VERBLESS SENTENCE

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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.’