New
New
Year 3

Adverbial complex sentences

You can understand that a complex sentence is formed of at least one main clause and any type of subordinate clause.

New
New
Year 3

Adverbial complex sentences

You can understand that a complex sentence is formed of at least one main clause and any type of subordinate clause.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A word that joins a second idea to a main clause in an adverbial complex sentence is called a subordinating conjunction.
  2. A subordinating conjunction is the word that starts an adverbial clause.
  3. A subordinate clause is a group of words that contains a verb and does not make complete sense.
  4. An adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause.
  5. A main clause joined with any subordinate clause forms a complex sentence.

Keywords

  • Subordinating conjunction - a word that starts an adverbial clause

  • Subordinate clause - a group of words that contains a verb and does not make complete sense

  • Adverbial clause - a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction

  • Main clause - a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense

  • Complex sentence - a sentence formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause

Common misconception

Pupils do not recognise that an adverbial clause is one type of subordinate clause.

"Subordinate clause" is an umbrella term. Any subordinate clause is a group of words that contains a verb and does not make complete sense.

Explain that adverbial clauses are the most frequently used subordinate clauses in English. Remind pupils that there are more subordinate clauses that they will learn in future year groups.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a main clause?
a sentence starter followed by a comma
a group of letters
a word that joins
Correct answer: a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense
Q2.
Fill in the gap: a main clause __________ makes sense by itself.
sometimes
never
Correct answer: always
Q3.
Fill in the gap: any conjunction is a word that __________.
Correct answer: joins
contracts
expresses surprise
Q4.
Fill in the gap: a main clause is a group of words that contains a verb and makes sense.
Correct Answer: complete, total, full, correct, Complete
Q5.
Which two co-ordinating conjunctions need commas before them in a compound sentence?
and or
Correct answer: but or
and but
Q6.
Fill in the gap: a sentence formed of at least two main clauses joined with a co-ordinating conjunction is called a __________ sentence.
complex
Correct answer: compound
simple

6 Questions

Q1.
What is a subordinate clause?
a group of words with no verb
Correct answer: a group of words that contains a verb and does not make complete sense
a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense
a group of letters
Q2.
Fill in the gap: a subordinating conjunction is a word that __________ an adverbial clause.
Correct answer: starts
ends
breaks
Q3.
Fill in the gap: an adverbial clause is a type of __________ clause.
main
simple
Correct answer: subordinate
Q4.
What type of sentence is formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause?
simple
compound
Correct answer: complex
Q5.
What is one feature of a subordinate clause that is the same as a main clause?
Correct answer: it is a group of words that contains a verb
it makes complete sense
it can form a simple sentence by itself
Q6.
Which of these pairs of words are subordinating conjunctions?
and but
I me
you they
Correct answer: when because