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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."
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).
The base form or plain form of an English verb is not marked by any inflectional ending.. Certain derivational suffixes are frequently used to form verbs, such as -en (sharpen), -ate (formulate), -fy (electrify), and -ise/ize (realise/realize), but verbs with those suffixes are nonetheless considered to be base-form verbs.
This grammar recognises the seven patterns as above, but using partly different terms and abbreviations. [3]: 122 In addition, it recognises a clause type with a different verb type: a prepositional verb such as rely on which is followed by a prepositional object. [3]: 129 It also recognises two further types of adverbial.
the form of the verb used is formally nominalised and cannot occur in an independent clause; the clause-final conjunction or suffix attached to the verb is a marker of case and is also used in nouns to indicate certain functions. In this sense, the subordinate clauses of these languages have much in common with postpositional phrases.
Verb tenses are inflectional forms which can be used to express that something occurs in the past, present, or future. [1] In English, the only tenses are past and non-past, though the term "future" is sometimes applied to periphrastic constructions involving modals such as will and go.
Adjectives make the meaning of another word (noun) more precise. Verb (states action or being) a word denoting an action (walk), occurrence (happen), or state of being (be). Without a verb, a group of words cannot be a clause or sentence. Adverb (describes, limits) a modifier of an adjective, verb, or another adverb (very, quite). Adverbs make ...
(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)