I> DEFINITION

II> STRUCTURE
III> FUNCTIONS OF PHRASES IN A CLAUSE

I> DEFINITION
Clause is a group of words which forms a grammatical unit and which contains a subject and a finite verb. A clause forms a sentence or part of a sentence and often functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb. [Richards et al. 1999:52]. E.g.: -He hurried home. -He hurried home because he was late.

II> STRUCTURE
Clauses are composed of phrases: Phrases: noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional phrase. EX: Indeed, he appeared very satisfied ADVP NP VP ADJP

in the classroom. PREPP

II>FUNCTION of PHRASES: Subject, verb, object, complement, adjunct II.1> Subject

most

commonly filled by a noun phrase. Eg: My mother seems very happy Subject is the thing or person performing the action. VP (non-finite): Swimming is good exercise. PrepP: Behind the wall is something strange.

II.2> Verb
-only filled by finite verb phrase

E.g.: I love you.

He loves you.

II.3> Object

-Object is person or thing affected by the action described in the verb. -2 types: direct object & indirect object
1) Direct

object: noun , pronoun , group of words acting as a noun; receive the action of a transitive verb; answer the question whom or what. E.g.: -The teacher reads the story. ( What does the teacher read?) -Mary burned the toast. (What did Mary burn?)

2) Indirect object
-Noun , pronoun , group of words that expresses action of intransitive verb; answer the question to whom/ to what or for whom/ for what. E.g.: -I gave him a book (=I gave a book to him) IO DO -I bought my sister a present (=I bought a present IO DO for my sister

-can be filled by:

+a noun phrase: I like red roses. +a prepositional phrase: He is looking up the sky. +non-finite verb phrase:

She enjoys reading books.

I prefer to stay up late at weekends.

II.4> Complement
A complement: may be either a subject complement( with the same reference as the subject) or an object complement ( with same reference as the object).

Subject complement
(SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT)

usually follows the verb (to be) or follows other verbs having the meaning of Be expressed (called copular (linking) verbs) She is a doctor. Eg That smells cool. : The students are feeling dazed and confused.
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Object complement

usually follows the direct object & tells us more about the object by means of the verb
(SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT + COMPLEMENT)

Eg: Football makes me very happy.

The voters elected Clinton president of the USA.

-may be filled either by a noun phrase Eg: Jim has become a qualified engineer. (SC) The class elected him President. (OC) - by an adjective phrase

E.g.: Jim seems quite pleasant.(SC)

My father painted the rooms blue.(OC)

-by non-finite verb phrase

E.g.: My hobby is travelling.(SC) The clown made the children very excited.(OC) -by Prepositional phrase: E.g.: He is in the garden. (adverbial complement)

II.5> Adjunct

An adjunct is part of a sentence and modifies the verb to show time, manner, place, frequency and degree. Adjuncts are normally optional elements in clause structure and may be freely added to any clause, giving circumstantial information (time, place, manner, cause.) about the action or event that clause refers to.

may be filled either by an adverb phrase E.g.: They walked very quickly. or by a prepositional phrase John killed his opponent in Central Park.

In my opinion, listening is more difficult than speaking.

or noun phrase E.g.: He works every weekend.

Next summer, we're going to Spain. Non-finite verb phrase E.g.:To open the window, you have to climb a ladder. Rather than leave the child alone, I brought him to work with me.

Exercise 17, page 31 (Analyzing English)

1. The farmer(S:NP) was eating(V:VP) his lunch(O:NP) in the cornfield(A:PrepP).

2. The committee(S:NP) considers(V:VP) your proposal(O:NP) rather unworkable(C:AdjP).

3. The transport manager(S:NP) could not decide on(V:VP) a new bus(O:NP). 4. Jim(S:NP) passed(V:VP) the salt(O:NP) down the table(A:PrepP). 5. The delinguent(S:NP) received(V:VP) a reprimand(O:NP) from the magistrate(A:PrepP)

6. The milk(S:NP) has gone(V:VP) sour(C:AdjP). 7. Gordon(S:NP) sent(V:VP) his apologies(O:NP) to the meeting(O:PrepP/A:PrepP).