ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses what makes clauses and sentences more or less complex. Clauses are made up of a subject/topic and a predicate/comment. A subordinate clause is a clause that is loosely juxtaposed to another clause and functions like an adjunct to it. Any clause that is not an embedded clause or a subordinate clause is a main clause. The verb is the heart and soul of the clause. It is the central element of the predicate. Linguists call words like "destruction" nominalizations, because they are nouns related to verbs, here "destroy". Such words form hidden clauses, because a phrase is actually carrying a clause-worth of information. Hidden clauses exist in English so that a clause-worth of information can be made into a noun phrase and then inserted into a larger clause. They are way of packing information more tightly into one clause.
