SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS AND STRUCTURES OF THE CLAUSE
SUMMARY
1 The independent clause (or simple sentence) has two basic constituents: subject and predicate. The Subject (S) encodes the primary participant in the clause.
2 The predicate may consist simply of the Predicator (P), realized by a verb, or of a Predicator followed by one or more central constituents. These central elements, the Object (O) and the Complement (C) are, together with the Subject and the Predicator, the major functional categories of the clause.
3 More specifically, we distinguish two main types of Object: Direct (Od) and Indirect (Oi ) and two main types of Complement (Subject Complement (Cs) and Object Complement (Co). A subsidiary type of Complement is the Prepositional Complement (PC). A further type of Complement is the circumstantial Complement, the most frequent being the Locative/Goal type (Cloc).
4 In addition, the clause may contain a number of Adjuncts (A). These are usually syntactically able to be omitted. Those of the largest class, the circumstantial Adjuncts, are the most integrated in the clause. Somewhat separated from clause structure by a pause or a comma, stance Adjuncts express a speaker’s or writer’s attitude, while connective Adjuncts link clauses or parts of clauses, and paragraphs.
5 Objects and Complements are determined by verb type and are limited in number in any one clause. Adjuncts are not limited in number.
6 On the simplest level, the central functional categories of the independent clause are: S, P, O and C, with A usually optional.
