Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and I'm so glad you've decided to join me today for our lesson on clause structure.

There's lots of vital knowledge packed into today's lesson, which I think you'll find really useful, and I'll be here to help you that way through.

Let's see if we can master this skill together.

Today's lesson is called clause structure from our unit called using five sentence types.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to identify three different types of subordinate clause.

Now, being able to use a range of different types of sentences is a really vital part of our writer's toolkit to make sure that our writing is interesting and engaging for our reader.

And the key to that is to understand the structure of different types of sentences and of different clauses.

So that's the skill we're going to try and learn in today's lesson.

Let's make a start.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Clause, main clause and subordinate clause.

Well done! A clause is a group of words that contains a verb and main clause is a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense.

And a subordinate clause is a group of words that contains a verb and does not make complete sense.

Here's our lesson outline.

We're going to start off by looking at the difference between main and subordinate clauses, and then we'll move on to look at three different types of subordinate clause.

Now, a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

And remember a verb is a being, a doing or a having word.

Here are some clauses, standing by the ancient monument; please don't criticise me; who is frequently late and when the temperature has dropped.

Notice how each of these contains a verb.

We've got standing, criticise, is and has dropped.

These are all verbs.

So these groups of words must be clauses.

If there's no verb, it's not a clause, it's a phrase.

For example, an upset stomach, your guilty conscience, heavens above and after many long weeks.

None of these contain a verb so they're all phrases and not clauses.

So are these clauses or phrases? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done! Good effort.

So for A, it contains was moving, which is a verb.

So we've got a clause.

There's no verb in B so it's a phrase, even though it's a very long group of words.

C contains have appreciated.

Those are verbs.

So this is a clause.

D has no verb.

So it's a phrase.

Good job! Now a main clause is a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense in its own.

Here are some examples.

Stop interfering, this is an excellent restaurant, who trusts this committee and what an awkward situation this is.

Now we can tell these are main clauses because a main clause has a superpower.

It could be a simple sentence all on its own.

And we have our character main to show this main is strong and powerful because a main clause can be a sentence on its own.

All of these could become a complete sentence with a capital letter and some closing punctuation.

So they are main clauses.

So which of these are main clauses that could be a simple sentence on their own? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done! Good job! So A couldn't be a sentence on its own at all, could it? B could be.

It could be a question.

Are you exaggerating, with a capital letter and a question mark.

B could be a sentence.

We could have a capital letter and a full stop for that one.

And then D cannot be a sentence on its own.

Really good job if you spotted those two main clauses, which could be made into simple sentences.

Now, a group of words that contains a verb but does not make complete sense in its own is called a subordinate clause.

Here are some examples, who has been a soldier for 11 years; because we had interrupted her; occupying a large space; as the temperature was rising.

Now we can tell each of these as a subordinate clause because it contains a verb, has been, has interrupted, occupying, and was rising are all verbs but these couldn't be sentences on their own.

So a subordinate clause cannot make sense on its own.

And we have our character subordinate who's not so powerful because a subordinate clause can't be a sentence on its own.

So can you decide if each of these clauses is main or subordinate? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done! So A is a main clause that could be a sentence, couldn't it, with a capital letter and a full stop.

B is a subordinate clause.

This couldn't be a sentence on its own.

C, it's also subordinate.

It couldn't be a complete sentence.

And D is main because it could be a complete sentence like this.

Really good job if you spotted this.

Now remember, if a group of words has no verb, it's neither a main clause nor a subordinate clause.

It's a phrase because a phrase is a group of words with no verb.

So let's see if we can work out whether a group of words is a main clause, a subordinate clause or a phrase.

Here's an example.

The lightning struck at night.

Well, I have this verb struck, so it must be a type of clause, and this could be a sentence with a capital letter and a full stop.

So the lightning struck at night must have been a main clause.

If I have this one after the lightning struck, I'd still got the verb struck.

So it's a type of clause but this couldn't be a sentence on its own so this must be a subordinate clause.

Any if I had after the lightning storm, I've got no verb.

So this must be a phrase.

So true or false? 'Before the disastrous battle' is a subordinate clause.

Pause the video and decide.

Well done! You're right, that is false.

But can you explain why? Pause the video and decide which of these two explains why 'Before the disastrous battle' is not a subordinate clause.

Have a think.

Well done! You're right, it's A.

So this is a group of words that does not contain a verb.

There's no verb in 'Before the disastrous battle'.

So it's not a clause at all.

It must be a phrase.

Good job! Now let's see if you can decide whether each of these groups of words are, say, main clause, a subordinate clause or a phrase.

Pause the video and think carefully about this one.

Okay, let's take a look.

For A, there's no verb so this is a phrase.

B also has no verb.

So it's a phrase as well.

In C, we've got his muscles had ached.

Those are verbs and this could be a complete sentence.

So this is a main clause.

And then grabbing a sufficient amount of money contains the verb grabbing, but it couldn't be a sentence on its own so this must be a subordinate clause.

Really well done if you've got this.

Now, any subordinate clause we've seen does not make complete sense in its own.

So it must be joined to a main clause in order to make complete sense.

Here's some examples.

Tiptoeing through the dark cemetery we held our breath.

Now tiptoeing through the dark cemetery is a subordinate clause.

It contains that verb tiptoeing, but it wouldn't make complete sense on its own.

So we've joined it to this main clause.

We held our breath, and now that subordinate clause does make sense.

It's been helped out by that main clause.

So we've got our subordinate clause to start, followed by our main clause.

Main is helping subordinate to make sense to work.

We could also have this one.

We could say the cemetery, which had been there for years, was pitched black.

Here we've got a subordinate clause, which had been there for years.

It doesn't make complete sense on its own, but it contains the verb, had been.

So we've joined it to this main clause.

The cemetery was pitched black.

Notice how that main clause has been interrupted by the subordinate clause here.

So here we've got the start of the main clause, then our subordinate clause, then the end of the main clause.

So again, main has helped subordinate to make sense.

So we can identify the main and subordinate clauses within sentences.

And we do this by checking whether each part makes complete sense on its own.

So let's look at this sentence.

Something very awkward happened while you were outside.

And I've highlighted two different parts of the sentence here.

So this part could be a sentence on its own, couldn't it? 'Something very awkward happened', so that must be a main clause.

'While you're outside' couldn't be a sentence on its own.

So that must be a subordinate clause.

Let's look at this one.

The yacht which is being repaired in the port, is very battered.

Well, if I look at 'which is being repaired in the port', that couldn't be a sentence on its own.

So that must be the subordinate clause, which means this part, 'the yacht is very battered', must be the main clause, and it's been interrupted by that subordinate clause.

So I'm going to show you a sentence now, and I want you to think what part of this sentence is the main clause and how do you know.

Mr. Martinez, who is 40 years old, is an excellent teacher.

Pause the video and decide which part of this sentence is the main clause and think about how you work that out.

Well done! Good effort! So you probably spotted this part of this sentence doesn't make complete such its own.

So this must be the subordinate clause, which means that this part must be the main clause, 'Mr. Martinez is an excellent teacher' and we know that because if we put those two parts of the main clause together, we get a complete sentence, Mr. Martinez is an excellent teacher.

If it can be made into a complete sentence, it must be a main clause.

Great job! Okay, let's complete our task for the first part of this lesson.

I can show you some sentences that look like this one.

And for each one I want you to decide if the purple highlighted section is a main clause or subordinate clause.

So right above that, MC or SC.

Then if the main clause has two parts, like the one we just saw, write MC over both, then I want you to label the black section as being a main clause over subordinate clause as well.

So here are the rest of your sentences.

Can you pause the video and see if you can label up those different parts using MC for main clause or SC for subordinate clause? Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look at how those sensitives should have been labelled.

For A, we've got the main clause first and then the subordinate clause causing a nuisance.

For B, we've got the subordinate clause first, then the main clause.

For C, we have a main clause interrupted by that subordinate clause there.

For D, the subordinate clause comes first.

For E, the main clause has again got two parts interrupted by that subordinate clause and for F, the main clause comes first followed by the subordinate clause.

Really well done if you manage to label up those parts correctly.

Okay, we've done a brilliant job so far of looking at the difference between main and subordinate clauses.

Now we're going to move on to looking at three different types of subordinate clause.

So we've said that there are three key types of subordinate clause we need to know.

And an adverbial clause is one of those types, it's a type of subordinate clause that begins with a subordinating conjunction.

And subordinating conjunctions are words like before, as, because, while, when and after.

Now some of those words can also have different functions as well.

So you've got to be a little bit careful when we use them.

So here are some examples of sentences containing a verbal clauses.

Before you exercised, you should have stretched your muscles.

I hate it when you exaggerate.

While the programme was playing, the whole family was silent.

So in each of these we've got an proverbial clause beginning with a subordinating conjunction.

So the subordinating conjunction before has started the adverbial clause before you exercised.

The subordinating conjunction, when, has started the adv proverbial clause, when you exaggerate and the subordinating conjunction, while, has started the adverbial clause, while the programme was playing.

Now an adverbial clause can be placed before or after a main clause, but either way it's going to be starting with a subordinating conjunction.

Here's an example.

Before we had a chance to finish, Alex interrupted.

Now I can see that subordinating conjunction before here and that's starting the adverbial clause before we had a chance to finish.

And then we have our main clause here, Alex interrupted.

So in this case we've got the subordinate clause, the adverbial clause there, followed by the main clause.

And that comma helps us to know where the adverbial clause ends.

But we could flip that sentence around.

Alex interrupted before we had a chance to finish.

Now I can see the subordinating conjunction, before is here.

So this must be the adverbial clause and I know where it ends now because we've got the full stop at the end of the sentence.

So this is my adverbial clause, and the main clause has come first this time.

So this time we've got the main clause followed by the adverbial clause, a type of subordinate clause.

So can you find the clause in each sentence? And remember, use the subordinating injunctions and the commas to help you out.

Pause the video and have a try.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, we've got the subordinating conjunction, as.

So this must be the adverbial clause, as we were walking down the road, and the comma tells me where it ends.

In B, I see when as my subordinating conjunction; when I got to school is the adverbial clause.

And in C, I see that subordinating conjunction, because, so the adverbial clause must be because the teachers are so marvellous.

And you'll see that the section of the sentence I haven't circled is a main clause.

Someone recognised my mom, the secretary had already arrived, it's such a privilege to go to school here.

We've got a main clause paired with an adverbial clause.

Now we've said that there are three key types of subordinate clause, and we've talked about one so far, an adverbial clause, which starts with a subordinate in conjunction.

Another type of subordinate clause is a relative clause which comes after a noun or a noun phrase to tell us more about it.

And remember, a noun is a person, a place, or a thing.

And a relative clause always starts with a relative pronoun.

And for now, there are just two we need to think about.

The first one is who, which we use if the noun is a person or a character.

For example, in fact, my uncle who is a police officer, helps our community a lot.

Here we've got the relative clause, who is a police officer, starting with the relative pronoun who, and it follows the noun phrase, my uncle, to tell me more about my uncle.

The other relative pronoun we need to know so far is, which, which we use if we're talking about a place or a thing.

For example, actually the committee, that's a thing, which meets every Thursday helps our community a lot.

This time I've got the relative clause, which meets every Thursday, starting with the relative pronoun, which, and it's come after the noun phrase, the committee, to tell me more about that noun phrase.

So a relative clause will always begin with a relative pronoun, in this case, who or which.

And it'll always follow the noun or the noun phrase it tells us more about.

So a relative clause as we've just seen often interrupts a main clause.

My baby sister who was desperate to accompany me to school, clung to my leg like a koala.

Here I've got a main clause, my baby sister clung to my leg like a koala.

And it's been interrupted by this relative clause, who was desperate to accompany me to school.

And the reason why it's interrupting that is because it's telling us more about my baby's sister.

So it comes directly after that noun phrase it tells us more about.

And notice how it starts with that relative pronoun, who.

So let's look at the structure of that in a bit more detail.

We can see that we have the main clause in two pieces, and then in between it we have a comma and then a relative pronoun, who or which.

Then we have the relative clause and then a second comma.

So the main clause has been interrupted by that relative clause.

So let's see if you can match each of these main clauses on the left to the relative clause that could interrupt it.

And can you see I put commas where the relative clause could be in those main clauses.

Pause the video and see if you can match them up correctly.

Okay, let's have a look.

For A, I would say, Izzy, who was determined to win for her way to the front of the race.

We've used who, because Izzy is a person.

For B, I'd say the stomach, which is an important organ of the body, is part of the digestive system.

I've used, which as the relative pronoun because the stomach is a thing and not a person.

For C, I'd say the doctor who was very kind took my temperature carefully.

We have used who because the doctor's a person.

And for D, the vehicle which was brand new drove smoothly and efficiently.

We've used the relative pronoun, which, because the vehicle is a thing.

Really good job if you manage to match those up.

So we've talked about two different types of subordinate clause so far, and an adverbial clause and a relative clause.

A third important type of subordinate clause is a non-finite (-ing) clause.

And a non-finite (-ing) clause is type of subordinate clause that starts with a verb in a progressive tense, which means it'll have an ING suffix, the letters, ING at the end.

That's why we call it a non-finite (-ing) clause.

Here are two examples, interrupting our conversation rudely and causing a huge distraction.

We can see both of these have that ING suffix on the first word.

They must be subordinate clauses because they couldn't be sentences on their own.

So they must be placed before or after a main clause to make sense.

For instance, we could say Alex rushed towards this, interrupting the conversation rudely.

So here we've got the main clause, Alex rushed towards us, followed by that non-finite (-ing) clause interrupting the conversation rudely.

We could say, causing a huge distraction a wasp buzzed in through the open window.

This time we've put the non-finite (-ing) clause first and then we've got the main clause second.

Either way, there's always a comma between the main clause and the non-finite clause and you can see that here.

Now there are two important rules for using non-finite (-ing) clauses.

First of all, the two actions in the sentence must be able to be done simultaneously at the same time.

So if you look at this one we've already seen, we've got here in the main clause, the main action, Alex rushing towards us.

And then in the non-finite (-ing) clause, we've got a second action that could be done simultaneously.

So as Alex is running towards us, he can also be interrupting us.

Those two things can happen at the same time.

So this sentence works correctly.

And the second rule is that the person in the ING word, the person doing that ING word at the start of the non-finite (-ing) clause must be the same as the one doing the action in the main clause.

So here's a bad example.

Peering into the room, the lights were on.

Well, the person doing the peering is not the lights, so that sentence doesn't work.

Instead we'd have to do this, peering into the room, she saw that the lights were on.

So this works because the person doing the peering, it's the same person as at the start of that main clause, the same person doing the main action.

So those two people must be the same person.

So which of these sentences uses a non-finite (-ing) clause correctly and why? Pause the video and have a think carefully.

Okay, let's have a look.

A says the elephant was occupying a lot of space in the room.

Well, we've said that a non-finite (-ing) clause must be paired with a main clause.

Well, this one doesn't work because the elephant was, is not a main clause.

So here was occupying, it's just the progressive tense.

It's not actually a separate clause and we also can see there's no comma there.

So we haven't separated that non-finite (-ing) clause correctly either.

B also doesn't work.

Let's read it.

Occupying a lot of space in the room I saw an elephant.

We've got occupying and I doing the two different parts of the sentence.

So I am not the person occupying a lot of space.

That's the elephant.

So the elephant should be the person coming after that comma.

So C does it right, occupying a lot of space in the room, an elephant lay on a pile of straw.

It's the same person doing the action in the main clause and in the non-finite (-ing) clause.

So we now know three different types of subordinate clause.

Let's recap them quickly.

We have an adverbial clause which might look like this one.

We stopped when we had gathered sufficient food.

So the adverbial clause is when we had gathered sufficient food.

And we know it's an adverbial clause because it starts with a subordinating conjunction.

And there are many more subordinating conjunctions, words like as, when, after, and lots of others.

We also now know a non-finite (-ing) clause.

And here's one in this sentence.

Mr. Martinez came over to my desk recognising that I needed help.

I know it's a non-finite (-ing) clause because it starts with that progressive tense ING verb, recognising.

And then we've got our relative clause.

For example, Andy who had made the suggestion looked proud.

I know that who had made the suggestions a relative clause because it starts with a relative pronoun.

And there are two we need to know for now, which are which and who.

So we can see that we can tell which type of subordinate clause we're looking at by looking at the word at the start.

Is it a subordinate in conjunction? Is it a progressive tense ING verb or is it a relative pronoun? So which type of subordinate clause is highlighted in each sentence? Is it an adverbial subordinate clause, a relative subordinate clause, or a non-finite (-ing) subordinate clause? Pause the video and have a careful look.

Okay, let's take a look together.

In A, I can see trying to persuade her is highlighted.

That starts with trying, which is a progressive tense verb.

So this is a non-finite (-ing) clause.

In B, I've got, because Sam was off sick.

Because could be a subordinate in conjunction so this is an adverbial clause.

Attaching a badge to my chest starts with attaching a progressive tense verb.

So this must be a non-finite (-ing) clause.

And then who recognised me immediately starts with who, a relative pronoun so this must be a relative clause.

Amazing work if you manage this spot all those.

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

I'm going to show you some sentences and the subordinate clause in each sentence is highlighted.

I want you to label the subordinate clause as a relative clause and an adverbial clause or a non-finite (-ing) clause.

And then I want you to label the main clause as well.

And remember, if the main clause is in two parts, like it might be where there's a relative clause interrupting it, label both of them.

Here are your sentences, pause the video and let's label those using the code I've given.

Okay, let's take a look at the sentences correctly labelled up.

In A, we have a main clause followed by a non finite clause.

Look at that word explaining.

In B, we've got a main clause interrupted by the relative clause, starting with that relative pronoun, which.

In C, we've got an adverbial clause followed by a main clause.

In D, we've got a main clause followed by a non finite clause with that queuing word there as our ING progressive tense word.

Then in E, I've got my main clause interrupted by a relative clause.

And in F, We've got a main clause followed by an adverbial clause and (indistinct) clause because it begins with that subordinating injunction.

Fantastic job if you've.

Fantastic job if you've labelled those correctly.

Okay, let's summarise our learning for this lesson.

We've learned that all clauses contain verbs and main clause make complete sense on their own, but subordinate clauses don't.

We've learned that all subordinate clauses must be joined to a main clause to make complete sense.

And we now know three types of subordinate clause: an adverbial clause, a relative clause and a non-finite (-ing) clause.

And they all start with different types of work.

And we've learned that different types of subordinate clause are useful when we're writing to ensure our writing flows for the reader.

We've done an amazing job in this lesson and I'd love to see you again in a future one.

Well done!.