Page 16 - DENG103_English - I

Unit 1: Functional Grammar: Phrase, Clause

For example: Notes
• Before they go to the airport, they will visit you.

Notes When an adverb clause introduces the sentence (as this one does), it is set off with
a comma.

Adverb clauses answer questions like “when?”, “where?”, “why?”
An adjectival clause (adjective clause or relative clause) does the work of an adjective and
describes a noun, it’s usually introduced by a relative pronoun: who | whom | whose | that | which

For example:
• I went to the show that was very popular.
This kind of clause is used to provide extra information about the noun it follows. This can
be to define something (a defining clause), or provide unnecessary, but interesting, added
information (a non-defining clause).

For example:
• The car that is parked in front of the gates will be towed away. (Defining relative clause)
Information contained in the defining relative clause is absolutely essential in order for us to
be able to identify the car in question.
• My dog, who is grey and white, chased the postman. ( Non-defining relative clause)
A non-defining relative clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. If you
take away the non-defining clause the basic meaning of the sentence remains intact.
For example:
• My dog chased the postman.
Adjective clauses answer questions like “which?” or “what kind of?”

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false :
1. Phrase is any group of words without meaning.
2. ‘By singing’ is a prepositional phrase.
3. ‘The black cat’ is a noun phrase.

4. Clause is a complete sentence.
5. ‘Because’ is a subordinating conjunction.

1.3 Functions of Dependent Clauses

There are three main types of dependent clause: noun clauses, adjective clauses, and adverb
clauses, so-called for their syntactic and semantic resemblance to nouns, adjectives, and adverbs,
respectively. In the following English examples, dependent noun clauses are shown in bold:

• “I imagine (that) they are having a good time.”
• “I keep thinking about what happened yesterday.”

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