Clause Pattern: Subject – Verb – Complement (SVC)
Understanding the construction and use of the subject – verb – complement clause pattern
This pattern consists of a subject A noun phrase (a person or a thing) or a nominal clause normally placed before a verb phrase and which acts as the performer of the verb., a monotransitive verb A verb which takes only a direct object realised by a noun phrase., and a complement A complement is a word, phrase or clause which completes another element. Any element can take a complement. clause . The complement clause may be a that-clauseA finite dependent clause consisting of the word 'that' and a finite clause., a wh-clauseA clause which begins with a wh-word (who, what, which, where, when, why, how, whether, whatever, whichever ) and acts either as a dependent interrogative clause or a nominal relative clause., an infinitive clauseInfinitive clauses are non-finite to-clauses. The infinitive verb is normally preceded by the marker 'to'., or an ing-clauseA participle clause (present participle) used as a noun phrase modifier, subject, direct object, adverbial, extraposed subject, subject predicative, and as part of an adjective phrase.. (Mouse over the sentences to see information about the syntax.)
That clauses
- Wesubject knowtransitive verb
that the Earth has had at least five major ice ages that clause. (Su 2022) - Wherever we look, wesubject can seetransitive verb
that the seasons are changing that clause. (Doddridge 2022) - Studiessubject showtransitive verb
that rising temperatures are already affecting precipitation, glaciers, weather patterns, tropical cyclone activity and severe storms that clause. (Weatherhead 2021) (info)That clauses can be quite long. - Wesubject knowtransitive verb
that musical tastes begin to crystallize as early as age 13 or 14 that clause. (McAndrew 2019) - Thissubject showstransitive verb
that babies prefer infant-directed speech to adult-directed speech that clause. (Lam-Cassettari 2019)
Wh-clauses
- No onesubject knowstransitive verb
who invented music wh-clause. (Dallman 2022) - There are a couple of ways wesubject can try to tellcomplex verb phrase
how old a dinosaur was when it died wh-clause (how is a wh-word). (Syme 2019) - Have yousubject ever wonderedtransitive verb
why you feel sleepy wh-clause? (Chronaki 2019) - Nobodysubject knowstransitive verb
where human evolution will lead wh-clause. (Simons 2021) - Everyone was then tested to seetransitive verb
if they could remember what they had typed wh-clause. (Noreen 2015)
Infinitive clauses
- Theysubject were askedtransitive verb
to memorise both lists infinitive clause. (Noreen 2015) - Anyonesubject can claimtransitive verb
to be a journalist infinitive clause irrespective of their actual function. (Watson 2023) - Eat less meat and more vegetables, pulses and grains, and don’t forgettransitive verb
to turn off the light when leaving a room or the water when shampooing infinitive clause. (Byskov 2019) (info)This is an imperative so there is no subject. - Remembertransitive verb
to check on elderly or frail neighbours infinitive clause. (Lopes, Power, and Crabtree 2020) (info)This is an imperative so there is no subject. - So instead of avoiding products based on speculation, wesubject needtransitive verb
to take a holistic look at our own consumption habits infinitive clause. (Marty et al. 2023)
Ing-clauses
- Other electronssubject keeptransitive verb
running around in the atoms ing-clause. (Abbas 2019) - First, the woodsubject startstransitive verb
getting hotter ing-clause. (Nolan 2019) - When the baby planet gets massive enough, the force of gravitysubject beginstransitive verb
crushing it, making it denser ing-clause (making it denser' is a result adverbial). (Laycock 2023) - In fact, studies have found that by the time we turn 33, most of ussubject have stoppedtransitive verb
listening to new music ing-clause. (McAndrew 2019) - Isubject can remembertransitive verb
being a baby ing-clause. (Justice, Conway, and Akhtar 2018)
See more examples in the glossary
Test your understanding of this Subject – Verb – Complement (SVC) pattern.
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