Breading It Down - Clauses
Back to basics…
At their core…
…the majority of sentences you read can be
simplified:
a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE
(a noun)
(a verb)
For example: He runs.
At their core…
You may also have
a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE and an OBJECT
(a noun)
(a verb)
(a noun)
For example: He eats ice cream.
This is called an independent
“clause”
a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE
(a noun)
(a verb)
Take, for example, this long complex sentence:
In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a furry
fellow named James, wobbled weirdly
toward the billabong as
the monsoon zoomed through the
pale Australian sky, the winds whipping
the waves, the rain streaming down upon the
parched land like confetti, the light fading into
an ominous darkness.
But at it’s core, it’s a very simple clause:
The wombat wobbled.
In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a furry fello
w named James, wobbled weirdly toward the bill
abong as the monsoon zoomed through the pale
Australian sky, the winds whipping the waves, t
he rain streaming down upon the parched land l
ike confetti, the light fading into an ominous da
rkness.
To develop the sentence, the writer has added
details, phrases and dependent clauses
Add Adjectives and Adverbs
The wily wombat wobbled weirdly.
Add a Prepositional Phrase
In the wilderness, the wily wombat wobbled
weirdly toward the billabong.
Phrase: contains a subject OR a verb – but not both
Prepositions: in, through, over, above, in addition to,
toward, without, onto, below, near, between, etc.
Add an Appositive Phrase
In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a furry f
ellow unfortunately named James, wobbled
weirdly toward the billabong.
Appositive: noun (or noun phrase) that renames
another noun right beside of it. An appositive
gives more information about the noun.
Add a Subordinate Clause
In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a furry
fellow unfortunately named James, wobbled
weirdly toward the billabong as the monsoon
zoomed through the pale Australian sky.
Subordinating Conjunction: Joins two independent
clauses, one of which is subordinate to the other
Subordinators: because, as, as though, while, unless,
although, though, not only, by the time, when, even
though, etc.
Side note…
You can join two independent clauses with a subordinating
conjunction OR a coordinating conjunction:
She likes chocolate ice cream. She prefers vanilla cake.
Subordinating Conjunction:
Although she likes chocolate ice cream, she prefers vanilla
cake.
Coordinating Conjunction: F A N B O Y S
For And Nor But Or Yet So
She likes chocolate ice cream, but she prefers vanilla cake.
Why would you use one instead of the
other?
Subordinating Conjunction:
Although she likes chocolate ice cream, she
prefers vanilla cake.
Coordinating Conjunction: F A N B O Y S
She likes chocolate ice cream, but she prefers
vanilla cake.
Add three Absolute Phrases
In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a
furry fellow unfortunately named
James, wobbled weirdly toward the billabong as the
monsoon zoomed through the
pale Australian sky, the winds whipping the waves,
the rain streaming down upon the parched land like
confetti, the light fading into an ominous darkness.
Absolute Phrase: A phrase that add description to the
entire independent clause using a “participle” (a verb
ending in –ing or –ed)
More Absolute Phrase Examples
Legs quivering, our old dog Gizmo dreamed of chasing
squirrels.
Her arms folded across her chest, Professor Hill warned
the class about the penalties of plagiarism.
We devoured Aunt Lenora's carrot cake, our fingers scraping
the leftover frosting off the plates.
Absolute Phrase: A phrase that add description to the entire
independent clause using a “participle” (a verb ending in
–ing or –ed)
But at it’s core, it’s a very simple clause:
The wombat wobbled.
In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a furry fello
w named James, wobbled weirdly toward the bill
abong as the monsoon zoomed through the pale
Australian sky, the winds whipping the waves, t
he rain streaming down upon the parched land l
ike confetti, the light fading into an ominous da
rkness.
But… do I need to know this?
How does it help you to know
all of this?
Coordinating
Conjunctions
Adjectives
Appositive Phrases
Adverbs
Prepositional Phrases
Subordinating
Conjunctions
Your Task: Play with Your Syntax!
(Stop rhyming, I mean it! Anybody want a peanut?)
We already use many of these syntactical
structures in our writing. Often we use them
without directly thinking about the impact
they have on our writing.
After completing a draft, good writers
restructure their diction and syntax during the
editing process to enhance the effectiveness
of their writing.
Your Task: Play with Your Syntax!
(Stop rhyming, I mean it! Anybody want a peanut?)
Assignment #1:
Identify where you already use coordinating and subordinating
conjunctions to join independent clauses
a) Try using the other kind of conjunction (coordinator vs.
subordinator) to join the sentences.
b) Try making each independent clause its own sentence.
OR / AND
Identify places where you have simple sentences and join them
with other sentences using coordinating conjunctions and
subordinating conjunctions.