Editing Clause (section)

===Small clauses===
Another type of construction that some schools of syntax and grammar view as non-finite clauses is the so-called [[small clause]]. A typical small clause consists of a noun phrase and a predicative expression,<ref>For the basic characteristics of small clauses, see Crystal (1997:62).</ref> e.g.

::We consider <u>that a joke</u>.{{Snd}} Small clause with the predicative noun phrase ''a joke''
::Something made <u>him angry</u>.{{Snd}} Small clause with the predicative adjective ''angry''
::She wants <u>us to stay</u>.{{Snd}} Small clause with the predicative non-finite ''to''-infinitive ''to stay''

The subject-predicate relationship is clearly present in the underlined strings. The expression on the right is a predication over the noun phrase immediately to its left. While the subject-predicate relationship is indisputably present, the underlined strings do not behave as single [[Constituent (linguistics)|constituent]]s, a fact that undermines their status as clauses. Hence one can debate whether the underlined strings in these examples should qualify as clauses. The layered structures of the chomskyan tradition are again likely to view the underlined strings as clauses, whereas the schools of syntax that posit flatter structures are likely to reject clause status for them.