• Rawi T. Habeeb

  Author

• Mahmood K. Ibrahim

  Author

The clause is a unit lower than the sentence in the hierarchical rank scale of units though, like
the sentence, it has a subject and a predicate. Some sentences may contain only one clause and
are, therefore, called simple sentences, while others that include more than one clause are called
non-simple sentences (compound, complex). The current study focuses on the second type and
specifically the complex sentence which typically contains two clauses one of which is the main
clause while the other is dependent since it functions in the structure of the main clause to realize
one of four functions, namely, S, O, C or A. Dependent clauses (DCs) can be classified into two
categories: nominal dependent clauses (NDCs) and adverbial dependent clauses (ADCs). The
former can function as subject (S), object (O) or complement (C) whereas the latter can function as
adverbial only. The study proves that DCs exist in Arabic and can also realize nominal and
adverbial functions. It aims at listing the categories of DCs in Arabic and the functions that can be
achieved by each of these categories.

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