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A relative clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun or noun phrase in the independent clause. In other words, the relative clause functions similar to an adjective. Let him who has been deceived complain. (Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote) You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you.
The earliest use of the word clause in Middle English is non-technical and similar to the current everyday meaning of phrase: "A sentence or clause, a brief statement, a short passage, a short text or quotation; in a ~, briefly, in short; (b) a written message or letter; a story; a long passage in an author's source."
In language, a clause is a constituent or phrase that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. [1] A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, [2] the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with or without any objects and other modifiers.
A clause typically contains a subject (a noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb phrase in the terminology used above; that is, a verb together with its objects and complements). A dependent clause also normally contains a subordinating conjunction (or in the case of relative clauses, a relative pronoun, or phrase containing one).
(adjectival clause, in this case a relative clause, modifying a noun in a noun phrase) His desk was in [the faculty office]. (noun adjunct modifying a noun in a noun phrase) [Put it gently in the drawer]. (adverb in verb phrase) He was [very gentle]. (adverb in adjective phrase) She set it down [very gently]. (adverb in adverb phrase)
In linguistics, a verb phrase (VP) is a syntactic unit composed of a verb and its arguments except the subject of an independent clause or coordinate clause.Thus, in the sentence A fat man quickly put the money into the box, the words quickly put the money into the box constitute a verb phrase; it consists of the verb put and its arguments, but not the subject a fat man.
In linguistics, syntax (/ ˈ s ɪ n t æ k s / SIN-taks) [1] [2] is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences.Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency), [3] agreement, the nature of crosslinguistic variation, and the relationship between form and meaning ().
The word grammar often has divergent meanings when used in contexts outside linguistics. It may be used more broadly to include orthographic conventions of written language , such as spelling and punctuation, which are not typically considered part of grammar by linguists; that is, the conventions used for writing a language.