We established in Section 2.1 that structure refers to the way items – words and phrases – are sequenced to make up larger units. Words are built up to make phrases but, as we saw, the ordering is not random: the black cat is a possible ordering, cat the black is not. Words and phrases build up into clauses, but again the ordering is not random: I am studying grammar is possible, but Grammar am studying I is not. Clauses can be built up in turn to make sentences. In the text we looked at in Chapter 3 we found the following sentence: He gave me a 50p piece and as I gave him his change a man came in. This sentence is made up of three clauses:

1. He gave me a 50p piece.

2. I gave him his change.

3. A man came in.

Clauses 1 and 3 are joined by the conjunction and: He gave me a 50p coin and a man came in. Clause 2 is inserted between these two clauses, introduced by the subordinating conjunction as. So a sentence may be built up from two or more clauses. In this chapter we are concerned with the structure of these component clauses.

Clauses: Structure and pattern

In Section 2.1 I set out three rules which I claimed accounted for the structure of the English clause:

• The basic structure of the clause is N + V +?. The continuation of the clause after the verb is determined by the meaning of the verb, not by abstract grammatical considerations.

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