Page 52 - English 8

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' and a

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