Clauses

Sentence Structure Lesson

What is a

Clause

?

A subject and predicate working together I am

.

Reading is

fun.

I study

hard so

I get

good grades.

What is a phrase ?

A group of words related to the subject or predicate.

Hiding under the table,

the dog knew he was bad.

Warren,

the world’s best Yu-Gi-Oh player,

arranged a duel.

Conjunctions

Join words, clauses, and phrases.

Examples Rob

and

I went to the movies.

She is good at singing

and

great at dancing.

We ordered pizza

but

we couldn’t pay for it.

Coordinating Conjunctions

F .

A .

N .

B .

O .

Y .

S .

For And Nor But Or Yet So

Subordinating Conjunctions

Most common subordinators After Although As Because Before Even if If Now that Once Since That Though Unless Until When Whenever Where Wherever While

Dependent Clauses

Cannot stand by themselves.

Do not express a complete thought.

Subject + Predicate + Subordinator

Examples

Unless you want to go.

Because I care. Before you lose your cool.

Independent Clause

Can stand by itself or with a dependent.

Expresses a complete thought.

Subject + Predicate I ran.

Fractions are fun.

Examples

Pizza tastes good.

Run-On Sentence

Joining two independent clauses.

Examples I got home, mom yelled at me.

Pizza tastes good cookies taste better.

Get your work in the quarter is almost over.

Joining Clauses

1. Use a subordinating conjunction.

2. Use a coordinating conjunction.

Examples Wrong

: I got home, mom yelled at me.

Right

:

When

I got home, mom yelled at me.

Wrong

: Pizza tastes good cookies taste better.

Right

: Pizza tastes good

but

cookies taste better.

Practice

Combine the sentences using conjunctions.

You may remove or add words You may change verb tenses Do not change the meaning Do not remove information

1

Bob went to school Bob forgot to bring his home work Bob had a bad day

2

Jenna’s favorite rapper is Lil’ Wayne.

I like the Ghostface Killah.

I am old school.

3

Surfing can be dangerous.

Sitting on the beach is safe.

I’m not going out into the ocean.