I'd be happy to help with that!
1. "the smell of the muffins in the oven" is not a clause. It lacks a subject and a verb to form a complete thought. It's a phrase describing a smell but doesn't function as a standalone sentence.
2. "because I lost my gloves" is a dependent clause. It begins with the subordinating conjunction "because" and contains a subject ("I") and a verb ("lost"). However, it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and relies on an independent clause for context.
3. "she served the volleyball over the net" is an independent clause. It has a subject ("she") and a verb ("served"), forming a complete thought that can stand alone as a sentence.
In summary:
- The first group of words is not a clause.
- The second group of words is a dependent clause.
- The third group of words is an independent clause.