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Clauses in English
A Clause
A group of words, working as a grammatical unit which expresses complete
thought and contains it own subject and predicate is termed as a clause.

Types of Clause
Basically, there are seven kinds of clause which can be classified on the basis of
what they denote in a sentence:
Independent/ Main Clause
A clause that can stand alone and give complete sense of meanings is called
independent/main clause.  For example:
 This is the farm house where they live.
 The boys have a chain which is made of gold.
In the above examples, the underlined part of the sentence is main/independent
clause that can alone give complete sense of meaning.

Coordinate Clause
The clause which is joined to another clause by the coordinate conjunction is called
the coordinate clause.
Both the clauses joined with a coordinate conjunction make good sense and may
stand by themselves, so in this sense, both the clauses are equal in rank so that is
why it is called a coordinate clause. For example:
 His family is poor but he does not beg.
 The dog chased him but he was quick enough to survive.
Here both the clauses have been joined by a coordinative conjunction “but”.

Relative Clause
Falling under the category of sub-ordinate clause, this particular type begins with
relative pronouns (like whose, which, that, when etc) and its function is to describe
or recognize the noun before it. For example:
 Do you have the book which John gave you?
 Can I buy the shoes that were in the shop?
Subordinate Clause
A clause that does not give complete sense of meaning when it is not a part of a
larger sentence is called dependent/subordinate clause. For example:
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 This is the farm house where they live.

 The boys have a chain which is made of gold.
In the above sentences the underlined part of the sentence is dependent clause
which cannot give complete sense of meaning if it is not part of a sentence.

The Noun Clause

This type of sub-ordinate clause has the peculiar role to function as a noun within a
sentence. For example:
 I do not know how it happened.
 She knows where I go.

The Adjective Clause

This category of clause works as an adjective in a sentence and thus, is called an
adjective clause. For example:
 Blessed are those whose cares are few.
 He gave me ten dollars bill which I lost.

The Adverb Clause

This particular type of clause works as an adverb in a sentence and thus, is called
an adverb clause. For example:
 Come back as soon as it is possible.
 You can go wherever you want.

Types of Clauses
Like a phrase, a clause is a group of related words; but unlike a phrase, a clause
has a subject and verb. An independent clause, along with having a subject and
verb, expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a coherent sentence. In
contrast, a subordinate or dependent clause does not express a complete thought
and therefore is not a sentence. A subordinate clause standing alone is a common
error known as a sentence fragment.

Independent Clauses

He saw her. The Washington’s hurried home. Free speech has a price.
Grammatically complete statements like these are sentences and can stand alone.
When they are part of longer sentences, they are referred to
as independent (or main) clauses.
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Two or more independent clauses can be joined by using coordinating conjunctions

(and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet) or by using semicolons. The most important
thing to remember is that an independent clause can stand alone as a complete
sentence.
In the following example, the independent clause is a simple sentence.
Shamaila brushed her long, black hair.
The coordinating conjunction and joins two independent clauses
Faheem , and Shamim brushed her long, black hair.
Next, a semicolon joins two independent clauses.
Faheem left; Shamim brushed her long, black hair.
All sentences must include at least one independent clause.
After she told Faheem to leave, Shamim brushed her long, black hair.
In the previous sentence, the independent clause is preceded by a clause that can't
stand alone: After she told Faheem to leave.
Shamim brushed her long, black hair while she waited for Faheem to leave.
Here, the independent clause is followed by a clause that can't stand alone: while
she waited for Fernando to leave.
Beginning sentences with coordinating conjunctions

Any of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet) can be
used to join an independent clause to another independent clause. Can you begin a
sentence with one of these conjunctions? No one knew what to do. But everyone
agreed that something should be done.

An old rule says that you shouldn't. But beginning a sentence with a coordinating
conjunction is acceptable today. (Notice the preceding sentence, for example.)
Sometimes beginning a sentence this way creates exactly the effect you want. It
separates the clause and yet draws attention to its relationship with the previous
clause.

Subordinate clauses

A subordinate clause has a subject and verb but, unlike an independent clause,

cannot stand by itself. It depends on something else in the sentence to express a
complete thought that is why it's also called a dependent clause. Some
subordinate clauses are introduced by relative pronouns (who, whom, that, which,
what, whose) and some by subordinating conjunctions (although, because, if,
unless, when, etc.). Subordinate clauses function in sentences as adjectives, nouns,
and adverbs.
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