Clause Worksheets

We have you break down sentences and help make sense of portions of them.

The Adjective Clause Worksheet
Find the portion of the sentence that modifies a noun in the main clause. Identify specific parts of sentences. This is a great primer for learning this skill for the first time.

Joining Clauses at the Beach
Reword the sentences, but still produce the same outcome. We have you reword the sentences and change the verb tenses. The goal is to keep the outcome of the sentence the same.

Dependent and Independent Clauses
What part of the sentence provides a complete thought and what part doesn't? We ask you to point out complete and incomplete thoughts (clauses).

Clauses and Phrases
Pull apart sentences and identify the predicate, subject, and phrase. Dissect each sentence and find the phrase, predicate, and subject.

Independent Clauses
Find the partial thought in the sentences. Find the complete thought in each sentence and underline it.

Independent and Subordinate Clauses
Define the different parts of the sentences. We ask you to identify the point and motive of the underlined portion of each sentence.

Subordinate Clause
Find the lesser portion of the sentence and see if you can determine the motive. Find the sentence fragment that fits the profile of a a subordinate clause.

Independent Clause Creation
Finish off all the sentences with proper grammar usage. Complete the sentence with a proper independent clause to add to it.

Making Complex Sentences: Sentence Combining
This can be a fun one for you. See what you think. Make yourself a complex sentence in each case. You do this by putting two sentences together and making one.

Relative Clauses Worksheet
Make clear and coherent sentences. We have you clean up the sentence series and make them read well as one.

What are Sentence Clauses?

Sentence clauses are like the building blocks of sentences, with each sentence containing at least one clause. A sentence can either have one clause or multiple clauses.

They are of great importance in writing. They direct the reader's attention and make your sentences easy for the reader to understand. Clear writing helps avoid any sort of misinterpretation or miscommunication.

The appropriate usage of clauses will help you avoid fragmented or run-on sentences. You must ensure that your writing is free of any punctuation issues. These issues give the reader the impression that you are careless while writing and make it difficult for them to understand the text. So, to avoid punctuation issues, you must punctuate your sentences featuring the different forms that we will discuss later in this article.

This article aims to help you understand what sentence clauses are and everything you should know about them. So, keep reading to find out!

What Are They?

Essential Sentence clauses work to modify the different keywords in a sentence and are essential to the main point or subject. The non-essential form only provide information that does not affect the main point of your sentence.

Sentence clauses are called the building blocks of sentences because they exist in every sentence and can even form complete sentences.

In simpler words, a sentence clause can be defined as a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. The purpose of a clause is to explain the relationship that exists between a subject and a predicate. This relationship is crucial as the clause exists to explain what the subject is or what it is doing. Hence, a clause is not a random string of words.

It is important to remember that all sentences contain one clause at the very least. Let’s look at a few examples to understand this.

- John bought a new car. (This is one sentence and one clause)

- John bought a new computer, but he still has the old one. (This is a single sentence with two clauses –one before and one after the punctuation)

- Although he still has his old one, John bought a new car (This again is a single sentence with two clauses).

Types of Sentence Clauses

Here are the basic types of sentence clauses that you should know about!

1. Independent

An independent clause is a clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a complete sentence. An independent clause is a complete and coherent sentence. Let us take a look at a few examples:

- I love eating chocolate.

- The kids had dinner early.

- The sky is blue.

From these examples, you can see that the independent forms are neither long nor are they complex, which is not to say that they can't be part of complex sentences. Still, by definition, independent sentences are simple. Notice how each of these sentences are grammatically complete statements and can function on their own without a supporting statement or clause.

Compound Sentences

If a sentence includes two or more independent clauses, it is term as a compound sentence in which commas are used to join them and paired with a coordinating conjunction, colon, or semicolon. This combination can be defined as coordination. Examples of compound sentences are as follows:

- John loves hosting birthday parties; his friends are fond of this cooking.

- I love having fizzy drinks, but I know they are not good for my health.

- We shopped until the mall closed: it closed at midnight.

Two or more independent clauses can be joined using coordinating conjunctions, i.e., for, and, nor, but, or yet and so.

2. Dependent

Dependent or subordinate clauses are not complete or stand-alone sentences, and they can't function on their own. These forms are also commonly referred to as subordinate clauses.

Like independent sentences, dependent sentences also contain a subject as a verb. However, dependent clauses have to be combined with independent forms to express a complete idea or thought. These clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun or subordinating conjunction.

Without a supporting or dependent clause don’t make sense. Examples of dependent clauses are as follows:

- When the president arrives,

- Until tomorrow

- Before your food gets cold

3. Relative

A relative clause functions as an adjective and starts with a relative pronoun. In simpler terms, a relative clause uses pronouns to connect ideas. Relative clauses are also known as adjective clauses. This form give us information about the subject, person, or thing that is mentioned. This information is essential for the reader to understand who is being talked about. Let us look at some examples to understand this:

- The woman who lives next door works as a professor at a university.

- She is the woman who I met at the conference yesterday.

4. Noun Forms

A clause that serves as a noun in a sentence is called a noun clause. Like all other clauses, this type of clause has a group of words with a subject and a verb. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

- What I need is a vacation. ('is' is the subject of the verb)

- Give the present to whoever arrives first. ('To' is the object of the preposition)

5. Adverbial Forms

An adverbial clause is a group of words that function as an adverb. Adverbial clauses are always dependent. Here are some examples:

- The debater seemed as if he had never spoken publicly before.

In this example, the trigger word is "as if."

Concluding Thoughts

To form simple or complex sentences, you must know the different types of clauses and whether or not these sentence clauses can function on their own to express a complete thought or idea. If not, these sentences are then to be combined with independent sentences for them to make sense to the reader.

Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep practicing and keep learning. Good Luck!