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Everything about Clause

Smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition

In language, a clause is a constituent or phrase that comprises a semantic predicand and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with or without any objects and other modifiers. However, the subject is sometimes unexpressed if it is easily deducible from the context, especially in null-subject languages but also in other languages, including instances of the imperative mood in English. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: ClauseA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Intonation and clause combining in discourseInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: C.I.F. and F.O.B. contractsThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Definite clause grammars for language analysis—A survey of the formalism and a comparison with augmented transition networksCited 531 times
  5. Go sideways: English clause syntaxA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Non-finite clauseA closely related topic

đź“– Definitions

Noun A group of words that contains a subject and a verb (one of which may sometimes be implicit rather than explicit); it may be part of a sentence or may constitute the whole sentence, depending on the syntax in each instance; the group is usually multiple words but can sometimes be one explicit word (with one or more others implicit).

Noun A verb, its necessary grammatical arguments, and any adjuncts affecting them.

Noun A verb along with its subject and their modifiers. If a clause provides a complete thought on its own, then it is an independent (superordinate) clause; otherwise, it is dependent (subordinate). (Independent clauses can be sentences; they can also be part of a sentence. Dependent clauses can only be part of a sentence.)

Noun A distinct part of a contract, a will or another legal document.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Matrix clauses
  2. Major distinctions
  3. Clauses according to semantic predicate-argument function
  4. Representing clauses
  5. Clauses vs phrases
  6. Non-finite clauses

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

đź“š Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

đź”— Related topics