VERBLESS SENTENCE

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 644 words | Copyright

VERBLESS SENTENCE. A term in some grammatical descriptions for a construction that lacks a VERB but can be analysed as consisting of grammatical units functioning as subject, object, etc., as in: (1) Elliptical responses: Who took my pencil?—Sam; Where did they go?—Straight home. (2) Questions: What about another drink?; Why no mail today? (3) Commands: Inside, everybody! (4) Idiomatic usage: The sooner, the better. Subordinate verbless constructions, traditionally called phrases, often now called CLAUSES, are also common: ‘I can help you if necessary’; ‘Though in great pain, they struggled on.’

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

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

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

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