Here's a breakdown:
* Group of related words: This means the words have a clear connection and work together to form a meaningful unit.
* Subject and predicate: A clause must have a subject (the person, place, or thing performing the action) and a predicate (which tells what the subject does or is).
* Acts to modify noun or pronoun: This means the clause provides additional information about a noun or pronoun, similar to how an adjective does.
Types of Clauses:
* Independent clause: A complete sentence that can stand alone. It contains a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.
* Dependent clause: Cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. It needs an independent clause to be grammatically correct.
Examples:
* Independent clause: The dog barked loudly.
* Dependent clause: *because the mailman was at the door*
Dependent clauses are often used to modify nouns or pronouns:
* Noun clause: "Whoever stole the cookie" is the culprit. ("Whoever stole the cookie" is the noun clause acting as the subject.)
* Adjective clause: The girl *who won the race* is my best friend. ("who won the race" is the adjective clause modifying "girl".)
Let me know if you have any more questions!