Daniel Kies Department of English College of DuPage
Modern English Grammar English 2126		Contact Form

The Clause Rank: Form and Function

Note: Labels of the clause-level functions have changed. These pages use both

• the terminology of Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., and Svartvik, J. (1985) Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Longman. (CGEL)

and

• the teminology of the most recent version of that grammar — Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., and Finegan, E. (2021) Grammar of Spoken and Written English, John Benjamins. (GSWE)

since many textbooks and school grammars currently use either one set of terminology or the other.

In these pages, I will place the GSWE labels in square brackets after the CGEL labels, as in subject complement [subject predicative] and SC [SP].

Mapping clause function labels between CGEL and GSWE
CGEL (1985)	GSWE (2021)
Subject[S]	Subject[S]
Verb[V]	Verb[V]
Direct object[DO]	Object	Direct object[DO]
Indirect object[IO]		Indirect object[IO]
Subject complement[SC]	Predicative	Subject predicative[SP]
Object complement[OC]		Object predicative[OP]
Adverbial[A]	Adverbial	Optional adverbial[OpA]
Adverbial complement[AC]		Obligatory adverbial[ObA]

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Words and phrases are the constituents of the clause rank. In order to discuss the constituents of the clause, it is necessary to refer to the units smaller than the clause itself. Consider the following example, in which we can see that a single clause is composed of smaller units of the phrase rank.

From our discussion of the phrase rank, we also know that we can categorize the constituents of that clause into the appropriate phrase type.

Furthermore, we also know that each phrase can be subcategorized into its constituent parts.

The diagram above, however, looks at the constituents of the clause only from the perspective of the constituents' forms. We should remember that those forms also serve functions, just as the forms at the phrase rank can also be described according to the functions they served within their phrases. Essentially the clause can be divided into eight functional constituents, grouped into five categories:

Functional Categories in Quirk, et al. 1985	Eight Clause Functions in Quirk, et al. 1985
(1) Subject	[1] Subject
(2) Verb	[2] Verb
(3) Object	[3] Direct Object
	[4] Indirect Object
(4) Complement (known as 'Predicative' in Biber, et al. 2021)	[5] Subject Complement (known as 'Subject Predicative' in Biber, et al. 2021)
	[6] Object Complement (known as 'Object Predicative' in Biber, et al. 2021)
(5) Adverbial	[7] Adverbial Complement (known as 'Obligatory Adverbial' in Biber, et al. 2021)
	[8] Adverbial (known as 'Optional Adverbial' in Biber, et al. 2021)

At the clause rank, the constituents marked in the example sentence above serve four different clause functions: subject (S) as in The news, verb (V) as in has been, subject complement (SC) [subject predicative (SP)] as in quite sad, and adverbial (A) [optional adverbial (OpA)] as in in fact. We use the following abbreviations for the other four clause functions: direct object (DO), indirect object (IO), object complement (OC) [object predicative (OP)], and adverbial complement (AC) [obligatory adverbial (ObA)]. The examples below illustrates some other clause patterns that are possible in English.

1. Liz (S) is resting (V) quietly (A [OpA]) in the other room (A [OpA]).
2. The mind (S) is (V) immensely complex (SC/SP).
3. The children (S) were (V) here (AC [ObA]) all morning (A [OpA]).
4. Emily (S) is playing (V) cards (DO) with her sister (A [OpA]).
5. Early next week (A [OpA]), the President (S) will send (V) Congress (IO) his budget (DO).
6. Clearly (A [OpA]), the committee (S) considers (V) her (DO) the best (OC [OP]).
7. Once again (A [OpA]), I (S) will put (V) the book (DO) away (AC [ObA]).

When we look at the examples, we notice that each clause has a different arrangement of functional elements, but there are some patterns too. First, we notice that while the different clauses have different arrangements of objects, complements, and adverbials, each clause consistently has a subject and verb. Thus, in the declarative clause, we call the functions of subject and verb the 'central' functions while objects, complements, and adverbials are the 'peripheral' functions. We also notice that adverbials are 'optional' when compared to the other clause constituents. That is, we could easily eliminate all the adverbials in sentences (1) through (7) and still have a well-formed English clause remaining. By eliminating the optional adverbials, then, we arrive at a classification of the basic clause patterns on the basis of the 'obligatory' constituents.

Some Examples of the Seven Clause Patterns in English

	S	V	IO	DO	SC [SP]	OC [OP]	AC [ObA]
S-V	Liz	is resting
S-V-C [S-V-SP]	The mind	is			complex
S-V-AC [ S-V-ObA]	The kids	were					here
S-V-DO	Emily	is playing		cards
S-V-IO-DO	Clinton	will send	Congress	his budget
S-V-DO-OC [S-V-DO-OP]	We	consider		her		the best
S-V-DO-A [S-V-DO-ObA]	I	will put		the book			away

This set of patterns is the most general classification that can be usefully applied to the English clause. Correlating with the seven clause patterns are the three main types of verbs:

• intransitive verbs, followed by no obligatory constituents, as in SV pattern above;
• copular verbs, followed by a SC [SP] or AC [ObP], as in the S-V-C [S-V-SP]and S-V-AC [S-V-ObA]patterns above; and
• transitive verbs, followed by an object, as in the S-V-DO, S-V-IO-DO, S-V-DO-OC [S-V-DO-OP], and S-V-DO-A [S-V-DO-ObA] patterns above.

To conclude this outline of the basic clause patterns, we need to understand the principles by which the functional constituents of the clause are identified. Although the categories of S, V, DO, IO, OC, SC, AC, and A are functional constituents, they are identifiable by both formal and functional criteria.

REFERENCES

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., and Finegan, E. (2021). Grammar of Spoken and Written English. John Benjamins.

Curme, G. (1931). A Grammar of the English Language, 2 volumes. D. C. Heath and Company.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). Introduction to Functional Grammar, 2nd ed. Edward Arnold.

Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, and J. Svartvik. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman.

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