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Daniel Kies Department of English College of DuPage |
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| Modern English
Grammar English 2126 |
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Forms of Subordinate Clauses
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To illustrate the various forms of the subordinate clause, let's look at several examples. In each example, we will keep the grammatical function constant (making all of the subordinate clauses function as adverbials in the main clause) so that we can concentrate on the changes in form:
(21) Since he arrived, she left early. [full clause]
(22) Shocked by the news, she left early. [-ed clause]
(23) Hearing the news, she left early. [-ing clause]
(24) Her hearing the news, she left early. [absolute clause]
(25) To hear the news, she left early. [infinitive clause]
(26) Anxious and fretful, she left early. [verbless clause]
Some of the hallmarks of the full subordinate clause are its subordinator (Since), its own subject (he), and its own finite verb (arrived). The other clauses, in (22) through (26), are all reduced subordinate clauses with nonfinite verbs.
The -ed clause is marked by the presence of the nonfinite -ed verb form at the beginning of the subordinate clause. Likewise, the -ing clause and the infinitive clause are marked by the presence of an -ing or infinitive verb form, respectively, in clause-initial position. (An -ing clause functioning as the subject of the sentence, as in Swimming in this lake is not allowed, is often called a "gerund" in traditional grammars.) The absolute clause is much like the -ing clause; however, the absolute clause begins with a pronoun in the genitive or objective case that seems to function as the 'subject' of the -ing verb. Finally, verbless clauses, as their name suggests, are notable for their lack of any verb form (although one can easily imagine that the verbless clause is a reduced form of a full subordinate clause something like Since she was anxious and fretful, ....).
Lastly, relative clauses are recognizable by their distinctive structures: first is the relative pronoun (a wh- word like who, whom, whose, which or the word that) often occurring in clause-initial position; second is the fact that the relative pronoun has the potential to assume many different functions within the relative clause. For example, some of the most common functions for the relative pronoun are subject, object, or complement:
(27) A relative pronoun as subject of relative clause I know who has the book now. Subject Verb Object Adverbial (relative pronoun) Relative Clause Subject Verb Object Main Clause (28) I know whom you wish to see. [relative pronoun as object of relative clause]
(29) I know who you are. [relative pronoun as complement of relative clause]
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