DAY 2

COMPLETE VS INCOMPLETE THOUGHT

Think if a message you want to pout across. Without the subject and predicate in an independent
thought group or unit, your sentence will not express the full meaning of your message. The
thought in your statement is incomplete. The word “thoughts” in this book refers to the meaning
of your message.

3 Essential Elements that give complete meaning to a thought.

1. Subject
2. Predicate
3. Independent thought

Sometimes even if you have subject and predicate, thoughts are still incomplete. It’s because
when an idea is subordinate it can not stand alone as a compete thought. An idea must be
independent, that is, its meaning should not depend upon some elements in the sentence.

Example:

1. Lorenz wanted very much to go to the concert even though she had no one to go with.
2. Andrew has to give up the company car because he resigned.

The following can be generalized from the two illustrations:

1. There are two ideas in each of the two sentences. These two ideas are not equal in
importance. One is subordinate; the other is the main idea. The subordinate idea cannot
stand alone as a complete thought unit; the main idea has a complete thought, it can stand
alone. Let us call the part that cannot stand alone even though it has subject and predicate
– the subordinate clause, and the part that can stand alone as the main clause.
2. Although clauses have subject and predicate, they may or may not have a complete
thought.
3. Clauses that have complete thought cannot stand alone. Since they can stand alone, they
are called INDEPENDENT CLAUSES. They can be called sentence. And since they
contain the main idea, they are also called MAIN CLAUSES. Main clauses are not
introduced by subordinating conjunctions.
4. Clauses that have incomplete thought cannot stand alone because they are called
DEPENDENT CLAUSES, and since their ideas are subordinate, they are also called
SUBORDINATE CLAUSES.

Note! Conjunctions are tools you can use in linking ideas.

 Coordinating conjunction – connect words, phrases, clauses of equal ranks or

importance. (and, but, or, nor, for, yet and so)
 Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs to connect similar ideas. This group
includes neither-nor, either-or, just as-so, both-and, &whether-or.
 Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal in rank or importance
(one is more important than the other).

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLAUSES

A. INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
An independent clause can stand by itself as a complete sentence. It is used in three
different ways.
 STANDING ALONE (When it stands alone, it is equivalent to a complete
sentence.) Example: The coconut tree is one of the most important nature’s gift to
the Philippine islands.
 WITH ANOTHER INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. (A compound sentence is
produced) Example. The coconut tree is useful in many ways, so it is considered
one of the most important nature’s gift to the island.
 WITH A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE/DEPENDENT (A complex sentence is
produced). Example: The coconut tree, which is often mentioned in Philippine
myths and legend, is on one of the most important nature’s gifts to the island.
TASK 11

Directions: See if all the clauses in the following paragraph are all independent clauses.
Comment.

The Chinese

Without doubt, China’s greatest and most precious resource is its people. The Chines5e

people may either be a political or a racial concept. In this sensem Manchurians, Mongols, Turks

of Sinkiang, Tibetans, mountain tribesmen and desert nomads living within the Chinese land are

included as Chinese people. They already numbers 100,000,000 when the first European colonies

were established in America and had reached 410,000,000 when the first war broke out between

China and England.

B. DEPENDENT CLAUSE

A dependent clause is also called subordinate clause. A dependent clause, although it has

subject and predicate, cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence. The dependent clause is

made lesser in rank by subordinators or what is called subordinating conjunctions.

Although a dependent clause is only fragment of a sentence, it is also needed for an

effective expression of ideas. It functions as a noun, as an adjective, or as an adverb. Hence,

there are three kinds of dependent clause. NOUN CLAUSE, ADJECTIVE CLAUSE and

ADVERB CLAUSE.

 NOUN CLAUSES

A noun clause functions in the same way as nouns in the sentence. It may act as a

subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, object of preposition,

 or appositive. A noun clause can begin with that, who, whom, whose, whichever,

whoever, whomever, or if, what, whatever, where, when, why.

Example:

As Subject

1. That you top your exam is good news to us.

2. Whoever found my lost wallet will be rewarded.

3. What we will be in the future is not known yet.

As Direct Object

1. I expect that you top the exam.

2. The office will reward whoever found my wallet.

3. Nobody knows what will be in the future.

As Indirect Object

1. The witness’ revelation gave whoever heard him a shock.

2. Miss Elizabeth often made whomever she get married to ex-husbands.

3. Quixote told whoever came closer to him tales of his imaginative adventures.

As Predicate Nominative

1. Our apprehension is whether he will tell us lies or truth.

2. Her declaration was that she was held hostage but escaped.

3. The winner will be whoever is the brightest and the fastest.

As Object of Preposition

1. The agency will give incentives to whoever performs best.

2. The prisoner was executed for what he had done.

3. For whatever miseries you caused us, you are forgiven.

As Appositive

1. Miseries, whatever they are, are tests of courage and endurance.

2. The spy, who knows many things about the agency, was silenced.

3. He, who does not know, should not remain ignorant.

Exercise: Find the subject, object, appositive, predicate nominative in the following sentences.

1. That the interior of the planet is easy to reach is yet to be confirmed.

2. Even on Earth our huge drilling machine, whatever it is called, can only reach down to

depths of 6-7 miles – barely scratching the surface.

3. Geologists thus forced to rely on whichever can approximate the inner structure of a planet.

4. Geologists through seismic waves, observe that the inner structure consists of different

levels of rock or mineral.

5. Whatever investigations like this in other planets challenge scientists.

 ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

An adjective clause is sometimes essential to a sentence; that is, it is needed to make

the meaning of your sentence clear. The kind of adjective clause is called an essential

clause, or a restrictive clause. Without the essential adjective clause, the sentence would

not make a complete sentence.

Examples:

1. The one aspect that most Filipino ethnic groups have in common was their observance

of Pagan rituals.

2. Those pagan rituals are often the way they that they reach out to spirits.

In the first example the meaning of the sentence would not make sense without the essential

clause. This particular adjective clause makes clear which aspect is being discussed. It will not

make full sense if it’s without the adjective clause.

In general, the essential adjective clause restricts the meaning of the noun and helps the reader

or listener to recognize which or what specifically is being discussed or referred to.

An adjective clause that is not needed to make the meaning of a sentence very clear is called a

nonessential or nonrestrictive clause. The info it adds is extra, and the essence woud be perfectly

comprehensible without it

Examples:

1. The Tagbanua of southern coastal Palawan, who are fishermen, give thanks to spirits during

“runsay” festival.

2. In the mountains, where forest resources have depleted, the native Batak of Palawan,

perform rituals to beg the mountain god “Panyaoen” for more tree-blossoms to attract the

honey making bees.

Note: Commas, separate the nonrestrictive clauses.

 ADVERB CLAUSES
 An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another

adverb, It answers questions when, where, how, why, to what extent, or under what

condition.

Subordinating conjunctions introduce adverb clauses. Remember that adverb clauses

may come before or after the main clause. Knowing them will help you improve your

expression.

Examples: The following are some subordinators. Note the semantics relationships that they

express.

1. Time: After, as soon as, as long as, before, every time, once, since, till, when, whenever,

while

2. Place: where, wherever

3. Manners: as, as if, as though, the way (that), in such a way that

4. Purpose: in order that, so that, lest, in case (negative purpose)

5. Cause/reason: as, because, since (informal), whereas, in as much as

6. Result: so-that, such-that, with the result that

7. Comparison: as-as, not so –as, more, greater, less, smaller

8. Specification: in that + noun clause

9. Contrast: although, even though, though, even if, while

10. Contingency: Condition : if, unless, provided that, As/so long as

11. Contingency: qualification: considering that, taking into consideration that

12. Contingency: Limitation/exclusion: forgetting the fact, dismissing the fact, discounting

the fact that, putting aside the fact that

13. Contingency: Degree: to the degree that, to the extent that, in so far
14. Contingency provision: providing, provided that, as long as, with the promise that

15. Contingency: Absolute exception: no matter what, no matter where, regardless

how/where/why

TASK 13

Match the independent clauses (A) with the dependent clause (B) to form a sentence.

A: Independent Clauses B. Dependent Clauses

1. I have not seen him a. although he owns the house.

2. She was reading a book b. if it rains.

3. We live c. on account of the fact that the country was at war.

4. He can get his degree d. when I finish my work.

5. It is an unpardonable insult e. since the original tests are not replicable.

6. We won’t have classes f. while the dinner was cooking.

7. All the young men were drafted g. yet the husband is so faithful.

8. She always sings h. since he returned to the country.

9. Experience is seldom thrown away i. before you get here.

10. They will leave j. I looked at things differently.

11. I learned to speak Spanish k. when doing her work.

12. I was entering the building l. where the road crosses the river.

13. He decided to go into business m. in case you need to talk to me.

14. He hasn’t behaved n. since it is intentional.

15. He stopped to help the old woman o. if it rains.

16. Encode the dates on your cellphone p. the picnic will be postponed.
 17. He will commit many errors q. the tourists keep coming.

18. She is an attractive woman r. although he was in a hurry.

19. Repeating the experiment is difficult s. as a gentleman should.

20. The wife is not too ideal t. admitting the fact that he is not a college graduate.

21. The country is so inviting u. before then, he had worked for many people.

22. It closes down all its leaves v. when the mimosa is disturbed.

23. He is an achiever w. except that she looks dull and shabby.

24. The visitors move about x. whether or not the guest of honor arrives.

25. I shall give you my e-mail address y. lest you forget it.

z. unless the tennis player use his mental ability.

TASK 14

Directions: Underline the complete dependent clause and indicate the logical/semantic

relationship expressed by the subordinator. (time, place, purpose, reason, contrast, etc.)

1. Children are charmed by the Pied Piper’s music wherever he went.

2. The teacher is a competent one in that above all other attributes, he never comes to class

unprepared.

3. Flunkers are denied admission in that school regardless of who their parents are.

4. The university is adopting a socialized tuition fee scheme in order that poor students in the

rural areas can avail of college education

5. Life style has changed a lot that people eat in such a hurry and get stomach trouble.

6. The developed nations give technical assistance to developing nations to the extent that

these rich nations can dictate the poor countries’ development goals and priorities.

7. As for a farmer who goes to the city, his life is complete despair.
 8. Despite the marching and counter marching of dictators, the bloodshed and the turmoil,

Central America has never experienced a lasting social revolution.

9. Even though slavery was outlawed by the constitution of the United Provinces, it has

persisted in form of another until recent years.

10. Poverty reduction is the world problem. The World Bank must focus on this issue if it is to

be affective at all.

TASK 15

Directions: Join the following pairs of sentences, changing one of them into a relative clause

modifying the noun to which it appropriately refers.

Example: The College cooperative board will increase its size. It has five members at present. The

college cooperative board which has five members at present will increase its size.

1. The Cascades are coming to Manila. They have relaxing singing style.

2. The Labor secretary is being forced to resign. He is incompetent.

3. Samuel Clemens is famous. He is known as Mark Twain.

4. Hurricanes are very strong typhoons. They are causing havoc to many states in the

Caribbean.

5. The nimbus clouds are nature’s signs. It is by them we know that rain is coming.

6. A number of students were sent to the World Youth Congress. They represented the

country’s best.

7. Old England castles were usually surrounded by rivers. These served as natural moats.

8. We need to build one nation. No one should see himself as Tagalog, Visaya, Ilocano,

Maguindanawon, Moslem, or Christian.

 9. The people must participate in formulating policies. After all, these policies will have the

most effect on them.

10. The Magsaysay Award went to the saintly nun from India. An effective charitable

institution had been established through her efforts.

TASK 16

Directions: Identify whether the following groups of words are grammatically complete in

thoughts or not. If complete, write S; if not, write N. Punctuation marks are intentionally deleted

so as not to give any clue.

1. The peace talk between the Palestinian and Israelite leaders is one of the series of meetings

se by the United Nations Security Council

2. Instructional manual distributed among the participants

3. Circulating nurse standing at a distance from the sterile field to adjust light over it to avoid

microbial fallout over field

4. Edges of anything that encloses sterile contents

5. Sterile persons lifting contents from packages by reaching down and lifting them straight

up, holding elbows high

6. After a sterile bottle is opened and replaced without contaminating pouring edges

7. Scrub nurse sets up table in preparation for operation

8. Basic Mayo tray set up

9. Clamps, dissecting scissors, thumb forceps, scalpels

10. Must not touch the cutting edge

11. The nurse’s hands protected in the cuff

12. Handle placed directly into waiting hand

 13. As a member of the scrub team

14. Finished within five days

15. Deceased man who lived in the same town all his life

16. Have seen the doctor this week

17. Recently passing the board exam

18. As the group finishes its project

19. Always going to bed early as a child

20. Strangely enough when the moon passes over the face of the sun

NOTE: Subordinate clauses can not stand alone, hence, they are dependent. Sentence can be

combined by changing one of them into dependent clause by using subordinators.

a. I was uneasy. I thought there might be flashflood.

b. I was uneasy because I thought there might be a flashflood.

c. Antartica’s area size is about 5.5 million square miles. It does not stay the same size in

other seasons.

d. Although Antartica’s size is 5.5 million miles, it does not stay the same size in other

seasons.

OTHER LABEL FOR CLAUSES

 FINITE CLAUSES

Always have subject and predicate. They are classified according to the word that

introduces them. Hence, they are the: that- clauses, Wh- Interrogative clauses, relative
 clauses, subordinator introduced clause. Note that finite clauses are usually dependent

clauses.

Examples:

1. That nights and days are equal during the equinox is a fact.

2. It is not clear why the government plotters were not punished.

3. It is doubtful that our country can get rid of its harmful critics.

 NONFINITE CLAUSES are the structures that do not have subject and they are very

similar with the participial, and gerundial phrases.

Examples: -ed participial clause

1. The child became confused with so many unfamiliar faces.

2. The roses lay scattered on the floor.

3. The city lay submerged in the monsoon rains

-ing gerundial clause

1. Creating original stories is challenging to writers.

2. Flying kites in the city can be very dangerous.

3. Doing exercise in the morning makes him well fit.

Infinitive clause

1. His purpose was to finish the work on time.

2. To start the engine, you must push the button.

3. She hates to mingle with other persons.

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

In general, avoid sentence fragments. Check that each sentence you say or write has sa subject and

a predicate and express a complete thought. Sentence fragments are usually phrases and

subordinate clauses. Sometimes in a stretch of discourse or statements, fragments have been

capitalized and punctuated as complete sentences. You can correct this error by considering the

fragment’s relation with the sentence that comes before or after it and after deciding on the

relationship you can join the fragments to them.

Example:

Fragment: At this time of the year, mountain climbing is exciting. And very dangerous.

Correction: At this time of the year, mountain climbing is exciting and very dangerous.

TASK 17

Directions: Indicate in your paper if the numbered sentences of this passage is complete or

incomplete in thoughts.

The Trojan Horse

[1]The Trojan Horse. [2] Is a huge wooden horse, made by Epeius (upon suggestion of

Athena). [3] Within whose hollow bellies were concealed some Grecian warriors. [4] Deceived by

various uses. [5] The Trojans dragged the horse. [6] Through their otherwise impregnable walls.

[7]Deeming it to be an offering to Athena. [8] At night those hidden in the horse emerged. [9] And

opened the gates to their waiting comrades. [10] Who seized and sack the city.