Editing Clause (section)

{{short description|Smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition}}
{{other uses}}
{{missing information|clauses in non-English languages|date=November 2013}}
In [[language]], a '''clause''' is a [[Constituent (linguistics)|constituent]] or [[Phrase (grammar)|phrase]] that comprises a semantic [[predicand]] (expressed or not) and a semantic [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/clause|title=Clause|date=10 February 2017}}</ref> A typical clause consists of a [[subject (grammar)|subject]] and a syntactic [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]],<ref>For a definition of the clause that emphasizes the subject-predicate relationship, see Radford (2004327f.).</ref> the latter typically a [[verb phrase]] composed of a [[verb]] with or without any [[object (grammar)|object]]s and other [[Grammatical modifier|modifiers]]. However, the subject is sometimes unexpressed if it is easily deducible from the context, especially in [[null-subject language]]s but also in other languages, including instances of the [[imperative mood]] in [[English grammar|English]].

A complete [[simple sentence]] contains a single clause with a [[finite verb]]. [[Complex sentence]]s contain at least one clause subordinated ([[dependent clause|''dependent'']]) to an ''[[independent clause]]'' (one that could stand alone as a simple sentence), which may be co-ordinated with other independents with or without dependents. Some dependent clauses are [[Non-finite clause|non-finite]], i.e. they do not contain any element/verb marking a specific tense. 
{{anchor|Matrix clause}}