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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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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"When" in adverbial clauses
He was watching TV when I came in.
I came in when he was watching TV.
As we know, simple or continuous verb forms can be used in when-clauses.
It seems the second example is semantically different ...
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is an idiot for talking to you like that
a. He is an idiot for talking to you like that.
b. He is angry for having been mistreated.
c. He is exhausted for working hard.
I think (a) is perfectly natural.
(b) seems to work, but is not ...
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How to understand the structure of 'capable' in this sentence?
I am reading an article 'Izmir Province' on Wikipedia, there is a sentence that I could not understand.
"The greater Izmir region produces 20% of Turkey’s wind power from
wind turbines capable ...
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Getting rid of non-restrictive clause in the end of a sentence
I try to understand if there a better way to structure the following sentence:
Note that if min-width is greater than width or max-width, it overrides them, both.
// results to 300 px
width: 100px; ...
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What is the difference between 'somebody who doing' and 'somebody who be doing'?
I am constructing some sentences.
She is now the one who steering the company Hairson.
She is now the one who is steering the company Hairson.
I find it both correct to use either 'somebody who is ...
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that-clause following "make sure"
The following is an excerpt from CNN. Ameera is a character in a puppet show. I'm wondering how the that-clause following the dash connects to the preceding text.
“Ameera is a really fun and cool ...
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to like something very much (of an animal)
Cows usually like to sit on the soil and they feel comfortable compared to a hard floor. And they feel anxiety if they are made to rest on a hard surface. But if there is soil, they feel it good. ...
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such that nobody would see him
a. He went into the room such that nobody would see him.
b. The wind blew such that the vase on the window ledge was knocked over.
In (a), 'such that' expresses intention. His intention was not to be ...
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Why are there two “is”’s in: Why is yawning is contagious?
A NY Times article contains this question:
Why is yawning is contagious?
Why are there two “is”’s in this sentence?
Similarly for these sentence fragments:
... as far as the freak was concerned was ...
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What punctuation should I use to connect "I was reminded of something Sara had said" and "that people are often..."?
There's a sentence I wanted to write but I don't know which punctuation mark goes between these clauses:
"I was reminded of something Sara had said" and "that people are often..."
...
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Which sentence is correct? with "it" or without "it"
The afterlife is a life that some people believe it begins when a
person dies.
The afterlife is a life that some people believe begins when a person
dies.
Which one is correct? The correct sentence ...
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Is it neccessary to add the subject "she" in "and had"?
Lisa used to be shy and have few friends.
Lisa used to be shy and had few friends.
In the first example, and conects two infinitives to be and to have.
I think, in the second example, it is better ...
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A second essential function vision serves is to facilitate major changes. Is the sentence grammatical?
I came across this sentence and am not sure whether it is grammatical. It looks like the clause "a second essential function vision serves" functions as a subject and is embedded into the ...
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What is a noun clause?
That was she woke up in the middle of the night.
Is the clause [she woke up in the middle of the night] a noun clause?
Thank you.
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Are non-identifying clauses always preceded by names?
This information I got from Oxford Grammar by M. Swan, tells me that the difference between identifying and non-identifying clauses is just whether the topic that the speakers are talking about is ...
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“You realize” at end of sentence
“This is why you’re here you realize” or “This is why you’re here,you realize.”
I realize that “you realize” could be fronted and resolve this issue. But I’m trying to figure out what part of grammar “...
JewJitsu11B
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Difficulty in understanding independent clause
In case of an independent clause, I am having difficulty in understanding a sentence. About clauses what I know is:
Definition: They are groups of words that contain a subject and a verb or they are ...
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Can SO be immediately followed by a main verb?
He often comes and plays with us.
You can stay or go with us.
She missed the bus, so ran all the way to school.
The first two examples are fine, but the third one seems weird and ungrammatical.
Is ...
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Is that an attributive clause?
I see a long sentence in the webpage
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1691493/000169149316000002/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml
In the bottom line:
This undertaking does not affect any limits ...
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What difference does adding 'who is' make in the meaning of the sentence?
A person who is willing to do the job would say yes easily.
Or
A person willing to do the job would say yes easily.
Are both the sentences grammatically sound ? What difference does adding 'who is' ...
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What kind of clause is operating here?
In this sentence:
This underlines once more what a disastrous act of aggression the war in Iraq was.
In essence: "This shows what a disaster it was".
"what [...] was" doesn't ...
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Adverb clauses or phrases are essential or non-essential depending on the context or a comma?
According to many guides online, non-essential adverb clauses or adverb phrases are by commas.
However, I have found that no matter whether they are separated or not, adverb clauses and phrases seems ...
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what is the type of this cluase?
what part of the sentence is embrace?
She saw them embrace on the station platform.
I expected it to be embracing.
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Is "Looks like it's going to rain" acceptable
Some sources assert that it is incorrect to use "like" followed by a clause. To me a sentence such as
Looks like it's going to rain
sounds natural. Is it as acceptable as
Looks as though ...
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Is the statement "It is the government's responsibility" a dependent clause
I am currently learning English for an exam and came across the word
It is the government's responsibility
Is this a dependent clause or an independent clause?
I feel it is dependent because it does ...
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Usage of "... such ... that ..."
Can the word "that" be the subject of the subordinate clause in sentences of the construction "... such ... that ..."?
For example, I believe the sentence:
"It was such a bad ...
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If clauses: What is "likely to happen"?
I learned that there are three if-clauses:
if + simple present, will-future: stuff that is highly likely to happen
if + simple past, conditional I: stuff that is not so likely to happen
if + past ...
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Imperative: how to distinguish independent clauses and a compound predicate?
Consider the following imperative-sentence structure
Do 𝑋 and do 𝑌.
(Source: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Commas/faq0067.html ) where I believe (but do not know this ...
user142975
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Comma before “and” separating two short independent math statements?
Consider a typical mathematical sentence defining two tuples: (s_i)_{i=1}^n and (t_i)_{i=1}^n:
Let (s_i)_{i=1}^n = X (,) and (t_i)_{i=1}^n = Y.
The parens around the comma mean that it's unclear ...
user142975
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Some Questions About Sentence Clauses
I'm having a little difficulty understanding the structure of sentences clauses. I understand that an independent clause works on its own as a simple sentence and that a dependent clause does not, but ...
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What are the subjects and predicates of the clauses in "There is the mountain that we are going to climb."?
What would be the subjects and the predicates of the following sentence:
There is the mountain that we are going to climb.
Independent clause: There is the mountain
Dependent clause: that we are ...
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Why the comma in "I received a gift from Uncle George, but not from my other uncle"?
As far as I understand it, "But not from my other uncle" is not an independent clause. It could show contrast, but that would still require an independent clause, like "John is rich, ...
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How to easily identify dependent clause?
From the following sentences, which sentence contains a dependent clause?
Before taking the exam, my nephew studied really hard.
I heard something strange when downloading some movies last night.
The ...
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Which noun does the that-clause modify?
The leak detection algorithm is suggested based on rules, historical
context, and user position that can manage to detect ten different
forms of ingestion, such as normal, low, extreme, and anomalous
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to clear the debris
a. A surgeon is needed to operate on Tom.
b. A surgeon is needed for operating on Tom.
==================
c. Shovels are needed to clear the debris.
d. Shovels are needed for clearing the debris.
...
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using a dual clause
For those who break rules, for them is the punishment.
I see something weird in this structure. It doesn't sound natural. I think 'for them' should be removed only then it will sound natural. The ...
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Why does the second clause of "Bob kicked the boy, injuring his left knee" use "injuring" instead of "injured"?
"Bob kicked the boy, injuring his left knee."
I don't understand why the clause uses present participle (injuring) instead of the past tense (injured) of the verb?
Does this sentence mean ...
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Verb at the start of a clause
Can someone explain the grammar behind the 'came' used in the below sentence?
With the sharp increase in consumer demand, came the drastic spike in orders.
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