Clauses

[bevvy]

Thanks.
So, how many clauses are there?

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by bevvy

Thanks.
So, how many clauses are there?

How many do you see?

You have to do some of the work.

[bevvy]

OK.
Timber workers are letting their own personal needs get in the way of what is really important.

I guess there is only one clause.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by bevvy

OK.
Timber workers are letting their own personal needs get in the way of what is really important.

I guess there is only one clause.

No, there are two clauses, a main clause and a noun clause.

Timber workers are letting their own personal needs get in the way of what is really important.

[bevvy]

Thanks, but I'm still confused about the noun clause in terms of functional grammar.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by bevvy

Thanks, but I'm still confused about the noun clause in terms of functional grammar.

The easiest thing to do is count verbs (real verbs -- be careful of infinitives, participles, and gerunds).

A clause must have a real verb. (It also needs a subject, but counting nouns doesn't really help).

Clauses can function in a variety of roles, but if they are clauses, they still count.

A sentence must have at least one clause. When it has one clause, that clause is the sentence. A compound sentence has more than one main clause (usually 2 that are connected). A complex sentence has a main clause and at least one subordinate clause. A compound-complex sentence has two main clauses and at least one subordinate clause.

Your sentence has four words that could be verbs: are, letting, get, and is.

The first two, are and letting, are combined [verb + participle] to create one main verb.
"Get" is tricky because it is a bare infinitive.
"Is" is the main verb of a noun clause.

Therefore, you have two clauses.