A subordinate clause, dependent clause, subclause, or embedded clause is a
clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
that is embedded within a
complex sentence
In grammar, sentence and clause structure, commonly known as sentence composition, is the classification of sentences based on the number and kind of clauses in their syntactic structure. Such division is an element of traditional grammar.
Typolog ...
. For instance, in the English sentence "I know that Bette is a dolphin", the clause "that Bette is a dolphin" occurs as the
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...
of the verb "know" rather than as a freestanding
sentence. Subtypes of dependent clauses include
content clause In grammar, a content clause is a dependent clause that provides content implied or commented upon by an independent clause. The term was coined by Danish linguist Otto Jespersen. They are also known as noun clauses.
English
In English, there are ...
s,
relative clause
A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or noun phraseRodney D. Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, ''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'', CUP 2005, p. 183ff. and uses some grammatical device to indicate that one of the arguments ...
s, and
adverbial clause
An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb. That is, the entire clause modifies a separate element within a sentence. As with all clauses, it contains a subject and predicate, though the subject as well as the (predicat ...
s.
Content clause
A content clause, also known as a "noun clause", provides content implied or commented upon by its main clause. It can be a
subject,
predicate nominative In grammar, a subject complement or predicative of the subject is a predicative expression that follows a linking verb ( copula) and that complements the subject of the sentence by either (1) renaming it or (2) describing it. It completes the mea ...
,
direct object
In linguistics, an object is any of several types of arguments. In subject-prominent, nominative-accusative languages such as English, a transitive verb typically distinguishes between its subject and any of its objects, which can include but ...
,
appositive
Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side so one element identifies the other in a different way. The two elements are said to be ''in apposition'', and one of the elements is c ...
,
indirect object
In linguistics, an object is any of several types of arguments. In subject-prominent, nominative-accusative languages such as English, a transitive verb typically distinguishes between its subject and any of its objects, which can include but ...
, or object of the
preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
. Some of the English words that introduce content clauses are ''that, who'' (and formal ''whom''), ''whoever'' (and formal ''whomever''), ''whether, why, what, how, when'', and ''where''. Notice that some of these words also introduce relative and adverbial clauses. A clause is a content clause if a pronoun (''he, she, it,'' or ''they'') could be substituted for it.
Examples:
*I know ''who said that''. (I know them. The dependent clause serves as the object of the main-clause verb "know".)
*''Whoever made that assertion'' is wrong. (They are wrong. The dependent clause serves as the subject of the main clause.)
In English, in some instances the
subordinator ''that'' can be omitted.
Example 1:
*I know ''that he is here.''
*I know ''he is here''.
Example 2:
*I think ''that it is pretty''. (less common)
*I think ''it is pretty''. (more common)
Relative (adjectival) clause
In
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
, a relative clause, also called an adjectival clause or an adjective clause, meets three requirements:
#Like all dependent clauses, it contains a verb (and also a subject unless it is a
non-finite dependent clause). However, in a
pro-drop language
A pro-drop language (from "pronoun-dropping") is a language where certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they can be pragmatically or grammatically inferable. The precise conditions vary from language to language, and can be quite int ...
the subject may be a
zero pronoun: the pronoun may not be explicitly included because its identity is conveyed by a verbal
inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defin ...
.
#It begins with a relative adverb
'when, where'', ''how'', or ''why'' in Englishor a relative pronoun
'who, whom, whose, that, what'' or ''which'' in English However, the English relative pronoun (other than ''what'') may be omitted and only implied if it plays the role of the object of the verb or object of a preposition in a restrictive clause; for example, ''He is the boy I saw'' is equivalent to ''He is the boy whom I saw'', and ''I saw the boy you are talking about'' is equivalent to the more formal ''I saw the boy about whom you are talking''.
#The relative clause functions as an adjective, answering questions such as "what kind?", "how many?" or "which one?"
The adjective clause in English will follow one of these patterns:
*Relative Pronoun
unctioning as Object of Verb + Subject + Verb
:This is the ball ''that'' I was bouncing.''
*Relative Pronoun
unctioning as Object of Verb(Omitted but Implied) + Subject + Verb
:This is the ball I was bouncing.
*Relative Adverb + Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
:That is the house ''where'' I grew up.
:That is the house ''where'' I met her.
*Relative Pronoun
unctioning as Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
:That is the person ''who'' hiccuped.
:That is the person ''who'' saw me.
*Relative Pronoun
unctioning as Object of Preposition+ Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb) + Preposition
:That is the person ''who(m)'' I was talking about.
:That is the person ''who(m)'' I was telling you about.
*Preposition + Relative Pronoun
unctioning as Object of Preposition+ Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
:That is the person about ''whom'' I was talking.
:That is the person about ''whom'' I was telling you.
*Possessive Relative Pronoun + Noun
unctioning as Subject+ Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
:That is the dog ''whose'' big brown eyes pleaded for another cookie.
:That is the dog ''whose'' big brown eyes begged me for another cookie.
*Possessive Relative Pronoun + Noun
unctioning as Object of Verb+ Subject + Verb
:That is the person ''whose'' car I saw.
For a discussion of adjective clauses in languages other than English, see
Relative clause#Examples.
Punctuation
English punctuation
The punctuation of an adjective clause depends on whether it is essential (restrictive) or nonessential (non-restrictive) and uses commas accordingly. Essential clauses are not set off with commas; nonessential clauses are. An adjective clause is essential if the information it contains is necessary to the meaning of the sentence:
*The vegetables ''that people often leave uneaten'' are usually the most nutritious.
The word "vegetables" is non-specific. Accordingly, for the reader to know which are being mentioned, one must have the information provided in the adjective clause (in italics). Because it restricts the meaning of "vegetable", the adjective clause is called a restrictive clause. It is essential to the meaning of the main clause and uses no commas (and so does not experience a pause when spoken).
However, if the additional information does not help to identify more narrowly the identity of the noun antecedent but rather simply provides further information about it, the adjective clause is nonrestrictive and so requires commas (or a spoken pause) to separate it from the rest of the sentence:
*Broccoli, ''which people often leave uneaten'', is very nutritious.
Depending on context, a particular noun could be modified by either a restrictive or nonrestrictive adjective clause. For example, while "broccoli" is modified nonrestrictively in the preceding sentence, it is modified restrictively in the following.
*The broccoli ''which (''or'' that) people leave uneaten'' is often nutritious.
Adverbial clause
"He saw Mary ''when he was in New York''" and "They studied hard ''because they had a test''" both contain adverbial clauses (in italics). Adverbial clauses express ''when, why, where, opposition'', and ''conditions'', and, as with all dependent clauses, they cannot stand alone. For example, ''When he was in New York'' is not a complete sentence; it needs to be completed by an independent clause, as in:
*He went to the Guggenheim Museum ''when he was in New York.''
or equivalently
*''When he was in New York'', he went to the Guggenheim Museum.
Sentence structure
A ''
complex sentence
In grammar, sentence and clause structure, commonly known as sentence composition, is the classification of sentences based on the number and kind of clauses in their syntactic structure. Such division is an element of traditional grammar.
Typolog ...
'' contains an
independent clause
An independent clause (or main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself as a ''simple sentence''. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and makes sense by itself.
Independent clauses can be joined by using a semicolon or ...
and at least one dependent clause. A sentence with two or more independent clauses plus (one or more) dependent clauses is referred to as a ''
compound-complex sentence''. (Every clause contains a subject and predicate.) Here are some English examples:
My sister cried ''because she scraped her knee''. (complex sentence)
*Subjects: My sister, she
*Predicates: cried, scraped her knee
*Subordinating conjunction: because
''When they told me'' ''(that) I won the contest'', I cried, but I didn't faint. (compound-complex sentence)
*Subjects: they, I, I, I
*Predicates: told me, won the contest, cried, didn't faint
*Subordinating conjunctions: when, that (implied or understood)
*Coordinating conjunction: but
This sentence contains two dependent clauses: "When they told me", and "(that) I won the contest", the latter which serves as the object of the verb "told". The connecting word "that", if not explicitly included, is understood to implicitly precede "I won" and in either case functions as a subordinating conjunction. This sentence also includes two independent clauses, "I cried" and "I didn't faint", connected by the coordinating conjunction "but". The first dependent clause, together with its object (the second dependent clause), adverbially modifies the verbs of both main clauses.
Non-finite dependent clauses
Dependent clauses may be
headed Headed may refer to:
*A headed phrase, in linguistics
* Headed notepaper
See also
*
* Head (disambiguation)
The head is the part of an animal or human that usually includes the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Head or Heads may also refer to: ...
by an
infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
,
gerund
In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, one that functions as a noun. In English, it has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiable ...
, or other
non-finite verb
A nonfinite verb is a derivative form of a verb unlike finite verbs. Accordingly, nonfinite verb forms are inflected for neither number nor person, and they cannot perform action as the root of an independent clause. In English, nonfinite verbs inc ...
form, which in linguistics is called deranked. For instance:
* Sit up straight ''while singing.''
In these cases, the subject of the dependent clause may take a non-
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
form. An example is:
* I want ''him to vanish.''
See also
*
Clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
**
Independent clause
An independent clause (or main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself as a ''simple sentence''. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and makes sense by itself.
Independent clauses can be joined by using a semicolon or ...
**
Relative clause
A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or noun phraseRodney D. Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, ''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'', CUP 2005, p. 183ff. and uses some grammatical device to indicate that one of the arguments ...
*
Dependent statement In grammar, a dependent statement is a statement converted into a noun clause, normally, in English, by the addition of ''that'' at the beginning, and made dependent on another clause (e.g. as subject or object). For example, the statement ''I had ...
*
Responsive predicate
In formal semantics a responsive predicate is an embedding predicate which can take either a declarative or an interrogative complement. For instance, the English verb ''know'' is responsive as shown by the following examples.
# Bill knows wheth ...
*
Relative pronoun
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause. It serves the purpose of conjoining modifying information about an antecedent referent.
An example is the word ''which'' in the sentence "This is the house which Jack built." Here the ...
*
Grammatical conjunction
In grammar, a conjunction (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of s ...
*
Sentence
**
Compound sentence
In grammar, sentence and clause structure, commonly known as sentence composition, is the classification of sentences based on the number and kind of clauses in their syntactic structure. Such division is an element of traditional grammar.
Typol ...
**
Simple sentence
In grammar, sentence and clause structure, commonly known as sentence composition, is the classification of sentences based on the number and kind of clauses in their syntactic structure. Such division is an element of traditional grammar.
Typol ...
*
Subjunctive mood
The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
*
Temporal clause (Latin)
A temporal clause is an adverbial clause of time, that is to say, a clause which informs the reader about the time when the action of main verb of the sentence occurred. So in a sentence such as "after I had said this, he went out", the first clau ...
References
*
External links
* Owl Online Writing Lab Archive
Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses
{{Authority control
Clauses
English grammar