ENGLISH 121 FINALS
SYNTAX: CLAUSES
SESSION 6
What is SYNTAX?
Why should you learn the
English syntax as an
aspiring English teacher?
OVERVIEW OF FINALS
CLAUSES CLAUSE PHRASE
STRUCTURES STRUCTURES
What is a clause?
Clause
SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE THAT
CONTAINS BOTH A SUBJECT
AND A PREDICATE.
Clause
• A clause is the smallest syntactic unit that
has meaning. This is a complicated way of
saying that a clause is a sentence that can
stand alone.
• Minimally, a sentence consists of one
clause.
• A sentence may consist of one or more
clauses.
Jack threw the ball.
When the oceans rise
Clauses and thunders roar
Teddy reports the
malicious tagging on
Facebook.
Dependent Clause
Independent
Clause A dependent clause has a subject
and verb, is introduced by a
An independent clause, also known subordinate conjunction or a relative
as a simple sentence, includes a pronoun, but does not express a
subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. A dependent
complete thought. clause is not a complete sentence.
Identify whether independent or dependent:
Jack threw the ball.
When the oceans rise
Clauses and thunders roar
Teddy reports the
malicious tagging on
Facebook.
Quick exercise!
It will continue to While the car is If you have
leak oil. being fixed. studied a little
each day.
I will stop playing Because it looked Go!
the drums. like it might
snow.
Classification of Dependent
Clauses
NOUN/NOMINAL CLAUSE
ADJECTIVAL/RELATIVE CLAUSE
ADVERBIAL CLAUSE
Dependent clauses may work like adverbs, adjectives, or nouns in complex
sentences.
Noun/Nominal Clause
A nominal clause names a person, place,
thing, or idea.
It can function as a subject, subjective complement, appositive, object
of preposition, direct object, indirect object, and retained object.
Nominal clauses begin with interrogatives such as:
who whom what which whoever whomever
whatever when where how why
NOMINAL CLAUSE
SUBJECT APPOSITIVE
SUBJECTIVE
Why you did that to COMPLEMENT The problem, that you did
me is a mystery to not pick up the packages,
When we party, you
me. delays the entire
can be whoever you
production schedule.
want.
NOMINAL CLAUSE
OBJECT OF PREPOSITION INDIRECT OBJECT
DIRECT OBJECT
They argued about No one would tell me I will reward whoever
how they should pay who came to Tom's arrives first at the
the bill. party. finish line the prize.
NOMINAL CLAUSE
RETAINED OBJECT RETAINED OBJECT
Max has always been Max’s mom has
given whatever he always given him
wants by his mom. whatever he wants.
Nominal clause may also
begin with
that whether if
THAT WHETHER IF
She told me that I The question is I don't know if it is
am not good enough. whether he can do raining.
the job.
Adjectival/Relative Clause
ADJECTIVAL CLAUSE DESCRIBES A NOUN
(IN THE SENTENCE'S MAIN CLAUSE) AND
ANSWERS ONE OF THESE QUESTIONS: WHICH
ONE? WHAT KIND?
Common relative pronouns: Adjectival clauses
that which who whom whose always follow the
person, place, or thing
NOTE: Use who, whom, and whose to describe people. they describe, usually
Use that and which to describe things. immediately.
Adjectival/Relative Clause
Teacher DanVibes who
Joe read the book A leader who is
has been creating
that I gave him. trustworthy has the
teaching-related
support of the people.
content on social media
is now famous.
Adjectival/Relative Clauses
They may also begin with selected subordinating conjunctions.
Spring is the season They have bought the I did not understand
when everything house where I was the reason why I did
blooms. born. not win.
On essentiality/non-essentiality
George fell in love with
Davao City, which is someone who lives in
the country's largest The quiz that gave me
Cebu.
city, has been the headache is absolutely
home of 11 ethnic difficult.
George fell in love with
tribes. Pia, who is from Cebu.
Adverbial Clause
AN ADVERBIAL CLAUSE DESCRIBES A VERB
(IN THE SENTENCE'S MAIN CLAUSE) AND
ANSWERS ONE OF THESE QUESTIONS:
WHERE? WHY? HOW?
WHEN? TO WHAT DEGREE?
Adverbial clauses begin with subordinating
conjunctions
The flowers bloom when the spring arrives.
The poor woman had no money because she had lost her job.
Where there is smoke, there is fire.
He answered the question as if he knew the subject quite well.
Jones will probably arrive later than Smith will arrive.
Paolo is much younger than his brother (is).
Non-Finite
Finite Clauses Clauses
contain finite verbs, or subordinating clauses that
verbs that express tense, contain verbs that do not
either independent or express tense; infinitive or
dependent participle clauses
The engineer changed what is supposed to be the design of the computer.
We missed the flight because we arrived late.
I told him what to do better.
Henry gave up his dream because he has to take care of his sick grandmother.
My son mentioned that he wants to see his dad when asked about his wish.
Krista volunteered as contact tracer after being vaccinated
twice.
Reflection
If you were a clause, would you be an
indepedent or dependent clause?
If you were a dependent
clause, what type of
dependent clause would you
be and why?
Sources
[Link]
[Link]/lxRY7
Finegan, E. (2015). Language: Its structure and use (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.
[Link]
