Question

How to identify a Clause?

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Answered by GPT 3.5
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can either be a complete thought (independent clause) or an incomplete thought (dependent clause). To identify a clause, you can follow these steps:

1. Look for a subject: A subject is a noun or pronoun that performs the action in a sentence. It tells us who or what the sentence is about. Examples of subjects include "I," "he," "the dog," or "Mary."

2. Look for a verb: A verb is a word that expresses an action or state of being. It shows what the subject is doing or being. Examples of verbs include "run," "eat," "is," or "was."

3. Determine if it is a complete thought: If the group of words contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought on its own, it is an independent clause. For example, "I went to the store" is an independent clause because it has both a subject ("I") and a verb ("went"), and it forms a complete thought.

4. Identify dependent clauses: If the group of words contains a subject and a verb but does not form a complete thought on its own, it is a dependent clause. Dependent clauses rely on independent clauses to complete their meaning. For example, "When I went to the store" is a dependent clause because it has a subject ("I") and a verb ("went") but does not form a complete thought. It depends on an independent clause to make sense.

By following these steps and looking for the presence of a subject, verb, and completeness of thought, you can easily identify clauses in a sentence.

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