Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish conjunctive and relative words. The difference is in their role in the sentence. Relative words always have an antecedent, that is, the words they relate to, e.g.

We understand the reason (antecedent) why (relative word) you did not want to come.

I will always remember the day (antecedent) when (relative word) we met.

11. Some subordinate connectors are homonymous with other parts of speech, e.g.

    • with prepositions, e.g. like, till, etc;

    • with adverbs, e.g. after, since, before, immediately, directly, etc;

    • with participles, supposing, provided, etc;

    • with nouns and nominal phrases denoting time, e.g. the very moment, the instant, the next time, the second, etc.

12. Punctuation in complex sentences:

    1. there is no comma if the main and subordinate clause are closely connected, e.g.

       • I know he is here.

       • Miranda saw Steve was right.

    2. there is a comma if the connection is loose, e.g.

If you don’t know him well, don’t discuss serious matters with him.

3. occasionally a dash may be used to mark the borderline between the clauses, e.g.

• The evil simply was – he had missed his vocation: he should have been a soldier, and circumstanced had made him a priest.

• Most people would agree that — if one disregards the typhoons, earthquakes, gangsters and reckless drivers — Japan is still a relatively safe country to live in.

13. Generally the main clause dominates the subordinate clause, but sometimes it happens that the subordinate clause is more important as it contains the main information of the utterance, e.g.

• John asked me what I knew about the details of the operation.

14. The classification of subordinate clauses offers special difficulties and remains the area of syntax where there are many different linguistic approaches with some important disputable points open to thought and discussion. This is one of many ranges of linguistic structure in which there are borderline cases where the lexico-grammatical organization of complex syntactic units presents special difficulties.

TASK 5. Decide if the connectors in the sentences below are conjunctions or connectives.

1. Here is what is going to happen.

2. Her father didn’t like it when she interfered with his work.

3. This is how you should have done it.

4. The rescue team didn’t know whether anything could be done to save the man.

5. As soon as I saw Ellen I understood everything.

6. I can’t tell you which way is the shortest.

7. The librarian insisted that the missing books should be found and returned.

8. The joke which made everybody laugh was told by Mr. Bloomfield.

9. Shirley hadn’t seen her sister since she married Mr. Stonebridge.

10. You can stay here as long as you want.

11. Mr. Priestley, who had no servants, opened the door himself.

12. Irene felt as if everyone were accusing her of some crime.

13. The culprit, whoever he is, will be punished very seriously.

14. Many students opt for practical subjects at university because they believe that these courses offer better career prospects.

15. The robbers used a stolen Mercedes, whose owner has not yet been found.

Functional classification of subordinate clauses subordinate clauses

nominal clauses attributive clauses adverbial clauses

s ubject clauses, (of time, place, etc)

predicative clauses, appositive clauses relative clauses

o bject clauses

defining clauses non-defining clauses

Complex sentences with subject clauses

1. Subject clauses perform the function of subject to the predicate of the principal clause, e.g.

   • What I really want to do now (subject clause) is to have (predicate) a hot bath and a cup of strong tea.

   • What our English teacher said (subject clause) was downright inspiring (predicate).

2. Subject clauses may occupy the following positions in the sentence:

   1. the initial position when they precede the predicate, e.g.

      • That he will help us leaves no doubt.

      • Whether he will stay here is another question.