Year 3 English · Clauses and sentences · Summary
Year 3 English Clauses and sentences: summary and key words
Part of the Year 3 English clauses and sentences chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Chapter summary
| Skill | Method |
|---|---|
| Clause | A group of words with a verb in it. Count the verbs to count the clauses. |
| Main clause | Makes sense on its own, so it could be a sentence: We stayed inside. |
| Subordinate clause | Depends on a main clause and cannot stand alone: because it rained. It starts with a conjunction. |
| Joining conjunction | and, but, or and so join two main clauses: It rained, so we stayed inside. |
| Time conjunctions | when, before, after and while: Ben waved when the bus arrived. After and before are prepositions when a noun follows. |
| Reason, contrast and condition | because, although and if: Ella gets wet if she runs in the rain. |
| Adverbs of time and cause | then, next, soon, later, finally and therefore. Therefore needs a full stop before it. |
| Fronted adverbial | Comes first and tells when, where or why. It can be a word (Carefully), a phrase with no verb (After lunch) or a clause with a verb (When the bell rang). |
Can you…?
- I can find the verb in a clause, and count the clauses in a sentence
- I can tell a main clause from a subordinate clause
- I can join a subordinate clause to a main clause with when, before, after, while, because, although or if
- I can use so, and, but or or to join two main clauses
- I can use then, next, soon, later, finally and therefore to show time and cause
- I can move a subordinate clause to the start of a sentence, and keep the same meaning
Key terms
- clause
- a group of words with a verb in it; most clauses also have a subject
- subject
- the person or thing that does the action in a clause, such as Ravi in Ravi runs
- main clause
- a clause that makes sense on its own, so it could be a sentence
- subordinate clause
- a clause that adds information to a main clause and cannot stand alone, such as because it rained
- conjunction
- a joining word, such as and, because or when, that joins words, phrases or clauses
- adverbial
- a word, phrase or clause that tells when, where, how or why something happens
- fronted adverbial
- an adverbial at the start of a sentence, such as After lunch or When the bell rang
- therefore
- an adverb that shows the result of something; it needs a full stop before it