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8. Finite Subordinate Clauses
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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Introduction There are two important things that you need to know about how to put sentences together grammatically in English: (a) How to put a clause together (this was the point of Unit 7). (b) How to join two or more clauses together to form longer and more complex sentences. A main clause (or independent clause) is one which is capable of standing alone as a sentence, and if you can do (a) properly, then you can write simple sentences properly. (But be warned that ‘simple sentences’ may not be all that simple!) In Units 8 and 9, we’ll focus on how to do (b). At the end of Unit 7, we mentioned that we can join two (or more) main clauses together with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but) to form a larger sentence, as in: 1. I opened the door and (I) let him in. [NB: The subject ‘I’ of the second clause is omitted because it is identical to the subject of the first clause.] 2. I warned him about drunk driving but he would not listen to me. Such sentences are called compound sentences. Notice that each of the main clauses in a compound sentence is capable of standing on its own as a simple (but complete) sentence: 2a. I warned him about drunk driving. 2b. He would not listen to me. If all English sentences were simple sentences (consisting of one clause only), or compound sentences (formed by joining two or more main clauses together with a conjunction), it 8 Finite Subordinate Clauses 118 Understanding English Grammar would be so much easier to learn how to construct sentences in English! But are the majority of English sentences in fact that simple? QUESTION 1 Analyse the sentences in the following text. Underline those sentences which are neither ‘simple sentences’ nor ‘compound sentences’. The atrocity is above and beyond politics and partisanship. It would not have made any difference if the crime had been committed in reverse — if American terrorists had hijacked Afghan or Iraqi civilian planes and deliberately crashed them into the commercial centre of Kabul or Bagdad with the sole purpose of killing as many innocent civilians as possible. No matter what the cause may be, no matter which side of the conflict is right or wrong, nothing on earth could possibly justify or explain so heinous a crime against humanity. No civilized human being, of whatever persuasion (pro-American, anti-American, Christian, Muslim) would hesitate to condemn it in the strongest possible terms, and to demand that something be done against the perpetrators (whoever they may be). Those who could see something to cheer about at the sight of thousands of innocent people being blown to pieces or burning or leaping to their deaths had better look into their hearts, and ask themselves whether they are really human. You will find that most of the sentences in the above text (and in most other texts) consist of more than one clause, and that most of these clauses are not main clauses but ‘subordinate clauses’. Subordinate Clauses What is a ‘subordinate clause’? Let’s think of a tree: it has a trunk, and several branches. If you cut away all the branches, you are still left with a tree, and it can still grow. But if you cut away the trunk, all the branches will fall and die, because they all depend on the tree trunk. Now look at a simple sentence, which consists of one single clause: 1. He was very naughty. You can compare it to a ‘trunk’. To this ‘trunk’ or ‘main clause’, you can attach other clauses, like ‘branches’: 2. When he was a little boy, he was very naughty. [3.239.59.193] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 05:43 GMT) Finite Subordinate Clauses 119 3. He was very naughty because his parents never taught him how to behave. 4. He was very naughty even though his teacher threatened to punish him. The underlined clauses above are like ‘branches’ which cannot stand on their own away from the ‘trunk’ or main clause: 5. * When he was a little boy. 6. * Because his parents never taught him how to behave. 7. * Even though his teacher threatened to punish him. For this reason, we call these clauses ‘subordinate’(or ‘dependent’) clauses. There is another reason: they tell you something more about the main clause, such as the time, place, reason, manner, circumstances, and so on. So, both in terms of grammar...