Method

1. Find out all the finite verbs in the sentence. Remember that there are as many clauses as there are finite verbs.
2. Find out the principal clause
3. Find out the subordinate clause or clauses
4. Determine what function each subordinate clause serves and identify it as a noun clause, adjective clause or adverb clause.
5. Show how each subordinate clause is related to the principal clause.
6. Analyze the principal clause and subordinate clauses separately.

Note the correct use of the following adverbs

Very

Very means ‘to a great degree’. It is commonly used with adjectives or adverbs in the positive degree.

He was very nice.
She is very intelligent.
It is very small.
He did it very well.
He drove very carefully.

The tense of a verb in the subordinate clause changes in accordance with the tense of the verb in the main clause.

The basic rules are as follows:

Rule 1

If the verb in the principal clause is in the present or the future tense, the verb in the subordinate clause may be in any tense, depending upon the sense to be expressed.

We have seen that the same word may introduce clauses of different kinds. The following examples illustrate this point.

If
He asked if he could go. (Here the subordinate clause ‘if he could go’ is the object of the verb asked. It, therefore, serves as a noun clause.)

The same word may introduce clauses of different kinds. It is therefore wrong to judge a clause from the word which introduces it. The exact nature of each clause should be figured out from the kind of function it serves in the sentence.

Compare:

A noun clause does the work of a noun. We have seen that a noun serves five purposes, so does a noun clause. Given below are pairs of sentences having similar meanings. One of each pair is constructed with a noun. The other is constructed with a noun clause.

Adverb clauses of condition

Adverb clauses of condition are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions if, weather, unless, in case, as if, so long as etc.

If you heat ice, it melts.
In case you miss the train, give me a call.
If I had been rich, I would have lent him some money.
Unless you run fast, you will miss the train.

An adverb clause serves as an adverb. It modifies the meaning of (or says something more about) a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Given below are two sentences with similar meanings. One of them is constructed with an adverb and the other is constructed with an adverb clause.

We have seen that an adjective clause serves as an adjective. It is used to qualify a noun or a pronoun. Given below are two sentences with similar meanings. One of them is constructed with an adjective and the other is constructed with an adjective clause.

Read the sentences given below:

I heard him singing.
Driven by rain, we took shelter under a tree.
It being a small cot, he couldn’t sleep on it.

The number of clauses in a sentence is equal to the number of finite verbs in it. Each of the sentences given above consists of only one finite verb. Therefore, each one of them has only one clause.