Introduction |  Coordination | Subordinating to a Verb | Subordinating to a Noun |   Exercises

Complex Sentences

Introduction

So what is a clause? It is simply a sentence that has lost a bit of its autonomy and has joined up with another sentence. Let's look at three ways of joining clauses together. Remember that each sentence has to have a conjugated verb. By counting how many conjugated verbs there are in a sentence, you can determine how many clauses there are. 

In what follows, we will distinguish three sorts of clauses: clauses that are coordinated to one another, clauses that are subordinated to a verb, and clauses that are subordinated to a noun or pronoun. 
 

1. Coordinating clauses 

Sentences can be joined with a conjunction like et or ou or mais, or simply separated with commas. In these cases, each clause retains exactly the same form. If both clauses have the same subject, this may be omitted in the second and subsequent clauses. 

Sa vue est pauvre  et  son sens de la distance est nul. (2 clauses) 

Greenpeace s'est trompé, a admis ses erreurs et s'est excusé.

(3 clauses - note that each verb has the same subject.) 
 

2. Subordinating clauses to a verb 

You can put a sentence in the place of a noun phrase: subject, object or adverbial. In this case, you have to subordinate the sentence that's going to take the place of a block to the verb of the main sentence. 

On ne veut pas // que tout cela change. (Object)
Si on vaccinait plus, // on éviterait plus de décès. (Adverbial)

You subordinate by using what is called a subordinating Conjunction, italicised in the above two examples. Note that the Subordinate Clause, the one beginning with this conjunction, can be either at the beginning or the end of the complex sentence. The other clause is called a Main Clause. 

Let's look at some examples of clauses doing the different jobs that are available: Subject, Object and Adverbial. 

Nous espérons // que ces nouvelles technologies feront des merveilles.

We hope // that the new technologies will do marvels. 
Main + Subordinate (job = object) 

Nous savons tous // qu'on nous obligera à le faire.

We all know // that we will be forced to do it. 
Main + Subordinate (job = object) 

Si le niveau de radioactivité baisse, // nous sommes tous gagnants.

If the level of radioactivity drops, we all benefit. 
Subordinate + Main. Job of the subordinate within the main clause = adverbial 

Quand on démontait une plateforme, // on en réutilisait les éléments.

When they dismantled a platform // they reused the parts. 
Subordinate + Main. Job of subordinate = adverbial 

Clauses used as subjects pose special problems we won't deal with here. 
 

3.  Subordinating clauses to a noun 

Clauses are not limited to the jobs above (subject, object, adverbial). You can add a clause to a noun or pronoun. Again, you have to subordinate the clause, but you do it this time by using a Relative Pronoun (a word like who or which or where; qui, que, où or dont. The result is called a relative clause (sometimes called an adjective clause), and it is the most common subordinate clause around. 

The job done by a relative clause is always the same: it acts like an adjective, adding information about the noun. 

Ce sont des mesures // qui montrent quelques pics de radioactivité.

These are measures // which show peaks of radioactivity. 
Main + Subordinate 

Les compagnies // qui opèrent en mer du Nord // espèrent continuer.

The companies // which operate in the North Sea // hope to continue. 
Main + interrupted by Subordinate + Main

On emploie aujourd'hui de petites stations téléguidés // qu'on pose au fond de la mer.

Today we use little remote installed stations // which are placed at the bottom of the sea. 
Main + Subordinate 

Ils ont fait des récifs artificiels // où se multiplient les poissons.

They made artificial reefs // where fish multiply. 
Main + Subordinate 

This last example is very important. In French, relative clauses, the subject is often placed after the verb: where fish multiply = où se multiplient les poissons. This is called Inversion. It can happen in other cases too, but it is most common in relative clauses. 

Notice that in many cases, since English clauses work more or less the same way as French clauses, you won't feel the need to divide sentences into clauses explicitly. When you have trouble understanding, however, it is useful to be able to separate out the different clauses, and work out the jobs they do. 

Exercises

Extra stuff:

1.Coordination and Subordination

As is explained in Complex Sentences, clauses are sentences that have given up some of their autonomy to join with other sentences.  As far as the relationship of one clause to another is concerned, grammarians usually distinguish two possibilities.  the first is coordination:

Cats purr and dogs bark.

The leaves were falling, but Dilbert was happy.

Cats purr, dogs bark...

The leaves were falling, winter was coming, but he was happy,

The other way clauses can be joined in a sentence is by subordinating one to another, as in the following examples

He would feel happy when the snow started to fall.

Nous espérons que ces nouvelles technologies feront taire les critiques.

We hope (that) these new technologies will silence the critics.

 Il n'entend pas parce que ses oreilles n'ont pas de tympan.

He doesn't hear because his ears have no ear-drum.

 Les compagnies qui opèrent en mer du Nord espèrent continuer.

The companies who operate in the North Sea hope to go on.

As can be seen in the last example, the main clause can be discontinuous, the subordinate clause stuck in its middle.