Clause: content

Definition of the content clause

A clause that functions as a single argument or complement, expressing a proposition, idea, or statement.

  • Often introduced by that / if / whether / wh-words

  • Can act as subject, object, or complement

That she won surprised everyone. (subject)

I know that she won (object)

The question is whether she will come. (Complement)

Function: conveys “what is said, thought, believed, or asked”.

A content clause is not a relative clause. If often functions as a complement, embedded as subordinate subparts.

Possible CGEL form type:

Under CGEL they are distinct clause types with different functions, heads, and syntactic behavior.

  • Declarative content clause → typical:

I know that she left

  • Interrogative content clause → reports questions:

I wonder who left

  • Exclamative content clause → reports exclamations:

I can’t believe how fast she ran!

  • Imperatives are inherently main clauses, they cannot be embedded as a complement

Complete thought

It is complete, and express full sentence-like content (unlike a relative clause, that has a gap which corresponds to to its antecedent).

The content clause is a subordinate in the sentence, but it’s a complete thought or idea. It may not stand as a main sentence, but the thought/idea is complete.

I believed [that she has views like ours] until that speech yesterday

The fact [that vaccines work] was treated as unproven propaganda

That thing can broken before [I ever saw it], you know

Properties

  • A subordinate clause functioning as a complement, licensed by the head word (or sometimes subject).

  • Head can take a clause as a complement, and impose requirements what kind of classed

  • It does not modify an NP.

  • It has no antecedent.

  • Typically headed by a subordinator (that, whether, if) or is bare.

Examples

> She believes that he is honest

→ that he is honest = content clause, complement of believes

> That she resigned surprised everyone

→ content clause functioning as subject

Key properties:

  • Replaces an NP (She believes this).

  • No gap linked to an antecedent.

  • Not paraphrasable as an NP modifier.

  • Typically a complement (object)

  • Can be nested, recursively (subpart of…, which is subpart of… etc)

Jerry says

[that Susan thinks]

 [the committe is going to decide]

As subject

Can be subject, if the predicate VP has the right sort of meaning

[Whether he will come] is uncertain.

  • “Whether he will come”: content clause, subject of is uncertain

  • “is”: copular verb

  • “uncertain”: predicative complement

[That our neighbors would go to all that trouble] makes me feel glad that I live here

  • In subject function, content clauses can be optionally extra-posed

It surprised everyone that she resigned (extra-posed subject)

  • The complementizer (that, whether) remains the head of the clause.

Declarative

Using that sbr, Can be complement of:

  • Verb (believe, think)

  • Adjective (happy, glad)

  • Noun (like fact or idea)

  • Preposition (since, because)

  • The subordinate is sometimes optional, forbidden after preposition

We think that they were careful*

We think they were careful

We had no idea that they were so careful

We had no idea they were so careful

We trusted them because that they were so careful

We trusted them because they were so careful

Interogative

  • Like main interrogative, can be closed or open

  • Closed begins with whether or if

  • Open with interrogative word like who or what

  • Various kinds of main clause world

I wonder whether they …

I wonder who they …

It’s unclear whether/who …

I asked him about whether/who …

  • Don’t have the auxiliary that main interrogatives have before the subject

  • Don’t actually ask, though close meaning to asking

Exclamatives

It’s amazing how strong this stuff is

It’s not an answer to “how strong”, but a comment.