English clause syntax

This article describes the syntax of clauses in the English language, chiefly in Modern English. A clause is often said to be the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition.^[1] But this semantic idea of a clause leaves out much of English clause syntax. For example, clauses can be questions,^[2]^: 161 but questions are not propositions.^[3] A syntactic description of an English clause is that it is a subject and a verb.^[4] But this too fails, as a clause need not have a subject, as with the imperative,^[2]^: 170 and, in many theories, an English clause may be verbless.^[2]^: 222 The idea of what qualifies varies between theories and has changed over time.

^ "Clause". Glossary of Linguistic Terms. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
^ ^a ^b ^c Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A student's introduction to English grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^ Cross, Charles; Roelofsen, Floris (2020), "Questions", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2021-04-26
^ "Types of Clauses". www.cliffsnotes.com. Retrieved 2021-04-26.

[1] "Clause". Glossary of Linguistic Terms. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2021-04-26.

[:0-2] Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A student's introduction to English grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[3] Cross, Charles; Roelofsen, Floris (2020), "Questions", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2021-04-26

[4] "Types of Clauses". www.cliffsnotes.com. Retrieved 2021-04-26.

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