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Subordinate clauses function as one of the >>constituents of a sentence. They can take on the role of >>subject, >>object or >>adjunct: subject clauses, object clauses, adverbial clauses and relative clauses.
Subject clauses Examples of subject clauses with >>main verbs:
Subject clauses with >>copular verbs are introduced with the subordinating conjunctions dat (when the clause relates to a fact) or of (when it relates to an uncertainty):
In these examples the subject clause occurs in the >first position of a main clause. There are two other ways of realising these sentences, in which the subject clause occurs in >final position. The first version uses het as a so-called ‘dummy’ to hold the subject’s place, and is by far the most common way of constructing sentences like this:
The version without the dummy is extremely formal:
Other subject clauses are >elliptical clauses with the optional subordinating conjunction om:
Object clauses Object clauses function as the >>direct object of a sentence (there are no indirect object clauses). They are introduced with the subordinating conjunctions dat (when the clause relates to a fact) or of (when it relates to an uncertainty):
Object clauses can also be constructed as >elliptical clauses with the optional subordinating conjunction om:
Adverbial clauses Adverbial clauses act as >>adverbial adjunct. Click >>here for more details of adverbial clauses and some examples. Relative clauses A relative clause is an >>attributive adjunct: it gives extra information about a noun or a noun group. Relative clauses are introduced by >>relative pronouns. Click >>here for more details of relative clauses and some examples.
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