1. The Clause Definition:
A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.
A clause may be either a sentence (an independent clause) or a sentence-like construction.
The Clause

2. Types of Clauses: Adjective Clause
Definition: A dependent clause used as an adjective within a sentence. Also known as an adjectival clause or a relative clause.
An adjective clause usually begins with a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose), a relative adverb (where, when, why), or a zero relative

3. adjective clause
An adjective clause is a dependent clause used as an adjective within a sentence. Before doing this exercise, you may find it helpful to review the study sheet Subordination with Adjective Clauses.
Instructions: The sentences in this exercise have been adapted from a paragraph in Richard Rodriguez's memoir Hunger of Memory (1981). Seven of the sentences contain adjective clauses. Identify these adjective clauses, and then compare your answers with those on page two.

4. Continued…………………..
In the early years of my boyhood, my parents coped very well in America.
My father, who had steady work, and my mother, who managed at home, were nobody's victims.
Ambition led them to purchase a home that was many blocks from the poor side of Sacramento.
This home, which they had worked so hard to own, was only a block from the biggest, whitest houses in town.
Despite their achievements, the confidence of "belonging" in public was withheld from them both.

5. Continued…………………….
They regarded the people at work, the faces in crowds, as very distant from us.
They were the others, los gringos, who always spoke too rapidly.
The English that my parents spoke in public was hesitant, accented, not always grammatical.
The Spanish language of their Mexican past, which they spoke at home, sounded in counterpoint to the English of public society.
The Spanish that they spoke with ease was a pleasing, soothing, consoling reminder of home.

6. Continued…………………….
In the following sentences, the adjective clauses are in bold print.
(no adjective clauses)
My father, who had steady work, and my mother, who managed at home, were nobody's victims.
Ambition led them to purchase a home that was many blocks from the poor side of Sacramento.
This home, which they had worked so hard to own, was only a block from the biggest, whitest houses in town.

7. (no adjective clauses)
They were the others, los gringos, who always spoke too rapidly.
The English that my parents spoke in public was hesitant, accented, not always grammatical.
The Spanish language of their Mexican past, which they spoke at home, sounded in counterpoint to the English of public society.
The Spanish that they spoke with ease was a pleasing, soothing, consoling reminder of home.

8. that-clause: I believe that everything happens for a reason.
Noun Clause
Definition: A dependent clause that functions as a noun (that is, as a subject, object, or complement) within a sentence. Also known as a nominal clause.
Two common types of noun clause in English are that-clauses and wh-clauses:
that-clause: I believe that everything happens for a reason.
wh-clause: How do I know what I think, until I see what I say?

9. Conditional Clause
Definition: A type of adverbial clause that states a hypothesis or condition, real or imagined.
A conditional clause may be introduced by the subordinating conjunction if or another conjunction, such as unless or in case of.

10. Continued………………………
"If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." (Harry Truman)
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." (Anne Bradstreet, "Meditations Divine and Moral")
"If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith." (Albert Einstein)
"Conditions deal with imagined situations: some are possible, some are unlikely, some are impossible. The speaker/writer imagines that something can or cannot happen or have happened, and then compares that situation with possible consequences or outcomes, or offers further logical conclusions about the situation." (R. Carter, Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)

11. There are six main types of conditional sentence:
For example, the equilibrium between liquid and vapor is upset if the temperature is increased. (General rule, or law of nature: it always happens.)
If you start thinking about this game, it will drive you crazy. (Open future condition: it may or may not happen.)
But if you really wanted to be on Malibu Beach, you'd be there. (Unlikely future condition: it probably won't happen.)
If I were you, I would go to the conference center itself and ask to see someone in security. (Impossible future condition: it could never happen.)
"I would have resigned if they had made the decision themselves," she said. (Impossible past condition: it didn't happen.)
If he had been working for three days and three nights then it was in the suit he was wearing now. (Unknown past condition: we don't know the facts.)

12. Adverbial Clause
Definition: A dependent clause used as an adverb within a sentence to indicate time, place, condition, contrast, concession, reason, purpose, or result. Also known as adverbial clause.
An adverb clause begins with a subordinating conjunction (such as if, when, because, or although) and includes a subject and a predicate.

13. Examples
This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.“
All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.“
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."

14. Independent Clause
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence. Example: Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz.

15. Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.
Example: When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.)

16. Dependent Marker Word
A dependent marker word is a word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause. Example: When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, it was very noisy.

17. Some common dependent markers are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

18. Connecting dependent and independent clauses
There are two types of words that can be used as connectors at the beginning of an independent clause: coordinating conjunctions and independent marker words.

19. 1.Coordinating Conjunction
The seven coordinating conjunctions used as connecting words at the beginning of an independent clause are and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. When the second independent clause in a sentence begins with a coordinating conjunction, a comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction:
Example: Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, but it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.

20. 2. Independent Marker Word
An independent marker word is a connecting word used at the beginning of an independent clause. These words can always begin a sentence that can stand alone. When the second independent clause in a sentence has an independent marker word, a semicolon is needed before the independent marker word.
Example:
Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz; however, it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.
Some common independent markers are: also, consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, and therefore.