Clause elements syntactically

defined
BY
DR. BUSHRA NI’MA
 ♦1. A subject
1- is normally a noun phrase or a clause with
nominal function.

2- occurs before the verb phrase in declarative

clauses and immediately after the operator in
question.

3- has number and person concord, where

applicable with the verb phrase.
 ♦ 2. An object (direct or indirect)
1- like a subject, is a noun phrase or clause with
nominal function.
2- normally follows the subject and the verb
phrase.

3- by the passive transformation, assumes the

status of subject.
♦3.An indirect object
when both objects and present, it precedes the
direct object.
♦ 4. A complement (subject or object)
1- is a noun phrase, an adjective phrase, or a clause
with nominal function, having a complement
referential relation with the subject (or object).

2- follows the subject, verb phrase, and (if one is

present) the object.
3- does not become through the passive
transformation.
 ♦ 5. An adverbial
1- is an adverb phrase, adverbial clause, noun
phrase, or prepositional phrase.
2- is usually mobile (has the ability to occur in
more than one position in the clause).
3- is generally optional (may be added to or
removed from a sentence without affecting its

acceptability), (in cases such as SVA and SVOA

patterns, adverbs here are obligatory).
 ♦ 6. The verb:
is always realized by a verb phrase. It's
normally present in all classes, including
Imperative clauses (where the subject is
typically absent).
The verb determines what other elements
(apart from the subject) may or must occur in
the clause.
 Clause Elements Semantically
Considered
1) Agentive Subject: animate causer of the
happening.
* John opened the door.
* Margaret is mowing the grass.

The most typical semantic role of a subject is

agentive, that is, the animate being instigating
or causing the happening denoting by the verb.
2) Instrumental Subject:
inanimate causer of the happening.

The computer has solved the problems.

The wind opened the door.

The electric shock killed him.

* The unwitting (generally inanimate material)

cause of an event.
 3) Affected subject
one being affected by the event.
The door opened
• This role of subject is found with:

intransitive verbs: Jack fell down

intensive verbs: The pen is laying on the table.

His English has been improved. (transitive)

affected subject
His English has improved. (intransitive)
They have increased the price of shirts and
decreased the price of trousers.
(they=agentive subject)
The price of shirts has increased and that of
trousers has decreased. (affected subject)
increase(transitive),
decrease(intransitive)
Affected subject Agentive subject

My roses are growing. I am growing my roses.

The door opened. (Khalid/The wind) opened the

door.
The dam blew up. Terrorists blew up the dam.

An arm rose. Somebody raised up an arm.

Her writing is improving. She is improving her writing.

The road became narrower. They narrowed the road.

 4)Recipient Subject
one that receives the happening.
Mr. Smith has given his son a radio.(so now his
son has a radio)
David has a beautiful wife.

* This role of subject is found with such verbs as:

have, own, possess, see, hear, benefit (from).

-"Do you love me, honey?" "Look into my eyes"

She said softly, "You'll see my answer in there!"
- I looked into her big, round, blue eyes and I
saw a fire burning there.
Q. Do the subject in the two coordinate clauses
have the same semantic role?
Perceptual(sensitive) verbs see, hear; require a
recipient subject in contrast to look at, listen to,
[taste, smell, feel] having both meaning, which
are agentive.
• Verbs indicating cognition or emotion may
also require a recipient subject:
─ I thought you were mistaken (It seemed
to me).
– I liked the play (The play gave me
pleasure).
5. Locative Subject: one that denotes location
(designating the place).
– The bus can hold forty people. (forty
people can sit in the bus)
- Los Angeles is foggy. (It's foggy in Los Angeles)

- This jar contains coffee. (There's coffee in this jar

6. Temporal Subject: one that denotes time.
–
Tomorrow is my birthday. (It is my birthday
tomorrow
7. Eventive Subject: one that denotes event.
– The
concert is on Thursday.
– The match is today
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION