GUIDE ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK

29
Sentences with more than one
clause
238 Summary
Types of clause • 239
A sentence has one or more main clauses. A main clause has a finite verb. We use
and, or, but and so to join main clauses.
It was late, and I was tired.
We use because, when, if, that etc in a sub clause.
I was tired because I'd been working.
It was late when I got home.
A sub clause can be non-finite.
I was too tired to do anything else.
I was tired after working all day.
Clause combinations • 240
A sentence can consist of a number of main clauses and sub clauses.
Tenses in sub clauses • 241
We often use the same tense in the main clause and sub clause.
They found an interpreter who spoke all three languages.
After expressions such as wish, we use the past simple or past perfect for
something unreal.
I wish the climate here was warmer.
Natalie looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
The subjunctive • 242
We can use the subjunctive in a few formal contexts.
They requested that the ban be lifted.
We'd rather there were a doctor present.
239 Types of clause
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE
A New York painter decided to end it all by throwing himself off the Empire State
Building. He took the lift up to the 86th floor, found a convenient window and
jumped. A gust of wind caught him as he fell and blew him into the studios of
NBC television on the 83rd floor. There was a live show going out, so the
interviewer decided to ask the would-be suicide a few questions. He admitted that
he'd changed his mind as soon as he'd jumped.
(from J. Reid It Can't Be True!)