English Grammar: An Introduction

Go through the passage and put square brackets round the clauses. Label each clause Main Clause MCl[ ] or Subordinate Clause SCl[ ]. Remember that every clause contains one, and only one, predicator.

The predicators are given in capital letters in the answers to this exercise. Subordinate clauses can be linked by subordinating conjunctions, e.g. when, if, because. SCl brackets go inside the MCl brackets. Main clauses can be linked by co-ordinating conjunctions, e.g. and, or, but. See Unit 7.2 for more information.