Page 38 - English for Hospitality (108) 2021 -22

English for Tourism & Hospitality (108) by Prof. Adel AlSheikh 2020/2021

Types of clauses

Clauses are the building blocks of the English language. Any
sentence hat you write which has a subject (the doer of the
action) and a verb (an action word) is called a clause. Whereas
a phrase is a group of words which makes sense but not
complete sense, a clause makes complete sense.
For example, "a clear blue sky" (is a phrase) and "A clear blue
sky welcomed me in Leh" (is a clause-The subject is 'A clear
blue sky' and the verb is 'welcomed').

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'

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