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LECTURE 1: IS NOT word-processed YET- it deals with concepts, Lecture 2(2008)

THE COMPOUND SENTENCE: COORDINATION (ADVERSATIVE, COPULATIVE, DISJUNCTIVE) Coordination syndetic (explicit) asyndetic (implicit) The term coordination is used by grammarians for both syndetic coordination - when explicit indicators of coordination are present - and asyndetic coordination - when the relationship of coordination is not marked overtly: eg. Slowly and stealthily, he crept towards his victim. Exemplifies syndetic coordination : and as explicit indicator eg. Slowly, stealthily, he crept towards his victim. Asyndetic coordination; with and omitted. Explicit indicators of coordination are termed coordination conjunctions or coordinators. Both coordination and subordination involve the linking of units, but in coordination the units are constituents of the same level whereas in subordination they are of different levels. A major difference between coord. and subord. of clauses is that the information in subordinate clauses is not asserted, but presupposed as given. Compare: He tried hard, but he failed. to Although he tried hard, he failed. Coordinators (=coordinating conjunctions) We regard 3 conjunctions as coordinators: and, or, but. And and or are the central coordinators form which but differs in some respects. For is often classed as a coordinator. Both, either and neither are used as the 1st in a correlative pair with and, or and nor respectively. Here are 6 features (summarized in the grid) 1. As clause coordinators and and or are restricted to initial position in the clause: John plays the guitar and his sister plays the piano. 2. Clauses beginning with and or or are sequentially fixed in relation to the previous clause and therefore cannot be transposed without producing unacceptable sentences or at least changing the relationship of the clauses: They are living in England or they are spending a vacation there.

* Or they are spending a vacation there, they are living in England. 3. And, or and but do not allow another conjunction to precede them: *He was unhappy about it, and but he did what he was told. On the other hand, subordinators can be preceded by conjunctions: eg. He asked to be transferred, because he was unhappy and because he saw no prospect of promotion. 4. And and or allow ellipsis of the subject of the clause they introduce if the subject is co-referential with that of the preceding linked clause. eg. I may see you tomorrow or (I) may phone later in the day. 5. As well as linking 2 main clauses, and and or can link subordinate clauses. But can link only certain types of subordinate clauses: a) that - clauses b) temporal - adverbial clauses eg. I spoke to him after the conference was over, but before he started work. c) clauses introduced by the same conjunctions which might be wh-words, in order that, so that, because. In such cases the 1st part of the sentence is negative and contrasts with the part that follows but. eg. She didnt see who met the ambassador, but who took him away. 6. And and or can link more than 2 clauses and when this is done all but the final instance of these 2 conjunctions can be omitted: John might take them by car, Mary might go with them by bus or I might order a taxi for them. The following diagram displays the gradient from the central coordinators and, and or to subordinators like if and because, with but, for and so that on the gradient. The conjunctions yet and so are added to the table because they have been considered by some to be coordinators. The 6 features of and or have been taken into account. coordinators And or but subordinator For, s so that, if becaus e conjuncts yet, so + 1 + + + + 2 + + + + 3 + + + 4 + + 5 + + 6 + -

Semantic implications of coordination by and And denotes merely a relation between the clauses. The only restriction is the semantic one that the contents of the clauses have sufficient in common to justify the combination. In *The people went to dance and the equator is equally distant from the 2 poles, the semantic content of the clauses does not motivate their combination. The implications of the combination vary and depend on our presupposition and our knowledge of the world. Semantic implications of coordination by or Or usually denotes an alternative. As with and, the contents of the 2 clauses must have sufficient in common to motivate their justification as alternatives. Usually OR is exclusive, excluding the possibility of a realization of all but one of the alternatives: eg. You can sleep on the couch in the lounge or you can go to a hotel. The preferred alternative tends to be put first. The addition of either to the first clause is more explicit in excluding the coordination of both alternatives: eg. You can either boil yourself an egg, or you can make some cheese sandwiches. When the content of the clause allows it, OR can be interpreted as inclusive, allowing the realization of a combination of the alternatives, as in: eg. If the appliance is defective, write directly to the manufacturer and/or complain to your local consumer protection ser vice. OR may also imply a negative condition, as in: eg. Give me some money or Ill shoot. Semantic implications of coordination by but But denotes a contrast, which may be in the unexpectedness of what is said in the 2nd conjoint [= the 2nd or more clauses that may be coordinated are termed conjoints. A sentence constructed of 2 or more conjoins is traditionally termed as a compound sentence] in view of the content of the 1st conjoin: eg. John is poor, but he is happy.

The unexpectedness depends on our presuppositions or our knowledge of the world. Correlatives Nor, neither can be used without being a correlative pair. They generally presuppose that a previous clause is negative or contains a negative word or a negative implication: eg. He did not receive any assistance from the authorities, nor were the teachers satisfied with conditions at school. Notice that nor in the equivalent of or plus not; as might be thought form its morphological composition. Rather, it is nearer to being the equivalent of and plus not. In all these sentences, neither can replace nor. Both NEITHER and NOR can be linked to preceding sentences by AND or BUT: They never forgave him for the insult and neither could he rid himself of the feeling of guilt but nor for having spoken that way. They are not pure coordinators. They require subject operator (=the 1st . in a sequence inversion in their clause). They often constitute a correlative pair, negating 2 clauses conjoined by AND. The correlatives emphasize that the negation applies to both clauses. Correlative NEITHER is mobile, its position reflecting the scope of negation. eg. John neither has long hair, nor does he wear jeans. Correlative NEITHER does not entail subject-operator inversion, even when it occurs initially, though for non-correlative NEITHER it is obligatory. NOR is usually followed by subject-operator inversion when both subject or operator are present (as above). But when subject and/or operator are used, there can be no inversion: eg. Bob has neither replied to my letters, nor answered my telephone calls. Correlative NOR cannot be preceded by any conjunction. * John neither has long hair, and nor does he wear jeans. Other correlatives The correlatives neitheror ( and whetheror; the corresponding pair in indirect questions) have been mentioned earlier; the pair bothand is not admissible in clause coordination unless there is a kind of ellipses while we can have: Mary washed the dishes and Peter dried them, we cannot have. * Both Mary washed the dishes and Peter dried them.

BOTH can be inserted if the predications in the 2 clauses are directly linked: eg. Mary both washed the dishes and dried them. Common correlatives with BUT are NOT (and enclitic nt) and NOT ONLY; the content of both clauses is felt to be surprising but the 2nd clause, often reinforced by ALSO is felt to be more surprising. A more dramatic effect is achieved by positioning NOT ONLY initially, with consequent subject-operator inversion: eg. Not only did they break into his office, but they also tore up his manuscripts. The correlatives JUST ASSO are used where the 2nd clause makes a point similar to the 1st: eg. Just as they must put aside their prejudices, so we must be prepared to accept their good faith. Ellipses When 2 or more clauses are coordinated, certain clause constituents are often ellipted from all but one of the clauses: eg. We can go for a walk or watch TV in which WE CAN are ellipted. Ellipsis in coordination is a means of avoiding repetition. Three situations are to be found: a) The ellipted and realized items are identical lexical items and are coreferential: John likes Mary, but (John) hates Susan. b) The ellipted or realized items are identical lexical items and refer to manifestations of the some type: Bob will buy a house, and Peter might (buy a house) too. c) The ellipted and realized items are identical lexical items but have different grammatical forms: He has complained and he will (complain) again. Intonation or punctuation marking of ellipses The point where ellipsis has taken place is often marked in speech by an intonation break, co-occuring with the end of an intonation unit; in written E. a comma is used at the same point. However, intonation or punctuation marking may be absent if the ellipsis results in the linking of 2 lexical verbs: Mary washed (the clothes) and (Mary) ironed the clothes. Often the effect of ellipsis is no more than to suggest a closer connection but the content of the clauses, but sometimes the effect is to

indicate that there is a combined process rather than 2 separate processes. This effect is common when the coordinated clauses are direct or indirect questions or subordinate to another clause or when negation is involved. Thus in: Did Peter tell lies and hurt his friends? the effect of the ellipsis is to imply that Peters telling lies had the result that he hurt his friends. There is no such implication in: Did Peter tell lies, and did he hurt his friends?, where the 2 parts are regarded as 2 separate processes. SOME SPECIAL USES OF COORDINATION
1. Members of a small class of verbs functioning as 1st conjoin in a

set of coordinated vbs, may be similar to semi-auxiliaries: Ill try and come tomorrow for to come, like tryare: stop, go, come, hurry up, run. 2. Identical items may be conjoined an indefinite number of times. With comparative forms of Adj or Adv. The effect is to express a continuing increase in degree: He felt more and more angry. With verbs and the absolute form of adverbs, the effect of coordination of identical items is to expres a continuing or repetitive process: He talked and talked and talked (=for a very long time). He knocked and knocked (repeatedly). He talked on and on and on (continuously). If a noun is repeated once, the effect may be to suggest that different types can be distinguished: There are teachers and teachers. (=good or bad). However, if the noun is repeated more than once, the effect is to suggest a larger number: There were dogs and dogs and dogs all over the place. Structures relating to coordination There are several quasi-coordinators which behave sometimes like coordinators and other times (without any change of meaning) like subordinators or prepositions. The most prominent are clearly related to comparative forms: as well as, as much as, rather than, more than.

In: He publishes as well as prints his own books. He was pitied rather than disliked. It was his tone more than what he actually said that discouraged me. they resemble coordinators. In other sentences, they have a subordinating role: eg. Rather than cause trouble, Im going to forget the whole affair. Another quasi-coordinator is the informal LET ALONE when is preceded by a negative: eg. Ive not even read the first chapter, let alone finished the book. 3 SUBORDINATION The simple sentence, which we analyzed during the first semester, is a sentence which can be analyzed as a single clause, in terms of subject, verb, compl., adverbial etc. Our task now is to examine the structure of the complex sentences, i.e. sentences containing more than one clause. The second major device of linking clauses together (after coordination) is that of subordination (Sb). While coordination is a linking together of 2 or more elements of equivalent status & function, Sb is a nonsymmetrical relation, holding between 2 clauses x & y in such a way that y is a constituent / part of x. diagrammatically, the difference is: X
X1

- and -

X2

Y I like John

I like John John likes me because John likes me. Coord. Sb.

A second difference is that a coordinate relation may have more than two members, while only 2 clauses enter a relationship of subordination. We may call them subordinate clauses (y) / subclause embedded and the superordinate clause (x), in which y is a constituent part (subject, vb., adverbial) of the latter. The device of subordination enables us to organize

multiple clause structures. Such a subordinate clause may itself be superordinate to one / several clauses, so that a hierarchy of clauses may be built up, resulting in Ss. of great complexity. Independent & Dependent Clauses An independent clause is a clause capable of constructing a simple sentence. A dependent clause is a clause that makes up a grammatical sentence only if it is subordinate to a further clause. e.g. It is late. (indep.) Im coming home because it is late. indep. + dep. cl. In other words, a dependent clause is one that is subordinated to another clause (and may in turn be subordinated to another clause as well). (I think [that you can do it {if you try.}]) x y z x is independent y, z are dependent Dependent, as well as independent clauses, may be coordinated. Dependent clauses may be classified either by structural type, i.e. in terms of the elements they themselves contain, or by function, i.e. the structural position they have a subordinate clause. Analysing them by structural type, we arrive at 3 main classes: - finite (a clause containing a finite vb.) - non-finite (a clause containing a non finite verb) - verbless clause (a clause containing no verbal element at all) The finite clause always contains a subject as well as a predicate, except in the case of commands & subject ellipsis in coordinate clauses. Nearly all independent clauses are finite. In contrast, the non-finite clause always has the ability to function without a subject of with an optional one. There are 4 classes of non-finite clauses: 1) infinitive with to: without subject: The best thing would be to tell everybody. with subject: / for you to tell everybody. 2) infinitive without to: without subject: All I did was hit him on the head. with subject: Rather than I do it, Id prefer to give the job to Mary. 3) ing participle: without subject: Leaving the room, he tripped over the mat.

with subject: Her aunt having left the room, I declared my passionate love for Mary. 4) ed participle: without subject: Covered with confusion, I left the room. With subject: We left the room and went home, the job finished. The following clause types can be found: 1. Its great (for a man) to be free. S V A 2. ii to be here. V A 3. ii (for us all) to have arrived. S V 4. Its unusual (for you) to be having a rest. S V O 5. ii (for John) to have made himself ill. S V O C 6. Its best (for us) to get the country out of debt. S V A 7. ii (for you) to buy yourself a car. S V O O The absence of the finite vb. from the non-finite clause means that they make no distinctions of person, number or modal auxiliary. Together with their frequent absence of a subject, this suggests their value as a means of syntactic compression. On the other hand, this advantage must be balanced against ambiguity. e.g. We met you (when you? / we ? were) leaving the room. In a negative non-finite clause, the negation particle is placed immediately before the vb. e.g. its his fault for not doing anything about it. The Verbless Clause Apart from being verbless, it is also (like the non-finite clause) commonly subjectless. The omitted finite vb. can generally be assumed to be a form of the vb. BE, and the subject, when omitted, can be treated as recoverable from context. e.g.. Whether (he is) right or wrong, he always comes off most in argument e.g. One should avoid taking a trip abroad in August, where (it is) possible. Verbless clauses can also, on occasion, be treated as reduction of non-finite clauses.

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e.g. Too nervous to reply, he stared at the floor. Being Here, the verbless element itself contains a non-finite clause, to reply. The subject is often introduced by with. e.g. With the tree now tall, we get more shade. Formal Indicators of Subordination Subordination is marked by: - a subordinate conjunction - a wh- element - the item that - inversion or the absence of a finite vb. form Subordinators / Subordinating Conjunctions are the most important formal device of subordination. Like prepositions, subordinators forming the core of the class consist of a single word. There are also compound items and a small class of correlative subordinators, i.e. combinations of two markers, one (a conjunction) occurring in the subordinate clause, and the other (normally an adverb) occurring in the superordinate clause. Simple subordinators - often (although, as, because, before, but, if, forever) like, once, since, that, till, unless, until, when(ever), where(ver), whereas, whereby, while Compound Subordinators Ending with that: in that, so that, in order that, such that, except that, for all that - in order to introduces infinitival clauses Ending in the optional that: now (that), providing (that), provided (that), supposing (that), considering (that), given (that), granting (that), granted (that), admitting (that), assuming (that), presuming (that), immediately (that), directly (that). Ending with as: as far as, as long as, as soon as, so long as, in so far as, so far as, so as (+ to + inf.) Ending with than: sooner than (+ inf.), rather than (+ inf.) Other: as if, as though, in case, lest, for fear Correlative Subordinators A) if then, (al)though yet / nevertheless, as so Type <A> contains combinations in which a subordinate adverbial clause comes first, the main clause being marked by an optional adverb.

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B) The second group contains comparative correlatives whose second element introduces the subordinate clause, while the first functions as a degree modifier in the main clause: More / -er / less than; as as; so as; so (that); such as; no sooner than; hardly when. more ashamed e.g. I was then I have ever been. angrier C) It is the alternative conditional correlative: whether or. D) Type <D> is the prepositional correlative in..the Archaic subordinators: albeit (although), lest, whence, whither (from where / incotro). Other Indicators of subordination A) Wh- elements are initial markers of subordination in interrogation wh- clauses, in relative wh- clauses and in conditional concessive wh- clauses. There are: who / whom / whose, which, where, when, whether, how, what, why, together with the compound words whoever, whomever, whichever, wherever, whenever, whatever, however etc. There are not conjunctions and they function as S, O, C, adverbial. B) The relative pronoun that (to be distinguished from the subordinating conjunction that) is a subordination marker in relative clauses. e.g. The bus that took me there was late. C) Subject-operator inversion is a marker of subordination in some conditional clauses, where the operator is had, were, should: Had I known more, I would have refused the job. D) The absence of a finite verb form is effectively an indication of subordinate status, since non-finite and verbless clauses occur only in dependent clauses. E.g. The march will take place tomorrow, weather permitting. There are only two types of subordinate clauses that contain no marker within themselves of subordinate status. 1) Nominal that from which that has been omitted: e.g. I suppose youre right. (I suppose that) 2) Comment clauses: e.g. Youre right, I suppose.

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A Functional Classification of Dependent Clauses Dependent clauses may function as subject, complement or adverbial in the subordinate clause: Subj.: That we need more equipment is obvious. D. O.: I know that she is pretty. IO.: I gave whoever it was a cup of tea. Obj. compl.: I imagined him overcome with grief. ? Adjunct: When we meet, I shall explain everything. ? Disjunct: To be honest, Ive never liked him. ? Conjunct: What is more, he has lost the friends he had. In addition, they may function within those elements, as postmodif. prep complement etc: - postmodifier in VP: the friend who remains a friend - prepositional complement: It depends on what we decide. Nominal Clauses On the basis of these functions, we have the following classification of functional clauses: nominal, adverbial, relative, comparative, complementary, comment clauses: The nominal clauses are clauses having a function approximating to that of a NP. - subject: Whether we need it is a difficult matter. - Object: I dont know whether we need it. - Apposition: That question, whether we need it, has not yet been considered. - Prep. complement: The decision must depend on whether we need it. The occurrence of nominal clauses is limited. 4 Other functional clauses apart from nominal clauses: 1. Adverbial clauses operate like adjuncts or disjuncts Semantically disjuncts express an evaluation of what is being said, while conjuncts have a connective function e.g. of conjuncts - We , however, are going to London If they open the window, then, Im leaving I didnt invite her. She wouldnt come anyway. ADJUNCTS = (when we speak about adv) are integrated within the structure of the clause by at least one of the following conditions. A) it is not independent or mobile (e.g. it cannot appear initially or be separeted by a

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comma from the rest of the sentence) in a negative declarative clause!! B) it can be constructed with another adverbial in alternative interrogation e.g. Are they waiting outside or are they waiting inside? C) it can be contrasted with another adverbial in alternative negation e.g. I didnt see him beforehand, but I did see him afterwards. Adjuncts - I can now understand it He spoke to me briefly We havent finished yet. Disjuncts and Conjuncts are not integrated within the clause (unlike adjectives) Conditions: a) they can appear initially in a negative declarative clause e.g. Frankly, she isnt tired b) and c) they cannot be constructed with another adverbial in alternative negation and interrogation e.g. Is he tired probably or is he tired possibly?. - he isnt tired e.g.Briefly, there is nothing more I can do about it. They are probably at home. Semantically disjuncts (D)express an evaluation of what is being said, while conjuncts have a connective function. e.g. (of C) We, however, are going to London If they open the window, then, Im leaving. I didnt invite her. She wouldnt come, anyway 1.1 Relative clauses - act as non-restrictive or restrictive modifiers of NPhs. They are functionally parallel to attributive adjectives or phrases e.g. people who speak Spanish / Sp-speaking people 1.2 Comparative clauses - often have the appearance of adverbial or adjectival modifiers. e.g. I love you more deeply than I can say They have features in common with adverbial clauses 1.3 Complementary clauses are non-finite clauses equivalent to complements in function and therefore parallel to adjectival or NPhs. e.g I found him reading the paper.(adj. compl)
1.4

Comment clauses perform the function of disjunct or conjunct and express the speakers attitude to the main clause. e.g. Food is cheap in England, I believe.

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2. NOMINAL CLAUSES ( or clauses equivalent in function to NPhs )

fall into several major categories 2.1. The That - clause (/dependent declarative clause it can occur as: 2.1.1. Subject - That she is still alive is a consolation 2.1.2. Direct Object - I told him that he was wrong. 2.1.3. Subject complement - The assumption is that things will improve. 2.1.4. Appositive - Your assumption, that things will improve, is unfounded 2.1.5. Adjectival complement - Im sure that things will improve. 2.1.6. Prepositional complement or Object complement. When the that clause is object/subject complement, the conjunction that is frequently omitted in informal use The assumption is things will improve leaving a zero that-clause - I knew / he was wrong 2.1.7. When the clause is subject, that (which cannot be paraphrased by the fact that) e.g. (The fact) that she is still alive comforts me. 2.2. Wh - interrogative clause The dependent wh-interrogative clause occurs with whole range of function available to the that-clause and in addition can act as prepositional complement: Subject - How the book will sell depends on the author D.O. - I cant imagine what made him do it Subj complement - The problem is not who will go but who will stay Appositive - My original question, why he did it all, has not been answered Adjective complement - I wasnt certain whose house I was in Prepositional complement - No one was consulted on who should have the prize As regards meaning, these clauses, resemble Wh-questions in what they have a gap of unknown information, represented by the wh-element. There is also a grammatical similarity to wh-Q in that the element is placed first. We have the same choice between initial or final preposition. Where the preposition complement is the wh-element. e.g. He couldnt remember - on which shelf he kept it - which shelf he kept it on (informal) The absence of subject - operator inversion (DQs vs. IQs - How will the books be sold?) is the only difference in the structures of the 2 types. An infinitive wh-clause can be informed with all wh-words except why or the reason why e.g. He was planning how to start the motor.

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In literary style, there is an occasional subject - verb or subject - operator inversion when the wh-element is the Adverbial of an SVA type clause or the C or an SVC type clause. e.g. I told them how strong was my desire to visit the famous temple. 2.3 Yes - No - interrogative clause The dependent yes-no interrogative clause is formed with if or whether. e.g. Do you know if/whether the banks are open? The dependent alternative question informal with if/whether or e.g. I dont care if your car breaks down or not only whether can be directly followed by not e.g. I dont care whether or not / *if or not A wh-clause beginning with whether cannot be made negative, whereas an if interrogative clause can e.g. I dont care if it doesnt rain / *whether it doesnt rain 2.4. Nominal relative clauses Also introduced by a wh-element, can act as: Subject - What he is looking for is a wife DO - I want to see whoever deals with complaints IO - She gave whoever come to the door a smile. Subj - complement - Home is where your friends and family are Obj - complement - You can call me whatever you like Appositive - Let us know your college address (that is where you live in term time) Prep-complement - You should vote for whichever candidate you think best. The nominal relative clause is much closer to the NPhs status than other nominal clauses e.g. Ill give however much tobacco you need Tomorrow is when it would be most convenient Quality is what counts most The form who is rarely used in present day English in the nominal relative function *Who told you that was lying The compound form whoever The person who has taken over / he who - in arch use Whether, if, who are not used for relative types while the compounds with ever are not used with the interrogative type. Where the wh-word chosen is available for both nominal relative and interrogative clauses an ambiguity arises:

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e.g. They asked me that I didnt know has two readings they asked me that which I didnt know they asked me: What dont you know? 2.5. To - infinitive nominal clauses It can occur as : Subject - For a bridge to collapse like that is unbelievable D.O - He likes everyone to be happy Subject complement - To be a member of this club is a privilege Appositive - His ambition to be a good actor was never fulfilled Adjectival complement - Im glad to help you The presence of the subject of a to-infinitive-clause normally requires the presence also of the preceding for which acts like a clause introducer. The subject, when a pro-N, is in the objective case. E.g. The idea is for us to meet on Thursday. When the clause is a DO for is omitted. The infinitive resembles the that clause in being unable to function as complement of a proposition Im delighted at having succeeded Im delighted to have succeeded *Im delighted at to have succeeded demonstrate the infinitives ability to follow directly an item. Wh-normally requires a prepositional phrase. Similarly we have : Im glad / sorry / pleased to have one The meaning of the infinitive clause is PUTATIVE (= the sentence puts forward an idea or a plan which may not be fulfilled) rather than FACTUAL (assumes that the idea/plan will be carried out) 2.6. NOMINAL -ing CLAUSES it may be called following traditional terminology, a participial clause. It can occur as: S - Eating people is wrong DO - No one enjoys deceiving his own family Subject complement - His favourite pastime is playing practical jokes. Appositive - His claim to fame, being secretary of the club, is his authority Prepositional complement - The children were busy building sandcastles The latter is the most common type of participial clause, which has no subject. When a S occur, its form is in genitive case in formal style e.g. Im surprised at his / Johns making that mistake. Objective case / for pro - N or common case / for the NPhs in informal style e.g. Im surprised at him / John making that mistake. The genitive is particularly unsuitable when the subject is inanimate / abstract NPh which would normally take the gender case: A long NPh with

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a group genitive is also avoided. On the other hand, the objective case seldom occurs in subject position. e.g. Him being a Negro changes everything. There is semantic equivalence between a that-clause and a nominal -ing clause. The most obvious structural paralled is that of a NPh with a verbal noun in -ing as head. Compare His dancing of the tango possesive head prep that postmod His dancing the tango gen subs v-ing object Only the prep of distinguishes the 2 constructions. There is nothing to distinguish when e.g. I like dancing ; I hate singing 2.7. Bare infinitive and verbless clauses There are 2 minor types of nominal clauses. The to of the infinitive is optionally omitted in a clause which , as complement, expresses the meaning of the verb Do e.g. All I did was (to) turn off the gas. What the plan does is (to) ensure a fair pension for all. When the infinitive clause is initial, to has to be omitted e.g. Turn off the tap was all I did. The category of a verbless nominal clause accounts for a type of subject which although superficially a NPh, has some of the structural, as well as semantic characteristics of a clause. e.g. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Are fast cars wise in cities? These may be paraphrased with the help of non-finite clauses: e.g. To be a friend in need is to be a friend indeed. Is allowing fast cars in the cities wise? A friend in need as a NPh would mean a friend who is in need, whereas the appropriate meaning is to have a friend when one is in need or Friendship in a time of need is indeed a friendship 5 Adverbial Clauses Adverbial clauses or cls. serving primarily as adjuncts or disjuncts in the main clause may be placed in various semantic categories, such as time,

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place and manner. These categories may be related to those for adverbials in general and for prepositional phrases. Adv. Cls. are capable of occuring in a final, initial or medial pos. within the main cl. (generally in that order of frequency). We will begin by discussing finite clauses, wh. are generally introduced by subordinators; then to move to non-finite and verbless clauses. We shall use the term abbreviated clause for non-finite or verbless clauses beginning with a subordinator. Clauses of Time If finite, they are introduced by one of the following subordinators: after, as, before, once, since, till, until, when(ever), while, whilst (especially Br.E.), now (that), as long as, as soon as, immediately (that), directly (that). eg. When I las saw you, you lived in W. D.C. Our hostess, once everyone had arrived, was full of good humour. Temporal clauses are common in initial position; - ing clauses without a subj. are also used to express time relationships: eg. Nearing the entrance, I shook hands with my acquaintances. The stranger, having taken out the gun, moved threateningly towards me. Abbreviated -ing clauses may follow once, until, when(ever) and while. eg. Once published, the book caused a stir. Abb. Verbless clauses may follow as soon as, once, when(ever), while. eg. When in difficuty, consult the textbook. with until and its variant till a dynamic verb in the main cl. often has to be accompanied by a negative. * He started to read until he was 10 years old. He didnt start to read until he was 10. In the neg. S, not () until means the same as not() before. there is a type of when-clause wh. occurs finally in sentences in formal narrative style: eg. The last man was emerging from the escape tunnel when a distant shout signalled its discovery by the guards. It introduces a new piece of information not prepared by the preceding narrative. It gives dramatic emphasis or climax to the event so described. Infinitival clauses of outcome (result) may be placed among temporal clauses eg. He rushed to the door, only to discover that it was locked and barred. She grew up to be a successful actress.

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These clauses, like all adverbial infinitival clauses have no subject and they always follow the rest of the main clause. The sentences could be paraphrased by switching the relationship of subordination and using a when-clause. Eg. When I awoke one morning, I formed the girl in tears. Their final pos. suggests an analogy between these clauses and result clauses wh. they resemble in meaning. A time clause that deals with events in the future has its verb in the present or the pres. Perfect. Will is never used in time clauses in English. Eg. Ill tell him when he comes. After you have eaten, lets go to the park. When the future is viewed from a standpoint in the past, the appropriate change of tense is made. Eg. I promised that I would tell him after he had eaten/ when he came. Sometimes time clauses are introduced by nouns with or without a connecting word (that or sometimes when). Eg. The moment he learned the truth , he resigned. I saw them the day I left for Europe. When also means every time that and overlaps with whenever. Eg. When (whenever) I read too long, I get a headache. To express that the action of the subordinate clause closely follows that of the main clause one of the restrictive adverbs (hardly, scarcely, no sooner) is used in the main cl. Scarcely and hardly are followed by when, no sooner by than. The main cl. has inversion if the adverb is placed in initial position eg. Hardly had he finished speaking when there was a lightening and the rain began. These sentences are intermediate bet. subordination or coordination. They have the form of complex sentences but the relation bet. Their clauses is similar in its meaning to that existing bet. the independent parts of a compound sentence. ! A clause introduced by since (ever since) denotes the starting point of the action expressed by the V of the main cl. Eg. His mother has been dead ever since he was born. ! A clause introduced by since followed by a verb in the pres. perf. denotes during the time that eg. There have not been any snowstorms since we have lived here. What have you been doing since I have been away? The most frequent verbs that can be used in the pres. perf. after since, are be, know, stay, live -

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27.04.2010

Clauses of place

They are introduced by whereor wherever. Eg. They went wherever they could find work. Where the fire had been, we saw nothing but blackened ruins. Abbreviated clauses occur with both the subordinators. Eg. Where(ever) known, such facts have been reported. Where(ever) possible, the parts of the car should be tested. They are not very frequent, since the idea is usually expressed by prepositional phrases. Eg. We live now where weve always lived. I hid it where youll never find it. Clauses of concession They are introduced by although or its more colloquial variant though which is a conjunct of concession as well as a conjunction of concession eg. No goals were scored, though it was an exciting game. While or whereas are sometimes used to point a contrast between comparable things. Eg. The U.S. has immense mineral wealth, while/whereas Br. has comparatively little. Even if and even though are also concessive in meaning: eg. He borrowed my towel even though I told him not to. Even if you dislike ancient monuments, this castle is worth a visit. Conditional IF is, in meaning, the opposite of although implying a positive rather than a neg. connection between the two clauses; yet occasionally if is used concessively (=even if). eg. If hes poor, at least hes honest. Abbreviated clauses of concession are common of all three structural types (-ing, -ed, and verbless): though a young man, even if, still operating; even though given every attention. Eg. Though well over eighty, he can walk a mile faster than I can. Concessive clauses sometimes have unusual syntactic orderings. The subordinators as, though, that occur in non-initial position after the subject complement in: eg. Asleep as/that I was, I continued working. Miraculous though their survival seemed, it was nothing to what lay ahead.

21

Even though their survival seemed miraculous. That and as in this position can also have the non-concessive meaning of cause or circumstance eg. Michael, fool as/that he was, completely ruined the dinner (since he was a fool, being a fool). The whole predication may be placed in front of the conjunction: object as you may, fail though I did; change your mind as you will.[ In much as I would like to help the adverb alone is fronted]. Alternative conditional - concessive clauses The overlap between condition and concession, already noted with even if or even though is particularly marked in 2 classes of adverbial clauses that we may call alternative cond-concessive and universal conditionalconcessive. The correlative sequence whether or may be called alternative conditional in that logically it combines the conditional meaning of if with the disjunctive meaning of eitheror. This it is a means of coordinating 2 subordinate clauses: eg. Whether they beat us or we beat them, the result will be the same. The concessive element of meaning comes in secondarily through the implication that if the same thing takes place in 2 contrasting conditions, there must be smth. surprising about at least one of them. UNIVERSAL CONDITIONAL AND CONCESSIVE CLAUSES While the alternative conditional- concessive cl. gives a choice between 2 possible conditions, the universal conditional-concessive c., introduced by one of the wh-compound words whatever, whaever indicates a free choice from any number of conditions. Compare: She looks pretty whether she wears blue or green. (2 alternatives) She looks pretty whatever she wears. (any number of alternatives) The concessive implication is that she would look pretty even if she wore overalls or a spacesuit. These clauses share with other wh-clauses the initial placement of the wh-element and ten consequent shift from normal word order. Eg. Good night America, wherever you are. However much advice you give him, he does exactly what he wants. Whatever your opinions are, you are welcome to join our society. The longer construction no matter wh-and it doesnt matter wh- is also a universal conditional - concessive clause introducer

22

It doesnt matter how hard I try, No matter, I can never catch up with him. In restricted circumstances i.e. with an abstract N Ph. Subj. the verb BE can be omitted from a universal conditional-concessive clause: Whatever your problems, they cant be worse than mine. There are absolute universal conditional-concessive constructions: come what may, be that as it may, do what you will. The initial verbs may be considered optative subjunctive (Suffice it ot say) to be associated with a similar alternative conditional-concessive construction involving the use of subj. BE : Be he friend or enemy, the law regards him as a criminal. In informal conversation, concession is most often expressed by BUT: Hes small, but hes strong. Contrasting ideas are often expressed as separate sentences with parenthetic though at the end : Hes small. Hes strong, though. Clauses of concession are also introduced by despite (the fact that), in spite of, notwithstanding, regardless of Concession of a generalized sort, is expressed by no matter how/where/when or with those - ever words that correspond to no matter in meaning. Eg. No matter how hot the weather is /may be he doesnt complain. Wherever you go/may go you wont find a friendlier town. In pure suppositions the may constr. is preferred

10.05.2010

Overlap of condition and concession

Whereas conditional clauses state the dependence of one circumstance or set of circumstances on one another. Eg. If you beat her kindly, shell do anything for you. Concess. clauses imply a contrast bet. two circumstances i.e. in the light of the circumstances in the depend cl, that in the main cl. is surprising eg. Although he hadnt eaten for days, he looked strong. The overlap bet. Cond. & concess. Clauses comes with even if wh. expresses both dependence of another circumstance and the surprising nature of this dependence Both cond.& concessive clauses tend to assume initial position in the superordinate clause. Even if he went down on his knees, I wouldnt forgive him.

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Sometimes it functions as disjunct of reason. Are you going to the post office? Because I have some letters to send. Theyve lit a fire because I can see the smoke rising. As and since are also conjunctions of time. This dual function can give rise to ambiguity: As he designed the engine, he must have realised its great capabilities. (it has two readings: because and while) There are no abbreviated clauses of reason *Because a man of ingenuity, but non-finite and verbless can be used equivalently Being a man of ingenuity, he had soon repaired the machine. Clauses of circumstances Semantically half way between the conditional clauses and clauses of reason are clauses of circumstance, which express what one might call a closed condition in opposition to either the open or the hypothetical condition expressed by if clauses. That is, they express a condition which is assumed to be fulfilled or they express a relation between a premise in the subordinate and the conditional (in the main). Because, since, as can convey this meaning as well as that of cause/reason. In addition, there is a special circumstantional compound conjunction seeing (that): Seeing that the weather has improved, we shall be able to enjoy our game. Non-finite and verbless clauses often have, by implication, this meaning. The weather having improved, we enjoyed the remainder of the game. The conjunction now (that) combines circumstantial with temporal meaning. Clauses of purpose are more often infinitival than finite To improve the garden, we shall plant tulips. I left early to catch the train. Like most adverbial infinitival clauses, they have no subject. More explicit indicators of purpose are the combinations in order to and so as to: Students should take notes so as to make revision easier. In formal style they can be introduced by the compound subordinators in order that or so that or simply that. The decision was made in order that/so that/that peace should prevail. In the purpose clauses which have a putative meaning (-do not carry any sense of obligation but assumes that the plan will be carried out). The modal

24

auxiliaries should and may/might are used. Negative purpose is expressed by the rather archaic and very formal conjunction lest or the informal in case. Lest/in case the wall should collapse, they evacuated the building. Both conjunctions have the meaning for fear that or in order thatnot Clauses of result overlap with those of purpose both in meaning and in form. The main difference is that result clauses are factual rather than putative, hence they may contain an ordinary verb form without a modal auxiliary. We planted hundreds of tulips, so that by August the garden had improved. So that serves to express result as well as purpose. Result clauses introduced by it can only appear in final position. Whereas purpose clauses are adjuncts, result clauses are disjuncts; thus only the former can form the focus of a dependent sentence. It was to/so that we might reach the chalet by nightfall that we travelled all day *It was so that we reached safely by nightfall that . Informally, the that of so that is omitted. I took no notice of him so he flew into a rage. Clauses of manner Are introduced by as or in substandard English by how She cooks a turkey exactly as my mother did. (-in the way my mother did) As also introduces a manner clause which involves comparison They haunted him as a tiger chases its prey. (-in a manner similar to) As if and as though introduce adverbial clauses indicating comparison with some hypothetical circumstance He treats me as if/as though Im /were a stranger. Both past and present forms imply the unreality of what is expressed in the subordinate clause id. it is assumed from both sentences that I am not a stranger. In other cases as if or as though with the present expresses factual meaning. He looks as if hes sick: fetch the doctor. Like is sometimes used as subordinator in manner clauses or in as if clauses of comparison. Its just like I imagined. He talks to me like I was his dog. But this usage is considered substandard. Clauses of comparison sometimes show subject-operator inversion.

25

The present owner is a keen art collector, as were several of his ancestors. 7 Comparative clauses The essential features of a comparative construction is that two properties, one expressed in the main clause and one by a comparative clause, are compared to something with respect to something they have in common. Comparison concerns a property measurable in terms of degree by means of the comparative items -er, more, less, worse, etc. together with the correlative clause-introducer `than`. The clause element of the main clause which contains the comparative item will be called the comparative element--it specifies the common standard on the basis of which the comparison between the clauses takes place Like the Q-element of a question, the comparative element of a comparative sentence can be any of the main elements of the clause(apart from the verb) e.g. Subj. compl.: I'm happier about it than my husband (is). Adverbial: You've been working much harder than I (have). Ellipsis of a part of the comparative clause is very frequent.The most characteristic type of comparative clause is one that imitates the structure of the main clause and repeats its whole content, with the exception of one element which provides a contrast. e.g.James enjoys the theatre more than Susan enjoys the theatre(enjoys it)/does Susan. This type of clause may be reduced to a single element. The reduction process may involve substitution as well as ellipsis. Elements of structure may contrast in part rather than as a whole: for ex. are aux. verb may be newly introduced in the comparative clause while the lexical verb is carried over from the main clause,so that the two verb phrases are only partially identical e.g. I like him better than I did The house is much taller than it is wide. Another interesting ex. is the reduced comparative clause "than ever" e.g. He's lazier now than ever. Comparisons are not based only on lack of equivalence but also on other relationships like equivalence, excess, sufficiency expressed by `as... as`, `so... that`, `such... that`, `too` and `enough`. e.g.Jack has many girlfriends as his brother.

26

Another pair of comparative expressions related through negation are `enough` and `too`, which convey the contrasting notions of sufficiency and excess. e.g. The grass is too short(to cut). The grass isn't long enough(to cut) The negative force of `too` is shown in the use of non assertive forms like `any`/`anything`. e.g. She's old enough to do some work. She's too old to do any work. COMMENT CLAUSES may be classified as adjuncts or conjuncts. They may vary in form -like a main clause: At that time I believe he was true to me. -like an adverbial clause: I'm a quiet person as you know. -like a nominal relative claus: What's more, we lost all our hopes. -to infinitive clause: I'm not sure what to do, to be honest. - -ing clause: I doubt, speaking as a teacher,whether TV is the right thing. Further examples: I know, you know, I see, I suppose, I'm afraid, remember, God knows, as you say, as I generally assumed, that annoys me, to be fair, to put it bluntly, generally speaking, putting it mildly, speaking of the ... ord. (unofficially, privately) RELATIVE CLAUSES Subordination that produces relative clauses is called relativization. Relative clauses may be classified in terms of form and meaning. The semantic classification distinguishes two types of relative clauses: restrictive(defining the antecedent)and non-restrictive(descriptive). e.g. I saw the man[who broke in this house.] det. head rel. cl. The formal(syntactic)classification reveals two types: dependent relative clauses, which are clauses with expressed antecedent(both restrictive and non-restrictive)and independent/free relative clauses without an expressed antecedent. Dependent relative clauses can be restrictive(limiting) e.g. The English [who are snobbish] are not very popular. expressed antecedent 1) In the restrictive relative clause the sentence marked for subordination has to share an identical subject with the main clause. e.g. The girl [the girl lives upstairs] is an art student. The common nominal: the girl is replaced acc. to the feature [+ human] by who, that

27

2)The relative pron.-N- is fronted and assumes the syntactic function of the nominal it has replaced, a subject in our case. 1.e.g. The girl [Bob married the girl] is an art student D.O.whom -whom undergoes `fronting` but keeps its D.O. function 2.e.g. The girl [Bob in in love (with) the girl] is an art student. Prep.O. -whom reflects the subject function and the preposition is left dangling; -you cannot use `that` instead. But girl B is in love with an art student. The same happens with the prep IO. The girl B gave the flower to is an art student. If the common nominal is [humain] it is replaced by which, that. In the typical RRC there are ways of specifying an individual or a set of individuals in 2 stages: 1. stage 1 - a larger set of individuals is chosen and this is called the domain of the clause. 2. in the second stage this set is restricted to those members of the domain which have the property expressed by a certain set (in the restrictive clause) e.g. Students [who are lazy] are not nice to look at. the domain restrictive sentence Syntactically, the restrictive sentence stud contain a copy of the domain which is the nominal. In most cases Relative clauses are preceded by determiners. e.g. Mary knows no boys who like knitting. Mary knows [few boys who like linguistic domain] det domain In certain cases, because of the fact that the nominal is followed by a RRC the noun changes its determiner to [ definite]. e.g. Milk is good. *The milk is good (*in the general sense) The milk I drank yesterday was good or Jane is a student. *Jane is the student Jane is the student whom you met yesterday. Non restrictive relative clauses add supplementary information e.g. The French, who are arrogant, are not very popular.

28

The commas change the meaning from restrictive to non restrictive. Restrictive rel cl are linked by the antecedent by intonation and continuity of the degree of loudness in voice. The relative pro N that doesnt occur in non-restrictive clauses. Only non-restrictive can modify proper names. e.g. Jane, who is arrogant, is not very popular. Any, all, every, each, some, no - prevent the occurrence of Non-restrictive cl *Any person, who collects stamps, is a stamp-collector. The relative clauses refer back to an antecedent which is not a nominal, but a V e.g. That his wife was annoyed, which she extremely seemed to be, was not surprising They let him marry her which was a good idea. Independent relative clauses Free, without an expressed antecedent can be: 1. subjects e.g. What irritated her pleased her husband. It may have an antecedent if we paraphrase by [the thing that] which is general and deleted what does not occur in dependent relative clauses. 2. DO - We finally found out what was worrying her so much 3. IO - Give the book to whoever it belongs to (definite, interpret) Give the book to whoever may need it (indefinite, outerpret) 4. Prep Obj - That depends on [what he is studying Vote for [whichever candidate you think for 5. Predicative S - Home is [where your friends are 6. Adverbials - Come [whatever you decide is a good time for you] Cleft sentences Consider a) The one who kisses her [was Fred rel cl without expressed antecedent b) It was Fred who kissed her a = pseudo cleft S b = cleft = structures of identification after the copula BE The introducers of rel clauses without express an antecedent. e.g. Come [whenever 1. who, whoever, what, where, when 2. ever compounds 3. so ever compounds (rhetorical) Independent relative clauses behave like N Phs, not like clauses

29

e.g. What we want and what we get are different things (agreement in the pl) e.g. That he first won and then last in amazing (agreement in the singular with that-clauses ) Non-finite relative clauses e.g. I found some tools [with which to fix the car (infinitival) That is a matter [ for French people to decide. (participial) Any man[owing a factory] has much responsibility. He drank a mix consisting of whisky, lemon, etc. They began a bitter struggle, leading to not satisfactory, results. 8 COMPLEMENTATION Complement clauses are embedded clauses which replace nominal phrases, taking their syntactic functions. They are introduced by a lsd set of subordinating particles, called complementizers: that, for to, as, etc. The head of a complement clause is a number of any of the following lexical categories: vb, prep. noun, adjective: (They) assumed that Bob was a fool (V) (He was charged) with having committed a crime (prep) (They remembered the) fact that Bill was abroad (N) (He was) afraid that he might miss the concert (A) Complement clauses suffer important modifications of form as consequence of embedding; their sentential status is destroyed to a greater of less extent, so that a formerly independent sentence tends to become more and more a NP, more and more nouny in its structure and properties. It is possible to establish a hierarchy of complement types ranging from very sentency complements to very nouny ones a. That he gave the necklace to me came as a shock to everybody. (TA AT-complement) b. For him to give that necklace to me was a shock to everybody. (inf for-to complement) c. When / how unwillingly he gave that necklace to me everybody remembers. (ind Q-complement) d. Him/Max giving that necklace to me caused his wife a heart attack. (half-gerund complement or Acc-ing complement) e. His/Maxs giving that necklace to me caused his wife a heart attack. (full gerund complement or poss-ing complement) f. His giving of a necklace to his wife was meant to patch up things. (verbal noun or proper nominalization)

30

His gift of a necklace to his wife was meant to patch up things. (deverbal noun or proper nominalization) These complement types are arranged in an implicational hierarchy, i.e. a gradient or squish. The rule of Preposition Deletion supports this claim. The prep is deleted when it immediately precedes certain complement types: a. I am amazed * at that he gave the necklace to me. b. I would be amazed * at for him to give that necklace to me. c. I was amazed (at) how willingly he gave me that necklace to me. d. I was amazed at him/his. e. I was amazed at his giving that necklace to me. f. I was amazed at his giving of that necklace to me. g. I was amazed at his gift of that necklace to me. We can notice the feature sentential or nouny. Prep. deletion can be characterised as obligatory before complements of low nouniness (a, b), optional for complements of intermediate nouniness (c) and impossible for any sufficiently nouny complements (d-g) An examination of the internal structure of the complement types confirms the existence of a gradual transition from sentence structure to NPh structure. The following types of differences occur: 1. independent intonation is lost, this being a feature of embedded clauses; 2. important changes regarding the auxiliary occur, i.e. in finite complement clauses the tense of the complement clause can be modified by the sequence of tenses rule. Starting with the infinitive clause, the compl clause loses aux. Altogether, so that infinitive or ing cls may express only aspectual distinctions: for Mary to laugh to have laughed to be laughing to have been laughing In verbal Ns and proper nominalization there is no aux. constituent 3. the subject has different realizations across complement types. It is a nominative in a, c; an accusative in b, d, a; a genitive in e, f, g 4. the DO may acquire a prep as in f, g 5. there may be restrictions on the type of constituents that may occur in a compl cl. For instance, formal there may not be a subject in full-gerund clauses
g.

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* I am surprised at * there being a cat at the door. Major Syntactic Properties of Complements Complement clauses and NPhs are distributionally similar. They may enter into most of the functional relations of NPhs. S, DO, PO, Predicative, Attrib, Adverbial that-clause pronominalize like NPhs: pro-forms like it, that stand for NPhs as well as clauses Compl clauses occur after the copula be in pseudo-cleft sentences. In such clauses the focus position is restricted to NPhs: 1. Columbus demonstrated that theorem What Columbus demonstrated is that theorem 2. Columbus demonstrated that the world is not flat What Columbus demonstrated is that the world is not flat That can only be flanked by the same type of constituents: in such environments that clauses may parallel NPhs. 3. a. I saw nothing else than a ghost. b. Muriel said nothing else than that she had been insulted NPhs and compl clas undergo many common e.g. passive The complementizer that is traditionally considered a subordinating conjunction. Unlike other subordinators (though, of), that has virtually no meaning, occasionally being deleted. That is purely a syntactic word, showing embedding, called complementizer. We distinguish it from other means of marking compl types (-ing; for-to) which cannot be included in the class of subordinating conjunctions. The lexical category of complementizers, groups morphemes that have the same syntactic function: that; for-to; poss-ing; acc-ing; as. Extraposition It is the rule that converts sentences like: That the world is round is obvious into It is obvious that the world is round, or Magellan regrets that the world is round into Magellan regrets * that the world is round. Extraposition has applied moving the complement cl to the end of the S and obligatory substituting it for the displaced compl cl. (IT insertion). S NPh S Compl S V1 Vph AP A

32

That the world is round S NPh V1 It world is round is VP

is

obvious

S AP Comp obvious that the

Extraposition is a major syntactic rule of the English complement system. It is not lexically governed. It is also possible to apply extraposition from DO and PO position, but the rule applies less frequently. Extraposition from object position maintains the cl in final position and inserts the it, hence the name of vacuous extraposition. An adverbial may frequently appear between the inserted pronoun and the extraposed clause. Bill regrets very much that he missed the concert S NP V VP NP S Bill S NP V VP NP AvP Comp regrets that he missed the concert S Comp S

33

Bill regrets

it

very much

that

he missed the concert

Other examples: I dont like it that he should be alone with her He planned it that we would leave before 6. I will answer for it that this man is honest. This case of extraposition represents the exception what favours extraposition from the subject position has to do with the information structure of the S. the compl cl often contains new information and it is often a long constituent. Hence it is better placed at the end of the sentence, in thematic position (the given: theme) (the new theme). English is an endfocus language. The inserted pronoun it is a formal Su/O anticipating the real extraposed Su or O. This it is different from the referential pronoun it in that it cannot be interrogated. a. I know it (What do you know?) b. I know it that hes here * What do you know that he is here? In the case of extraposition from Su position it is a grammatically introduced particle which has no semantic role. It will be inserted in those cases where it can be assimilated to an ordinary pronoun with anaphoric function. Thus extraposition occurs with those verbs or in those contexts where the content of the complement cl is assumed to be known or true. Emotive verbs will permit object extraposition Bill resents it that people are always comparing him to Mozart They didnt mind it that a crowd was beginning to gather in the street. You shouldnt regret it that you were helpful Verbs that express suppositions generally exclude the format it construction * Who would have supposed it that things would turn out this way? An important factor in determining the acceptability of object extraposition is the tense of the governing verb. Where it is used, the action has already been performed. I was the one who guessed (it) that you would win. * I guess it that you will win Certain sentences are semantically or pragmatically unacceptable if extraposition has not been applied. This is the case for Vs which have

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concrete meaning and acquire the possibility of taking compl cls as objects only if extraposition has applied a. I take it that you will start at once. b. He cant swallow it that you dislike him. c. She hid it that she was involved. d. He let it out of the bag that I was the one they were looking for. e. They finally got it that I meant them no harm. If extraposition applies to prepositional Vs, the inserted it has to be placed by the prep. a. I will answer for this mans honesty b. I will answer for it that this man is honest. c. We shall see it that a fair share of the burden is carried by those people. The preposition may turn up in passive constructions where it is optionally retained, as it no longer precedes the compl cl because the latter has been moved in Su position a. That I was wrong was insisted upon by the whole family The position also shows up in cleft constructions 1. What he informed me of was that theyre willing to work overtime. b. What they should be reminded of is that the paper is due on Friday Preposition deletion strongly depends on the degree of nouniness of the compl cl. Preposition deletion occurs when it immediately precedes the compl cl. * He insisted * on that the term Renaissance