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Classification of Clauses 2

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Classification of Clauses 2

Ingles

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kimakemihachi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Grammar I Graciela Palacio

LV/JVG 2012 (Revised 2015)

LESSON 20
CLASSIFICATION OF CLAUSES
A clause can be defined as a structure of predication. An entity is mentioned and something
is predicated about this entity. Clauses are classified into:

a) Main (principal, independent, free, primary, matrix) and


b) Subordinate (dependent, bound, secondary, embedded, included)

MAIN CLAUSES may be coordinated to each other. They make up structures of coordination:

[(I don't know) and (I couldn't care less.)]

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES are attached to a main clause and they are subdivided into:

1) Noun Clauses (or primary, or nominal clauses)


2) Defining Relative Clauses (or secondary, or adjectival)
3) Adverbial Clauses (or tertiary or adverb clauses)
4) Non-defining Relative Clauses
5) Free Relative Clauses or Nominal Relative Clauses

NOUN CLAUSES have nomimal functions. They function as complements and as subject,
e.g.:

[(Tom believes <that Mary is innocent>)] (complement to the verb believe)


[(<That Mary is innocent> is true.)] (subject of the sentence)

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES function as post-modifiers to nouns. They have adjectival


function, they are always found within determiner phrases, e.g.:

[(The man <who came here yesterday> is a lawyer.)]


[(That is the man <that I met at Mary’s party>.)]

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES function as adverbial adjuncts. They are modifiers of the event or
state as a whole. They have adverbial function, e.g.:

[(I was late <because I overslept>.)] (adverbial adjunct of reason)


[(<If you study>, you will pass the exam.)] (adverbial adjunct of condition)

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES and FREE RELATIVE CLAUSES will be discussed later.

CLASSIFICATION OF CLAUSES ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF VERB


Clauses can also be classified according to the type of verb they have. We can speak of:

1) FINITE CLAUSES (they have a finite or conjugated verb)


2) NON-FINITE CLAUSES (they have a non-finite verb)
3) SMALL OR VERBLESS CLAUSES (they have no verb)

Page 1 of 3/Lesson 20
Consider the following three examples. They are all noun clauses because they function as
complements to the verb think, a two-place verb. The clauses differ, however, because of the
type of verb they have:

[(I think <that Mary is pretty>.)] (Finite Clause)


[(I think <Mary to be pretty>.)] (Non-finite Clause)
[(I think <Mary pretty>.)] (Small or Verbless Clause)

Notice that in the three cases we have a structure of predication. We are predicating
something about Mary, the fact that she is pretty.

The following are examples of defining relative clauses. They function as post-modifiers of
the noun man. They differ from one another in the type of verb they have:

[(The man <who was driving the lorry> was drunk.)] (Finite Clause)
[(The man <driving the lorry> was drunk.)] (Non-finite Clause)

The following are examples of adverbial clauses. The first two function as adverbial
adjuncts of condition, the first one is finite and the second one is verbless. The other two are
adverbial adjuncts of time, the first one is finite and the second one non-finite:

[(<If you are in doubt>, phone me.)] (Finite clause)


[(<If PRO1 in doubt>, phone me.)] (Verbless clause)

[(<As I was driving along the main road>, I remembered I had to post a letter.)]
(Finite clause)
[(<PRO Driving along the main road>, I remembered I had to post a letter.)] (Non-
finite clause)

SYNTACTIC CLASSIFICATION OF CLAUSES


If we take into account their structure, sentences can be classified into:

1) Simple: simple sentences are those which have only one lexical verb. Simple sentences are
made up of only one main clause. Sentence and clause coincide, e.g.:

[(Rain falls.)]
[(The baby is crying.)]
[(The boy must have been being beaten.)]

2) Compound: compound sentences are those in which the constituent clauses are
grammatically co-ordinate, no one being dependent on the others, but all being, as it were,
added together in sequence. A compound sentence will be made up of at least two main
clauses. There may be more than two, of course, e.g.:

[(I saw him yesterday) and (I shall be seeing him again tomorrow.)]

1 Big PRO is an empty category, i.e. a silent category. It is the subject of non finite verbs and in some cases of
verbless clauses. We will discuss it presently.

Page 2 of 3/Lesson 20
3) Complex: complex sentences are like simple sentences in that they consist of only one
main clause, but unlike simple sentences, they have one or more subordinate clauses which
are grammatically dependent upon the main clause and which function as an element of the
sentence, e.g.:

[<Although I admire her reasoning>, I reject her conclusions.]


[<What he said> is not true.]
[The man <who came yesterday> is my uncle.]

4) Compound-complex: compound-complex sentences are made up of at least two main


clauses which, in turn, contain subordinate clauses, e.g.:

[(He came yesterday) and (<as you were not in>, he left this book for you.)]

We will use square brackets to mark the beginning and end of sentences, parentheses or
round brackets to mark main clauses and diamond brackets or angle brackets to mark
subordinate clauses.

Lesson 20 Activity 1: (to be discussed in class)


1. What is a clause?
2. How can clauses be classified syntactically?
3. How can clauses be classified if we take into account the type of verb they have?
4. What functions do noun clauses have?
5. What function do relative clauses have?
6. What function do adverbial clauses have?
7. How can sentences be classified?
8. Provide an example of:
a) a noun clause
b) a relative clause
c) an adverbial clause
d) a compound sentence
e) a complex sentence
f) a compound complex sentence
g) a non-finite noun clause

Lesson 20 Activity 2 (to be discussed in class)


What type of clauses do the following sentences contain?
1. Sue asked me if I had eaten her sandwich.
2. We will play the match if it doesn’t rain.
3. That is the sweater that I like.
4. I don’t know where he lives.
5. The house where he lives is very old.
6. I wonder who will look after the baby while we are out.
7. The woman who will look after the baby has just arrived.

Lesson 20 Activity 3 (to be handed in as Assignment 20)


What type of clauses do the following sentences contain?
1. I asked him why he had said that.
2. You should stay in bed until the doctor comes.

Page 3 of 3/Lesson 20

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