1. Sentence as arguments
The arguments were all referring expression,names for real or pontensial entities.an argument
can also be a predication,a real or potential fact,and such an argument is expressed as a
clause-that is,a sentence that is embedded in another sentence.in other words,we can make
statements and ask question about fact.
Full statement clause
Compare:
1a. ivan knows the answer.
1b. Ivan knows (that)were are here.
2a. Sally forgot her appointment.
2b. Sally forgot (that) sara was waiting for her
3b. The judges announced their decision to the eager contestants.
3b. The judges announced to the eager contestants that they had reached a decision.
In 1a,2a,and 3a a noun phrase is object of the verb.in 1b,2b,and 3b, a clause occurs in the
same place and with the same role.in 3b the direct object and indirect object have been
rearranged,the shorter element placed before the longer one.
A clause that has these characteristics,subject pronoun as subject and full possibility of verb
modifications,is a full clause.reduced clauses ,which we examine below ,have neither of these
characteristics.
Clauses can also occur in subject position.let’s star again with noun phrases that can be
replaced by clauses.
Question clauses
Question,as well as statement,are embedded in other senteces,they may be information
questions,as in the following examples:

2. 9.I wonder when the concert was.(when was the concert?)
10.robert doesn’t know what time it is.(what time is it)
11.do you remember where you put the tickets?(where did you put the tickets)
The embedded sentence may be a yes-no question.the word that introduces the embedded
clause is if ,which,unlike that,is not deletable.
12. i doubt if geogre knows the answer.(does george know the answer)
13.please tell us if you feel ill.(do you feel ill)
A yes-no question may present two or more alternatives,e.g. will your friends stay or
leave?when such an alternative question is embedded,it is introduced with the word whether.
14. I wonder whether your friends will stay or leave.
The sentence with expect contains one kind of reduced clause,an infinitive clause.
17 a the eagles expect the hawks to win the game
17 b the eagles expect to win the game
Instead,a rule of english grammar requires an over subject in an infinitive clause when the
subject of the infinitive (here,the hawks) is different from the subject from the subject of the
main verb (here,the eagles )but if the subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of
main verb,there is a tacit subject.in the first sentence above ,the infinitive clause has an overt
subject the hawks.in the second sentence the infinitive clause has a tacit subject.
There is a group of verbs that can have as object an infinitive clause with out to or a gerund
clause.A gerund clause has a verb with the suffix-ing .
Example:
26a, I saw Mr hall come out of garage .
26b,I saw Mr hall coming out of garage.

3. Gerund clause with tacit subject are seen in the next of group of sentences:
a. I enjoy attending the theater
b. Edward denied opening the letter.
The subject of the gerund is the same as the subject of the main verb :the sentences are about
‘my’ attending the concert.
A small group of adjective takes gerund clause complements,with a preposition between
adjective and gerund.
Ex:
1.who is responsible for doing this?
2 I’m grateful for your taking time off.
Non –factual clauses
a. I insist that ronald works very hard
b. I insist that ronald work very hard
c. I insist that ronald should work very hard
the full clause in A is a factual clause and we give the name non-factual clause to the
embedded clause of B and C with or without should.a difference between the factual clause
A and noun factual clause of B ; the presence or absence of the ending –s,with I ,you or plural
subject this distinction is lost:I I insist that they work very hard is ambiguous.
Verbal nouns
We watched mark winning the race
We applauded mark’s winning of the race.
The second sentence contain a verbal noun ,formed like the gerund by adding-ing.the
difference between gerund and verbal noun is in the kind of constructions they appear in :the
subject of the verbal noun is typically possessive and the object of the verbal noun is
preceded by of.all verbs form a gerund by adding –ing.

4. Comparing types of clauses
Different kinds of clause can present different kinds of meanings,but this is obvious only
when the same predicate can be accompaneid by different kinds of clauses.the verb agree for
instance,can be followed by an infinitive clause and a full clause.
Ex:
A .we agreed to meet again the next day
B .we agreed that we would meet again the next day
The verb agree followed by an infinitive clause indicates a commitment,on the part of the
subject,to do something ,A is about ‘our’ commitment to meet the next day.that is all that can
be expressed by the infinitive clause after agree.a full clause can express all kind of facts and
possible facts,including commintments on the part of the subject.there is not much difference
between A and B ,however C is not about a commitment but about knowledge or a belief
that’’we’’ hold in common.
Syntactic ambiguity
Syntactic ambiguity may be in the surface structure of a sentence:word can cluster together
in different possible constructions,syntacti ambiguity may also be in the deep structure :one
sequence of words may have more than one interpresation,generally because the rules of
sentence construction allow ellipsis ,the deletion of what is understood”
Ex :
a.construction containing the coordinators and or
john and mary or pat will go
b.a coordinate head with one modifier
the only people left were old men and women
c.A head with one coordinate modifier
your essay should contain four or five hundred words.