Chapter published in:
Grammar of Spoken and Written English
Douglas Biber, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey N. Leech, Susan Conrad and Edward Finegan
[Not in series 232] 2021
► pp. 651–752

Chapter 9
The form and function of complement clauses

Article outline
  • 9.1Overview
    • 9.1.1Complementation by clauses
    • 9.1.2Structural types of complement clause
    • 9.1.3Grammatical positions of complement clauses
  • 9.2 That-clauses
    • 9.2.1Discourse functions of that-clauses
    • 9.2.2Post-predicate that-clauses – controlled by verbs
      • 9.2.2.1Structural patterns
      • 9.2.2.2Controlling verbs, by semantic domain
        • corpus findings
        • DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
      • 9.2.2.3Common controlling verbs across registers
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.2.3Verbs taking extraposed that-clauses
    • 9.2.4Subject noun phrases with subject predicative that-clauses
    • 9.2.5 That-clauses controlled by adjectival predicates
      • 9.2.5.1Adjectival predicates taking post-predicate that-clauses
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.2.5.2Adjectival predicates taking extraposed that-clauses
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.2.6Register distribution of that-clause types
      • corpus findings ,
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.2.7Pre-predicate v. extraposed that-clauses
      • 9.2.7.1Register factors
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.2.7.2Information structure
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.2.7.3Grammatical factors
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.2.7.4Topic and style
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.2.8Retention v. omission of the that complementizer
      • 9.2.8.1Register factors
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.2.8.2Discourse factors favoring that omission
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.2.8.3Discourse factors favoring that retention
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
  • 9.3 Wh-clauses
    • 9.3.1Structural types of wh-clauses
    • 9.3.2Post-predicate wh-clauses controlled by verbs
      • 9.3.2.1Grammatical patterns
      • 9.3.2.2Controlling verbs, by semantic domain
        • corpus findings
        • DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
      • 9.3.2.3Common controlling verbs across registers
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.3.2.4Post-predicate wh-clauses introduced by whether and if
      • 9.3.2.5Common verbs controlling whether- and if-clauses
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
  • 9.4Infinitive clauses
    • 9.4.1Overview
    • 9.4.2Post-predicate infinitive clauses controlled by verbs
      • 9.4.2.1Grammatical patterns
      • 9.4.2.2Pattern 1: Verb + to-clause
      • 9.4.2.3Pattern 2: Verb + NP + to-clause
      • 9.4.2.4Pattern P: NP2 + passive verb + to-clause
      • 9.4.2.5Pattern 3: Verb + for NP + to-clause
      • 9.4.2.6Register distribution of verb patterns
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.2.7Controlling verbs, by semantic domain
        • corpus findings
        • DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
      • 9.4.2.8Interaction between the semantic and grammatical characteristics of controlling verbs
      • 9.4.2.9Common controlling verbs across registers
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.3Verbs taking extraposed to-clauses
    • 9.4.4Subject noun phrases and subject predicative to-clauses
    • 9.4.5 To-clauses controlled by adjectives
      • 9.4.5.1Grammatical patterns
      • 9.4.5.2Adjectives taking post-predicate to-clauses
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.5.3Adjectival predicates taking extraposed to-clauses
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.6Grammatical distribution of to-clauses
      • corpus findings ,
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.7Pre-predicate v. extraposed to-clauses
      • 9.4.7.1Register factors
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.7.2Information structure
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.7.3Grammatical complexity
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.7.4Stylistic preference
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.8Object-to-subject raising v. extraposed to-clauses with adjectives
      • 9.4.8.1Register factors
        • corpus findings ,
        • DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
      • 9.4.8.2Grammatical complexity and information packaging
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.8.3Stylistic preference
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.9Subject-to-subject raising v. extraposed that-clauses
      • 9.4.9.1Information packaging
      • 9.4.9.2Register factors
        • corpus findings
        • DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
      • 9.4.9.3Clauses with seem and appear
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.9.4Clauses with likely and unlikely
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.10 To-clause v. bare infinitive clause with dare and help
      • 9.4.10.1Dialect factors
        • corpus findings
        • DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
      • 9.4.10.2Register factors
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.4.10.3The pattern to help + infinitive
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.4.11 Try + to + verb v. try + and + verb
      • 9.4.11.1Distributional factors
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
  • 9.5 Ing-clauses
    • 9.5.1Overview
    • 9.5.2Post-predicate ing-clauses controlled by verbs
      • 9.5.2.1Grammatical patterns
      • 9.5.2.2Controlling verbs, by semantic domain
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
      • 9.5.2.3Common controlling verbs across registers
        • corpus findings
        • discussion of findings
    • 9.5.3Adjectival predicates controlling ing-clauses
      • corpus findings
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.5.4Post-predicate ing-clauses across registers
      • corpus findings
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.5.5Objective v. possessive NP with ing-clauses
      • 9.5.5.1Register distribution
        • corpus findings ,
        • discussion of findings
  • 9.6Ellipsis and pro-form substitution in post-predicate complement clauses
    • 9.6.1Verbs occurring commonly with ellipsis and pro-form substitution
      • CORPUS FINDING
      • discussion of findings
  • 9.7Choice of complement clause type
    • 9.7.1Register distribution, structural factors, and semantic factors
      • corpus findings ,
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.7.2Lexico-grammatical factors
      • corpus findings ,
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.7.3 That-clauses v. non-finite clauses
      • corpus findings ,
      • discussion of findings
    • 9.7.4Infinitive v. ing-clause
      • discussion of findings