Complex sentences with subordinate clauses

In a complex sentence with a subordinate clause (ergash gapli qo‘shma gap) the clauses are not equal: the subordinate clause (ergash gap) explains some part of the main clause (bosh gap), stands in its place, or relates to the whole main clause as its cause, condition, purpose and so on. The main clause is relatively independent in grammar and meaning, while the subordinate clause depends on it and cannot be understood without it. This is the richest and most frequent type of complex sentence; in academic and official texts cause and effect, condition and purpose are expressed precisely by it. The exam asks you to identify the type of subordinate clause, replace it with a simple sentence (synonymy) and place commas correctly.

§1. Structure and linking devices

A subordinate clause is attached to the main clause by:

• subordinating conjunctions: chunki (because), agar (if), garchi (although), go‘yo (as if), -ki, toki (so that), shuning uchun (therefore), negaki (since);
• predicate forms: -sa (condition), -sa ham or -gan bo‘lsa ham (concession), -gani uchun (cause), -gach (time);
• paired relative words: kim...o‘sha (whoever...that one), nima...shu (whatever...that), qancha...shuncha (the more...the more), qayerda...o‘sha yerda (wherever...there), qachon...o‘shanda (whenever...then);
• particles: ( — Let me know if he comes).

A subordinate clause may come before or after the main clause; a comma usually separates them.

-ki is written solid with a word of the main clause and the subordinate clause follows it; chunki and toki stand at the start of the subordinate clause.
Demonstrative words in the main clause (shu, shunday, shuncha, o‘sha) often point to the part that the subordinate clause explains: Shuni bilingki, ... (shuni is an object, and the subordinate clause spells out its content).

§2. Subject, predicate, object and attributive clauses

A subordinate clause is named after the part of the main clause it explains:

• Subject clause (ega ergash gap): Kim mehnat qilsa, o‘sha rohat ko‘radi. (Whoever works hard will enjoy rest; o‘sha in the main clause is the subject, and the subordinate clause explains it.)
• Predicate clause (kesim ergash gap): Bizning maqsadimiz shuki, yurtimiz gullab-yashnasin. (Our aim is this: may our country flourish; shu is the predicate.)
• Object clause (to‘ldiruvchi ergash gap): Shuni bilingki, vaqt qaytmaydi. (Know this: time does not come back.) Nima eksang, shuni o‘rasan. (Whatever you sow, you reap.)
• Attributive clause (aniqlovchi ergash gap): Shunday kitob o‘qidimki, uni hech qachon unutmayman. (I read a book such that I will never forget it; shunday is an attribute.)

Worked example

Identify the subordinate clause in Kim kitobni ko‘p o‘qisa, u bilimli bo‘ladi ("Whoever reads a lot becomes knowledgeable").

1. Main clause: u bilimli bo‘ladi; subordinate clause: Kim kitobni ko‘p o‘qisa.
2. u in the main clause answers kim bilimli bo‘ladi? (who becomes knowledgeable?) — it is the subject.
3. The subordinate clause explains exactly this u: "the person who reads a lot".
4. Answer: a subject clause.

§3. Adverbial clauses

Adverbial clauses show the circumstances of the action in the main clause:

• Time: Quyosh botgach, salqin tushdi. (When the sun set, it grew cool.) Qachon kelsang, o‘shanda gaplashamiz. (We’ll talk when you come.)
• Place: Qayerda gul bo‘lsa, o‘sha yerda bulbul bor. (Where there are roses, there is a nightingale.)
• Cause: Kelolmadim, chunki kasal edim. (I couldn’t come because I was ill.) Compare: Kasal bo‘lganim uchun kelolmadim — this is a simple sentence!
• Purpose: Yaxshi o‘qi, toki ota-onang xursand bo‘lsin. (Study well so that your parents are pleased.)
• Condition: Agar yomg‘ir yog‘sa, sayrga chiqmaymiz. (If it rains, we won’t go for a walk.)
• Concession: Garchi charchagan bo‘lsa ham, ishni tugatdi. (Although he was tired, he finished the job.) Qancha urinmasin, eshik ochilmadi. (However hard he tried, the door would not open.)
• Result: Shunday qattiq yomg‘ir yog‘diki, ko‘chalar suvga to‘ldi. (It rained so hard that the streets flooded.)
• Comparison: U shunday gapirardiki, go‘yo hamma narsani biladi. (He spoke as if he knew everything.)
• Degree: Qancha ko‘p o‘qisang, shuncha ko‘p bilasan. (The more you read, the more you know.)

Do not confuse clauses of cause and purpose either: a clause of cause names what happened before the main event (chunki kasal edim), while a clause of purpose names a result to be achieved later (toki ota-onang xursand bo‘lsin). The predicate of a purpose clause is usually in the imperative-optative mood.

Worked example

Identify the subordinate clause in Garchi kun sovuq bo‘lsa ham, bolalar hovlida o‘ynashardi ("Although it was cold, the children were playing in the yard").

1. Main clause: bolalar hovlida o‘ynashardi.
2. The subordinate clause is attached by garchi ... bo‘lsa ham.
3. It names a circumstance that could have prevented the main action but did not.
4. Answer: a clause of concession; the comma goes after the subordinate clause.

§4. Synonymy with simple sentences

Many subordinate clauses can be turned into a simple sentence (with a participle, converb or verbal noun):

• Quyosh botgach, salqin tushdi → Quyosh botgandan keyin salqin tushdi (After sunset it grew cool);
• Kelolmadim, chunki kasal edim → Kasalligim sababli kelolmadim (I couldn’t come owing to illness);
• Kim mehnat qilsa, o‘sha rohat ko‘radi → Mehnat qilgan rohat ko‘radi (The one who works enjoys rest).

Forms in -gach and -sa can be the predicate of a subordinate clause, but only when that clause has its own subject.

Worked example

Is U uyga kelgach, darhol dars tayyorlashga o‘tirdi ("Having come home, he immediately sat down to his homework") simple or complex?

1. kelgach is a converb form; both actions are done by the same person — u.
2. The dependent part has no subject of its own, so uyga kelgach is an adverbial of time.
3. If the subjects were different (Otam kelgach, biz ovqatlandik — When my father came, we ate), it would be a complex sentence with a clause of time.
4. Answer: a simple sentence.

§5. Punctuation in complex sentences with subordinate clauses

• If the subordinate clause precedes the main clause, a comma follows it: Agar vaqting bo‘lsa, yordam ber. (If you have time, help.)
• If a clause with chunki, toki, negaki follows the main clause, a comma goes before the conjunction: Kelmadim, chunki kasal edim.
• A comma follows -ki: Shuni unutmangki, bilim — kuch. (Don’t forget that knowledge is power.)
• If several subordinate clauses depend on one main clause, each is set off by a comma: Qachon bahor kelsa, qachon daraxtlar gullasa, dalaga chiqamiz. (When spring comes and the trees blossom, we will go out to the fields.)

Worked example

Punctuate Agar ertaga havo ochiq bo‘lsa biz toqqa chiqamiz chunki bu sayohatni uzoq kutgan edik ("If the weather is clear tomorrow, we will go to the mountains, because we have long been waiting for this trip").

1. The conditional clause Agar ... bo‘lsa precedes the main clause — a comma after it.
2. Main clause: biz toqqa chiqamiz.
3. The clause of cause with chunki follows the main clause — a comma before chunki.
4. Answer: Agar ertaga havo ochiq bo‘lsa, biz toqqa chiqamiz, chunki bu sayohatni uzoq kutgan edik.

Check yourself

1. Which subordinate clause is in Agar vaqting bo‘lsa, menga yordam ber?

2. Which subordinate clause is in Shuni unutmangki, bilim kuchdir?

3. Which subordinate clause is in Qancha ko‘p ishlasang, shuncha ko‘p topasan?

4. Which subordinate clause is in Kim yaxshi o‘qisa, u grant oladi?

5. Turn Kelolmadim, chunki yomg‘ir yog‘di into a simple sentence.

6. Which subordinate clause is in Shunday sovuq bo‘ldiki, daryo muzlab qoldi?

7. Which subordinate clause is in Qayerda suv bo‘lsa, o‘sha yerda hayot bor?

8. Which subordinate clause is in Yaxshi o‘qi, toki ustozing xursand bo‘lsin?

Common mistakes

• Leaving out the comma after -ki.
• Confusing clauses of condition (-sa) and concession (-sa ham).
• Treating a simple sentence with a converb and one subject as complex.
• Mixing up subject and object clauses: look at the role of the correlative word in the main clause.
• Omitting the comma before chunki.
• Taking a simple sentence with an adverbial of cause (kasal bo‘lganim uchun) for a clause of cause.