Types of Clauses

Type 1: Adjective Clauses

Also known as relative clauses, adjective clauses function much in the way that adjectives do. Directly following
the noun or noun phrase they modify, adjective clauses define, identify or provide extra information about the
subject or object of a sentence. As the following examples show, these clauses are most often introduced by
relative pronouns such as ‘which’, ‘who’ and ‘that’, although the adverbs ‘when’ and ‘where’ can also
sometimes be used:

 The

student that always wears a suit is never on time.

 Open the book which we were using last week.

 The teacher who teaches English is my favourite.

 Give it to the student whom I reprimanded yesterday.

 The student whose hair is red is always on time.

There are two ways in which adjective clauses can be tricky for non-native speakers. The first rule to remember
is that non-restrictive adjective clauses (those which provide non-essential information) should be written within
bracketing commas (,):

Secondly, students should recognise that some adjective clauses may be reduced. As the examples below show,
the relative pronoun and ‘be’ verb may be missing from their clause structure

Type 2: Adverbial Clauses

Much like adjective clauses, adverbial clauses also modify phrases within a sentence. However, where adjective
clauses add to noun phrases, adverbials tend to modify verb phrases. Adverbial clauses are generally introduced
by subordinating conjunctions such as ‘although’ and ‘because’ and add information to the verb of the
subordinating clause (the independent clause to which the dependent clause is attached). As the following three
examples show, adverb clauses are followed by a comma when they come first (A), are between commas when
they come within another clause (B), and are unpunctuated at the end of a sentence (C):

Broadly speaking, there are nine types of adverbial clause:

Type 3: Noun Clauses

Unlike adjective and adverbial clauses, noun clauses (also known as content clauses) do not modify sentence
phrases but instead replace them. Much like a
noun phrase, a noun clause can be
the subject or object of a sentence, naming
people, places, things and ideas. One easy way
of identifying a noun clause is to memorize the
words that introduce them:

Another method of identification is to learn the grammatical patterns of noun clauses. If you can identify phrase
functions such as subjects and objects then this should be easy enough to do. As the following table shows,
there are six types of noun clause which are possible in English:

Note that in the final appositive example, the clause ‘that no one has studied for this exam’ is the same in
meaning to the ‘it’ pronoun that comes at the start of the sentence. This could therefore be rearranged as a
subject noun clause: ‘That no one has studied for the exam is worrisome’.
Types 4/5: Participial and Infinitival Clauses

Not all clauses are finite, however. As we will learn in Chapter 3, non-finite clauses are particularly interesting
(and challenging) because they do not always have subjects – one of the ordinarily key features of a clause.
What’s more, their verbs cannot demonstrate time through modifications of tense, leading to their non-finite
definition. Whether their verb is a present or past participle or an infinitive also leads to their further
categorisation as participial (A) and infinitival (B) clauses:

What makes a clause non-finite?

Unlike their finite counterparts, non-finite clauses do not commonly include subjects and comprise verbs which
are unable to show tense distinctions. In other words, non-finite dependent clauses such as ‘studying for the
exam’ or ‘to become a lawyer’ express events or states in the same way regardless of whether those events
happened before, during or after other events. Broadly categorised into two types (participial and infinitival),
non-finite clauses can be very helpful for those using English for academic purposes (EAP) as such clauses allow
for the conveyance of information in a shorter and more concise way.

Type 4: Participial Clauses i) There are at least five subtypes of participial clause, the first of which is
the present participial clause. These clauses are without subjects and require the present participle (‘-ing’)
form of the verb. They can express:

ii) The second subtype is the present participial clause that contains a subject, such as in the two examples
below (the second of which is a reduced relative clause):

 With the students studying for their exam, the tutor could mark in peace.

 The teacher invigilating the exam was not paying attention.

iii) Using the present-participle form of ‘have’, it’s also possible to form perfect participial clauses. This third
subtype is commonly used in two ways:
iv) Past participial clauses using ‘–ed’ or ‘–en’ past participles are also helpful, particularly for
shortening passive-voice finite clauses:

“The students were disappointed by their grades and appealed for a re-mark.”

 Disappointed by their grades, the students appealed for a re-mark.

“This is the final assignment that was submitted by my students.”

 This is the final assignment submitted by my students.

v) Finally, gerund participial clauses using the present participle (‘-ing’) verb form take the place of the subjects
or objects of a sentence.

 Studying for the exam is boring.

 I like studying for exams.

Type 5: Infinitival Clauses

The final type of dependent clause is the infinitival clause. In English, an infinitive is a verb that has the word ‘to’
placed directly before it, such as ‘to study’ or ‘to teach’ (although as you’ll notice in the table below, it is also
possible to have bare infinitives without ‘to’). The verb that follows ‘to’ in such constructions is said to be non-
finite because it cannot show distinctions of time through tense, much like participials. As the following table
demonstrates, there are at least seven types of infinitival clause that you should focus on learning and using:

Clauses: finite and non-finite

Finite clauses

Finite clauses must contain a verb which shows tense. They can be main clauses or subordinate clauses:
Is it raining? (main: present)
I spoke to Joanne last night. (main: past)
We didn’t get any food because we didn’t have enough time. (main: past; subordinate: past)

Non-finite clauses

Non-finite clauses contain a verb which does not show tense. We usually use non-finite verbs only in
subordinate clauses. We usually understand the time referred to from the context of the main clause. We
often use a non-finite clause when the subject is the same as the subject in the main clause:
 I had something to eat before leaving. (I had something to eat before I left.)
 After having spent six hours at the hospital, they eventually came home.
 Helped by local volunteers, staff at the museum have spent many years sorting and cataloguing
more than 100,000 photographs.
 He left the party and went home, not having anyone to talk to.
 The person to ask about going to New Zealand is Beck.
 You have to look at the picture really carefully in order to see all the detail.

After, although, though, and if

We often use non-finite clauses after some subordinating conjunctions like after, although,
though and if:
 By the end of the day, although exhausted, Mark did not feel quite as tired as he had in the
past. (although he was exhausted)
 The proposal, if accepted by Parliament, will mean fundamental changes to the education
system.

After verbs + -ing or infinitive with to

 We use non-finite clauses as the complements to verbs which take -ing or to-infinitive after
them:
 I don’t enjoy playing tennis in the rain.
 I’d hate to travel to London every day.

Relative clauses

A relative clause can be non-finite when the subject of the relative clause is the same as the subject of
the main clause:
 The man sitting on the sofa over there is Simon’s brother. (The man who is sitting …)
 Don’t forget to fill in the form attached to the letter. (… which is attached to the letter.)