N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009.

Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

The Complex Sentence

When certain sentence elements are realized by clauses, we are dealing with complex sentences.
Examples I:
-

[ main cl. He felt [sub.cl. that he should dislike the little girl intensly.] ]
He decided that he should never meet her again
He believed sincerely that a friendship with her would be exciting.
That he should dislike the little girl intensely was felt by William
o It was felt by William that he should dislike the little girl intensely. (extraposition)
Someone approached William when he was walking down the road.
I will meet you at the station if I can.

TASK 1: Identify embedded clauses in the following examples:

One evening he asked her whether he might go home with her. His aunt feared that he might catch something. His
uncle said that evil communications corrupted good manners. John believes that Sue is a good student. I wonder if
he still remembers that day in April. That John should have done such a thing is rather worrying. That he will
propose to her soon is unlikely. I doubt whether he will ever manage to finish the book.

TASK 2: Identify adverbials realized by embedded clauses:

She liked to put up lunches for him when he went hunting. We had jolly evenings at the Harlings when the father
was away. If he was at home, the children had to go to bed early. Though we did not realize it then, Mrs. Harling
was our audience when we played.

Examples II:
-

John will come back soon, as far as I know.

Philip does not like it here, if I am not mistaken.

Focusing test: not possible to focus on S-adverbials:

-

*It is not as far as I know that Joh will come back soon.
When/where/why... will John come back? #As far as I know.

Classification of subordinate clauses

Structural or formal classes the form of the verb
Finite clauses: nominal functions, modifiers (relative
clauses, comparative clauses);
Non-finite clauses: nominal, adverbial, modifiers (in
NPs);
Verbless clauses: nominal, adverbial;
Functional classes:
Nominal functions:
Complement clauses (of V, P, A)
subject
predicational complement (subject and object
complement)
adverbial complements (put it where it belongs, )

Types according to 'force':

- declarative
- interrogative
- exclamative

Modifiers:
adverbial clauses
relative clauses
comparative clauses
modifiers in NPs (ing/ed)

Non-finite and Verbless clauses

Compare:
John believes that the prisoner is innocent.
John believes the prisoner to be innocent
John believes the prisoner innocent.

finite
non-finite
verbless V-less Cl S (V) Pc

TASK 3: Rephrase the small clauses in the following examples using a finite that-clause and a non-finite
infinitive clause:
-

I want the dress ready by five o'clock. I want the dress to be ready....

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

-

He expects me in his office at 12.

He considered the girl a good student.
He thinks the decision very unwise.
He judged the man in his fifties.
He found the assignment more difficult than he had expected.
You can count yourself lucky.
His attitude made real communication impossible.

Non-finite and small clauses with subject introduced by 'with(out)'

-

With the children (being) at school, we can't take our vacations when we want to. (Absolute constructions)

Subclasses of non-finite clauses: To-infinitive, Bare infinitive, ing part. clauses, ed part. clauses
For more detailed presentation of infinitive, gerund, participle forms, and participial and verbless clauses see Rianovi 2007, ch: 23, 27, 28, 29.

TASK 4: Identify subordinate clauses and their classes and subclasses.

I asked why a penknife or a small safety razor could not be used instead of the thumb nail to take off the old labels
from the bottles. I was expertly informed that knives or razors would scratch the glass thus depreciating the value
of the bottles when they were to be sold.
I enjoyed meeting the time clock, and spent a pleasant half-hour punching various cards standing around,
and then someone came in and said I couldn't punch the clock with my hat on.

Functional classes of embedded clauses

Nominal "nominal" functions, ie. subject and complements (object, predicational and adverbial
complement, complements of adjectives and prepositions)
Adverbial function as "adjuncts" (vp-adverbials) and disjuncts, conjuncts (comment clauses)
Modifying :
Relative finite, restrictive or non-restrictive modification of nouns in NPs (semantically similar to
adverbial cl. which modify verbs)
Postmodifying non-finite cl., appositive.
Comparative finite, with some special structural properties.
Functions of embedded clauses
Subject
D Object
IO
Pc - SC
Pc - OC
Ac

that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, excl.-cl. (extraposed), nominal rel.-cl,

to-inf.-cl, ing-cl., bare-inf. cl.,
that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, excl.-cl., nominal rel.-cl, to-inf.-cl,
ing-cl., verbless-cl.,
nominal rel.-cl only
that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, nominal rel.cl.
to-inf.-cl, ing-cl.,
bare-inf. cl.,
nominal rel. cl., bare-inf. cl.
nominal rel. cl. ?

A
Postmodifier in NP
Complements in NPs
Prepositional complement
Adjectival complement
Appositive

adverbial clauses (finite and nonfinite)1

relative cl., nonfinite cl.,
non-finite cl. (inf.),
that-cl (in only), wh-cl, excl.-cl., nominal rel.-cl, ing-cl.
that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, to-inf.-cl2., ing-cl.,
that-cl, wh-cl, yes-no q-cl, nominal rel.-cl, to-inf.-cl,
ing-cl.,

nominal clauses

with complex tr.

verbs

A
A, Mod.
nominal
nominal
nominal
Mod.

Non-finite clauses in nominal functions - examples

Subject: to-infinitive, -ing clauses, bare infinitive, verbless (rare),
1

When ripe, the oranges are picked and sorted. He took up anthropology, stimulated by our enthusiasm. She hesitated,
being very suspicious, to open the door. He opened his case to look for a book.
2
Bob is slow to react. Bob is hard to convince.

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

DO: to-infinitive, -ing clauses,

Pc (SC): to-infinitive, -ing clauses;
Appositive: to-infinitive, -ing clauses,
Adjectival complement: that-clause, wh-clauses..., to-infinitive, -ing clause see (12.11-13). Examples III:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

When ripe, the oranges are picked and sorted. He took up anthropology, stimulated by our enthusiasm. She
hesitated, being very suspicious, to open the door. He opened his case to look for a book.
Bob is slow to react. Bob is hard to convince.
For a bridge to collapse like that is unbelievable.
Telling lies is wrong.
Turn off the tap was all I did.
Wall-to-wall carpets in every room is too expensive.
He wants to be happy.
No one enjoys deceiving his own family.
My wish is to be a pilote. They considered him to be an honest person.
His favourite pastime is playing practical jokes. I found him driving my car.
His ambition, to ba a straight actor, was never fulfilled.
His hobby, collecting stamps, has completely absorbed him.
I'm sure that he is an honest man.
I'm glad to help you, Bob is hesitant to agree with you (A+to-inf.)
The children were busy building sandcastles.

That clauses:
We are glad that you are able to join us on our wedding aniversary.

S V SC
SC = AP A that-clause (adj. complement)
That-cl = Sub. S V SC
SC = AP A to-inf. clause (adj. compl)
To inf. cl. (S) V DO A
Exercices: I'm not sure who's coming. What he is looking for is a wife. The children were busy building sandcastles

Adverbial clauses 11.20-36

Of Time. Subordinators: after, as, since, when ....
Of Place. sub. where, wherever...
Of Condition (11.24-25), Concession (11.26-28)
Of Reason/cause: Sub.: since, because, for, as; -ing cl. without sub.
Of Circumstance: because, since, as, seeing that. non-finite without sub.
Of Purpose: so as to, in order, 'to inf.' without a subordinator, in case, for fear...
Of Result: so that, so (tako da je/su...); function as disjuncts;
Of Manner: (exactly/just) as.
Of Comparaison: as if, as, (AmE infml), like (of. similarity)
It was just like I imagined it would be (sub. premodified by 'just')
Of Proportion. as (... so), the .... the; eg. As she got older, her hair became gray.
analysis: The more she thought about it, the less she felt peaceful.
S = A S V SC ......
A = adv. cl. corr sub. S V O
...
Of Preference: rather than, sooner than + non-finite cl. (bare inf.), finite possible
Comment cl.: parenthetical clauses, separated from the rest of the clause, disjuncts.
analysis: Kingston, as you probably know, is the capital of Jamaica.
S = S A V SC
A disjunct comment clause sub. S A V ...
Sentential relative clauses: refer back to a predicate or predication, disjuncts.
- He said he wanted to leave early, which was a surprise for me.
S = S V DO A
A sentential rel. cl. (disjunct) S V SC
S = relative pron. which
... in which case I cannot see him off to the airport
A sent. rel.cl. (disjunct) A S V DO (Particle) A
A = PP P NP
NP det N
det rel determiner which

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

Absolute clauses 11.35 + Rianovi 2007 ch. 29.

Comparative clauses and comparative sentences
[comp. sentence [comp. clause ]]
Difficult to fit into any major functional categories. Often have appearance of adverb or adjective modifiers:
- I love you [more deeply than I can say]
- He's not [as clever a man [as I thought]].
- typically, constituents within adjective or adverb phrases (embedded within AdvP or APs); licensed by a
correlative element (a comparative adjective or adverb or quantifier).
Analysis:
1. Jane is [as healthy as her sister (is)]
healthy comparative el., as intensifier; correlative el.
S = S V SC
SC = AP AdvP(corr.el.) A Comp-cl
AdvP Adv. as (degree)
Comp clause sub. S (V SC)
sub. as
S her sister
2. Jane is healthier than her sister (is)
3. She works as hard as she ever did
4. He eats vegetables more than (he eats) any other food. On jede povre vie nego bilo koju drugu hranu.
S S V DO A
A AdvP Adv (corr. el.) Comp.Cl
Adv more (quantifying and comparative)
Comp.Cl sub. (S V) DO
5. He eats [more vegetables than (he eats) any other food] On jede vie povra nego bilo koje druge hrane.
6. More people use this brand than (?they use) any other window-cleaning fluid.
6' People use this brand more than .... S S V DO A
7. She knows [more history than most people (know (it/*history))]
8. That toy has given more children happiness than any other (toy has).
Cases of nonclausal comparison:
I weigh [Ac more than 200 pounds], I goes [A faster than 100 miles per hour]
Ambiguous comparison constructions: Morton has more expensive clothes than I have.
Ellipsis in comparative clauses and ambiguity
He loves his dog more than (he loves) his children.
- ellipsis of S and V
He loves his dog more than his children (love it).
- ellipsis of T' (V + DO)
Infinitive clauses linked to 'enough' and 'too' degree adverbs
1. They're rich enough to own a car
S S V Pc
Pc AP A PostM
PostM AdvP Adv to-inf Cl. (compl. of Adv)
Adv enough (degree)
to-inf. Cl (S) V DO ...
So ... that, such ... that
11. It's so good a movie that we mustn't miss it. S S V Pc, Pc DP AdvP (corr.el.) Det N that-cl
12. It flies so fast that it can beat the speed record. S S V A A AdvP AdvP A that-cl
Relative clauses
Postmodifiers in NP (see p. 377-84)
introduced by relative pronouns: zero, that, which, whose, who(m), and relative adverbials: where, why,
how, when...; function as restrictive or non-restrictive postmodifiers in NP.
I saw the house whose roof is damaged, I saw the house (that) he built last year

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

Nominal relative clauses

Can have functions typical of noun phrases: subject, object, Pc or Ac, appositive modification of nouns,
complements of prepositions. Examples IV:
-

What you need is a bit of luck. (pseudo-cleft)

Luck is what you need most.
(pseudo-cleft)
They went where everybody whants to go: Paris.
They must call her whatever she wants them to call her.
You can put the book wherever you want to.
We need to know your college address (that is): where you live in term time.
You can write about whatever topic you choose.

whoever ko god, whatever ta god, etc.

Ambiguous structures: - They asked me what I knew. Pitali su me sve/ono to znam. or Pitali su me ta
znam.
Formal indicators of subordination
- are generally found in the subordinate clause.
- are of several kinds: Sub. conjunctions (subordinators), wh-items, "relative" that, the absence of a finite
verbal form, inversion.
Subordinators
Head elements: that, if, for (Complementizers)
Phrasal elements: eg. wh-elements (when) (wh-adverbs), combination of a subordinator (marker of
subordination) and a sentence element (such as S, O, A)
1. one word : after, before, since, that, if; when, whereas...
2. multiword: in that, so that, such that... now (that), provided (that), supposing (that) ... as far as, so as,
... sooner than, rather than;
3. Correlative sub. combinations of two markers, one of which is a subordinator in the subordinate
clause, the other being in the main clause (normally an adverb).
if .... then
as .... so
the .... the
Borderline subordinators: see 11.8
Other indicators of subordination
1. Interrogative items (wh-): markers in interrogative subord. clauses, and exclamative clauses, in whrelative clauses, in conditional-concessive clauses. (I don't know where I put my umbrella.)
2. The relative pronoun that in restirctive relative clauses.
3. Subject-operator inversion: in conditional clauses (Should he ask questions, ...)
4. Predication fronting: Honest though he might be, he won't get the position so easily.
5. The absence of a finite verbal form is most often an indication of subordination: non-finite clauses
are normally subordinate clauses.
6. No indication: nominal that-clauses with 'that' omitted : He said he would come to the meeting.
restrictive relative clauses without a rel. pronoun: The book I bought was on the table.
The V-element in subordinate clauses 11.47-58
The simple present tense referring to future events after subordinators: after, until, when, if, in case, as
(manner), ... Bosnian can have a future verb : Ako sutranji me bude odgoen .... if the match is cancelled.
Direct and indirect speech The most important change which applies to the V-element is BACK-shift: the
change of tense. When the reporting verb is in the past tense, verbs in the reported clause change as follows:
Present past
Past, present perfect, past perfect past perfect.
Future "future in the past" (should, would)
Imperative infinitive

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

Fronting (preposing), clefting, pseudo-clefting; extraposition, postponement.

Topic or theme old information. Focus new information
Fronting
TASK 4: Recognize sentence element fronted:
1. Joe his name is. 2. Holiday you call it! 3. Really good coctails they made at the hotel. 4. His face I'm not fond of.
5. ... but his character I despise. 6.Rich I may be, but that doesn't mean I'm happy. 7. In London I was born, and
in London I'll die.

Subject-verb inversion: Away he goes. vs. Away goes the servant.

Subject-operator inversion: So absurd was his manner that everyone stared at him (comparative corr. s.).
Under no circumstances must the switch be left on. Hardly had I left before the quarrelling started. I worked
and so did the others.
TASK 5: Recognize the fronted/inverted elements:
Should you change your plan...
Keen though I am...
Say what you will of him...

Cleft sentences
giving prominence to certain sentence elements (contrastive focusing).
John gave this book to Bill on Saturday.
Subject: It was John who gave this book to Bill on Saturday.
Object: It was this book that John gave ...
Atime: It was on Saturday (that...)
Aplace: It was at the bus-stop that John gave ...
A(compl.)destination/goal (prepositional IO): It was to Bill that John gave the book...
Note that IO realized by an NP cannot be clefted: *It was Bill that John gave this book... (from 'John gave Bill
this book on S...)
Adverbial clauses: John gave this book to Bill on Saturday because it was his birthday. It was because it was his
birthday that John gave Bill....

The focused element in a cleft sentence can be NP, PP or an adv. clause.

STRUCTURE: It BE [ focus] that/who/which clause.
Predicative adjunct in the focus position: It was dark blue that we painted the fence.
Pc: restrictions: ??It is very successful that they are; It was a linguist that he became.
Analysis:
Cleft-S S V Focus "Rel"-clause
S expletive it
V BE
Focus S/O/...
rel.-cl rel.pr.(S/O/...) ...
My brother bought his new car from our next-door neighbour last Saturday.
It was my brother who bought his new car from our neighbour last Saturday.
It was last Saturday when my brother bought his new car from our neighbour.
It was a new car that my brother bought from our neighbour last Saturday.
It was our next-door neighbour that my brother bought his new car from last Saturday.

Pseudo-cleft sentences - applicable to verbs and their complements.

John gave this book to Bill on Saturday. - What John did was [give the book to Bill on Saturday].
Examples V:
What Bill will do is have a quick shower before he leaves.
What Anne did was open the box and take out the gun.

simple asp.

bare inf.-cl

What I am doing is trying to clear up this mess.

progressive asp.

ing-cl

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

Focusing on other elements:

I need a cigarette and a drink most at this time of the day. - What I need most at this time of the day is a
cigarette and a drink.
The nom.rel.cl appearing as a Pc: - A good rest is what you need most
Analysis:
A good rest is what you need most
What you need most is a good rest.
S V SC
S S V SC
S nom.rel.cl. rel.pr (DO) S V A
S nom.rel.cl. rel.pr.(DO) S V
V is
V is
SC NP det AP N
SC ing-clause zeroS V DO
Restrictions:
Far most frequent: 'what' nom. Re. Clause (possible as S or Pc); Sometimes possible: 'where/when' clauses
(only as Pc); Impossible: 'who/whose/why/how' nom.rel. clauses. Examples VI:
Here is where the accident took place. *Where the accident took place is here.
Spring is when the trees are most beautiful. *When the trees are most beautiful is spring.

Compare:
We need a good rest
- It is a good rest that we need (cleft)
- What we need is a good rest (pseudo-cleft)
- A good rest is what we need (pseudo-cleft)
- It is us who need a good rest
- *Who needs a good rest is us
- *We are who need a good rest. instead We are those who need a good rest.

Instead of who/where/when...-clauses: the person who, the place where, the moment/time... when
DO, happen. Examples VII:
The police interviewed all the witnesses to the accident first.
What the police did first was (to) interview all the witnesses to the accident.
You should invest all your money in telecoms companies.
What you should do is (to) invest all your money in telecoms companies.
What you should invest all your money in is telecoms companies.
She writes all her novels on a typewriter.
What she does is (to) write all her novels on a type writer.
Their car broke down on the motorway so they didn't get to Jo's wedding on time.
What happened was that their car broke down on the motorway so they didn't get to Jo's wedding on time.
I want a new coat for Christmas. All I want for Christmas is a new coat. A new coat is all I want for Christmas.

Extraposition
A structure where an element is placed at the end of the sentence and replaced by IT
Extraposition of a clausal subject: Examples VIII
(1)a. [That dogs bark] annoys people. b. It annoys people [that dogs bark].
(2) a. [Why she told him] is unclear. b. It is unclear [why she told him].
(3) a. [For you to leave so soon] would be inconvenience. b. It would be inconvenience [for you to leave so soon]
4. To insult one's friends is unacceptable It is unacceptable to insult one's friends
It is a good idea to leave on time
It is surprising that they failed their exams
Extraposition is obligatory: It seems that he'll be late again vs. *That he'll be late again seems; It turned out that
his secretary had stolen the money; It is said that she slipped arsenic into his tea; It may/could be that she no longer
lives at this address. (seem, appear, happen, chanced, modal+Be...);

-ing-cl, possible but less frequent (only informal) - It was easy answering those questions
with expressions 'no good/use': It's no use/It wouldn't be any good crying over spilt milk.
Extraposition of a clausal object
occurs in S V O Ps/Ac types; that- and infinitive clauses as DOs are obligatorily extraposed. Examples IX
He made it very clear that he would not be coming back.
* He made that he would not be coming back very clear.

(Pc)

N. Aljovi, 15 maj 2009. Subordinate clauses, (Pseudo)cleft sentences, Extraposition, Pre-/Postposing

He made it his objective not to come back.
*He made not to come back his objective.
He considered it very interesting to provoke the chairman.
*He considered to provoke the chairman very interesting.
He explained it to me that he would not be coming back.
*He explained that he would not be coming back to me.
-ing clauses are only optionally extraposed:
They do not find being in the same office a stress.
They do not find it a stress [being in the same office]

(Ac)

current attribute

But:
I made settling the matter my prime objective.
*I made it my prime objective settling the matter.

resulting attribute? extraposition blocked

"She is a pleasure to teach"

To teach her is a pleasure (subject ext) It is a pleasure to teach her - She is a pleasure to teach.
Quirk: adj. + compl. clause
Extraposition:
It is certain that we'll forget the address.
It seems that you've made a mistake
It is known that he's a coward.
S V SC S(extraposed)

We are certain [ (subj) to forget the address]

You seem [ (subj) to have made a mistake]
He is known [ (subj) to be a coward]

Postponment
"Heavy" (very long) DO in DO Pc/Ac structures
They prnounced guilty every one of the accused except the man who had raised the alarm.

Discontinuous nounphrases
The plumber arrived who we had called earlier. (who we had called earlier has been extraposed from its
normal position after plumber.)