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    The Classification of Clauses

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    Cristina Mihaela Burlica
    This document discusses different ways to classify sentences based on their grammatical structure. It identifies criteria for classification such as the number and type of clause relationships, grammatical relationships between clauses, grammatical rank within complex sentences, potential syntactic functions, finiteness, and presence or absence of verbs. Examples are provided to illustrate different clause types, including main clauses, subordinate clauses functioning as subjects, objects, complements and adverbials, and reduced or verbless clauses.

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    The Classification of Clauses

    Uploaded by

    Cristina Mihaela Burlica
    211 views22 pages
    This document discusses different ways to classify sentences based on their grammatical structure. It identifies criteria for classification such as the number and type of clause relationships, grammatical relationships between clauses, grammatical rank within complex sentences, potential syntactic functions, finiteness, and presence or absence of verbs. Examples are provided to illustrate different clause types, including main clauses, subordinate clauses functioning as subjects, objects, complements and adverbials, and reduced or verbless clauses.

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    4. The Classification of clauses

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    This document discusses different ways to classify sentences based on their grammatical structure. It identifies criteria for classification such as the number and type of clause relationships, grammatical relationships between clauses, grammatical rank within complex sentences, potential syntactic functions, finiteness, and presence or absence of verbs. Examples are provided to illustrate different clause types, including main clauses, subordinate clauses functioning as subjects, objects, complements and adverbials, and reduced or verbless clauses.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    211 views22 pages

    The Classification of Clauses

    Uploaded by

    Cristina Mihaela Burlica
    This document discusses different ways to classify sentences based on their grammatical structure. It identifies criteria for classification such as the number and type of clause relationships, grammatical relationships between clauses, grammatical rank within complex sentences, potential syntactic functions, finiteness, and presence or absence of verbs. Examples are provided to illustrate different clause types, including main clauses, subordinate clauses functioning as subjects, objects, complements and adverbials, and reduced or verbless clauses.

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    PhD Associate Professor

    Nadia-Nicoleta Morarasu
    SENTENCE CLASSIFICATION

    Criterion: number and type of clause


    relationships (Quirk et al.,1985):
    • simple (comprising one independent clause);
    • multiple (composed of several clauses).
    Multiple sentences contain:
    Criterion: type of grammatical relationship
    • Coordinated/compound/paratactic clauses =
    based on a paratactic grammatical relationship of
    coordination (Lakoff, 1971 and Martin, 1983);

    • Subordinated/hypotactic clauses hold a hypotactic


    grammatical relationship (subordination)
     Criterion: grammatical rank applied within complex
    sentences:
     Main/head clauses/superordinate clauses (elements
    ranking first in the hierarchy of a complex sentence);
     Subordinate/dependent clauses cannot stand on their
    own as sentences.
    I knew1/ (that) you would be sorry for them2/ when you
    found out the truth 3/.
    INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
     are part of isolated simple sentences:
    It will rain.
    He is coming.
     may be part of a compound sentence, in which they are
    linked together by coordinating conjunctions, and preserve
    their equal status.
    There were not so many carts1/, (but) the old man was still
    there2/.
    MAIN CLAUSES
     also called head clauses, matrix clauses or superordinate
    clauses
     Are the elements that rank first in the hierarchy established
    as part of a complex sentence.
    There were not so many carts1/, even though the store was
    packed with clients 2/.
     Dependent clauses (subordinate clauses, embedded or
    nested clauses)
     not standing alone without the main clause (Biber et al., 2001:31)
     most often overtly marked as subordinate structures by
    subordinators such as because, when, after, if etc. which assign
    the clauses a lesser grammatical status;
    ◦ assuming a 'part-to-whole' relationship within the main clause;
    ◦ divisible into phrases having grammatical functions at the clause
    rank (subject, verb, object, complement, or adverbial).
    I will give him the money 1/ if he returns it some day 2/.
    A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE FUNCTIONING AS SUBJECT
    Whoever asks for will get it.
    my support
    Subordinate Clause
    Main Clause
    (Complex) Subject Verb Object

    A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE FUNCTIONING AS OBJECT


    James says [that] he does not need
    my support.
    Subordinate Clause
    Subject Verb (Complex) Direct Object
    Main Clause
    A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE FUNCTIONING AS COMPLEMENT

    I can be whoever I want to be.


    Subordinate Clause
    Subject Verb (Complex) Subject complement
    Main Clause

    A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE FUNCTIONING AS ADVERBIAL

    She will when you call her.


    come
    Subordinate clause
    Subject Verb (Complex) Adverbial
    Main Clause
     Criterion: potential syntactic functions within the
    structure of the sentence

    NAME CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE


    NOMINAL - have the functions of I'm not sure that they
    CLAUSES (Quirk et noun phrases, + remember the exact
    al., 1985) adjective details.
    noun clauses (De complementation
    Capua, 2008) without a preposition
    complement clauses
    (Biber et al., 2002)
    NAME CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE

    RELATIVE • restrictive or He warned the


    CLAUSES (Quirk et nonrestrictive modifiers public not to
    al., 1985) of noun phrases approach the men,
    adjective clauses • describe or provide who are armed and
    (Frank, 1993, De information about dangerous.
    Capua, 2008) someone or something
    adjectival clauses in the main clause
    (Graver, 1993) • functionally parallel to tourists who come
    attributive adjectives from Italy ~ tourists
    from Italy
    NAME CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
    ADVERBIAL - function mainly as We left after the
    CLAUSES adjuncts or disjuncts speeches ended.
    There's a week left
    before he moves in.

    COMPARATIVE - resemble adjectives He's not as clever a


    and other degree and adverbs in their man as I thought. I
    clauses (Quirk et modifying functions love you more
    al., 1985) deeply than I can
    say.
    THE CRITERION OF FINITENESS

    FINITE CLAUSES are clauses that have either modal


    auxiliaries or verbs indicating past, present or
    future tenses.
     For Quirk et al. (1985:150), “a clause with a finite
    verb phrase as its verb element is called a 'finite
    verb clause' or simply a 'finite clause'.
    They should have come by now.
    He behaves as if he had known everything.
    Nonfinite clauses refer to those clauses where the
    verb is not finite (infinitives, gerunds or participles).
    E.g. It is necessary 1/ for Tom to study 2/.
    He was afraid 1/ of smoking in here2/.
    Coming home1/, I realized 2/ I had forgot to buy
    bread 3/.

     In some grammars, nonfinite constructions (which


    have a nonfinite verb as their verb element) are
    considered phrases rather than clauses.
    REDUCED SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

    • usually formed of the subordinator, the subject and the


    nonfinite part of the verb, the verb that is not marked for
    tense;
    • often called 'nonfinite' clauses;
    • assuming a variety of functions at the clause rank.
    Reduced (nonfinite) subordinate clause functioning as direct object in a
    main clause
    I want you to leave my house
    Subject Verb Object
    Subordinate Clause
    Subject Verb Direct Object
    Main Clause
    VERBLESS • reduced forms of full Although underpaid,
    CLAUSES subordinate clauses he did not leave that
    • no verb element job.
    present
    • analysable into
    clause elements

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