Clauses

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Clause (वाक्यांश) is the small grammatical unit in a sentence which is formed from arrangement of related words. It contains subject (उदेश्य) and predicate (विधेय).

Subject: a person or a thing we talk about

Predicate: anything that is said about that person or thing. Predicate always have verb.

 Types of Clauses:

Based on nature of verb, clause is of two types: non-finite clause and finite clause.

·         Non-finite clause: Clause based on infinite verb is called non-finite clause. E.g.

The plane having crashed, all passengers died.

In the sentence above 'having crashed' is non-finite verb as it cannot complete the sentence. So 'The plane having crashed' is non-finite clause. 'All passengers died' is not a non-finite clause as the verb 'died' completes the sentence.

·         Finite Clause: Clause based on finite verb is called finite clause. A complete sentence always have finite verb. E.g.

The plane having crashed, all passengers died.

'All passengers died' is a finite clause because it contains finite verb 'died'.

Finite Clause:

As stated above, a clause based on finite verb is called finite clause. It has two types: independent clause and dependent clause.

Independent clause (main clause):

That finite clause which contains subject and predicate, itself becomes a simple sentence (साधारण वाक्य) or a part of multi-clause sentence (संयुक्त वाक्य). In other way it doesn't require any other related words to express complete thought. E.g.

The plane having crashed, all passengers died.

Here 'all passengers died' is an independent clause as it is a complete thought. In simpler way if you say someone that 'all passengers died' then the listener understands as a complete thought. But if you say 'The plane having crashed' then the listener will not understand what you mean so it's not an independent clause.

Dependent clause (Subordinate clause):

A clause which cannot stand as complete itself and needs other clause to become complete sentence is called dependent clause. E.g.

The plane having crashed, all passengers died.

Here 'The plane having crashed' is a dependent clause as it requires another clause 'all passengers died' to be complete sentence.

Dependent clause is also of three types: Adjective (relative) clause, Noun clause and Adverb clause.

Adjective (Adjectival or Relative) clause:

A dependent clause which behaves like an adjective is called adjective clause.  Remember that an adjective is a word which modifies (elaborates) noun or pronoun.  An adjectival clause have any of the words among whose / whom / who / that/ which. E.g.

The place where I live is my hometown.

The clause 'where I live' modifies the noun 'place' as 'hometown' so it’s an adjective clause.

Noun (Nominal) clause:

A dependent clause which behaves like a noun is called adjective clause. A nominal clause have any word among if / whether / that / what / who / whom.  E.g.

I can predict what happens next.

The clause 'what happens next' is a noun clause used as an object. To anticipate this let's rewrite the sentence as: I can predict … Now what we expect in place of … is object (noun). Sometimes adjectival clauses and nominal clauses may be hard to distinguish. We can eliminate adjectival clause from sentence but nominal clauses cannot be removed. This property helps to identify them.

Adverb (Adverbial) clause:

A dependent clause which behaves like an adverb is called adjective clause. Remember that adverb is a word that modifies the verb, adverb or adjective clause. An adverbial clause have any world among before / because / while / where / when / that / though / although / after / since / if/ as / until / unless / till. E.g.

The cold remains until the winter season continues.

Here the clause 'until the winter season continues' is adverb clause. To anticipate this let's rewrite the sentence as: The cold remains … Now what we expect in place of … is a clause that addresses the verb 'remains'.

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Parallel Structures & Parallelism

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Different parts of a same sentence having the same grammatical construction are called parallel structures. And the process of maintaining parallel structure in a sentence is called parallelism.

If the phrases, linking words, sentences and clauses in a sentence performing the same functions are lacking same grammatical composition then it is called faulty parallelism.

When to apply parallelism?

In the parallel structure the following items should match with the first item. The first item can be a phrase, linking word, sentence or clause.

·         While connecting two or more phrases, linking words, sentences and clauses in a sentence using coordinating conjunctions. E.g.

Faulty parallelism: I love to dance and swimming.

True parallelism: I love to dance and swim.

True parallelism: I love dancing and swimming.

(Some coordinating conjunctions are and, but, for, nor, so, yet etc.)

·         While connecting two or more phrases, linking words, sentences and clauses in a sentence using correlative conjunctions. E.g.

Faulty parallelism: Shankar not only loves to sing, but also dance.

True parallelism: Shankar not only loves to sing, but also to dance.

True parallelism: Shankar not only loves singing, but also dancing.

(Some correlative conjunctions are either … or, neither … nor, if … then, not only … but also etc.)

·         While comparing two or more phrases, linking words, sentences and clauses in a sentence. E.g.

Faulty parallelism: I love to watch cinema than playing guitar.

True parallelism: I love to watch cinema than to play a guitar.

True parallelism: I love watching cinema than playing a guitar.

·         While listing comparable items. E.g.

Faulty parallelism: Minakshi likes to dance, eating a lot and to travel.

True parallelism: Minakshi likes to dance, to eat a lot and to travel.

True parallelism: Minakshi likes dancing, eating a lot and travelling.

How to correct faulty parallelism in a sentence?

·         Maintaining uniformity in Tense:

Faulty parallelism: He is a writer, sings songs and has played football.

True parallelism: He is a writer, singer and football player.

True parallelism: He is a writer and singer. He has played football also.

(To break parallel structure without any valid reason is wrong. Tips about 'when to break parallel structure' is included at the end of this page.)

·         Maintaining uniformity in voice (active & passive)

Faulty parallelism: This dish is prepared by my mother and she decorated the kitchen also.

True parallelism: My mother prepared this dish and decorated the kitchen.

True parallelism: This dish is prepared by my mother and the kitchen is also decorated by her.

·         Using similar type of verbals:

Faulty parallelism: The purpose of schooling is not reading only but to improve own life also.

True parallelism: The purpose of schooling is not to read only but to improve own life also.

True parallelism: The purpose of schooling is not reading only but improving own life also.

(Verbals are the words derived from, or having the nature of a verb. They include 'to + verb', 'verb + ing', 'verb + en', 'verb + ed' etc.)

·         Non mixing of verbals with nominals:

Faulty parallelism: Company declared participating in conference and the promotion of company's agenda gives the best output.

True parallelism: Company declared participating in conference and promoting company's agenda gives the best output.

(Nominals are the verbs of or relating to a noun or clause that functions as a noun. They include 'verb + ance', 'verb + ence', 'verb + ion', 'verb +ment' etc. E.g. depend => dependence, move => movement)

·         Maintaining equal level of generality:

Faulty parallelism: David is from Australia, Ermest is from Italy and Mohan is from Kathmandu.

True parallelism: David is from Australia, Ermest is from Italy and Mohan is from Nepal.

True parallelism: David is from Australia and Ermest is from Italy. Mohan is from Kathmandu.

·         Separating unrelated meanings:

Faulty parallelism: Dolphins are loving, kind hearted, honest and big animals.

True parallelism: Dolphins are loving, kind hearted and honest animals. Also they are big.

(Loving, kind hearted and honest represent their nature. Big is their physical attribute.)

·         Proper use of prepositions:

If all the items in a sentence do not share a common preposition then preposition must be repeated for each items.

Faulty parallelism: I searched my watch on the table, the bed and inside the cupboard.

True parallelism: I searched my watch on the table, on the bed and inside the cupboard.

When to break parallel structure?

Simple reasons:

These are the reasons to be applied to make a sentence correct.

• To relate to verb tense
• To separate contrasting noun forms

Specific reasons:

In the following cases, sentence remains correct even not applying parallelism though.

If one event interrupts the other. 
E.g.: Plane was landing, but crashed.

 If events take place in different time i.e. past, present and future. 
E.g. The orange tree was planted 2 years ago, is fruiting at present, and will die someday.

Use of singular and plural form to distinguish two kind of verbs. 
E.g. We have two daughters, not a son.

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Tense Aspect

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	Present	Past	Future
Simple	Sub + V1 / V5 + Obj	Sub + V2 + Obj	Sub + shall / will + V1 + Obj
Continuous	Sub + is / am /are + V4 + Obj	Sub + was / were + V4 + Obj	Sub + shall / will + be + V4 + Obj
Perfect	Sub + has / have + V3  + Obj	Sub + had + V3  + Obj	Sub + shall / will +have + V3 + Obj
Perfect Continuous	Sub + has been / have been + V4 + Obj	Sub + had been + V4 + Obj	Sub + shall / will + have been + V4 + Obj

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Future Tense

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 Simple Future Tense

Use of simple future	Example
To express the action likely to happen in the future	It will rain.
With time adverbials: soon, tomorrow, next, tonight	Soon I will become a father.
With 'next + time (second / minute / hour / day / week / month / year etc.)'	Snowfall will happen next time.
With 'I + think / know / suppose / expect / believe etc.'	I think my mum will come soon.
With 'Probably …, Perhaps …, May be …, In few months …, In the future …, Shortly … etc.'	Probably there will be no class.
In opinion or experience based predictions	The exam will held in January.
To promise to do something	I will pay the bill tomorrow.

Future Continuous Tense

Use of future continuous	Example
To express the action that will continue for period of time in the future	I will be swimming at this time tomorrow.
To express future action which is a part of normal repeated or regular action	Will you be going to school tomorrow morning?
To express arranged activities in the future	We will be heading towards Nepal the day after tomorrow morning.
To tell about intentions and plans	The will be climbing Mt. Everest.
To express unwillingness	Will you be walking with us tomorrow also?

Future Perfect Tense

Use of future perfect tense	Example
To express the action to be completed before another action or period of time in future	I will have joined the service before Dashain.
With 'by / before + point of time', 'in + period of time'	By Saturday, they will have visited the Nepal.
To express expected future action after simple present tense	By the time the door closes, students will have left the building.
To express our belief or imagination going to occur now	She will have divorced with her husband today.

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Use of future perfect continuous	Example
To express the action that will continue for some time and will end in future. It generally comes with 'by + time' , 'for + period of time'	By this February I will have been joining the new college.
To emphasize the duration of future action	Next April, she will have been handling the institution for ten years.

Going to Future

Sub + is / am / are + going to + V1

Use of going to future	Example
To predict about the action on which we have no control	Barcelona is going to win the match.
To talk about permanent future situations	Citizens are going to live healthy life in future.

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Past Tense

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 Simple Past Tense

Use of simple past	Example
With past time adverbials: yesterday, last, ago, in + past time, just now, those days etc.	My wife just now arrived from market.
With time expressions referring present completed time period: today, this evening / morning / week / month / year etc.	I didn't do yoga this morning.
With last + second / minute / hour / week / month / year / moment / time etc.	I was in Pokhara last week.
Two or more completed past actions in which one action causes the other	I ran outside when earthquake occurred.
Frequently repeated past actions	She kissed me five times last year.
To make sequence of past events chronologically	got up, picked up a taxi, went to airport and took off
To express what we intended to do but didn't	We tried be there, but returned back.
To express the later action among two past actions	I had finished my exams before I got fever.

Past Continuous Tense

Use of past continuous	Example
To express ongoing action in the past for some time this Sunday morning.	We were travelling at the beginning of his month.
To express two parallel past actions joined by 'while' clause	While she was sleeping, the thief was robbing.
To express persistent past habits	David was always crying in the childhood.
To emphasize the action in progress during the past	When USA was fighting against Syria I was working as a reporter.
To express frequently repeated past actions	My parents were always quarreling.
To express situation in past time when the event was occurring	I was washing my clothes as the bomb exploded.
To express what we intended to do but didn't	We were trying to be there, but my friend was suffering from leg pain.

 Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense	Example
To express the action that completed before another action in the past with time clauses: by the time, as soon as, after, before, when, until etc.	As soon as the pilot ha jumped out, the plane crashed.
To express action occurred multiple times in the past	I had played in five international tournaments.
To express length of the situation up to a certain past time	I had read the course three times when the exam occurred.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Use of past perfect continuous tense	Example
To express the action continued for some time in the past	At that month I had been waiting for my results.
It is mainly used in written English and seldom used in speaking.

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Present Tense - Loksewa

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Simple Present Tense

Use of Simple Present	Example
To express present affairs	I read in graduate level.
To express habitual actions	I use to pee before going to bed.
To express repeated actions	In every morning I drink tea.
To express truths / facts	Ice folates in water.
To quote sayings and proverbs	Service with excellence is our motto.
To express scheduled / timetabled plans	The school opens at 10 AM tomorrow.
With verbs of sensations	Everything seems alright.
With time adverbials Some such adverbs are: hardly, on Sundays, rarely, from time to time, frequently, often etc.	I seldom play a guitar.
To express likes and dislikes	I like to be liked.
With 'ever' and 'never'	I never feel lazy to go to school.
With time adverbial preceded by 'every' Every decade, every second etc.	Every time I see you I feel you.
With performatives (verbs which perform actions they describe) congratulate, permit, thank, acknowledge etc.	I advise you not to read carelessly.

Present Continuous Tense

Use of present continuous tense	Example
To express current ongoing activities	Right now I am reading.
To express fixed future actions	Anu is going returning to Birtamod next week.
To describe current mental state	I am feeling happy at this moment.
After imperative sentences	Do you hear me? I am coming for you.
To express continuous shifts	We are getting old day by day.
In live commentaries	Lionel Messy is running in penalty area.
To talk about planned future events with definite / firm decision But present continuous is not used for future predictions based on present situation. In such case 'going to' is used.	I am not telling him the truth. The company is going to collapse soon.

Present Perfect Tense

Use of present perfect tense	Example
To express recently finished actions with present connection	The prime minister has just arrived in TIA.
To express repeated past actions	I have visited the USA three times.
To share experiences	I have fought with tiger.
To express past actions without taking time reference	I have published an article.
With 'for / since + time'	I have not been to my house for two years.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Use of Present Perfect Continuous Tense	Example
To express past action that is still in progress	I have been preparing for Loksewa.
Since + Period of time	She has been travelling since 5 AM.
For + point of time	They have not been swimming for 15 days.

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