Complement clause

A complement clause is a clause that is an argument.

• "In many languages, certain verbs—notably 'see', 'hear', 'know', 'believe', 'like', and often also 'tell' and 'want'—can take a clause, instead of an NP (noun phrase), as a core argument. This is called a complement clause." (Dixon 2006:1)

Synonyms

• sentential complement
• clausal complement
• noun clause
• completive clause
• predicate actant (recent Russian usage (predikatnyj aktant), cf. Xrakovskij (ed.) 1985).
• content clause (widespread older usage in German (Inhaltssatz)).

Origin

This usage has its origin in generative grammar of the 1960s (cf. Rosenbaum 1967, who used the term predicate complement.)

Related terms

• complementizer

References

• Dixon, R.M.W. 2006. Complement clauses and complementation strategies in typological perspective. In: Dixon, R.M.W. & Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. (eds.) 2006. Complementation: a cross-linguistic typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1-48.
• Rosenbaum, Peter S. 1967. The grammar of English predicate complement constructions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Xrakovskij (ed.) 1985. ...

Other languages

• German Komplementsatz