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 Topic 7 (session A) - The grammar of complex sentences > More on nesting > Task D

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More on nesting

Task D - indirectly nested clauses (ii) - prepositional clauses (PCls) again

Identify the nested clause in the sentence below and describe its function. Why is it not a Relative clause?

 

The little professor's habit of wearing bow ties is getting a bit boring

 


our answer

Our answer:

S

P

C

The little professor's habit (of wearing bow ties) |

is getting |

a bit boring

Here 'of wearing bow ties' is a clause beginning with the preposition 'of' and which has a PO structure. It is part of the Subject NP, and clearly postmodifies 'habit'. But it is not a relative clause - you can't insert a relative pronoun at the beginning of it. Because it begins with a preposition, we call, it a Prepositional clause (PCl). Another difference between RCls and PCls is that RCls can only act as modifiers inside NPs, but PCls can also act as modifiers in AdjPs or AdvPs.

Note, that PCls can be directly nested (see Task A) or indirectly nested (as here).

 

 


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