, including a verb) and a subject (performer of the action, often a noun) that expresses a complete thought.
Ex. 1 - Most of my students work very hard.
2. clause: a group of words with a predicate and subject that acts as part of a longer sentence.
Ex. 2 - He failed the class because he did not study hard.
3. independent clause: a clause that could be a sentence by itself.
Ex. 3 - Some people like American cars; some prefer Japanese.
4. dependent clause : a clause that cannot be a sentence by itself; it must be in the same sentence with an independent clause.
Note : Dependent clauses always begin with a subordinate conjunction ( words like although, unless, until, when, where, while, if, as long as, as soon as, because, since, and others) or a relative pronoun (who, which, what, or that; words related to these).
Ex. 4 - If you do not behave properly, you will get in trouble.
Ex. 4 - He bought a car that could go 120 mph.
