Grammar Terms: Clauses and Conjunctions
Use and understand Year 3 grammatical terminology accurately when discussing reading and writing: preposition, conjunction, word family, prefix, clause, subordinate clause, direct speech, consonant letter, vowel letter, inverted commas/speech marks
What a learner can do afterwards
- Use the terms 'clause' and 'subordinate clause' to identify parts of a multi-clause sentence (e.g., point to the subordinate clause in 'I stayed inside because it rained')
- Use the terms 'conjunction', 'preposition', and 'prefix' correctly when explaining word/sentence choices in own writing
- Distinguish between consonant letters and vowel letters and use the terms 'direct speech' and 'inverted commas' when discussing punctuation
1 · Read
A clause has a subject and a verb. Some sentences have two clauses joined by a small word called a conjunction, like 'because', 'when', or 'if'.
See this sentence: 'She stayed home because she was ill.' 'She stayed home' is the main clause. It makes sense on its own. 'because she was ill' is the subordinate clause. It cannot stand alone. 'because' is the conjunction.
Prepositions are small words that show where or when something happens, like 'under', 'before', or 'near'. A prefix is different: it's letters added to the front of a word to change its meaning, like 'un-' in front of 'happy'.
When you write someone's exact words, put inverted commas (speech marks) around them: "Where are you going?" asked Mia. And remember: a, e, i, o, u are vowel letters. Every other letter is a consonant letter.
Try 'Wash your hands when the bell rings.' 'Wash your hands' is the main clause. It gives a command, so the subject is an understood you. Flip it to 'When the bell rings, wash your hands.' The subordinate part can come first.
Clauses join with conjunctions, prefixes change meanings, and inverted commas mark out someone's exact words.
More to read
Linking clauses | Grammar guide
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
Some clauses can stand alone as a whole sentence. We call these independent clauses.
Other clauses cannot stand alone. They need to be joined to an independent clause to make sense. We call these subordinate clauses.
Look at this sentence: "I stayed inside because it rained."
The part "because it rained" is the subordinate clause. It cannot be its own sentence.
The part "I stayed inside" is the independent clause. It can stand alone just fine.
Subordinating conjunctions
A subordinating conjunction is a small joining word, like because, although, or when.
It joins a subordinate clause to an independent clause. A subordinating conjunction always starts the subordinate clause.
Look at this example: "I stayed inside because it rained."
Here, because starts the subordinate clause "because it rained."
Other subordinating conjunctions are words like since, if, unless, and while.
Coordinating conjunctions
A conjunction is a word that joins other words or parts of a sentence together.
Coordinating conjunctions join two words, phrases, or clauses that are equally important.
There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English. You can remember them with the word FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
For example: "I like apples and oranges." Here, and is the conjunction joining two words.
Commas in complex sentences
A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause.
Look at this example: "Although I love trading card games, keeping up with the newest cards can get expensive."
The part "Although I love trading card games" is the subordinate clause. It starts with the subordinating conjunction although.
The rest of the sentence, "keeping up with the newest cards can get expensive," is the independent clause.
When the subordinate clause comes first, we put a comma after it.
2 · Watch
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Optional connections
Where this leads
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