ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ways in which clauses and sentences are put together. Linguists tend to prefer using 'clauses' to refer to simple clauses containing a subject and predicate, while sentences are constructions consisting of more than one clause. In the basic English sentence, the word order is subject verb object (SVO) using the first letter of each term. Subject constituent is a noun phrase that functions as the subject of a clause. The phrases are noun phrase, adverb phrase, verb phrase, and adjective phrase. Transitive verbs such as kiss appear with a subject and an object and ditransitive verbs appear with a subject and two objects. Predicate consists of a verb and, may be, an object. In copular clauses the predicate can contain an adjective or noun. There are two ways in which clauses can be combined: coordination and subordination. Coordination refers to the combination of two clauses and the subordinate clause is the object of the main clause.
