THE COMPLEX SENTENCE – A CLASSIFICATION OF DEPENDENT

CLAUSES

As previously shown, the complex sentence is made up of at least one main clause
and a dependent or a subordinate one. Unlike in the case of compound sentences -
which are based on coordination - the complex sentence relies heavily on the process
of subordination. This is the reason why a classification of subordinate clauses should
be in order.

Nota bene!
The complex sentence is made up of main clauses and other subordinate
clauses.
e.g. If you want to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody, turn on the stereo and you will
hear the most amazing combination of sounds which will certainly delight
you.

Classifying dependent clauses will employ two main criteria:

1. the FUNCTIONAL one – which, as the name suggests it, takes into
consideration the syntactic function of the respective clause.
From the functional point of view, subordinates can be classified into:

a) subject clauses

(1) Whoever did that was a genius.

(Cel care a făcut acest lucru a fost un geniu.)
(2) It seems that he is not your friend.
(Se pare că nu îţi este prieten.)

b) object clauses – this class includes direct objects, indirect objects and
prepositional objects:

(3) I believe that he is not here. (Direct Object)

(Cred că nu este acolo.)
(4) I am afraid that he won’t come (Prepositional Object)
(Mi-e teamă că nu o să vină.)
(5) I gave this to whomever wanted it. (Indirect Object)
(Am dat asta cui a vrut-o.)

At this point we need to provide some further explanation. An OBJECT refers to only
those items (phrases, sentences) required by the verb (or, in certain cases, by an
adjective + preposition, such as proud of, for example). They have the feature [+
obligatory] and, even on the rare occasions when they can be omitted, they are still
presupposed by the speaker.

For instance, the verb give is always accompanied in our mind by its obligatory
complements (direct and indirect objects):

(6) He gave the book (DO) to her (IO).

(I-a dat cartea.)

1
Whenever we think of this particular verb, we associate it with these objects. In a way,
we presuppose their existence in connection with the presence of the verb give in a
sentence. We do not presuppose however something like, for instance, an adverbial
item, such as a manner adverbial: with pleasure/willingly.

(7) He willingly gave the book to her.

(I-a dat cartea de bună voie.)

In (7) we can identify the verb’s obligatory objects (the book, to her) and one extra-
item, an additional one, which is the adverbial willingly. These non-obligatory items
are called adjuncts. The term comes from the verb to adjoin, i.e. to add something.
Thus, a phrase such as willingly is adjoined to the verb and its obligatory objects. In
other words, it is added to the verbal phrase in order to provide extra information.

A second observation, related to example (4), has to do with why we consider the
subordinate that he won’t come to be a prepositional object. The explanation is
simple: this subordinate can be easily replaced by a phrase preceded by a preposition,
and this preposition is in fact required and presupposed as accompanying the adjective
afraid:

(8) a. I am afraid of his not coming/of this fact.

(Mi-e teamă că n-o să vină.)
b. I am afraid that he won’t come.
(Mi-e teamă că n-o să vină.)

The example under (8a) is the basic structure: an adjective and the prepositional
object it selects. The second example, under (8b) represents the derived structure: the
prepositional object is replaced by a ‘that clause’. The subordinating conjunction
THAT has completely replaced the preposition, since English no longer allows for a
conjunction and a preposition to be put together:

(9) *I am afraid of that he won’t come.

We presuppose that the preposition of has been deleted, but its effect remains even
after its wipeout. That is why we choose to call ‘prepositional object’ the ‘that-clause’
following the adjective afraid.

Last but not least, we need to draw attention to the important fact that direct objects
are normally required by transitive verbs, such as want, like, make, etc. So, before you
decide on what label to stick on an object, please check what particular item requires
its presence in the sentence. If it so happens that the object appears after a transitive
verb, then you have your typical case of ‘direct object’.

So far we have discussed subject clauses and object clauses. The third class is made
up of

(c) adjuncts – those clauses (or phrases) whose presence is not obligatorily required
by a verb or an adjective. They normally have an adverbial (circumstantial)
interpretation:

2
(10) Before she left the room she closed all the windows.
(Înainte să plece din cameră, a închis toate ferestrele.)
(11) If you don’t marry me, I’ll die.
(Dacă nu te însori cu mine, am să mor.)

(d) attributes or modifiers – those clause (or phrases) that characterize nominal
phrases:

(12) The woman who was wearing red was sitting next to him on the platform.
(Femeia în roşu stătea lângă el pe peron.)
(13) The red-wearing woman was sitting next to him on the platform.
(Femeia în roşu stătea lângă el pe peron.)

To sum up so far, the functional criterion we employed has helped us classify

subordinate clauses as follows:
SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
[+ obligatory] [- obligatory]

SUBJECTS OBJECTS ADJUNCTS MODIFIERS

e.g. Whoever did a) Direct: I e.g. They came to e.g. The book that
that was a believe that he an agreement you gave me was
genius. is smart. because they very boring.
b) Indirect: Give wanted to go home.
this to
whomever
wants it.
c) Prepositional:
He was afraid
that she might
come back.

2. The second criterion we employ to differentiate between various subordinate

clauses is the STRUCTURAL one. We classify dependent clauses according
to what introductory element they exhibit:

a) complement clauses – mainly those clauses introduced by THAT, WHETHER,

FOR, etc. (the term complement is a false friend: it does not have the same
meaning as the one we use in Romanian. The Romanian term is translated by
object in English. As you can see, in example (16) the complement for him to
leave fulfills the function of subject, not object.)

(14) I knew that he liked me.

(Ştiam că mă simpatizează.)
(15) I didn’t know whether he would visit me in jail.
(Nu ştiam dacă o să mă viziteze la închisoare.)
(16) It is advisable for him to leave.
(E de dorit să plece.)
(17) I wanted to leave immediately.

3
 (Am vrut să plec imediat.)

b) wh-complements – those clauses introduced by a wh-word/phrase (such as what,

who, where, when, how, which, why, etc.)

These include:
 indirect questions

(18) I didn’t know who had killed him.

3 (Nu ştiam cine l-a ucis.)

 relative clauses

(14) I was afraid of what he might say.

(Mi-era groază de ce ar putea spune.)

 cleft sentences

(15) It is John who did it.

(John este cel care a făcut asta.)

 pseudo-cleft sentences

(16) a. Who did it was John.

(Cel care a făcut asta este John.)
b. Where he went is London.
(Locul în care s-a dus este Londra.)

(c) adverbial clauses – those clauses subordinated by such adverbial conjunctions as:
although, if, before, etc.
Unlike complement clauses, these ones are introduced by subordinating
conjunctions with a distinct semantic charge. Compare, for instance, the following
two clauses:

(17) She told me that I was a fool.

(Mi-a spus că sunt un prost.)
(18) She told me this before she left.
(Mi-a spus aceasta înainte să plece.)

In (17) the meaning of the subordinate clause is imposed by the verb in the main
clause. The subordinating conjunction that is abstract in meaning, and this is why it is
the verb that has to dictate the sense of its object. In (18), however, the meaning of the
subordinate (that of a time adverbial clause) is offered and imposed by the
subordinating conjunction not by the main clause verb.

In conclusion, consider the following table, which sums up this classification, done
from a structural point of view, that is function of the subordinating
conjunction/adverb/pronoun that introduces the respective clause. As you will see, the
categories are reduced to only three in this case. But we are going to show that we can

4
trace correspondences between the classes of embedded clauses mentioned under 4.1.
and the ones we are characterizing in the table below:

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
COMPLEMENT WH- COMPLEMENTS ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
CLAUSES Introduced by wh words: Introduced by adverbial
Introduced by that, for, e.g. I will come back conjunctions/adverbs such
whether: when I feel like it. as because, as, before,
e.g. I don’t know whether after, etc.:
he will come back. e.g. I will go there because
I feel like it.

a. A Cross-Classification of Dependent Clauses

Now that we have seen two possible ways of classifying subordinate clauses, let us try
and look at how these two types of classification can be fit in the same picture. As you
have probably noticed already, the four classes discussed under the first classification
do not completely correspond to the three classes discussed under 4.2. However, a
correspondence can be traced. Consider the following table:

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
[+ obligatory] [- obligatory]

5
 SUBJECTS OBJECTS ADJUNCTS MODIFIERS
.
Complements can Complements can Wh Complements Wh Complements
be subjects: be objects: can be can be
e.g. That he e.g. I know adjuncts: e.g. modifiers (or
loved her was that he likes I helped her attributes):
clear. her (Direct)/ whenever she e.g. The book
I was afraid asked me to. which/ that
that she you left on
knew the the table is
truth very
Wh Complements (Preposition Adverbials can be interesting.
can be subjects: e.g. al) adjuncts: e.g. I told
Whoever did that her everything after Nota bene!
was a genius. Wh Complements she arrived. Relative that is not
can be objects: e.g. the same as
I don’t know what Complement that,
you want (Direct)/ since they are
I am interested in translated
what you know differently in
(Prepositional)/ I English: care vs. că
gave this to
whomever wanted
it (Indirect).

This table makes a few things obvious: firstly, none of the three classes we have
mentioned under 2., i.e. complements, wh complements and adverbials can fulfill all
the functions we introduced in the table under 1.

Secondly, the only category that can fulfill any syntactical function is the one
containing wh complements. So, whenever you identify a wh- complement, you will
have to choose from the four possible functions mentioned here. We will come back
to that in the next chapter.

Thirdly, that complements are not the same as relative that complements: there is a
clear-cut distinction between a sentence like

(19) I think that she likes me.

(Cred că mă place.)
and

(20) The girl that likes me is pretty.

(Fata care mă place e frumuşică.)

The translation of the word that in Romanian disambiguates between these two
readings. This problem will also be the topic of the next chapter.

6
In the fourth place, adverbial clauses can only be adjuncts. This means that adverbial
clauses are the easiest to identify, whereas wh complements are the hardest to figure
out. A very good reason for that is the fact that in the case of adverbials, their
introductory elements (e.g. after, because, before, etc) give very clear information
about the function and meaning of the subordinate they introduce.

Nota bene!
Wh Complements can have any syntactical function.
Adverbials can only be adjuncts.

4. Key Concepts

We classify dependent (i.e. subordinate or embedded) clauses according to their

function into subjects, objects (which are always obligatorily required by a verb or
adjective), adjuncts and attributes (or modifiers, because they modify, offer a plus of
meaning to the nominal they accompany).

According to a structural criterion, which regards the introductory conjunction /

pronoun/ relative adverb of the subordinate, these clauses can be complements, wh-
complements and adverbials (which normally correspond to he Romanian
complement circumstanţial).

Don’t forget three important points made in this chapter:

 there is no correspondence between the Romanian complement and the English
one, since the English term has nothing to do with syntactical function.
 English makes use of prepositional objects that are normally required by the fact
that the main verb/adjective is accompanied by an obligatory preposition (e.g.
think of, look at, interested in, etc.) We use the term prepositional object even for
those cases when the preposition imprinted in the lexical entry of the verb is not
visible: I thought that he was smart.
 The Romanian term complement indirect (i.e. indirect object) is only available in
English for Dative objects, answering the question to whom? So, be very careful
to use this term correctly, since it is not as frequent in English as it is in
Romanian.

A complete syntactic analysis of a sentence will have to take into consideration both
criteria we have discussed in this lecture.

7
Seminar 4 – The Complex Sentence

1. Which of the following underlined items are obligatory and which are not?

1. She came to him of her own will. 2. I cannot tell you what I heard about you. 3.
Susan disappeared without saying a word. 4. She’s aware of his rage and that he might
punish her. 5. She told whomever wanted to listen about her problems at home. 6.
After I told her the story, she looked at me sadly.

2. Read the following and identify the subordinate clauses, stating their function:

1. He took an intelligent interest in her, which, though it was largely politeness, was a
novelty to Mitzi. 2. When Mitzi bought the house in Brook Green she offered Austin
the best rooms, but he declined, as he had just found the little Bayswater which he
inhabited still. 3. At this time we know that we are mortal beings with but a short span
of days and that our end as our beginning belongs to God. 4. Sometimes she thought
that her own failure to marry Mathew was actually the cause of Austin’s marrying
Dorina. 5. You must know that if you do not meet it right here at home, you are
choosing exile from what you are fortunate enough to call your homeland. 6. You
suggestion that we should, at our age, remove our home yet again seems to us merely
thoughtless.
(Iris Murdoch – An Accidental Man)

3. Read the text below and try to identify subordinate clauses from a structural
point of view:

a) My dearest son,
Your father has suggested that I should write to you so that you can be sure that he
and I are of one mind in this matter. I am not very good at this sort of letter and I did
not earlier write because the discussion was between yourself and your father, you
understand. Dear Ludwig, I cannot express to you how much we miss you. To say that
I think of my dear son every day says little. I think of him every minute and remember
what times in our day and night are his bed-time and his getting-up-times, and every
night and indeed always in my thoughts I pray for him that he may be protected and
guided to do the right. (…) Even leaving aside the concern which I know you have for
our feelings, surely you cannot sincerely believe, at your young age, that you will
never want to set foot in the US in your life again. We so much fear that you will
suddenly decide to come later when it will all have such terrible consequences.
(Iris Murdoch – An Accidental Man)

b) 1. The day Monroe had died was in May. Late that afternoon, Ada had prepared to
go out for a time with a box of watercolors and a piece of paper to paint the newly
opened blossoms on a rhododendron by the lower creek. As she left the house, she
stopped to speak to Monroe, who sat reading a book in a striped canvas campaign
chair under the pear tree. He seemed tired and said that he doubted he had vitality
even to finish the page he was on before he dropped off to sleep, but he asked her to
wake him when she returned, for he did not want to lie sleeping into the damp of the
evening. Too, he said, he feared he was just beyond the age at which he could rise
unassisted from so low a chair.

8
2. It was with a familiar delicious tingle of pleasure, a tightening in her breathing, that
she realized she was now similarly hidden away, that anyone walking from the gate to
the porch would never know she was there. If one of the ladies from the church made
an obligatory visit to see about her welfare, she could sit motionless as they called her
name and knocked at the door. She would not come out until long after she had heard
the gate latch clack shut. But she thought that no one would call again. The visits had
tapered off in the face of her indifference to them.
(Charles Frazier – Cold Mountain)

4. Consider the following text. Identify subordinate clauses and state their type
(the structural classification) and function (the functional classification):

a) Those were the abilities that she marked down in her favour. None of them
seemed exactly to the point when faced with the hard fact that she now found herself
in possession of close to three hundred acres, a house, a barn, outbuildings, but no
idea what to do with them. It gave her pleasure to play on the piano, but she did
realize that she could not weed a row of young bean plant without pulling half of them
out along with the ragweed.
b) She blew the paper to dry it and then scanned over what she had written with a
critical eye. She mistrusted her handwriting, for no matter how she tried, she had
never mastered the flowing whorls and arcs of fine penmanship. The characters her
hand insisted on forming were instead blocky and as dense as runes.
c) I am coming home one way or another, and I do not know how things might stand
between us. I first thought to tell in this letter what I have done and seen so that you
might judge me before I return. But I decided it would need a page as broad as the
blue sky to write that tale, and I have not the will or the energy. Do you recall that
night before Christmas four years ago when I took you in my lap in the kitchen by the
stove and you told me you would forever like to sit there and rest your head on my
shoulder? Now it is a bitter surety in my heart that if you knew what I have seen and
done, it would make you fear to do such again.
(Charles Frazier – Cold Mountain)

5. Translate the following, making use of the information on subordinate clauses

supplied by this chapter:

1. Cu câteva luni înaintea războiului Anton Modan nu ştia că de mult nu mai era
om îndrăzneţ, atât de demult încât în ziua când află nici măcar nu se mai trudi cu
gândul să se întoarcă înapoi şi să-şi dea seama de când.
Nevasta secera în tăcere, fără să-şi ridice spinarea, şi din mişcările ei se putea
înţelege că e stăpână pe un gând care o ţinea mereu încordată şi îndârjită. Anton se
uita la ea şi se întreba, ce o fi având. Tot timpul dimineţii o văzuse că tace.
Când Anton lăsă secerea unii se uitară la soare să-şi dea seama dacă mai e mult
până la prânz. (…) “Mă, dar devreme mai mănâncă Anton ăsta!” gândiră ei. Alţii,
însă, care îi văzuseră pe Anton şi nevastă-sa cum stăteau cu secerile în mână şi se
uitau unul la altul, îşi spuseseră că Anton, după ce că are grâu puţin, nici pe ăla nu-l
seceră ca lumea.
O zbughi înapoi, dar după ce alergă vreo douăzeci de paşi, simţind că nu s-a
luat nimeni după el, se opri şi se uită să vadă ce ispravă a făcut.
Toată lumea înţelesese că, de fapt, ameninţarea aceasta semăna mai mult cu o
flacără care rămâne o clipă în aer, deşi paiele de dedesubt sunt cenuşă, decât cu

9
ameninţare adevărată. Fiindcă un on îndrăzneţ nu se clatină pe drum, sau dacă se
clatină se întoarce îndărăt şi nu mai ameninţă, fiindcă şi să înghiţi nu e puţin, şi pentru
asta îţi trebuie curaj.
(Marin Preda – Îndrăzneala)
2. Nici acum, timp de un ceas, cât omul din mlaştină urmări atent întoarcerea
acasă a acestei familii, nu se zări nici prin apropiere şi nici prin curte umbra unui
bărbat sau măcar a unui bătrân. Unui luptător nu numai atenţia lui încordată şi
semnele exterioare vizibile îi semnalează prezenţa inamicului, ci îl ajută şi mirosul
său pe căi mai ascunse, pe care el nu se bizuie în întregime, dar nici nu le
dispreţuieşte. Nang învăţase să afle măsura potrivită şi în anumite împrejurări sfida
pericolul, iar în altele era de o prudenţă exagerată. În cazul de faţă avu acest sentiment
că nu-l pândeşte nici o primejdie; întâi, devenise limpede faptul că nu mai exista la
acest punct de trecere peste râu nici un bac şi că ăn general circulaţia era întreruptă
total pe aceasta arteră. Cât priveşte viaţa acestei familii, izolate de sat, avea să vadă la
căderea nopţii ce era cu ea şi în ce măsură îi putea fi de folos.
(Marin Preda – Friguri)
3. Cu privire la mutarea lor la Brăila, Costel de curând scrisese acasă că n-ar fi
defel potrivit să se mute şi că se miră că dumnealor stăruiesc si nu pricep. N-avea el
dreptate? era destul să te uiţi la Ana, cât de bolnavă era, şi erau atâtea alte motive…
Nu-şi da însă seama că până deunăzi în toate scrisorile insista asupra putinţei
de a obţine un post bun la Brăila. Roşise de necaz când mamă-sa îi răspunsese că se
miră cum azi zice una şi mâine alta şi îi tot suceşte ca pe păpuşi.
Nu! El nu era câtuşi de puţin sucit. Numai că avea subt ochi pe Ana, pe când
dumnealor vorbeau de la depărtare. Ana nu putea suferi o mutare acum.
Era bine de ştiut, deşi cam târziu, după ce tatăl lui si ea alergaseră peste tot
după un post pentru el… dar nu face nimic; acum sunt desluşiţi, rămâne totul baltă şi
pace.
Pace nu era. Costel nu înţelegea nici să rămână totul baltă, deşi deocamdată n-
ar fi vrut cu nici un preţ să se mute din Bucureşti. Îl supăra şi tonul mamei, aşa de
oţetit. Pentru a o pedepsi si pentru că nu prea ştia el singur ce vrea şi nici ce să-i
răspundă, amânase scrisul.
(Hortensia Papadat Bengescu – Logodnicul)
4. Iată, de pildă, această întâie zi când a început neliniştea mea, din cauza lui
G… Anişoara, care într-un fel avea mania excursiilor “în bandă”, a căror
promiscuitate mie îmi făcea silă, a hotărât ca de Sfântul Constantin şi Elena (cădea
acum într-o sâmbătă, iar luni era o altă sărbătoare) să facem o excursie de trei zile la
vie, la nişte prieteni comuni, la Odobeşti, cu automobilele unora dintre ei. De vreo
două-trei ori ne aranjasem în cele trei maşini şi de două-trei ori ne-au schimbat, căci
era cineva important care nu se simţea bine plasat. În realitate, femeile căutau să se
găsească la un loc cu bărbaţii care le interesau, iar când nu izbuteau de la început,
stricau totul, sub pretexte dintre cele mai neserioase. Partea dezagreabilă era că urcam
şi coboram fără să ştim de ce, iar asta ni se comunica simplu de către cei îmbufnaţi şi
iniţiaţi sumar.
- Iar ne dăm jos? Dar ce e, frate, nu se mai termină?
Aci răspundeau ridicături din umeri plictisite, ale celor care se aranjaseră bine
şi acum se temeau să nu li se strice socotelile.
(Camil Petrescu – Ultima noapte de dragoste, întâia noapte de război)

10