A clause is a group of words containing a subject and predicate or a finite verb. (A finite verb is a form of a verb that shows the tense, number and person.) A clause can be a simple sentence or part of a sentence.

Different elements – subject, verb, indirect object, direct object, complement, and adverbial – combined to form a clause as shown in the table that follows.

There are two kinds of clauses: main (or independent) clauses and subordinate (or dependent) clauses. The main clause is also referred to as the principal clause. There are different types of subordinate clauses as shown here.

1. Main clause