Writers, whether novelists or people writing personal letters to family and friends, put clauses together into sentences, and it is for this activity that main clauses and the different types of subordinate clause are essential. Some sentences in texts (text sentences, corresponding to text clauses) resemble the examples in (1) in consisting of a single main clause, but many consist of several clauses. Depending on what types of clause are combined, two types of multi-clause sentence are dis- tinguished. Compound sentences consist of two or more clauses joined by conjunctions. Examples are given in (2).
- a. Captain Benwick married Louisa Hayter and Captain Wentworth married Anne Elliott.
- Henry Crawford loved Fanny but Fanny loved Edmund.
- Mr Bingley became tired of Jane or Mr D’Arcy persuaded Mr Bingley to go to London.
CLAUSES I 63
In (2a), the clauses Captain Benwick married Louisa Hayter and Captain Wentworth married Anne Elliott are conjoined by and ; in (2b) the clauses Henry Crawford loved Fanny and Fanny loved Edmund are conjoined by but ; and in (2c) the clauses Mr Bingley became tired of Jane and Mr D’Arcy persuaded Mr Bingley to go to London are conjoined by or. In (2a–c), the conjoined clauses are all main clauses, but subordinate clauses can also be conjoined, as we will see after the following discussion of subordinate clauses.
- Subordinate clauses
Complex sentences consist of a main clause and one or more other clauses subordinate to it. That is, one clause, the main clause, is pre- eminent in a complex sentence and the other clauses, the subordinate clauses, are subject to certain limitations, as will be shown later. We begin by giving examples of the major types of subordinate clause, complement clause, relative clause and adverbial clause.
- Complement clauses
Examples of complement clauses are given in (3a, b).
- a. Elizabeth regretted that she had met Wickham.
b. Catherine feared that the Abbey was haunted.
These clauses were traditionally called ‘noun clauses’, because they occur in slots in the main clause that can be occupied by ordinary noun phrases – Elizabeth regretted her actions and Catherine feared the General’s temper. The contemporary label ‘complement clause’ reflects the re- lationship between the clauses and the verb of the main clause: Elizabeth regretted and Catherine feared are incomplete pieces of syntax which require a modifier, either a noun phrase as in the immediately preceding examples or a clause, as in (3).
The complement clauses in (3) occur to the right of the verbs in the main clauses, but complement clauses also occur to the left of verbs, as in (4).
- That Anne was in conversation with Mr Elliott dismayed Captain Wentworth.
The skeleton of the
sentence in (4)
is [ ] dismayed
Captain Wentworth, the square brackets marking
the slot waiting
for some constituent. The slot could be filled
by a noun phrase
such as Her words
but
in (4) is filled by the complement clause That Anne was in conversation with Mr Elliott.
64 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SYNTAX
There is one more property of complement clauses to be mentioned here; they can modify a noun, as in (5).
- Fanny was delighted by the idea that she could subscribe to a library.
The sequence Fanny was delighted by the idea is a complete clause. The additional that she could subscribe to a library conveys the content of the idea. It is not required to complete the syntax, but as we will see later it is not a relative clause and has been given the label ‘complement clause’ because it fills out the meaning of the word idea. Other examples of noun complement clauses are given in (6), that the committee be abolished and that we would visit Glasgow today.
- a. Who thought up the proposal that the committee be abolished ?
b. There was a plan that we would visit Glasgow today but the weather is terrible.
- Relative clauses
Complement clauses modify verbs as in (3) and (4) and nouns as in (6); relative clauses modify nouns. In older descriptions, relative clauses are called adjective clauses, reflecting the fact that adjectives also modify nouns. Of course, in English they do not occur in the same position as adjectives, since adjectives typically precede the noun in a noun phrase while relative clauses follow it. Examples of relative clauses are given in (7).
- a. The cottage which Mrs Dashwood accepted was rather small.
- The gentleman who saved Marianne was Willoughby.
- The book which Marianne was reading contained poems by Cowper.
- The building that we liked is in Thornton Lacey.
In (7a), the relative clause which Mrs Dashwood accepted modifies the noun cottage ; in (7b) the relative clause who saved Marianne modifies the noun gentleman; in (7c) the relative clause which Marianne was reading modifies the noun book ; and in (7d) the relative clause that we liked modifies the noun building. In certain circumstances, the WH word or that can be omitted, as in The building we liked is in Thornton Lacey, with the relative clause we liked, or The book Marianne was reading contained poems by Cowper, with the relative clause Marianne was reading.
(The term ‘relative’ goes back to the Roman grammarians, who called the Latin
equivalent of which, who and so on relative pronouns
because they referred back to a noun. Refer derives from the Latin verb referre, a
CLAUSES I 65
very irregular verb whose past participle passive is relatus, from which ‘related’ derives. Note that although the that clause in (7d) is called a relative clause, that is not a relative pronoun but a conjunction.)
- Adverbial clauses
The name ‘adverbial’ suggests that adverbial clauses modify verbs; but they modify whole clauses, as shown by the examples in (8). Their other key property is that they are adjuncts, since they are typically optional constituents in sentences. They are traditionally classified according to their meaning, for example adverbial clauses of reason, time, concession, manner or condition, as illustrated below.
- a. Reason
Because Marianne loved Willoughby, she refused to believe that he had deserted her.
b. Time
When Fanny returned, she found Tom Bertram very ill.
c. Concession
Although Mr D’Arcy disliked Mrs Bennet he married Elizabeth.
d. Manner
Henry changed his plans as the mood took him.
e. Condition
If Emma had left Hartfield, Mr Woodhouse would have been unhappy.
The adverbial clause of reason in (8a), Because Marianne loved Willoughby, gives the reason (or the writer uses it to give the reason) why Marianne refused to believe that Willoughby had gone. It modifies the main clause she refused to believe that he had deserted her.
The adverbial clause of time in (8b), When Fanny returned, gives the time at which another event happened, namely her finding Tom Bertram ill. It modifies the main clause she found Tom Bertram very ill.
The adverbial clause of concession in (8c), Although Mr D’Arcy disliked Mrs Bennet, conveys a concession. The writer says, as it were, ‘OK. I con- cede that he didn’t like Mrs Bennet. Nonetheless he married Elizabeth.’ The adverbial clause modifies the main clause he married Elizabeth.
The adverbial clause of manner in (8d), as the mood took him, describes the manner in which Henry changed his plans and modifies the main clause Henry changed his plans.
In (8e),
the adverbial clause of condition If
Emma had left Hartfield conveys the circumstances or conditions under
which a particular situ- ation would have arisen.
The situation is Mr Woodhouse
being unhappy,
66 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SYNTAX and the writer declares that this situation did not actually come about but would have done; Emma’s leaving Hartfield would have brought it about. The crucial fact is the relationship between the two situations; Mr Woodhouse’s being unhappy is conditional upon Emma’s leaving Hartfield. The adverbial clause of condition modifies the main clause Mr Woodhouse would have been unhappy.
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