hey guys, im on page 105 of 'Writing Well' and he doesn't really explain what these things are, but instead, he talks about them constantly and i'm not really sure what they are. subordinate clause, predicate and clause. thanks guys
Have you tried googling the terms? You'll find plenty of good explanations that way. Googling should be a first resort for research and learning. You'll get answers much faster that way.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar This site will explain all that. Go to Index. A predicate is the second part of a sentence. "A predicate is the completer of a sentence. The subject names the "do-er" or "be-er" of the sentence; the predicate does the rest of the work. A simple predicate consists of only a verb, verb string, or compound verb: The glacier melted. The glacier has been melting. The glacier melted, broke apart, and slipped into the sea." Clause: "A clause is a group of related words containing a subject and a verb A clause can be usefully distinguished from a phrase, which is a group of related words that does not contain a subject-verb relationship, such as "in the morning" or "running down the street" or "having grown used to this harassment." A review of the different kinds of phrases might be helpful." Subordinate clause is a clause that cannot stand on it's own, also called a dependent clause. "Because she loved apples," is a subordinate clause. "When she had gone to the store," is another.
Due to the nature of the question, I suggest a good text on grammar and useage. Go to a large bookstore and pick one that makes the most sense to you. I have six. Speaking of "useage", maybe I should use one of my text on spelling. I have six of those as well. Sorry about the "e" in usage.
