Tabla de Contenidos
A thorough way to study a language and how it works is by dividing it into smaller units or parts. Thus, instead of studying a whole paragraph, we divided the study into its component sentences. The sentences, in turn, can be formed by one or several clauses. That is, the clauses are a set of words that are grouped around a predicate.
Unlike the simple sentence, in which a subject and a predicate are needed, in the clause only the presence of the predicate is mandatory. The clause can appear alone, within a phrase, within another clause, or within a sentence.
Types of clauses
nominal clauses
These types of clauses fulfill the same function as a noun within a complex sentence. Let’s look at the following example:
- “I want my parents to buy me a video game.”
In this case the main clause is “I want” ; the subordinate clause (“my parents buy me a video game”) also has a conjugated verb and is linked to the main clause by the link “that” . We say that we are dealing with a nominal clause because the entire subordinate clause could be replaced by a single word, for example “this” or “that”: “I want that.”
adjective clauses
As its name indicates, the adjective clause fulfills, within a complex sentence, the same function as an adjective. We can see the following example:
- “I’m looking for a car that consumes little fuel.”
The clause “that consumes little fuel” is in this case a subordinate clause that is adding a quality to the car that our subject is looking for. You could say “I’m looking for a cheap car”, “I’m looking for a nice car”, “I’m looking for a new car”, etc. In those cases the adjective is directly present and there is no main clause and adjective subordinate clause. However, in the initial example or in the following ones, for example “I am looking for a car that has good features”, or “I am looking for a car that is wide”, we are in the presence of an adjective clause.
adverbial clause
Continuing with the previously described methodology, the adverbial clause then becomes a subordinate clause that fulfills the same function as an adverb within a compound sentence.
- “Luz will buy her plane ticket when she has money.”
In the above example, the adverbial subordinate clause, “when I have money”, is joined to the main clause by the conjunction “when”. Other conjunctions that can be used are: while, before, until, as soon as, in spite of, unless, unless, in case, as long as, provided that, because, how, since, etc.
References
More than a textbook. (s/f). Clauses and subjunctive. Available at: https://www.itsmorethanatextbook.com/books/book_1/book_sections/sec_39.php
Iguina, Z. and Dozier, E. (2013). Spanish grammar manual. Available at: https://books.google.co.ve/books?id=5WkWAAAAQBAJ&dq
