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    Types and Positions of Complement Clauses

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    Hana Biščević
    There are four types of complement clauses - that-clauses, wh-clauses, to-infinitive clauses, and ing-clauses. These clauses can complement both verbs and adjectives. Complement clauses can occur in three positions - subject position, post-predicate position, and extraposed position. In extraposed structures, a dummy "it" fills the subject slot and the complement clause follows the predicate, functioning as the logical subject. The document provides examples of each type of complement clause in the different positions.

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    Types and Positions of Complement Clauses

    Uploaded by

    Hana Biščević
    372 views3 pages
    There are four types of complement clauses - that-clauses, wh-clauses, to-infinitive clauses, and ing-clauses. These clauses can complement both verbs and adjectives. Complement clauses can occur in three positions - subject position, post-predicate position, and extraposed position. In extraposed structures, a dummy "it" fills the subject slot and the complement clause follows the predicate, functioning as the logical subject. The document provides examples of each type of complement clause in the different positions.

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    Types and positions of complement clauses

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    There are four types of complement clauses - that-clauses, wh-clauses, to-infinitive clauses, and ing-clauses. These clauses can complement both verbs and adjectives. Complement clauses can occur in three positions - subject position, post-predicate position, and extraposed position. In extraposed structures, a dummy "it" fills the subject slot and the complement clause follows the predicate, functioning as the logical subject. The document provides examples of each type of complement clause in the different positions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    372 views3 pages

    Types and Positions of Complement Clauses

    Uploaded by

    Hana Biščević
    There are four types of complement clauses - that-clauses, wh-clauses, to-infinitive clauses, and ing-clauses. These clauses can complement both verbs and adjectives. Complement clauses can occur in three positions - subject position, post-predicate position, and extraposed position. In extraposed structures, a dummy "it" fills the subject slot and the complement clause follows the predicate, functioning as the logical subject. The document provides examples of each type of complement clause in the different positions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Types and positions of complement clauses

    1. There are four major types of complement clauses:


    a) That-clauses
    b) Wh-clauses
    c) To-clauses
    d) Ing-clauses
    All four of the main types can complement both verbs and adjectives.

    a) That-clauses:
    He knew that something bad had happened.
    She admitted that she was wrong.
    That-clauses are finite. Therefore, they are marked for tense or modality, and they have a
    subject.

    b) Wh-clauses:
    Let’s consider how we can solve the problem.
    She asked where I was going.
    Wh-clauses are finite as well and they can show tense or modality and must have a subject.

    c) To-infinitive clauses:
    You must book early to secure a seat.
    I was hoping to meet her next week.
    To-infinitive clauses are non-finite complement clauses. They cannot have tense or modals
    and they do not have a subject.

    d) Ing-clauses:
    Our leader suggested waiting until the storm was over.
    His hobby is collecting old photographs.
    Ing-clauses are also non-finite. They have an ing-participle as their main verb form.
    2. There are three major grammatical positions for complement clauses:
    a) Subject (pre-predicate)
    b) Post-predicate
    c) Extraposed
    Extraposed is actually an alternative to subject position.

    a) Subject position: this position is possible for complement clauses controlled by a


    verb or an adjective.
    Subject position, verb complement clause: The prime minister’s announcement
    confirms the current state of affairs.
    Subject position, adjective complement clause: His contribution to the project was
    very helpful.

    b) Post-predicate position: Post predicate clauses can function as direct object


    (following a transitive verb), subject predicative (following a copular verb), or an
    adjective complement (following a predicative adjective).
    Verb complement clause as direct object: He realized that it was the best decision.
    Verb complement clause as subject predicative after a copular verb: A black hole
    appears to be able to rip whole stars into atom sized pieces.
    Adjective complement clause (post-predicate position): She was strong enough to
    overcome this situation on her own.

    c) Extraposed-position:
    extraposed wh-clause: It is quite shocking how these criminals avoided being
    caught for so long. (How these criminals avoided being caught for so long is quite
    shocking)

    3. In an extraposed structure, dummy it fills the subject slot, and the complement clause
    occurs after the predicate. Dummy it does not refer to anything – it simply fills the
    grammatical place of the subject. However, the post-predicate complement clause
    functions as the logical subject.
    Extraposed that-clause as verb complement: It is speculated that the Big Bang Theory does
    not fully explain the birth of our Universe. (That the Big Bang theory does not fully explain
    the birth of our Universe is speculated)
    Extraposed that-clause as adjective complement: It is quite ridiculous that people are mass
    buying toilet paper. (That people are mass buying toilet paper is quite ridiculous)
    Extraposed to-clause as verb complement: It is not surprising that he failed to keep his
    promise. (That he failed to keep his promise is not surprising)
    Extraposed to-clause as adjective complement: It is easy to notice my fear of spiders. (To
    notice my fear of spiders is easy)

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