Introduction
When I was in middle school, I had a teacher who insisted that we write in complete sentences.
One day I asked her, "Ms. Pasternak, what, exactly, makes a sentence complete?"
She answered, "A complete sentence has at least one clause."
I raised my hand again. "What's a clause?"
She answered, "A clause is a pattern of words that consists of a subject and a predicate."
I was still confused, but I was too embarrassed to raise my hand again.
This unit is dedicated to answering that not-so-simple question:
- What is a clause?
Although it will take us some 20 lessons to finally arrive at the answer, it's certainly time well spent. Because once you have truly grasped what a clause is—you'll never again have to worry about whether you have written a "complete" sentence.
Instructions for the Quiz
Answer the questions.
Quiz