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PE3011 English Language Studies and Teaching 1
Grammar Lecture 7 : Sentences and Clauses
(Reading : Greenbaum, ch. 6)
A review of the notion of the English sentence (declarative
statements).
What are two basic parts of the English sentence?
What possibilities are there for the second part? (i.e., elements
and hence patterns)
e.g.,
S -- VO
A clause
A clause is a sentence-like construction, i.e., it bears:
 A subject (at least an assumed one)
 A predicate which means there is a verb phrase in it.
 The verb phrase can then be followed by another string
of constituents, e.g., an object (a noun phrase), a
complement (a noun phrase or an adjectival phrase, etc.)
Variations of the English sentence (possible transformations
of the basic patterns)
Var 1: Compound Sentences
 consist of two or more coordinated clauses.
 the clauses are main clauses of the sentence, each with
an independent status.
 An independent status here means that the clause can
itself stand alone as a complete sentence.
e.g. Mary is tall but Susan is short.
(Mary is tall. Susan is short.)
Send it to me by post or bring it around yourself.
 A clause embedded in a sentence which has an
independent status is called the main clause.
e.g. Mary is tall but Susan is short. (2 main clauses)
(Mary is tall. Susan is short.)
Ellipsis
 Some parts of a compound sentence can be elipted.
 is used when we want to avoid repeating identical
expressions across coordinated clauses.
e.g. The man went to the door and [‘the man’ elipted]
opened it.
The adults ate chicken, [‘the adults’] the teenagers
hamburger, and the children [‘ate’] pizza.
She is a better doctor than I am (‘a doctor’; also
called a comparative clause)
She can run as fast as I can (‘run’; also called a
comparative clause.)
Do Ex. 6.6 Greenbaum
Var 2: Complex Sentences
 consist of one or more subordinate [also called
dependent] clauses embedded in a main clause.
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 A subordinate clause is one that cannot stand alone as a
sentence.
 A subordinate clause starts with a subordinator (e.g.,
since, although, because, etc.), a relative pronoun (e.g.,
who, where, etc.) or a nominal relative pronoun (e.g.,
that, etc.)
 The subordinate clause adds information to the main
clause when it does not function as the subject of the
main clause.
e.g. When I arrived, they had already finished their meal.
(* When I arrived.)
I don't know how to do the work because I was
absent last time.
(*because I was absent last time)
Var 3: Non-Finite Clausal structures
 Not functioning as the main clause (but could have been
transformed from a subordinate clause, a coordinated
main clause)
 Do not form the core part of the message delivered by
the sentence => peripheral information added to the
main clause
 The subject is not mentioned and is understood
 The verb form of the predicate is realized in a non-finite
form (e.g., ‘to + v’, ‘~ing’ & ‘~ed’)
 The tense of the verb is thus not specified
e.g.
They wanted to pay for their meal.
[They pay for their meal]
Walking along the beach, John met Peter.
[When John and Peter were walking along the
beach, …]
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Dressed in street clothes, the patients strolled in the
garden.
[???]
(Note the difference between non-finite verb phrases and nonfinite clauses.)
Var 4: Verbless Clauses
 Not functioning as main clauses
 Absence of verbs
e.g.
Though fearful of road conditions, they decided to go
by car.
[Though they were..]
Weary and almost out of money, we drove into a petrol
station off the motor way.
[???]
Dozens of people were stranded, many of them children.
[???]
 Non-finite clauses and verbless clauses can be regarded as
reduced clauses, reduced in comparison with finite clauses.
They often lack a subject, and verbless clauses also lack a
verb.
Do Ex. 6.7 Greenbaum
Var 5: There-Structures (Existential Sentences)
 are sentences which begin with the unstressed word
"there". The word "there" is treated as the grammatical
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subject and the subject of the original clause without
"there" (notional subject) is moved to a later position.
e.g.
There is nobody outside.
(Nobody is outside.)
There is a man waiting for you. (A man is waiting for
you.)
What is the difference between an existential sentence and a
non-existential sentence in terms of their implied meanings?
 The effect of the existential structure is to present the
postponed subject and the rest of the sentence as new
information and thereby to give the subject greater
prominence.
 The postponed subject is normally an indefinite pronoun
(e.g. no one, someone, etc.) or a noun phrase with an
indefinite determiner (e.g. a man, a woman, etc.). 
implying that / hinting possibly to the audience that I’m
starting a new topic.
 The number agreement on the finite verb is determined by
the number of the following noun group although in
informal spoken English there is a tendency to use
"there's" and "there was" with both singular and plural
noun phrases.
e.g.
There are some books.
There are some students waiting outside.
There's some students waiting outside. (informal)
 Occasionally, a verb other than the verb to be is used in
existential clauses.
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e.g.
There came a sudden knock at the door.
There remain the questions of compensation.
Do Ex.6.13 Greenbaum
 The word "there" is NOT used with "have" (meaning
possession) in existential sentences.
e.g.
*There have some books.
*There has an overhead projector in the classroom.
The above two erroneous sentences are quite common
among elementary to immediate learners of English in
Hong Kong. Are they errors or mistakes? Describe the
possible sources of errors.
Var 6: Cleft Sentences
 involve the division and repackaging of the information
(the intended main subject and its intended predicate) in a
clause into two parts.
 The clefting occurs at the predicate. The object of a verb
is fronted.
 Cleft sentences have it in the Subject position and a
linking verb followed by a that clause or a wh-clause.
It + verb-to-be + fronted object + a ‘that’ / wh-clause with a transitive verb.
e.g.
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It is clefting that we are going to look at now.
It is John that Mary loves.
What could be implied meanings of the two examples?
It is clefting that we are going to look at now.
=>
S1: We are going to look at clefting now.
S2: What did you say, did you say verbless clauses
we’re going to look at now?
S1: No, I didn’t say that. It’s clefting that we are
going to look at now.
It is John that Mary loves.
=>
Don’t mistake it. It’s John that Mary loves but not
George.
 the stress naturally falls on the word following the
linking verb, and therefore this constituent becomes the
focus.
Start here Week 9
Exercise:
Rewrite the following sentences into cleft sentences to
emphasize the objects in them.
1. I have lost my money (implied meaning: not my identity
card).
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2. She created a game for her students (implied meaning: but
not just an exercise).
3. Mary didn’t realize the impact of the problem (implied
meaning: but not the problem in general).
Var 7: Pseudo-cleft Sentences
e.g.
I (S) want to talk about //(clefting the predicate) the
organization of clauses as messages.
1. What is that something that you want to talk
about?
2. To answer this question, we need to supply
information about the ‘what’, and information reemphasizing and re-structuring in the original
sentence is needed.

I (S) want to talk about //(clefting the predicate)
the organization of clauses as messages.
The organization of clauses as messages (a fronted
clefted predicate becomes the subject) is what I want
to talk about (a revised predicate).
To emphasize that we are answering the question
‘what’, we can reverse positions of the subject and
the predicate: (Pseudo-cleft)
What I want to talk about (S) is the organization of
clauses as messages(Predicate).
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George V's last words have been incorrectly
recorded. He said, "Book at Bognor".
What did he say actually?
(Pseudo-cleft)
What he actually said was "Book at Bognor."
Do Ex. 6.14 Greenbaum
Var 8: Anticipatory it
 The subject is moved to the end and its position is taken
by the anticipatory subject it.
e.g.
That the season has started so early is a pity.
Anticipatory it
It is a pity that the season has started so early.
To say when they are arriving is impossible.
Anticipatory it
[???]
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Do Ex. 6.15 Greenbaum
What could be the implied meaning of the
anticipatory it sentence?
What do the 4 structures of:




Cleft sentences
Existential sentences
Pseudo-cleft
Anticipatory it
tell us about the effects of positioning of
information in an English sentence?
Others:
 relative clauses (RC)
 reduced relative clauses (RRC)
 nominal clauses (NC)
 relative nominal clauses (RNC)
RC: functioning as a post-modifier to a noun; begins with a
relative pronoun which functions as either the subject or
the object of the verb in the clause, the pronoun is followed
by a verb phrase.
e.g.,
She is my friend whom /who (0) I talked about. (RN)
She is my friend who (S) comes here every Monday to help
me with my housework. (RN)
Martin is the one who (S) was fired.
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RRC: a transformed version of a relative clause. => Relative
pronoun omitted, verb turned into a non-finite verb)
e.g.,
She is my friend coming here every Monday to help...
Martin is the one fired (who was fired).
RNC: Relative nominal clause; it functions as a postmodifying noun clause, which has a nominal relative
pronoun which does not function as the subject of the verb
of the clause, a subject, a verb (and an object if the verb is a
TV).
e.g.,
I think that (NRP) she (S) is one of the best executives.
(RNC)
Tell me how (NRP) I (S) can get there. (NC)
The problem with where (NRP) we (S) could get (V) the
money (O) is still unsolved. (NC)
Do Ex. 6.10
Functions of Clauses in a Sentence
Subject
e.g.
Achieving the perfect crew cut is no easy task.
Whoever said that does not understand the question.
Subject Complement
e.g.
The only problem in design is to relate design to
people’s needs.
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The point is that we are leaving.
Direct Object
e.g.
I believe that a hot, humid summer has benefited the
movie business.
He gave the children what they want.
Indirect Object
e.g.
I gave whoever it was a cup of tea.
Prepositional Complement
e.g.
I listened to what the candidates had to say.
I saw her after having an interview.
Object Complement
e.g.
I imagined him overcome with grief.
I considered him defeated by his enemy.
Modifiers
e.g.
Drugs that are used in chemotherapy damage a
patient’s healthy cells.
She is a better doctor than I am (of an adjective
phrase).
She can run faster than I can (of an adverbial phrase)
Adverbials
e.g.
When I last saw you, you lived in Washington.
(time)
If you treat her kindly, she’ll do anything for you.
(condition)
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Do Ex.6.8 (Greenbaum)
Do Ex.6.9 (odd number items)
Do Ex. 6.10 (even number items)
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