 Clause = a construction defined by the

relation of predication :
 My glasses got broken.
 Clause = equivalent to the simple
sentence.
 According to the principle of hierarchy,
the clause is more complex /higher than
the phrase, but less complex / lower
than the sentence.
 The verb (V) of the clause takes, as a
rule, the finite verbal form:
 The girl HAS TURNED the page.
 The structural syntax does not see the
non-finite verb as capable of forming the
predication:
 Smoking cigarettes
 Ving P /Gerund phrase, not a clause.
Clause elements
 A. Primary elements are indispensable in
the clause structure:
 SUBJECT (S)
 Predicate (P).
 The structure of the predicate may consist
of:
 Verb only (V) - She entered.
 Elements other than the V itself
(Complement) -> (Nominal Predicate,
Object).
 S P

 Vfin C

NomPred Object
 E.g.
 Birds sing (v only)
 John is a student. (NomPred)
 John loves Mary (object)
 John made us laugh (object
complement)
 They elected John president. (Object
complement)
 B. Secondary elements are those that
are not indispensable in the clause
structure , but they serve either as
modifiers or connectors of the primary
elements.
 Those are attributive (adjectival) and
adverbial elements which either modify
or determine the primary elements, as
well as conjunctions, prepositions and
pronouns.
 E.g.
 He listened very carefully.

 C. Independent elements are those words

or constructions which make no direct
grammatical relation with other elements of
the clause (it is behind those elements the
we make the first cut in ICA!).
 E.g. Generally speaking , he is a fool.
 A. SUBJECT:
usually a construction distributed initially
usually it coincides with the topic of the
utterance
usually a NP.
Exponents: Nouns (N) , Pronouns (Pron),
PrepP, VingP, VinfP, Cl...
Empty/logical subject:
 It is hard to believe that.
It is raining.
Dummy subject : There’s a book.
(existential construction)
 Functional equivalence of different
constructions
 NP: Poor John was sick.
 PrepP: After eight would be fine.
 VingP: Smoking cigarettes can damage
your health.
 VinfP: To err is human, to forgive divine.
 Clause: What you’re attempting to do is
impossible.
 Complex subject: various constructions
 You and I are made for each other.
 His statement and what you’re saying
are two incompatible things.
 B. Predicate (P):
 everything beside the subject, apart from
the modifications of the whole predication.
 After all, he is the boss.
 Exponents: VP
 VP may consist of one V only, in a finite
form.
 Within the structure of P (conn + NomPred)
there may be :
a clause : This is what we need
a PrepP : He is from Dallas, Texas.
 Predicate may be complex:
 John went out and bought a book.

 Object
 Exponents:
 NP: Read it!
 PrepP: Look at yourself!
 Clause: I liked what I saw.
 C. Modifiers
 a. adjectival:
modify nouns.
According to their position, modifiers may be:
Premodifiers
○ Black box
○ summer dress
○ air mail
Postmodifiers (qualifiers)
○ the power to resist
○ the house on the hill
○ the book I read
 b. Adverbial modifiers modify verbs,
adjectives and adverbs; usually
distributed after the head word:
Run quickly!
I came to look for Mary.
Mary came in singing.
Life begins at forty.
You can come when you want.
 c.Sentence modifiers modify the entire predication
(without any grammatical relation with the elemnts
within the predication.
 Luckily, she came on time. (adverbs)
 Oh, I see. (exclamations)
 Where are you going, John? (vocatives)
 Generally speaking, I prefer theatre. (participle
phrases)
 To tell you the truth, I ‘ve always detested that.
(infinitive phrases)
 Bag in hand, she stood at the corner. (verbless
constituents)
 An expert on Shakespeare, he wrote many books.
Typical clause structure

 S P

 Vfin ( C) Adv

 NomPred Object

 IO DO Compl
Types of clauses

 According to their syntactic status,

clauses may be:
 Independant Clauses
Equivalent to simple sentences
 Dependent clauses
Combine with some other clauses
According to their syntactic function,
dependant clauses may be:
 Noun clauses: perform the same
functions as nouns or noun phrases;
syntactically, they are equivalent to
nouns. Their functions may be:
Subjective: What he said was foolish.
Predicative: She became what they wanted
her.
Objective: She did what she was asked to
do.
 Adjectival clauses have the same
function as adjectives , modifying the
noun or a noun phrase:
This is the book I want.
 Adverbial clauses modify verbs or verb
phrases: I’ll come when you tell me.
 According to their meaning, adverbial
clauses may be:
 Time: He turned pale when he saw me.
 Place: He stayed where I was.
 Cause : As we can’t get any help, let’s go
alone.
 Purpose: He stepped forward so that I
might see him.
 Result: I was so tired that I could hardly
sleep.
 Condition: If he calls, I’m out.
 Comparison: She behaved better than I
had expected.
 Concession: Though he may be poor,
he’s honest.
 Manner: I will do as you advise.
Recommended reading
 Aarts, B. (2001). English syntax and
argumentation. New York: Palgrave.
 Morenberg, M. (2002). Doing grammar.
Oxford/New York: Oxford University
Press.
 Verspoor, M., & Sauter, K. (2000). English
sentence analysis: An introductory
course. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John
Benjamins Publishing Company.