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It is a key unit.

It can stand on its own.

Not all sentences contain a complete clause.

Clause elements & Clause patterns

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INTRANSITIVE PATTERN S+V = She dances.

MONOTRANSITIVE PATTERN S+V+DO= John reads a book.

COPULAR PATTERNS S+V+SP= The meat is delicious.

S+V+A= The children were in the garden.

DITRANSITIVE PATTERN S+V+IO+DO= Peter gave Mary a bar of chocolate.

COMPLEX TRANSITIVE PATTERNS S+V+DO+OP= That makes me so mad

S+V+DO+A= They're sending us to Brazil

TRANSITIVE PATTERNS HAVE AN OBJECT FOLLOWING THE VERB

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Phrases that have syntactic roles.

They are:

• Verb phrase (V)

• Subject (S)

• Object (O) •Direct Object (DO)

•Indirect Object (IO)

•Predicative (P)

•Subject Predicative (SP)

•Object Predicative (OP)

•Adverbial (A)

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Central element of the clause.

It expresses the action or state.

It controls the other kinds of elements & meanings.

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STRUCTURE

MEANING

•The Subject is a Noun Phrase.

•It occurs with all types of verbs.

•Subject Pronouns are in the nominative case (he, she : used as Subject)

• Object Pronouns are in the accusative forms (him, her : used as Object)

•The Subject determines the number of the verb phrase.

•With transitive verbs: The subject NP can be moved after the verb

preceded by by to make the pass ive .

•The subject indicates the most important participant in the

action or state that the verb refers to (“Doer” or agent with

transitive verbs)

•The subject generally represents the topic even if it has no

actual meaning ( dummy pronoun) e.g.: i t never rains.

C

R

I

T

E

R

I

A

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It is a noun phrase

It usually follows the verb

It occurs with transitive verbs

Object pronoun ( her, him) is in the accusative case , filling theobject position

With transitive verbs : the object NP can be moved to becomesubject of the passive clause

3 patterns take DO  monotransitive

ditransitive

complex transitive

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It usually comes after the verb.

Its function is to indicate the entityaffected by the action of the verb.

E.g. We parked the car in the wors t place 

Sometimes verbs take a DO though it has

no meaning (dummy pronoun for DO)

E.g. The verb take. Relax, take it easy .

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It occurs after a ditransitive verb (g ive, tell) 

It comes before the OD

It indicates people receiving something or 

benefiting from the action of the verb

E.g. I cooked the kids d inner.

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It can be adjective phrase, noun phrase or 

sometimes a prepositional phrase.

It follows the verb phrase and( if present) the DO

It characterises a previous noun phrase

Types subject predicative (SP)

object predicative (OP)

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It characterises or specifies the subject noun phrase .

E.g. His sk in was very pink ( SP = adjective phrase )

Features 

It immediately follows the verb phrase

The main verb must be a copular verb ( be , seem ) 

They're sometimes called “ subject complement“ 

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It characterizes or specifies the direct object noun phrase .

E. g. Oh, I can't get this milk open (O.P= Adjective Phrase)

Features

It Immediately follows the D.O.

The main verb must be complex transitive (make, f ind, co nsid er 

 

It's sometimes known as “object complement” 

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Types ObligatoryOptional.

•Obligatory Adverbial.

•The complete meaning of some verbs.

•They can occur with copular pattern & complex transitive pattern.

•They usually express place or direction (also time or manner meaning)

E.G. Your to ast is on the table 

I treated her badly, very b adly.

•Optional Adverbials

•They go with a few verbs.

•They can be added to clauses with any types of verb.

•They are usually adverb phrase, P,P or Verb

•They are additional information (place, time, manner, extent & attitude)

E.G. I only bo ugh t one today.

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SHE LOST HER MOB ILE PHONE IN THE PARTY 

N. PH.

P. PH.N. PH.V. PH.N. PH.

CLAUSE

a

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Conjunctions: They are: and , because & but.

e.g. Because he & Jane aren't married 

Parentheticals: Separated from the clause by parenthesis .

e.g. At five ( yesterday afternoon ) a mysterious letter arrived. 

Prefaces: Have the same reference as a personal pronoun in the clause

e.g. This woman , she's ninety years old.

Tags: normally added at the end of the clause

e.g. She is so generous, i sn ' t she? 

Inserts: Mainly used in spoken English . They can occur as free elements

e.g. You know who Peter is, r ight? 

Vocatives: Are nouns or noun phrases which refer to people & help toidentify the person (s) being addressed

e.g. Mum, I'm making such a big sandwich.