Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Beckingham, and I'm so glad you've joined me today to learn about complex sentences.

Now this lesson is going to be a revision lesson dealing with lots of grammatical terminology, but I'm going to be able to help you that way through, and I think we're going to learn a lot.

Let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called "Adverbial, Relative and Non-Finite Complex Sentences Revision." And it comes from my unit called "Review," including word class, sentence types, tense, commas, and colons.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to practise complex sentence test questions.

Now we're going to look really carefully today at three different types of complex sentence.

As many of you will know, complex sentences are made up of a main clause and a subordinate clause.

And different types of subordinate clause create different types of complex sentence.

So we're going to look at those in detail, and think about how we can tackle test questions that relate to them.

So let's see if we can master this skill together.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Subordinate clause.

Main clause.

Relative clause.

Non-finite clause.

And complex sentence, well done.

Now, a subordinate clause, as I'm sure you'll know, is a group of words that contains a verb and does not make complete sense on its own.

An adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

A relative clause is another type of subordinate clause that starts with a relative pronoun, and a non-finite ing clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a verb in the progressive tense.

That means a verb in an ing form.

And a complex sentence is a sentence formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're gonna start off by looking at a verb, your subordinate clauses, and then move on to relative and non-finite ing subordinate clauses.

Remembering that each of these different types of subordinate clause makes a different type of complex sentence.

So as I'm sure you know, a main clause contains a verb and it makes complete sense on its own, whereas a subordinate clause does not make sense on its own.

So if you look at this sentence, I've highlighted two different parts.

In black, we have "The tomb was full of treasures," that's a main clause.

It could be a sentence on its own.

And in purple we have, "which was hidden in a valley." Now that couldn't be a sentence on its own, so it's a subordinate clause.

So we have a main clause and a subordinate clause together making a complex sentence.

Here's another example.

In purple we have, "When the door slammed shut," is that main or subordinate? Well, it doesn't make complete sense on its own, so it must be subordinate.

And then we have, "we gazed around in shock," which could be a complete sentence on its own.

So that's the main clause.

So we have a subordinate clause followed by a main clause, and again, this is a complex sentence.

So have a look at these two complex sentences and see if you can label each part as either main or subordinate.

And if the main clause is interrupted, as in our first example on the left, then label both parts as main, because together they make the main clause, as we can see with "The tomb was full of treasures." So pause the video and label up these complex sentences.

Well done.

Great job.

So the first one, I can see a main clause there interrupted by a subordinate clause.

The main clause is I saw a light flickering in the corridor.

And then after that noun light, we have a subordinate clause, which was very dim that couldn't be a complete sentence on its own, so it must be a subordinate clause.

In the second example I can see it starts with "She was incredibly happy." Could that be its own sentence? Yes, it could.

So that's the main clause.

And then we have "after the competition was over," which couldn't, so that's a subordinate clause.

Good job if you've got both of those, well done.

So let's try another one.

I've highlighted in purple a different part of each sentence here.

These are all complex sentences because they contain at least one main clause and a subordinate clause.

So what kind of clause is highlighted in each of these complex sentences? Is it main or subordinate? Pause the video and decide.

Great job, well done.

Good grammar knowledge.

So in A we've got "The sunset was absolutely captivating," which is a main clause.

In B, we've got, "because Sam had ruined our group's chance winning" that is a subordinate clause.

It couldn't be a sentence on its own.

And then C, we've got, "she barely touched her vegetables," which is a main clause.

Well done.

Good work.

(speaker indistinct) Now each different type of subordinate clause that we're going to look at today starts with a certain word type and it makes a different type of complex sentence when it's joined with a main clause.

So let's review quickly the three types before focusing first of all on one of those.

So one type of subordinate clause is a non-finite ing clause, and that's a quite complicated name, but they're actually very simple.

They all start with a verb in their ing form, like pausing, stepping and walking.

And remember, they're subordinate clauses, so they won't make complete sense on their own.

For example, stepping into the room, that's a non-finite ing clause.

It's starts with an ing word stepping, a verb in its ing form, and it's a subordinate clause.

It can't be a sentence on its own.

So I've had to pair it with that main clause, "I shuddered" to make a non-finite ing complex sentence there.

Another type of subordinate clause is an adverbial clause, and these always start with a subordinating conjunction.

Now there are load of subordinating injunctions in English, for instance, as when while because, so, that, once after, before, since, although, and even though.

There are more than that.

So these act as subordinating conjunctions, which start at adverbial clauses.

For instance, "As the temperature dropped, I shuddered." So here we've got, as our subordinating conjunction starting that adverbial clause.

We had to pair it with a main clause to make sense because that adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause.

So this would be an aerial complex sentence that I've just written an adverbial clause paired with a main clause.

And the last type of subordinate clause we're looking at today is a relative clause.

And these start with a relative pronoun.

That's words like who, which, where, when, whose, and that.

And these also always come after a noun or noun phrase to tell us more about it.

And we'll talk more about that in the second part of our lesson.

So we might see something like this with a relative clause inside, "Alex, who was ice cold, shuddered." That relative clause "who was ice cold," starts with a relative pronoun who.

It comes after that noun, Alex.

And this makes a relative complex sentence, a relative clause paired with a main clause.

And again, a relative clause is a T of subordinate clause, so it couldn't be a sentence on its own.

So an adverbial complex sentence contains an adverbial clause.

And we can tell where that adverbial clause begins by looking for the subordinating conjunction because an adverbial clause is a subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

So if you look at this sentence we have "We turned on the radiator because the temperature had dropped." I know that because this is a coordinating conjunction.

So that must be the start of the adverbial clause.

So the adverbial clause must be "because the temperature dropped." So I've got a main clause and an adverbial clause to make an adverbial complex sentence.

Here's another one.

"Since he got injured playing tennis, Alex hasn't been back to school." I know that since is a subordinating conjunction, so that must be the start of the adverbial clause.

So the adverbial clause at the start of this sentence, and it must be since he got injured playing tennis.

That could not be a sentence on its own, so that must be the adverbial clause.

An adverbial clause that comes before a main clause like the one we just saw, starting with since, is a fronted adverbial clause.

It's a type of fronted adverbial, but it's a clause because it contains a verb.

And we can tell where that fronted adverbial clause ends by finding the main clause in a sentence.

And remember, a fronted adverbial clause is always followed by a comma.

Let's look at an example.

We've got this sentence and we are not sure where the adverbial clause ends.

I can see where it begins because that word before can be but isn't always a subordinating conjunction.

So I've got this sentence, "Before I was ready to step into the spotlight the show began." So to know where that adverbial clause ends, I need to identify the main clause.

It would be this, "the show began." That could be a sentence on its own.

So I'm going to make this the fronted adverbial clause followed by the comma.

That's the part that is the subordinate clause.

It's at the start of the sentence, so it's a fronted adverbial clause followed by a comma.

So can you use the conjunctions to identify the adverbial subordinate clauses in these sentences, and add a comma if they're needed.

So remember, if the adverbial clause is fronted, if it's a fronted adverbial clause, it will be followed by a comma.

Pause the video.

Find the adverbial subordinate clauses and add any commas that are needed.

Have a go.

Well done, really good effort.

Nice one.

So in A we've got the conjunction although, so "although we didn't win," must be the adverbial subordinate clause.

In B I can see while as our subordinating conjunction.

So this one's at the start, so it must be followed by a comma "While we are waiting to go out," comma, well done.

And C, you spotted the conjunction.

Well done because.

So that must be the start of the adverbial clause.

So "because rationing was introduced," is our adial subordinate clause.

It's at the end of the sentence after the main clause, so it doesn't need a comma.

In D, the subordinating conjunction is, well done, after.

It's at the start of the sentence, so it's going to be followed by a comma after the end of that adverbial clause.

I can see "I started to pack up my tent," would be the main clause.

So this must be the subordinate clause at the start, the adverbial subordinate clause.

Don't worry if you just refer to these as subordinate clauses sometimes.

We are talking about the types of subordinate clause, but they are all subordinate clauses.

So "after it stopped raining," is a subordinate clause.

The type of subordinate clause is an adverbial subordinate clause.

Really good job with that grammar knowledge.

So let's see if we can use our knowledge of subordinating conjunctions to complete this task.

I'd like you to choose an appropriate conjunction to complete each sentence.

And remember, subordinating conjunctions are words like after, before, while, so, that, although, even though, because, and many more.

So see if you can think of an appropriate one to complete each sentence, pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Let's see what you got.

So A, you might have chosen something like, "When the time comes, you'll know exactly what to do." For B, you might have said, "We must persevere so that we succeed." But you could have said, "until we succeed." For C, you might have said, "And he was kept behind because he was being mischievous." And in D, you might have said, once we had finished our work, we checked it thoroughly." But what else might work there? We could say after, couldn't we, as well? "After we'd finished our work, we checked it thoroughly," would work as well.

So sometimes different subordinating conjunctions will work in the same position.

Great job if you found one that worked.

Now the same word can sometimes act as an adverb or a subordinating conjunction.

But remember we've said a subordinating conjunction starts an adverbial clause, and adverbial clause will contain a verb, so that's important to bear in mind.

So remember, if it starts a clause containing a verb, it must be acting as a conjunction.

Let's look at some examples.

"I went there before I met you." So you've got before that which can act as a subordinating conjunction.

Here it's starting a clause.

It's got a verb met.

So this is a subordinated conjunction in this case, before it's acting as a subordinating conjunction.

But what about here? "I haven't been there before." It's the same word, but it's not starting a clause here.

There's no verb after it.

There's nothing after it at all.

So here is an adverb describing that verb being.

And then we got, "Before we met, I used to go there." Does this start a clause? Yes, it does, because that contains the verb met.

So here it's acting again as a subordinating conjunction.

So if the word is acting as a subordinating conjunction, we'll see it creating an adverbial clause that contains a verb.

So here I've done the same thing with the word once.

Sometimes it's a subordinated conjunction and sometimes it's an adverb.

So I want you to decide if in each case it's acting as a subordinated conjunction, starting an adverbial clause or a subordinate clause, or is acting as an adverb.

Pause the video and see if you can decide.

Well done, good thinking.

So in the first one we've written, "I can help you once I've finished doing this." We've got that verb finished.

I have finished, so that is a subordinating conjunction.

It's starting a clause.

In this one, we've got "Once it's all over." It's contained that verb it is, doesn't it? So that's got a verb.

It's got a clause after once.

So again, it's a subordinating conjunction.

But in the third example I've said, "I used to like him once." That is not starting a new clause, is it? There's nothing after it.

So there, I bet you spotted it, once is acting as an adverb.

Really well done, if you've managed to see that difference, good work.

Now an adverbial complex sentence can contain two adverbial clauses, as well as a main clause.

For example, "When my cousin came over, we went to the park because we wanted to play cricket." Can you see that main clause there? "We went to the park." It's got an adverbial clause in front of it, starting with this subordinating conjunction when, so it got "When my cousin came over," as an adverbial subordinate clause.

And then after that main clause, we've got another adverbial clause starting with a different subordinating conjunction, starting with because.

We've got, "Because we wanted to play cricket." So we have an adverbial clause, a main clause, and then another adverbial clause.

So let's see if you can identify the conjunctions in each of these sentences.

Pause the video and see if you can spot them in the same way, have a go.

Well done.

Nice job.

So in the first one we've got, "I've struggled to concentrate since Advent started because Christmas is getting so close." So here we've got, "since Advent started" as an adverbial clause.

"And because Christmas is getting so close" as an adverbial clause.

So we've got two subordinating conjunctions, since and because.

And there the main clause comes first, "I've struggled to concentrate." In the second one we've got, even though as our subordinating conjunction starting the subordinate clause, "Even though I like Lucas." Then we've got a main clause, "I find it difficult to support him." And then we've got another subordinated conjunction when, starting the adverbial clause, "when he's playing football." So each of these subordinated conjunctions starts an adverbial clause.

And remember that is a type of subordinate clause.

Really good job, you've identified those four subordinating conjunctions, good work.

So let's do our first task for this lesson.

I'm gonna show you some sentences, and I want you to do the following for each of them.

I want you to annotate the subordinate clause and the main clause.

You might write S for subordinate clause and M for main clause.

Or your teacher might give you a different method of highlighting this.

I'd like you to circle the conjunction that starts the subordinate clause.

And if you see a fronted adverbial clause, that is an adverbial subordinate clause at the start of a sentence, I want you to add the comma that should follow it.

Here are the sentences.

Pause the video and see if you can complete all of those tasks, have a go.

Well done, fantastic work.

So I'm going to show you the sentences annotated to show the conjunctions, main clauses, and subordinate clauses, and watch out for those commas after fronted adverbial clauses.

So in the first one, I've got the subordinate clause "When my stomach started rumbling," in purple.

And then the main clause in black, "I knew it was time for tea." For the second one, we've got the subordinate clause "after the match ended." In C, the subordinate clause is even though I'd stretched." In D, it's "while parliament debated the issue." In E, it's "Before the competition even began." And in F, it's "As she joined the queue." Notice how for A and C and E and F if they're fronted adverbial clause, so that's followed by a comment.

Now I'll explain those subordinating conjunctions that started each of those adverbial clauses.

We have when, and after, and even though, and while, and before, and as.

Amazing job if you manage to spot those.

Great work.

Okay, we've talked about one type of subordinate clause, an adverbial subordinate clause.

We're now gonna talk about two other ones, a relative and a non-finite ing subordinate clause.

And remember, each of these has to be paired with a main clause to make a complex sentence.

So we've seen that relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause that start with relative pronouns.

So here are some of our relative pronouns that we need to know, which, who, where, when, whose, and that.

So for instance, the room where it happened was deserted.

We've got a relative clause there, starting with where our relative pronoun, and can you see, it's interrupted that main clause.

The room was deserted as a main clause.

We've put that subordinate clause, that relative clause after the room, a noun phrase.

Here's another one.

"My cousin, whose job is very important, rarely has time to see us." We've used whose to start that relative clause as the relative pronoun.

Here's another.

"We all enjoyed the food that we had eaten." This one's coming at the end of a main clause.

"We all enjoyed the food," is a main clause.

Then we've got our relative clause "that we had eaten" after it.

In this example, the relative clause interrupts the main clause again.

We could say "7th of January will always be special to me." That would be our main clause.

We've interrupted it with this relative clause "when my sister was born," starting with that relative pronoun when.

So a relative clause is also different from an adverbial clause because it always follows a noun or noun phrase.

And we can see those here.

The relative clause in the first one tells us more about the room.

The second one tells us more about my cousin.

The third tells us more about the food.

And the fourth tells us more about "the 7th of January" and why it's so special.

So that's different to an adverbial clause.

Look at this adverbial clause here, "when he walked in" comes after the verb laughed, "we all laughed when he walked in." So notice how when can be used as a subordinating conjunction starting at an adverbial clause like in this case, or it can be used as a relative pronoun.

Well know it's being used as a relative pronoun if it's coming after a now or now phrase.

So this time we've got an adverbial clause starting with when.

But you can see in my fourth example about "the 7th of January," we've got when starting a relative clause after a non phrase, "the 7th of January." So let's see if you can find all the relative pronouns in the passage below.

Pause the video and have a look.

Well done.

Great job.

So let's look at the relative pronouns that start each relative clause in this passage and notice how they each follow a noun and then phrase.

So we've got here where following town centre.

So "The crime was committed in the town centre" is a main clause.

Then we've got the relative clause where several similar incidents have occurred recently.

In the second one we've got who.

So this is telling us more about PC Jackie Smith, "PC Jackie Smith, who is supporting the victims." But notice how here the relative clause interrupts the main clause.

"PC Jackie Smith said that the items stolen had a value of up to £5,000." In the third one we've got whose.

This is following a main clause.

We've got "The police are contacting everyone" as our main clause.

Then we've got whose starting the relative clause, "whose belongings may have been taken." So each time that relative clause is telling us more about a noun and noun phrase that comes before it.

Really good job of finding those relative pronouns.

Now a relative clause can be removed from a sentence and the sentence will still make sense.

So if we look at these two examples, again, I could remove these relative clauses and we are left with the main clause.

"We all enjoyed the food," and "7th of January will always be special to me." So this helps us to find the relative clause in a sentence if we're not sure where it is.

So if you look at this sentence, "the room where it happened was deserted," I can see a main clause, "The room was deserted." That makes sense on its own.

So this must be the relative clause where it happened starting with a relative pronoun where.

And relative clause sometimes has a comma before it or one on either side of it, if it's interrupting a main clause.

So in this case, the relative clause interrupts the main clause.

"Sofia, who had already eaten, did not eat much at the party." In this case, the relative clause comes after a main clause, so we only need a comma before it because it reaches the end of the sentence.

"Lucas visited his uncle, who lived in Leeds." And then here the relative clause interrupts the main clause again.

So we got "Barbados, where my family comes from, is in the Caribbean.

So this happens when the relative clause is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

We use those commas when the relative clause is not essential, it's just adding some extra information.

So let's see if we can identify the relative clauses in each of these sentences by looking for the relative pronoun and deciding which part of the sentence could be removed, 'cause that part of the sentence that could be removed, which starts with the relative pronoun, must be the relative clause.

Pause the video and have a think Well done, great thinking.

So in A, we can see that relative pronoun where, "where we could hide," could be removed.

We'd be left with, "We looked for a place," so that must be the relative clause.

In B we've got "whose bike was stolen," starting with our relative pronoun whose that could be removed.

And we'd have, "the man was absolutely furious." And C, we've got that as our relative pronoun, so "that had been buried for centuries." And then the main clause would be, "I found a coin." I D, we've got where as a relative pronoun, so we could remove "when the soldiers came," and we'd be left with the main clause, "The night was terrifying for all of us." So in that case, we don't have commas because that kind of is essential to the sentence.

"The night when the soldiers came" is part of that sentence, which really is needed, so we haven't used commas in that case.

So that's something to watch out for as well.

Really good job for identifying those relative clauses, starting with a relative pronoun in each case, great work.

So where can a comma be placed in each sentence to demarcate, that means to show, the relative clause? So in these cases, the relative clauses are not essential to the sentence, so we can show them using commas.

So pause the video and decide where could the comma be placed to show the boundaries of that relative clause, have a think Well that's a great effort.

So in A, I would put it after Jun because this relative clause who had wander off tells us more about that noun Jun.

In B, I would put two commas around "which have been built in one 1100 AD." And C, I'd put them around "when we fast for a whole month." And in D I put a comma before "whose family was celebrating Eid." 'cause that part of the sentence is not essential because we could have just written "On Tuesday, we didn't see Aisha," but we've added this relative clause "whose family was celebrating Eid" for extra information.

So that's when we need commas around our relative clauses framework, well done.

Now we've so far shown relative clauses using commas, but we sometimes also use brackets or dashes to show a relative clause.

So this example has commas, "the queue, which was very long, wound around the entire building." But we could show that with bracket, "the queue bracket, bracket, which was very long, bracket, wound around the entire building." That works in exactly the same way.

And we could do that with dashes too.

"The building, which is over 200 metres tall, was completed in 2021." We could show dashes on either side of that relative clause as well.

So this is just another choice about how we might do this.

Now if you look at this example, it says, "A strong wave crushed towards the building, which collapsed instantly." So here the relative clause is at the end of the sentence after the main clause, but we could still put brackets around it.

Just notice how we still need that full stop after that second bracket.

We couldn't put a pair of dashes around this because we can't put a dash before a full stop.

But as ever, we could always remove the relative clause, whether it's in bracket or dashes or commas.

So for this first sentence, let's see if you can add a pair of brackets to show the relative clause.

And in the second sentence in green, can you add a pair of dashes to show that relative clause? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Great job.

So in the first one we would say, "Jacob, whose feet were sore, sat down to rest at the side of the footpath," with the relative clause "whose feet were sore" contained in the brackets.

In the second one, the relative clause is "who is listening carefully," and I've got dashes on either side this time.

Really good work.

Now we can add a relative clause into a sentence we've been given.

So we've got this main clause here, "I walk towards the church," and I could add a relative clause to tell us more about the church.

I could say, "which was extremely old." In this case, I'm adding a relative clause inside a sentence.

"Aisha is on several school teams." That's our main clause.

So what could I say about Aisha? Well, I might use the relative pronoun who, because it's a person.

I might say "Aisha, who is great at sports, is on several school teams." And maybe I'll be asked to give a particular piece of information.

Here I've got the main clause, "Romania is my favourite country." And I wanna add something to show my parents were born there.

So what relative pronoun might work about a place.

It might be where.

I could say "Romania, where my parents were born, is my favourite country." Let's see if you can try.

I'd like to think of a relative clause to complete each sentence.

The first one, I've not given you the information I want to add.

In the second one, I've given you that information in green to add in, so you need to choose the right relative pronoun and make it into relative clause that could be added to a few sentences.

Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Great thinking.

So in the first one, we could say, "We enjoyed being taught by Mr. Martinez, who made everything interesting." It's probably going to be who there, because we've got Mr. Martin as a person.

For the second one I've got Alex, and we're talking about his house being nearby.

Now this time we've got a house belonging to someone.

So we might use whose as our relative pronoun.

So I could say, "Alex, whose house was nearby, walked to school every day." Really well done if you've managed to get something similar.

Now we've talked so far about adverbial subordinate clauses and relative subordinate clauses.

The final one we're going to talk about quickly is a non-finite ing clause, which we know is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a verb in it's ing form.

So for instance, "Stepping into the dark cemetery, I shuddered." I've got that word stepping as my ing verb at the start there to start the non-finite ing clause.

I could say, "Peeling back the old wallpaper, she saw the stained rotten wood beneath." Or I could put the non-finite clause after the main clause.

"He ran from the room screaming in horror." And the non-finite clause is always demarcated or shown with a comma.

Notice how we've got a comma after or before it to separate it from the main clause.

So I wonder if you can find the non-finite ing clause with each of these complex sentences, by looking for that ing verb.

Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Good spot.

I bet you found "Licking our lips in anticipation," and "using its tail for balance," and "Hoping for the best." We know where they start by looking for that ing word, and we know where they end because we have that comma that helps us.

And if they come after the main clause, like in the second example, that full stop at the end of the sentence, obviously tells us that's the end of the non-finite ing clause.

Really well done for spotting those.

Okay, let's do our final task for this lesson.

I'm going to show you some sentences which aren't punctuated with commas.

I want you to use commas, add them in to demarcate or show the relative clauses, and the non-finite ing clauses in the complex sentences.

And if you see any relative pronouns that start your relative clauses, I'd like you to circle those as well.

So here are the unpunctuated sentences, add those commas in to show those relative clauses and non-finite ing clauses and circle those relative pronouns.

Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Great job.

So here are the sentences with the commas and the relative clauses and non-finite clauses added in.

So here we've got the relative clause, "which had always been empty" with commas on either side because it's interrupting that main clause.

In B, we've got a non-finite ing clause, "Looming over the others nearby," followed by the comma.

In C, we've got a relative clause at the end of the sentence, "who had occupied it for centuries." In D, we've got another relative clause interrupting a main clause, "where generations of family have been born" with commas on either side.

In E, we've got another interrupting, embedded relative clause here, "whose fortune had been made selling wool." And in F we've got a non-finite ing clause "leaving nothing behind," with a comma before it.

And our relative pronouns are here, which, who, where, and whose.

Amazing job, if you've managed to find those non-finite ing clauses and those relative clauses, and those relative pronouns, and show them using those commas, great work.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've learned that a main clause makes sense on its own, but a subordinate clause does not.

And a main clause joined to a subordinate clause makes a complex sentence.

We've learned that there are different types of subordinate clause, each starting with a different word type.

And we've learned that we need to think carefully about whether we need commas to demarcate the subordinate clause in a sentence.

Really well done in this lesson.

We've covered a lot of ground and I'm really impressed that you've managed to keep up so well.

Great work and I can't wait to see you again in the future lesson, goodbye.