Editing Final clause

{{Short description|Dependent adverbial clause expressing purpose}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}

A '''final clause''' in [[linguistics]] is a dependent adverbial [[clause]] expressing purpose. For this reason it is also referred to as a ''purposive clause'' or a ''clause of purpose''.

In [[English language|English]], final clauses are relatively rare. A final clause is a reply to a question containing the question word ''wherefore'' or ''what for'' (sometimes also ''why''). The [[Prescription and description|prescription]] for their construction is rather complicated:

A final [[clause]] is introduced by the following linking words ([[Grammatical conjunction|conjunctions]]): 
* '''that''' (sometimes preceded by ''in order'' or ''so'', or, in literary language, ''to the end'')
* '''lest''' (equivalent to ''that not'', sometimes with the meaning ''for fear that'', both of these naturally belonging to the ''that'' category)

Depending on the conjunction used, two forms of final clause exist:
* if ''that'' is used, the final clause takes '''may''' in the [[present tense|present]] and [[future tense|future]], and '''might''' in the [[past tense|past]], sometimes also '''[[shall]]''' because of the [[Latin]] subjunctive
** Wherefore do you play the violin? &ndash; I play the violin ''that'' I ''may'' enjoy myself.
** What did you hit me for? &ndash; I hit you ''so that'' they ''might'' not become suspicious of us.
** Why did you go to the city? &ndash; I went to the city ''in order that'' I ''might'' buy some new clothes in the shopping centre.
** I grabbed the rope ''that'' I ''might'' ''not'' fall.
* if ''lest'' is used, the final clause takes '''should''' or '''may''' (the latter being obsolescent, and used only for the present and the future), or the [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]].
** I grabbed the rope ''lest'' I ''should'' fall.
** I play the violin ''lest'' I ''should'' (or ''may'') be bored.
** He does what he is told ''lest'' he ''be'' sacked. (subjunctive)
** He used the subjunctive lest they thought him uncouth. (past subjunctive, which appears the same in UK English as the past)

Final clauses that refer to the same subject as the main clause of the sentence can be expressed with ''to'', ''in order to'', ''so as to'', ''for fear of'', et cetera. This short form of the final clause is much more common than the final clause itself.
* She reads that she may be wise. = She reads to be wise.
* You cried for fear that you might not have impressed the examiners. = You cried for fear of not impressing the examiners.
* I paint in order that I may be happy. = I paint to be happy.

Karsten Schmidtke-Bode examined final clauses, in the context of purpose clauses, as intended to bring about a specific [[matrix clause]] situation in a [[complex sentence]] construction. There are recurring trends of grammatical coding across many languages. It is common for languages to have purpose clauses expressed in different strategies. Purpose clause topological mapping aims to explain the universal conceptual characteristics of [[morphosyntactic]] coding in the communicative functions, as well as the [[Cognitive psychology|cognitive-psychological]] mechanisms involved in the use. Purpose clauses differ from typical [[adverbial]] relations, and are a special case which, is closely related to [[complement clause]]s and some [[relative clauses]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Schmidtke-Bode
 | first = Karsten
 | title = A Typology of Purpose Clauses (Typological Studies in Language)
 | publisher = John Benjamins Publishing Company
 | year = 2009
 | pages         = 229
 | isbn = 978-90-272-0669-5}}</ref>

Purpose, as a simple grammatical [[infinitive]], follows verbs that express or imply motion in English, according to Hubert Gibson Sharin.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Sharin
 | first = Hubert Gibson
 | title = The expression of purpose in Old English prose
 | publisher = Henry Holy and Company
 | year = 1903
 | page         = 9
 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last1=Morwood |first1=James |title=A Latin Grammar |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-860199-9}}
*{{cite book |last1=Gildersleeve |first1=B.L. |last2=Lodge |first2=Gonzalez |title=Latin Grammar |date=1867 |publisher=Bristol Classical Press |isbn=1-85399-521-5}}
*{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Benjamin Hall |last2=Mountford |first2=Sir James |title=The Revised Latin Primer |date=1962 |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0-582-36240-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/revisedlatinprim00kenn }}
*{{cite web |last1=Ayer |first1=Meagan |title=Allen and Greenough's Latin Grammar: Clauses of Purpose |url=http://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/purpose-clauses |website=Dickinson College Commentaries |access-date=9 June 2019}}

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[[Category:Grammar]]