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SUPERORDINATE CLAUSE

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 455 words | Copyright

SUPERORDINATE CLAUSE. In grammatical analysis, a term for a CLAUSE that contains another clause. In It was raining when I left home, the sentence constitutes a superordinate clause, since it contains a subordinate when-clause. In I think it was raining when I left home, the clause beginning with it remains superordinate to the when-clause, but is at the same time subordinate to the superordinate clause that constitutes the sentence. See SUBORDINATION.

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TOM McARTHUR. "SUPERORDINATE CLAUSE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "SUPERORDINATE CLAUSE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-SUPERORDINATECLAUSE.html

TOM McARTHUR. "SUPERORDINATE CLAUSE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-SUPERORDINATECLAUSE.html

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