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:
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).