Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting…
2023
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.
Father would dress himself for court in a brightly coloured dhoti, a matching white shirt with an equally bright white turban and a neat black coat. The paraphernalia to court would include a cloth bundle containing court papers and a basket containing hot coffee with tumblers and plates for tiffin given by my mother or sisters-in-law.
The younger advocates of his time were great admirers of my father and used to listen to him with rapt attention whenever he rose to address the court. His arguments were forceful, coherent, cogent, compulsive and conclusive. The arguments would go on till about lunchtime and even the English judge used to take down notes of his points.
One client was particular that my father alone should argue his case. On the day my mother died, this case happened to be on the cause list. My mother was alive when my father left for court at 10 a.m. that morning and he had told my brother that he would return as soon as the case was over. Unfortunately, she died within an hour of his departure.
With some difficulty, the news was conveyed through an advocate in court. My father, however, continued his arguments without showing any emotions. Only after concluding the case did he get back home to the room where my mother’s body lay and stood in stoic silence.
‘One client was particular that my father .......’
The underlined expression is a/an __________ clause.
Answer: B. Principal — Concept — In clause analysis a sentence is broken into clauses, each having its own subject and finite verb. The clause that is not introduced by any…
- A.
Adverb
- B.
Principal
- C.
Noun
- D.
Adjective
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept — In clause analysis a sentence is broken into clauses, each having its own subject and finite verb. The clause that is not introduced by any subordinating word and makes complete sense on its own is the principal (main) clause; every clause that depends on it is subordinate, and a subordinate clause is named after the part of speech whose work it does — noun, adjective or adverb.
Application — The underlined expression is “One client was particular”. Analysing it:
Subject: “One client”; finite verb: “was”; subject complement (adjective): “particular”.
It is not introduced by any subordinating word — there is no that, when, who, which, because or if in front of it.
Read by itself, “One client was particular” is a complete, meaningful statement.
So it is the independent, self-standing core of the sentence “One client was particular that my father alone should argue his case.”
Cross-check — The remaining part, “that my father alone should argue his case”, opens with the subordinating word “that” and cannot stand alone; it is the dependent clause (a noun clause completing the adjective “particular”). Removing it still leaves a full sentence, which confirms that the underlined words carry the main assertion.
Contrast with the other clause types —
“Noun” — a noun clause fills a noun slot (subject, object or complement). That is the job of “that my father alone should argue his case”, not of the underlined words.
“Adjective” — an adjective clause qualifies a noun or pronoun, e.g. “the client who insisted”. The underlined words qualify no noun.
“Adverb” — an adverb clause tells when, why, how or on what condition, e.g. “because he trusted him”. The underlined words state the main assertion instead.
Hence the underlined expression “One client was particular” is a Principal (main) clause.