How to recognize clauses in English

In English, a clause and a phrase are the structural units of long sentences. To identify propositions, focus first on understanding the difference between them. Once you have grasped the basic concept, you can identify different types of clauses. This foundation will help you to write long sentences, use correct grammar and not be confused by more complex English clauses.

Table of Contents

What is the clause?

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/b/b7/Identify-a-Clause-Step-1.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-1. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/b/b7/Identify-a-Clause-Step-1.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 1.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

A clause is a group of words with two parts. The first part is the subject : the word that indicates the person or thing that is doing something. The second part is the conjugated verb : this word indicates the action that the subject is performing. ^{[1] X Research Source}

“ They run ” is a clause with person (they) and action (run).
“ They run to the store ” is also a clause. “Action” in the example includes more words, but still carries the same meaning.
” My dog is a good boy ” is also a proposition. The word “is” (or “are”) is referred to as “action”.

What is a phrase?

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/c/c7/Identify-a-Clause-Step-2.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-2. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/c/c7/Identify-a-Clause-Step-2.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 2.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

The phrase does not have enough information to be a clause. A clause always tells us who (or something) is doing what . If a group of words does not perform this function, it is a phrase. ^{[2] X Research Source} A phrase that tells us only one piece of information.

For example, the sentence ” After work, my dad cooks dinner ” has one phrase and one clause.
The clause is ” my dad cooks dinner “, which includes the subject (“my dad”) and the action (“cooks dinner”).
The phrase is ” After work “. This phrase tells us nothing about the subject or the action.

Test method by removing adjectives

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/7/77/Identify-a-Clause-Step-3.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-3. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/77/Identify-a-Clause-Step-3.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 3.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

You can remove adjectives to determine if something is a clause or not. Adjectives and adverbs are additional components to make a sentence clearer or better, but do not include the main idea. If the homework asks for the following: “Is this a phrase or a clause?” (Is this a phrase or a clause?), try crossing out adjectives and adverbs. This will help you see which ingredients are important.

Example 1: ” The happy young students run quickly to the large candy store .” After crossing out the adjectives and adverbs, the sentence becomes ” the students run to the candy store .” At this point, you still know who is doing what , so this is a proposition.
Example 2: ” Slowly climbing the big staircase .” Similarly, cross out adjectives and adverbs. At this point, you have ” climbing the stairs “. We cannot tell who is climbing the stairs, so this cannot be a proposition but a phrase.

Test method “is it true that…”

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/e/ec/Identify-a-Clause-Step-4.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-4. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/ec/Identify-a-Clause-Step-4.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 4.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Add this phrase to the group of words to see if the sentence makes sense. If after you add and the sentence becomes meaningful then the group of words is a clause. If not then this could be the phrase. ^{[3] X Research Resources} Here are some hard examples for you to try:

My friend hpding the pizza → “Is it true that my friend hpding the pizza?” This content has no meaning, so here is a phrase.
People who walk fast → “Is it true that people who walk fast?” This makes no sense so this is just a phrase.
Let’s apply the above test with the following example: “people who walk fast are annoying .” I have “Is it true that people who walk fast are annoying ?” is a normal sentence with subject (“people who walk fast”) and action (“are annoying”).

Independent clause

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/4/42/Identify-a-Clause-Step-5.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-5. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/4/42/Identify-a-Clause-Step-5.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 5.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

The independent clause itself can be a sentence with a subject (“who” or “what” the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is doing or the main action of the sentence). Most clauses are independent clauses.

“Example: The tree grew very tall ” is an independent clause. This is a complete sentence.
Take a look at the following sentence: ” While eating breakfast, I read a comic book .” The main part of the sentence is “I read a comic book.” You can put this part on its own and still make a complete sentence. Thus, “I read a comic book” is an independent clause.

Combine independent clauses

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/7/7c/Identify-a-Clause-Step-6.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-6. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/7c/Identify-a-Clause-Step-6.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 6.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Words like “and” or “but” are often used to connect two independent clauses because a sentence can contain more than one clause. To identify clauses in a long sentence, look at “coordinating conjunctions” (also known as “linking words” or “connecting words”). Coordinating conjunctions such as for , and , nor , but , or , yet and so stand between two or more independent clauses. You can memorize these words by combining the initials to form “fanboys”.

Example: Try to identify two clauses in the sentence ” The cloud is moving fast, but I can run faster “.
“But” is a conjunction used to join two independent clauses in a sentence.
The content before the word “but” is an independent clause: ” The cloud is moving fast “.
The content behind the word “but” is another independent clause: ” I can run faster “.

Dependent clause

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/b/b5/Identify-a-Clause-Step-7.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-7. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/b/b5/Identify-a-Clause-Step-7.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 7.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

A dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone to form a meaningful single sentence. Like all other clauses, a dependent clause also has a subject (“who” or “what”) and an action, but by itself cannot form a complete sentence. A dependent clause begins with a word like because , although , if or when . These words connect the dependent clause to another clause in the sentence. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

” Because I baked a second cake ” is a dependent clause. This clause has a subject (“I”) and action (“baked a second cake”) but cannot form a complete sentence because it contains an unsolved problem: For what?
” Because I baked a second cake, everyone had enough to eat ” is a complete sentence with two clauses. “Because I baked a second cake” is a dependent clause. “Everyone had enough to eat” is an independent clause.

Relative clause

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/8/8a/Identify-a-Clause-Step-8.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-8. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/8/8a/Identify-a-Clause-Step-8.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 8.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Words like “who” or “which” begin a relative clause. This is a type of dependent clause, meaning that the clause itself cannot become a complete sentence by itself. Instead, the relative clause comes after the noun to modify the noun. ^{[5] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to source}

In the sentence ” A woman who knows about spiders gave a presentation ,” the word “who” begins a relative clause.
” Who knows about spiders ” is a relative clause. This part clarifies more about the woman in the sentence. This clause cannot stand alone to make a complete sentence.
“Who” is the subject and “knows about spiders” is the action (“conjugated verb”).
A relative clause can begin with a relative pronoun ( who , whom , whose , that , which ) or a relative adverb ( when , where , why ). ^{[6] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to Source}

Relative clauses without the word “who”

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/1/1d/Identify-a-Clause-Step-9.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-9. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/1/1d/Identify-a-Clause-Step-9.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 9.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Sometimes the word “who” is omitted from the relative clause. ^{[7] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to source} This case can make it difficult to identify relative clauses. Here’s how to identify a relative clause without the word “who”:

The relative clause comes after the noun . For example: ” the bear you warned me about ate my tent “. In this sentence, the relative clause “you warn me about” comes right after the noun “bear.”
You can leave out the relative clause , but the sentence still makes sense. In the example above, after omitting the “you warn me about” part, what remains is a complete sentence: ” The bear ate my tent “.
You can re-add the word “who” . In this example, you could use the word “that”: ” The bear that you warned me about ate my tent “.

Difficult clauses with adjectives ending in “-ing”

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/6/6b/Identify-a-Clause-Step-10.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-10. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/6/6b/Identify-a-Clause-Step-10.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 10.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Words ending in -ing cannot be main verbs. Every clause has a verb, so let’s start looking for the main verb. However, when we add “-ing” to the end of a verb, the verb becomes an adjective describing the noun. ^{[8] X Trusted Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Go to Source}

Example: Identify the clause in the sentence ” The rushing river flooded the field. “
First, it is easy to see that there are two verbs: “rushing” and “flooded”.
But “rushing” in this sentence is no longer a verb but an adjective. Therefore, this cannot be the main verb of the clause.
Thus, the entire sentence above has only one clause.
Harder Example: Identify the clause in the following sentence ” The bear living in the woods drinks from the stream running down the mountain .”
In this sentence, both “living” and “running” are non-verbs. These words begin the sentences “living in the woods” and “running down the mountain”. The only verb here is “drinks”, so the whole sentence is a clause.

Difficult clauses with nouns ending in “-ing”

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/2/29/Identify-a-Clause-Step-11.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-11. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/2/29/Identify-a-Clause-Step-11.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 11.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Words ending in -ing can act as nouns. ^{[9] X Trusted Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Go to Source} For English learners, it may sound weird and complicated at first (verb but noun?) But if you speak English like a native this is already normal. In short, don’t worry too much about grammar.

” Sleeping is my favorite thing to do ” is a clause.
The subject of this clause is “sleeping”.
It’s easier if you notice that “sleeping” is in the place where the subject usually stands, right before the verb: “Sleeping is” instead of “The tree is”.

Difficult clauses with words ending in “-ed” or “-en”

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/7/7b/Identify-a-Clause-Step-12.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-12. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/7b/Identify-a-Clause-Step-12.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 12.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Words ending in -ed or -en can be verbs or adjectives. ^{[10] X Trusted Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Go to Source} If verbs, they refer to recent action. When they become adjectives, they describe what certain nouns are like :

” A cracked window let the cd wind through ” is a clause with the main verb “let”. The word “cracked” is not a verb here, so there is no second clause. This adjective describes the condition of a window that is inherently cracked.
” A window cracked and a dog howled ” is a sentence with two independent clauses: “a window cracked” and “a dog howled”. In these two cases, the word ending in “-ed” is the verb that shows what just happened.
If words ending in “-ed” come before the subject, most of them are adjectives, not verbs.
If words ending in “-ed” come after the subject, they can be adjectives or verbs. A window cracked by a hailstone is a phrase, not a clause. This phrase describes what happened to the window (passive shortening) rather than the action the window was taking at the moment.

Infinitive clause

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/2/2d/Identify-a-Clause-Step-13.jpg/v4-460px-Identify-a-Clause-Step-13. jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/2/2d/Identify-a-Clause-Step-13.jpg/v4-728px-Identify-a-Clause-Step- 13.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div> “}

Verbs in the form “to ___” are not main verbs. These are called “infinitives” or “infinitives”. ^{[11] X Trusted Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Go to source} Grouping of words with infinitives and no other verbs is a phrase, not a clause. There are many different ways to use them, but you don’t have to understand them all. Here are some of the most common uses:

I want to eat is a clause. In which, “want” is the main verb, “to eat” is just a part of the whole conjugated verb (“want to eat”). Since “to eat” is not a main verb, no more clauses can be formed.

Advice

Relative clauses are also known as “adjective clauses”. ^{[12] X Trusted Source University of North Carpina Writing Center Go to source} This clause describes a noun with an adjective.
Some teachers and textbooks refer to dependent clauses as “subclauses”. These two names are the same.

Warning

When we talk, we often speak in phrases. Example: “You first?” “No, after you.” But in writing grammar, these are incomplete sentences. Rather, they are phrases, not clauses.
The “is it true that” test method is applicable to all independent clauses, but not to dependent clauses.

Steps