Clauses and Phrases How to know them when you see them! How they work to make more complex sentences! Why it s important to use them in your writing!
What s a CLAUSE? Clauses are clusters of words. Clauses contain a subject and verb. If they form complete thoughts, we call them independent clauses. If they form incomplete thoughts, we call them dependent or subordinate clauses. Example: While we collected the data, the temperature gradually increased. The subject and verb in the dependent clause: we collected The subject and verb in the independent clause: temperature increased
How is a PHRASE different from a CLAUSE? Phrases are also word clusters, but Phrases are groups of words that LACK either a subject or verb/predicate. Phrases may lack BOTH a subject and a verb Example: While collecting data, we noted an increase in temperature. Notice how the phrase is similar to the dependent clause from the last example: While collecting data While we collected the data
Examples of Clauses Look for independent clauses and dependent or subordinate clauses Roger went to Japan last summer. After he went to Japan, Roger went to Korea. Roger is the man who went to Japan last summer. Whoever went to Japan had a great time
Examples of Phrases Notice how these sentences are similar, but they use phrases instead of clauses After Japan, Roger went to Korea. After going to Japan, Roger went to Korea. Having gone to Japan, Roger went to Korea.
Phrases VS Clauses Watch how clauses can be reduced to phrases: The man who is going to Japan is Roger. The man going to Japan is Roger. When he was traveling to Japan, Roger met Lori. When traveling to Japan, Roger met Lori. When he was in Japan, Roger ate sashimi. When in Japan, Roger ate sashimi. In Japan, Roger ate sashimi.
Why are phrases and clauses important? They are building blocks for sentences Putting phrases and clauses in your sentences adds important information Putting phrases and clauses in your writing varies your sentence structure and makes you sound like a more mature writer
Varied Sentence Structure Basic Sentence Structure Example: My mother is usually reasonable. Today she was cranky. I think I did something to make her mad. I was going to ask her about it. I think she will yell at me though. This writing sound immature because of the simple sentence structure. What would you do with these sentences to vary the sentence structure?
Varied Sentence Structure What if we simply combine sentences? Mature/Varied Sentence Structure Example: Today my mother, who is usually a reasonable person, is cranky. I think I did something to make her mad, and if I didn t think it would make her yell at me, I would ask her about it.
What Do You Have to Know to Be Able to Write with Mature Sentence Structure? You have to be able to find phrases, dependent clauses, and independent clauses You have to know rules for PUNCTUATION Knowing the parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, adjectives ) will help!
How to Find Independent Clauses Step 1! Find the verb first! Ask yourself, what is being done in the sentence? If you don t see an action verb, remember that there are different forms of verbs: Be (am is, was were) Do, does, did Have, has, had, have been, has been, had been Shall, will, should, would Can, could, may, might, ought to, must, may be, must be
How to Find Independent Clauses Step 2! Once you find the verb, find the subject of the sentence. Ask yourself: Who or what is doing the action?
Step 1: Verbs Without the help of the guides, he would have left if his friend were ready to go. After class, we drove to McDonald s. During our teacher s absence, who will take charge of the class? He was working on his homework far too late into the night. The man on his bike was knocked down by the speeding car. He hoped he would wake up on time in the morning.
Step 2: Nouns Without the help of the guides, he would have left if his friend were ready to go. After class, we drove to McDonald s. During our teacher s absence, who will take charge of the class? He was working on his homework far too late into the night. The man on his bike was knocked down by the speeding car. He hoped he would wake up on in the morning.
Important note! Just because you find a verb and a noun, does not mean you have an independent clause! Example: If our teacher wore blue, neon striped moon boots.
Fragments Fragments occur when a subject or predicate is left out of the writing. A sentence fragment is a common writing mistake. To find fragments in your writing, follow the three steps!