UCI Extension

Paper-Based TOEFL Workshop

Clauses, Subjects, and Verbs

Structure and Written Expression Skills 1-5
Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test
Tutorial prepared by Marla Yoshida

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 arent.] (2 clauses)
[The students [who have been studying] are tired]
[because studying is hard work.] (3 clauses)

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.

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 theres a modal:
[The student must study.] [The students must
study.]
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You need to be able to find the subject.

Sometimes its hard to tell which word is really the subject of
a clause. Other words can get in the way and make you
think theyre 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 sisters 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.

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.]

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.]
plural

plural

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

is too expensive.]
singular

singular

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.]
appositive

(Mr. Smith = the teacher)

[(A quick learner,) Mary memorized all the irregular

verbs in ten minutes.]
appositive

(A quick learner = Mary)

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.]
subject

[(A quick learner,) Mary memorized all the irregular

verbs in ten minutes.]
subject

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.]

Be careful of present participles.

Sometimes its hard to tell which word is the main verb. You
might find a word that looks like a verb, but its 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, its really a verb. Its 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.]

Be careful of present participles.

The present participles in these sentences dont have a
form of be in front of them. Theyre not the main verb of the
clause. Theyre 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!)

Be careful of present participles.

These present participles are also not the main verb of the
clause. Theyre being used as nouns. When an -ing form is
used as a noun, we call it a gerund.
[Playing soccer is good exercise.]
gerunds

[The teachers enjoy grading tests.]

[Reading a book is easier than writing one.]

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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. Its one of the perfect
tenses. (have + past participle = perfect)
[Chris has played the piano for ten years.]
form of
have

past
participle

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

[The students have been sleeping during class.]

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.]
have + pp

be+ing

Thats because it has both have + past participle and

be + ing. Its the present perfect progressive tense.
Isnt that cool?

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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. Its 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.]

Be careful of past participles.

The past participles in these sentences dont have a form
of be or have before them. Theyre not the main verb.
Theyre 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.