What Are the 5 Examples of Clauses?
A clause is a fundamental building block of sentences, consisting of a subject and a predicate (which includes a verb). Understanding clauses is key to grasping sentence structure and meaning. Here are five examples of clauses that illustrate their variety and function:Understanding Clauses
A **clause** is a group of words that contains both a **subject** and a **predicate**. The subject is who or what the sentence is about, and the predicate tells us something about the subject, always including a verb. This distinguishes a clause from a phrase, which might contain a noun or a verb but lacks the subject-predicate combination necessary to be a clause. For instance, "with a green shirt" or "best friend" are phrases because they don't contain both a subject and a verb acting as a predicate.Clauses can be independent (able to stand alone as a complete thought) or dependent (unable to stand alone and needing to be connected to an independent clause).
Examples of Clauses
Below are five distinct examples of clauses, demonstrating their common structure of a subject performing an action or being described by a predicate:| Clause Example | Subject | Predicate (Verb + other words) | Type of Clause |
|---|---|---|---|
| She laughs at shy people. | She | laughs at shy people | Independent Clause (complete thought) |
| Because he gave her a puppy. | he | gave her a puppy | Dependent Clause (cannot stand alone) |
| When the saints go marching in. | the saints | go marching in | Dependent Clause (cannot stand alone) |
| I waited for him. | I | waited for him | Independent Clause (complete thought) |
| They will sing loudly. | They | will sing loudly | Independent Clause (complete thought) |
Each example above clearly shows a subject (the noun or pronoun performing the action) paired with a predicate (the verb and its related words), fulfilling the definition of a clause. The first, fourth, and fifth examples are independent clauses, capable of forming a complete sentence on their own. The second and third examples are dependent clauses, which must be connected to an independent clause to make a complete sentence.
