What is a clause?

A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb. Clauses are used to build sentences in English. There are many types of clauses, such as the main clause or a relative clause.

Clauses are made of even smaller units like words and phrases:

• Words: singular units of meaning, for example, car.
• Phrases: small groups of words that convey meaning, for example, the quick, blue car.

A clause contains a subject (the person or thing that the sentence is about) and a verb (doing word).

For example:

• The quick, blue car drove down the road.

In this example, the subject of the clause is 'the quick blue car', while 'drove' is the verb.

So, what's a main clause?

A main clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and can form a complete sentence on its own.

What are Some Main Clause Sentence Examples?

Check out some simple main clause examples below:

• The lion roared at its prey.

Subject = the lion
Verb = roared

Relative Clause

A relative clause is a specific type of subordinate clause that adapts, describes or modifies a noun.

Relative clauses add information to sentences by using a relative pronoun such as who, that or which.
 

The relative clause is used to add information about the noun, so it must be ‘related’ to the noun.

Here are some examples of relative clauses (in purple):