Questions tagged [clauses]
А clause is a unit of grammatical organization next below the sentence in rank and in traditional grammar said to consist of a subject and predicate.
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"will" vs. "would"
Intentionally long-winded sentence for the sake of grammar reviewing
If you wish for me to talk about every figure of rhetoric there is in the same breath, I would have to tell you I couldn't hold it ...
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The meaning of the clause "his chin nuzzled into his breast"
I started to read a novel written by Jorge Orwell - "1984". There is a clause in a sentence "Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape a vile wind, slipped ...
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How to rewrite 'she sings like a bird'
She sings like a bird.
If I want to rewrite this sentence using 'as' what would be the appropriate sentence?
1.She sings as a bird does.
2.She sings, as a bird does.
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Is the which clause in this sentence used correctly?
Is this sentence natural or at least grammatically correct?
At least he is not a simp, which many people are.
I was told that which shouldn't be used to refer to people, which seems to be confirmed ...
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Question about Comma - Determining Clauses
In the sentence below, should there be a comma after "President"?
John comes to RNW from the Office of the President, where he supported the RanTech systems for the last 20 years.
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He was so angry that he picked up his axe: noun clause?
He was so angry that he picked up his axe.
Is "that he picked up his axe" a noun clause?
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What is "her going mad" in "I am afraid of her going mad"?
I'm having moment. In the sentence
"I am afraid of her going mad"
"her going mad" is the object/complement of the proposition "of".
But what is it? It has an "-ing&...
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we are aware when one of our cognitive biases is activated
It is important that we are aware when one of our cognitive biases is activated and make a conscious choice to overcome that bias.
'when one of our cognitive biases is activated' is a adverbial ...
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What happiness is is being discussed
From https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/85353/65098, I learned "I didn't know what it was." is correct.
So if I use the what clause as a subject, like
What happiness is is being discussed.
It ...
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Question about the sentence structure and grammar of this sentence
Here are five things about friendships that some people believe are true.
This sentence looks fine to me but I find it hard to explain to people what sentence structure this is. It seems like there ...
ZHEN YU
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Can 'what' be the object of the main clause and the object of a dangling modifier of the subordinate clause at the same time?
Here's such a sentence:
His dad needs to find what magazines he grew up reading.
The 'what' here is the object of the main clause.
His dad need to find what magazines (object).
The subordinate ...
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Is this string of words an independent clause "Historically, the lands that are now parts of New York and Delaware."
Is the below sentence a compound sentence?
Historically, the Lenape inhabited lands that are now parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York, and they settled along the rivers and bays.
...
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I'm not as you think or I'm not as think I'm [closed]
Let's look at these sentences.
I'm not as you think I am.
You're more beautiful than you think you are.
Can I rewrite these sentences as:
I'm not as you think.
You're more beautiful than you think.
...
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"When"/"After" I heard him talk, I asked him if he got a cold - do they have a difference?
Example 1
When I heard him talk, I asked him if he got a cold.
Example 2
After I heard him talk, I asked him if he got a cold.
(1) Do they have a difference?
Example 3
When I saw him stumble, I ...
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when clause with the continuous tense
I always eat a lot of meat when I am visiting that place.
I think it means "while I am visiting that place I am always eating a lot of meat".
However, I think it can mean
I always eat a ...
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"I doing sth", "me doing sth", "my doing sth" as a subject or an object
I'm learning English and it sometimes confuses me what constructions, either clause or gerund, are acceptable as subjects or objects.
In a question I asked previously, I asked about the grammaticality ...
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Clauses with no subject
I've been reading that English does not permit clauses without a subject (except imperative sentences and infinitive verbs, right?). So I don't understand phenomena such as:
We've updated our Privacy ...
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It is all those or there are all those
I am not sure if it is appropriate to use "it is/was" or “there is/was” in the following situation:
( I was trying to tell what I was surprised to see in my way to visit a friend to my ...
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I wonder if it possible to use a gerund or an infinitive after “that”
Usually, in the book, I see “that” as a clause, but can the word “that” be before another clause?
I don't think [that eating fruit every day is a problem].
I don't think [that it bores you to eat ...
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How to phrase these sentence grammatically?
Sentence:
I returned my laptop to same courier, which I received from them few months back,
so they picked the laptop from me on Oct 10 2022.
I have trouble phrasing this sentence because of this ...
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Commas with introductory clauses
Can you please help me explain why there has to be a comma with this sentence:
"Not only have these injuries taught me a lot about myself (comma) they have helped me gain an unexplainable ...
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Expletive there
"__________ twelve million immigrants entered the United States via Ellis Island."
(A) More than (B) There were more than
In the above, I understand the correct one is (A). However, if &...
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Which clause is in bold below?
Davidson’s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and declining middle-class incomes today is ...
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Clause type after "to"
What is the type of the following bold clause, please?
The woman said nothing but only gestured Jim to follow her.
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What's the meaning of the following sentence/clause(when the fit was on him)?
When the fit was on him,he would shoe a horse better than anyone.
Is the sentence grammatical? What is the meaning of the clause "when the fit was on him"? I am facing a lot of difficulties ...
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""No matter how good a life we try to live..." or "However good a life we try to live ...." or "How much ever a good life we try to live...."
Suppose, we want to say that everyone will face some kind of suffering in life and there is no avoiding - unfortunately. And even if you try hard to avoid it, you won't be able to escape suffering. So,...
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Adverbial clause of purpose
I read in some grammar book that "If the verb in the main clause is in the present tense we use 'will, can, may' in the adverbial clause of purpose and if it is in the past tense we use 'would, ...
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'swear' with 'that clauses' and 'infinitives'
When the word swear means promise strongly to do something we can use either a noun clause or an infinitive after it:
I swear I will not tell anyone.
I swear to seek revenge.
What if we use phrases ...
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Adverbial participle clause or gerund
Often times I don't have any problem with interpreting or speaking but I do wonder about the function of this reduction. The example sentence is as follows;
You can have all the beer you want then, ...
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Can I reduce these sentences
The boy who lives in Kolkata is my brother.
Can I reduce it to
The boy living in Kolkata is my brother.
Ram, who works in your company, is a good boy.
Can I reduce it to
Ram, working in your ...
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How can I put a noun from a that-clause before the main sentence?
Example:
You told me that the cup had been broken.
I want put 'the cup' before 'You', But it's in a that-clause.
The cup that you told me (that) had been broken is...
Why the 'that' before 'had' ...
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Is In its stead a clause?
I'm paraphrasing my sentences in example but :
I don’t miss an establishment that profits from the poor.
In its stead; I hold fond memories of noun, noun, and noun.
Am I using 'In its stead' correctly?...
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Confused about which meaning is to choose
Let's look at the following sentence.
Working hard, Ram will definitely succeed.
I think the sentence could have two meanings.
There is a condition that if Ram works hard , he will definitely succeed....
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Should I use comma or not
Suppose a girl left my room and while leaving, she was smiling. Then which of the following should I use?
1. She left my room smiling.
Or
2. She left my room, smiling.
Should I use comma ? Actually ...
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Can I omit 'why' and 'how' from these sentences [closed]
Is the reduction of these two sentences correct?
1.The reason why I'm single is I'm very shy.
The reason I'm single is I'm very shy.
2.The way how he talks is so impressive.
The way he talks is so ...
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"Considers" or "will consider" after "when"?
In this sentence:
If he goes to therapy regularly and does not isolate himself, he will reach a moment when he considers with self-satisfaction that he is on the right path.
the word corrector ...
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This case in the CGEL puzzles me
In the CGEL(Quirk et al), the case below puzzles me because an adverb phrase or a prepositional phrase rarely serves as subject.
10.15 Adverbial forms as subject:
(1) Slowly is exactly how he speaks.
...
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A particular use of That- clause in 'The Alchemist'
The levanter increased in intensity, Here I am, between my flock and my treasure, the boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have. There ...
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I am confused about the correct use of "what" in this sentence
Is the sentence below a correct sentence? If so, what kind of a sentence is this, and what is the role of the word "what" in this sentence? Is this sentence supposed to be an exclamatory ...
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What are the syntactic structures of these three clauses?
I'm working on a project in which I take sentences and clauses from utterances and distinguish their syntactic structure (declarative, interrogative, imperative). I've encountered three clauses that ...
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How should I understand this sentence from Knausgaard's My Struggle?
If we lay close together our physical range was not much to brag about
either, any given sea lion would be more voluminous.
Could anyone explain the comma usage in this sentence? Is there should be a ...
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something to make you angry
a. Tom must have done something to make you angry.
b. Tom must have done something so that you got angry.
c. Tom must have done something for you to get angry.
I think there are two possibilities here....
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"as if " clause versus "if" clause
Suppose I know he was ill yesterday. Here are two examples referring to unreality.
He behaved as if he was not ill.
if he had not been ill, we would have had a nice time yesterday.
Why we must use &...
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the man known around here as "Tall Bobby" who is
a. I talked to the man known around here as 'Tall Bobby' who is the mayor of the town.
If there is only one man known around here as 'Tall Bobby', don't we have to have a comma before 'who'?
b. I ...
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"Which one is the best" vs. "which one the best is"
I am writing a paragraph like this:
There are mainly three ways to check which type a given value is. In this post, I am going to cover what they are, when to use them, and, in my opinion, which one ...
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Is the preceding clause omitted between 'and' and 'not always'?
That is, if I rewrite the first sentence...
"On the other hand, AI and digital technologies are already disrupting
the traditional view of democracy, and [AI and digital technologies are already ...
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How could the phrase "Great is something" be right?
In some game, the narrator said:
"Great is the weapon that cuts on its own"
I can't get it, how could this clause be grammatically right, the issue is in the part "Great is the", ...
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A long sentence to analyse
I have read a long sentence today in the article "The Universality of Science and International Cooperation" by Carlo Rubbia (The Universality of Science and International Cooperation):
It ...
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"If necessary " in clause of condition
If necessary, you can contact me on the weekend.
Some information of the subordinate clause is omitted.
How does "if+ adjective" work?
Is there a rule?
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Is omitting a repeated subject and predicate in attributive clauses ok?
Can I omit the conjunction, the subject, and the auxiliary verb in this attributive clause in (1)
I had returned the book (which I had) borrowed from library.
to produce (2):
I had returned the ...
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