Clause Definition

Clause Definition:

A clause is referred to as a group of words which has a subject and a predicate and acts as a part of a complex or compound sentence.

Clause একটি শব্দগুচ্ছ যার একটি subject (উদ্দেশ্য) এবং একটি predicate (বিধেয়) আছে এবং যা একটি complex অথবা একটি compound sentence এর অংশ হিসেবে কাজ করে ।

Example:

When the girl was singing, we were listening to her.

Here the sentence has two clauses, “When the girl was singing” and “we were listening to her”, each having a subject and a predicate.

এখানে sentence টির দুটি clause আছে, “When the girl was singing” এবং “we were listening to her”, প্রতিটিরই একটি subject (উদ্দেশ্য) এবং একটি predicate (বিধেয়) আছে ।

Types of Clause:

Clauses are mainly of two types:

Clause প্রধানত: দুই প্রকার:

1.      Independent Clauses (Main Clause)

2.      Dependent Clause (Subordinate Clause)

Dependent Clause can be again divided into three types.

Dependent Clause কে আবার তিন ভাগে ভাগ করা যায়।:

a.       Noun Clause.

b.      Adjective or Relative Clause.

c.       Adverb Clause

Adjective বা Relative Clause কে আবার দুই ভাগে ভাগ করা যায়।

                 i.            Restrictive Clause

               ii.            Nonrestrictive Clause

All types of clauses are discussed below:

নিচে সবধরনের clause বর্ণিত হল।

Independent Clauses (Main Clause):

An independent clause is a clause which has a complete meaning and can stand alone as a sentence. Simple sentences are independent clauses.

একটি Independent Clause হলো এমন একটি clause যার একটি পূর্ণ অর্থ আছে এবং যা একাই একটি sentence হিসেবে দাঁড়াতে পারে । Simple sentence গুলোই হল independent clause ।

Example:

                  ·            The University is closed today.

                  ·            I am going out for a vacation.

                  ·            She is studying very hard.

All the simple sentences above are independent clauses because all have complete meanings and stand alone as sentences.

উপরের সব simple sentence গুলোই independent clauses কারণ সবারই পূর্ণ অর্থ আছে এবং পৃথকভাবে sentence হিসেবে দাঁড়াতে পারে ।

Dependent Clause (Subordinate Clause):

Subordinate or dependent clauses refer to the type of clauses that depend on an independent clause to express a complete meaning and cannot stand alone as a sentence. These clauses start with a dependent word like a relative pronoun or a subordinate conjunction. Such as, who, because, and, but, although, where, when, etc.

একটি dependent clause হল এমন একটি clause যা একটি পূর্ণ অর্থ প্রকাশ করতে একটি       independent clause এর উপর নির্ভর করে এবং একটি পৃথক sentence হিসেবে দাঁড়াতে পারে না । এই clause গুলো একটি নির্ভরশীল শব্দ তথা একটি relative pronoun অথবা একটি subordinate conjunction দিয়ে শুরু হয় । যেমন: who, because, and, but, although, where, when, প্রভৃতি।

Example:

                  ·            The writer who came here was my friend.

                  ·            When the rain stopped, we started our journey.

                  ·            She could not come because she was not in the city.

Here, ”who came here”, “When the rain stopped” ‍and “because she was not in the city” are subordinate clauses as they cannot stand alone as sentences and are dependent on the independent clauses in the mentioned sentences.

এখানে, ”who came here”, “When the rain stopped” ‍এবং “because she was not in the city” হল subordinate clause কারণ তারা পৃথক sentence হিসেবে ব্যবহৃত হতে পারে না এবং উল্লেখিত sentence গুলোর independent clause এর উপর নির্ভরশীল ।

Dependent Clause can be again divided into three types:

Dependent Clause কে আবার তিন ভাগে ভাগ করা যায়।:

These types are discussed below.

এই প্রকারগুলো নিম্নে বর্ণিত হলো ।

Noun Clause:

The clause which can replace any noun in a sentence and act as a subject, object or complement is called noun clause.

যে clause একটি sentence এ যেকোন noun এর পরিবর্তে বসে এবং subject, object বা complement হিসেবে ভূমিকা পালন করে তাকে noun clause বলে ।

Example:

                  ·            The book I bought yesterday was really helpful to complete my assignment. Or What I bought yesterday was really helpful to complete my assignment.

Here “What I bought yesterday” is a noun clause acting as the subject.

এখানে “What I bought yesterday” একটি noun clause যা subject হিসেবে কাজ করছে।

                  ·            I did not know that she is coming.

Here “that she is coming” is the noun clause acting as the object.

এখানে “that she is coming” একটি noun clause যা object হিসেবে কাজ করছে।

                  ·            I am sad that you are leaving tomorrow.

Here “that you are leaving tomorrow” is a noun clause acting as an adjective complement because it answers the question “why am I sad?”

এখানে “that you are leaving tomorrow” একটি noun clause যা adjective complement হিসেবে কাজ করছে কারণ এটি “আমি কেন দু:খিত” এই প্রশ্নের উত্তর দিচ্ছে ।

Adjective or Relative Clause:

The clause which describes a noun just like an adjective is called adjective or relative clause.

যে clause একটি nounকে একটি adjective এর মত বর্ণনা করে তাকে adjective বা relative  clause বলে।

Adjective clauses are of two types:

i. Restrictive Clause:

The adjective clause which specifies or restricts the noun is called restrictive clause.

যে adjective clause কোন nounকে বিশেষভাবে নির্দিষ্ট করে বোঝায় তাকে restrictive clause বলে ।

Example:

                  ·            The building that they build in Dhanmondi sold for five

Here, “that they build in Dhanmondi” is a restrictive clause because it is specifying the building. It is also implied that there could be several buildings.

ii. Nonrestrictive Clause:

The adjective clause which adds extra information about an already specific noun is called nonrestrictive clause.

যে adjective clause আগে থেকে নির্দিষ্ট কোন noun সম্পর্কে বাড়তি কোন তথ্য দেয় তাকে nonrestrictive clause বলে ।

Example:

                  ·            The building, which they build in Dhanmondi, sold for five

Here “which they build in Dhanmondi” is a nonrestrictive clause because it is specifying the building which is already specified by a comma. It is also specified here that there is only one building to talk about.

Adverb Clause:

An adverb clause expresses where, when, how and why something occurs.

একটি adverb clause কোথায়, কখন, কিভাবে এবং কেন কোনকিছু ঘটে তা বোঝায় ।

Example:

                  ·            I will meet you when I have completed all my assigned tasks.

Here “when I have completed all my assigned tasks” is an adverb clause as it is expressing when I will meet you.

এখানে “when I have completed all my assigned tasks” একটি adverb clause কারণ এটা বোঝাচ্ছে, কখন আমি তোমার সাথে দেখা করব ।