CG BOARD 30 GRAMMAR QUESTIONS WITH ANSWER

 

                                       

A clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb. (A clause functions as an adjective, an adverb, or a noun.)

There are two kinds of Clauses:

1) Principal or Main Clause
A main clause is a clause that contains a subject and an object. They make sense on their own.
For example,

§  "I like ice-cream" is a simple sentence made of a main clause.

§  "I like ice-cream and I like chocolate" is a compound sentence made up of two main clauses ('I like ice-   cream' and 'I like chocolate'). The two main clauses are joined by the conjunction 'and.'

2) Subordinate Clause
A subordinate clause contains a subject and a verb but it depends on the main clause for making sense as it does not make complete sense on its own. 
For example, "I will go to the market if you come with me" is a complex sentence. It has a main clause 'I will go to the market' and a subordinate clause 'if you come with me'. The main clause 'I will go to the market' makes complete sense on its own. But, the subordinate clause 'if you come with me' does not make complete sense on its own and depends on the main clause for its complete meaning.

§  Based on the function they perform in the sentence, clauses can be categorized as:

Noun Clauses

A noun clause is a clause that plays the role of a noun. For example:

·         I like what I see.

(Like all clauses, a noun clause has a subject and a verb. In this example, the subject of the clause is "I" and the verb is "see.")

·         I know that patience has its limits.

(In this example, the subject of the clause is "patience" and the verb is "has.")

Compare the two examples above to these:

·         I like innovation.

·         I know people.

      The words in bold are all nouns. This proves that the shaded clauses in the first two examples are functioning as nouns.

Adjective Clause

An adjective clause is a multiword adjective that includes a subject and a verb.

When we think of an adjective, we usually think about a single word used before a noun to modify its meanings (e.g., tall building, smelly cat, argumentative assistant). However, an adjective can also come in the form of an adjective clause. An adjective clause usually comes after the noun it modifies and is made up of several words, which, like all clauses, will include a subject and a verb.

Examples of Adjective Clauses

Here are some examples of adjective clauses:

·         The carpets that you bought last year have rotted.

·         The follies which a man regrets most in his life are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity. (US journalist Helen Rowland, 1876-1950)

(Even though this is a quotation by an American journalist, nowadays, most writers in the US would use that instead of which. There's more on this below.)

·         Bore: a person who talks when you wish him to listen.

The Components of an Adjective Clause

An adjective clause (also called a relative clause) can be identified by the following three ways:

·         1. It will start with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, that, or which) or a relative adverb (when, where, or why).

(This links it to the noun it is modifying.)
(Note: Quite often, the relative pronoun can be omitted. However, with an adjective clause, it is always possible to put one in. There is more on this below.)

·          2. It will have a subject and a verb.

(These are what make it a clause.)

·         3. It will tell us something about the noun.

         (This is why it is a kind of adjective.)

Look at the three traits in this example:

Adverbial Clauses

An adverbial clause is a group of words that plays the role of an adverb. (Like all clauses, an adverbial clause contains a subject and a verb.)

Easy Example of an Adverbial Clause

Here is an easy example of an adverbial clause:

·         Keep hitting the bell until I tell you to stop.

Compare the example above with the similar sentence below, which features an example with a normal adverb.

·         Keep hitting the bell hourly.

(This bold text is a normal adverb, not an adverbial clause.)

In the two examples above, the adverbial clause and the normal adverb both tell us when the bell is to be hit. Therefore, they are both adverbs of time.

Hope you will understand the topic. Use translation if you don't.