Difference between revisions of "Structure of a clause"
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| − | The most central unit of grammar is the '''clause'''. This is hard to define, but it is essentially a group of words that contains a verb and expresses an idea, more or less completely. | + | The most central unit of grammar is the '''clause'''. This is hard to define, but it is essentially a group of words that contains a verb and expresses an idea, more or less completely. Clauses make up [[sentence]]s; sentences can contain one clause (a [[simple sentence]]) or several. |
| − | The principal elements of a clause are: | + | Nearly every clause contains a Verb, and most contain a Subject. The principal elements of a clause are: |
| − | * | + | * the [[Verb (structural element)|Verb]]. This is the essential part of a Clause. It can be useful, in analysing grammar, to distinguish between ''[[verb]]'' (with a small 'v'), which is a [[word class]], and ''Verb'' (with a capital), which is a function performed in a sentence. A Verb can be a single verb, or a multi-word [[verb phrase]]. |
| + | * the [[Subject]] (the 'performer' of the action of the Verb), which is the most commonly found element after the verb; | ||
| − | + | * the [[Complement]], which may be either a copular or adjectival Complement (these are the only functions traditionally called Complements); or an Object, either Direct or Indirect. There may be more than one Object, or Complement, in a Clause; and | |
| − | * the | + | * the [[Adverbial]]. This is the vaguest function to define. Adverbials may modify (that is, tell us more about the action of) a Verb. Most commonly, they tell us how, where, when or why something was done - e.g. she did it quickly (adverb, answering the question 'how?'), or yesterday ('when?'); at home (adverbial phrase, answering 'where'); because it seemed like a good idea (adverbial Clause, 'why?'). |
| − | + | For those who like oddities, there is a small group of units known as 'verbless Clauses', which are clauses without verbs, whose analysis belongs to a more advanced study of grammar than this. | |
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Revision as of 14:15, 20 April 2007
| This article is part of the grammar course.
You may choose to follow it in a structured way, or read each item separately. Structure of a clause
|
The most central unit of grammar is the clause. This is hard to define, but it is essentially a group of words that contains a verb and expresses an idea, more or less completely. Clauses make up sentences; sentences can contain one clause (a simple sentence) or several.
Nearly every clause contains a Verb, and most contain a Subject. The principal elements of a clause are:
- the Verb. This is the essential part of a Clause. It can be useful, in analysing grammar, to distinguish between verb (with a small 'v'), which is a word class, and Verb (with a capital), which is a function performed in a sentence. A Verb can be a single verb, or a multi-word verb phrase.
- the Subject (the 'performer' of the action of the Verb), which is the most commonly found element after the verb;
- the Complement, which may be either a copular or adjectival Complement (these are the only functions traditionally called Complements); or an Object, either Direct or Indirect. There may be more than one Object, or Complement, in a Clause; and
- the Adverbial. This is the vaguest function to define. Adverbials may modify (that is, tell us more about the action of) a Verb. Most commonly, they tell us how, where, when or why something was done - e.g. she did it quickly (adverb, answering the question 'how?'), or yesterday ('when?'); at home (adverbial phrase, answering 'where'); because it seemed like a good idea (adverbial Clause, 'why?').
For those who like oddities, there is a small group of units known as 'verbless Clauses', which are clauses without verbs, whose analysis belongs to a more advanced study of grammar than this.
