CLAUSES

CLASSIFICATION OF CLAUSES
 MAIN CLAUSES (also called PRINCIPAL, INDEPENDENT, FREE, PRIMARY, MATRIX).
They are of the same rank and may be coordinated to each other: I don´t know and I couldn´t care less.
He´s keen on water sports but he doesn´t enjoy running.
SUBORDINATE CLAUSES (also called DEPENDENT, BOUND, SECONDARY, EMBEDDED,
INCLUDED, CONSTITUENT).
They are attached to a main clause and they are subdivided into:
1. Noun Clauses
2. Relative Clauses (or Adjective, Adjectival)
3. Adverbial Clauses
TYPES OF NOUN CLAUSES

 THAT-NOUN CLAUSES
 IF / WHETHER… OR NOT NOUN CLAUSES
 WH-INTERROGATIVE NOUN CLAUSES
 NOMINAL-RELATIVE CLAUSES
 THAT-NOUN CLAUSES
CHARACTERISTICS

They are introduced by the subordinating conjunction THAT, which

has no meaning and its only function is to introduce the clause.

The conjunction THAT can generally be omitted.

These clauses are generally used to report statements.

 THAT-NOUN CLAUSES
FUNCTIONS
• Subject: That he should forget me so quickly was rather a shock. It seems certain that
he is dead.
• Direct Object: I consider it likely that he might come. I believe that he is lying.
• Subjective Complement: The worst thing is that he never does his work.
• Apposition to a Noun: The idea that he was going to kill the man upset me. *
• Adjective Complement: I´m pleased that you will join us. I´m aware that it´s
dangerous.
 * THAT-NOUN CLAUSES USED AS
APPOSITION TO A NOUN

The nouns occurring in this type of construction are de-verbal abstract nouns, which are naturally related to verbs. Sometimes
there is no apparent verb associated. Anyway, the noun clause is said to be the notional DO to the verb associated.
The following are some nouns which occur with noun clauses in apposition to them:

affirmation idea supposition

assumption knowledge suspicion
belief news thing
decision notion thought
expectation proposal warning
feelingrequest wish
hope rumour fact
hint suggestion
IF/WHETHER…OR NOT - NOUN CLAUSES
CHARACTERISTICS

They are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions IF and

WHETHER… OR NOT, which have no other function that to introduce
the clause.
They can never be omitted.
They are generally used to report yes/no questions; therefore they occur
with reporting expressions such as ask, question, doubtful, etc.
 IF/WHETHER…OR NOT - NOUN CLAUSES
FUNCTIONS

• Subject: It is doubtful whether they´ll agree or not.

• Direct Object: I´ll ask her if she´s going to accept the offer.
• Object to a Preposition: I´m interested in whether you´ll do it or not.
• Subjective Complement: They mystery was whether it had existed or not.
• Apposition to a Noun: The question whether they had told us the truth or not upset us.
• Adjective Complement: I wasn´t sure whether he had seen me or not.
 WH-INTERROGATIVE NOUN CLAUSES
CHARACTERISTICS

They are introduced by Wh-interrogative pronouns, adjectives and adverbs.

They can never be omitted and they always have a function within the clause they
introduce.
They are used to report Wh-questions; therefore, the lexical content of the
interrogative is unknown. They occur with reporting expressions of the type: know,
certain, question, etc.
The interrogative word translates into Spanish as qué, cómo, quién, etc.
 WH-INTERROGATIVE NOUN CLAUSES
FUNCTIONS

• Subject: What time they left is not known.

• Direct Object: I don´t know where he went.

• Object to a Preposition: It depends on where they will stay.

• Subjective Complement: The problem is how to finish it on time.

• Apposition to a Noun: My question, why he refused to help us, was never answered.

• Adjective Complement: I wasn´t sure when I was supposed to leave.

 NOMINAL-RELATIVE CLAUSES
CHARACTERISTICS

They are introduced by nominal-relative pronouns, adjectives and adverbs.

They can never be omitted.
They always have a function within the clause they introduce.
They are NOT used to report any type of question; the lexical content of the
interrogative is known; they do NOT occur with reporting expressions of any kind.
The nominal-relative word translates into Spanish as: what: lo que; who: la persona
que, so that the nominal-relative word seems to have a NP + a relative pronoun
incorporated.
 NOMINAL-RELATIVE CLAUSES
FUNCTIONS

• Subject: What they did is wrong.

• Direct Object: Do what you can for tomorrow.
• Indirect Object: They gave whoever walked past them a leaflet.
• Object to a Preposition: You can talk about whatever topic you like.
• Subjective Complement: Home is where your friends and family are.
• Objective Complement: I made my children what they are today.
• Apposition: Give me your college address, i.e. where you live in term time.
CONTRASTING WH-INTERROGATIVE AND NOMINAL-
RELATIVE CLAUSES

To tell wh-interrogative clauses from nominal relative clauses we have to look at the role the
clause fulfills in the sentence. If there is an implied question, then the clause involved is wh-
interrogative. The content of the wh-word will be unknown to the speaker and the listener.
If there is no implied question and the lexical content of the nominal relative is known because
it is mentioned in previous sentences in the context, then the clause is nominal-relative.
What she did is a mystery. (Wh-interrogative clause)
What she did is wrong. (Nominal-relative clause)