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UCI ExtensionPaper-Based TOEFL Workshop

Clauses, Subjects, and Verbs

Structure and Written Expression Skills 1-5Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test

Tutorial prepared by Marla Yoshida

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What is a clause?• A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb.

• Every sentence has at least one clause. Some have more.

• These sentences have one clause:

[Kittens are cute.]

[The students have been studying in the library.]

• These sentences have more than one clause:

[Kittens are cute,] [but spiders aren’t.] (2 clauses)

[The students [who have been studying] are tired] [because studying is hard work.] (3 clauses)

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Every clause needs a subject and a verb.• Some clauses have one subject and one verb:

[The library is full of books.]

• Some clauses have more than one subject:

[The library and the bookstore are full of books.]

[The students, the teachers, and everyone in the audience applauded.]

• Some clauses have more than one verb:

[Cats chase mice and take naps in the sunshine.]

[The students studied all night and then fell asleep in class.]

• All of these sentences have just one clause.

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The verb needs to match its subject.

• A singular subject needs a singular verb:

[The library is full of books.]

• A plural subject needs a plural verb:

[The libraries are full of books.]

• Sometimes singular and plural verbs are the same, for example, when the verb is in the past tense:

[The student studied.] [The students studied.]

• or when there’s a modal:

[The student must study.] [The students must study.]

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You need to be able to find the subject.• Sometimes it’s hard to tell which word is really the subject of

a clause. Other words can get in the way and make you think they’re the subject. The subject is not always the word just before the verb.

[The kitten is cute.]

[The kitten with big, green eyes is cute.]

[The kitten, my sister’s new pet, is cute.]

[The kitten sleeping in the kitchen is cute.]

• Kitten is still the subject, even though other words come between it and the verb.

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Be careful of objects of prepositions.• A preposition is a word that shows a relationship with a

noun, like in, at, with, under, or during. A preposition is followed by a noun. This noun is called the object of the preposition. The preposition and its object together are called a prepositional phrase.

[The windows (of that house) need to be repaired.]

[(In my opinion,) the price (of movie tickets)

is too expensive.]

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Be careful of objects of prepositions.• An object of a preposition cannot be the subject of a clause.

The subject of the first sentence is windows (not house), so the verb is plural. The subject of the second sentence is price (not tickets), so the verb is singular.

[The windows (of that house) need to be repaired.]

[(In my opinion,) the price (of movie tickets)

is too expensive.]

plural plural

singular singular

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Be careful of appositives.• An appositive is a noun that comes before or after another

noun and has the same meaning. It gives more information about the noun.

[The teacher, (Mr. Smith,) forgot to grade the tests.]

[(A quick learner,) Mary memorized all the irregular verbs in ten minutes.]

appositive (Mr. Smith = the teacher)

appositive (A quick learner = Mary)

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Be careful of appositives.

• An appositive usually has commas around it.

• An appositive is not the subject of the sentence. The noun that the appositive describes is the subject.

[The teacher, (Mr. Smith,) forgot to grade the tests.]

[(A quick learner,) Mary memorized all the irregular verbs in ten minutes.]

subject

subject

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You need to be able to find the main verb.• Main verbs can have many forms: Different tenses, active

or passive forms, modals followed by a verb, etc.

[The teacher grades tests every day.]

[The teacher is grading tests now.]

[The teacher has graded 35 tests so far.]

[The teacher has been grading tests for five hours.]

[The teacher will be grading tests until midnight.]

[The teacher must grade lots of tests.]

[The tests have all been graded.]

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Be careful of present participles.• Sometimes it’s hard to tell which word is the main verb. You

might find a word that looks like a verb, but it’s really being used as another part of speech).

• Present participles (the -ing form): If a present participle has a form of the verb be before it, it’s really a verb. It’s one of the progressive tenses. (be + ing = progressive)

[The children are playing soccer.]

[The teacher was grading tests.]

[The students have been sleeping during class.]

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Be careful of present participles.• The present participles in these sentences don’t have a

form of be in front of them. They’re not the main verb of the clause. They’re being used as adjectives to describe nouns.

[The children playing soccer are noisy.]

[The teachers grading tests in the office are tired.]

[The sleeping students are not learning anything.]

(But this is really a verb!)

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Be careful of present participles.• These present participles are also not the main verb of the

clause. They’re being used as nouns. When an -ing form is used as a noun, we call it a gerund.

[Playing soccer is good exercise.]

[The teachers enjoy grading tests.]

[Reading a book is easier than writing one.]

gerunds

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Be careful of past participles.• Past participles: If a past participle has a form of the verb

have before it, it is really a verb. It’s one of the perfect tenses. (have + past participle = perfect)

[Chris has played the piano for ten years.]

[We had eaten] [before we went to school.]

[The students have been sleeping during class.]

form of “have”

past participle

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Be careful of past participles.• Did you notice that this same sentence was used as an

example twice?

[The students have been sleeping during class.]

• That’s because it has both have + past participle and be + ing. It’s the present perfect progressive tense.

Isn’t that cool?

be+inghave + pp

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Be careful of past participles.• Past participles can also be used in another way. If a past

participle has a form of the verb be before it, it is also really a verb. It’s a passive verb form. (be + past participle = passive)

[The house was destroyed by a fire.]

[We discovered ] [that our car had been stolen.]

[Someday my garden will be filled with flowers.]

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Be careful of past participles.• The past participles in these sentences don’t have a form of

be or have before them. They’re not the main verb. They’re being used as adjectives to describe nouns.

[Soccer is a game played by millions of people.]

[I want a garden filled with flowers.]

[The broken window needs to be fixed.]

[Our stolen car has been found by the police.]

(But this is really a verb!)

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Summary

In this section, you have learned about these things:

• Every clause needs a subject and a verb.

• The verb needs to match its subject.

• You need to be able to find the subject of a clause.

• You need to be able to find the main verb of a clause.