Introduction
There has been a debate on the usage of the terms sentence and clause in English syntax with most scholar arguing that there is an overlap in the usage of the terms (Freidin, 2006). There are those who feel that there is no significant difference between a sentence and a clause and that the two terms should not be used separately. However, there are those scholars who feel that the two terms are distinct and should continue to be used separately in English syntax. Before looking at this syntactical debate pitting the two constituents of English grammar, it is important to look at their distinctive definitions.
Definitions
What is a sentence? Syntactically, a sentence is a group of words that have been combined together using the grammatical rules to express a meaning or to convey an idea, a thought, an event or a description. The main points in this definition are expression of ideas and the grammatical rules. These rules create order and also regulate the expansion and the shortening of the sentence (Griffin, 2001). It is easy to recognize the structure and the boundaries of a sentence. Every sentence starts with a capital letter and its end is marked by terminal marks such as the full stop and the question mark.
However, a clause is a group of words, with a special relationship. The words must contain a subject and a verb. This is what creates a difference between a phrase and a clause because a phrase does not have the subject verb agreement.
Relationship between clauses and sentences
To understand the relationship between the clauses and the sentences, it is important to review the various major clauses that are present in English syntax. The first type of a clause that is found in English syntax is the independent clause. An independent clause is a clause that contains a subject and a verb and can make meaning on its own. An independent clause does not need another clause to make meaning. Two main clauses when coordinated form compound sentences and the clauses still remain independent of each other even in their hypotactic relationship. The conjunctions that are used to combine two or more independent clauses to make a compound sentence are called coordinating conductions. Independent clauses are commonly referred to as main clauses (Carnie, 2006).
The other type of clause in English syntax is the subordinate or dependent clauses. A dependent or subordinate clause contains a subject and a verb; however, it cannot make meaning alone. It needs an independent clause to make meaning. When a main clause and a subordinate clause are joined together, they make a complex sentence. A complex sentence is made up of a main clause plus one or more subordinate clauses that have been joined together using subordinating conjunctions. This lesson on clauses brings the debate to three main types of sentences (Brown, 1996). The three are simple sentences, complex sentences and compound sentences. All these types of sentences are formed using different types of clauses combined using different ways. A simple sentence is a one clause sentence that expresses only one idea because it has a single subject and a only one main doing word (Halliday, 2002). There are no conjunctions used in simple sentences, because the moment a conjunction is used, the sentences express more than one idea and it ceases being a simple sentence. If a simple sentence is a one clause sentence, then at the level of the simple sentence, there is no difference between a sentence and a clause. The examples below illustrate the simple sentence concept
- Alex is a teacher
- They went to school yesterday
- Mandela was the first president of South Africa
- Manchester United failed to qualify for the champions league for the second year in a row
Looking at the above sentences, it is evident that the sentences contain only one subject, a single verb and a single idea. These sentences are simple sentences and since a simple sentence is a one clause sentences, the above sentences are also clauses. Clauses can be combined together to express more than one ideas. The examples below illustrate combined clauses that make more than one ideas.
- Jane and Eric like history
- Manchester united and A.C.Milan did not qualify for the champion’s league
- Bush and Clinton are former presidents of the United States of America.
- Nepal and Niger are the poorest countries in the world
From the above sentences, it is evident that they contain compound subjects and the sentences can be broken down into their constituent clauses. For example, the first sentence is made up of two clauses; Jane likes history and Eric likes history. The two clauses or simple sentences have been combined together to make a compound sentence that expresses two ideas because of the presence of the compound subject.. Going back to the debate of whether the word sentence and clause should be used interchangeable or whether one word should be dropped in favor of the other, it is important to note that a sentence and a clause are only equal at the level of the simple sentence. However at the level of compound sentences, a sentence is on a higher syntactical level than a clause which means that the two words cannot be used interchangeable neither can the word sentence be dropped so that a compound sentence can be syntactically referred to as a compound clause. The same applies to complex sentences. The sentences below illustrate the concept of complex sentences.
- Do not remain in the hostels, unless you are sick
- We went to Bentonville, where we found the oldest Wal-Mart branch
- If you don’t score three goals, you will not emerge as the top scorer in this tournament.
The above sentences contain two clauses each. There are some clauses that can make meaning independently while there are others that cannot. In the first sentence the clause “unless you are sick” is a subordinate clause. It needs the presence of the first part to make meaning. In the third sentence, the clause “if you don’t score three goals” is still a dependent or a subordinate clause and can only make meaning in the presence of a main clause in the second part. It is now apparent that a subordinate clause is not a sentence. This is because, the definition of a sentence at the beginning of this paper vividly identifies the key characteristics of a sentence that are absent in a subordinate clause. They key characteristic of a sentence that is absent is a subordinate clause is the ability to make meaning.
It is very hard to do away with the idea of a sentence in written language. This is because there are standard writing systems which utilize the conventions that are connected to the written sentence. However, most grammarians tend to avoid using the term sentence when they are referring to a relationship between clauses. The term they prefer to use is clause complex. However, as the above examples have illustrated, the term clause complex is limited in its usage especially where the subordinate clauses are concerned (Biber, 1999). This general term also contains several biases that may create syntactical problems. This is why it is almost impossible to do away with the term sentence in English syntax. The Sentence occupies a higher syntactical level than the clauses and it is through the process of parataxis and hypo taxis that clauses become sentences. In a paratactic relationship between clauses, coordinating conjunctions are used to join the clauses to make a sentence, while in a hypotactic relationship, subordinating conjunctions are used.
Conclusion
The term clause tends to overshadow the sentence in English syntax due to its contribution in the making of a sentence. It is impossible for sentences to exist without clauses because even the simplest form of a sentence is a clause. However, the concept of a sentence and the concept of clause are different and this is why some clauses have some deficiencies that deny them the opportunity to enjoy the same syntactic status as a sentence.
List of References
- Biber, T et al (1999).Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English.London :Longman
- Brown, K. (1996). Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories,. New York: Elsevier Science
- Carnie, E.(2006). Syntax: A Generative Introduction. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Freidin, R. (2006). Syntax. Critical Concepts in Linguistics. New York: Routledge.
- Griffin, G. (2001). 2000 Years of Syntax. A Critical Survey. Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 98. Amsterdam: Benjamins
- Halliday, M. (2002). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. New York: Willey