Syntax: Clause Structure: Unit 4

Unit 4
Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language
Syntax:
Clause structure
Table of contents
Scheme 3
Key ideas 4
4.1. How to study this unit? 4
4.2. Introduction 4
4.3. Subject 9
4.4. Predicator 11
4.5. Objects 12
4.6. Complements 14
© Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR)
4.7. Adjuncts 16
4.8. Bibliographical references 18
4.9. Master class 19
In Depth 20
Test 23
Subject
Predicator
Syntax Clause structure Objects
Complements
Adjuncts
Scheme
Unit 4. Scheme
3
Key ideas
4.1. How to study this unit?
In order to study this unit you should read:
Brinton, L. J. (2000). The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction.

Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. (pp. 191-201).
Available at the virtual campus under the art. 32.4 of the Spanish Intellectual Property
Law.
I
n this unit we will study different aspects of the clause structure in English.
 Firstly, we will define the clause and describe its basic structure.
 Secondly, we will explain the criteria for the classification of the clause elements.
 And finally we will discuss the clause elements in detail.
4.2. Introduction
W
hen a speaker describes an action or event, he organises the words in
a certain way so that the listener can understand the message. This
means that the speaker should use recognisable clause patterns and
the listener should be able to identify the pattern and thus understand the message.
Let us look at this chain of words:
to grandchildren play soccer my volleyball and want

4
Unit 4. Key ideas
The listener will not be able to decipher the message, because they will not recognise
the established syntactic pattern. Let us look at the same words as we put them
together on the basis of a recognisable pattern.
My grandchildren want to play soccer and volleyball.
My grandchildren want to play soccer and volleyball.

(Subject) (Predicate)
Figure 1. Example: My grandchildren want to play soccer and volleyball.
The basic pattern of the simple sentence (or independent clause) is subject →
predicate.
Syntactic structures are usually represented in a diagrammatic form. The diagram

used to represent the clause structure has branches, which is why it is called a “tree”.
The use of these diagrams can help us in two different ways: (1) to analyse a clause
and (2) to establish and represent patterns with which to make more sentences.
He knows his audience. (clause)
He (Subject) knows his audience (Predicate)
He (Subject) knows (Predicator) his audience (Direct object)
Figure 2. Example: He knows his audience.

Both the sentence and the clause are grammatical units. The clause must contain a
verbal group and the sentence can contain one or more than one clause.
Example: He put the orange on the table.

 This unit is a clause.

5
Unit 4. Key ideas
 It contains one verbal group (put).
 The verbal form is finite.
 It is an independent clause, which coincides with a particular sentence type,
namely the simple sentence.
 It consists of two main elements: subject (he) and predicate (put the orange on the
table).
 The predicate consists of three elements: predicator (put), direct object (the
orange), and locative complement (on the table).
Syntactic elements of the clause
Subject Predicate
Predicator Adjunct
Object Complement
Figure 3. Syntactic elements of the clause.
The number and type of the elements the predicate consists of depend on the
realisation of the predicator, i.e. the predicator can be realised by transitive,
intransitive or copular verbs. The subject, predicator, object, and complement are
essential elements of the clause. The adjunct is considered a non-essential element;
it is optional.
Let us consider the clause: I didn’t sleep well last night. If we omit the non-essential
elements, although incomplete, the message will still be understood.

6
Unit 4. Key ideas
I didn’t sleep well last night.
I (subject) didn’t sleep well last night. (Predicate)
Essential
didn’t sleep (Predicator) well (Adjunct) last night (Adjunct)
Essential Non essential Non essential
Figure 4. Example: I didn’t sleep well last night.
Key Figures in the History of Linguistics.
Figure 5. Edward Sapir (1884-1939).

Source: Wikipedia.
Read further information about Sapir in the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Sapir
To be able to identify the elements of the clause, we should adhere to certain criteria.
The criteria we adopt for the classification of the clause elements follow the ones
proposed by Angela Downing and Phillip Locke in English Grammar: A University
Course (2006).

7
Unit 4. Key ideas
1. Determination by the verb. Verbs in English can be classified as transitive, intransitive,
and copular.
 Transitive verbs require one or more objects.
Example: Peter gave me the book.

The verb gave is transitive and it is followed by an indirect (me) and a direct (the
book) objects.
I bought a nice T-shirt yesterday.

Bought - transitive verb.
T-shirt - Direct Object.
 Intransitive verbs do not admit objects.
Example: My cat is sleeping on the sofa.

Sleep - intransitive verb.
 Copular verbs require a subject complement.
Example: He feels tired today.

Feel - copular verb.
Tired - Subject Complement.
2. Position. When the sentence contains a direct and an indirect object, the indirect object
precedes the direct object.
Example: Show me your wedding photos.

Me - Indirect Object.
Wedding photos - Direct Object.

8
Unit 4. Key ideas
3. Ability to become a subject. The ability to become a subject in a passive clause is one
of the characteristic features of the object, although there are some exceptions to the
general rule.
Example: The teacher gave her students good feedback on their schoolwork.
Students - Indirect Object.
Passive clause: Students were given good feedback on their schoolwork.

Students - Subject.
4. Realisations of these functions. As participants, Objects are usually realised by NGs.
Example: May I close the window?

The window - Direct Object, Nominal group.
Subject and Object Complements can be realised by an Adjectival group or by a NG.

Circumstantial Adjuncts are realised by Prepositional phrases, AdvGs, or NGs.
Table 1. Classification of the clause elements. Source: Adapted from Downing & Locke, 2006, pp. 37-39.
4.3. Subject
D
owning and Locke provide the following definition of Subject.
“The Subject is the syntactic function identified by the features of position, concord,
pronominalisation and reflection in question tags. Semantically, almost all participant
roles can be associated with the subject. Cognitively, it is that element which has the
highest claim to function as a Topic in a specific clause in context. Syntactically, it is
prototypically realised by a wide variety of groups and clauses” (2006, p. 42)

9
Unit 4. Key ideas
There isn’t a unique and universally accepted definition of Subject in English and the
definition varies, depending on the criteria linguists take into account. One of the
factors we should consider for the classification of a constituent is its position in the
clause. This criterion can sometimes be difficult to apply, because although the
Subject typically occupies an initial position, other possibilities have been registered.
For example, in the sentence Ana accused her little brother of breaking the vase, the
Subject Ana is placed at the beginning. However, if we transform it into a Wh-
question like Who did Ana accuse of breaking the vase?, we will see that the Subject
Ana is preceded by the Object who. This structural ambiguity means that we cannot
take only one factor into account to classify an item, but, as in the definition above,
we should consider all the factors that affect the classification of the clause elements.
From a semantic perspective, we can say that the Subject refers to the main
participant in the clause. The Subject is usually associated with the role of agent in
Semantics (for further information on semantic roles see Unit 7). However, we should
bear in mind that agent is not the only role that relates to the Subject.
An essential syntactic feature of the Subject is that it is present in affirmative and

interrogative sentences, but not in imperatives.
Example: Do take a seat!

In interrogative sentences the Subject is placed after the operator.
Example: Did you miss the train?
It is important to remember that there is a concordance of number and person

between the Subject and the verb that realises the Predicator function in a clause.
Example: My sister is living in Rome at the moment.

10
Unit 4. Key ideas
1. Nominal groups Peter should call his old friend Robert.
2. Dummy it It has been snowing for three hours now.
3. Unstressed there There were two umbrellas in the basket.
4. Prepositional phrase and By car is faster than by train.

Adverbial group Slowly does it.
5. Adjectival head The rich should help the poor.

What he did the other day surprised
6. Embedded clauses
everyone in the room.
It is difficult to find a good bakery in this
7. Anticipatory it + extraposed subject
town.
Table 2. Realisations of the subject. Source: adapted from Downing & Locke, 2006, pp. 44-48.
4.4. Predicator
T
he Predicator is the element that has to be present in the clause. It is realised
by a verbal group which determines the presence and type of the objects and
complements. Table 1 shows how the constituents of the clause can vary
depending on the type of verb that realises the predicator function.
“The Predicator is the syntactic function that determines the number and type of Objects
and Complements in a clause. It is identified syntactically by position and concord. It is
associated with a number of semantic domains” (Downing & Locke, 2006, p. 42)
The predicator is not always realised by a finite verbal form; it can also be realised by
non-finite verbal forms. The following passage, an extract from “The Selfish Giant”
(1888) by Oscar Wilde, shows how the predicator function can be realised by different
verbal forms.

11
Unit 4. Key ideas
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds.
Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in
it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower
put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the
children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people
who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. "Spring has forgotten this garden," they
cried, "so we will live here all the year round." The Snow covered up the grass with her
great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver.
4.5. Objects
E
nglish grammar distinguishes three types of object: direct, indirect, and
prepositional, which are identified by a number of features, following the
criteria for the classification of the elements in the sentence.
Objects
Direct Object Indirect Object Prepositional Object
Figure 6. Types of object.
The two most common types of object are the Direct Object and the Indirect Object.
The Object stands for participants in the clause. Direct and Indirect Objects occur
when the verb that realises the Predicator function is transitive, like cost, buy, give,
leave, lend, make, offer, take, sell, show, wish.
Objects are typically realised by noun groups, like in He couldn’t find his car keys. The
Direct Object (Od) is realised by the noun group his car keys. They can also be realised
by embedded clauses like in I know what you did last summer. The Direct Object in
this case is what you did last summer, which is a clause. The Direct Object can also be

12
Unit 4. Key ideas
realised by a non-finite clause like in I like listening to classical music. The Direct
Object is listening to music - non-finite verbal clause.
The Indirect Object (Oi) is used with transitive verbs that take two objects. It precedes
the Direct Object in the clause.
Example: She sent me a letter last week. (me - indirect object, a letter - direct
object).
There are two types of Indirect Object: Recipient and Beneficiary. The Recipient and
Beneficiary Indirect Objects can be paraphrased by using a prepositional phrase.
Example: My boyfriend bought me a new handbag. (me - Beneficiary)

My boyfriend bought a new handbag for me. (me - Prepositional Object)
Jeff gave his wife a nice bracelet. (his wife - Recipient)
Jeff gave a nice bracelet to his wife. (his wife - Prepositional Object)
The Prepositional Object (Op) is less frequent than the Direct and the Indirect
Objects. It is mediated by a preposition like in He is looking for his glasses. The
Prepositional Object is common with prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs.
Example: He has always looked down on her.
In those cases where the preposition is followed by nominal clauses or -ing clauses,
the Prepositional Object is realised by these two units.
Example: Thank you for writing the invitation for me.

Thank you for what you did to help me.

13
Unit 4. Key ideas
4.6. Complements
T
he two main types of complement are the subject complement (Cs) and the
object complement (Co). The locative/goal complement (Cloc) is not so
frequent. It is used only with certain verbs. Complements, unlike objects,
cannot be passivised. Like the subject, the predicator, and the objects, the
complements are considered essential elements of the clause.
Complements
Subject Object Locative/Goal

Complement Complement Complement
Figure 7. Types of complement.
For Downing and Locke, “The Subject Complement is the obligatory constituent
which follows a copular verb and which cannot be made subject in a passive clause. .
. . The Subject Complement does not represent a new participant, as an Object does,
but completes the predicate by adding information about the subject referent”
(2006, p. 64, emphasis is mine).
Examples of copular verbs
Appear, be, become, die, get, grow, feel,

look, remain, seem, smell, sound, taste.
Table 3. Examples of copular verbs.
Some of the verbs mentioned above can also function as transitive verbs, depending
on the context.
Example: The coffee smells good. (good - Subject Complement)

Let me smell these flowers? (flowers - Direct Object)

14
Unit 4. Key ideas
She grew tired of working for a low wage. (tired of working for a low wage-
Subject Complement)
She grew vegetables indoors. (vegetables - Direct Object)
There is usually number agreement between the Subject and the Subject
complement like in She is an actress. She, the Subject, is third person singular, female.
The Subject Complement actress is singular and is marked for gender - female. In the
sentence They are a nice couple, there is no agreement between the Subject, which
is in plural, and the Subject Complement, which is in singular.
The Object Complement provides information about the Direct Object.
Example: His classmates consider him the best teacher in the school.
His classmates - Subject.
consider - Predicator.
him - Direct Object.
the best teacher in school - Object Complement.
Some verbs require a Locative/Goal Complement, without it “the clause is

syntactically and semantically incomplete. . . . It therefore has the status of a central
clause element. A locative complement is also preceded by many intransitive verbs
of motion such as come, go, fly, drive, which can predict such meaning as Direction
(flying south) and Goal, which marks an end-point (go to Rome)” (Downing & Locke,
2006, 37).
Examples: Place the book on the table.

If we omit the Locative Complement, the remaining part of the sentence (place
the book), will be incomplete and impossible to understand.

15
Unit 4. Key ideas
4.7. Adjuncts
U
nlike the constituents of the clause discussed above, Adjuncts are non-
essential elements, i.e. they are optional. Adjuncts can be added to clauses
that consist of different combinations of the essential elements.
Subject + Predicator + Adjunct

He is driving fast.
Subject + Predicator + Direct Object + Adjunct
I saw him yesterday.
Adjuncts
Circunstancial
Stance Adjuncts Connective Adjuncts
Adjuncts
Figure 8. Types of Adjunct.
According to their function, Adjuncts are classified as Circumstantial, Stance, and

Connective and defined as follows:
Circumstantial Adjuncts provide information concerning time, place, manner, means,

etc.
Stance Adjuncts express the speaker’s evaluation or comment on the content of the
message, or the viewpoint adopted. Syntactically, they often remain somewhat separate
from the clause, since their message refers to the whole of the clause or sentence. For
this reason, they are usually found before the clause or after it.
Connective Adjuncts are not elements of structures, but connectors of structures.
(Adapted from Downing and Locke, 2006, pp. 69-73)

16
Unit 4. Key ideas
Circumstantial Adjuncts can be realised by a wide variety of items such as: Adverbial
Groups, Noun Groups, Prepositional Groups, Finite and Non-finite verbal clauses. The
position of many adjuncts is flexible, e.g.:
She opened the door quickly.
She quickly opened the door.
In their work A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar, Rodney Huddleston and

Geoffrey Pullum establish the following semantic classification of Adjuncts and
illustrate the different types with examples. The following categories correspond to
the Circumstantial Adjunct within the classification we have previously adopted.
Type Example
Manner He drove quite recklessly.
Place They have breakfast in bed.
Time I saw her last week.
Duration We lived in London for five years.
Frequency She telephones her mother every Sunday.
Degree We very much enjoyed your last novel.
Purpose I checked all the doors to make sure they were shut.
Result It rained all day, with the result that they couldn’t work.
Condition If it rains the match will be postponed.
Concession Although he’s rich, he lives very simply.
Table 4. Circumstantial Adjunct. Source: adapted from Huddleston & Pullum, 2009, p. 79.
Stance Adjuncts
Unfortunately, they never met again.

Generally speaking, English grammar is not difficult.

17
Unit 4. Key ideas
Connective Adjuncts
In conclusion, there are other solutions to the problem. Consequently, you should
decide about your own future alone.
4.8. Bibliographical references
Downing, A. & Locke, Ph. (2006). English Grammar: A University Course. London &
New York: Routledge.
Huddleston, R. & Pullum, G. K. (2009). A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wilde, O. (1888). The Selfish Giant. Retrieved from:

https://americanliterature.com/author/oscar-wilde/short-story/the-selfish-giant

18
Unit 4. Key ideas
4.9. Master class
Syntax: Clause structure
The master class deals with the structure of the clause in English. It begins with a brief
definition of the structure of the clause or simple sentence. We then move from the
sentence structure to the study of its constituents: subject, predicator, objects,
complements, and adjuncts. Finally, we will see how the rules determining the
grammatical structure of the sentence, i.e. constitutive rules, work in context.
The master class is available at the virtual campus


19
Unit 4. Key ideas
In Depth
English Grammatical Units: A Hierarchical Perspective
Leah, C. (2010). English Grammatical Units: A Hierarchical Perspective. The Scientific

Journal of Humanistic Studies 2 (3), 65-73.
In this article, Claudia Leah describes the complex system of English grammatical
items, representing their relationships in terms of a hierarchical structure. Her
approach allows for the understanding of how a number of items at a certain level
combine to form an item belonging to a higher level within the same structure.
Available at the virtual campus under the art. 32.4 of the Spanish Intellectual
Property Law.
Don’t diss blogs and social networking sites
Clark, C. (2009). Don’t diss blogs and social networking sites: Young people’s writing and
technology. Literacy today, 28-29.
In this article, Christina Clark explores the role of technology in young people’s writing
and how it relates to their literacy skills. They conclude that young people who write
on a blog are more likely to enjoy writing and that they display greater confidence in
their writing skills. An earlier study, carried out by Pew Internet in 2008, concluded
that social networking site users are more likely to write notes, song lyrics, or short
stories than those who say they do not have a profile on a social network.
Available at the virtual campus under the art. 32.4 of the Spanish Intellectual
Property Law.
Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language 20

Unit 4. In Depth
Word Order / Sentence Structure
This video offers some clues to the most common order of the elements of the
sentence. The practical tips given in the video can help learners of English to
communicate effectively in everyday life and work situations.
Access to the video through the virtual campus or the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPyo8-Pr55Q
An Insight into Twitter: A Corpus-Based Contrastive Study in English and Spanish
Argüelles, I & Muñoz, A. (2012). An Insight into Twitter: A Corpus-Based Contrastive

Study in English and Spanish. Revista de Lingüística y Lengua Aplicadas, 7, 37-50.
The present article examines inflectional morphology in compounding in an attempt

to demonstrate the importance of the study of plural morphemes for “completing
theories of language acquisition and representation”. The study focuses on the
possible differences in the number of regular and irregular plurals in compounds
with special attention to different presentation and response modalities.
Access to the document through the virtual campus or the following link:
https://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/rdlyla/article/view/1123

Unit 4. In Depth
Sentence types
Purdue Online Writing Lab offers a wide variety of resources that will help you
improve your academic writing. The authors, Ryan Weber and Allen Brizee, provide a
classification of English sentences and illustrate the different types with a great
number of examples.
Access to the webpage through the virtual campus or following this link:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/02/

Unit 4. In Depth
Test
1. In the sentence We hesitated.
A. hesitated is the Predicate.
B. hesitated is the Predicator.
C. Both A and B are correct.
2. In the sentence In an interview the author reveals his struggle to write a new book.
A. The Subject is an interview.
B. The Subject is the author.
C. The Subject is his struggle to write a new book.
3. In the sentence My sister is going to study Marketing in Denmark next year.

A. The Direct Object is Marketing.
B. The Direct Object is Marketing in Denmark.
C. There is no Direct Object in the clause.
4. In the sentence I find this actor very attractive.

A. this actor is Subject Complement.
B. very attractive is Subject Complement.
C. very attractive is Object Complement.
5. In the sentence We felt happy.

A. happy is Direct Object.
B. happy is Subject Complement.
C. Both A and B are wrong.

23
Unit 4. Test
6. Which of the following examples contains an Indirect Object?
A. I saw Jane last month.
B. I saw Jane with her boyfriend in the opera.
C. I lent Jane my black dress for a business cocktail party.
7. Which of the following constituents is non-essential?

A. Adjuncts.
B. Complements.
C. Objects.
8. In the sentence I have studied English for ten years.

A. for ten years is Subject Complement.
B. for ten years is Object Complement.
C. Both A and B are wrong.
9. In the sentence Her poems depict love beautifully.

A. beautifully is a Stance Adjunct.
B. beautifully is a Circumstantial Adjunct.
C. beautifully is a Connective Adjunct.
10. Which of the following combinations is not possible?

A. Adjunct - Subject - Predicator - Indirect Object.
B. Subject - Predicator - Adjunct.
C. Subject - Predicator - Direct Object - Indirect Object.

24
Unit 4. Test

Syntax: Clause Structure: Unit 4

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Unit 4

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

Syntax Clause structure Objects

4.1. How to study this unit?

In order to study this unit you should read:

Brinton, L. J. (2000). The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction.

to grandchildren play soccer my volleyball and want

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

My grandchildren want to play soccer and volleyball.

My grandchildren want to play soccer and volleyball.

Figure 1. Example: My grandchildren want to play soccer and volleyball.

Syntactic structures are usually represented in a diagrammatic form. The diagram

He knows his audience. (clause)

He (Subject) knows his audience (Predicate)

He (Subject) knows (Predicator) his audience (Direct object)

Figure 2. Example: He knows his audience.

Example: He put the orange on the table.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

Syntactic elements of the clause

Figure 3. Syntactic elements of the clause.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

I (subject) didn’t sleep well last night. (Predicate)

didn’t sleep (Predicator) well (Adjunct) last night (Adjunct)

Essential Non essential Non essential

Figure 4. Example: I didn’t sleep well last night.

Key Figures in the History of Linguistics.

Figure 5. Edward Sapir (1884-1939).

Read further information about Sapir in the following link:

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

 Transitive verbs require one or more objects.

Example: Peter gave me the book.

I bought a nice T-shirt yesterday.

 Intransitive verbs do not admit objects.

Example: My cat is sleeping on the sofa.

 Copular verbs require a subject complement.

Example: He feels tired today.

Example: Show me your wedding photos.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

Passive clause: Students were given good feedback on their schoolwork.

4. Realisations of these functions. As participants, Objects are usually realised by NGs.

Example: May I close the window?

Subject and Object Complements can be realised by an Adjectival group or by a NG.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

An essential syntactic feature of the Subject is that it is present in affirmative and

Example: Do take a seat!

Example: Did you miss the train?

It is important to remember that there is a concordance of number and person

Example: My sister is living in Rome at the moment.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

2. Dummy it It has been snowing for three hours now.

3. Unstressed there There were two umbrellas in the basket.

4. Prepositional phrase and By car is faster than by train.

5. Adjectival head The rich should help the poor.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

Direct Object Indirect Object Prepositional Object

Figure 6. Types of object.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

Example: My boyfriend bought me a new handbag. (me - Beneficiary)

Example: He has always looked down on her.

Example: Thank you for writing the invitation for me.

Thank you for what you did to help me.

Morphosyntax and Semantics in the English Language

Subject Object Locative/Goal