2.

SUBORDINATION: Some basic information

- The complex sentence: Subordinate and superordinate clauses
- Subordination and coordination

- Finite, nonfinite and verbless clauses

- Finite clause: A clause whose verb element is finite. It expresses tense,
person and, sometimes, aspect.
- Non-finite clause: A clause whose verb element is non-finite (participle,
infinitive)
- Verbless clause: A clause that does not have a verb element:

- Nonfinite clauses. Four structural subclasses:

- To-infinitive (without/with subject)
- Bare infinitive (without/with subject)
- -ing participle (without/with subject)
- -ed participle (without/with subject)

-Formal indicators of subordination.

- Subordinators
- Single-word subordinators (although, because, etc. including the
complementizer that)
- Multi-word subordinators
- Ending with that
- Ending with optional that
- Ending with as
- Others: as if, as though, in case
- Correlative subordinators
- Marginal subordinators: combinations, temporal noun phrases,
prepositional phrases ending in the fact that
- Other indicators of subordination:
- Wh-elements (including relative pronouns)
- The relative pronoun that
- Subject-operator inversionor elevated style
- Absence of a finite verb
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3. SUBORDINATION: Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate
clauses
-Syntactic functions of subordinate clauses
-Subordinate clauses may function as S, O, C or A (at clause level)
-Subordinate clauses may function at phrase level

A. NOMINAL CLAUSES may perform THE FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN PHRASE: as S,

O, C, Appositive, Prep. complement, Adjectival complement and Postmodifier in
a noun phrase
1. Nominal that-clauses
-At clause level: S, extraposed S, Od, extraposed O, Cs
-At phrase level: Cadj, apposition
2. Nominal relative clauses (with wh-words, and -ever determiners and
pronouns)
-At clause level: S, extraposed S, Od, Oi, Oprep, Cs, Co, Cpred
-At phrase level: Cadj, Cprep
3. Wh-interrogative clauses (with wh-words; in indirect questions and in clauses
with a negative element or an element uncertainty, difficulty, mystery or doubt)
-At clause level: S, extraposed S, Od, extraposed O, Oprep, Cs
-At phrase level: Cadj, Cprep
4. Exclamative clauses (what + NP and how + adjective/adverb or a finite
clause; meaning of excitement/ exclamantion)
-At clause level: extraposed S, Od, extraposed O
-At phrase level: Cprep
5. Yes-no interrogative clauses (whether and if).
-At clause level: extraposed S, Od, Oprep, Cs
-At phrase level: Cprep
6. Alternative interrogative clauses (whether…or and if … or)
-At clause level: S, extraposed S, Od, Oprep
-At phrase level: Cadj, Cprep
7. To-infinitive clauses (subject normally preceded by for)
-At clause level: S, extraposed S, Cs, Od
-At phrase level: Cadj, Apposition

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8. -ing clauses (subject in the genitive, objective or common case)
-At clause level: S, Cs, Od
-At phrase level: Cprep, Cadj, Apposition
9. Bare infinitive clauses
-At clause level: S, or Cs in a pseudocleft sentence
10. Verbless clauses

B. ADVERBIAL CLAUSES. They function as:

ADJUNCT: clauses of time; place; condition, concession, and contrast; exception;
reason; purpose; result; similarity and comparison; proportion; preference;
absolute and supplementive
DISJUNCT: comment clauses

1. Clauses of time
- Subordinators: after, as, before, once, since, until, till, when, whenever,
while, whilst (esp. Br. Eng.), now (that), as soon as, as long as, so long
as
- Reduced time clauses: -ing, -ed and verbless clauses
- To-infinitive clauses
2. Clauses of place
- Subordinators: where (specific) or wherever (nonspecific)
- The clause may indicate position or direction:
- Several temporal subordinators may have a place meaning in scene
description
3. Conditional clauses
- Subordinators: if and unless, also used with nonfinite and verbless
clauses.
- Other subordinators: given (that) (formal), on condition (that), provided
(that), providing (that), supposing (that), in case, so long as, as long as.
- With or without
- Open and hypothetical conditions
- Rhetorical conditional clauses

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4. Concessive clauses
- Subordinators: although, though (more informal); also while, whereas
(formal) and even if:
- -ing, -ed and verbless clauses (except for whereas)
- Alternative conditional-concessive clauses (with the correlative
whether… or)
- Universal conditional-concessive clauses (with the wh-words + ever)
5. Clauses of contrast
- Subordinators: whereas, while and whilst (Brit).
6. Clauses of exception
- Introduced by but that (formal), except (informal), except that, only
(informal), and less frequently, excepting that, save (rare and formal),
and save that (formal)
7. Reason clauses
- Subordinators: because and since; also as, for, and seeing that
- Relationships: cause and effect, reason and consequence, motivation
and result, circumstance and consequence
8. Purpose clauses
- Infinitival clauses introduced by in order to (formal) and so as to
- Finite clauses introduced by so that or by so, and (more formally) in
order that
- Putative rather than factual (they often require a modal auxiliary)
9. Result clauses
- Introduced by so (that)
10. Clauses of similarity and comparison
- Clauses of similarity: introduced by as and like (inf. AmE)
- Clauses of comparison: introduced by as if, as though, and like (inf
AmE)
- As, as if, and as though can introduce nonfinite and verbless clauses
11. Clauses of proportion
- Introduced by as, with or without correlative so (formal) or by the
correlative the…the followed by comparative forms
12. Clauses of preference
- Subordinators: rather than and sooner than with a bare infinitive

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 Absolute clauses
Adverbial participle and verbless clauses with an overt subject but
without a subordinator

Supplementive clauses
Adverbial participle and verbless clauses without a subordinator

13. Comment clauses (function: disjunct)

- They are parenthetical: they may occur initially, finally or medially
(a) like the matrix of a main clause
(b) a finite clause (introduced by as)
(c) a nominal relative clause
(d) to-infinitive clause
(e) -ing clause:
(f) -ed clause:

C. RELATIVE CLAUSES
1. Adnominal relative clauses (noun phrase as antecedent; restrictive or
nonrestrictive); reduced relative clauses. They function as POSTMODIFIER IN A
NOUN PHRASE

2. Sentential relative clauses (clause as antecedent)

D. COMPARATIVE CLAUSES function as POSTMODIFIER IN AN ADJECTIVE

PHRASE, IN AN ADVERB PHRASE, OR IN A NOUN PHRASE

1. Equivalence, non-equivalence and excess (nonassertive)

2. Enough (sufficiency; assertive) and too (excess; nonassertive) + to-infinitive
clause
- A comparative clause may be a finite clause introduced by a subordinator (as /
than), or a to-infinitive clause
- The comp-element can be any of the clause elements, apart from the verb
- So… (that) and such… (that) combine the notion of sufficiency and excess
with result

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