Part 5 - Sentence Structure & Clauses

Part 5 - Sentence Structure & Clauses

To answer the more complex questions in Part 5, you must look beyond individual words and understand how clauses are connected. The TOEIC exam frequently tests your understanding of sentence structure, which involves identifying independent and dependent clauses, recognizing different types of relative pronouns, and mastering the structures of conditional sentences. Developing the ability to map a sentence's clauses will prevent you from falling for grammatical distractors and help you identify the missing element immediately.

---

Subordinate Clauses (Adverbial Clauses)

A subordinate clause (or dependent clause) is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. It must be joined to an independent main clause using a subordinating conjunction.

1. Adverbial Clauses of Time

Time clauses are introduced by conjunctions such as when, before, after, as soon as, until, and once.

• The Future Time Clause Rule: This is a classic TOEIC testing point. In sentences that refer to the future, the main clause uses a future tense (e.g., will deliver or is going to announce), but the subordinate time clause must use the present simple tense to refer to that future time.
  • Correct: The manager will sign the contract as soon as the client approves the revisions.
  • Incorrect: The manager will sign the contract as soon as the client will approve the revisions.

2. Adverbial Clauses of Reason

Reason clauses explain why something happens, introduced by because, since, and as.

• Since the regional sales manager is out of the office, the assistant will lead the meeting.

3. Adverbial Clauses of Condition

Condition clauses specify the circumstances under which an action occurs, introduced by if, provided that, as long as, and unless.

• Unless means "if... not." It introduces a negative condition.
  • We will cancel the contract unless they deliver the items by Friday. (Equivalent to: if they do not deliver...)

---

Relative Clauses and Relative Pronouns

A relative clause (or adjective clause) modifies a noun in the main clause (called the antecedent). The clause is introduced by a relative pronoun, and the choice of pronoun depends on whether the antecedent is a person or a thing, and whether the pronoun acts as a subject, object, or possessive modifier within the clause.

Who vs. Whom

• Who functions as the subject of the relative clause and is followed immediately by a verb.
  • The technician who repaired the server is from the IT department. (Subject of repaired)
• Whom functions as the object of the relative clause and is followed by a noun or pronoun (a new subject).
  • The consultant whom we hired last month has proposed a new strategy. (Object of hired)
• Preposition + Whom: In formal English, prepositions must precede whom, not who.
  • The client to whom we sent the proposal has accepted our terms.

Whose

• Whose indicates possession and must be placed directly before a noun. It can refer to both people and organizations or things.
  • We hired a graphic designer whose portfolio was highly impressive.
  • The corporation whose headquarters are in Tokyo is expanding to Europe.

Reduced Relative Clauses

In business writing, relative clauses are often shortened to make sentences more concise.

• Active Reduction: Remove the relative pronoun and the verb be, leaving the present participle (-ing verb).
  • The employees who are working overtime -> The employees working overtime...
• Passive Reduction: Remove the relative pronoun and the verb be, leaving the past participle (-ed verb).
  • The equipment that was purchased last year -> The equipment purchased last year...
• On the Exam: Look for nouns followed by a blank and a prepositional phrase (e.g., The report ________ by the director). If the main verb is elsewhere in the sentence, the blank requires a past participle (e.g., written) acting as a reduced relative clause.

---

Conditional Sentences

Conditional sentences contain an if-clause (condition) and a main clause (result). The TOEIC exam tests your ability to match the verb tenses in these two clauses correctly.

The Four Standard Conditionals

1. Zero Conditional (General Truths):
   • Structure: If + Present Simple, Present Simple
   • If you press this button, the machine shuts down.
2. First Conditional (Real Future Possibilities):
   • Structure: If + Present Simple, Will / Can / May + Base Verb
   • If our profits increase, we will hire more technicians.
3. Second Conditional (Hypothetical Present or Future):
   • Structure: If + Past Simple, Would / Could + Base Verb
   • If the company had a larger budget, it would upgrade all office computers.
   • Grammar Rule: Use were instead of was for all subjects in the if-clause. (e.g., If he were the director, he would approve the expense.)
4. Third Conditional (Unreal Past Conditions):
   • Structure: If + Past Perfect, Would have + Past Participle
   • If we had submitted the proposal earlier, we would have won the contract.

---

Inverted Conditionals (Advanced Structure)

In formal business English, the word if can be omitted. When this happens, the subject and the auxiliary verb must be inverted. This is a very common testing point for high-level questions in Part 5.

• First Conditional Inversion (Should): Replace if with should.
  • Standard: If you need assistance, please contact customer support.
  • Inverted: Should you need assistance, please contact customer support.
• Second Conditional Inversion (Were): Replace if with were.
  • Standard: If he were the manager, he would implement the changes.
  • Inverted: Were he the manager, he would implement the changes.
  • If there is no verb "be", use: Were + Subject + to + verb (e.g., If the company merged -> Were the company to merge...)
• Third Conditional Inversion (Had): Replace if with had.
  • Standard: If we had known about the budget cuts, we would have modified the plan.
  • Inverted: Had we known about the budget cuts, we would have modified the plan.