Clause type

Question

The next day there was a terrible storm exactly as the weather forecast had predicted.

BillJ · Accepted Answer

Can you define what you mean by 'clause type'?

There are several different ways of analysing clauses by type.

Build mango 580 · Answer

The text I am using identifies this as an adverbial clause using the word 'as'. It further says that adverbial clauses can indicate

1. Time, place and manner

2. Reason and purpose (following 'because' and 'so')

3. Concession (making a contrary point as indicated by 'although')

4. Result (following 'so' and 'such')

5. Condition (expressed by 'if')

I find it hard to identify this adverbial clause as any of the types above and wanted some help.

BillJ · Answer

denisedimsoy / build mango 580
I find it hard to identify this adverbial clause as any of the types above and wanted some help.

That's because it is not an adverbial clause (adjunct), but a comparative one. Adjuncts serve as modifiers in clause structure, and the items in your list are some of the various semantic kinds of them. By contrast, comparative clauses are not adjuncts - not modifiers at all - but a type of finite clause with a distinct structure. The other finite subordinate clause types are 'relative' and 'content'.

The next day there was a terrible storm exactly as the weather forecast had predicted.

The underlined expression is a comparative clause functioning as complement of "as". The distinct feature of comparative clauses is that they are obligatorily reduced in some way. Here the complement of "predicted" is missing, but understood as "a terrible storm".

The comparative clause here expresses scalar equality, which can be glossed as:

"The next day there was x; the weather forecast had predicted y; x = y."

Clause type

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