Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm really happy to be joining you today to teach you all about clauses.

We've got some really important things to be learning today and I'm really excited to help you with them.

So let's get going.

Today's lesson is called Two Types of Clause, Including Subordinate Clauses, and it comes from our unit called, Simple Compound Adverbial and Relative Complex Sentences.

And in today's lesson, you're going to be able to identify different types of clause.

Now we've got some tricky grammar we're learning today, but it's gonna be so useful to you in your writing this year, and I'm going to be here to help you with the learning.

So let's get going.

Let's start with our keywords for today.

My turn, your turn.

Clause, main clause, subordinate clause.

Now don't worry if you don't know those words yet.

We're going to learn lots about them during this lesson.

Let's start by looking at their definitions together.

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb, and remember a verb is a being, a doing, or a having word.

A main clause is a group of words that contains a verb, and makes complete sense on its own.

A subordinate clause is a group of words that contains a verb, but does not make complete sense.

So in our lesson today, we're going to start by looking at main clauses.

We'll move on to looking at subordinate clauses, and we'll finish by focusing on a particular type of subordinate clause.

So let's get going by looking at main clauses.

We're going to start by listening to some examples of groups of words.

"The girl watched anxiously." "Snow fell gently from the sky." "What a racket the dog is making." "How was your day?" These groups of words are all clauses, because they all contain verbs.

And a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

Let's find those verbs.

We've got watched, fell, is making, and was.

These are all verbs.

So these groups of words must be clauses, because they contain a verb.

Now you try.

Which of these are clauses? "At that moment," "He walked away," "My cousin's dog," and, "Sing for me." Remember, we are looking for groups of words that contain a verb.

Pause the video and decide which of these are clauses.

Well done.

Let's have a look at those together.

"At that moment," does not contain a verb, so it can't be a clause.

"He walked away," contains the verb walked, so it is a clause.

"My cousin's dog," has no verb in it, so it can't be a clause.

"Sing for me," contains the verb sing, so it must be a clause.

Really well done if you got those.

Now let's have a look at some more examples of groups of words.

These examples are not clauses.

Let's find out why.

We've got, "Just then," "Oh dear," and, "A small, wooden toy with wheels." So how are these different to the clauses we were looking at before? Well, they don't contain a verb.

These are phrases and not clauses.

A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a verb.

There's no verb in, "Just then." There's no verb in, "Oh dear" and there's no verb in, "A small, wooden toy with wheels." So these are all phrases, not clauses.

Now you try.

True or false? "A delicious slice of moist cake," is a clause.

Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

That is false.

Now have a look at these two explanations and see if you can explain why "A delicious slice of moist cake," is not a clause.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

It's B.

This is a phrase and there's no verb in a phrase.

There's not a verb in, "A delicious slice of moist cake," so it can't be a clause.

Instead, it's a phrase.

Really well done if you spotted that.

Now there are different types of clause in English.

We're gonna focus first of all on a type of clause called a main clause.

Here are some examples of main clauses.

"Torrential rain fell onto the murky lake." "There are four nations in the United Kingdom." So a main clause is a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense on its own just like these two do.

That means it could be a sentence on its own.

Now that's pretty special, so we have a special character to represent a main clause.

Here's Main.

Now you can see Main is pretty powerful-looking.

That's because a main clause has a superpower.

It could be a sentence all on its own.

We could add a capital letter and a full stop and we've made a complete sentence.

"Torrential rain fell onto the murky lake." And we could do the same here.

Look how the main clause has formed a complete sentence.

Let's look at some examples now and decide if they're main clauses.

To do that, we need to think, does it contain a verb and does it make sense on its own? Could it be a complete sentence with a capital letter and a full stop? Here are four examples, let's decide together.

"She ran away swiftly," contains the verb ran, and it could be a sentence on its own, so that's a main clause.

"A tired old man," doesn't contain a verb, so it can't be a main clause.

It's not a clause at all.

It's a phrase.

"Sofia sat down quietly," contains the verb sat, and it could be a sentence on its own.

We could put a full stop at the end and we'd have a complete sentence.

So that is a main clause.

"In an instant," again, doesn't contain a verb.

So it's not a clause, it's a phrase.

Now I'd like you to try.

Decide if each of these examples is a main clause.

Remember, you are looking to see does it contain a verb and does it make sense on its own? Pause the video and decide which of these are main clauses.

Brilliant work.

Let's have a look together.

"All of a sudden," does not contain a verb, so it cannot be a main clause.

"The soft, cooling breeze," doesn't contain a verb, so it can't be a main clause.

Both those two are just phrases.

"The trees swayed gently," contains the verb swayed, and it could be a sentence on its own.

So that's a main clause.

"Aisha noticed everything," contains the verb noticed and it could be a sentence.

So again, that's a main clause.

Well done if you worked those out.

Now, sometimes verbs can be tricky to spot in groups of words.

Let's have a look at some difficult ones and decide are these main clauses? We've got, "What's wrong," "I've finished," and, "What a loud noise that is!" Hmm, let's see if you can find those tricky verbs.

"What's wrong," is short for what is wrong and is is a verb.

It's a being word.

"I've finished," is short for I have finished and we know have is a verb, it's a having word.

And then we can see that word is again at the end of the sentence in, "What a loud noise that is." All three of these could be a sentence on their own and they contain a verb.

So all three are main clauses.

Remember, a verb can show being or having like in these sentences instead of doing.

That's something to remember.

Now you try.

Which of these are main clauses? Remember, they need to contain a verb and make complete sense on their own.

Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Let's have a look.

"Where's the nearest shop?" Hm.

Where's is short for where is.

"We've just finished." We've is short for we have.

So we can see the first two contain a verb and do make sense on their own.

Those are main clauses.

But the last one, "All through the night," does not contain a verb.

It's a phrase.

It's not a main clause.

Brilliant work if you got those.

Now for our first task in this lesson, I'm going to show you some sentences.

I want you to decide if the purple section is a main clause.

I want you to tick it if it is, and cross it if it's not.

And circle any of the verbs that helped you decide.

Let's read the sentences we're looking at.

"All of a sudden, Jun froze." "Sam watched the geese glide away.

How beautiful!" "At that moment, the bell rang loudly." "Wait! Where are you going?" "Oh no.

We're too late." "As the stars glistened, we gazed up in delight." "It's not fair! You lied to us!" So look at those purple sections and decide is that a main cause or not? And circle the verb that helped you.

Pause the video and try this task.

Okay, let's have a look together at these answers.

"Jun froze," is a main clause.

It could be a sentence on its own and it contains the verb froze.

Well done.

"Sam watched the geese glide away," is a sentence on its own.

It's a main clause.

"At that moment," is a phrase.

It does not contain a verb.

It's not a main clause.

"Where are you going?" contains the verb are and it could be a sentence on its own.

It's a main clause.

"Oh no!" does not contain a verb.

So it's a phrase.

It's not a main clause.

Now here's a tricky one.

"As the stars glistened," does contain the verb glistened, but it couldn't be a sentence on its own.

"As the stars glistened," doesn't make a complete sentence, so it's not a main clause.

It's a different type of clause, which we'll talk about in a moment.

Finally, "It's not fair," contains the verb it's, which means it is.

That's a being verb.

This is a sentence on its own, so it's a main clause.

Really well done if you've got those.

This is some tricky grammar we're doing and you're doing a great job.

Now we're going to move on to looking at subordinate clauses.

Let's look at how they're different to main clauses.

Here are some examples of a different type of clause.

"As the door slammed shut," "Because we were tired of waiting," "When the flood hit the town," "So she could hardly see." How are these similar or different to the main clauses we just heard? Well, these are subordinate clauses, a different type of clause.

Now a subordinate clause is similar to a main clause in two ways.

It's still a group of words and it still contains a verb.

That's what makes it a clause.

However, it doesn't make complete sense on its own and it can't make a sentence all by itself.

"As the door slammed shut," is not a complete sentence.

It needs something else to make it a complete sentence, and that's what makes it a subordinate clause.

So here's our character Subordinate.

And you can see they're a lot less powerful-looking than Main.

That's because a subordinate can't make a complete sentence on its own.

Now your turn.

True or false? "As the rain began to fall," is a subordinate clause.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

It's true.

It is a subordinate clause.

Now I wonder if you can decide why.

Have a look at the two options and pause the video and have a think.

Fantastic.

It's B.

This is a group of words that contains a verb.

It contains the verb began, but it couldn't be a sentence on its own.

It needs something else to make it complete.

So that makes it a subordinate clause.

Well done if you got that.

So a subordinate clause must be joined to a main clause to make complete sense.

And we can see here Subordinate and Main working together to make a complete sentence.

So Subordinate relies on Main in order to make our sentence work.

Let's look at some complete sentences that contain a subordinate clause.

"We all set up as our teacher entered the room." "Izzy was disappointed when the party was over." "Andeep practised hard so he could improve his drawing." "The dogs were barking because they smelt a squirrel." Can you see I've got parts of my sentence in black and parts in green.

Which colour shows the main clause and which shows the subordinate clause? Let's zoom in on one sentence.

"We all sat up as our teacher entered the room." Well, "We all sat up," could be a sentence on its own.

We could put a full stop after up and that would be a complete sentence.

So I'm sure you've guessed it.

This must be a main clause.

"As our teacher entered the room," couldn't be a sentence on its own.

So this is the subordinate clause.

So we've got the main clause followed by the subordinate clause.

Now you try.

Which part of the sentence is in green? Is it the main clause or the subordinate clause in each of these sentences? I want you to read the sentences, pause the video, and decide for each one is the green part main or subordinate? Have a go.

Well done for having a go at that one.

Let's have a look together.

"We all roared with laughter," could be a sentence on its own.

That's the main clause.

"As the water hit her," couldn't be a sentence on its own.

It needs that main clause.

So it must be subordinate.

"Because he wanted to play outside," must be a subordinate clause.

It doesn't make sense just on its own.

And, "The man was very frail," is a main clause.

It could be a complete sentence on its own.

Brilliant work so far.

Let's keep going.

Now in those examples, the subordinate clause was at the end of the sentence, but it can also go at the start.

"As Alex watched, the bird took flight." "When we were finished, we read quietly." "Because I was hungry, I ate lunch early." Here, the subordinate clause, "Because I was hungry," comes first, and the main clause, "I ate lunch early," comes second.

So we've got the subordinate clause first and then the main clause.

But remember, that subordinate clause needs the main clause to make a complete sentence.

Now you try.

I wonder if you can match the subordinate clause here to the main clause here that makes it work.

Pause the video and see if you can make three complete sentences with these subordinate and main clauses.

Have a go.

Let's make some sentences.

"Because the work was hard, Aisha asked for help." "As we crossed the road, we took great care." "When I had eaten, I went out to play." The subordinate clause needed the main clause to make sense.

Really well done.

So when a subordinate clause is joined to a main clause, like in the examples we just saw, it creates what's called a complex sentence.

We could have the main clause first, or we could have the subordinate clause first.

Either way, when we combine a subordinate clause and a main clause, we have a complex sentence.

Let's see if you can remember that.

Which two things does a complex sentence always contain? A main clause, a subordinate clause, or a question mark.

Pause the video and pick two.

Well done.

It's a main clause and a subordinate clause.

They combine together to make a complex sentence.

A complex sentence doesn't always contain a question mark.

Okay, for our second task this lesson, I'd like you to do some writing.

So I'd like you to try and make a complex sentence by writing a main clause at the end of the subordinate clauses I've given you.

And I've done the first word of the main clause to help you out.

So let's read them.

"Because it was snowing heavily, we.

." "When it was time for bed, Lucas.

." And, "As the headteacher walked into Miss Ofoedu's room, we.

." Each time, the subordinate clauses come first in these complex sentences.

And I want you to try and write a main cause of your choice.

You decide how each of these complex sentences should finish.

Pause the video and try and write those three sentences.

Have a go.

Here are some examples.

"Because it was snowing heavily, we ran outside to play." There's my main clause in black.

"We ran outside to play." "When it was time for bed, Lucas brushed his teeth and put on his pyjamas." "As the headteacher walked into Miss Ofoedu's room, we all sat up smartly." Now your sentences will look different, but make sure you have a main clause that could make sense as a complete sentence on its own.

Really well done portraying that.

Okay, let's move on to the last part of our lesson.

We are going to look at a special type of subordinate clause.

Now first of all, we need to talk about conjunctions.

A conjunction is a word that joins words or phrases or clauses.

It's a joining word.

Now one type of conjunction is a subordinating conjunction.

Here are some examples.

As, when, so, and because.

If a subordinate clause starts with a subordinating conjunction like these, then we call it an adverbial clause.

Now, there are other types of subordinate clause as well, which are made in different ways and we'll talk about them in some future lessons.

But for now, we need to know that if a subordinate clause starts with a subordinating conjunction, like has, when, so, or because, that makes it an adverbial clause.

Now I wonder if you can remember which of these are true for an adverbial clause.

It's a type of subordinate clause, it begins with a subordinating conjunction, and it makes complete sense on its own.

Pause the video and decide which are true for an adverbial clause.

Great work.

Adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause and it begins with a subordinating conjunction.

Now if it's a subordinate clause, it can't make complete sense on its own.

So the last one can't be true.

Great work.

Now the subordinating conjunction comes at the start of the adverbial clause.

Let me show you what I mean.

"The stars glowed brightly as the moon glistened." As is a subordinating conjunction.

That means, "As the moon glistened," must be the adverbial clause.

That part of the sentence couldn't make sense on its own.

"The stars glowed brightly," is a main clause.

It could be a complete sentence.

But we could have the adverbial clause before or after the main clause.

Look how I flipped the sentence around.

"As the moon glistened, the stars glowed brightly." As is our subordinating conjunction.

So we know it must start the adverbial clause, "As the moon glistened." And then, "The stars glowed brightly," is the main clause again.

We can tell, "As the moon glistened," is the adverbial clause, 'cause it's the part of the sentence that starts with the subordinating conjunction and it doesn't make sense on its own.

So we can always find the adverbial clause in a sentence by looking for the subordinating conjunction.

Let's look at these three.

"As the children stepped into the forest, they shuddered in fear." Well, I can see that conjunction as, so I know the subordinate clause, the adverbial clause, must come first, "As the children stepped into the forest." The second sentence says, "Andeep gripped his touch tightly, so it wouldn't fall from his hand." I know that so is a subordinating conjunction.

So in this sentence, the adverbial clause must come second, "So it wouldn't fall from his hand." And in the last one, it says, "Jun nervously took the lead, because he was holding the map." I know because is the subordinating conjunction, so the adverbial clause must be the second part, "Because he was holding the map." Can you see how each time, we've left a main clause that could be a full sentence? "They shuddered in fear," "Andeep gripped his torch tightly," and, "Jun nervously took the lead." All of those are main clauses, because they could be a complete sentence on their own.

What part of this sentence is the adverbial clause and how do you know? "Aisha was eating ravenously when Sofia walked in." Is the adverbial clause, "Aisha was eating ravenously," or is the adverbial clause, "When Sofia walked in?" Pause the video and have a go.

Brilliant work.

Well done.

We can see the subordinating conjunction when.

That must start the adverbial clause.

So the adverbial clause must be, "When Sofia walked in," because the subordinating conjunction always comes at the start of the adverbial clause.

Brilliant work.

Okay, so for our final task this lesson, we are going to see if we can find the adverbial clause inside a complex sentence.

And remember, to find the adverbial clause, we look for the subordinating conjunction, because the adverbial clause always starts with a subordinating conjunction.

I'd like you to circle the subordinating conjunction and underline the adverbial clause in these sentences.

Let's read them together.

"Jacob and Alex chuckled happily as they watched cartoons." "Because mum was sleeping soundly, I tiptoed downstairs silently." "Sofia's adorable puppy barked wildly when she got home from school." "We used effective sun-cream, so we didn't get burnt." "As rain pelted down in torrents, lightning struck the stone tower." So can you pause the video and underline the adverbial clause and circle the subordinating conjunction, which remember, comes at the start of the adverbial clause? Have a go.

Okay, let's check these together.

In "Jacob and Alex chuckled happily as they watched cartoons," "As they watched cartoons," is the proverbial clause.

"Because mum was sleeping soundly," is the adverbial clause in number two.

"When she got home from school," is the adverbial clause in number three.

"So we didn't get burnt," is the adverbial clause in number four.

And, "As the rain pelted down in torrents," is the adverbial clause in number five.

If you managed to find those, you've done a brilliant job.

Well done.

And remember, the way we could find those was by looking for those subordinating conjunctions.

So let's check we've found those.

In number one, the subordinating conjunction is as.

In number two, it's because.

In number three, it's when.

In number four, it's so.

And in number five, it's as.

Brilliant work if you spotted those.

We've done an amazing job this lesson and we've learned so much about clauses.

Let's just summarise what we've learned.

We learned that a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

We learned that a main clause is a clause that makes sense on its own, and a subordinate clause is a clause that doesn't make sense on its own.

And we learned that a subordinate clause and a main clause can be joined together to make a complex sentence.

Now that was some really tricky grammar and I'm really impressed that you've managed to keep going all the way through.

If you'd like to check your knowledge, you can go and try our exit quiz now.

Thank you for being with me in this lesson.

I look forward to seeing you again.