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.