Subordinate Clauses

Understanding Subordinate Clauses and Their Varieties

A complex sentence, by definition, consists of one independent (main) clause and at least one dependent (subordinate) clause. A subordinate clause, also known as a dependent clause, is a group of words that has both a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. It relies on a main clause (independent clause) to provide a complete thought. Subordinate clauses can be categorized into three main types based on their grammatical function within a sentence: noun clauses, adverb clauses, and adjective clauses. Each type serves a different purpose and modifies or complements the main clause in distinct ways.     Noun Clauses: A noun clause is a group of words that functions as a noun within a sentence. It can serve as the subject, object, or complement of the main clause. Example: What she said is important(subject). I don't know what to do (object). The fact that he succeeded is amazing (complement).     Adverb Clauses: An adverb clause is a group of words that functions as an adverb within a sentence. It typically provides information about the time, place, manner, reason, condition, or degree of the action in the main clause. Example: While I was studying, my friends were playing outside (time). She sings as if she were an angel (manner). Because it was raining, we stayed indoors (reason).     Adjective Clauses (Relative Clauses): An adjective clause is a group of words that functions as an adjective within a sentence. It provides additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause. Example: The book that I borrowed from the library is fascinating (modifying the noun book). The person who helped me is my neighbor (modifying the noun).             Finite Subordinate clauses: A main clause, or independent clause, is finite. In grammar, a finite clause is one that has a subject and a finite verb. A finite verb is a verb that is inflected for person and tense and typically indicates a completed action or state.   A subordinate clause can also be finite. A finite subordinate clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a finite verb but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. The finite verb in a subordinate clause is inflected for person and tense, just like in a main clause.       Here are examples of finite subordinate clauses:   Adverbial Finite Subordinate Clause (Time): After the rain stopped, we went for a walk.     Adjectival Finite Subordinate Clause (Relative Clause): The woman who lives next door is a doctor.     Nominal Finite Subordinate Clause (Subject): What you said surprised everyone.     Adverbial Finite Subordinate Clause (Reason): Because she studied hard, she passed the exam.     Adjectival Finite Subordinate Clause (Conditional): If you finish your homework, you can go out.     Nominal Finite Subordinate Clause (Direct Object): I believe that honesty is the best policy.             Non-Finite Subordinate clauses: Subordinate clauses, nevertheless, can be Non-finite. Non-finite subordinate clauses are characterized by the absence of a finite verb. A finite verb is a verb that is inflected for person and tense and is typically found in main clauses, marking agreement with the subject and providing information about when the action occurs. Non-finite verbs, on the other hand, lack this inflection for person and tense. Let's explore why the verb in non-finite subordinate clauses is referred to as such:   No Marking of Agreement and Tense: In non-finite subordinate clauses, the verb remains in its base or root form (infinitive, gerund, or participle) and does not change to reflect the person or number of the subject. It does not carry information about when the action takes place. For example: She wants to visit the museum. (Infinitive, non-finite) She visits the museum. (Finite)     Cannot Be Modal Auxiliary: Non-finite verbs cannot function as modal auxiliary verbs. Modal auxiliary verbs (such as can, could, will, would) are used with the base form of a main verb to express modality, possibility, necessity, etc. Non-finite verbs do not have the same modal properties. For example: She can visit the museum. (Finite) She wants to visit the museum. (Non-finite)     Subject Is Not in Subject Case: In non-finite subordinate clauses, the subject of the clause, if present, is often in the objective case or implied, and it does not affect the form of the non-finite verb. For example: I saw him running in the park. (Objective case) She heard them singing in the choir. (Implied subject )                    Nonfinite Subordinate clauses Types : There are several types of nonfinite subordinate clauses, including infinitives, gerunds, participles, and verbless clauses.   Infinitives: Infinitive clauses often function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs within a sentence, serve as the direct object of the verb.   She brought a gift for him to open. They worked hard for the team to succeed. They gathered resources to build a shelter. She bought ingredients to bake a cake. They helped him leave. (bare Infinitive)         Participles: Participial clauses function as adjectives, providing additional information about a noun.   The children, playing in the park, laughed joyfully. The stormy weather, frightening the animals, forced them into hiding. The story, written by a famous author, captivated the readers. The exhausted hiker reached the summit, guided by an experienced mountaineer.         Gerunds: Gerund clauses function as nouns, often serving as subjects, objects, or objects of prepositions. Gerund clauses, being a type of non-finite subordinate clause, can sometimes have the subject omitted, especially when it is the same as the subject of the main clause. Here are examples: He's not very good at remembering names. She wrote an essay about exploring ancient civilizations. I was surprised at finding my lost keys. I was surprised at learning about the sudden change in plans. They asked him about joining the upcoming project team.         Verbless Clauses: Verbless clauses, as the name suggests, lack a finite verb. Instead, they often start with a present or past participle, an infinitive, or a prepositional phrase. These clauses can function as adverbials, providing information about time, manner, or condition.   Examples: Born in Paris, she developed a love for art. Without hesitation, he jumped into the water. His passion for painting evident, he spent hours in the studio. With a smile on her face, she accepted the award.                   Subordinate Clauses Complex Sentences Compound Sentences Imperative Sentences Subject Pronoun/ “One” and “They” as subject meaning About Phonetics Read the full article

I always feel like

All gerunds end in G

in English you see

(oh oh oh)

How Gerunds can be Action's Kryptonite #amwriting

How Gerunds can be Action’s Kryptonite #amwriting

Today’s post focuses on word choice. I’ve just finished reading a mystery novel, and while I enjoyed the plot and the characters, the editor in my soul says I can’t recommend it. Therefore, I will not name the book or the author. This novel was meticulously self-edited. I could see it was run through the author’s writer’s group many times, and the major flaws were ironed out. There were few…

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was looking at the watcher store again and noticed this puppet university has a latin motto on it, "disce aut pereant". this means, of course, Learn Or Perish. my university latin classes Did prepare me for this day :)

was clearing out my phone's gallery and once again realized how much art i never posted here, so here's a stijn strongbody!

[ID: a digital line drawing of Stijn Strongbody, a middle aged Japanese man with four sheep's horns, and, barely visible before the canvas cuts off, four arms. he holds a pencil in one hand as he looks off to one side with a good-natured, contemplative expression.]

Assorted blaseball players as text posts, part 4! Art by HetreaSky!

Bonus Fall Ball: 

the sun stares back

demon!ford and human!bill au where ford is summoned by sheer spite is immensely funny to me. like. bill's studying the phenomena of weirdness in gfalls and reads the incantation in the cave when he hits a roadblock. nothing happens. so he goes back home to maybe try and categorize the dumpster fire of loose papers on his desk into something geographically approximate to a thesis, and he's not even two sentences into drafting—"The chances of the cloak flipping back off when inconvenient are more smaller when in the enchanted forest"— when someone sits in the armchair across the room.

"Much."

"What?!"

"It's much smaller." The being crosses their legs and adjusts their glasses. "Comparatives, kid."

Parallelism in English Grammar

Crafting Balanced sentences-Parallelism

  In English grammar, the phenomenon where similar or parallel elements within a sentence are presented with a balanced and harmonious structure is called parallelism. It involves using the same grammatical form or structure for items in a list, a series, or a comparison to enhance clarity, coherence, and overall readability. Parallelism is often achieved through the use of coordinating conjunctions and correlative conjunctions, as well as by ensuring consistent grammatical structures for the elements involved. Parallelism is a key concept when it comes to balancing elements in a sentence, especially with regard to nouns, verbs, and other grammatical structures.     Nouns: The conference covered topics such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics. Explanation: In this sentence, the parallel nouns artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics share a similar structure, contributing to the balanced construction of the sentence.     Verbs: He likes to run, jump, and play. Explanation: The verbs run, jump, and play are parallel in structure.     Adjectives: The room was cozy, warm, and inviting. Explanation: The parallel adjectives cozy, warm, and inviting have a consistent structure, describing the room in a harmonious way.     Adverbs: She completed the task quickly, efficiently, and accurately. Explanation: The adverbs quickly, efficiently, and accurately are parallel, describing how she completed the task.     Prepositional Phrases: He excels in leadership, in teamwork, and in problem-solving. Explanation: The prepositional phrases in leadership, in teamwork, and in problem-solving are parallel, highlighting areas of excellence.     Parallel Gerunds: They enjoy swimming, hiking, and biking. Explanation: The parallel gerunds swimming, hiking, and biking maintain a consistent structure within the sentence.     Parallel Infinitives: She decided to read, to study, and to relax. Explanation: The parallel infinitives to read, to study, and to relax share a similar structure, contributing to the overall parallelism of the sentence.     Parallel Adverbs: She spoke confidently, clearly, and persuasively. Explanation: The parallel adverbs confidently, clearly, and persuasively maintain a consistent structure, describing how she spoke.     Parallel Clauses in a Sentence: Parallelism is also crucial when dealing with clauses in a sentence. Clauses are groups of words that contain both a subject and a predicate. Here are examples of parallelism with clauses:   Independent Clauses: She enjoys hiking in the mountains, swimming in the ocean, and reading by the fireplace. In this case, the independent clauses hiking in the mountains, swimming in the ocean, and reading by the fireplace are parallel, contributing to a balanced list of activities.     Dependent Clauses: Because she wanted to succeed, Mary devoted extra hours to studying, sought help from tutors, and collaborated with classmates on challenging assignments. In this sentence, the parallel dependent clauses: Mary devoted extra hours to studying, she sought help from tutors, she collaborated with classmates on challenging assignments. They share a similar structure and contribute to the parallelism in the sentence.       Adjective Clauses: The student who is diligent, who is responsible, and who is motivated will excel in any class. The adjective clauses who is diligent, who is responsible, and who is motivated are parallel, describing qualities of the student.       Adverbial Clauses: She completed the assignment as quickly as possible, as efficiently as possible, and as accurately as possible. The adverbial clauses as quickly as possible, as efficiently as possible, and as accurately as possible are parallel, describing how she completed the assignment.        

The Art of Using Conjunctions to Create Harmony in Sentences:

Coordinating conjunctions and correlative conjunctions play a significant role in achieving parallelism in sentences. Let's delve a bit deeper into how these conjunctions contribute to maintaining parallel structure:   Coordinating Conjunctions (e.g., and, or, but, nor, for, so, yet): Example: She likes to hike, swim, and read. The coordinating conjunction and helps connect and coordinate the parallel elements hike, swim, and read in the sentence.    Example: He can either run or cycle to work. The coordinating conjunction or connects and coordinates the parallel actions run and cycle.       Correlative Conjunctions (e.g., both...and, either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also): Example: Both the cat and the dog enjoy the sunny weather. The correlative conjunction both...and pairs and coordinates the parallel subjects the cat and the dog.   Example: She is not only diligent but also resourceful. The correlative conjunction not only...but also pairs and coordinates the parallel adjectives diligent and resourceful.   By using coordinating conjunctions, you can connect elements of the same type in a sentence, creating a sense of balance and parallelism. Correlative conjunctions, on the other hand, work in pairs to emphasize and coordinate parallel elements. These conjunctions are crucial tools for writers seeking to maintain a consistent and harmonious structure in their sentences.                   Parallelism in English Grammar What is Adverbial Modifier of a Sentence What is the Attribute of a Sentence? What is The Object of a Sentence? Subject-Verb Agreement in English Read the full article

learning a language is so funny bc you’ll pick up these totally calcified terms as part of a beginner course and then realize years later, oh, duh, Übung is just the gerund of üben…

only two things are beasts. animals and my girlfriend

Hey there! I’m using duolingo, and it has started giving me phrases to translate like “are you talking with Renato today?” But it hasn’t told me how to decide if I should use habla/Hablas, or hablando. So far, I’ve gotten alost all of them wrong, using one or the other, just guessing each time.

So my question is when should you use “verbs ending in ing, in spanish?

The gerund/progressive forms [the -ing forms] in Spanish show up with -ando, -iendo, sometimes -yendo (depending on the verb)

There are two minor things first:

The present tense would be fine for expressing this. Present tense is used for regular declarative statements that read more like talking about someone's general habits or more static/non-continuous actions hablas ["you speak"], as well as present continuous hablas ["you are speaking"]

The gerund forms [the -ando, -iendo, -yendo] can show up by themselves in some cases, but they often show up with estar or a verb of motion/continuation like ir, andar, seguir, continuar etc.

I'd also mention that whether you use habla or hablas depends on if you're using formal or informal "you", so habla could be usted "talks / is talking" depending how formal you're being

-

Basically though:

¿Hablas con Renato? = Are you talking to Renato? [continuous] / Do you talk to Renato? [plain present tense] ¿Estás hablando con Renato? = Are you talking to Renato? [progressive; implied "at this moment" or "continuously"]

Present tense by itself can be used for progressive/continuous

And generally you're not going to see gerund by itself unless it's part of a narrative structure [like: es la anfitriona perfecta, hablando con todos los invitados "she's the perfect hostess, speaking with all the guests", or something like that]

I doubt Duo would spring hablando on you without wanting you to use estar or something:

estás hablando con la gente = you're talking to people andas hablando con la gente = you go around talking to people sigues hablando con la gente = you keep talking to people

That's the general way you use gerund forms... and you can use them in any tense as long as the verb is conjugated; estaba hablando "he/she was talking", or estaré hablando "I will be talking" [future tense], estarían hablando "they might/could be talking" [conditional tense]

You can even see them in multiple verb constructs: voy a estar hablando con Renato luego "I will be talking to Renato later"

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion, but let me know if there's still something you're unsure of. Or you can post the Duolingo prompts/questions and I'll explain what I would pick

Gotta be real, I’m tired of reading Brazilian portuguese when the character is supposed to be Portuguese! From PORTUGAL! It’s like you guys having an american unironically saying “Bloody hell, Katherine fucked up my kettle and my brolly in the same night! It’s all gone pear-shaped! My mum is going to kill me when she sees the state of this flat.” - Yes, this is about Avatrice, if you wanna make Ava portuguese, make her speak like a fucking portuguese person; there are like a couple billions of us online is not hard to ASK Also Beatice is BRITISH, why does she not say shit like FLAT?? Trousers??  Rubbish??

- No hate to my brazilian friends, it’s just SO easy to make her brazilian and not portuguese and not make me have an aneurysm 

bitches have official certificates stating they have a level C2 proficiency in the english language and bitches will still start convos going "ugh word hard :((( man hot wet"