205

CLAUSE ELEMENTS

OVERVIEW

1. Subject and predicate

2. Distinctive features the clause elements

3. Forms of the subject

4 Grammatical subjects

Words group together into larger units: phrases,clauses and/or sentences.The Glossary of terms in
Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English (2002) defines these larger grammatical
units as follows:

PHRASE:
Astructural unit built fromwords,consistingof a headplus(optionally)modifiers.
CLAUSE:A key structuralunit of grammar,normallyconsistingof a verbphraseplus other
elements:subject,object,predicative®,
adverbial.
SENTENCE: A complete structure found in written texts, bounded by sentencepunctuation such as
6699 66999 9909999
Py?

To sum up, words pattern or group together to form phrases, which in turn pattern together to form
clauses (simple sentences),which in turn combine to form compound sentences(sentencesmade up
of two or more main clauses of equal value) and/or complex sentences(sentencescontaining a main
clause and at least one subordinate clause)

1. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

1.1 THE SUBJECT

We will now concentrate on the clause as the key unit of syntax capable of occurring independently
and on the arrangement of the elements that constitute it. This is vital if we want to construct well-

formed, grammatical sentences.Traditionally, a clause in English consists of two main constituents

or elements: subject and predicate. The Subject is usually realized by a Noun Phraseand the
Predicate contains at least a Verb Phrase. The former is the person or thing that the clause is about,
while the latter tells you about either the identity or attributes of the subject or about what it does,
undergoes or experiences.

’ We are going to refer to predicatives as complements. (Subject or object complements)

° Some grammarians object to this type of definition because (among other reasons) it only takes into account the
orthographic sentence.Spoken sentences,of course, do not have capital letters or closing punctuation marks.
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SUBJECT PREDICATE

l. Theswineflu.| hasspread.
2. The swineflu.| has spreadrapidly all overthe country.
3. The swineflu | killed manypregnantwomen.
4. The swineflu.| has causedthe World HealthOrganization(WHO) a
lot of problems.

Theswineflu.| makespatientsweakandirritable.
Theswineflu.| hasput thegovernment
ina difficult situation.
| 4

Theswineflu | is a pandemicdisease
The swine flu| is fatal.

he swine flu | will be beaten

Chart 1: Subject and Predicate
Focus on meaning
Answer:

a) Which predicate(s) tells us something about the identity of the subject? The predicate in
number 7

b) Which predicate(s) tells us something about an attribute of the subject?

c) Which predicate tells us something about what the subject does?
d) Which predicate(s) tells us something about what the subject experiences or undergoes?

1.2 CLAUSE ELEMENTS OTHER THAN THE SUBJECT

It is worth remembering that the most important constituent in the predicate is the Verb Phrase.In
fact, it is the most important constituent of the clause, for without a finite verb there would be no
clause or sentence.It is present in all clauses,including imperative clauses,where the subject is
often elliptical. The elements (other than the subject) that make up the structure of a clause will vary
in type and number depending on the type of verb head (see basic sentencepatterns). The following
is an overview of the main verb classes:

INTRANSITIVE VERBS followed by no Obligatory Adverbial.

INTRANSITIVE VERBS followed by an Obligatory Adverbial.
MONOTRANSITIVE VERBS followed by an Object.
DITRANSITIVE VERBS followed by two Objects each representing a different entity.
COMPLEX-TRANSITIVE VERBS followed by an Object and a Complement.
COMPLEX-TRANSITIVE VERBS followed by an Object and an Obligatory Adverbial.
LINKING VERBS followed by a Complement.
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2. SOME DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE CLAUSE

ELEMENTS

The Subject
a) It is realized by a Noun Phrasewhich may consist of one or more than one word.
b) It is usually fronted. (Unmarked Word Order) S + V

The Verb Phrase

a) It must always be present.

b) It must be a finite form of the verb
c) The same verb (sometimes in somewhat different senses)may enter into different clause types.

The Object
a) It is realized by a noun phrase or noun equivalent.
b) It is usually placed after the subject and the verb and if both objects are present, the indirect
object generally precedes the direct object.

The Complement
a) It is realized by a noun phrase or by an adjective phrase.
b) It is usually placed after the subject and verb if it is a subject complement and after the direct
object if it is an object complement.
c) The subject complement predicates about the subject, and the object complement, about the
direct object.

The Adverbial

a) It can be realized by an adverb phrase, a prepositional phrase, a clause or even by a noun phrase.
b) It can be placed in different positions in the clause, but this will depend on its type and form.
c) It may be optional or obligatory.

CLAUSE ELEMENTS / SYNTACTIC FUNCTION STRUCTURES / PHRASES

e MAJOR

Verb Phrase Verb Phrase

Subject Noun Phrase

Object (Direct, Indirect or Prepositional) Adjective Phrase
Complement (Subject or Object) Adverb Phrase
Adverbial (Obligatory or Optional) Prepositional Phrase
© MINOR

Modifier (Pre-modifier or Post-modifier) Infinitive Clause

Head GerundialClause
Determinative ParticipialClause
Complement (Adjectival or Prepositional)
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Go back to Chart | and try to identify the clause elements in the predicate of each of the sentences.
Clause elements are sometimes hard to mark off and label. However, a simple but effective method
you can apply is asking specific questions. For example:
Who did the swine flu kill?

Where has the swine flu spread rapidly?

How has the swine flu spread over the country?
Another method could be by substituting a constituent by one word. For example,
The swine flu killed them.
rn

The swine flu is that.

SAMPLE IDENTIFICATION OF CLAUSE ELEMENTS

INTRANSITIVE VERBS (Vi)

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Intransitive Verb Adverbial

The swine flu has spread (rapidly all over the country).

Theswineflu hasspread ——————__

| weewnnnnnnnnnnnnann=-==
Patients must stay in bed.

Theswineflu.| hasspread|rapidly all overthe country.

V1 A opt A opt
s | P
MONOTRANSITIVE VERBS (Vmt)

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Monotransitive Verb Direct Object Adverbial

The swineflu killed manypregnantwomen (lastwinter.)

TheSwineflu haskilled manypregnantwomen_| --------------

Theswineflu| killed|manypregnantwomen|lastwinter.

|
Vint| Od Aopt
S
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DITRANSITIVE VERBS (Vat)

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Ditransitive Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Adverbial

The swine flu has caused the World Health a lot of problems (lately).
Organization

Theswineflu | hascaused
| theWorld HealthOrganization|a
lot of problems
| lately.

Ol Od Aopt
S P

COMPLEX TRANSITIVE VERBS (Vet)

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Complex transitive| Direct Object|Object Adverbial

Verb Complement
The swineflu |Makes patients weakand _—_—E_sé|_:-
----------
irritable.

The World will declare the swine flu the worst (ever)
Health pandemic
Organization

Theswineflu.| hasput thegovernment in a difficult situation.

The World Health Organization will declare the swine flu the worst pandemic

ever.

Vct Od Co Aopt
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LINKING VERBS (VL)

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Linking Verb SubjectComplement

| Adverbial

Theswineflu| Is apandemic
disease_—i|s'
--------------

The Swine flu| Is Fatal «—_—_

(“———s—sCSYs
mm

The swineflu| is| a pandemicdisease

Vi Cs

3. FORMS OF THE SUBJECT

The subject of a sentenceis always a noun or a noun equivalent. That is a noun phrase whose head
or nucleus is a noun or noun equivalent.
(Note: noun equivalents are grammatical categories other that nouns that can work as nouns. e.g.
gerunds, pronouns, nominal adjectives.)

REMEMBER

Even if the subject is made up of one word (noun), it is considered an NP; 1.e.a Noun Phrase.

3.1 CATEGORIES FUNCTIONING AS HEADS OF THE SUBJECT

3.1.1. NOUNS

This chewing-gum is good!

Girls love clothes.

Nick went to Paris last week.

Locative subject (proper nouns denoting places)

Washington D.C. is the Capital of the USA.

Temporal subject (nouns denoting time)

Monday is my favourite day.
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3.1.2. NOMINAL ADJECTIVES (adjectives working as the head of a noun phrase)

Adjectives used as nouns usually refer to the whole class and have plural agreement. However,
when they have abstract reference, they have singular agreement.

The retired in Argentina suffer alot.

The disabled should have benefits.

The young are generally energetic.

The poor in India starve to death.
mn

[Theunknown makes people feel scared. (unknown: abstract noun)

3.1.3 PRONOUNS

I ‘ll consider the offer.

One_ cannotacceptsuchinvitation.
Someone is singing.
Mine was much better.

Everybody is welcome.

3.1.4. PRONOUNS IN PRONOMINAL GROUPS

It is typical of the indefinites which have both a PRONOUN and a DETERMINER role to fuse
these roles in “of- expressions” where the final part is a personal pronoun or a noun preceded by a
definite determiner. This construction often receives the name of PRONOMINAL GROUP or

PHRASE.

Some of us will stay for the weekend.

One of them has already left.

Some of the waiters were quite rude.
One of the waiters was quite rude.
Most of the time was used for practical work.

3.1.5. GERUNDS

Smoking is bad for your lungs.

Sunbathing on the beach is my favourite pastime.
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3.1.6. INDEPENDENT GENITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

Sometimes the Head of the Subject can be omitted. Such is the case of the Independent Genitive.
However, the Head which has been omitted is generally inferred by the context.

Jenny’s wasthe mostaccurate.

Possible heads: test —article —result —explanation —answer

3.1. 7. NOUN CLAUSES

What he said / was bad.

Where he is now / is what I'd like to know.

3.1.8. INFINITIVE FORMS

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

To smoke more than ten cigarettes a day is really bad.
(Note: Here, an anticipatory “it” would sound much more natural. It is bad to smoke...)

3.1.9. SUBJECT UNDERSTOOD

(Generally in the imperative mood)

Have a look! (you)
Keep still! (you)
Please, do take a seat! (you)

3.1.10 GRAMMATICAL SUBJECTS: dummy “it”, anticipatory “it”, and

existential “there”

This particular type of subject will be dealt with in the next section.

4. GRAMMATICAL SUBJECTS

4.1 DUMMY or EMPTY or PROP “IT”

Read this extract from an encyclopedia and identify the function and reference (if any) of the
“it” forms in bold type:

Japan
JAPAN is situated in eastern Asia in the north Pacific Ocean. (1)It is made up of a chain of more
than 1,000 islands. The main ones are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. The capital, Tokyo
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is in Honshu. Japan’s nearest neighbour, Korea, is separatedfrom (2)it by the Sea of Japan,
therefore, (3) it’s not a long way from one country to the other.
About 85% of Japan is mountainous. (4)It is a long country, so the weather and climate vary
widely. In the nothern island of Hokkaido, (5)it snows heavily in winter but (6)it’s pleasantly warm
during the summer; while in the southern island of Okinawa (7)it is as hot and as humid as the
tropics most of the year. (8)It rains so heavily during June and July that this period is known as the
rainy season. (Adapted from First Certificate Avenues by Fall and Kelly)
Answers: 1)..... cece
eeeeeee Z)scccccccccccccccceecs
3).csccccccccccccees A)..cccccccccscseees
S).ccecceecceecees
een T)acccceccceccceceees ne

As we can see,numbers 1, 2 and 4, illustrate instances of “it” as a central pronoun (personal

pronoun) having a specific reference (in all three casesanaphoric to “Japan’’). In contrast, numbers
3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 neither have any kind of reference nor do they substitute for any noun or noun
phrase in the text.

COMPARE:

It is made up of a chain of more than 1,000 islands

J (Japan is made up of a chain of more than 1,000 islands)

It’s not a long way from one country to the other.

® (Japan? is not a long way from one country to the other)
It is a long country
J (Japan is a long country)
It snows heavily in winter
(The weather/The sky/Japan? snows heavily in winter)

If we analyze the syntactic function of the “it” forms in the text about Japan, we will seethat in all
cases,except for one, the “it” form fills in the position of the subject. However, as illustrated above,
there are casesin which no participant is required to assumethe subject function. In such casesthis
function is taken over by the “Prop it”, which has little or no meaning and whose only role is that
of a “place filler”, for it fills in the subject slot. “Prop it” mainly occurs in clausesto signify
(a)Time, (b)Weather conditions and (c) Distance. In such cases“it” conveys an impersonal
meaning. This form is also known as Empty, Dummy, Grammatical and or Impersonal It or Subject.
214

IMPORTANT!While Spanishallowstheomissionof thesubject(SUJETOTACITO)or the

complete absenceof an explicit subject (SUJETO IMPERSONAL), English does not. On the
contrary, sentenceswith no explicit subject in English are considered ungrammatical.

COMPARE:

Y Cuando volvimos de Europa. (nosotros)

Y Cuando volvi de Europa.(yo)
¥ Cuando volvieron de Europa. (ellos/ellas)
x When returned from Europe.(I?,you?,he?,she?,We?)

Spanish English
V_ Es tarde. e *Ts late.

V_It (empty/prop/dummy)is late.

JV Estalloviznando. e *Is drizzling/drizzles
Vv It(empty/prop/dummy) is drizzling
JV Eraprimavera. @ *Wasspring.
JV It(empty/prop/dummy)was
spring.
JV Esla unaenpunto. e *Is oneo’clocksharp.
JV It(empty/prop/dummy)is
oneo'clocksharp.

4.2 ANTICIPATORY IT

Read the text below paying special attention to the sentences underlined, once you have
finished try to answer the questions that follow:

A Kind of Sermon

(1)It is probably easier for teachersthan for students to appreciate the reasonswhy learning English
seemsto become increasingly difficult once the basic structures and patterns of the language have
been understood. Students are naturally surprised and disappointed to discover that a process which
ought to become simpler does not appear to do so.
(2)It may not seem much consolation to point out that teachers also become frustrated. They find
that students who were easy to teach, hesitate when confronted with the vast untouched area of

English vocabulary and usage which falls outside the scope of basic textbooks. The language they
thought they knew now appearsto consist of a bewildering variety of idioms, clichés and accepted
phraseswith different meanings in different contexts. As a consequence,(3)it can be hard to
convincethemthatthey arestill makingprogressandthattheir Englishis certainto improve.
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In such circumstances,(4)it is hardly surprising that some give up in disgust, while others still wait
hopefully for their teacher to give them the same confident guidance he was able to offer them at
first. The teacher, for his part, may think: “(5)it’s no use trying to explain the inexplicable” and, as a
consequence,take refuge in quoting proverbs to his colleagues such as: “You can lead a horse to
water but you can’t make him drink.” The students might feel inclined to counter this with “The
more I learn, the less [know.” (Adapted from Longman Advanced English Coursebook)

1. What is probably easier for teachersthan for students?

2. What does not seem to be much consolation?

3. Paraphrasesentencenumber 3 beginning with “Convincing”. Identify the subject of the sentence

you have just paraphrased
4. “That some give up in disgust 1shardly surprising”. This could be a possible paraphrase of
sentencenumber 4. Which of the two versions sounds more natural to you? Why do you think this
is so?

5. According to teachers,what is no use?

6. Would you say the “it” forms in these five sentenceshave any meaning, do they stand for any
noun in order to avoid repetition? What is their function?

The usual position of the subject in English is at the beginning of a sentence(themeposition), that is
to say, that S+V+O or S+V+A is what is known as unmarked(standard) word order. But when
speakersbuild messages,they have different communicative purposes in mind. Sometimes, esp. for
the sake of emphasis, unmarked word order can be altered by either fronting an adverbial “Here
comes the bride”’ A+V+S or even an object “A car I don’t have” O+S+V_ (marked word order)

Some other times, speakersmay decide to alter the usual word order by postponing the subject. This
may be done if the subject is long, for example a clause, or if the speaker/writer wants to focus on
the subject by placing it towards the end of the sentence. But as in an English affirmative sentence
a verb can never fill in the position of the subject, the “empty slot” left at the beginning 1sgenerally
filled in by the “anticipatory it”, which has no meaning and merely performs a grammatical
function. The resulting syntactic construction has two subjects: the “anticipatory subject” and the
“postponed” subject. Since the latter is the actual carrier of meaning, it is also known as notional /
real / logical subject.
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TYPES OF SUBJECTS CLAUSES THAT CAN BE ANTICIPATED BY “IT”

a. An Infinitive Clause:

It canbe hard
| to convincethem....

S1
(anticipatory
S)| P | S2
(postponed
S)

b. A “that” Clause:

Si(anticipatory S.) |, | S2(postponed S.)

c. A Gerundial Clause:

It | ’sno
use
| trying
toexplain
theinexplicable.
Si(anticipatory
S.)| P S2 (postponed
S.)

d. A Wh- Clause:

It doesn’t matter|what she looks like.

Si(anticipatory
S.)
| P | S2
(postponed
S.)

Note

“Anticipatory it” is not only confined to subject function, it often anticipates an object

I |find it difficult to tell her the truth.

|
louanticipatory
O.) 02(postponed
O.)
Ss P
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4.3 EXISTENTIAL “THERE”

Read the sentences below and tick the choice that best suits your answer:

Correct (C ) Incorrect (I) or Not Sure (NS )

1. A light is in the distance.

. There’s a light in the distance.
W&
Ww]
AB]
Mm}
Dl
NI}
co]
. Some ladies were waiting for you.
Tn
. Therewere some ladies waiting for you.
Th

. There is a chair there.

Tn

. There is the chair.

There exist social conventions that govern human behaviour.

There followed dead silence.

Meaning and use: A sentencelike ‘A light is in the distance’ 1spossible in English but not
common. The natural way of putting it is to begin with an unstressedthere and then postpone the
indefinite subject, in this case, ‘a light’. This use of there is known as “existential” or “introductory”
there. In Longman English Grammar of Spoken and Written English (2002), we read that
“Existential there is a device used to state the existence or occurrence of something.”(p 412) The
noun phrase following the verb is called notional or real subject.

Syntactic Analysis: Depending on the author, when there is a clause or phrase following the
notional subject, this will be considered either part of the notional subject as a postmodifier or part
of the predicate as an adverbial.

COMPARE:

There | iS | alight inthedistance.

Existential “there’) Vi | NotionalS.| Adjunct

Si P S2 P

There
is alight
inthe
distance. postmodifier

Existential “there”

Si
Vi | Notional
P
S. S2
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Agreement: The filler subject there merely postpones the notional subject so the noun phrase that
followstheverbdetermines
whetherthe agreement
is singularor plural!®.
mT

There was a lady waiting for you.

Therewere some ladies waiting for you.
Th

There’s a cake, two eggs and a bottle of milk.

Tn

There are two eggs, a cake and a bottle of milk.

“There” as Adverb: “Introductory” there is not the only there that can be fronted. Introductory
“there” differs from “there” as a front-placed adverb in that it is not stressed,it is empty of meaning
(it merely indicates position or existence) and it behaves as a grammatical subject in the sentence.

COMPARE AND COMPLETE:

There’s a chair in the classroom.

There’s the chair.

There are some parents in your office.

There are my parents.

Verbs other than BE: The majority of existential “there” clauses have as their main verb a form of
“be”. However, other verbs, usually intransitive verbs indicating existence or occurrence, can also
be used. Though such casesare rare in everyday conversation, they are quite frequent in academic
prose, newspaper language and fiction. Combinations/Constructions with verbs such as “exist”,
“appear”, “seem” are quite typical of academic and journalistic register while literary register
abounds in combinations with “come”, “arise”, “ascend”, “ follow”, “break out” among other
intransitive verbs.
rn"

There seemsno likelihood of a settlement. (NEWS)

There now exists an extensive literature on the construction and use of social..../ACAD)
Somewhere deep inside her there arose a desperatehope that... (FICT)
Therecame
a faint stirringin his entrails.(FICT)
(Longman English Grammar of Spoken and Written English 2002, p 414)

10However, in informal English the verb might be singular even when the postponed subject is plural; e.g., There’s two
guys outside.