Clauses and Verb Phrases

E. Siler

Definition of a Clause

• A structure that consists of a subject, a complete verb phrase, and all the material that follows the verb phrase (ex: objects, complements, etc.).

Definition of a Verb Phrase

• A complete verb phrases includes a main verb and all the correct auxiliaries (if needed). It is marked for tense and, where appropriate (in the present tense mostly), subject-verb agreement.

Examples of Complete Verb Phrases

• In these sentences the COMPLETE verb phrases are in BLUE. The incomplete ones are in RED.

– The number of Americans choosing to give up their citizenship has spiked dramatically this year as the government works to implement a new disclosure law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.

– Some of the rush may be caused by Americans hoping to avoid the new disclosure requirements.

– Others who live abroad say they are giving up their US passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.

– For expats, filing taxes in two countries often means wrestling with a huge mountain of paperwork.

(from CNN Money)

Clauses

• Every clause contains a complete verb phrase.

• Counting the complete verb phrases in a sentence will tell you how many clauses there are.

• A complete verb phrase is generally preceded by a subject and is often followed by other words that form the grammatical units we call objects, complements, and adverbial phrases.

Example

• The number of Americans choosing to give up their citizenship has spiked dramatically this year as the government works to implement a new disclosure law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.

• Clause #1:– Subject: The number of Americans choosing to give up

their citizenship – Complete verb phrase: has spiked – Material after verb phrase: dramatically this year as the

government works to implement a new disclosure law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.

Example

• The number of Americans choosing to give up their citizenship has spiked dramatically this year as the government works to implement a new disclosure law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.

• Clause #2: • Subject: The government• Complete Verb phrase: works• Material after verb phrase: to implement a new disclosure

law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.

More on Clauses

• Others who live abroad say they are giving up their US passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.

• Clause 1: who | live | abroad • Clause 2: Others who live abroad |say |they are giving up

their US passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.

• Clause 3: they | are giving up | their US passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.

• Clause 4: they | are | tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.

Clause Connectors• English has MANY different ways of connecting clauses. • Here is a list of SOME of the more common ways.

– Clauses can be connected by subordinators, which are words that show time/place/reason type relationships. These clauses are often called adverb clauses.

– Example: Others who live abroad |say |they are giving up their US passport because [they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes].

– Clauses can be connected by clause-connection words used after verbs. These words include such words as “that” and the question words (q-words): who, what, when, where, why, how. . . When they occur after verbs, these clauses are often called noun clauses.

– Example: Others who live abroad |say |(that) [they are giving up their US passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.]

– Clauses can be connected by clause relative words (that, who, which, why, etc.). When they occur next to nouns, they are called adjective clauses.

– Example: Others[ who live abroad] |say |(that) they are giving up their US passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated taxes.

Editing

• To edit your sentences, first find the complete verb phrases. Put a parentheses around each one.

• Then check to be sure that each verb phrase has a clear and obvious subject. Underline each one.

• Finally check your connectors. Mark each with brackets []. Does each connector have a full clause after it? Or did you maybe forget something?

Example

• Of the 27 quantitative studies [that] we (looked) at [that] (examined) a link between temperatures and modern conflict, all of them (found) [that] higher temperatures (were) associated with more violence.