The Halliday Centre Series in Appliable

The Halliday Centre Series in Appliable Linguistics
General Editor: Jonathan J Webster
Deploying Functional Grammar
J R Martin
Professor of Linguistics, University of Sydney
Christian M I M Matthiessen
Chair Professor of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Clare Painter
Honorary Research Associate, University of Sydney
The Commercial Press

2010·Beijing
Published in the People’s Republic of China
by The Commercial Press, Beijing
© 2010 J R Martin，Christian M I M Matthiessen and Clare Painter

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of The Commercial Press.
ISBN 978-7-100-06851-2
Printed in the People’s Republic of China

韩礼德语言研究中心适用语言学丛书
主编:卫真道 (Jonathan J Webster)
功能语法教程
〔澳〕詹姆斯·R·马丁
〔瑞典〕克里斯琴·M I M·马西森
〔澳〕克莱尔·佩因特著
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Preface
This workbook is the culmination of a project initiated in the early 1980s by Jim Martin
and Clare Painter, who were joined in the endeavour by Christian Matthiessen in 1988.
We three were all concerned to provide support materials for students and colleagues
who were learning the analyses proposed in Halliday's Introduction to Functional
Grammar. In particular we shared the experience of guiding students through familiar
kinds of difficulties year after year – and wanted to prepare materials which would help
learners through and around these experiences. We also wanted to provide some
support for people learning the grammar on their own, or without the dialogue
provided by a critical mass of systemic linguists such as we enjoy in the Sydney
metropolitan region.
Since the publication of the first workbook titled Working with Functional
Grammar in 1997, we have had the opportunity to use it with students, and to receive
feedback from many colleagues around the world. It became clear to us that we needed
to make a number of corrections and in some cases provide less confusing examples.
We were also keen to include a chapter on group and phrase analysis, which for
reasons of space was excluded from the first edition; and we also wanted to interface
the grammar analyses considered here with discourse semantic systems, so that their
complementary roles in text analysis could be exemplified.
When negotiations with the original publisher along these lines broke down, we
secured the rights for the volume, and began exploring publication elsewhere. The
Commercial Press has generously allowed us the additional scope we needed to amend
the first edition with two additional chapters. We are delighted to be publishing this
second edition in China, where so much interest in functional grammar has grown.
Since IFG2 is still in print in China, we have accordingly cross-referenced this edition to
both the second and third editions of IFG.
We are of course much indebted to the many colleagues who have discussed
aspects of these materials with us, to the many tutors who have dealt first-hand with
problems, and to the now thousands of students who have committed at least a hundred
hours of their lives each to learning functional grammar in our undergraduate
linguistics and MA applied linguistics programs at the University of Sydney, Macquarie
University, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of New South Wales.
Halliday's presentation of the grammar in IFG was designed for use in text analysis,
and this is the main context in which we have taught the material. Our experience of
this context is that nothing is more challenging to one's understanding of grammar and
the theory from which it derives than helping students apply it to texts of their choosing.
So much happens that intuitions don't intuit, that argumentation doesn't argue about,
that explicitness in computer generation elides! It's certainly driven us crazy over the
years and has been just wonderful too. We hope this workbook will help keep you and
your students somewhat sane as you explore the wonders of the language people really
use.
ii PREFACE
The authors are grateful to David Caldwell, Shooshi Dreyfus, Sue Hood, Sally
Humphrey and Michele Zappavigna for help with some final proofing. In addition we
are indebted to Joey Wong and Housheng Qian for their tremendous support in editing.
Finally, to disengage the 'we' of this preface, Christian and Jim would like to thank
Clare, who alongside her fair share of writing and editing had to take a set of more
rough than ready notes, and a pair of more distracted than reliable colleagues, and
re/organise them so that this project could be completed. Scaffolding this joint
construction above and beyond the call of duty – as ever. Bravo Clare!
Contents
Preface i
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1. What is functional grammar? 1
2. Why this functional grammar? 2
3. Using the workbook 3
4. Getting started with text analysis 5
5. Constituency: functional and class units 7
6. Reasoning in a functional grammar 10
7. Paradigms as system networks 13
8. Choice and constituency 16
9. Learning to use IFG 19
Chapter 2 Theme — clause as message 21

1. Orientation 21
1.1 Reading guide to IFG 21
1.2 Characterisation of Theme 21
1.3 Thematic development within a text 22
2. Survey of options 22
2.1 Ideational (topical) Theme 24
2.2 Interpersonal Theme 25
2.3 Textual Theme 25
2.4 Summary of types of Theme 26
2.5 Extending the thematic principle beyond the clause 27
3. Troubleshooting 28
3.1 Picking out the unit of analysis 28
3.2 Identifying the Theme 28
3.3 Identifying the metafunction 29
3.4 Subject it as unmarked topical Theme 32
3.5 There’s a...: ‘Existential’ clauses 35
3.6 Recognising longer Theme units 35
3.7 ‘Hypotactic’ clause as Theme 37
4. Analysis practice 38
4.1 Phase I 38
4.2 Phase II 40
4.3 Phase III 47
5. Review and contextualisation 52
iv DEPLOYING FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
5.1 Defining Theme 52

5.2 The location of THEME within the grammatical resources of English 52
5.3 Theme and Metafunction 53
5.4 Theme and Mood 54
Further reading 54
Chapter 3 Mood — clause as exchange 56

1. Orientation 56
1.2 Characterisation of Mood 56
2.1 Basic MOOD types 60
2.2 Overall interpersonal organisation of the clause 60
2.3 Interpersonal grammatical metaphor 67
3.1 The unit of analysis 69
3.2 Identifying structural elements 70
3.3 Ambiguous mood type 75
3.4 Ambiguous polarity 76
4.1 Phase I 77
4.2 Phase II 82
4.3 Phase III 89
5.1 Locating MOOD 93
5.2 Interpersonal structure 95
5.3 Interpersonal structure and textual structure 95
Further reading 96
Chapter 4 Transitivity — clause as representation 98

1. Orientation 98
1.2 Characterisation of TRANSITIVITY 98
2.1 Material clauses 102
2.2 Mental clauses 103
2.3 Relational clauses 104
2.4 Verbal clauses 106
2.5 Behavioural clauses: between material and mental/verbal 107
2.6 Existential clauses 108
2.7 Additional Agents 108
2.8 Ergative interpretation 109
3.1 A topology of processes 112
CONTENTS v
3.2 General probes helpful in analysing for TRANSITIVITY 113

3.3 One process or two? 114
3.4 Material clauses 115
3.5 Mental clauses 118
3.6 Relational clauses 120
3.7 Verbal clauses 124
3.8 Behavioural clauses 125
3.9 Discriminating circumstance type 126
3.10 Distinguishing between circumstances and other elements 126
4.1 Phase I 130
4.2 Phase II 137
4.3 Phase III 146
5.1 The clause as experiential construct 153
5.2 Ergative perspective 155
5.3 Relation to other metafunctions 155
Further reading 159
Chapter 5 Group and phrase — below the clause 161

1. Orientation 161
1.2 Characterisation of groups/phrases 161
2.1 Nominal group 165
2.2 Verbal group 171
2.3 Other groups 182
2.4 Prepositional phrase 183
3.1 Identifying groups/phrases 185
3.2 Assigning a function to a word in a group 186
3.3 Different meanings for prepositions 196
3.4 Assigning a function to a phrase or a clause: ranking or embedded? 198
4.3 Adverbial group & Prepositional phrase 224
5.1 Locating groups & phrases: rank and metafunction 224
5.4 Prepositional phrase 226
Further reading 227
vi DEPLOYING FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
Chapter 6 The clause complex — above the clause 229

1. Orientation 229
1.2 Characterisation of clause complex 229
2.1 TAXIS 231
2.2 Logico-semantic type 234
2.3 Summary of clause complex relations 237
3.1 Procedure for analysis 238
3.2 Picking out the unit of analysis 238
3.3 Complexing vs. embedding 242
3.4 Parataxis or hypotaxis? 247
3.5 Identifying the logico-semantic relation 248
3.6 How many ‘layers’ to the clause complex? 250
3.7 Implicit clause complex relations 251
3.8 Projection 251
3.9 ‘Surfacing’ from an embedding 252
4.1 Phase I 253
4.2 Phase II 259
4.3 Phase III 265
5.1 Review 268
5.2 Relations between clauses 270
Further reading 271
Chapter 7 Text analysis 272

1. Orientation 272
1.2 Characterisation of text analysis 272
2. Grammar and beyond 274
2.1 Theme and information flow 276
2.2 Clause complexing and conjunction 278
2.3 Transitivity and ideation 283
2.4 Nominal groups, ideation and identification 284
2.5 Periodicity and appraisal 288
2.6 Deixis and multimodality 291
3. Text analysis cartography 293
References 299
Index 303
Chapter 1
Introduction
1. What is functional grammar?
Functional grammar is a theory of grammar. It is resource for engaging with the

grammar of any given language; it is a way of looking at the grammar of a language in
terms of how it is used. It interprets the grammar of a language as a system – as a
system enabling people to interact with one another and to make sense of their
experience of the world. It explores grammar as being shaped by, at the same time as
playing a significant role in shaping, the way we get on with our lives.
Functional grammar is a theory intended for deployment; it is used for a wide
variety of tasks. First and foremost, it is used for describing languages in functional
terms. Many of the principles of functional grammar you are studying in Halliday’s
Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd and 3rd editions, henceforward IFG2 and IFG3)
were initially worked out for Chinese, which was the first language Halliday
investigated in detail. Subsequently he developed these principles in his work on the
grammar of English. The IFG editions are a brief synopsis of Halliday’s ground-
breaking research in this field, and have informed a substantial body of work on
English (for references, see Matthiessen, 2007). Halliday’s work has inspired work on
a wide range of languages, including French, German, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese,
Arabic, Akan, Oko, Telugu, Bajjika, Tagalog, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese,
Korean, Japanese and Pitjantjatjara to name some of the better known; references to
work of this kind is provided in the Further Reading section near the end of the IFG
and exemplified in Caffarel et al. 2004 and a number of other publications, e.g. Teruya
et al. (2007). There are a number of recent books on various languages comparable to
IFG, including Caffarel (2006) on French, Li (2007) on Chinese, and Teruya (2007) on
Japanese; and there is now a growing body of work on different languages written in
these languages – e.g. many accounts of different aspects of Chinese have appeared in
Chinese. Functional interpretations of languages have inspired work on other semiotic
systems as well – in particular, on visual images (Bateman 2008, Kress & van Leeuwen
2006, O’Toole 1994, Royce & Bowcher 2006, Ventola & Guijarro in press).
Functional grammarians seldom stop at simply describing the grammar of a
particular language. They typically go on and do something with what they have found
out. The functional grammar you are studying in IFG has been used to develop literacy
programs for primary, secondary and adult students (e.g. Cope & Kalantzis 1993, Feez
1998), in the analysis and teaching of academic discourse (e.g. Hood in press, Ravelli &
Ellis 2004), as the basis for automatic text analysis and generation in computational
contexts (e.g. Matthiessen & Bateman 1991, O’Donnell & Bateman 2005), and as the
basis for critical discourse analysis (e.g. Fairclough 1992, 2003, Gee 1 2005) including
1 Gee includes an appendix comprising a very concise 11-page synopsis of Halliday's functional grammar.
2 DEPLOYING FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
analysis of culturally significant texts (e.g. Thibault 1991). It has been used in
institutions of healthcare for purposes of diagnosis and therapy in speech pathology
(Armstrong et al. 2005) and other language disorders (Fine 2006) and for the role
language plays in other healthcare practices such as nursing (Kealley 2007),
counselling (Butt et al. 2003, Muntigl 2004) and emergency care (Slade et al. in press).
It has also been used for text analysis in forensic settings (Martin et al. in press), for
interpretation of classroom discourse (Christie 2002), and in translation studies
(Steiner & Yallop 2001, Steiner 2005). The range of applications is growing all the time,
as illustrated in Hasan et al. 2005, 2007; see also Matthiessen (in press). One way to
get in touch with people using functional grammar in your area of interest would be to
make use of e-mail, and join one of the SFL discussion lists. For information on these
go to www.isfla.org/systemics.
2. Why this functional grammar?
There are many possible purposes for writing functional grammars, and different
contexts will have somewhat different requirements. For example, a grammar for
teachers and school students would not assume the same shared technical
understandings as a grammar for the professional linguist, a grammar for
computational contexts would need to be particularly explicit about the relation
between system and structure to facilitate automatic text generation and parsing,
while a grammar for critical discourse analysis would need to include considerable
social contextual information to facilitate informed text deconstruction. Halliday’s
main purpose in writing the IFG grammars, however, was not to orient the grammar to
any single defined area of application, but to provide a general grammar for purposes
of text analysis and interpretation. It is therefore a grammar which provides a basic
‘lingua franca’ for text analysts working in a wide range of differing contexts; and it is
very effectively organised as a tool of this kind.
You will find the IFG grammar much richer semantically than either formal
grammar or traditional school grammar. This makes the analyses you undertake more
insightful when it comes to interpreting a text. It will tell you more about a student’s
writing abilities, and more about what is semantically at stake in text generation, and
more about discourse and subjectivity than any other grammar available today. The
grammar has also been designed to be relatively easy to apply to texts. We have found
that between 26 and 39 hours of lectures 2, plus tutorial support, are enough to give
most students in undergraduate or MA programs a working knowledge of the
grammar. This workbook is designed to support introductory programs of this kind,
and to provide some scope for users to work more deeply into the grammar and its
application to texts.
Like traditional school grammar and formal grammar, you will find that the IFG
grammar makes use of class labels like noun, verb or adjective, with which you will
have some familiarity. Beyond this, the IFG grammar makes extensive use of function
labels like Actor, Process, Goal, Theme, Rheme, Deictic, Numerative, Classifier, Thing
and so on, many of which will be new to you. The function labels are there to make the
grammatical analysis semantically revealing – to show how the clauses, groups and
phrases constituting a text map its meanings. Without the function labels, the
2 We have found it possible to compress these lectures into a single week of full-time intensive study, or to
spread them out over one semester or two semester's work.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 3
grammar would be too shallow to be of much use in text interpretation. In addition,

IFG 3 also includes system networks such as those of THEME, MOOD and TRANSITIVITY in
the description of the grammar of the clause. These system networks represent the
grammar as a resource for making meaning; they show the potential available to
speakers – the options in meaning that are open to them, and among which they will
choose. You can also use system networks in text analysis, as in Section 5.8 of IFG 3.
This systemic analysis adds an important dimension to text analysis: it shows what a
speaker chooses to mean in a given text against the background of what speakers can
mean. We will introduce system networks step by step later in this chapter.
For readers with a background in traditional school grammar we should also say
that a functional grammar is a descriptive grammar based on empirical research, not a
prescriptive one which tells you what you can and cannot say, including rules for
correcting what are often referred to as grammatical errors. A functional grammar, in
other words, is not a grammar of etiquette or linguistic table manners. Rather, a
functional grammar provides you with tools for understanding why a text is the way it
is – for understanding precisely in grammatical terms the difference between I don’t
have none and I don’t have any and thinking about who would say which of these
clauses in what kind of situation to whom; or the difference between to whom did you
speak and who did you speak to; or the difference between it was I and it was me. It
presents the difference between these variants as a choice about what is functional in
a particular context (not as a question of mistakes, and right or wrong) and shows you
why the grammar of English sometimes pulls you in different directions. In this sense,
a functional grammar is a grammar that respects speakers’ right to make up their own
mind about how they choose to talk; at the same time it makes speakers explicitly
aware of the choices they have available, so they can make an informed decision about
the options they choose.
3. Using the workbook
This workbook has largely been organised to reflect the organisation of Halliday’s IFG,
both the second and third editions (it can also be used with more basic introductions
such as Thompson 2004). Chapters in Deploying Functional Grammar support IFG
chapters as follows:
IFG CHAPTER IFG CHAPTER
WORKBOOK CHAPTER
(2ND EDITION) (3RD EDITION)
1 Introduction Introduction
1 Constituency 1 The architecture of language
2 Towards a functional grammar 2 Towards a functional grammar
2 Theme 3 Clause as message 3 Clause as message
3 Mood 4 Clause as exchange 4 Clause as exchange
4 Transitivity 5 Clause as representation 5 Clause as representation
5 Group and Phrase 6 Below the clause: groups and 6 Below the clause: groups and
phrases phrases
8 Group and phrase complexes
6 Clause complex 7 Above the clause: the clause 7 Above the clause: the clause
complex complex
7 Beyond the clause 9 Around the clause: cohesion 9 Around the clause: cohesion and
and discourse discourse
We have, however, written the workbook in such a way that the chapters need not
necessarily be used in this order. Moreover the final chapter indicates some of the
limits to a text analysis based simply on grammar and explores the role of discourse
semantics in text analysis and interpretation. This chapter is intended to serve only as
an introduction and more detailed discussion and explanation can be found in Martin
and Rose (2003/2007).
Each of Chapters 2-6 contains the following sections: Orientation, Survey of
Options, Troubleshooting, Exercises, Texts for Analysis, Review & Contextualisation and
Further Reading. Below we outline very briefly the nature of each of these sections.
Orientation: We begin each Chapter by referencing the relevant sections of the
most recent editions of IFG and providing a brief characterisation of the aspect of
grammar to be covered.
Survey of Options: This section provides an outline summary of the principal
grammatical options described in detail in IFG. No knowledge of the metalanguage
built up in other chapters is assumed in this opening description.
Troubleshooting: In this part we aim to sort out misunderstandings, queries and
issues that may arise when you apply the particular analysis being learned. We intend
it to be used as a reference that you can access when you have difficulty with any of
the exercises or analysis tasks, rather as than preliminary material to read straight
through before you start.
Exercises: Exercises provide practice in working with individual clauses before
complete texts are attempted, and at various points, you are referred to the relevant
part of the Troubleshooting section for help. The exercises, like the texts for analysis,
are organised into three phases in increasing order of difficulty. Phase 1 is for getting
started; Phase 2 is designed to get you to the point where you can have a go at
analysing a text on your own; Phase 3 takes you further into some more problematic
issues, points that arise less frequently, or tend to occur in more difficult texts.
Texts for Analysis: Like the exercises, these are presented in three phases. The
Phase 1 texts can be attempted after Phase 1 exercises and are quite simple, having
been edited where necessary to remove problems. By Phase 3 the texts are more
difficult and have not been adapted in any way.
Review & Contextualisation: This section provides a summary of the relevant
aspect of the grammar, drawing on the metalanguage learned in previous chapters and
showing where that part of the grammar fits into the overall picture. This section puts
the various aspects of the grammar into relation with one another and is partly
designed for those who have some knowledge or experience of the IFG grammar. It can
therefore be used as the principal summary for those revising their understanding of
IFG or as an extension for those moving through the Workbook, taking the chapters in
order.
Further Reading: At the end of Chapters 2-6, we provide a short bibliography of
further reading related to the relevant aspect of the grammar.
Key: Users can download the keys to the exercises in this book from:
http://www.hallidaycentre.cityu.edu.hk/Collection/DFG/KeysToExercises.zip
In designing the workbook we have aimed for enough flexibility to serve the needs
of a range of readers, whether working alone or as part of a formal program of study.
For example, if you are not a linguist and you are currently undertaking only a brief
introductory study in functional grammar, you may go through the workbook doing
only Phase 1 Exercises and Texts. On the other hand, if you have some experience with
grammatical analysis or are involved in a course of study that aims at independent text
analysis, you may focus your attention on Phase 2 Exercises and Texts. The book also
aims to cater for those who are extending or revising their understandings of IFG and
who may prefer to begin with the Review & Contextualisation section of each chapter
and concentrate on analysing Phase 2 and Phase 3 texts. At whatever level you are
working, you will find some parts of the Troubleshooting section helpful.
4. Getting started with text analysis
The first problem you will face when using functional grammar for text analysis is the
problem of what to analyse. How do you divide the text into pieces that the IFG
analyses can be applied to? Thankfully, most texts offer some help.
If you are dealing with a written text (like this one you are reading), then it will
probably have been divided into orthographic sentences for you. These units
(sentences) are orthographic or graphological – units of the writing system of English.
They begin with a capital letter and end with a major punctuation mark (a full stop, a
question mark or an exclamation mark). Even though they are graphological units
rather than grammatical ones, they are a good starting point since there is a
reasonable correspondence between the orthographic sentence in the graphology and
the clause complex in the grammar (see IFG 3, p. 16). There is a useful description of
punctuation in relation to functional grammar in Halliday 1985/1989: 34-39. If you
are dealing with a spoken text, then you will need to transcribe it before you start
analysing it (unless you already have a transcription of it). Transcribing a spoken text
is time-consuming but quite fascinating and instructive; the transcription itself
involves analytical decisions, including decisions about how to punctuate the text.
While there are a number of technical transcription systems that have been designed
for particular tasks, you will often find that the best starting point is to transcribe a
spoken text in the way speech is represented by novelists in dramatic dialogue. If the
spoken text is a dialogue, then it will involve a number of interactants, who take turns
at speaking. These units (turns), beginning where one speaker starts talking and
ending where they stop, are another good starting point. Of course, neither of these
strategies will work for spoken monologue – in which case you could try punctuating
the text on your own, dividing it into sentences as you go.
The most important unit for a functional grammar analysis is the clause rather
than the sentence, however, and to identify clauses, you have to start using what you
know about grammar to divide up the text. Basically, there are three ways in.
One way is what Halliday would call ideational. This involves looking for the
processes in a text – processes name events taking place (‘go’, ‘cook’, ‘think’, ‘sleep’ and
so on) or relationships among things (‘is’, ‘seems’, ‘has’ and so on). Then you divide the
text up into processes and whatever ‘goes with’ them (who did what to whom, where,
when, how, why etc.). If you have some idea what a verb is, you can think of looking for
processes as looking for verbs. Some of you may remember from traditional school
grammar the notion that verbs are ‘action’ words. This can be helpful, as long as you
keep in mind that lots of verbs (e.g. be and have) refer to relationships, not actions.
For example, here’s part of a report on whales3, with processes highlighted in bold
face:
3 As with many of the texts in this volume, we have simplified the text slightly so that things we don't want
to get in the way yet are avoided.
There are fewer species of the larger baleen whales that filter krill and small fish through
their baleen plates. The largest is the Blue whale, which is seen frequently in the Gulf of St
Lawrence. It reaches a length of 100 feet and a weight of 200 tons. The young are 25 feet
long at birth and gain about 200 lbs. a day on their milk diet.
We can divide the text into clauses by grouping each process with its dramatis
personae (who’s who) and scenery (where, when, how, why etc.):
There are fewer species of the larger baleen whales,
that filter krill and small fish through their baleen plates.
The largest is the Blue whale,
which is seen frequently in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
It reaches a length of 100 feet and a weight of 200 tons.
The young are 25 feet long at birth
and gain about 200 lbs. a day on their milk diet.
You can see that the punctuation helps – 4 of the 7 clauses end with a full stop and two
with a comma, and 4 of the clauses begin with a capital letter.
Another way in is what Halliday would call interpersonal. This involves treating
the text as a dialogue (even if it has a silent partner, as with monologue). Basically this
means dividing the text into things you can argue with. Here’s the whales report again,
but with arguing added:
There are fewer species of the larger baleen whales, [– Are there?] that filter krill and
small fish through their baleen plates. [– They do not.] The largest is the Blue whale,
[– Is it?] which is seen frequently in the Gulf of St Lawrence. [– It isn’t.] It reaches a length
of 100 feet and a weight of 200 tons. [– Does it?] The young are 25 feet long at birth
[– They aren’t always.] and gain about 200 lbs. a day on their milk diet. [– Do they?]
This approach also works to divide the text into clauses, but this time round with the
clause defined as something you can interact with:
There are fewer species of the larger baleen whales, [– Are there?]
that filter krill and small fish through their baleen plates. [– They do not.]
The largest is the Blue whale, [– Is it?]
which is seen frequently in the Gulf of St Lawrence. [– It isn’t.]
It reaches a length of 100 feet and a weight of 200 tons. [– Does it?]
The young are 25 feet long at birth [– They aren’t always.]
and gain about 200 lbs. a day on their milk diet. [– Do they?]
A third way in is what Halliday would call textual. We’ll use another small text to
illustrate this – part of a recount about whaling:
For one thousand years, whales have been of commercial interest for meat, oil, meal and
whalebone. About 1000 A.D., whaling started with the Basques using sailing vessels and
row boats. Over the next few centuries, whaling shifted to Humpbacks, Grays, Sperms and
Bowheads. By 1500, they were whaling off Greenland; by the 1700s, off Atlantic America;
and by the 1800s, in the south Pacific, Antarctic and Bering Sea. Early in this century,
whaling shifted to the larger and faster baleen whales.
This approach takes advantage of the fact that texts may tend to return to closely
related starting points at the beginning of successive clauses. In the whaling recount,
for example, the text keeps coming back to setting in time, in order to move the history
of whaling along:
For one thousand years, whales have been of commercial interest for meat, oil, meal and
whalebone. About 1000 A.D., whaling started with the Basques using sailing vessels and
row boats. Over the next few centuries, whaling shifted to Humpbacks, Grays, Sperms
and Bowheads. By 1500, they were whaling off Greenland; by the 1700s, off Atlantic
America; and by the 1800s, in the south Pacific, Antarctic and Bering Sea. Early in this
century, whaling shifted to the larger and faster baleen whales.
These temporal expressions organise the text into units as follows:
For one thousand years, whales have been of commercial interest for meat, oil…
About 1000 A.D., whaling started with the Basques using sailing vessels and row boats.
Over the next few centuries, whaling shifted to Humpbacks, Grays, Sperms and …
By 1500, they were whaling off Greenland;
by the 1700s, off Atlantic America;
and by the 1800s, in the south Pacific, Antarctic and Bering Sea.
Early in this century, whaling shifted to the larger and faster baleen whales.
This way into dividing up a text into clauses is less reliable than the other two, since
few texts have such a consistent pattern of starting points. But it can be helpful when a
text leaves out processes, as in two of the clauses above – since a text which leaves
some processes implicit makes the first two ways in harder to apply.
Ideally, in the best of possible worlds, the results of all three approaches coincide.
So, the units you get by looking for processes are the same as the ones you get by
arguing and looking for similar beginnings. Procedural (instructional) texts are about
as near to this ideal as you can find. Try out the three approaches outlined above on
the following instructions from a secondary school science classroom:
Collect 2 petri dishes. Place a thin layer of soil in one dish and some cotton wool in the
other dish. Label the dish with soil ‘soil’ and the other dish ‘no soil’. Next, place about 20
seeds in each 7 petri dish. Spray each dish with water. Finally, put the dishes in a warm
sunny spot in the classroom.
5. Constituency: functional and class units
Once you have divided your text into clauses, you can begin to analyse each clause as
outlined in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 of the IFG. This will involve identifying the functional
parts of the clause from each of the three perspectives just outlined: ideational,
interpersonal and textual. For example, if we take an ideational approach (clause as
representation) to the clause Quite recently the Norwegians were whaling off Greenland,
we can identify four functional parts:
clause
Time Actor Process Place

| | | |
Quite recently the Norwegians were whaling off Greenland
Figure 1.1 Breaking a clause into functional parts
In Figure 1.1, the labels in bold print provide functional names for the parts of the
clause when viewed as an ideational structure. As you can see, this kind of labelling is
semantically oriented, which will prove helpful when you are using grammar to
interpret a text.
As Figure 1 illustrates, the functional parts of any clause take the form of phrases
or groups of words of various kinds. For example, the Process part takes the form of,
or is realised by, a verb or a group of verbs (technically, a verbal group), as shown in
Figure 1.2:
clause

| | | |
verbal group
|
Figure 1.2 Clause structure picking out verbal group functioning as Process
A functional role like Actor, on the other hand, telling you who or what is involved
in the Process, takes the form of a noun or pronoun or else a group of words (such as
articles, adjectives, numerals) which are associated with a noun. As shown in Figure
1.3, we will call this a nominal group.
clause

| | | |
nominal group
|
Figure 1.3 Clause structure picking out a nominal group functioning as Actor
Functional roles such as indications of Time and Place are expressed as an

adverbial group or a prepositional phrase, as shown in Figure 1.4 below. Adverbial
groups consist of one or more adverbs while a prepositional phrase consists of a
proposition followed by a nominal group4:
clause

| | | |
adverbial group prepositional phrase
| |
Figure 1.4 Clause structure – picking out adverbial group and prepositional phrase
Just as a clause can be broken into its functional parts, so groups and phrases can
be analysed into their functional parts. For example, the short nominal group this red
flower has three functional parts as shown in Figure 1.5. Here the Deictic part
4 In the example, Greenland is a nominal group, even though it consists of just one noun; in general groups
consist of one or more items; they are still called groups when they consist of a single word.
functions to pick out and identify, the Epithet describes and the Thing tells you what it
is being picked out and described:
nominal group
Deictic Epithet Thing

| | |
this red flower
Figure 1.5 Breaking a nominal group into functional parts
The functional parts of a group or phrase are realised by different classes of word.
This is shown below in Figure 1.6 for the nominal group we have been looking at.
nominal group

| | |
determiner adjective noun
| | |
this red flower
Figure 1.6 Nominal group structure
Our discussion so far has shown that a clause can be analysed into its constituent
parts, which are groups and phrases; and these groups and phrases can be analysed
into their constituent parts, which are words. (It would also be possible to analyse
words into their constituent parts – morphemes, but IFG does not take this step.) The
scale of units from clause to word (or morpheme) is known as the rank scale.
As you can see from the examples, when we analyse a structure at clause rank or
at group/phrase rank into its constituent parts, every part can be labelled in two ways:
according to the function of the part and according to class of unit performing that
function. In Figures 1.1 to 1.6 the functions of each part of the structure have been
written in bold. They are also conventionally written with an upper case letter to
remind you that they are function labels – labels which tell you what job that unit is
doing, what role it is playing, what meaning it has in the structure.
For all the functions we have identified so far, we have also identified the class of
unit which realises or expresses it. In Figures 1.1 to 1.6 the class labels have been
written in italics. A class label tells you what kind or category the unit is by virtue of its
form, without reference to its role in any particular context. 5 Class labels may be all
that is necessary when analysing clauses using a formal grammar (as in ‘part of speech
tagging’), but if we are interested in analysing and interpreting texts, then functional
labelling of the kind provided in IFG will prove a much more useful tool.
In addition, there is important grammatical work for function labels to do. For
one thing, they help distinguish ambiguous sequences of classes. We can exemplify
this briefly by looking at the nominal group a running shoe. This word sequence
consists of a determiner, followed by a verb, followed by a noun. But it can mean more
than one thing. Probably the first meaning that comes to mind is that of a shoe made
5 In formal grammars the term 'category' is often used for class and 'relation' for function.
specially for running. However, it might mean, say in a children’s cartoon context, a
shoe that is running (with little legs protruding from the sole). In a functional
grammar we can say that on the first reading running functions as a Classifier, telling
us what type of shoe (Figure 1.7); on the second reading running is an Epithet,
describing what the shoe is doing (Figure 1.8).
nominal group nominal group
Deictic Classifier Thing Deictic Epithet Thing

| | | | | |
determiner verb noun determiner verb noun
| | | | | |
a running shoe a running shoe
Figure 1.7 A classifying nominal group Figure 1.8 A descriptive nominal group
In a similar way, the structure of the nominal group this red flower can be
distinguished from that of this red wine through the function labelling. Both have the
same sequence of word classes, but the adjective red does not have the same function
in each case. In one case it is an Epithet functioning to describe the flower; in the other
it is a Classifier, telling us what type of wine.
If you have followed the discussion this far, you will have a basis for beginning to
learn to use a functional grammar to analyse text. One key point we have made in this
introduction is that there are three possible angles on analysis – the ideational (clause
as representation), the interpersonal (clause as exchange) and textual (clause as
message) – and that these can ultimately be brought together into a synthesis. We
have also discussed the part-whole, or constituency, structure of the clause, showing
how it is made up of groups and phrases which in turn are made up of words. In the
discussion of constituency we have emphasised that these smaller units have
particular functions to play in the larger structure and that analysis using a functional
grammar involves identifying these functional parts.
In the following sections of this chapter we will develop these initial points, taking
you further in understanding the theoretical orientation of the IFG and exploring some
more complex aspects of constituency. Particularly if you have no previous experience
of grammatical analysis, you may prefer to delay reading these sections until you have
gained some familiarity with the IFG, or perhaps return again to these points later
once your study of the IFG is under way.
6. Reasoning in a functional grammar
We have discussed the relevance of functional labelling for discriminating potentially

ambiguous structures. The other important grammatical work for function labels has
to do with reasoning in a functional grammar. This reasoning is concerned with how
grammatical items are related to each other. Let us continue with the example the
running shoes. The point of labelling running a Classifier is to show that the nominal
group in question is related to other nominal groups which classify shoes: gym shoes,
dress shoes, walking shoes, leather shoes, second-hand shoes and so on. Labelling
running an Epithet, on the other hand, shows that the nominal group is related to
other nominal groups which describe shoes: big shoes, black shoes, old shoes, dirty
shoes, favourite shoes and so on.
This in turn affects the way in which the nominal groups can be expanded. For
example, with running as a Classifier, the group can be expanded through further
classification: the Adidas running shoes. With running as an Epithet on the other hand,
the group can be expanded by grading the description: the quickly running shoes. At
the same time, our functional description explains why we can’t say the quickly
running shoes when we are classifying, any more than we can say the quickly gym shoes;
in English Classifiers are categorical – we don’t intensify them. Similarly, we can’t say
the Adidas running shoes when we are describing, because in English Epithets always
come before, not after, Classifiers. So when we label running as Epithet or Classifier
according to its function, we are showing what kinds of nominal group the one we are
analysing is related to.
Relevant related structures are called agnate structures, and reasoning about an
optimum analysis in any instance involves looking at the patterns of agnation. So, for
example, if you were unsure whether red wine in a clause like she likes red wine was a
Classifier + Thing or an Epithet + Thing structure, you would need to consider agnate
groups. This would lead you to ask whether red wine relates to white wine, rose wine
and sparkling wine (open to extension as Hunter red wine or Italian sparkling wine) or
to pale wine and red medicine (open to extension through intensifiers, as in very pale
wine, bright red medicine). If the former are more plausible in the context, then you
will have grounds for a Classifier + Thing analysis. 6 Reasoning about a specific
instance therefore involves putting the example into a set of similar examples to find
out where it fits.
Ultimately, the purpose of function labels is to show how the items you are
analysing are related to the grammatical choices they embody. Traditionally, the way of
focussing on grammatical choices has been by means of a paradigm of related
grammatical items. (Hence the term ‘paradigmatic relations’.) The representation of
grammatical choice as a paradigm is often used in materials designed for students
learning noun or verb inflexions in a second language. Here’s an example for the
simple present tense forms of the English verb be, plotting choices of person (the rows)
against choices of number (the columns).
Table 1.1 A paradigm for present tense English be (person and number)
singular plural
1st person I am we are
2nd person you are you are
3rd person she/he/it is they are
Paradigms can be used to display relations not only among words but among
units of any size. Table 1.2 shows a simple paradigm for MOOD in the English clause
(with just one dimension of alternatives arranged by row):
6 Can you think of a context in which red would be interpretable as an Epithet in the nominal group the red
wine?
Table 1.2 A simple paradigm for English MOOD
declarative He was tickling the baby.
interrogative Was he tickling the baby?
imperative Tickle the baby!
The labels in a paradigm are the names of grammatical ‘choices’ or ‘selections’

and any choice made will have an implication in grammatical structure. MOOD choices
are relevant to the interpersonal structure of the clause, and Halliday’s function labels
for the parts of the clause – when we look at the clause as an interpersonal structure –
will show which MOOD choices have been taken up. For example, if the choice of
‘imperative’ is taken up, there will typically be no Subject or Finite function in the
clause. If the choice of ‘declarative’ is taken up, the Subject function will precede the
function of Finite, whereas if the choice of ‘interrogative’ is taken up, the Finite will
precede the Subject. Figures 1.9 and 1.10 contrast the ‘declarative’ and ‘interrogative’
structures:
clause
He was tickling the baby

| |
Subject Finite
Figure 1.9 Declarative clause showing Subject and Finite
clause
Was he tickling the baby

| |
Finite Subject
Figure 1.10 Interrogative clause showing Subject and Finite

The functional labels in Figures 1.9 and 1.10 identify the structures as being
‘declarative’ and ‘interrogative’, respectively. In other words, they show where these
examples fit into the paradigm – the set of available choices. Every time you analyse a
clause as having the function structure of Subject followed by Finite (Subject ^ Finite),
you are analysing it as a ‘declarative’ clause (and thus different from but related to an
‘interrogative’ or ‘imperative’ clause). Thus a particular function structure (such as
Subject ^ Finite) represents an embodiment or realisation of a particular choice from
the paradigm (such as ‘declarative’).
While the simple paradigm in Table 1.2 focuses on just one set of choices, it is
more usual for paradigms to focus on two sets of choices at the same time (Halliday
uses this kind of display in IFG2 Chapter 6, on pages 181 and 199 and in IFG3 on pages
314 and 318 for example.) To illustrate this, we add the option of having a tag or not to
the earlier paradigm in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3 A simple paradigm for English MOOD and TAGGING
not tagged tagged

declarative He was tickling the baby. He was tickling the baby, wasn’t he?
interrogative Was he tickling the baby? Was he tickling the baby, was he?7
imperative Tickle the baby! Tickle the baby, won’t you?
Below, we have included the relevant function labels for Subject and Finite into the
paradigm we’ve been working with. The analysis suggests that every time you analyse
a clause as Finite followed by Subject, with a tag having Finite followed by Subject, you
are analysing an example that fits into the interrogative, tagged box in the paradigm.
The paradigm as a whole shows how the clause is related to others. So an analysis of
an individual clause always involves implicitly relating that clause to others in the
language.
Table 1.4 A paradigm for MOOD and TAGGING including function structure
not tagged tagged

He was tickling the baby. He was tickling the baby, wasn’t he?
declarative
Subject^Finite... Subject^Finite... ...Finite^Subject
Was he tickling the baby? Was he tickling the baby, was he?
interrogative
Finite^Subject Finite^Subject... ...Finite^Subject
Tickle the baby! Tickle the baby, won’t you?
imperative
– – ... Finite^Subject
7. Paradigms as system networks
Once more than two dimensions of choice are brought into play, paradigms become
rather cumbersome. You have to add a third dimension out the back and the three
dimensional cube you create in this way gets hard to read. A fourth dimension is pretty
much out of the question. In systemic functional linguistics – the linguistic theory
behind the IFG – system networks are used to overcome this limitation. The two
dimensions of choice outlined in the paradigm above can be represented in a system
network as in Figure 1.11.
tagged
not tagged
clause
declarative
interrogative
imperative
Figure 1.11 A system network for MOOD and TAGGING
7 Australians use a tag in this context, although most speakers of English don't have the option of a tag in
interrogatives.
The network in Figure 1.118 says that as far as choices for MOOD go, speakers of
Australian English can choose among declarative, interrogative and imperative, and at
the same time between having a tag or not. The square brackets set up the choices as
alternatives: you have to choose tagged or not tagged, and you have to choose
declarative, interrogative or imperative. The brace means that speakers must choose
from both systems: from the choice of tagged or not tagged and from the choice of
declarative, interrogative or imperative. The square bracket and its set of choices is
referred to as a system. A set of systems is referred to as a system network. Figure
1.12 identifies the different parts of a system network for you.
system network
system
features (terms, options)
tagged
entry condition
not tagged
clause
declarative
interrogative
imperative
logical ‘and’
logical ‘or’
Figure 1.12 Naming the parts of a system network
A system network of this kind can be derived from any paradigm (including three
dimensional cubes) by turning names of rows and columns into sets of choices –
systems of features. This translation process is outlined in Figure 1.13 for the example
we’ve been considering.
tagged
not tagged
clause
declarative
interrogative
imperative
Figure 1.13 Deriving a system network from a two-dimensional paradigm
8 For the actual MOOD network underlying the analyses presented in IFG, see Chapter 3 below.
In this kind of display (the system network), there is no limit to the number of
choices that can be considered. In considering MOOD and TAGGING, we have been
considering interpersonal choices. Earlier on, we looked at the ideational structure of
the clause Quite recently the Norwegians were whaling off Greenland, identifying
functions like Actor, Process, Time and Place. These ideational functions embody
choices from an ideational paradigm where the options relate to the kind of
experience of the world being constructed: doing (material process), thinking (mental
process) or being (relational process). Choices for MOOD (IFG Chapter 4) and choices
for PROCESS TYPE (IFG Chapter 5) combine freely in English, so we represent the choices
as simultaneous, as in Figure 1.14:
material
mental
relational
clause
declarative
interrogative
imperative
Figure 1.14 A simple network for English PROCESS TYPE and MOOD
Just as the MOOD choice will be realised by a particular function structure, such as
Subject followed by Finite (Subject ^ Finite), so the choice from PROCESS TYPE will be
realised by the presence in the structure of particular functions like Actor and Process.
An interpersonal function like Subject may therefore map onto an ideational function
like Actor (as well as on to a textual function like Theme). And just as the configuration
of Subject and Finite tells you the mood of a clause, the presence of an Actor role tells
you what kind of process the clause is (material rather than mental or relational). The
function labelling, in other words, is all about relating clauses and groups to one
another according to the system networks on which IFG is based. (While most of these
networks are not presented in IFG2, they can be found in IFG3 as well as in
Matthiessen 1995.)
And as we extend our description of choices in any language, we may find that
choices start to depend on each other. For example, if we kept working on MOOD in
English, we’d find we needed to include exclamative clauses (What a fool he felt).
These could be grouped with declaratives on the basis that they share the sequence of
the Subject and Finite functions (Subject ^ Finite for declaratives (both exclamative
and non-exclamative), Finite ^ Subject9 for interrogatives). Then interrogatives could
be divided into the ‘yes/no’ (polar) type (Is he a fool?) and the wh type (Why is he a
fool?). Having got this far we’d realise that the possibility of adding a tag is actually
sensitive to mood. In Australian English you do not tag exclamatives or wh
interrogatives (*What a fool he is, isn’t he?, *Why is he a fool, is he?10), but you can tag
non-exclamative declaratives, polar interrogatives and imperatives. So TAGGING in fact
depends on MOOD; it’s not independent of it as implied by the simplified MOOD
networks in Figures 1.11-1.13. The more complex picture of MOOD we’ve developed to
this point is outlined in Figure 1.15 below.
9 Except in wh interrogatives which ask about the Subject (See IFG 3: 136).
10 We follow here the convention in linguistics of placing an asterisk before an ‘impossible’ example.
material
mental
exclamative
relational
clause
declarative
non-exclamative
indicative
yes/no
interrogative
tagged
imperative
wh-
not tagged
Figure 1.15 A more developed network for English MOOD
The network now includes an ‘or’ bracket that faces left, to account for the fact
that tags can be added to non-exclamative declaratives or polar interrogatives or
imperatives. Note that our discussion hasn’t had any repercussions for our PROCESS
TYPE options, which freely combine with all the MOOD variations we’ve outlined.
This grouping together of systems of interrelated options is the basis for
Halliday’s functional interpretation of English grammar. Options related to PROCESS
TYPE (clause as representation) are handled in IFG Chapter 5; options related to MOOD
are handled in IFG Chapter 4 (clause as exchange); and options related to the
distribution of information (what comes first and last in the clause – clause as
message) are handled in IFG Chapter 3. These bundles of options reflect the
‘metafunctional’ organisation of the grammar into experiential, interpersonal and
textual components respectively.
8. Choice and constituency
Alongside bundles of choices organised by metafunction, we can also interpret

constituency in terms of bundles of options. We will use an ideational focus to analysis
to illustrate this, taking the clause These shoes are wrecking my feet as an example.
Figure 1.16 shows the ideational analysis of the clause and of its functional elements:
clause
Actor Process Goal

| | |
nominal group verbal group nominal group
Deictic Thing Finite Event Deictic Thing

| | | | | |
determiner verb verb verb pronoun noun
| | | | | |
those shoes are wrecking my feet
Figure 1.16 Clause structure
We can see in this example that the layering in the tree diagram reflects the
organisation of grammatical choices. The top two layers are oriented to clause choices
and the functional structures resulting from them (clause: Actor + Process + Goal); the
next two layers are oriented to group/phrase choices and the functional structures
resulting from them (e.g. nominal group: Deictic^ Thing); the final layer is oriented to
word choices, whose functional structure is not represented in the diagram. This way
of organising constituency with respect to a hierarchy of choices we have already
referred to as organisation by rank – so we speak of clause rank, group/phrase rank,
and word rank, with a clause consisting or one or more groups and phrases (minimally
a clause like Help! ), and with a group consisting of one or more words (minimally a
verbal group like help ); and ultimately, if we continued beyond the IFG coverage, with
a word consisting of one or more morphemes (e.g. one morpheme: my; two
morphemes: shoe + s, wreck + ing). The relation of ranked units ranging from clause to
word is outlined in Figure 1.17.
clause
clause rank choice
resulting in clause function structures
Actor Process Goal
| | |
group rank choices
resulting in group function structures
Deictic Thing Finite Event Deictic Thing
| | | | | |
determiner verb verb verb pronoun noun
| | | | | | word rank choices
(realising group functions)
those shoes are wrecking my feet
Figure 1.17 Ranked units: underlying systems of choice and function structures
In bringing this discussion to a close, we’ll take two more steps. Both have to do
with opening up choices again at places inside the clause hierarchy where we wouldn’t
normally expect them. Consider the (ideational) analysis of the clause Wearing those
shoes is wrecking my feet. As we work through the analysis of this clause we find that
the Actor isn’t a nominal group as we’d normally expect, but is in fact another clause11.
So, at the point where we might expect to have run out of clause choices and be making
nominal group choices, we find the clause choices opened up again. See Figure 1.18.
When choices are opened up again in this way, at a rank lower than we’d normally
expect them, we say that one unit has been embedded in another – in this case, a
clause has been embedded inside another clause. This disturbs the normal layering we
find in clause structure – instead of a clause consisting or one or more group/phrases
and group/phrases consisting of one or more words, we have a clause consisting of
another clause among the group/phrases. For more detail on embedding (also known
as rankshift or downranking), see IFG Chapter 6, and Chapters 5 and 6 below.
Alongside embedding, the other way in which clause analysis gets more
complicated as choices for meaning are opened up again is through complexing
(discussed in IFG2 Chapter 7, including 7 Additional and IFG3 Chapters 7 and 8).
11 To simplify the discussion we will not deal here with the analysis that interprets the embedded clause as
embedded as the Head of a nominal group functioning as Actor; see IFG Chapter 6 for discussion.
clause
Actor Process Goal

| |
[[clause]] verbal group nominal group
Process Goal Finite Event Deictic Thing

| | | | | |
verbal gp nominal gp verb verb pronoun noun
|
Event Deictic Thing
| | |
verb determiner noun
| | |
wearing those shoes is wrecking my feet
Figure 1.18 Clause structure with one element being realised by an embedded
clause instead of an ordinary nominal group
For example, if we adjust the example we’re working on slightly to read Those
shoes are wrecking my feet and ankles, then it turns out that the element representing
what is being wrecked is realised by two nominal groups12, not just one – two groups
which are coordinated with each other. The second group expands the information in
the first one, but is serving the same clause function. It’s not that the clause has two
Goals, but rather that the clause’s Goal is realised by a nominal group complex. An
outline of this structure is provided in Figure 1.19, where we have drawn an
interdependency arrow between the first nominal group and the second. Note that
with complexing, we get more choices of the same kind of meaning – in this case,
nominal group choices followed by more nominal group choices; this contrasts with
embedding, where in the example above we had clause choices where we were
expecting nominal group ones – choices of a different kind, rather than more of the
same.
clause
Actor Process Goal

| | |
complex
Deictic Thing Finite Event 1| |2

| | | | nominal group nominal group
determiner noun verb verb |
Deictic Thing Thing
| | |
pronoun noun linker noun
| | | |
those shoes are wrecking my feet and ankles
Figure 1.19 Clause structure with an element (Goal) realised by a nominal group complex
12 An alternative analysis might treat feet and ankles as a word complex (see below), realising the Thing; the
analysis proposed here allows for expansion of the second nominal group (e.g. my feet and my ankles, my
tired feet and my sore ankles).
Complexing occurs at all ranks in the grammar. Suppose we adjust our example to
read those shoes are hurting my bruised and battered feet. In this case, we have an
example of word complexing inside the nominal group describing my feet. Here, the
description of my feet, its Epithet, consists of two adjectives, coordinated with each
other. As with complexing in general, instead of one round of choices we have more of
the same – two rounds of foot description instead of one. An outline of this clause
structure, including word complexing is shown in Figure 1.20.
clause
Actor Process Goal

| | |
Deictic Thing Finite Event Deictic Epithet Thing

| | | | | | |
determiner noun verb verb determiner adjective complex noun
1 2
adjective linker adjective
| | |
those shoes are hurting my bruised and battered feet
Figure 1.20 Clause structure with a word complex
As well as words and groups, it is possible to have complexes of clauses. Suppose

we change our example to those shoes are hurting my feet so I’ll throw them away. In
this case, we have a clause expanded by another one – a clause complex. Chapter 6 of
the Workbook focusses in particular on this phenomenon.
To sum up, grammatical choices made at clause and group/phrase rank create
functional structures at those ranks. In the most straightforward case, clause rank
choices will result in functions realised by groups and phrases while group/phrase
rank choices will result in functions realised by words. In addition, however, there are
two ways in which this constituency pattern can be disturbed to open up additional
choices. One way is through embedding a unit of the same or higher rank into the
structure. When this happens a particular function (like Actor in the clause or Epithet
in the group) is realised not by a smaller unit but by a same size or larger one. In this
situation we might, for example, find a clause functioning as part of another clause or
as part of a nominal group. A second way that additional choices are opened up is
when, at any rank, a particular function is realised by a series of the same sized unit;
so instead of the Actor role in the clause taking the form of a nominal group, for
example, it takes the form of two or more groups linked by conjunctions.
9. Learning to use IFG
The description of the language provided by IFG is a very rich one and can only be
learned step by step. For example, you will need to focus on one of the three
perspectives – ideational, interpersonal, textual – at a time, even though the goal of
your study will be to bring all three perspectives to bear on any text. You will also need
to focus on one grammatical rank at a time – clause or group/phrase – and on different

kinds of groups separately. Wherever you start, you are likely at times to feel in need of
understandings about the grammar that your present focus is not providing. This can
be frustrating in the short term, but as you learn more, you will have the satisfaction of
seeing each new aspect of the grammar complementing and illuminating what you
have already learned.
Another possible source of frustration when you first work with IFG is the amount
of new terminology you will meet: compared with formal grammars or traditional
school grammars there are many more terms to learn in IFG. The reason for this
proliferation of terms is simple: it reflects the aim of providing a comprehensive
coverage of language, which is an extremely complex phenomenon. To be able to
explore language in a systematic and effective way, you need a rich range of terms –
you need a powerful resource. (It is instructive to examine the use of technical terms
in different disciplines, and to ask why they differ significantly in the use and range of
technical terms; see e.g. the discussions of geography and history in Wignell et al.
(1993) and Eggins et al. (1993). If you feel that you are approaching terminological
overload, pick up a book on human anatomy, for example, and identify the technical
terms used in that text. Then you will feel relieved that you are studying grammar
rather than human anatomy!) To familiarise yourself with these terms, it may help to
photocopy summary tables from IFG and from this workbook and paste them up
around your desk as a memory aid. You can also consult Matthiessen, Teruya & Lam
(forthcoming), which is a resource book with key terms in SFL. In this book, you will
find entries for key terms, including examples and references to the literature; and you
will find displays showing you how key terms are related to one another. If you are
computer oriented, there are other supportive resources available. Consult the SFL
website at www.isfla.org/systemics to hunt them down. If you are learning in a class,
then it certainly helps to work on your analyses in a group with other students and
develop your skills in grammatical reasoning as you argue for a particular analysis. We
would also suggest that, as you concentrate on learning new categories and
terminology, you practise your analytical skills with quite simple texts at first, such as
those in the Phase 1 sections of this book. This lets you concentrate on what you are
trying to learn at the time instead of getting distracted (or dismayed) by too many
special cases and complications.
Once the labels are under control, then you will be empowered and a whole new
way of reading texts is opened up to you – one in which you see texts as semiotic
entities that make meaning, rather than as formal entities that pass pre-formed
thoughts and feelings from one human being to another. You’ll start to see language as
having a far more central place in human existence than you may have imagined
before, and may even go through a phase of thinking that language is all there is –
since it shapes and categorises everything around us the moment we try to say
anything about anything at all. This radical Whorfian phase can be a trying one for
peers from other disciplines; some of us never recover from it! However you react, we
think you’ll find this grammar a new tool for thinking about human experience and
human relations, in whatever professional context you use it in. It gives you a way of
thinking grammatically, about everything under the sun (and perhaps beyond).
Best of luck with your grammar learning! We hope this workbook gives you some
new ways round at least some of the difficulties you might be experiencing without it.
Chapter 2
Theme
clause as message
1. Orientation
1.1 Reading guide to IFG
IFG2, IFG3 Chapter 3 (Clause as message);

IFG2 Section 2.5 (Subject, Actor, and Theme);
IFG3 Section 2.6 (Subject, Actor, and Theme);
IFG2 Section 8.6 (Given + New, Theme + Rheme)
1.2 Characterisation of Theme

The system of THEME belongs to the textual metafunction of the language. It is
concerned with the organisation of information within individual clauses and, through
this, with the organisation of the larger text. Thus the following versions of ‘the same’
clause-sized piece of information embody alternative THEME choices:
Your reporter repeatedly interrupted her replies.
Her replies were repeatedly interrupted by your reporter.
Repeatedly, your reporter interrupted her replies.
Every clause is organised as a message – a quantum of information in the flow of
information created as a text unfolds in its context of situation. The system of THEME
organises the clause to show what its local context is in relation to the general context
of the text it serves in; the system is concerned with the current point of departure in
relation to what has come before, so that it is clear where the clause is located in the
text – how its contribution fits in. This local context or point of departure is called
Theme. The rest of the message of the clause is what is presented against the
background of the local context – it is where the clause moves after the point of
departure. This is called Rheme. The clause as message is thus organised into Theme
+ Rheme. In English and many other languages, including Chinese (see Halliday &
McDonald, 2004; Li, 2007), this organisation is ‘realised’ (expressed, signalled)
positionally: Theme is realised by initial position in the clause and Rheme is realised
by non-initial position.
Theme: Rheme:
Point of departure of clause as Non-Theme – where the presentation
message; moves after the point of departure;
local context of clause as a piece of what is presented in the local context set
text. up by Theme.
initial position in the clause position following initial position
THEME is one of two systems that organise the information presented in the
clause, the other being that of INFORMATION.1 And, although our concern in this
chapter is with THEME, it will be useful to distinguish it from that of INFORMATION and, at
various points, to make links between the two systems.
While THEME uses position within the clause to organise information into an initial
orientation followed by the Rheme, the system of INFORMATION uses intonation to
highlight what is particularly newsworthy in the message (see also Halliday & Greaves,
2008). The New element in the clause is foregrounded by being ‘stressed’ as we speak
(more technically, it contains a tonic syllable). For example:
A: Which one is Lindy’s boy?
B: He ’s the tall one.
Theme New
The information structure of the clause is discussed in IFG2 Chapter 8 and in IFG3
Chapter 3.5.
1.3 Thematic development within a text

The choice of Theme for any individual clause will generally relate to the way
information is being developed over the course of the whole text. In the following text,
the overall discourse theme concerns reptiles and their subtypes; clause by clause the
Themes are selected to indicate the progression from reptiles in general to ‘some
reptiles’, ‘many reptiles’, and so on:
Reptiles were the first animals with backbones that could live on land all the time. Some
reptiles we know today are snakes, lizards and turtles. Many of the early reptiles grew
very large. Two large, early reptiles were Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon. They were each
about ten feet long.
Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon had large fins on their backs. These were held up by
tall, bony spines....
This progression of Themes over the course of a text is referred to as the text’s
method of development (Fries 1981).
2. Survey of options
We have described the Theme as providing the local context for the information in the
rest of the clause. An important aspect to this is that the clause can be contextualised
in terms of all three of its metafunctional perspectives – textually, interpersonally, and
ideationally. The Theme of a clause can thus have textual, interpersonal, and ideational
phases, as shown in Figure 2.1. (The ideational stage to the Theme is known as topical
Theme.)
1 The domain of INFORMATION is really the information unit; see further IFG2 Ch.8; IFG3: Ch.3.5.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 23
contextualisation: textual
clause as message
continuative or interpersonal
conjunctive relating
clause to previous clause as exchange
messages in text ideational (topical)
modal aspect
indicating role of
clause as
move in exchange
representation
or
element of
representation
perhaps (participant,
oh circumstance or
process)
you
honestly
oh
it ’ve become
darling
oh
saved my life
it in hospital
why
’s fun watching
people digging
(why) bigger pits
shouldn’t she
have an admirer
Figure 2.1 Metafunctional ‘phases’ of the Theme of a clause
Figure 2.1 illustrates the way the Theme of a clause may unfold from one
metafunctional phase to the next. The Theme starts textually, relating the clause to its
textual environment – to the method of development from which the clause emerges
as a new message, or quantum information. It then continues interpersonally, relating
the clause to its interpersonal environment – to the sequence of exchanges from which
the clause emerges as a new move, or quantum of interaction. Finally, it continues
ideationally, relating the clause to its ideational environment – to the episodic
structure that the clause expands on as a new figure, or quantum of change in the flow
of events.
As the examples in Figure 2.1 show, the Theme of the clause always concludes
with a ‘topical’ element, and indeed there may only be a topical Theme, as in Reptiles
were the first animals with backbones that could live on land all the time. The textual
and interpersonal stages to the Theme may or may not be present. The next section
will illustrate in turn each different type of Theme.
2.1 Ideational (topical) Theme

The ideational stage of the Theme, known as topical Theme, can be recognised as the
first element in the clause that expresses some kind of ‘representational’ meaning.
More technically, it is an element in the transitivity structure of the clause (see Chapter
4). That is to say, it might be a ‘participant’, taking on some role in the process of the
transitivity structure, as in:
Ah Q took off his tattered linen jacket.
George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin.
The house was gloomy and uninviting.
Or it might be a ‘circumstance’, giving information about time, place, manner, cause,
etc.:
In the past, Ah Q had just cursed under his breath, inaudibly.
In 1876, Shaw joined his mother and sister in London.
On the upper floor of such premises, a tall person cannot stand erect.
Occasionally, it might be the process, as in:
‘Stand up to speak!’ shouted all the men in the long coats.
Says Mr Smith: ‘It’s too early to draw any conclusions yet.’
2.1.1 Marked and unmarked topical Theme

If the first topical element of a declarative clause is also the Subject of the clause, then
the Theme choice is a neutral or ‘unmarked’ one, which gives the Theme no special
prominence. And by making use of the system of VOICE (the alternation between ‘active’
and ‘passive’), we can vary the choice of unmarked Theme:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Theme (unmarked) / Subject Rheme
A peck of pickled peppers was picked by Peter Piper

Theme (unmarked) / Subject Rheme
However, when the topical Theme of a declarative clause is not the Subject, it
gains a greater textual prominence. Non-Subject Themes are ‘marked’ Themes and are
often important in structuring the larger discourse. Here are some examples of
marked Themes:
Someday, you ’ll understand that

Subject
Theme (marked) Rheme
Jasmine, I love the smell of

Subject
Theme (marked) Rheme
For discussion of unmarked Themes in relation to clauses other than declaratives,

see Section 5.4 below.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 25
2.2 Interpersonal Theme

The interpersonal part of the Theme, if present, includes one or more of the following
(see Chapter 3):
(i) the Finite, typically realised by an auxiliary verb. Its presence in thematic
position signals that a response is expected, as in:
Should they be doing that?
Are you coming?
Don’t touch that!
Don’t kneel!
(ii) a Wh- element, signalling that an ‘answer’ is required from the addressee.2
Why can’t you come over tonight?
How did school shape up?
Where are they now?
(iii) a Vocative, identifying the addressee in the exchange.
Mr Wolf, Mr Wolf, may we cross your golden waters?
Old Hong, let’s get down to business!
(iv) an Adjunct, typically realised by an adverb. It provides the speaker’s
assessment of what is being exchanged (e.g. in terms of probability, desirability) or of
the act of exchange itself (e.g. in terms of veracity, concession). For example:
Perhaps women make better vets.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like the old places will be around much longer.
Unfortunately, this Baldhead was carrying a shiny brown cane which looked to Ah Q
like the ‘staff carried by a mourner’.
Frankly, a change of scenery is not going to help such people as there is no knowing
that history will not repeat itself.
Admittedly, merely denying the right to strike or imposing heavy penalties for such
strikes without providing for acceptable procedures to resolve them was too one-sided
an approach.
One final type of interpersonal Theme consists of first and second person ‘mental’
clauses which express the speaker’s opinion or seek the addressee’s:
I should think there would probably be some of them that you’ll never see.
I don’t suppose you need Old English and Anglo-Saxon.
Do you think I should take an early play like the Prometheus?
You know bitter beer should be sharp.
Halliday regards these as ‘interpersonal metaphors’ of modality (IFG2: 58, 354-63;
IFG3 Chapter 10.3). That is, they can be regarded as comparable with Adjuncts like
probably and treated as interpersonal Themes.
2.3 Textual Theme

Textual Themes almost always constitute the first stage of the Theme, coming before
any interpersonal Themes. They give thematic prominence to textual elements with a
linking function.
2 A Wh- Theme is not exclusively interpersonal. It is simultaneously a topical Theme since, as well as its
function as a ‘question word’, it is also a participant or circumstance in the clause.
(i) structural conjunctions, linking two clauses in a coordinating relation:

In the past, Ah Q had just cursed under his breath, inaudibly; but today, because he
was in a rage and itching for revenge, the words slipped out involuntarily.
or marking one clause as dependent on another:
The interviewer asked whether there would be a change in direction.
The Minister said that there was no need to amend the legislation.
Developers are also putting up huge office complexes, while the government is racing
to complete infrastructure projects.
When you don’t have enough police, the crime rate gets higher.
(ii) relatives, relating a dependent clause to another clause3:
We heard Professor Smith’s lecture, which was a great disappointment.
News of the scam alarmed customers, who in the following two trading days
demanded to cash in an estimated $50 billion in securities.
(iii) conjunctives, providing a cohesive link back to previous discourse:
... He walked slowly away and by the time he approached the tavern door he was
quite cheerful again. Just then, however, a little nun from the Convent of Quiet
Self-improvement came walking towards him.
It is generally considered that these English translations are not only significant for
introducing China to the outside world but also useful reading materials for domestic
English learners and translators. For this reason, we have carefully selected some of
these books, and will publish them successively in Chinese-English bilingual form.
Note that conjunctives may or may not be thematic depending on whether they
occur first in the clause. For example, Two days later is thematic in Two days later the
state-owned Taiwan Cooperative Bank took over Changhua, but later is not thematic in
He later offered a brief, televised apology.
(iv) continuatives, indicating a relationship to previous discourse, typically with a
new move in the environment of an exchange in dialogue:
‘Then bring the door curtain for us to see,’ said Mrs. Zhao hurriedly.
– ‘Well, tomorrow will do,’ said Mr. Zhao without much enthusiasm.
2.4 Summary of types of Theme

All three metafunctions may contribute to the Theme of a clause; the last, and only
obligatory, stage of a Theme as it unfolds from the beginning of the clause towards the
middle – from left to right, in the orthographic representation of the clause in a
language like English, is the ideational (topical) stage. If you analyse a clause for
Theme from left to right, the most central question is how far the Theme extends to
the right – i.e., where the boundary between Theme and Rheme can be drawn. Figure
2.2 summarises the information given in IFG. It shows that the Theme extends from
the beginning of the clause to include any textual and/or interpersonal elements that
may be present and also the first experiential element; that is, a circumstance, process
or participant.
3 Relative elements serve both as textual and topical Theme since, as well as relating the relative clause to a
preceding one, they serve to specify a participant or a circumstance.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 27
and, secondly, unfortunately, in spring, the house is far too cold.
Is there a(n) …? What is the first element of

transitivity?
interpersonal Ajunct: circumstance: Location etc:
mood adv. adverbial group;

(perhaps, maybe, prepositional phrase
certainly, surely…)
comment adv.
(fortunately,
surprisingly,
hopefully, frankly,
honestly…)
Conjunction: Conjunctive: Finite: Process:
structural cohesive auxiliary verb verb group (whole group

conjunction conjunction (do(es)/did, is/am…, or Predicator part)
(linker: and, or, but, (for example, in has/have/had, will/
so; binder: because, other words, that would, can/could,
while, when, after, is, however, may/might, must,
before, if, since, that, furthermore, should/shall,
whether…) meanwhile, soon, ought…)
conjunction prep. later, firstly, lexical verb
(instead of, on, after, therefore, (form of be, have
before, because of, consequently…) [relational])
despite…)
Vocative: participant:
nominal group nominal group

(proper (±title),
position, term of
positive/negative
affect)
[relative element] [interrogative element]
element of transitivity =
can be focus of theme
predication (it is … that…)
Figure 2.2 The extent of the Theme element
2.5 Extending the thematic principle beyond the clause

The thematic principle of textual organisation can also be seen operating with respect
to units larger than the individual clause4. One such case is where two or more clauses
are linked together within a ‘clause complex’ (the sentence of written English). Where
a dependent (modifying, subordinate) clause precedes the main clause it can be
interpreted as having thematic status for the clause complex as a whole, as in Although
the play was well acted, the characters ultimately failed to engage our sympathies. (See
4 Also for smaller units. See IFG2, 3 Chapter 6.

Section 3.7 below.) In a similar way, the initial clause complex of a paragraph may be
seen as functioning as a kind of ‘paragraph Theme’ (the Topic Sentence of traditional
accounts), while the introductory paragraph itself has a thematic status vis-a-vis the
text as a whole. (See Chapter 7.)
3. Troubleshooting
3.1 Picking out the unit of analysis

THEME is a system of the clause, so the first step in undertaking a Theme analysis is to
identify the clause boundaries in the text being considered. To divide your text into
clauses you need to look for verbs or groups of verbs. These are the elements
expressing processes of doing, saying, perceiving, thinking, feeling, being or having.
Here are some examples of clauses with the verbs in bold:
Kiss me, my fool.
I’ ll be waiting for you.
You will tell him, won’t you?5
You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.
I want to be alone.
It’s alive.
We’ll always have Paris.
Some utterances, such as greetings (Hallo, Bye-bye), exclamations (Good Lord!
Shit!) or minimal conversational moves (Oh) do not have any verb. These minor
clauses have no Theme-Rheme structure and can simply be set aside.
The other kind of clause where no Theme can be identified is the non-finite clause
without a Subject. For example:
Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard
to fetch her poor dog a bone. (non-finite clause)
Little Jack Horner sat in the corner
eating his Christmas pie. (non-finite clause)
Such non-finite clauses have been backgrounded for interpersonal reasons (See
Chapter 3) and this has affected their texture, depriving them of topical Themes, so
that the whole clause can be counted as Rheme. In other words the Process which
begins the non-finite clause does not serve as topical Theme (IFG2: 62; IFG3: 100):
Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard || to fetch her poor dog a bone
Theme Rheme Rheme
Little Jack Horner sat in the corner || eating his Christmas pie
Theme Rheme Rheme
3.2 Identifying the Theme

3.2.1 Boundary between Theme and Rheme
Theoretically, Theme is a pulse of information at the beginning of the clause which
tapers into Rheme; but practically speaking we need to make a decision about where
5 A tag like won’t you? counts as part of the clause and not as a separate unit.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 29
Theme begins and stops. The principle to remember is that everything up to and
including the first ‘topical’ (experiential) element will count as the Theme.
3.2.2 Elliptical clauses

Where two clauses are linked by coordination – in a paratactic structure – the Subject
of the second clause may be ellipsed or ‘understood’:
He roared in fury || and ( ) struggled with all his might
In such a case the ellipsed Subject of the second clause counts as the (ellipsed)
topical Theme. Consequently, the Process (struggled) is not the Theme.
3.2.3 Imperative clauses

An unmarked imperative clause such as Open the window! is unlike clauses in other
moods in having a Predicator (expressed by a lexical verb) as topical Theme, although
a marked option including the Subject you as Theme is also possible, as in You open the
window! Another kind of imperative includes the speaker, as in Let’s open the window!
and here let’s constitutes the unmarked Theme, with the verbal element falling into
the Rheme. And with any imperative form, an interpersonal component to the Theme
may be present where polarity is marked with a preceding Do or Don’t. Different forms
of imperative clause are shown below:
open the window

open up the house to visitors6
don’t open the window
you open the window
let’s open the window
do let’s open the window
let me open the window7
interpersonal Theme topical Theme Rheme
3.3 Identifying the metafunction

3.3.1 Textual or Interpersonal?
(i) Yes and No
Yes and no may be interpersonal or textual in function. POLARITY is an interpersonal
system, and when yes or no initiates a response to a yes/no interrogative, it functions
as an interpersonal Theme:
A: Did you get a Herald today?
B: No, I didn’t. No is interpersonal Theme
However, yes or no may also serve a continuative function, signalling a new move
(by the same or a different speaker) simply by maintaining the current polarity. In
6 Where the Process is realised by a phrasal verb, as in Look at that car! or Open up the house to visitors,
only the lexical part of the verbal group (the Predicator) need be included as topical Theme.
7 An alternative analysis of this structure treats Let as part of a causative verbal group complex realising
the Process, in which case let will be topical Theme and me part of the Rheme.
these cases they will be phonologically weak and are textual Themes, linking the new
move to what went before. (See IFG2: 92; IFG3: 145). Examples:
A: Bad news about Maxine’s job.
B: Yes it is. Yes is textual Theme
A: We won’t go to the beach today.
B: No it’s too windy. No is textual Theme
Oh, well, now and okay are other textual continuatives, which similarly mark a
response move in dialogue or a fresh initiation in monologue.
(ii) Adjuncts
It is easy to confuse initial Adjuncts which have a textual, linking function and those
which have an interpersonal, modal function (see further Chapter 3). Some of the
Adjuncts most frequently confused are given below (See IFG2:49, IFG3: 82 for fuller
lists):
Table 2.1 Examples of textual and interpersonal Adjuncts
Textual Interpersonal
in fact evidently
anyway broadly speaking
at least obviously
in conclusion provisionally
3.3.2 Interpersonal or topical?

(i) Time expressions
Expressions of frequency (‘usuality’ Adjuncts) such as sometimes or often are

interpersonal rather than experiential in nature. (See IFG2:49, 89, 357-360; IFG3:82,
147, 618-21.)
Table 2.2 Examples of interpersonal (modal) and experiential Adjuncts
Interpersonal (Usuality) Topical (Temporal Location/Extent)

at times... in the mornings...
often... on saturdays...
usually... three times a day...
occasionally... that particular year...
The Theme predication test is a useful way to discriminate topical Themes. In the
following examples, the second version has the element in doubt as a predicated
Theme (see IFG 3.7). Only a topical element can successfully function as a predicated
Theme:
On Saturdays we used to go jogging.
It was on Saturdays we used to go jogging.
– On Saturdays is topical Theme.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 31
Usually Jeremy is too drunk (to drive home).
* It is usually that Jeremy is too drunk.
– Usually is not topical Theme.
(ii) Question words

Interrogative Wh- items8 such as Where, Why, When, How are both interpersonal and
topical. (cf. IFG: 54 Table 3 (7)). This is because they play a role both in the
interpersonal structure of the clause – as the Wh- function – (see Chapter 3) and in the
transitivity structure of the clause, as participant or circumstance (See Chapter 4).
This is true both of direct and indirect (reported) wh- interrogative clauses. For
example:
Who ’d even know who you were?
interp + topical interp + topical
Theme Rheme Theme Rheme
(iii) Imperatives with Let’s

Halliday (IFG2: 87, IFG3: 139) treats Let’s as an anomalous form of the Subject of the
clause and therefore as topical Theme. Such imperatives are therefore analysed as
follows:
Let’s eat out tonight
topical Theme Rheme
3.3.3 Textual or topical?

(i) Relative pronouns
Note that relative items (such as who[m], which, whose) play a role in the transitivity
structure of a clause as well as performing a linking function; they are thus topical and
textual Themes (cf. IFG2: 54, Table 3(7); IFG3: 86):
She spoke to Dr. Jones, || who did his best to help her
textual + topical
Theme Rheme
(ii) Reference items

A reference item, such as this is sometimes mistakenly viewed as a textual Theme in
an example like the following:
For many years, girls have fared worse than boys in mathematics and science subjects.
This has resulted in a number of special programmes...
However, although this is certainly textual in its function as a cohesive item, it
counts as a topical Theme because it is a participant in the clause structure. (See
Chapter 4.)
(iii) Temporal expressions
It is easy to confuse a textual linker combining two clauses or sentences in a temporal
relation with a temporal circumstance specifying a time setting for its clause. Textual
Themes are underlined in the following excerpts:
8 Embedded clauses introduced by Wh items, such as [[whatever he did]] was wrong are discussed in
Section 3.6(iii).
First I put my head on top of the gate – then the head’s high enough – then I stand on my
head – then the feet are high enough, you see – then I’m over, you see.
As he sat in the barn he watched Bern coming and going about his work. At last the beggar
said...
Now look at circumstances functioning as topical Themes:
In 1925, the playwright was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Between the ages of
fifty-seven and sixty-seven, Shaw wrote such dramas as Heartbreak House, Back to
Methuselah, Androcles and the Lion, St. Joan. During his lifetime he was besieged by offers
to film his plays...
Further temporal examples are contrasted in the table below:
Table 2.3 Examples of textual and topical temporal expressions
Textual (see IFG2: 325-6; IFG3: 541 Figure 9.2 Topical

[enhancing: spatial-temporal], 544-6)
Previously... Before breakfast...
Afterwards... After many trials and tribulations...
Finally... By the end of the race...
Later... At 5 o’clock...
(See Chapter 4, Section 3.9 (iv) for further discussion.)
3.4 Subject it as unmarked topical Theme

The grammatical item it is common as Subject and thus also as unmarked topical
Theme. It will be helpful here to distinguish different uses of it and to explain why it is
analysed as topical Theme. Table 2.4 distinguishes three major cases.
Table 2.4 Types of ‘contentless’ Subject it
type Subtype/use example agnate example

(i) ambient it it’s hot the room’s hot
(ii) non-representational it meteorological it it’s raining (rain’s falling)
impersonal projection it is said that he’s a they say that he’s a decent
it decent fellow fellow : it is said to be the
case that he’s decent fellow
it seems that he’s a it seems to be the case that
decent fellow he’s a decent fellow
(iii) anticipatory it in mental & relational it worries us that he the fact worries us that he has
clauses with has disappeared disappeared: (the fact) that
postposition he has disappeared worries
us
it is irrelevant that the fact is irrelevant that she
she’s a woman is a woman: (the fact) that
she’s a woman is irrelevant
it is possible that that she’ll complain is
she’ll complain possible
in Theme predication it was the dog that the one that died was the
died dog : the dog died
CHAPTER 2 THEME 33
In all these cases, the item it serves as the Subject of the clause. This is shown by
the fact that it appears in the tag (the ‘Moodtag’, see Chapter 3): it’s hot, isn’t it?; it’s
raining, isn’t it?; it is said that..., isn’t it?; it seems that..., doesn’t it?; it worries us that...,
doesn’t it?; it is irrelevant that..., isn’t it?; it’s possible that…, isn’t it?; it was the dog that
died, wasn’t it? Since the principle of THEME SELECTION in English is that the unmarked
Theme keys into the mood of the clause, the Subject it will also be the unmarked
topical Theme in declarative and yes/no interrogative clauses:
It is hot.
topical
Theme Rheme
Is it hot?
interpersonal topical
Theme Rheme
That is, whether or not the item it has any representational value, it will always have
the potential for serving as unmarked Theme and when it does, it will give thematic
status to the choice of mood – just as any other unmarked topical Theme does in a
declarative or yes/no interrogative clause. (This is in fact part of the explanation why
English uses it in the constructions we are dealing with here. Many languages have no
equivalent item for some of these uses of it. For example, the Japanese for It’s hot is
Atsui, with an ‘i-adjective’ serving as Process and no Theme: the Japanese THEME
system is not oriented towards the MOOD system in the way the English THEME system
is.)
(i) Ambient it
The ambient it serves as a participant in the transitivity structure of the clause in

examples like it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s cloudy, it’s stormy, it’s windy, it’s foggy, it’s cooling
down, it’s clouding over, it’s thawing 9. This it is thus representational: it represents the
ambient conditions. Consequently, it can be probed with what in a wh- interrogative
clause (what’s hot?, what’s humid?, what’s pleasant?) and it alternates with fully
lexicalised groups (this room’s hot, today’s nice, the weather is pleasant, the air is
humid). For example:
It is hot.
What is hot?
The room is hot.
topical
Theme Rheme
Ambient it is thus a perfectly regular unmarked topical Theme: it serves as

Subject and has a role in the transitivity structure of the clause.
9 Ambient it is typically a Carrier in an attributive relational clause with an Attribute expressing some
feature of the environment such as temperature (e.g. it’s hot), or else it appears as Actor in a material
clause of qualitative change (e.g. it’s cooling down).
(ii) Non-representational it
However, there are uses of it where the item does not represent some phenomenon of
experience and does not serve a participant role. This occurs in ‘meteorological’
clauses and in the ‘impersonal’ use of it.
In clauses construing precipitation, such as it’s raining/snowing/hailing, the item
it might at first glance look like ambient it. However, it differs from ambient it in that it
does not represent some aspect of the environment and does not serve a participant
role. Thus we cannot say (except jocularly) what is it doing? – It’s raining, nor can we
ask: what’s raining? Nor are there any lexicalised alternatives: we cannot say the sky’s
raining, the clouds are raining or the like. The same considerations apply to the other
non-representational use of it, the use of it in impersonal projections such as it is said
that he is very wealthy, it seems that he is very wealthy. (See IFG2: 266; IFG3: 472.)
From a textual point of view, clauses such as it is raining or it seems that he is very
wealthy have it as unmarked topical Theme. This topical Theme is not prototypical:
while it is quite regular in its orientation to the mood selection of the clause (it [is]: is
it), it does not in fact serve a role in the experiential structure of the clause.
Consequently, it is not open to special more marked thematic strategies – it cannot be
theme-predicated (we cannot say what it did was rain all day) and it cannot be marked
as an absolute Theme (we cannot say as for it, it is said that he is very wealthy. Further,
it cannot be picked up textually by reference: if we say it rained yesterday and it’s
snowing today, the second it does not refer back to the first.
So why do we still interpret this non-representational it as topical Theme? On the
one hand, as we have already noted, it is quite regular in its orientation to the mood
selection of the clause: as unmarked topical Theme, it serves to give the mood
selection thematic status –
It is raining today.
It is said that he’s wealthy.
topical
Theme Rheme
Is it raining today?
Is it said that he’s wealthy?
Theme Rheme
On the other hand, it contrasts with marked topical Themes in the same way as
prototypical, representational unmarked topical Themes do:
Henry is swimming today : Today Henry is swimming ::
It is raining today : Today it is raining
It is said nowadays that this substance is harmless :
Nowadays it is said that this substance is harmless
(iii) Anticipatory it (mental and relational clauses)
The anticipatory it serves to anticipate an embedded clause occurring later in the
structure. Unlike the impersonal projections, these structures have a variant where the
embedded clause is Theme. For example:
CHAPTER 2 THEME 35
it worries me that he’s not doing his homework :
that he’s not doing his homework worries me ::
it is clear that he’s not doing his homework :
that he’s not doing his homework is clear
(iv) Anticipatory it in Theme predication

An anticipatory it also occurs with the special thematic strategy of Theme predication.
This structure singles out one experiential element to serve as both Theme and New
(See IFG 3.7.) For example:
It was Rabbit who saw Piglet first.
It was in Mathura that the Divine Cowherd was exchanged with the infant daughter of
Jasoda.
These examples differ from the use of anticipatory it described in (iii) above.
There is no variant where the embedded clause functions as Theme:
* Who saw Piglet first was Rabbit.
* That the Divine Cowherd was exchanged with the infant daughter of Jasoda was in
Mathura.
Rather, the agnation is with a non-predicated version:
It was Rabbit who saw Piglet first: Rabbit saw Piglet first.
It was in Mathura that the Divine Cowherd was exchanged: In Mathura the Divine
Cowherd was exchanged.
To indicate the marked status of a predicated Theme, the analysis can be shown
as follows (see IFG2: 60; IFG3: 97 for a two-step analysis):
It was Rabbit who saw Piglet first
Theme Rheme
3.5 There’s a...: ‘Existential’ clauses

There’s always a long queue, There was trouble at the mill, There might come a time...
are all examples of ‘existential’ clauses which introduce a participant into the text. An
existential clause can be recognised by the presence of there, when there does not
function to express a location. As with non-representational it (see Section 3.4 above),
there functions as unmarked topical Theme, giving the mood choice (of declarative or
interrogative) thematic status.
When interpreting such a Theme in the context of other topical choices, the
meaning is simply that of ‘existential’ as expressed by there serving as Subject. In other
words, the point of departure is precisely the fact that a participant (such as a long
queue or trouble at the mill) is to be introduced. So although there does not itself
function as a participant (or circumstance) it can still be regarded as topical Theme.
3.6 Recognising longer Theme units

It is not difficult to recognise an unmarked Theme when that Theme is constituted by
a pronoun, such as They, or a relatively short nominal group (i.e. noun phrase), such as
The big, bad wolf. However, the Theme may be realised by a longer unit than this in the
following cases:
(i) Nominal group in Theme position extends beyond the main noun:
A large black wolf with yellow fangs spoke to Red Riding Hood.
The teacher who understood him best was Marianne Fawley.
For explanation of this structure, see Chapter 5, IFG2 6.2.
(ii) Group and Phrase complexes in Theme position. Sometimes more than one
nominal group functions as the Theme:
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
Nelson Mandela, the newly elected President of South Africa, was invited.
Prepositional phrases may be similarly linked into ‘complexes’ functioning as

Theme. For example:
At Sezana, on the Yugoslav border, they were very naughty, too.
For a discussion of complexing see Chapter 6.
(iii) Embedded Wh- clause as Theme. Another kind of long Theme occurs when a
Wh- clause is embedded into the Theme position as in [[What he ate that night ]]10
gave him terrible heartburn. The most typical case is when a Wh- clause is set up as
Theme in an a relational clause structure (see Chapter 4) of the following kind:
What he said is nonsense

What they lacked was a business plan
(iv) Embedded non-finite clause as Theme. It is not only Wh- clauses that can be
embedded into Theme position. Non-finite clauses are also common as topical
Themes:
Doing twenty sit-ups a day will improve your tummy muscles
To err is human || to forgive (is) divine
It is also possible for a complex of clauses to be embedded in this way:
Getting plenty of exercise and eating the right food is important.
(v) Embedded ‘that’ clause as Theme. ‘Fact’ clauses such as (The fact) [[that the
food might not be fresh]] are more commonly found in the Rheme, but do occur in
Theme position:
That the food might not be fresh didn’t occur to them.
3.6.1 Tests to check for longer Themes

In all the examples in this section, the size of the expression is quite irrelevant; it is its
function in the clause that is at issue. And you can often see that a long expression
functions as a single element in a clause by trying one of the following tests:
(i) ‘Replace’ the expression with a pronoun, i.e. consider a version of the clause
with a pronominal version of the Theme. If you can ‘replace’ the expression you’re
interested in with a pronoun, it serves as a single element in the clause; for example:
Mice, elephants and humans are some of the animals we know.
10 Square brackets [[ ]] signal that a clause is functioning in an embedded way as part of another clause.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 37
They are some of the animals we know.
[[Doing twenty sit-ups a day]] will flatten your tummy.
It will flatten your tummy.
(ii) Make the expression non-thematic, i.e. consider a version of the clause with a
different thematic structure. For example:
From house to house I went my way : I went my way from house to house
The alternation involves from house to house as a whole, not only say from house;
that is, you can’t normally get:11
From house to house I went my way : From house I went my way to house
3.7 ‘Hypotactic’ clause as Theme

A different kind of long Theme can be found if we extend the thematic principle
beyond the clause to the ‘clause complex’ (the ‘sentence’ of the written language). This
can be illustrated by comparing the following:
Were you lonely in Paris, || when I was in the concentration camp?
When I was in the concentration camp, || were you lonely in Paris?
The first example can be regarded as an unmarked ordering of clauses, where a
‘main’ clause is followed by a modifying clause. It will simply be analysed as shown
above. In the second example, the when clause in its entirety can be regarded as
functioning as an orienting context for the question Were you lonely in Paris? The when
clause thus provides a marked Theme to which the second clause is Rheme (IFG2:
56-7; IFG3: 392-33):

Theme Rheme
At the same time, each individual clause has its own Theme-Rheme structure, so a
double analysis is possible:

Text. Top. Int. Top.
Theme Rheme Theme Rheme
Theme Rheme
Note that it is only ‘hypotactic’ (i.e. dependent, modifying) clauses which have the
possibility of occurring in this initial position as a marked Theme of the clause
complex. Non-finite clauses are one such type of hypotactic clause. Here are some
examples of non-finite clauses functioning as marked Theme of a clause complex:
To strengthen his knee, he did the exercise routine twice daily.
Blinking nervously, he tried to think of something to say.
11 As always in language, you have to treat analytical rules of thumb with care: note that you can have from
Athens to Madrid we flew with Olympic: From Athens we flew to Madrid with Olympic.
4. Analysis practice
4.1 Phase I
4.1.1 Exercises
Examples from M. Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit; P. Theroux, The Great Railway
Bazaar; A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner; W. Russell, Educating Rita.
Exercise 1 Identifying topical Theme (declaratives)
Follow the models provided and underline the Topical Theme in each clause:
He was fat and bunchy.
I am real || said the little rabbit.
The clock was still saying five minutes to eleven...
1. He’s out.
2. You’re just in time for a little smackerel of something.
3. One mustn’t complain.
4. That’s a very good idea... See 3.3.3 (b).
5. Christopher Robin had spent the morning indoors...
6. The wind had dropped...
7. My mind’s full of junk, isn’t it?
8. This room does not need air.
9. A peaceful smile came over his face...
10. His argument just crumbled.
Exercise 2 Identifying marked topical Theme (declaratives)

Identify the Topical Theme and classify as unmarked or marked. (See Section 2.1.1.)
For example:
One summer evening the Rabbit saw two strange beings creep
out of the bracken. M
By this time they were getting near Eeyore’s Gloomy Place... M
I shall have to go on a fast Thinking Walk by myself. U
(For practice in recognising the Subject, see further Chap. 3, 4.1.1, Exercises 1 & 2.)
1. Kanga’s house was nearest...
2. For at least two hours the boy loved him...
3. Nobody sits out there at this time of year.
4. After a long munching noise, he said...
5. The Extract of Malt had gone.
6. For students they don’t half come out with some rubbish.
7. The nearest house was Owl’s...
8. To Owl’s house he made his way.
9. For a little while he couldn’t think of anything more.
10. Of its type it’s quite interesting.
Exercise 3 Identifying textual Theme (declaratives)

Follow the models to identify textual and topical parts to Theme. Fill in the table
below:
CHAPTER 2 THEME 39
So he sang it again.
And then we’ll go out.
Well, poor Eeyore has nowhere to live.
1. And Christopher Robin has a house...
2. Anyway, this tutor came up to me...
3. Because I care for you...
4. Well any analogy will break down eventually.
5. All of a sudden, he had an idea.
6. ...but one line is hardly an essay.
7. If he’d been warned of the consequences...
8. ...but two thousand people had seen me...
Theme Rheme
textual topical
So he sang it again.
And then we ’ll go out.
Well, poor Eeyore has nowhere to live.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
4.1.2 Texts for analysis

Identify the Themes in Text 1 and Text 2. (Boundaries between the clauses are
indicated by ||). Display the Themes in a table, discriminating between textual and
topical components to the Themes and between marked and unmarked topical
Themes.
Discuss and compare the method of development observed in each text. (See
Section 1.3.)
Text 1 Descriptive report

The numbat is an unmistakable slender marsupial with a pointed muzzle and short erect
ears. || The body is reddish brown || but the rump is much darker || and has about six
white bars across it. || The eye has a black stripe through it || and the long bushy tail is
yellowish. || The toes are strongly clawed and very effective in digging out termites.|| The
tongue is extremely long, || as it is in all mammalian ant or termite eaters. || Unlike most
marsupials, the numbat is active during the day. || It shelters in hollow logs. || It was once
relatively common || but now lives only in a small area of S.W. South Australia. ||
[Adapted from The Concise Encyclopedia of Australia 2nd ed. Buderim, Qeensland: Bateman,
1984: 459.]
Text 2 Explanation
After flash floods, desert streams from upland areas carry heavy loads of silt, sand and
rock fragments. || As they reach the flatter area of desert basins || they slow down || and
their waters may soak quickly into the basin floor. || Then the streams drop their loads; ||
first they drop the heaviest material – the stones, || then [they drop] the sand || and finally
[they drop] the silt. || Soon these short lived streams become choked by their own
deposits || and they spread their load in all directions. || After some time, fan or
cone-shaped deposits of gravel, sand, silt and clay are formed around each valley or
canyon outlet. || These are called alluvial fans.||
[Adapted from Sale, C., Wilson, G & Friedman, B. Our changing world Bk 1. Melbourne: Longman
Cheshire, 1980:54.]
4.2 Phase II
4.2.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Identifying interpersonal Theme (declaratives)
Follow the models to identify interpersonal and topical components to the Theme in
each clause. Fill out the chart below:
Maybe you call them sparrows.
Of course he does.
1. Perhaps he won’t notice you, Piglet.

2. Frank, it was fantastic.
3. For God’s sake, you had me worried.
4. Honest to God I stood up...
5. Sometimes I wonder… See Section 3.3.2 (a).
Theme Rheme
Maybe you call them sparrows.
Of course he does.
1
2
3
4
5
Exercise 2 Identifying Theme (interrogatives)

Follow the models to identify interpersonal and topical components to the Theme in
these interrogative clauses. Fill out the chart below:
Are you sure?
Don’t you know what Tiggers like?
1. Can you hop on your hind legs?
2. Aren’t you clever?
CHAPTER 2 THEME 41
3. Were you a famous poet?

4. Did I ever say that?
5. Is that all?
Theme Rheme
Are you sure?
Don’t you know what Tiggers like?
1
2
3
4
5
Exercise 3 Identifying Theme (interrogatives)

Follow the models to identify interpersonal and topical components to Theme in Wh-
interrogative clauses:
Where shall we build it? See Section 3.3.2 (b).
How are you?
1. What’s the matter, Eeyore?
2. Who lives there?
3. What shall we do?
4. Why are they at the station instead of in town?
5. How old are you?
Theme Rheme
Wh... ...ere shall we build it?
H... ...ow are you?
1
2
3
4
5
Exercise 4 Identifying Theme (imperatives)

Follow the models to identify the Theme in imperative clauses:
Look at it.
Take your old bunny.
Don’t mention it Pooh.
1. Put your coat on.
2. Oh stop that, Frank.
3. Don’t be soft.
4. Pay me the money.

5. Let’s visit Kanga and Roo and Tigger.
Theme Rheme
Look at it.
Take your old bunny.
Don’t mention it Pooh.
1
2
3
4
5
Exercise 5 Identifying Theme, all metafunctions

Follow the models to identify textual, interpersonal and topical stages to the Theme:
Then perhaps he’ll say... See Section 3.3.3 (c).
But darling, you shouldn’t have prepared dinner, should you?
1. But sometimes I hate them.
2. Then why did it try to bite me?
3. But surely you can see the difference between
Harold Robbins and the other two?
4. But don’t you realise...?
5. In fact, Christopher Robin, it’s cold. See Section 3.3.1 (b).
6. We really should talk about you and Denny, my dear.
Theme Rheme
textual interpersonal topical
Then perhaps he ’ll say...
But darling you shouldn’t have prepared...
1
2
3
4
5
6
Exercise 6 Identifying Theme, all metafunctions

Identify – if present – textual and interpersonal Themes and classify topical Themes as
marked or unmarked. Fill in the table below:
...and here it is as good as ever.
...when Pooh and Piglet set out on their way half an hour later.
...perhaps I’ll put a muffler round my neck...
CHAPTER 2 THEME 43
1. And then we’ll go out, Piglet...

2. So after breakfast they went round to see Piglet...
3. In criticism sentiment has no place.
4. ...because halfway through that book I couldn’t go on reading it.
5. A crowd of us stuck together all week.
6. Frank, it was fantastic.
7. Well, look in my cupboard, Tigger dear...
8. And in a little while they felt much warmer...
9. ...and on the way they told him of the Awful Mistake they had made.
10 ...until suddenly a hundred miles above him a lark began to sing.
Theme Rheme
textual interpersonal marked topical unmarked topical
and here it is as good as ever
when Pooh and Piglet set out on their...
perhaps I ’ll put a muffler...
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Text 1 Procedure
Paprika-Garlic Roast Chicken
1 medium whole frying chicken (2 1/2 - 2 3/4 pounds)
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
3 tablespoons salad oil
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 325°.
Remove giblets from inside chicken and save for chicken stew or soup. Wash chicken
inside and outside. (Don’t use soap!)
Rub chicken inside and out with garlic powder. Using a pastry brush or paper towel,
coat chicken with oil and sprinkle with paprika to give a nice red tint. Salt and pepper
lightly.
Place chicken in a deep oven pan, breast down, and cover tightly with aluminium foil.
The juices will seep into the breast and keep the chicken moist.
Roast in oven for 40 minutes. At the end of this time, turn chicken breast up and
cover again with foil. Return to oven for another 30 minutes. Then remove foil and
continue roasting for 20-30 minutes more, or until chicken is fork tender and golden
brown. Serve with Brown Rice or Bulgur Wheat.
[Cadwallader, S. 1974: Cookup adventures for kids. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.]
Text 2 Parent-child conversation

The first two clauses of this text have been analysed for you. Complete the Theme
analysis for the rest of the text (M = mother, C= 4 1/2-year-old boy).
C: How could birds die?
M: [One] like the one in the garden, are you thinking of?
Well, sometimes birds die just when they get very old, or maybe they get sick because
they’ve got some disease, or maybe a cat got it. Baby birds sometimes die when they
fall out of the nest, or, in the winter – if you were in a cold place – birds might die
because they can’t get enough food.
C: Yeah, but what happens if one bird falls out and then – and when it’s just about at the
ground it flies?
M: Yes, well if it’s big enough to fly it’ll be all right.
And sometimes birds fall out of the nest but they don’t die...
Text 3 Exposition
The following text is analysed below. A rewritten version is then presented. Complete
the analysis of the second version and compare their methods of development.
3a)
a Although the United States participated heavily in World War I,
b the nature of that participation was fundamentally different from
what it became in World War II.
c The earlier conflict was a one-ocean war for the Navy and a one-theatre war for the
Army;
d the latter was a two-ocean war for the Navy and one of five major theatres for the
Army.
e In both wars a vital responsibility of the Navy was escort-of-convoy and
anti-submarine work,
f but in the 1917-1918 conflict it never clashed with the enemy on the surface;
g whilst between 1941 and 1945 it fought some twenty major and countless minor
engagements with the Japanese Navy.
h American soldiers who engaged in World War I were taken overseas in transports
i and landed on docks or in protected harbours;
j in World War II the art of amphibious warfare had to be revived and developed,
k since assault troops were forced to fight their way ashore.
l Airpower, in the earlier conflict, was still inchoate and almost negligible;
m in the latter it was a determining factor.
n In World War I the battleship still reigned queen of the sea,
o as she had in changing forms, since the age of Drake.
p And Battle Line fought with tactics inherited from the age of sail;
q but in World War II the capital naval force was the aircraft carrier task group,
r for which completely new tactics had to be devised.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 45
Theme Rheme
textual marked topical unmarked topical
a Although the United States participated heavily in World War I

b the nature of that was fundamentally different from
participation [[what it became in World War II]]
c was a one-ocean war for the Navy and
The earlier conflict
a one-theatre war for the Army
d was a two-ocean war for the Navy and
the latter
one of five major theatres for the Army
e In both wars a vital responsibility of the Navy was

escort-of-convoy and anti-submarine
work
f but in the it never clashed with the enemy on the

1917-1918 surface
conflict
g whilst between 1941 it fought some twenty major and

and 1945 countless minor engagements with the
Japanese Navy
h American soldiers were taken overseas in transports

[[who engaged in
World War I]]
i and landed on docks or in protected

harbours
j in World War II the art of amphibious warfare had to

be revived and developed
k since assault troops were forced to fight their way ashore
l Airpower in the earlier conflict, was still

inchoate and almost negligible
m in the latter it was a determining factor
n In World War I the battleship still reigned queen of

the sea
o as she had in changing forms, since the age of

Drake
p And Battle Line fought with tactics inherited from the

age of sail
q but in World War II the capital naval force was the aircraft
carrier task group
r for which for which12 completely new tactics had to be

devised
12 Relative pronouns function for Halliday as conflations of textual and topical Theme.
3b) A rewritten version

a Although the United States participated heavily in World War I,
b the nature of that participation was fundamentally different from what it became in
World War II.
c The earlier conflict was a one-ocean war for the Navy and a one-theatre war for the
Army;
d the latter was a two-ocean war for the Navy and one of five major theatres for the
Army.
e A vital responsibility of the Navy was escort-of-convoy and anti-submarine work in
both wars,
f but it never clashed with the enemy on the surface in the 1917-1918 conflict;
g whilst it fought some twenty major and countless minor engagements with the
Japanese Navy between 1941 and 1945.
h American soldiers who engaged in World War I were taken overseas in transports
i and landed on docks or in protected harbours;
j the art of amphibious warfare had to be revived and developed in World War II,
k since assault troops were forced to fight their way ashore.
l Airpower was still inchoate and almost negligible in the earlier conflict;
m it was a determining factor in the latter.
n The battleship still reigned queen of the sea in World War I,
o as she had in changing forms, since the age of Drake.
p And Battle Line fought with tactics inherited from the age of sail;
q but the capital naval force was the aircraft carrier task group in World War II,
r which completely new tactics had to be devised for.
Fill in the changes and compare the method of development (see Section 1.3) of 3a and
3b:
Theme Rheme
a Although the United States participated heavily in World War I
the nature of that was fundamentally different from
b
participation [[what it became in World War II]]
was a one-ocean war for the Navy and

c The earlier conflict
a one-theatre war for the Army
e A vital responsibility was escort of convoy and anti-

of the Navy submarine work in both wars
f but
American soldiers were taken overseas in transports

h [[who engaged in
World War I]]
landed on docks or in protected

i and
harbours
CHAPTER 2 THEME 47
Theme Rheme
j the art of amphibious had to be revived and developed in
warfare World War II
completely new tactics had to be

R wh... ...ich
devised for
4.3 Phase III

4.3.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Recognising long Themes
Follow the models to identify the long nominal groups realising topical Theme. See
Section 3.6 (i).
The singers on the gate stopped suddenly.
The only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.
1. The Zorastrian at the gate would not let me in...
2. The nature of that participation was fundamentally different...
3. The paint on the window frames had chipped...
4. The current interest in iconicity and related themes points to this issue as a
palpitating one.
5. The history of American linguistics over the past 50 years is awash with
acrimonious name-calling...

Follow the models to identify the group or phrase complex realising topical Theme.
See Section 3.6 (ii).
You and I make a good team, don’t we?
Tehran, a boom town grafted onto a village, is a place of no antiquity...
1. Future historians, philologists, and lexicographers might find their labours
lightened by being enabled to appeal to such a standard.
2. STC, with more than $200 million in annual sales, is only the seventh Korean
enterprise to sell foreigners bonds that can be converted into shares.
3. Basilosaurus, an early whale, grew as long as 70 feet.
4. The bored, lazy and unruly are not the only kind of problem students that
teachers have to tackle.
5. Matter, in all its forms, is endowed by the figurative genius of every language
with the functions which pertain to intellect.
6. ‘Fault’, ‘responsibility’, and ‘cause’ are explicit references to causation.
7. Relative genericness, non-specificity, and emptiness is commonplace in noun
phrases.
8. Mesoamerica, with its rich genetic and typological diversity, deserves attention...

Follow the models and underline the Wh-embedded clause realising topical Theme in
the following. See Section 3.6 (iii).
What you have just said will be a great help to us...
What we want is a Trained Bloodhound.
1. What I’ve been thinking is this.
2. What people see on the screen is me.
3. What he did for a living was the best he could.
4. What you see is what you get.
5. What I am proposing about compounding is, rather conservatively, that there are
a number of compounding rules.

Follow the model and underline the non-finite embedded clause Theme in the
following. See Section 3.6 (iv).
Losing to such an inexperienced team gave the coach a real jolt.
1. Squeezing the spots may damage the skin permanently.

2. Rocking baby may help her to sleep.
3. To see him all by himself like that really upset them.
4. To have requested leave just now would have been a bit unreasonable.
5. Eating an occasional Mars bar won’t do you any harm.
Exercise 5 ‘Empty’ Subjects as Theme, predicated Theme

Underline the topical Theme in the following examples, some of which are predicated
Themes. See Section 3.4.
Actually, It is useful to know a bit about chemistry, here.
It was only yesterday that he was told about it. (predicated Theme).
1. It is good to understand the natural order.
2. It astonished me that you should even suggest such a thing.
3. It is the parasitic mode of life that makes mites and ticks of economic importance.
4. It is probable that Mrs. Kelly would have endured the strain of a divided family.
5. Naturally it is not the PSG’s money that is at risk in this proposal.
6. It had occurred to him that this might be the result.
7. It is only recently that reasonable proposals for using and saving the wharves
have come to the public’s attention.
CHAPTER 2 THEME 49
8. It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy.
9. In fact, it was the husband and not the wife who got custody in that case.
10. It happened that we were there at the same time.

Text 1 Biographical recount
Identify the Themes and consider the method of development of the text. Note the role
of any marked Themes.
George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, on July 26, 1856. He attended four
different schools but his real education came from a thorough grounding in music and
painting, which he obtained at home. In 1871, he was apprenticed to a Dublin estate agent,
and later he worked as a cashier. In 1876, Shaw joined his mother and sister in London,
where he spent the next nine years in unrecognised struggle and genteel poverty.
From 1885 to 1898, he wrote for newspapers and magazines as critic of art,
literature, music and drama. But his main interest at this time was political propaganda,
and, in 1884, he joined the Fabian Society. From 1893 to 1939, the most active period of
his career, Shaw wrote 47 plays. By 1915, his international fame was firmly established
and productions of Candida, Man and Superman, Arms and the Man, The Devil’s Disciple,
were being played in many countries of the world, from Britain to Japan. In 1925, the
playwright was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Between the ages of fifty-seven
and sixty-seven, Shaw wrote such dramas as Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah,
Androcles and the Lion, St. Joan. During his lifetime he was besieged by offers to film his
plays, but he accepted only a few, the most notable being Pygmalion, which was adapted
(after his death) as the basis for the musical My Fair Lady. He died at the age of ninety-four
at Ayot St. Lawrence, England, on November 2, 1950.
Text 2 Topographic procedure

Identify the Themes and consider the text’s method of development.
Singapore’s city centre straddles the Singapore River and runs parallel to the waterfront
along Raffles Quay, Shenton Way, Robinson Rd and Cecil St. The Singapore River was once
one of the most picturesque areas of Singapore with old shops and houses along the river
and soaring office buildings right behind them.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like the old places will be around much longer. All the bustling
activity along this stretch of river – the loading and unloading of sampans and bumboats –
has ceased. The cranes are gone and the yelling, sweating labourers, too. All boats have
been kicked out of the area and relocated to the Pasir Panjang wharves away from the city
centre. You can still sit in the hawkers centres by the river, but rather than watch all the
activity you can bet on which building will be next under the wrecking ball.
On the Empress Place side of the river a statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stands
imperiously by the water. It’s in the approximate place where he first set foot on
Singapore island. There is a second statue of Raffles in front of the clock tower by Empress
Place. Nearby is the Supreme Court and City Hall, across from which is the open green of
the Padang, site for cricket, hockey, football and rugby matches. There are also memorials
to civilians who died as a result of the Japanese occupation and to Lim Bo Seng, a
resistance leader killed by the Japanese.
If you continue up Coleman St from the Padang, you pass the Armenian Church and
come to Fort Canning Hill, a good viewpoint over Singapore. Once known as ‘Forbidden
Hill’, the hill is now topped by the old Christian cemetery which has many gravestones
with their poignant tales of hopeful settlers who died young. There too is the tomb of
Sultan Iskander Shah, the last ruler of the ancient kingdom of Singapura. At the mouth of
the river, or at least what used to be the mouth before the most recent bout of land
reclamation, stands Singapore’s symbol, the Merlion.
Change Alley, Singapore’s most famous place for bargains has survived or rather
adapted to modernisation. It still cuts through from Collyer Quay to Raffles Place, but has
become a pedestrian bridge and is known as ‘Aerial Change Alley’. It’s still lined with
shops and money changers although now it’s air-conditioned! The older alley runs below.
Further along the waterfront you’ll find large office blocks, airline offices and more
shops. Here too is the popular Telok Ayer Transit Food Centre by the waterfront.
Singapore’s disappearing Chinatown is inland from this modern city centre.
[T. Wheeler et al. 1991. Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei: Lonely Planet travel survival kit.
Hawthorn, Vic: Lonely Planet Publications.]
Text 3 Advertisement
Be seen in all the right places.
From New York to Los Angeles to Atlanta to Dallas/Ft. Worth, the Delta system flies to all
the top business centres in America. That’s over 4200 flights a day to more than 260 cities
around the U.S. and around the world. So next time business takes you to the States, book
Delta. We’ll make sure you’re seen in all the right places. At all the right times.
Delta Air Lines.
We love to fly and it shows.
Text 4 Description within narrative

Identify the Themes and consider how they have been used to organise the
description. Note any marked Themes.
The trail of the meat
The land was cold and white and savage. Across it there ran a thread of frozen waterway,
with dark spruce forest looming on either side. Along this waterway toiled a string of
wolfish dogs, hauling a sled of birch-bark. On the sled, along with the camp-outfit, was
lashed a long and narrow oblong box. In front of the dogs, on wide snowshoes, toiled a
man. Behind the sled came a second man. On the sled in the box lay a third man, whose life
was at an end – a man [[whom the Wild had beaten down and conquered]]. The bodies of
the live men were covered with soft fur and leather. Their faces were blurred and
shapeless under a coating of crystals from their frozen breath. All around them was a
silence which seemed to press upon them as water does upon a diver.
[J. London: White Fang, Abridged edition N. Farr, Pendulum Press 1977.]
Text 5 Casual conversation

B: Do you think it’s worth going to see The Godfather?
C: Yes, [it’s worth going to see] The Godfather Two, yes.
B: Darling, Murder on the Orient Express is now at the ABC Shaftesbury Avenue. [It’s] on
with The Godfather.
A: [It would] be a pretty good double bill, that, actually. We’d be out of the house all night,
wouldn’t we?
B: But you can’t see both of them, can you?
A: Well, if it’s the same price,...
B: I mean there are two screens at the ABC Shaftesbury Avenue.
C: Oh sorry, yes, no no no no you’re right. Yes, yes they are...
B: Les Enfants du Paradis, what about that?
CHAPTER 2 THEME 51
D: Oh, that’s nice.
C: That’s a real classic. I do want to see that ’cause I never saw it ever, even when I was a
student. [:m] The Pasolini Arabian Nights apparently13 are rather fun.
B: Erotic Inferno and Hot Acts of Love, I don’t think they’re quite down our street.
A: That must be in the Tottenham Court Road...
B: They love sex and lusty laughs. What rubbish! [i.e. What rubbish it is!]
A: What is that lovely cinema in Victoria? Have you ever been to it, the Biograph?
[R. Quirk and J. Svartvik (eds) 1980: A corpus of English conversation. Lund: CWK Gleerup.]
Text 6 Exposition
... The claims for the educational value of Show and Tell and Morning News sessions are at
best rather questionable, however, for several reasons. In the first place, the commitment
to promoting oral language as something independent of other areas of language
development is itself very dubious. The notion of language development must involve
development both in speech and in literacy, and no very useful distinction can be drawn
between the two. They are necessarily very closely related.
Furthermore, even the children who are successful in Showing and Telling or
Newsgiving will benefit from being given opportunities to use spoken language in other
ways in schools. The particular activity and genre are not uniquely suitable for the
development of oral language abilities.
On the contrary, since the particular genre used at any time is itself dependent upon
the activity concerned, it should be clear that the need is to generate a range of differing
activities in schools, to enable children to master the associated range of genre types.
Regrettably, Morning News and Show and Tell sessions frequently feature as the only
concessions made to the development of oral language in daily school programs. Where
this is the case, the language program is impoverished indeed. In a good language program
children move easily through many learning activities of a kind designed to stimulate and
extend abilities to speak, to read and to write...
[F. Christie 1985 Language education. Geelong: Deakin University Press: 20-1.]
Text 7 Taxonomising report

Analyse Theme in the following text and consider whether or not the pattern of
selections supports the structure of the report.
This text is taken from a set of ESP materials, English in Electrical Engineering and
Electronics (Glendinning 1980) published by Oxford University Press as part of its
‘English in focus’ series. Stuart Holloway, a professional ESL teacher and writer of
technical textbooks, who drew this text to our attention, has commented that students
find it hard to understand and that it appears to have been written by someone who
was an ‘outsider’ as far as electrical engineering and electronics were concerned.
Conductors, Insulators and Semiconductors

If we connect a battery across a body, there is a movement of free electrons towards the
positive end. This movement of electrons is an electric current. All materials can be
classified into three groups according to how readily they permit an electric current to
flow. These are: conductors, insulators and semiconductors.
In the first category are substances which provide an easy path for an electric current.
All metals are conductors, however some metals do not conduct well. Manganin, for
example, is a poor conductor. Copper is a good conductor, therefore it is widely used for
13 Note that the modal Adjunct apparently is not an interpersonal Theme here, since it does not precede the
topical Theme.
cables. A non-metal which conducts well is carbon. Salt water is an example of a liquid
conductor.
A material which does not easily release electrons is called an insulator. Rubber,
nylon, porcelain are all insulators. There are no perfect insulators. All insulators will allow
some flow of electrons, however this can usually be ignored because the flow they permit
is so small.
Semiconductors are midway between conductors and insulators. Under certain
conditions they allow a current to flow easily but under others they behave as insulators.
Germanium and silicon are semiconductors. Mixtures of certain metallic oxides also act as
semiconductors. These are known as thermistors. The resistance of thermistors falls
rapidly as their temperature rises. They are therefore used in temperature-sensing
devices.
[E. H. Glendinning 1980. English in Electrical Engineering and Electronics. London:
Oxford University Press (English in Focus).]
5. Review and contextualisation
5.1 Defining Theme

The system of THEME is a textual resource at clause rank for presenting the clause as a
message (piece of text) in the unfolding text. It organises the clause into two parts by
specifying a point of departure for the addressee in his/her interpretation of the
clause – for example:
[1] Stepping beyond cognitive science’s new theory of ‘connectionism’, Gee formulates a
dynamic social theory of mind and meaning. [2] With penetrating analyses, he illustrates
how such psychological entities such as memories, beliefs, values, and meanings are not
formed in isolation but in a social or cultural context that is inherently ideological or
political....
The second clause in this text opens with the phrase with penetrating analyses.
This phrase provides a local environment or context for interpreting the rest of the
clause; that is, Gee’s illustrations are to be read against the thematic background of his
analytical method. The textual organisation of this clause is:
With penetrating he illustrates how such psychological entities such as memories, beliefs,
analyses values, and meanings are not formed in isolation but in a social or
cultural context that is inherently ideological or political.
Theme Rheme
The point of departure of the clause as message, its local environment – what is
called Theme – is realised by initial position in the clause, and is followed by the
non-Theme, the Rheme. The Rheme provides the information to be processed within
the local environment specified by the Theme.
5.2 The location of THEME within the grammatical resources of English

If we pull back and take in the whole grammatical system of English, we can see that
THEME is a resource for organising information in the clause as a message located at
the intersection of the textual metafunction and the clause. See Figure 2.3:
CHAPTER 2 THEME 53
metafunctional spectrum
ideational interpersonal textual
clause TRANSITIVITY MOOD THEME

Construal of experience of Enactment of exchange with Resource for presenting
goings on as process + role assignment to speaker & [creating as information]
participants + circumstances listener and assessment, interpersonal & textual
comments (including meanings as a message
MODALITY, POLARITY, [quantum of information] in
COMMENT) text unfolding in context,
setting up local environment
for interpreting the message.
VOICE
rank: constituency potential
Resource for giving one

participant in a process
configuration the status of
unmarked Theme.
CONJUNCTION
Resource for making explicit
a message’s rhetorical
relation to preceding text.
phrase/ prep.
MINOR TRANSITIVITY MINOR MOOD MINOR THEME
group phrase
adverbial CIRCUMSTANCE TYPE COMMENT TYPE CONJUNCTION TYPE
THING TYPE
nominal PERSON, ATTITUDE DETERMINATION
MODIFICATION
verbal TENSE MODALITY
information unit KEY INFORMATION

↘ tone group Space between ‘polarity Differentiation of given and
known’ and ‘polarity not new information
known’ as further
elaboration of MOOD
Figure 2.3 Location of THEME system
In this overall system, THEME is systematically related to other such subsystems –

other grammatical resources for constructing meaning in wordings. All these
subsystems are complementary, each providing a particular angle on the overall
construction of meaning. As we noted above, THEME provides the resources for setting
up a local environment (context) for the clause as a piece of text or message at a
particular place in a text that is being developed. (This local environment can be seen
as the point of departure for the process of interpreting the meanings presented in the
clause.) The textual system of INFORMATION is complementary to THEME: in the default
case, the Theme of the clause falls within the Given assigned by INFORMATION and the
New assigned by that system falls within the Rheme (see IFG2 Ch. 8, IFG3 Section 3.5).
Within the clause, THEME is related to CONJUNCTION, a system providing the resources
for making explicit the rhetorical relation between the clause and preceding text. It is
also related to VOICE, a system which allows a choice as to which participant within the
TRANSITIVITY structure will be assigned the status of unmarked Theme.
5.3 Theme and Metafunction

There are three possible components to the Theme of a clause: textual, interpersonal
and topical (i.e. experiential). As a general principle, every major, finite clause in
English will select an experiential function (typically participant or circumstance) as
topical Theme. The first such element in the clause realises the topical theme while
any preceding textual or interpersonal elements constitute textual and interpersonal
Themes. For example:
Well, naturally, most people don’t discuss these things in public.

Textual Interpersonal Topical
Theme…………………………………………………………………. Rheme……………………………………………..
5.4 Theme and Mood

The nature of the unmarked choice of Theme depends on the interpersonal status of
the clause – is it dependent or independent, and, if independent, which type of MOOD
selection characterises it? The various unmarked Theme types are tabulated below:
Table 2.5 Unmarked Theme types
MOOD TYPE Theme Rheme

interpersonal topical (ideational)
declarative Subject
You woke up late today.
interrogative: Finite Subject
yes/no Did you wake up late today?
interrogative: Wh†
wh- Wh… ...o woke up late today?
Wh… ...y did you wake up late today?
imperative (Finite) Predicator
(Do/Don’t) wake up late today!
Note that exclamative clauses are like wh- interrogatives in that the Wh- element is
thematic:
What an impetuous boy he is!
In addition, there are further types of imperative clause that are also thematically
distinct (e.g., with Theme underlined, Let’s wake up late today!, Lemme wake up late
today!)
Further reading
See especially Thompson 2007 for a recent survey of IFG based studies of Theme and
issues arising. Caffarel et al. 2004 interprets theme from a functional typological
perspective across a range of languages.
Caffarel, A, J R Martin & C M I M Matthiessen 2004 Language Typology: a functional

perspective. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Fries, Peter H 1981 On the status of theme in English: arguments from discourse.
Forum Linguisticum 6 (1): 1-38. [Reprinted in J S Petoefi & E Soezer (eds) 1983
† Wh-element in interrogative clauses is both interpersonal and topical Theme.

CHAPTER 2 THEME 55
Micro and Macro Connexity of Discourse. 116-152. Hamburg: Buske (Papers in Text
Linguistics 45).]
Fries, Peter H 1995 Patterns of information ininitial position in English. P H Fries & M
Gregory (eds) Discourse in Society: functional perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
(Meaning and choice in language: studies for Michael Halliday). 47-66.
Ghadessy, Mohsen (ed) 1995 Thematic Development in English Texts. London: Pinter
(Open Linguistics Series).
Halliday, M A K 1985 It’s a fixed word order language is English. International Review
of Applied Linguistics, 67-68: 91-116. [Reprinted in M A K Halliday 2005 Studies in
English Language. London: Continuum (Volume 7 in the Collected Works of M A K
Halliday). 213-231.]
Hasan, Ruqaiya & Fries, Peter H (eds) 1995 On Subject and Theme: a discourse
functional perspective. Amsterdam: Benjamins (Current Issues in Linguistic
Theory 118).
Martin, J R 1992 English text: system and structure. Amsterdam: Benjamins. [Chapter 6:
‘Texture’.]
Martin, J R 1992 Theme, method of development and existentiality – the price of reply.
Occasional Papers in Systemic Linguistics 6. 147-184.
Martin, J R 1993 Life as a noun. M A K Halliday & J R Martin Writing science. London:
Falmer Press. 221-267.
Martin, J R 1995 More than what the message is about: English theme. M Ghadessy
(ed) 223-258.
Matthiessen, C M I M 1992 Interpreting the textual metafunction. M Davies & L Ravelli
(eds), New advances in systemic linguistics. London: Pinter. 37-81.
Matthiessen, C M I M 1995 Lexicogrammatical cartography: English systems. Tokyo:
International Language Sciences Publishers. [Chapter 6 in particular relationship
to VOICE: Section 6.3.2; textual resources: Section 2.3.6]
Matthiessen, C M I M 1995 THEME as a resource in ideational ‘knowledge’
construction. M Ghadessy (ed) 20-54.
Thompson, G 2007 Unfolding theme: the development of clausal and textual
perspectives on theme. R Hasan, C M I M Matthiessen & J Webster (eds)
Continuing Discourse on Language: a functional perspective Vol. 2. London:
Equinox. 671-698.
Chapter 3
Mood
clause as exchange
1. Orientation
IFG2, IFG3 Chapter 4 (Clause as exchange);

IFG2 Section 8.7, 8.8, 8.9 (systems of TONE and KEY);
IFG2 Section 10.4 (Interpersonal metaphors of MOOD and MODALITY);
IFG3 Section 10.3 (MODALITY, interpersonal metaphors of MODALITY);
Section 10.4 (Interpersonal metaphors of MOOD)
1.2 Characterisation of Mood

The system of MOOD belongs to the interpersonal metafunction of the language; it is the
key interpersonal system of the clause, and is the grammatical resource for realising
an interactive move in dialogue. For example, each of the following alternatives has a
different interactional status and each embodies an alternative MOOD choice:
Example MOOD
The spy came in from the cold. declarative
Did the spy come in from the cold? interrogative: yes/no
Who came in from the cold? interrogative: wh
Where did the spy come from?
Come in from the cold! imperative
If we look at each of these as a possible move in a dialogue, we can see that one
difference between them lies in the role the speaker takes up – the speaker may be
giving something to the addressee or demanding something of him/her. Moreover, the
'something' here, the 'commodity' being traded (to use Halliday's metaphor), will be
either information or goods-&-services. While goods-&-services exist independently
of language (and can be exchanged without the help of language), information is
constituted in language and has no existence outside the symbolic exchange.
The key to a semantic understanding of dialogue, then, is Halliday's metaphor of
(symbolic) exchange among the persons taking part, which gives us the two notions of
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 57
(i) role taken on by an interactant in the exchange and (ii) the nature of the
commodity being exchanged – goods-&-services vs. information. These are set out in
Table 3.1 below. As you can see from the table, (i) and (ii) combine to define the
traditional speech functional categories of statement, question, offer and command.
Statements and questions involve exchanges of information and are called
propositions, while offers and commands are exchanges of goods-&-services and are
called proposals. These semantic categories are realised by grammatical MOOD
options.
Table. 3.1 SPEECH FUNCTION choices and MOOD realisations
goods-&-services information
giving ‘offer’ ‘statement’

↘ (various) ↘ ‘declarative’
The spy will come in.
demanding ‘command’ ‘question’

↘ ‘imperative’ ↘ ‘interrogative’
Come in! ‘wh-’ Who will come in?
‘yes/no’ Will the spy come in?
proposal proposition
In Table 3.1 the arrow represents the realisational move from semantic category
(statement, question, command, offer) to grammatical one (declarative, interrogative,
imperative). The grammatical realisations shown are congruent ones. Alternatively of
course, the speech functional categories may be realised incongruently by means of
interpersonal metaphors, as when a command 'Get me another beer!' is realised
metaphorically as if it were a question by an interrogative clause – Would you get me
another beer? – instead of congruently by an imperative one – Get me another beer!
Such interpersonal metaphors expand the range of speech function options, providing
interactants with richer resources to calibrate and negotiate the tenor of the
relationship between them, for example in the area of politeness. (See Section 2.5.1
below and IFG2 Section 10.4; IFG3 Sections 10.3, 10.4 for a discussion of interpersonal
metaphor.)
So far we have been looking at single clause examples, but to understand
interpersonal grammar, it is important to focus on its role in realising dialogue, which
is essentially an interactive, collaborative process. To explore the role of the MOOD
system further, then, let us look more closely at a minimal example of dialogue.
In the following dialogic exchange (extracted from Svartvik & Quirk, A corpus of
English conversation [CEC], p. 623), A demands information and B gives on demand:
A: What the hell is structuralism?

B: It's a form of analysis, dear.
The most central aspect of this passage of dialogue is that it is acted out as an
exchange between A and B. The example above is semantically a demand for
information (question) followed by a gift of information (statement), realised
grammatically as 'interrogative: wh-' and 'declarative', respectively.1

We can bring out the interactive nature and the implications for the interpersonal
organisation of the clause diagrammatically:
A: B:
What the hell is structuralism ?
It ’s a form of analysis, dear.
Figure 3.1 Dialogic exchange
Structurally, the exchange revolves around two parts: is structuralism? – It is and

What the hell – a form of analysis. The first is the Mood element, here the combination
of Subject and the Finite verb, while the other is the Residue element (which may
involve one or more elements). You can see that the sequence of the Subject and Finite
elements within the Mood element is interpersonally significant. In this exchange, it
switches from Mood (Finite ^ Subject), indicating that the clause is interrogative, to
Mood (Subject ^ Finite), indicating that the clause is declarative:
A: What the hell is structuralism?
Residue Mood
Finite Subject
B: It ’s a form of analysis, dear.
Mood Residue
Subject Finite
The example above also illustrates other interpersonal choices. For example, B
chooses to respond it's a form of analysis, dear rather than it's a form of analysis, thus
naming the addressee with a Vocative embodying an interpersonal attitude, an
endearment (dear).
Some further examples of exchanges revolving around the Mood element are
given in Figure 3.2:
1 Textually, the pattern is as follows (Theme underlined, focus of New in bold): What the hell is
structuralism? – It's a form of analysis, my dear. This is typical of an exchange revolving around a
Wh-element: in the interrogative clause, the Theme is its information demanding status in the exchange,
plus the point of demand; the New is the element whose characterisation is being sought, structuralism. In
the declarative clause, the Theme is information giving status in the exchange, plus the element whose
characterisation is being given, and the New is the characterisation.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 59
A: B:
I just feel that

the whole business about partition was terribly unjust.
Well it was ____ but…
A: B:
He was quite good, wasn’t he ?

goodgood,
He was ____ yes.
A: B:
It ’s incredibly funny.
Is it ____ ?
Figure 3.2 Examples of dialogue
In each example in Figure 3.2, the arrow connects the Mood element of A's
initiating declarative with the Mood element of B's response. You can also see that the
part of a responding clause which is continuous with the clause it is a response to can
be 'left out'. (More technically the Residue is presumed through ellipsis). This use of
ellipsis in responses effectively foregrounds the Mood element, the part of the clause
embodying its dialogic contribution.
In this section, the different options within MOOD will be outlined, together with the
clause structures that realise them. In addition, we will mention a number of related
interpersonal systems such as POLARITY, MODALITY, COMMENT and VOCATION.
2.1 Basic MOOD types

The basic distinction within the grammatical system of MOOD is between imperative
and indicative mood types, with the indicative type having the further distinction
between declarative and interrogative types. These options can be shown in the form
of a simple 'system network' as shown in Figure 3.3. The network is read from left to
right as a series of options leading to further options.
interrogative
indicative
declarative
clause
imperative
Figure 3.3 Basic MOOD options
Each of the three mood types – interrogative, declarative and imperative – can be
further subclassified. For example, interrogatives may be of the yes/no type (Was it
cool?) or the Wh- type (What was cool?), declaratives may be exclamative (How cool it
was!) or non-exclamative (It was cool), and there are various kinds of imperative (Stay
cool; Let me stay cool; Let's be cool).
Each MOOD category is realised in English by a particular interpersonal structure,
with one part – the Mood element – being fundamental in discriminating the different
mood types.
2.2 Overall interpersonal organisation of the clause

Halliday assigns the clause an interpersonal function structure in two steps. First he
identifies an overall organisation of the clause into Mood2 + Residue (+ Moodtag). See
Figure 3.4:
Mood Residue Moodtag
Meg: You didn’t expect that did you?
Stanley: I bloody well didn’t –
Element realising MOOD selection

Figure 3.4 Overall interpersonal structure
One of the reasons for recognising this kind of interpersonal clause structure is
that if a speaker wants to get a verbal response to a declarative or imperative clause,
s/he can add a tag (Moodtag) that picks up only part of the clause – viz. the Mood
2 Note that the term 'mood' is used by Halliday both for the interpersonal system in the grammar realising
speech function – written as MOOD – and for the interpersonal element of clause structure consisting of
Subject and Finite – written as Mood.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 61
element, but not the Residue. That is, if the Moodtag is present, it picks up the Mood
element of the clause: you didn't expect that, did you; they shoot horses, don't they.
Another reason for recognising Mood and Residue as the major functions of the clause,
when viewed interpersonally, is that the different MOOD categories (declarative,
interrogative, etc) are realised in English by the Mood element, while the Residue may
in part or whole be involved in ELLIPSIS in responding moves. To explore this further
requires taking the second step in analysis, which is to identify the functional elements
of the Mood, Residue and Moodtag.
2.2.1 Structure of the Mood element

The Mood element makes the clause 'negotiable' and consists of Finite, Subject and
(sometimes) Modal Adjunct(s). The Finite makes a clause negotiable by coding it as
positive or negative in polarity and by grounding it, either in terms of time (it is/it isn't:
it was/it wasn't: it will/it won't) or in terms of modality (it may/it will/it must, etc).
The Subject is the element in terms of which the clause can be negotiated. (See further
Section 2.2.1.2 below.) Modal Adjuncts add meanings related to the Mood element:
polarity and modality (e.g. perhaps, probably, certainly), temporality (e.g. already, soon,
yet) and intensity (e.g. degree: hardly, quite, almost, totally, utterly; counterexpectancy:
even, actually, just, simply, merely, only). They embody the speaker’s assessment along
these different dimensions; for example, soon means ‘will happen earlier than
expected’.
The following table outlines the class of unit which typically realises the functions
within the Mood element3.
Table 3.2 Functions within the Mood element
Function Class of unit Example IFG2 IFG3
(i) Finite finite verb has p. 75 p.115-7
(ii) Subject (typically) nominal group the girl p. 76 p.117-120
(iii) Modal Adjunct adverbial group already; just p. 81-3 p.126-131
For example:
Unfortunately the girl has already done it
Mood Residue
Modal Adjunct Subject Finite Modal Adjunct

(comment) (mood)
To probe for the Subject role, add a Moodtag. In the tag the Subject will be
repeated as a pronoun, as in The girl has already done it, hasn't she? In a similar way,
the Finite can be identified as the verb which (re-) appears in the Moodtag, as in The
3There is a principled distinction between two types of modal Adjunct: mood Adjuncts and comment
Adjuncts.
girl has already done it, hasn't she?

As shown in the table, there are two kinds of Modal Adjunct: the Mood Adjunct
and the Comment Adjunct. The Mood Adjunct construes meanings most closely
related to those of the Finite, while Comment Adjuncts provide an attitude towards, or
comment upon, the exchange itself or the information being exchanged 4.
It is the structure of the Mood element which distinguishes the principal MOOD
types (of declarative, interrogative, imperative), as shown in Table 3.3 below:
Table 3.3 Relation of MOOD selection to Mood structure
MOOD selection Mood element Example (Mood in bold)
indicative present
declarative
non-exclam. Subject^Finite They^will build the house.
exclamative Wh^Subject^Finite How quickly^ they^will build the house?
interrogative
yes/no Finite^Subject Will^they build the house?
wh- Wh^Finite^Subject5 What^ will^they build?
imperative – – Build the house!
2.2.1.1 POLARITY and MODALITY

The Mood element of the clause is also where the interpersonal resources of POLARITY
and MODALITY are realised in English. These meanings can be expressed either as a
feature of the Finite or as a separate mood Adjunct:
Finite mood Adjunct

polarity hasn't not [salient]6
modality may perhaps
For instance:
he may be at home : he is perhaps at home

Mood Residue Mood Residue
Su Fi Su Fi Adjunct
(Note also the fusions of negative polarity and modality – as Finite: won't, can't, etc.; and
as Adjunct: rarely, seldom, [negative + usuality] etc.)
4 Halliday (1985) treated Comment Adjuncts as outside Mood-Residue structure, because they do not
necessarily form part of the proposition being negotiated.
5 Unless Wh = Subject, as Who will build the house?
6 In addition, not may also occur as a non-salient variant of n’t, in which case it is just part of the Finite: see
IFG2: 90; IFG3: 145.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 63
There are four main kinds of modality: probability, usuality, obligation and
readiness. Halliday refers to probability and usuality together as modalisation,
which he associates with propositions (statements and questions); he refers to
obligation and readiness as modulation, which is associated with proposals (offers
and commands). See Table 3.4 below and IFG2 4.5: 88-92, 10.4: 354-362; IFG3 4.5:
143-50, 10.3: 613-625.
Table 3.4 Kinds of modality
Kind of modality Finite: modal Mood Adjuncts
(modalisation) may 7 , might, can, could; will, probably, possibly, certainly,

probability would; should; must perhaps, maybe
usuality may, might, can, could; will, usually, sometimes, always,

would; should; must never, ever, seldom, rarely
(modulation) may, might, can, could; should; definitely, absolutely, possibly,

obligation must8 at all costs, by all means
readiness: may, might, can, could; will, willingly, readily, gladly,

inclination would; must; shall certainly, easily
ability can, could9 –
2.2.1.2 The interpretation of Subject as an interpersonal function

Halliday interprets Subject as an interpersonal function, not as a textual or
ideational one. He approaches it from dialogue in the first instance rather than just
from monologue. Halliday's notion of 'modal responsibility' as the characterisation of
Subject may take a while to come to grips with; but it is very crucial to an
understanding to the category of Subject in English. You can see it most clearly in
clauses that express proposals – imperative clauses and indicative clauses with a
modal auxiliary indicating obligation or willingness (modulated indicative clauses);
for example:
Proposal in the form of an imperative ‘you do’: (implicit) Subject you:

Oh don't (you) say that!
Mother, take this hateful woman away.
Don't (you) touch me!
(you) Be quick, will you?
Proposal in the form of a modulated indicative clause : Subject and modal in bold:
You mustn't mind what a sick person says.
You'd better go to bed.
You can go to sleep.
You really must allow me.
7 Normally may in declarative, can in interrogative.

8 In some dialects shall may be an option: cf. thou shalt not kill.
9 Note that unlike the other modals, for ability, could is the past tense of can.
Could you lend me a hand?

Would you take me to the Strand?
Shall I pour you another glass?
Can I get you anything from the store?
Can we give you a ride home?
Here the Subject is responsible for the success of the proposal – it has to comply,
etc. But you can also get a sense of Subject as the modally responsible element in
propositions – indicative clauses negotiating information – when you consider the
dialogic potential (see also the example in IFG2:78; IFG3:120):
Meg: The two gentlemen had the last of the fry this morning.
Petey: Oh, did they?
Petey: You slept like a log list night.
Meg: Did I?
Meg: I was the belle of the ball.
Petey: Were you?
Meg: Oh yes, they all said I was.
Petey: I bet you were, too.
Meg: Oh, it's true. I was.
I know I was.
Meg: Well, I bet you don't know what it is.
Stanley: Oh yes, I do.
Stanley: They've got a wheelbarrow in that van.
Meg: They haven't.
Stanley: Oh yes, they have.
Meg: You're a liar.
Stanley: A big wheelbarrow. And when the van stops they wheel it out, and they wheel it
up the garden path, and then they knock at the front door.
Meg: They don't.
Stanley: They're looking for someone.
Meg: They're not.
This example indicates that the Subject is also modally responsible in an

indicative clause realising a proposition. In propositions we might characterise the
meaning of Subject in terms of that element of meaning which the speaker assesses to
be most at risk – most likely to be a candidate for the listener rejecting the proposition.
Thus characterised, the Subject is a kind of variable and the Residue a constant.
Extended to proposals, this interpretation would imply that proposals are most at risk
in terms of who is responsible for carrying them through, rather than whether they
should be done in the first place.
In contrast to Halliday's dialogic approach to Subject, most recent linguistic work
has tried to interpret it in textual terms as a grammaticalisation of 'topic' in a
monologic environment. But, as you have seen, (topical) Theme and Subject are only
conflated in the unmarked case (in declarative clauses). Furthermore, the
interpretation of Subject as a grammaticalisation of 'topic' entirely fails to account for
its contribution to Mood together with Finite and facts that follow from that such as:
(i) As already implied, modulations (obligations and inclinations) are oriented
towards the Subject of the clause, not towards any other elements. Thus in you
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 65
shouldn't say that word, 'you' (Subject) rather than 'that word' (Complement) is vested
with the obligation.
(ii) When a clause is negative, the negation normally starts with Finite and affects
the whole of Residue, but Subject is not negated: it is the element with respect to
which something is affirmed or denied, etc. – he – has bought something for you/
hasn't bought anything for you.
2.2.2 Structure of the Residue

The Residue consists of Predicator, sometimes also of Complement(s), and
sometimes also of Adjunct(s):10
Table 3.5 Residue functions
Function Class of unit Example IFG2 IFG3

(i) Predicator non-finite (part been given p. 79 p.121
of) verbal group
(ii) Complement(s) (typically) my aunt p. 80 p.122
nominal group
(iii) Adjunct(s) (typically) out of pity p. 80 p.123
with experiential role adverbial group/
of circumstance prepositional
phrase
For example:
These flowers have just been given my aunt out of pity
Predicator Complement Adjunct
Mood Residue
Whereas the Finite specifies the domain of arguability as through time or

modality, the Predicator may specify features of temporality or modality (or other
domains) that are related to whatever specification is made in the Finite. For example:
She was going to respond.
Su Fi Predicator
10 Traditionally, Complement was called Object (direct and indirect Object); but Complement also includes
the 'predicative complement' of traditional grammar (as in Cary Grant was a male war bride). The term
‘Complement’ is preferable to ‘Object’ since it indicates the complementarity with Subject while ‘object’
suggests some kind of inappropriate transitivity interpretation such as 'object of the action, acted upon'.
Adjunct was called Adverbial, but the strict association with the verb is misleading, so the term Adjunct is
preferable. Note the distinction between the term Predicator used in IFG and the traditional term
Predicate. The Predicator is just those verbal elements of the clause that do not serve as Finite, whereas
the ‘Predicate’ extends to cover Complements and Adjuncts as well (the Verb Phrase, VP, of many modern
formal grammars). Thus in these flowers have just been given my aunt, the Predicator is been given,
whereas the Predicate would be have just been given my aunt. The Predicate is not a functionally
motivated category in the description of English; it derives from an orientation towards logic in
traditional grammar.
Here the primary tense in the Finite establishes arguability in terms of past (was)
in relation to 'now', while the secondary tense in the Predicator specifies future (going
to) in relation to that past. See Chapter 5, 2.2.3.
The difference between Complements and Adjuncts is that Complements are
potential Subjects, whereas Adjuncts are not. Thus alongside she gave my aunt these
flowers out of pity, we have my aunt was given these flowers (by her) out of pity and
these flowers were given my aunt (by her) out of pity, but not out of pity was given these
flowers my aunt.
2.2.3 Wh: an itinerant function

One particular interpersonal clause function is sometimes found in Mood and
sometimes in Residue. This is the Wh element, which always combines or 'conflates'
with another function. If it conflates with the Subject, it becomes part of the Mood
element, if it conflates with a Complement or Adjunct it becomes part of the Residue.
For example:
Who has seen the new Schwarzenegger film?

Mood Residue
Wh/Subject Finite Predicator Complement
When did you see it?

Residue… Mood …Residue
Wh/Adjunct Finite Subject Predicator Complement
2.2.4 Outside the Mood Residue structure

Some elements of clause structure fall outside the Mood + Residue (+ Moodtag)
structure. These include (i) interpersonal elements which are not part of the
proposition or proposal being negotiated and (ii) textual elements which have no
interpersonal role at all:
(i) Interpersonal elements:
Vocative: Identifies the addressee in the exchange (see IFG2:85; IFG3:133-4).

e.g. Madam, you’ll look like a flower, won’t you?
Vocative Mood Residue Moodtag
Expletive: Expresses attitude towards the exchange itself or the information

being exchanged11.
e.g. Heavens, you’ll look like a flower, won’t you?
Expletive Mood Residue Moodtag
11 Note that attitudinal words will often occur as constituents of a group rather than a clause, in which case
they will not have the function of Expletive within the clause. Thus bloody in That bloody woman looks like
a flower is not an Expletive.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 67
(ii) Textual elements:
Continuative: yes, no (see IFG2:92; IFG3:145)

e.g. yes, it usually does rain.
Vocative Mood Residue
Structural conjunction, such as and, but, or; when, while, if (cf. IFG2: 100;
IFG3:160-1).
Semantically, the fact that all these fall outside the Mood-Residue structure means
that these elements are not part of the proposition or proposal being negotiated. They
relate to it by indicating its textual relevance as a message (by means of continuatives
and conjunctions) and by indicating the addressee (by means of the Vocative) and by
indicating speaker stance (by means of an Expletive), but they do not form part of
what is being negotiated.
2.3 Interpersonal grammatical metaphor

2.3.1 Mood metaphor
As noted above in Section 1.2, speech functions such as statement, command and
question have both congruent and metaphorical realisations. With metaphorical
realisations the grammar works as a metaphor for the relevant meaning – as when an
imperative like Tell me your name is used to question (to demand information):
Table 3.6 Examples of Mood metaphor
speech function congruent realisation metaphorical realisation
question What is your name? Tell me your name? [imperative]

[interrogative] And your name is...? [declarative]
command Get me a drink. Could you get me a drink? [interrogative]

[imperative] I need a drink. [declarative]
2.3.2 Modality metaphor
Metaphorical realisations are also found for modality, expanding the range of modal
meanings beyond those realised by modal verbs as Finite and Mood Adjuncts.
As far as probability is concerned, one kind of metaphorical realisation involves
first person12, present tense 'mental' processes of cognition (e.g. I think, I reckon, I
suspect) or 'relational' processes of cognitive state (e.g. I'm sure, I'm convinced, I'm
uncertain). Here, the modal assessment of probability is construed as a clause – as a
proposition in its own right. This form of realisation, known as explicitly subjective,
makes the speaker explicitly responsible for the assessment. The contrast between
what Halliday's refers to as the congruent and the metaphorical realisation of
modalisation is outlined in Figure 3.5.
12 1st person in declarative or 2nd person in interrogative e.g. do you reckon...?

mean mean
certain Greiner must be corrupt certain Greiner must be corrupt
= stands for
say say
Greiner must be corrupt I’m sure Greiner is corrupt
congruent metaphorical
[say = mean] [say stands for mean]
Figure 3.5 Congruent and metaphorical realisations of probability
There is also the possibility of making modalisation explicitly objective through

nominalisations of probability and usuality, construing them either as a quality
(adjective) or a thing (noun), as in it is likely, there is no possibility. Here, ideational
resources for constructing participants are deployed to distance the assessment from
the speaker and thus from negotiation. Adjectives such as possible, probable, certain,
usual, typical, common are often used to construe modalisations objectively as
qualities; nouns such as possibility, probability, certainty, unusualness, regularity,
typicality, and so on are often used to construe modalisations objectively as things.
As far as inclination and obligation is concerned, the subjectivity of a speaker's
assessment can be made explicit through first person, present tense mental processes
of affection (e.g. I want, I need, I'd like, I'd hate). Again, a separate proposition is set up
to symbolise assessments of proposals. The contrast between what Halliday refers to
as the congruent and the metaphorical realisation of modulation is outlined in Figure
3.6.
mean mean
keen I would sack him keen I would sack him
= stands for
say say
I would sack him I’d like to sack him
congruent metaphorical
[say = mean] [say stands for mean]
Figure 3.6 Congruent and metaphorical realisations of inclination
Modulation is also regularly made explicitly objective through nominalisations of

inclination and obligation, construing these either as a quality or a thing. Adjectives
such as willing, keen, ardent, permissible, requisite, compulsory and so on are commonly
used to construe modulations objectively as qualities; nouns such as intention, desire,
determination, need, obligation, regulation, compulsion and so on are commonly used
to construe modulations objectively as things.
An outline of explicitly subjective and objective metaphorical realisations of
modality is presented in Table 3.7 below:
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 69
Table 3.7 Metaphorical realisations of modality
KIND OF congruent realisations metaphorical realisations
MODALITY Finite Adjunct Predicator mental clause attributive

(mood) clause
implicitly implicitly implicitly explicitly explicitly
subjective objective objective subjective objective
probability can/could, possibly, [cognitive:]

may/might, probably, I guess, it is possible...
will/would, certainly I think, it is probable…
should, I know it is certain...
ought to,
usuality must sometimes, - It is unusual

usually, (for him to
always leave)
obligation be allowed to, [affective: ] it is permitted

be supposed to, I'm willing it is expected
be obliged to for… it is necessary
I expect... (... for him to
I want... leave)
(him to leave)
readiness: willingly, be willing to, [verbal group

inclination eagerly be keen to, complex:]
be determined I'd like to leave it'd be lovely to
to I want to leave leave
readiness: can/could be able to - it is possible for

ability him to leave
3. Troubleshooting
3.1 The unit of analysis

Every 'major' clause in English will embody a choice from the MOOD system. Such
choices are also inherent in elliptical clauses, where all or part of Mood or Residue
may be absent. For example:
A: Did you get a Herald today?
B: No, I didn't [ ]. Elliptical declarative
There are however two kinds of clause which do not embody a MOOD choice:
(i) The 'non-finite' clause, as its name indicates, is characterised by its lack of
finiteness; for example to fetch her poor dog a bone, (without) fetching her poor dog a
bone, having fetched her poor dog a bone, etc. Such clauses are not grounded or
bounded by the tense or modality meaning carried in a Finite element and are
consequently not arguable or negotiable. They generally consist of Residue only,
although sometimes a Subject is present, as in her having fetched the dog a bone.
(ii) Minor clauses are a second kind of moodless clause. They are 'minor' because
they are not open to any of the major systems of THEME, MOOD or TRANSITIVITY. Such
clauses as oh, yuk, hi, thanks may however fulfill a minor speech functional meaning
and thus serve an interpersonal function as a greeting, or acknowledgement, or the
like.13 They thus have a semantic role in dialogue but can simply be ignored when
analysing grammatically for MOOD.
3.2 Identifying structural elements
(i) Finite and Predicator realised together

In the (simple) present and (simple) past tense, the Finite function is conflated with
that of Predicator; this is shown in the analysis by writing Finite/Predicator, where '/'
means 'is conflated with' (as for Wh/Subject, Wh/Complement or Wh/Adjunct in wh
interrogatives).
simple past: Dawn had her baby

Subject Finite/Predicator Complement
simple present: He feels angry

Subject Finite/Predicator Complement
Note that for purposes of emphasis, negation and tagging, the Finite is realised
separately from the Predicator, through the auxiliary verb do.
emphatic Dawn did have her baby,

Subject Finite Predicator Complement
tagged didn't she?

Finite Subject
negative Dawn didn't have her baby

Note the contrast with bare imperatives:
simple present You swim well (don’t you?)

Subject Finite/Predicator Adjunct
imperative (You) swim well! (won’t you?)

(Subject) Predicator Adjunct
13 See IFG2:95-6; IFG3:153-4. For full analysis and discussion of speech function see Martin (1992); Martin
and Rose (2007, Chapter 7).
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 71
Note also that when the main verb in the clause is be, there is no Predicator
function, but only a Finite (also with have in some dialects). Thus Are they happy?, not
do they be happy? and they aren't happy, not they don't be happy.
(ii) Adjuncts: in Mood or Residue?

Modal Adjuncts have meanings related to those of the Finite (e.g. probably relates to
might) and/or involve a measure of speaker 'intrusion' through an expression of
judgement (presumably), inclination (gladly), or the like. (See IFG2: 82-3, IFG3: 126-8).
Residue Adjuncts lack this intruding function and differ in that they also carry
experiential meaning (they may be mapped on to circumstances, see Chapter 4).
The Modal Adjuncts most frequently confused with Residue Adjuncts are the
Mood Adjuncts of usuality and time:
(1) Usuality: always, often, sometimes, occasionally, never, etc. Usuality is an
interpersonal system because, like modality, it involves gradations between
positive and negative (see IFG2 p. 356 ff, IFG3 p. 618 ff), thus involving
speaker judgement and a close relationship to the meaning of the Finite.
(2) Time: yet, still, already, once, soon, just. It may be less obvious that mood
Adjuncts of time are purely interpersonal in function, since time is an area of
meaning also prominent in circumstantial Adjuncts like at 6 o'clock that
evening or on January 2nd, 1976. What distinguishes the mood Adjuncts is
that they are concerned with time from the perspective of speaker
expectation and judgement. The Mood Adjuncts of time – unlike Adjuncts in
the Residue – are referenced to the moment of speaking and indicate the
speaker's expectation concerning the timing or duration of the activity.
Being purely interpersonal, they cannot become the focus of theme
predication (e.g. it was still/just/already that he came is not possible).
(iii) Yes and no: modal Adjunct or conjunctive Adjunct?

Yes and no may be either interpersonal or textual in function. When yes or no
constitutes or initiates a statement in response to a question, statement, command or
offer, it is interpersonal in function and thus a Modal Adjunct. The following examples
illustrate this point. In all cases the yes or no will be phonologically salient:
A: Did you bring the keys?

B: Yes, I did.
A: Peter brought the keys.
B: No, he didn't.
A: Peter, bring the keys!
B: Yes, yes.
A: I'll bring the keys, shall I?
B: Yes, do.
On other occasions, yes or no do not realise a polarity choice in a response, but
function as continuatives with a purely textual function, simply linking the polarity
with what has gone before. In such a case, no switch in polarity from the previous
move is possible and the yes or no will typically be phonologically weak:
A: Peter's been having a really difficult time at work.

B: Yes he's had a bad year all round.
A: I didn't understand what all the fuss was about || No I really couldn't see why everyone
was in such a state.
In the above examples, yes and no are textual rather than interpersonal in
character, (conjunctive rather than modal Adjuncts).
(iv) Phrasal verbs: how far does the Predicator extend?

English is rich in 'phrasal verbs', which comprise a lexical verb plus an adverb or
preposition, as with look for, look at, go out, call up, give out. In terms of the content –
the experiential meaning being represented – these phrasal verbs function as a single
unit. (See Chapter 4.) However since this is not the strand of meaning we are
concerned with when analysing Mood and Residue, it does not constitute a good
reason for treating the adverb or preposition as part of the Predicator. On the contrary,
Halliday prefers to treat the phrasal element as an Adjunct or part of an Adjunct (See
IFG2: 209; IFG3: 353-4).
We didn’t give the books out
Subject Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct
He won’t wait for us
Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct
They didn’t give in to the union
Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct Adjunct
He won’t be waiting too long for us
Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct Adjunct
These analyses allow for generalisations concerning the ordering of Adjuncts

relative to each other. Thus an interpersonal Adjunct that could precede a
Complement, such as unfortunately in They won't be borrowing, unfortunately, any
good books could not occur between the preposition and the noun in They won't be
waiting for, unfortunately, any good books but They won't be waiting, unfortunately, for
any good books is possible.
(v) Complement or Adjunct?

The Complement is in a complementary role to the Subject; that is, it has the status of
'potential Subject'. That potential could be realised if the voice of the clause were
active rather than passive or vice versa. As a potential Subject, the Complement is
realised by a nominal group, while an Adjunct is realised by a prepositional phrase or
adverbial group:
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 73
Peter didn't tell Linda that

She is making her father a cup of tea in the kitchen
They may sell Sharon the car at a cheap price
He will send his mum some flowers at Christmas
Subject Finite Predicator Complement Complement Adjunct
(nominal gp.) (nominal gp.) (prep. phrase)
The first Complement in the above examples also has the experiential role of
Beneficiary (see Chapter 4). This particular experiential role can also be realised later
in the clause in a prepositional form, as shown below:
Peter didn't tell that to Linda

Angela is making a cup of tea for my father in the kitchen
They may sell the car to Sharon at a cheap price
He will send some flowers to his mum at Christmas
Subject Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct Adjunct

(nominal gp.) (prep. phrase) (prep. phrase)
In its prepositional form a Beneficiary is treated as an Adjunct in IFG, on the

grounds that it cannot be a Subject in this form. Nonetheless some analysts would
argue for regarding it as a Complement here too. Although to Linda or for my father is
not a potential Subject, his mum or Linda does have the potential for becoming Subject
without the preposition remaining in the structure:
Linda wasn't told that by him.

My father is being made a cup of tea by Angela in the kitchen.
Sharon may be sold the car at a cheap price by them.
His mum will be sent some flowers by him at Christmas.
This suggests a difference from other kinds of Adjuncts where if the nominal
element becomes Subject, then the preposition is left as an Adjunct by itself:
The flower bed was trampled on
Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct
A similar argument applies to a by __ phrase which fills the experiential role of

Agent, as in Linda will be told that by Peter or His mum will be sent some flowers by
him. In IFG these are treated as Adjuncts, indicating that when agency is expressed in
this form it has a more peripheral status than when it is mapped on to the
interpersonal Subject role, as in He will send his mum some flowers. (The fact that
Beneficiaries and Agents can appear both as Complements and Adjuncts is an
indication of their status as falling between the central participant roles and
circumstantial roles. See further Chapter 4.)
(vi) Analysing imperatives
A simple positive imperative is distinctive in having no Mood element:
Stop the car!
Predicator Complement
However a Finite is present in the emphatic form with do, or the negative with
don’t:
Do/don’t stop the car!
Finite Predicator Complement
It is also possible for a 2nd person Subject to be present:
You stop the car!
Subject Predicator Complement
With imperatives that include the speaker, Halliday interprets Let’s as an

anomalous Subject (IFG2: 87, IFG3: 139).
Let’s stop the car
Subject Predicator Complement
(vii) Split Subject: Anticipatory it
There may be textual reasons for placing the 'content' of the Subject role in a position
in the clause where it will be 'news' 14, particularly when an embedded clause
functions as Subject. To accommodate this, a 'contentless' it may hold the typical
Subject position in the clause, letting us know if the clause is interrogative or
declarative. For example:
It will upset her that they didn't give the job to Max.
Was it a good thing to lose Max?
Was it fair Max getting overlooked?
There are agnate variants to these clauses where the embedded clause itself
occurs first in the normal Subject position and no anticipatory it is needed:
That they didn't give the job to Max will upset her.
Was to lose Max a good thing?
Was Max getting overlooked fair?
To capture this agnation, clauses with an anticipatory it are analysed as having a
14 See Chapter 2.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 75
discontinuous constituent as Subject. The it forms the first part of the Subject and the
'postposed' embedded clause forms the second part:
it will upset her that they didn't give the job to Max
Sub… Finite Predicator Complement ...ject............................................................
3.3 Ambiguous mood type
For various reasons, a given example may be structurally ambiguous in terms of its
mood analysis. Here we will just point to a few examples.
(i) Yes/no interrogative or imperative?
(1) When the clause is negative and the Subject is 'you', yes/no interrogative
clauses and imperative ones may be structurally the same – Finite: don't ^ Subject: you,
as in:
[imperative:] Don't you ever go out!

[interrogative: yes/no] Don't you ever go out?
They are distinct in their TONE selections so if you speak the examples you can
hear the difference (cf. IFG Section 8.9). They also have different variants. The
imperative clause is agnate with Don't ever go out you!, Don't you ever go out, will you!;
but the interrogative clause is agnate with e.g. Doesn't she ever go out? (with
non-interactant rather than interactant subject-person), Didn't you ever go out? (with
past rather than present tense).
(2) When the clause is positive and the Subject is 'you', a yes/no interrogative
clause may presume the Mood element (cf. IFG2: 94; IFG3: 152) and in such cases it
may be structurally the same as an imperative clause:
[You] Believe me!

[Do you] Believe me?
[Do you] Want any sugar?
In writing, yes/no interrogatives and imperatives are disambiguated by

punctuation; in speech the distinction is made clear by the choice of TONE (cf. IFG2
Section 8.7; IFG3; IFG3:140-142). As with (1) above, you can probe the difference by
looking at agnate clauses since they bring out the difference between the two mood
types.
(ii) Yes/no interrogative or declarative?
Declarative clauses normally select a falling tone; but they may also choose a rising
one. If they do, they are likely to be interpreted as questions at the semantic stratum,
as indicated by the question marks in the examples below:
You find a resemblance?
You got your paper?
But grammatically, these are still types of declarative clauses.

Note also cases where a negative clausal polarity is Theme, as in At no time did he
question our decision. Since polarity and finiteness are closely bonded in English, the
Finite immediately follows the negative Theme and so comes before the Subject:
At no time did he question our decision

Adjunct Finite Subject Predicator Complement
Although the order Finite ^ Subject suggests a yes/no interrogative clause, these
clauses are declarative. This is clear from the version with unmarked Theme – He
didn't question our decision at any time – and from the possibility (in all varieties of
English) of a Moodtag – At no time did he question our decision, did he?
(iii) Declarative or imperative?
The two examples above also illustrate a possible ambiguity between 'declarative' and
'imperative', more specifically between declarative clauses with addressee (you) as
Subject and (simple) present tense and 'jussive' imperative clauses with explicit
Subject:
You find a resemblance. [declarative]

You find a resemblance! [imperative]
You can probe these in various ways, for instance by checking the nature of the
Moodtag (declarative: don't you?; imperative: won't you? ) and the possibility of
leaving the Subject implicit in the imperative clause (Find a resemblance).
3.4 Ambiguous polarity

You can probe the polarity value of a clause by adding a Moodtag (if the clause is
declarative or imperative; if it is interrogative, just check the related declarative
instead). In the unmarked case, the Moodtag always reverses the polarity of the Mood.
For example, they shoot horses, don't they; you haven't got a clue, have you? In the
normal case, there will be little doubt as to the polarity value, of course. However,
there are at least three types of situation that may cause some analytical problems:
[i] The negative polarity value combines with usuality or degree. The clause is still
negative, even though you don't find a not or n't and even though the negative is
scaled down from definitely 'no': they seldom come here nowaydays, do they?; he is
hardly civil, is he?
[ii] The negative is a feature of the Subject: nothing upsets her, does it?; nobody believes
him, do they?
[iii] The negative polarity has been 'transferred' to a mental projecting clause serving as a
metaphorical modality: I don't believe this is the right move for us, is it? Here the
clause this is... looks positive, but it is not; the negative polarity is realised within the
metaphorical modality I don't believe.
3.5 'Will': TENSE or MODALITY? (See also Chapter 5, 3.2.5 (ii))

Will as an auxilliary may realise PRIMARY TENSE on some occasions and MODALITY on
others. For example Dan will know the answer is ambiguous out of context. Actually, it
may be ambiguous even in context. Whether the will is expressing future primary
tense or median proabability depends on whether it is related to Dan is going to know
the truth (realising tense) or Dan must know the truth (realising probability).
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 77
Dan will know the truth: future tense
Dan is going to know the truth (tomorrow when he reads the paper).
Dan will know the truth: probability
Dan must know the truth (because he was there at the time):
I bet Dan knows the truth (because he was there at the time).
Similarly, whether will expresses future primary tense or inclination should be

judged according to the most likely agnate clause:
I'll open the window: future tense

I'm going to open the window (when I paint the room).
I'll open the window: inclination
I offer to open the window.
4.1 Phase I
4.1.1 Exercises (examples based on Roddy Doyle’s Snapper)
Exercise 1 Practising the tag test

Construct a related clause with a tag and underline the Subject and Subject tag. For
example:
He isn't a black. He isn't a black, is he?
1. You heard me. 1. ........................................

2. That's shocking. 2. ........................................
3. He’s not married. 3. ........................................
4. We could have done something about it. 4. ........................................
5. There's no need to be getting snotty. 5. ........................................
6. Jimmy's the one that should be getting snotty. 6. .......................................
7. She couldn’t really go on. 7. ........................................
8. Your mammy and Sharon and me are having a chat. 8. ........................................
9. The hot shower refreshed them. 9. ........................................
10. Those two little kittens were chasing the ball. 10. ........................................
Exercise 2 Practising the tag test

Construct a related clause with a positive or negative tag and underline the Subject tag.
For example:
Make us a cup of tea there, love. Make us a cup of tea there, love, will you?
Make us a cup of tea there, love, won’t you?
1. Now get out. 1. ....................................................................

2. Don't start that. 2. ....................................................................
3. Ah Veronica, stop that. 3. ....................................................................
4. Mind yourself against the table there. 4. ....................................................................
5. Just tell us. 5. ....................................................................
Exercise 3 Practising mood agnation

Construct a related clause in the appropriate mood to complete the paradigm. For
example:
Are you sure? polar interrogative
You are sure. declarative
Be sure. imperative
1. Did you go in by yourself? polar interrogative
declarative
imperative
2. polar interrogative
The old girl drives it. declarative
imperative
3. Won’t you tell them soon? polar interrogative
declarative
imperative
4. polar interrogative
declarative
Come for a drink, Sharon imperative
5. Will I bring home a few chips? polar interrogative
declarative
imperative
Exercise 4 Practising mood agnation

Construct a related polar interrogative and then a related declarative clause. For
example:
Why won't you tell us? wh interrogative
Won't you tell us because of that? polar interrogative
You won't tell us because of that. declarative
1. How did that girl get there? wh interrogative
polar interrogative
declarative
2. What do you mean, Veronica? wh interrogative
polar interrogative
declarative
3. What will all those people say? wh interrogative
polar interrogative
declarative
4. When's it due? wh interrogative
polar interrogative
declarative
5. Where did the wretched man go? wh interrogative
polar interrogative
declarative
Exercise 5 Ellipting the Residue

Develop an elliptical responses for the following clauses, as modelled in the first two
examples:
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 79
First speaker utterance Elliptical response by second speaker
Is he married? – No, he's not.
You're absolutely sure now. – Yeah, I am.
1. …you can watch me hitting him. 1. – ..........................................................
2. Can Tracy watch? 2. – ..........................................................
3. Abortion’s murder. 3. – ..........................................................
4. You don’t care what that lot says. 4. – ..........................................................
5. Dawn O'Neill had her baby for Paddy Bell. 5. – ..........................................................
Exercise 6 Identifying Subject and Finite

Label the Subject and Finite elements in each of the following clauses, as modelled for
the first example:
First speaker Second speaker response
...you can watch me. – Can I ?
Su Fi Fi Su
1. Can Tracy watch? – She can of course.
2. Abortion’s murder. – It is of course.
3. You don't care about that. – Yes. I do.
4. Dawn has had her baby for Paddy Bell. – She has of course.
5. Will all our friends be there? – They will be.
6. Your little brother isn't going to like it. – Isn't he?
Exercise 7 Identifying Mood and Residue

Divide the clauses in Exercise 6 into Mood and Residue elements on the basis of the
previous analysis, as in the example:
...you can watch me. – Can I?
…you can watch me. – Can I?

Su Fi Fi Su
Mood Residue Mood
Exercise 8 Identifying modal Finites

Underline the Finite and check whether it realises PRIMARY TENSE or MODALITY. If modal,
classify as probability or obligation. For example:
My perception may be heightened by pregnancy. probability
They didn't come that weekend. primary tense
1. He might already know. 1. .................................................

2. Excuse me a moment, I ought to say hello to
someone over there. 2. .................................................
3. You shouldn't speak to your mother like that. 3. .................................................

4. Are you looking for someone? 4. .................................................
5. Well, he certainly must have strained himself
to get this menagerie together. 5. .................................................
6. He hasn't begun yet. 6. .................................................
7. Didn't he explain? 7. .................................................
8. You mustn't drink so much, darling. 8. .................................................
9. It couldn't be him driving. 9. .................................................
10. They don't know the answer to that one. 10. .................................................
Exercise 9 Identifying Mood Adjuncts

Analyse the following clauses for Mood and Residue; divide the Mood element into
Subject, Finite and Mood Adjunct as appropriate. Label any Mood Adjunct according to
whether they express polarity, probability, usuality, readiness or obligation. See 2.2.1.1.
For example:
I had not thought of that.
Mood Residue
Su Finite Adjunct: polarity
1. I'm not telling.

2. She certainly wasn't kidding.
3. She'd always been like that.
4. Your mind's probably made up.
5. They might have told me before this.
6. He must necessarily be dismissed for the theft.
7. You're definitely not going to tell us.
8. Would the lads sometimes go out?
9. Maybe it's a bad idea.
10. I'll gladly do it.
Text 1 Explanation (for young children)

Reproduced below are the first 31 clauses of a short pictorial information book for
young children. For each line, label the mood of the main clause (i.e. as declarative,
interrogative:polar, interrogative:wh, imperative) and underline the Subject. (Note:
The main clause comes first in the line except for lines 10 and 17.)
Consider what role relations are established for the reader by the mood choices
you have identified (and what view of learning is thereby implied). Consider what is
most often 'at stake' in the text in terms of the 'modally responsible' element.
1. Do you enjoy making sounds?
2. What sounds do these things make || if you bang them?
3. What different sounds can you make with your body and your voice?
4. Put your fingers on your throat || as you talk || or [as you] sing.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 81
5. What can you feel?

6. Hold a ruler on the edge of a table.
7. Press down the end || and let go.
8. Can you hear a sound?
9. What do you see?
10. Whenever you hear a sound || there is something moving.
11. This movement is called a vibration.
12. Try this with a rubber band || and see.
13 You can make musical sounds with rubber bands of different sizes|| or if you
pluck the strings of a guitar.
14. Strike a triangle with a beater.
15. Touch the triangle || while it is ringing.
17. When something stops vibrating || the sound stops.
18. How does someone's voice reach you?
19. The sound travels through the air as sound waves.
20. Throw a stone in a pool of water.
21. Watch [[the waves spreading out]].
22. Sound waves move through the air in a similar way.

Identify any instance of modality you find in this text. Identify Subjects and Finites and
reflect on how this compares with Text 1 as a piece of information exchange. The text
is set out in clauses. Angled brackets indicate an ‘included’ clause. (See further Chapter
6.)
(M= mother, C= 4½ -year-old boy)

M: [One] Like the one in the garden, are you thinking of ?
Well, sometimes birds die when they get very old,
or maybe they get sick
because they’ve got some disease,
or maybe a cat got it.
Baby birds sometimes die
when they fall out of the nest,
or, in the winter <<…>> birds might die,
<<if you were in a cold place>>

because they can't get enough food.
C: Yeah, but what happens
if one bird falls out
and then – and when it's just about at the ground
it flies?
M: Yes, well if it's big enough to fly,
it'll be all right.
And sometimes birds fall out of the nest
but they don't die...
But that didn't look like a baby bird;
maybe there was something wrong with it;
maybe a cat killed it –
(hastily) I don't think it was our cat.
C: Perhaps it was on the ground
and then a cat got it.
M: Yeah, it was probably pecking something on the ground...
Maybe it was just a very old bird.
[passage of further talk omitted]
C: (referring to dead bird in garden) But it looks as if it's alive.
M: Yeah, it does, doesn't it?
C: Perhaps its eye got blind.
M: Could have been,
but it definitely wasn't alive.
4.2 Phase II
4.2.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Recognising Vocatives

Label the Vocative and Subject functions as required in the following clauses.
Robin, you have to leave now.

Vocative Subject
1. Darling, would you carry this for me?

2. All of you, get out of here.
3. Bruce was inspecting the lab.
4. Robin, let's go.
5. You really ought to leave straight away.
6. Chase had a thing for black rubber.
7. Mr Eliot disagreed.
8. You had better get ready Alfred.
9. Don't, Riddler, even think about it.
10. Look at you.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 83
Exercise 2 Practising voice agnation

Construct the active or passive clause related to the following clauses as modelled in
the first two examples:
She'd just told her father. (active) Her father'd just been told (by her). (passive)
It would have been taken by them. (passive) They would have taken it. (active)
1. He'd have walloped her. 1. ...............................................
2. Why won't you tell us? 2. ...............................................
3. The door was shut by Jimmy. 3. ...............................................
4. He squirted his tea back into the cup. 4. ...............................................
5. She'd been won over by the arguments. 5. ...............................................
6. Will I bring you home a few chips? [2 versions] 6. ...............................................
7. My perceptions may be heightened by pregnancy. 7. ...............................................
Exercise 3 Identifying Residue elements

Divide the Residue in the examples in Phase I exercise 6/7 into Predicator,
Complement (nominal group), Adjunct (adverbial group, prepositional phrase) as in
the first two examples:
...you can watch me. – Can I?
...you can watch me.

Mood Residue
Are you coming for a drink? – No thanks, Daddy.
Are you coming for a drink?

Finite Subject Predicator Adjunct
Mood Residue
Exercise 4 Identifying Predicator

Analyse the following clauses for Subject, Finite and Predicator. Conflate Finite and
Predicator if necessary. For example:
She had been dreading the meeting.
Subject Finite Predicator
I wanted to go down to the stables.

Subject Finite/Predicator
1. They are going to sell the house as soon as possible.
2. I was expecting to see you earlier.

3. He seemed to be perfectly cheerful.
4. He was beginning to get into the car.
5. Couldn't they have done something about it?
6. She might have stopped listening.
7. Didn't they try to understand you?
8. They started to listen.
Exercise 5 Analysing Mood Residue structure including Wh.

Analyse the following clauses for Subject, Finite, Predicator, Complement and Adjunct;
conflate Wh with Subject, Complement or Adjunct and Finite with Predicator as
appropriate:
Make us a cup of tea there, love.
Predicator Complement Complement Adjunct Vocative
1. Stop that.
2. How did it happen?
3. Don't start that.
4. Why won't you tell us?
5. What do you mean?
6. When's it due?
7. What a house this is!
Exercise 6 Identifying types of Modal Adjunct

Analyse the Mood function of the following clauses for Subject, Finite, Mood Adjunct
and Comment Adjunct as appropriate (see IFG2: 82-3; IFG3: 126-131).
Personally, I don't dislike him.
comment Adjunct Subject Finite
1. She was usually seen by someone.
2. Frankly, she'd hardly been anywhere.
3. She'd already visited some of the sights.
4. Apparently she'd barely seen any of the sights in any quarter of the town.
5. In general she shopped in some of the fashionable streets.
6. Surprisingly, she probably didn't see anyone anymore.
7. Provisionally, we might plan a five-day trip.

CHAPTER 3 MOOD 85
Exercise 7 Identifying Residue elements (phrasal verbs)

As in the models, analyse the following clauses for Mood and Residue. Divide the
Residue into Predicator, Complement and Adjuncts as appropriate.
They looked for John. They looked for John.
Subject Fi. Predicator Adjunct
Mood Residue
She plugged in the kettle. She plugged in the kettle.

Subject Fi. Predicator Adjunct Complement
Mood Residue
She plugged the kettle in. She plugged the kettle in.
Subject Fi. Predicator Complement Adjunct
Mood Residue
1. Lay off, Veronica. 1. ....................................................................
2. I'll sort this fella out. 2. ....................................................................
3. They won her over. 3. ....................................................................
4. They put her up to it. 4. ....................................................................
5. She saw through their plan. 5. ....................................................................
6. He watched over the baby. 6. ....................................................................
7. She chewed out the opposition. 7. ....................................................................
Exercise 8 Analysing non-finite clauses

Analyse the following non-finite clauses for Subject, Predicator, Complement and
Adjunct as required (the non-finite clauses are underlined in each example).
(Examples from The Gooodman of Ballengiech retold by M. C. Maloney, London:
Methuen, 1987.)
He'd send one of the kids to get her a choc-ice.
Predicator Complement Complement
They heard him walloping up the stairs.

Subject Predicator Adjunct
1. It stood there, rattling,

its paws slipping on the formica.
2. Tracy came back in with the pup clinging to the front of her
jumper.
3. Drawn by only two horses, the coach moved slowly down the road.
4. Jimmy Sr. wished for Sharon to go out in the hall first.

5. He quickly took the King's part, wielding his flail against the attackers.
6. Given my aunt by the Duke the teapot remained a family heirloom for
generations.
7. He would attempt to repay him by showing him through the royal apartments.
8. To give him cause for rejoicing, he granted him sole possession of the farm.
Exercise 9 Identifying long Subjects

In the following examples, the Subject may be realised by an embedded clause, a long
nominal group or by a complex of nominal groups. Underline the Subject (of the
non-embedded clause) in each case. (Some examples are from I Hunter 1994
Rethinking the School. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. 170.)
What he did for a living was the best he could.
1. The points that you made there surprised me.
2. Your mammy and Sharon and I are having a chat.
3. What chance gave, chance took away.
4 The increase of empirical knowledge, and more exact modes of thought, made
sharper divisions between the sciences inevitable.
5. ...the increasingly complex machinery of the State necessitated a more rigorous
separation of ranks and occupations.
6. The inner unity of human nature was severed too.
7. The near identity of these two criticisms of the governmental state can of course
be attributed neither to Schiller's prescience nor to the belated character of
modern critique.
Exercise 10 Identifying Mood-Residue Boundaries

Analyse Mood and Residue in the following clauses, taking care to exclude textual and
interpersonal elements which are outside the Mood and Residue functions [i.e.
conjunctive Adjunct, Vocative & Expletive):
Fortunately, he'd already had dinner, my dear.
Mood Residue
And then he would leave for work.

Mood Residue
1. Gosh, I forgot.
2. Tracy, go up to your room.
3. I don't think so, Veronica.
4. Finally, they all left.
5. I didn't meet anyone though.

CHAPTER 3 MOOD 87
6. Personally, I don't like him.
7. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
8. They don't, as a rule, arrive before six.
9. They lost, surprisingly.
Texts 1-2 Classroom talk

The following text extracts are taken from a sequence of lessons in an upper primary
science class. Divide the text into clauses and note the mood of each clause (or label as
minor). Note any mood metaphors (i.e. where mood choice is not congruent with the
speech function choice). Analyse the interpersonal structure of each clause. Use the
analysis to reflect on the range of speech roles adopted by the interactants, the use of
modality and the significance of the choice of Subject.
Text 1 Extract from the exposé

(The class has recently watched a science film on the topic of mechanical advantage.)
Teacher: Alright, a quick summary of what we have just seen. (teacher writes the heading
'Summary ' on the board.) Quick.
Andrew: Lever. (calls out to the teacher before he is ready)
Teacher: Hold on.
Daniel: Seesaw. (another child calls out to the teacher)
Teacher: Right. Just wait till we are all here. Have you got enough scrap paper on your
desk please? You’ll probably only need two or three pieces. (children get
organised) Right, you may have to use the stand. (the teacher is waiting for the
class to settle before he begins) Steven and Brad, the sun’s shining inside.
(reminding the boys to take their hats off inside) Alright, thank you. Solved your
problem? (gaining the attention of a child) You’ll probably need to see that film
tomorrow, as an extra, to get you (pause) to get your ideas really sorted out.
Right, let’s have a summary of what was the film basically about. They seem to
mention two basic machines. Um, Andrew?
Andrew: Levers. (pronounces the word with an American accent as in the film)
Teacher: It has an Australian pronunciation.
Simon: Levers.
Teacher: Yeah, leave her alone. (said as a joke and the class laughs). Lever (writes on the
board) and … (pause)
Brad: An inclined plane.
Teacher: An (pause) inclined plane. (the teacher repeats the word as he writes it on the
board and a child calls out) Hold on, hold on, now they extended these two
basic machines, (pause) into five separate machines. In that movie they
extended them out, they extended out some of the machines. They used the
lever. Hold on, hold on. (a child is calling out)
Teacher: Joanne?
Joanne: Lever.
Teacher: No, we’ve done a lever.
Brad: Baseball bat.
Teacher: Baseball bat. (pause) Any bat really.
Joanne: Flying fox. (said very quietly)
Teacher: Pardon, flying fox? (writes on the board)
Kane: Clothesline.
Teacher: And what with it?
Kane: A wheel.
Teacher: A wheel. (repeats out loud to the class and writes on the board) Yeah, no you’re
right. Clotheslines. That was a… (interrupted) what did she use on the
clothesline?
Several: Pulley.
Teacher: A pulley, which is a type of (pause) lever. Except of course, you’ve got also a
what with it? A (pause) wind (prompting children) lass. Anything else that
wasn’t mentioned that possibly uses the principles of a lever?
Steven: Door handle.
Teacher: A door handle, good one, hey.
…..........
Teacher: Yep. (writes on board) Righto, let’s have a look at an inclined plane one (pause)
well actually that’s a type of tool which you have seen in action, come to think
of it. Maybe we can get six uses of an inclined plane. Um Aranthi?
Aranthi: Stairs.
Teacher: Stairs, right. Great answer. (writes on the board)…
Text 2 Extract from children in task collaboration

C: Ok, we are doing this one.
A: So we need that.
C: OK.
K: Hey, I got it. (referring to a bottle)
C: Oh, excellent.
Y: Looks good. (there is a whispered group discussion about what comes next)
C: We need a heavy nut.
K: There is one off the um…
N: We need – (interrupted)
C: Yeah, yeah.
N: Go ask Bill. (Katrina runs off)
A: We need a thin saw blade. (reading off the sheet)
C: Use this. (i.e. a stanley knife)
N: Oh yeah.
A: Do you have a matchbox anywhere?
N: Do you want me to ask Mr. Kelly?
A: Empty one. (Naomi gets up to look for a matchbox)
K: We got a heavy nut. (hands it to Aranthi)
K: We need to tie some string.
A: Now we need another matchbox.
N: It doesn’t, it doesn’t need a matchbox, does it?
A: Yeah.
K: Now we need one string, (pause) we’ve got that. (pause) We’ve got this.
A: OK, we need a cork.
K: Where are we going to get some of those?
C: What we need is wire and a cork.
A: OK, could you ask for one cork and one wire? (Katrina goes off)
…
[Texts courtesy of Frances Christie.]
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 89
4.3 Phase III

4.3.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Analysis of 'split Subject'
Find a related clause which begins with it. Analyse the it...that, it...to etc. clause for
Subject, Finite, Predicator, Complement and Adjunct as required. For example:
I was shocked that they left.
It shocked me that they left.
Sub... Finite/Predicator Complement ...ject
That he was actually listening wasn't obvious.

It wasn't obvious that he was actually listening
Sub... Finite Comp. ...ject
1. To enjoy it would be difficult.

2. That they said that is surprising.
3. That they've left is a relief.
4. People often say that no good will come of it.
5. That they didn't apologise irritates me.
6. That they don't often come here is true.
Exercise 2 Existential clauses

Analyse the following existential clauses, labelling for Subject, Finite, Complement and
Adjunct.
There was a collection of dolls in different national costumes.
Subject Finite Complement
1. There was one particularly repulsive specimen in spotted blue.
2. On another wall there was a smaller shelf holding an assortment of china cats.
3. There was a record player in a corner with a cabinet of records beside it.
4. And beside it was a greetings card.
5. There was a large number of cushions of all sizes and colours.
6. Along the stream ran a worn path.
7. On the table was a vase, a book and a greeting card.
Exercise 3 Classifying Mood Adjuncts

Pick out the mood Adjuncts in the following clauses and classify them as realising
polarity, modality (including probability, usuality, inclination, obligation), temporality
and intensity (including degree and counterexpectation) (IFG2: 82-83 reworked in
IFG3: 126-9).
She was utterly shocked intensity: degree

1. Riddler was absolutely beside himself. 1. .................................................
2. He was seldom fooled. 2. .................................................
3. Robin hadn’t even become his partner. 3. .................................................
4. His parents were already dead. 4. .................................................
5. By all means see it. 5. .................................................
6. He readily agreed to join the firm. 6. .................................................
7. In fact, he just hated it. 7. .................................................
8. I scarcely think about it anymore. 8. .................................................
9. He only did it for fun. 9. .................................................
10. Possibly they haven't yet arrived. 10. ..............................................
Exercise 4 Identifying modality type

Pick out the most plausible kind of modality realised in the following clauses (ability,
inclination, obligation, probability, usuality).
(phone rings) That must be Jane. probability
1. You ought to get yourself a new car. 1. .................................................
2. You just might see them there. 2. .................................................
3. However hard I try, I can't do it. 3. .................................................
4. He never arrives before six. 4. .................................................
5. Am I allowed to go? 5. .................................................
6. I might go to France or I might stay here. 6. .................................................
7. (Look at the time!) I should finish this before six. 7. .................................................
8. (Knock on door) Must we answer it? 8. .................................................
Exercise 5 Identifying modality metaphors

In the following examples, determine whether the projecting clauses are likely to be
interpersonal metaphors of modality; where so, identify the kind of modality.
I'm inclined to think it was Moriarty. I'm inclined to think [probability]

– Perhaps so.
1. That's only fashion. 1. ………………………………………………..

– I suppose so.
2. He thinks he'll leave. 2. ………………………………………………..
– Does he?
3. You're sure now he's not married? 3. ………………………………………………..
– Yeah, he's not.
4. I promise I'll go. 4. ………………………………………………..
– Please do.
5. Will he marry you? 5. ………………………………………………..
– No. I don't think so.
6. I'd love you to do it. 6. ………………………………………………..
– Okay, I will.
7. Do you reckon he'll come? 7. ………………………………………………..
– I doubt it.
8. I demand you leave. 8. ………………………………………………..
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 91
– Okay, I will.
9. She said she was pregnant. 9. ………………………………………………..
– Did she really?
10. I still think you should tell us who 10. ………………………………………………..
the dad is.
– You can think away then.
Text 1 Dialogue in narrative

Identify all instances of modality in the following excerpt and classify according to
type (probability, usuality, etc), value (high, median, low) and orientation (subjective,
objective).
‘But why Turkish?’ asked Holmes, gazing fixedly at my boots. I was reclining in a
cane-backed chair at the moment, and my protruded feet had attracted his ever-active attention.
‘English,’ I answered in some surprise. ‘I got them at Latimer's, in Oxford Street.’
Holmes smiled with an expression of weary patience.
‘The bath!’ he said; ‘the bath! Why the relaxing and expensive Turkish rather than the
invigorating home-made article?’
‘Because for the last few days I have been feeling rheumatic and old. A Turkish bath is
what we call an alternative in medicine – a fresh starting-point, a cleanser of the system.
‘By the way, Holmes,’ I added, ‘I have no doubt the connection between my boots and a
Turkish bath is a perfectly self-evident one to a logical mind, and yet I should be obliged to you
if you would indicate it.’
‘The train of reasoning is not very obscure, Watson,’ said Holmes with a mischievous
twinkle. ‘It belongs to the same elementary class of deduction which I should illustrate if I were
to ask you who shared your cab in your drive this morning.’
‘I don't admit that a fresh illustration is an explanation,’ said I with some asperity.
‘Bravo, Watson! A very dignified and logical remonstrance. Let me see, what were the
points? Take the last one first – the cab. You observe that you have some splashes on the left
sleeve and shoulder of your coat. Had you sat in the centre of a hansom you would probably
have had no splashes, and if you had they would certainly have been symmetrical. Therefore it is
clear that you sat at the side. Therefore it is equally clear that you had a companion.’
‘That is very evident.’
‘Absurdly commonplace, is it not?’
‘But the boots and the bath.’
‘Equally childish. You are in the habit of doing up your boots in a certain way. I see them
on this occasion fastened with an elaborate double bow, which is not your usual method of tying
them. You have, therefore, had them off. Who has tied them? A bootmaker – or the boy at the
bath. It is unlikely that it is the bootmaker, since your boots are nearly new. Well, what remains?
The bath. Absurd, is it not? .
[Conan-Doyle, A. The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes, Harmondsworth: Penguin. 1981: 942.]
Text 2 Written exposition

Analyse the interpersonal structure of each clause in the following text written as a
'letter to the editor' by a high school student. Note and classify any instance of
modality.
TV Violence
It is essential for the well-being of the Youth of Australia that we adopt a less tolerant attitude to
violence in television. It has been known for some time that young children can be disturbed by
the violent scenes presented by the television scene. No apparent effort however has been made
by either the producers of children's programmes or the programmers of children's

programmes to take this into account: one only has to look at the extraordinary popular cartoon
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’. At some schools it was necessary to ban the accessories
associated with the programme because children were engaging in fights in the playground,
emulating their cartoon heroes; this sort of situation is deplorable, this incident also highlights
how impressionable young children are. There is a definite danger that children, after years of
exposure to violence on television, come to accept that violence is an acceptable solution to
conflict. It is of vital importance for the future of Australia that young people realise that
violence is not to be condoned, nor applauded. It is also essential that young people do not
associate violence with bravery and heroism, which is an inevitable outcome if we persist in
allowing our children to be influenced by the garbage that fills our screens every afternoon and
evening, and succeeds in passing for entertainment. It is possible that children come to accept
violence as an inevitable, but vaguely unpleasant part of the world. If this unfortunate scenario
becomes true, we will never combat violence. It is of utmost importance, then, that the
television industry assumes a sense of responsibility by carefully regulating the materials that
appear in children's programmes.
[Student text courtesy of Bill Crowley.]
Text 3 Dramatic dialogue
Analyse the following extract from Pinter's Old Times (opening of Act One). With
reference to figure 3.8, show MOOD selections in the columns to the right, and
underline the Mood element of structure. We have supplied elided elements in square
brackets.
Speaker Turn Kate Deeley

Kate (Reflectively) [She was] Dark. major: finite:
indic:declar:
nonexclam:
untagged
Deeley [Was she] Fat or thin?
Kate [She was] Fuller than me, I think.
Deeley She was [fuller than you] then.
Kate I think so [she was fuller than me then].
Deeley She may not be [fuller than you] now.
Deeley Was she your best friend?
Kate Oh, what does that mean?
Deeley What?
Kate [What does] The word friend [mean]...
when you look back... all that time
Deeley Can't you remember what you felt?
Kate It is a very long time.
Deeley But you remember her.
She remembers you.
Or why would she be coming here tonight?
Compare the types of interpersonal selections Kate and Deeley make in this
passage. Comment on and interpret the division of dialogic labour between them.
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 93
5.1 Locating MOOD

MOOD is an interpersonal resource at clause rank for constructing the clause as a
proposition or proposal for negotiation in dialogue. MOOD is the grammaticalisation of
the semantic system of SPEECH FUNCTION associated with the dialogic move. Selections
in MOOD are, in turn, realised phonologically by selections in TONE. For example, a move
giving information (a statement) is realised by a declarative clause, which is, in turn,
realised by a tone group with a falling tone. See Figure 3.7.
give } statement
polar
move
demand
} question
elemental
information
(proposition) } offer
goods & services

(proposal) } command
semantics ―
SPEECH declarative
FUNCTION indicative yes/no

clause interrogative
imperative wh-
lexicogrammar ―
MOOD falling
rising
tone level
group
falling-rising
rising-falling
phonology
― TONE
Figure 3.7 SPEECH FUNCTION, MOOD and TONE
The basic options in the system of MOOD are set out as a system network in Figure 3.8.
94
tagged
↘ +Moodtag
non-exclamative
MOOD (Tagfinite ^
TAGGING
Tagsubject)
DECLARATIVE
declarative
↘ Subject ^ Finite TYPE untagged
exclamative
↘ +Wh; Wh ^ Subject
complement
indicative ↘ Complement/Wh
WH-
↘ + Mood
(+Finite, yes/no interrogative SELECTION
+Subject) ↘ Finite ^ Subject
non- subject adjunct
INTERROGATIVE
interrogative ↘ Adjunct/Wh
TYPE
WH-
MOOD wh- interrogative
free SELECTION
TYPE
↘ +Wh; Wh ^ Finite
FREEDOM subject
major ↘ Subject/Wh
↘ + Residue
STATUS bound
clause oblative
imperative ↘ +Subject: ‘let me’
minor IMPERATIVE
suggestive
TYPE ↘ +Subject: ‘let’s’ explicit
DEPLOYING FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
↘ +Subject ^ ‘you’
IMPERATIVE
jussive
SUBJECT
PRESUMPTION
implicit
Figure 3.8 MOOD system for English

CHAPTER 3 MOOD 95
The options in the system of MOOD gain their realisation in structures of the clause
(see 5.2 below) and in selections in TONE (see IFG2 Section 8.9; IFG3 Section 4.4.4).
Figure 3.8 displays the options and shows the element of structure (and/or ordering
of elements) which realises each option, together with the unmarked tone realisations.
Note that to differentiate between the different contrasts in meaning made available
by the system of TONE, we need to extend the description of MOOD in delicacy (showing
finer choices). The more delicate MOOD systems realised by selections in tone (rather
than by the interpersonal structure of the clause) are known as the KEY systems (see
IFG2 Section 8.9 IFG3: 142; for more detail see Halliday and Greaves 2008).
5.2 Interpersonal structure
We can now add to our consideration of any text an analysis of the interpersonal
organisation of the clause as a move in an exchange, as a contribution to the
development of dialogue. This means that there is an element for enacting a speech
function, the Mood element, potentially an element for eliciting a response to the
speech function, the Moodtag, and an element that expresses the rest of the
proposition or proposal being negotiated through the speech function, the Residue.
The interpersonal structure of the clause is thus Mood + Residue (+ Moodtag).
The Mood element grounds the proposition or proposal by providing a 'modally
responsible' element – the Subject – and by providing terms for negotiation in choices
of TENSE/MODALITY and POLARITY carried by the Finite and/or Mood Adjunct(s). See
Figure 3.9.
In addition, there may be interpersonal elements that fall outside this modal
structure: the Vocative element, which addresses the listener, and the Expletive (see
Section 2.4).
Mood Residue Moodtag
Complement(s) Adjunct(s) Finite Subject

Adjunct(s) Subject Finite Predicator [can be [can’t be
Subject] Su]
verbal
verbal group operator pronoun
nominal groups
adverbial groups; prepositional phrases
Surely he has fixed it completely, hasn’t he?
Figure 3.9 Modal structure of the clause
5.3 Interpersonal structure and textual structure

The Mood ^ Residue structure is an interpersonal strand or layer alongside the textual
Theme ^ Rheme structure discussed in the previous chapter. The two structures thus
constitute different, complementary functional perspectives on the clause:
Madam, you’ ll look like a tulip.

interp. topical
clause textual Theme Rheme
interpersonal Vocative Mood Residue
The difference between the two functional perspectives is shown in the different
set of variants each displays. Textually, we find related variants such as:
Madam you'll look like a tulip : You'll look like a tulip Madam : Like a tulip you'll look
Madam
Interpersonally, these are all declarative clauses and thus do not contrast.
Interpersonal variants differ in MOOD; for example:
Madam you'll look like a tulip : Madam will you look like a tulip? : Madam who'll look like a
tulip? : Madam look like a tulip!
Textually, these clauses are all alike in having unmarked [topical] Theme. 15 Thus
we need to recognise different patterns of meaning relating to different metafunctions,
but simultaneously present in any clause.
Further reading
See especially Teruya 2007 for a recent survey of IFG based studies of MOOD and issues
arising; Caffarel et al. 2004 further interprets MOOD from a functional typological
perspective across a range of languages.
Caffarel, Alice 1995 Approaching the French clause as a move in a dialogue. In Hasan &
Fries (eds) 1-50.
perspective. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Halliday, M A K 1970 Functional diversity in language, as seen from a consideration of
modality and mood in English. Foundations of Language 6.3: 322-361 [Reprinted
in M A K Halliday 2005 Studies in English Language. London: Continuum (Volume
7 in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday). 164-204]
Halliday, M A K 1982 The de-automatisation of grammar: from Priestley's 'An
Inspector Calls'. J M Anderson (ed) Language Form and Linguistic Variation:
papers dedicated to Angus MacIntosh. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 129-159. [Reprinted
in M A K Halliday 2002 Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse. London:
Continuum (Volume 2 in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday). 126-148]
15 We can add one further set of examples to bring out the difference between textual and interpersonal
variation (‘agnation’, to use the technical term): interpersonally, Madam you'll look like a tulip is related
to Madam you'll look like a tulip, won't you?; textually, Madam you'll look like a tulip is related to Madam
you'll look like a tulip, you will. The first variant, a question tag, is concerned with eliciting an indication of
the listener's state of agreement with the proposition in the dialogic interaction (e.g. No, I won't!),
whereas the second variant serves to present a reminder of the Theme at the end of the clause (a
strategy used in certain varieties of English).
CHAPTER 3 MOOD 97
[An extended discussion of modality, applied to the analysis of dramatic dialogue]

Halliday, M A K 1984 Language as code and language as behaviour: a
systemic-functional interpretation of the nature and ontogenesis of dialogue. In R.
Fawcett, M A K Halliday, S Lamb & A Makkai (eds), The semiotics of language and
culture. Volume 1. London: Frances Pinter (Open Linguistics Series). [Reprinted in
M A K Halliday 2003 The Language of Early Childhood. London: Continuum
(Volume 4 in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday). 227-250]
Halliday, M A K & W Greaves 2008 Intonation in the grammar of English. London:
Equinox.
Hasan, Ruqaiya & Fries, Peter H (eds) 1995 On Subject and Theme: a discourse
functional perspective. Amsterdam: Benjamins (Current Issues in Linguistic
Theory 118).
Huddleston, Rodney D 1965 A fragment of a systemic description of English. Working
Paper Reprinted in M A K Halliday & J R Martin (eds) Readings in systemic
linguistics, London, Batsford, 1981. 222-236.
Martin, J R 1990 Interpersonal grammatisation: mood and modality in Tagalog.
Philippine Journal of Linguistics 21.1 (Special Issue on the Silver Anniversary of the
Language Study Centre of Philippine Normal College 1964-1989 – Part 2): 2-51.
[It discusses mood systems in Tagalog]
Martin, J R 1992 English text: system and structure – Chapter 2: Negotiation.
Amsterdam: Benjamins.
[On the interpersonal semantics of exchange. Martin refers to recent work by M
Berry, E Ventola, S Eggins and others.]
Martin, J R & Rose, D. 2007 Working with Discourse 2nd ed. – Chapter 2: Negotiation.
London: Continuum.
[On interpersonal semantics of exchange.]
Matthiessen, C M I M 1995 Lexicogrammatical cartography: English systems Tokyo,
International Language Sciences Publishers.
[Chapter 5; interpersonal resources: Section 2.3.5.]
Matthiessen, C M I M, Annabelle Lukin, David G Butt, Chris Cleirigh & Christopher
Nesbitt 2005 Welcome to Pizza Hut: a case study of multistratal analysis.
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 19: 123-150.
Teruya, K, E Akerejola, T Anderson, A Caffarel, J Lavid, C M I M Matthiessen, U Petersen,
P Patpong & F Smedegaard 2007 Typology of MOOD: a text-based and
system-based functional view. R Hasan, C M I M Matthiessen & J Webster (eds)
Continuing Discourse on Language: a functional perspective Vol. 2. London: Equinox.
859-920.
Chapter 4
Transitivity
clause as representation
1. Orientation
IFG2, IFG3 Chapter 5 (main discussion of TRANSITIVITY);

IFG2, IFG3 Sections 7.4.5-6 (embedded expansions and acts);
IFG2, IFG3 Section 7.5 (projections, relevance to mental and verbal clauses);
IFG2 Section 7A.4-6 (hypotactic verbal group complexes);
IFG3 Section 8.5-8 (hypotactic verbal group complexes);
IFG2 Section 10.3 (metaphors of transitivity);
IFG3 Section 10.51-3 (metaphors of transitivity)
1.2 Characterisation of TRANSITIVITY

The system of TRANSITIVITY belongs to the experiential1 metafunction and is the overall
grammatical resource for construing our experience of goings on. It construes this flux
of experience as quanta of change in the flow of events. A quantum of change is
modelled as a configuration of a process, participants involved in it, and attendant
circumstances. There are, of course, innumerable kinds of goings on and ways in
which they may unfold, but the grammar construes out a small number of distinct
types, each with its own particular characteristics. These constitute the PROCESS TYPES.
Imagine you’re looking up at the sky, with a number of things happening all the
time:
1 The third metafunction is the ideational one; but it has two modes for construing experience, the
experiential and the logical. Within the clause, we find the experiential mode, manifested in the system
of TRANSITIVITY (discussed in this chapter). The logical mode provides the resources for forming various
kinds of complexes – clause complexes, group complexes, and so on (IFG Ch.7), and it plays a role
together with the experiential mode in the organisation of groups (nominal groups, verbal groups etc.
(IFG Ch. 6)).
CHAPTER 4 TRANSITIVITY 99
experience of flux
construed as
A kite is flying across the sky.
Actor Process Location
Figure 4.1 Construing experience
Out of this ongoing change (represented pictorially by repeated elements), you

can construe a quantum of change as one process configuration, realised in the
grammar as one clause; for example: A kite is flying across the sky. With this, you’ve
turned experience into meaning, and into wording. Here it is constructed as a
configuration of 'a kite' + 'is flying' + 'across the sky', or more abstractly in terms of the
transitivity system, as Actor + Process + Location. This is a representation, one which
imposes three constituent elements, viz. a participant (Actor: a kite), a process
(Process: is flying), and a circumstance (Location: across the sky); and each of these of
a distinct kind (e.g. Actor, rather than Sayer; material Process, rather than verbal
Process; Location, rather than Cause). It may seem that this is the only way it could be;
but it's not, of course: English might have given us the option of construing this as it's
winging across the sky (cf. it's raining), it's winging a kite across the sky (cf. it's blowing
a gale), it's kiting across the sky, or even sky is winging a kite, the sky's crossing a kite.
And even without going outside conventional English, we can see there is always a
choice in how to construe experience. For instance, we might separate out kite-hood,
leaving it to be inferred from the manner of flying: something is flying across the sky
like a kite or we might separate out the motion and the mode of motion: a kite's
traversing the sky by flying. 2
It is possible to get a sense of the choice involved by looking across languages and
noting the alternative ways of construing some semantic domain such as directed
motion3. For example:
2 It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there is some mode of objective phenomenal world that can
be reflected in different ways in language (especially given our somewhat simplistic diagram, where we
actually move from one semiotic representation to another, the first one standing for the outside world
experienced); but there is not. We construe our experience actively by imposing organisation. An
important aspect of this is treating things, events, etc. that are unlike one another as alike. It is perhaps
easier to realise this if we consider more abstract domains of experience – social value systems, religious
systems, scientific models.
3 Motion is in fact one domain of experience where there is a good deal of variation in how languages model
it and in how the process of motion is construed lexicogrammatically. This can be seen, for example, when
one translates a narrative of motion from one language into another language where it is treated in a
different way. There is now a significant body of literature on this topic.
Table 4.1 Semantic domains across different languages
DOMAIN ENGLISH AKAN JAPANESE CHINESE
DIRECTED MOTION she swam across she swam crossing she crossed the
the river the river river by swimming
POSSESSION she has a car with her is a car s/he (location)
car be: exist
PRECIPITATION it's raining water is falling rain is falling the sky's dropping
water
When we look at the different ways different languages construe the same
semantic domain, we find variation along the various dimensions of transitivity, e.g. in
whether some phenomenon is construed as a process or a participant. However, such
choices are also available within a given language. For example, we have alternatives
such as in May people bought more and more TVs, VCRs, etc. and May saw a sharp rise in
consumer electronic purchases. These are complementary; they are both part of the
overall system, but the second example depends on the system being expanded
through grammatical metaphor (IFG Chapter 10), where (among other things)
processes are construed as if they were participants.
We have described TRANSITIVITY as a resource for construing our experience of the

world in terms of configurations of a process, participants and circumstances. Such
configurations are determined by two major systems, those of PROCESS TYPE and
CIRCUMSTANTIATION.
(i) PROCESS TYPE is the resource for sorting out our experience of all kinds of events
into a small number of types. These differ with respect to both the Process itself and
the participants involved in it – the number and kind of participants. The system
discriminates six different types of process in English. The three major ones are
material, mental and relational, each with a small set of subtypes. In addition, there
are three further process types, the behavioural, verbal and existential. These six
kinds of clauses are illustrated in Table 4.2:
Table 4.2 Process types in English
Process type sub-category Example clause (processes in bold)

material event (i.e. happening) the sugar dissolved
action (i.e. doing) she stirred the coffee
perception she saw the car
mental cognition she forgot his name/his name escaped her
affection she liked his music/his music pleased her
relational attributive Maggie was strong
identifying Maggie was our leader
behavioural she laughed
verbal she replied
existential there was once a beautiful princess
Each of the six types of process has its own small set of participant roles. For
example, a material clause involves an Actor and possibly a Goal:
She stirred the coffee
Actor Process: material Goal
Table 4.3 shows the central, or 'nuclear', participants involved in each process
type together with an example clause. Additionally, each process type has further
participants less centrally involved in the process, often being closer to circumstances.
In IFG2 Section 5.6 these are generalised across process types as the two roles of
Beneficiary and Range. In IFG2: 166, Table 5 (18) and IFG3: 260, Table 5 (27), they are
differentiated and labeled according to process type. These additional roles are also
shown in Table 4.3 in the final column and will be introduced in Section 2 below.
Table 4.3 Process types and nuclear participants
Process type nuclear participants Example (nuclear additional non-nuclear

participants in bold) participants
material Actor, Goal she made the coffee Initiator, Recipient, Client,
Scope**, Attribute
mental Senser, Phenomenon she saw the car Inducer
relational : attributive Carrier, Attribute Maggie was strong Attributor, Beneficiary
: identifying Token, Value Maggie was our leader Assigner
behavioural Behaver (Target)* she laughed Behaviour, Scope**
verbal Sayer, (Target)* she replied Receiver, Verbiage
existential Existent there was a beautiful

princess
* Found only in a sub-type of behavioural/verbal clause (see further Sections 2.4 and 2.5 below).
** Referred to only in terms of the ergative role of ‘Range’ in IFG2.
(ii) CIRCUMSTANTIATION is the resource for ‘augmenting’ the configuration of
process + participants by means of elements that are less directly involved in the
process, circumstances. Circumstances are discussed in Section 5.7 of IFG2 and
Section 6.6 of IFG3. They are general across process types (precisely because they are less
centrally involved in the process than participants). Examples are given in Table 4.4:
Table 4.4 Types of circumstance in English
Circumstance typical probe Example realisation Circumstance subcategory probe

type subcategory
Extent how ____? for three hours duration for how long?
at what every three hours frequency how many times?
intervals?
for six miles distance how far?
Location at what in September; before tea; time when?
point? recently; during the lesson
in the yard; from Paris; place where?
miles away
Circumstance typical probe Example realisation Circumstance subcategory probe

type subcategory
Manner how? with a hammer; by trickery means by what means?
quickly quality how?
as fast as possible; like a comparison what like?
top
to a great extent; deeply; degree how much?
considerably
Cause why? because of you; thanks to reason why?
him; for lack of $5
for better results; in the purpose for what purpose?
hope of a good deal
on behalf of us all behalf on whose behalf?
Contingency in what in the event of rain; without condition under what
circum- more help (we can't do it) conditions?
stances?
in spite of the rain concession despite what?
in the absence of proof default lacking what?
Accompaniment together with(out) his friends comitative who/what with?
with?
as well as them; additive and who/what else?
instead of them
Role as a concerned parent guise what as?
(smashed) into pieces product what into?
Matter what about? about this; with reference to
that
Angle whose angle? according to the Shorter source says who?
Oxford
in the view of the protestors viewpoint from whose
perspective?
The various process types differ according to the criteria summarised in IFG2:
173 and IFG3: 301. (See Troubleshooting section for further discussion.) A brief
outline of characteristics of each type is given below.
2.1 Material clauses

Material clauses construe doings and happenings (IFG2, IFG3 Section 5.2).
Prototypically, these are concrete: changes in the material world that can be perceived,
such as motion in space (she drove down the coast; she drove him down the coast) and
change in physical make up (the lake froze; he melted the butter). However, such
concrete material processes have also come to serve as a model for construing our
experience of change in abstract phenomena. For example Prices fell throughout this
period construes movement in an abstract space of measurement. Similarly, alongside
the wind destroyed the gazebo we have their arguments destroyed her theory. ‘Material’
thus covers both concrete and abstract processes.
The one inherent participant is the Actor – the one doing the material deed. In
addition, there may also be a Goal – a participant impacted by a doing (the one done
to/with), and sometimes a Client or Recipient4 – a participant benefitting from the
doing (the one given to or done for), or else (in clauses without a Goal) a Scope5 – a
participant specifying the scope of a happening. Examples are shown in Table 4.5:
Table 4.5 Participant roles in material clauses
type Actor Process Goal Client/Recipient Scope

action she built the house (for the kids): C
she gave the house (to the kids): R
she moved the chair
event the chair moved
she climbed the mountain
The Goal is either actually brought into existence by the doing (build a house, bake
a cake, write a letter), or it exists prior to the doing, but is impacted in some way. In the
latter case, the Goal can be probed with do to/with, as in what did she do with the chair?
or what she did with the chair was move it. Also, it can often be accompanied by a
representation of the result of the impact, such as a new location (she moved the chair
into the corner), a new possessor (she gave the chair to the duke) or a new quality (she
scrubbed the chair clean). In this, it differs from the Scope, which cannot be probed
with do to/with; thus we do not get: what she did with [Scope:] the mountain was climb
it, she climbed [Scope:] the mountain into fame. This is because the Scope is not
impacted by the performance of the Process; it construes the scope or domain over
which the process takes place.
The Client or Recipient can be probed by looking at that version of a clause
where it follows the Goal. In this case, it is realised with a preposition – either to,
marking it as a Recipient type of Beneficiary, or for, marking it as a Client type of
Beneficiary:
She gave his aunt a teapot : She gave a teapot to his aunt.
She built his aunt a gazebo : She built a gazebo for his aunt.
The Recipient appears when the clause construes a transfer in possession of
existing goods, while the Client is involved when the clause construes a provision of
service (including creation of new goods).
2.2 Mental clauses

Mental clauses construe sensing – a person involved in conscious processing,
including processes of cognition (‘thinking’) and desideration (‘wanting’), emotion
(‘feeling’) and perception (‘seeing’). The one inherent participant is the Senser – the
participant sensing, i.e. involved in conscious processing. This participant is endowed
with consciousness; nominal groups serving as Senser which denote non-conscious
entities have to be construed metaphorically as ‘personified’. In the following examples
the Senser is underlined:
4 Generalised as a Beneficiary in IFG2.

5 The term ‘Scope’ was introduced in IFG3; earlier there was no label specific to this participant role and the
general term ‘Range’ was used, the terminological problem being that ‘Range’ is used according to the
ergative model and applies to certain participants in each process type.
The man knew too much.

The witness heard her threatening them.
She liked her job.
Her tasks interested her.
It surprised him to see her so happy.
My car doesn’t like hills.
In addition to the Senser, mental clauses may involve one further type of
participant, the Phenomenon being sensed. This can be any kind of entity entertained
or created by consciousness – a conscious being, an object, a substance, an institution,
or an abstraction, but not only such ‘things’ but also acts (e.g. I like swimming early in
the morning) and facts (I like the fact that he apologised). Grammatically, this means
that a wide range of units can serve as Phenomenon. In the following examples, the
Phenomenon is underlined:
The man knew too much.
The witness heard her threatening them.
She liked her job.
Her tasks interested her.
It surprised him to see her so happy.
My car doesn’t like hills.
The Phenomenon may represent the ‘content’ of sensing. However, this content is
not always represented as a participant within the clause. It may also be represented
by a separate clause. For example:
David thought  the moon was a balloon.
The second clause here is a projected clause which represents an idea brought
into existence by the mental processing (See IFG Section 7.5). Other examples:
She guessed  he would be late.
He wanted  them to leave.
He preferred  them to stay6.
2.3 Relational clauses

Halliday’s category of relational clauses is a generalisation of the traditional notion of
‘copula’ constructions. Relational clauses construe being and do this in two different
modes – attribution and identification. There are thus two principal relational clause
types, with different sets of participant roles: (i) attributive clauses with Carrier +
Attribute, and (ii) identifying clauses with Token + Value7. For example:
Maxine is energetic [attributive]
Maxine is an energetic type [attributive]
Carrier Attribute
Maxine is the goalie [identifying]
Token Value
The goalie is Maxine [identifying]
Value Token
6 See Troubleshooting Section 3.5 (iv) below for guidance in discriminating a projected clause and an
embedded clause functioning as Phenomenon within the mental process clause.
7 In addition to the roles of Token and Value, participants in identifying clauses construe the roles of
Identified and Identifier (see IFG2:122ff ; IFG3: 227-9 )
The fundamental difference between attributive and identifying is the difference

between class membership (attributive) and symbolisation (identifying). Carrier and
Attribute are of the same order of abstraction, but differ in generality as member to
class, subtype to type (elephants are mammals; elephants are huge). Token and Value
are of different orders of abstraction; they are related symbolically (elephants are my
favourite animals; Mary is the leader; Olivier is (plays) Lear). Typical kinds of meaning
relations holding between Token and Value in an identifying clause are given in Table
4.6 below.
Table 4.6 Examples of meanings of Token and Value roles
Token Value typical verb (other than be) Example clause

realising process
expression content express, mean, represent, signify Knit brows signify thoughtfulness
symbol symbolised betoken, stand for, reflect, spell Red stands for danger
form meaning translate as, mean Chien means dog
name referent name, christen, call [:causative] [They] named the baby John
function filler function as, serve as, act as The reservoir functions as the
city’s emergency water supply
holder of position vote, elect [causative] [The people] voted him President
position
actor role play, act as Jenny played Ophelia
Table 4.7 shows some contrasting examples of attributive and identifying clauses.
Table 4.7 Attributive and identifying clauses
attributive (not reversible) identifying (reversible)

Judy is/seems/sounds (like) a star Judy is the star of Cukor’s movie;
The star of Cukor’s movie is Judy
He’s a friend He’s the friend you met yesterday;
The friend you met yesterday is him
It’s hot It’s Wednesday
Today’s hot Today’s Wednesday;
Wednesday is today
It’s late It’s 3 PM; The time is 3 pm; 3 pm is the time
2.3.1 Subcategories of relational clause

All the examples given above are of intensive relational clauses. It is also possible for
relational clauses to involve an additional meaning feature, making them either
possessive or circumstantial. In such a case two roles may be ‘conflated’ in the one
clause element (indicated by a /). Examples:
Max has lots of energy
Carrier/Possessor Process: attributive and Attribute/Possession
possessive
Max owns the property

Token/Possessor Process: identifying Value/Possession
The trees are around Mary

Carrier Process: attributive Attribute/Location
The trees surround Mary

Token Process: identifying and Value
circumstantial
2.4 Verbal clauses

Verbal clauses represent processes of ‘saying’; but this category includes not only the
different modes of saying (asking, commanding, offering, stating) but also semiotic
processes that are not necessarily verbal (showing, indicating). The central participant
is the Sayer – the participant saying, telling, stating, informing, asking, querying,
demanding, commanding, offering, threatening, suggesting, and so on. It can be a
human or human-like speaker, of course; but it can also be any other symbol source.
For example:
She told me a strange story.
He asked too many questions.
They asked me  whether I could leave at once.
They told me  to leave at once.
The paper says  there’ll be another election.
The sign indicates  that Gates 40 - 62 are to the right.
The form asks  what other funding sources you have.
One sub-type of verbal clause (sometimes regarded as behavioural, see below
Table 4.9) requires an extra participant, the Target, the entity construed as the target
of the verbal action, as in she praised/insulted/blamed/criticised her father, where her
father is in this role.
In addition, a verbal clause may also represent the addressee of a speech
interaction, as the Receiver. The Receiver can often (but not always) be marked by to:
They told me  to leave at once.
They said to me  to leave at once.
The ‘content’ of saying may be represented as a separate clause quoting or
reporting what was said (she said  that she’d return in the morning; they told me  to
leave at once; she asked  whether it was too late). This quoted or reported clause is
called a projected clause and is discussed in IFG Chapter 7 (in particular Section 7.5).
It is not a constituent part of the verbal clause (cf. below), but is a separate clause in a
projecting clause nexus.8
However, in addition to being constituted in a projected clause, the content of
saying may also be construed as a participant – the Verbiage of a verbal clause:
They told me a story.
She asked him a question.
They said a few words.
This indicates the scope of saying in terms of a generic category (e.g. story, fable),
a speech functional category (e.g. lie, question) or a lexicogrammatical one (e.g. word,
phrase).9
8 This is clear from the oddness of passive and theme-predicated variants such as to leave at once was said
to me by them, it was to leave at once that they said to me.
9 Note that IFG also includes examples where the clause is not an exchange of information and the content
of saying is a non-linguistic commodity, e.g. 'She requested a dance'.
2.5 Behavioural clauses: between material and mental/verbal

In addition to material clauses on the one hand and mental/verbal clauses on the other,
each with their own grammatical characteristics (see Section 3), the grammar
accommodates an intermediate type with mixed characteristics – the behavioural
clause. These construe (human) behaviour, including mental and verbal behaviour, as
an active version of verbal and mental processes. That is, saying and sensing are
construed as activity; for example: chat, gossip; ponder, watch, listen, smile, grin.
Behavioural processes are like mental ones in that one participant is endowed with
human consciousness. This is the Senser in the case of mental processes. We can call it
the Behaver in the case of behavioural processes. However, behavioural processes are
unlike mental and verbal ones but like material ones in that:
(i) the unmarked representation of present time is present-in-present (the
present continuous/progressive); and
(ii) they cannot report (i.e., occur with a reported clause in a projecting clause
complex).
The following table illustrates the differences between related pairs of
behavioural processes and mental processes of perception:
Table 4.8 Behavioural and mental processes of perception
behavioural mental: perception
I’m looking at John I see John; I can see John
– I see that John’s already left
I’m listening to John working I hear John working; I can hear John working
– I can hear that John is working
The cat’s sniffing the flower The cat smells the flower
– The cat smells that another cat’s been in
I’m tasting the wine I taste the wine in this; I can taste the wine in the sauce
– I can taste that there’s wine in the sauce
Behaviourals include categories reflecting the mental and verbal ones: see Table
4.9.
Table 4.9 Types of behavioural process
behavioural mental/verbal
perceptive look at, watch, stare, gawk, view, look over, see, observe
observe
listen to, eavesdrop hear, overhear
sniff, smell smell
taste taste
feel feel
behavioural mental/verbal
cognitive ponder, puzzle, solve, work out, meditate, think, know, believe
ruminate, think
emotive smile, frown, laugh, pout, gasp, grin, scowl, fear, enjoy, like ; frighten, scare, alarm,
shake, shudder, tremble disgust, please, amuse, upset
verbal10 whine, whinge, mumble, stammer, stutter, say; tell, ask
mutter, moan, chatter, gossip, talk, speak,
sing;
frown, grimace, snort, cough;
slander, insult, praise, flatter [These are
treated as verbal processes with a Target
in IFG. See IFG2:141; IFG3:255.]
Behaviourals also include more material-like subtypes. The border area (see
Section 3.1) between material processes and behavioural ones is covered by two main
types, physiological processes – twitch, shiver, tremble, sweat, etc. – and social
processes – kiss, hug, embrace, dance, play, etc. Both of these shade into the verbal type,
from different angles; physiologically: cough, gasp, stutter, etc. and socially: chat, talk,
gossip etc.
2.6 Existential clauses

Existential clauses resemble relational clauses in that they construe a participant
involved in a process of being, but differ from relational ones in that there is only one
participant, the Existent, which is thereby introduced into the text:
There will be a real bunfight at the next meeting.
Process Existent Location: temporal
In an existential clause, the there signals the process type but does not function as
a Location circumstance and nor does it represent a participant. However existential
clauses frequently have a circumstance of Location and if it occurs in thematic (initial)
position, the existential there may be absent:
All around them was a silence.
Along this waterway toiled a string of wolfish dogs.
Location Process: Existent
existential
But the absent there will turn up when the clause is tagged, as in all around them
was silence, wasn’t there?; along this waterway toiled a string of wolfish dogs, didn’t there?
2.7 Additional Agents

In addition to the participants so far discussed for each process type, there is often the
10 IFG3: 255 treats the verbal subcategory of behaviourals as a special class of verbal process. (It is only
members of this class that may involve a Target participant.) Unlike other verbal clauses, they cannot
project another clause, and a projection has to be added by means of a verb like say, as in Then the monk
praised Yang Shan saying: ‘I have come over to China in order to worship Manjucri, and met unexpectedly
with Minor Shakya’ (although there are natural examples such as ‘Nelson played magnificent football’,
Meek praised.). The closest to a representation of the content of praising, blaming, etc. in English is an
enhancing clause of reason, as in She praised him for having acted so quickly; in Japanese, such clauses can
in fact project (see Teruya, 2007). However, like verbal clauses, they can be construed with a Receiver, as
in She praised him to her boss for having acted so quickly.
possibility of an additional participant with a causing or agentive role, especially when

there is a causative verbal group complex realising the Process, such as make  do,
cause  to do. Examples are given below in Table 4.10:
Table 4.10 Agents in different clause types
additional Agent
You ’ll help us monitor this

Initiator Process: ... Actor ... material Goal
These programs let parents understand their responsibilities
Inducer Process: ... Senser ... mental Phenomenon
His experience makes him (be) the best judge
Assigner Process: ... Token (... identifying) Value
The new school has made him (be) more rebellious

Attributor Process: ... Carrier (... attributive) Attribute
The Initiator, Inducer, Assigner and Attributor roles can be generalised as

representing the role of Agent in the various clause types. (See further Section 2.8
below.)
2.8 Ergative interpretation

In the discussion so far, we have been giving a transitive interpretation to the
experiential grammar of English. However, according to Halliday, if we look carefully at
the grammar, this perspective emerges as one of two complementary motifs as far as
construing our experience of the flow of events is concerned. The transitive view is the
more common sense one, that we have inherited from the descriptions of Ancient
Greek and Latin (via traditional grammar with its notions of nominative and
accusative case). From this perspective, something involving an Actor and a Process
happens (intransitive), and may transcend the Actor to impact a Goal (transitive), as
shown in Figure 4.2:
Process
intransitive
Actor
Process transitive
Goal
Actor
Figure 4.2 The transitive perspective
From the transitive perspective, the question we are asking is whether the action
carries over to affect an additional participant or not, and this provides the contrast
between transitive and intransitive clauses. See Table 4.11:
Table 4.11 Examples of intransitive and transitive clauses
Actor & Process action optionally extended to a Goal

[intransitive] [transitive]
the troops attacked the troops attacked the capital

the guerillas fled the guerillas fled the militia
the police charged the police charged the rioters
Alfie pushed Alfie pushed the forward
Glen kicked Glen kicked the ball
The other perspective is the ergative one, in which a happening is conceived of as

involving a Process and some central participant (the middle voice). This participant
through which the process is actualised is called a Medium, as shown in Figure 4.3:
Process
middle
Medium
Process
Agent effective
Medium
Figure 4.3 The ergative perspective
The additional question we can ask from the ergative perspective is who or what
brought the happening about (the effective voice). Example clauses are shown in Table
4.12:
Table 4.12 Examples of effective and middle clauses
Process & Medium Agent bringing about action

[middle] [effective]
the baby bounced the father bounced the baby

the pizza cooked Tim cooked the pizza
the clothes dried Mac dried the clothes
the news spread Sue spread the news
the ship sank the storm sank the ship
Halliday suggests that all English clauses can be analysed from either a transitive
or an ergative perspective, even though some clause types lend themselves to one
analysis or the other,11 as do some texts. The transitive categories can be ‘translated’
into ergative ones as in Table 4.13, which shows that in addition to the Agent and
Medium roles, the ergative model includes the Beneficiary and Range. (Note too that
all the differentiated ‘additional Agent’ roles exemplified in Section 2.7 above are
Agents in effective clauses in the ergative interpretation.)
Table 4.13 Ergative correspondences for transitive participant roles
PROCESS TYPE transitive role ergative role example
material Actor (intransitive) Medium They ran

Actor (transitive) Agent They moved the chair
Goal Medium They moved the chair
Recipient, Client Beneficiary They gave me the book;
They built her a sandpit
Scope Range They did a dance
mental Senser Medium They like the movie

(like type) Phenomenon Range They liked the movie
(please type) Phenomenon Agent The movie delighted them
verbal Sayer Medium They replied

Receiver Beneficiary They told me
Verbiage Range They told a story
behavioural Behaver Medium She’s looking at you

Behaviour Range He gave a quick look
existential Existent Medium There was a surprise
relational: Carrier Medium She was happy

attributive
Attribute Range She was happy
relational: Token Agent or Medium (See IFG2: 167 Table 5 (19);
identifying IFG3:292 Table 5 (42).)
Value Medium or Range
11 For example, the police attacked the militia lends itself to a transitive analysis, pairing naturally with the
police attacked – and could thus be challenged no, the army attacked since it is the police or army that are
doing the attacking; the sergeant marched the troops on the other hand lends itself to an ergative analysis,
pairing naturally with the troops marched – and can't be challenged: no, the corporal marched, since it is
the troops rather than the sergeant or corporal that are doing the marching.
3. Troubleshooting
3.1 A topology of processes

The four major process types – material, mental, verbal and relational – cover the
grammatical-semantic ‘space’ of ‘goings on’ – happenings, doings, sensings, saying,
being, havings, etc.; and they constitute a particular ‘theory’ of this space – a
framework for interpreting and representing it by means of clauses in English. There
are prototypical cases of all the four major process types; these are the core types of
doing-&-happening, saying, sensing, and being-&-having. The core types can be
identified by means of all or most of the probes used to differentiate different
transitivity types. But there are also more peripheral cases. These peripheral cases can
all be located on scales or clines whose end points are the regions that constitute the
core cases. For instance, there is a cline between prototypical material processes and
prototypical mental ones and somewhere along this cline there is a region of
processes with both material and mental properties. Such regions include the
indeterminate cases. The same is true of other pairs of process types. The factors that
determine where a particular process is located in the overall space of process types
include the degree of ‘potency’ of the participants (animacy, volitionality, etc.), the
degree of their affectedness (state change), the degree to which the process can
project another process, and so on; many of these factors are reflected in the
transitivity probes to be discussed in more detail in this section.
Figure 4.4 below represents the three major process types, together with the
verbal type and shows several of the clines between pairs of them.
happening
and doing saying
material behavioural: ‘saying’ verbal
as activity
space as external
motion behavioural: symbolise as sensing
sensing as activity communication
space as internal
relation saying
[symbolisation
as identity]
relational mental
sensing as [sensing as
attribute inert process]
being and sensing
having
Figure 4.4 The topology of process types

The clines are not all of the same type – some are more discrete than others, some
clearly involve grammatical metaphor, and so on; but it is useful to bring them
together for purposes of discussion and to explain why there may be different possible
interpretations of ‘borderline’ examples. (Sometimes transitivity has been discussed in
terms of a single scale running from high transitivity to low transitivity; but this is in
fact only one type of consideration.)
To avoid clutter in the figure we have left out some clines. For instance, there is,
arguably, a cline between receptive (passive) material (it was broken (by a stone)) and
attributive relational (it was broken and useless) and a similar one between receptive
(passive) mental (he was excited (by the prospect)) and, again, attributive relational (he
was happy and excited). (See IFG2: 121-2; IFG3: 224-6.)
Because the different process types ‘meet’ at certain points in the
semantic-grammatical ‘topology’ illustrated above, some indeterminacy in assigning a
particular text instance to a typological category is to be expected on occasion.
Nonetheless the ‘core’ instances can always be distinguished by checking for
differentiating criteria, as discussed further below in the sections indicated in Table
4.14:
Table 4.14 Troubleshooting sections for distinguishing process types
material behavioural mental verbal relational

material § 3.4 (i) § 3.4 (i) § 3.4 (i)
§ 3.6 (i)
behavioural § 2.5 § 3.7 (i)
mental § 3.4 (i) § 2.5 § 3.5 (ii) § 3.5 (iii)
verbal § 3.4 (i) § 3.7 (i) § 3.5 (ii) § 3.7 (iii)
relational § 3.4 (i) § 3.5 (iii) § 3.7 (iii)
§ 3.6 (i)
3.2 General probes helpful in analysing for TRANSITIVITY

Probes are questions you can ask which help you to explore the structure of the clause
you are interested in. Three general probes for exploring TRANSITIVITY structures are
shown in Figure 4.5 and discussed below:
(ii) Can participants be left

out or not?
process + participant + participant…
verb nom. gp.
(i) What are (iii) What are

possible possible
alternative alternative
verbs? realisations?
Figure 4.5 General transitivity probes
verb verb nom.
nom. gp. gp.
(i) What are possible alternate verbs?

To help determine the process type it is useful to ask what verbs other than the
particular one used in the clause would function in the same way. This helps to sort
out verbs that can be used with more than one type of transitivity. For instance, the
verb make in this makes a very good stuffing is a member of a set that includes be,
which indicates that it is relational; but make is a member of the set cook, produce,
create when it is used in the clause the chef makes a very good stuffing.
(ii) Can participants be left out or not?
To check whether a structure is related to another more familiar one, it is useful to see
whether there are variations on the clause with more or fewer participants. For
instance, this helps to show the difference between he sang her a song and he told her
a story:
he sang her a song : *he sang her
he told her a story : he told her
(iii) What are possible alternative realisations for participants?
To discriminate between processes it is important to check what alternative
realisations of the participants are possible. Are they constrained in terms of
consciousness, fact-hood, etc.? For instance, that lonely child breaks my heart might
look like a material clause at first. But it is clearly closely related to (the fact) that she is
so lonely breaks my heart. In the latter case, the Subject of the clause is a ‘fact’, which
shows immediately that it is not a material clause. (It is rather a mental clause.)
3.3 One process or two?

Very often there will be two lexical verbs in a clause12. For example:
they will start  to enjoy the camp next week
they began  asking questions
they ended up  explaining my situation
they seem  to have enough money
they practised  whistling
they were forced  to leave
they were allowed  to leave
............Process ....................................
In all the above cases, there is a single clause, with a single Process element, but
this element is realised by a complex of verbal groups. For example the Process will
start to enjoy is realised by a complex of the two verbal groups will start and to enjoy.
In a TRANSITIVITY analysis, the second (non-finite) verbal group is the relevant one for
PROCESS TYPE. Thus, they will start to enjoy the camp next week is a mental clause, they
began asking questions is a verbal clause and they seem to have enough money is a
possessive relational one. (See IFG2 7A.4-6; IFG3 8.5.) In contrast, the first verbal
group elaborates the unfolding of the Process, for example in terms of phase (begin/
continue/stop  doing). Note that these simple clauses with complex Processes are
12 We discuss cases with two lexical verbs here. But the potential for introducing additional expansions
exists; e.g. he seemed  to begin  to try  to study harder. What we say here about the first verb applies
to all in such a series except the last; the second verb in our discussion corresponds to the last in the
series.
different from cases where there are two clauses – and hence two distinct Processes –
such as the following (see further Chapter 6):
he got up || and ( ) turned on the light
he got up || yawning
he got up || to let in the cat
he got up || having told them his news
Process Process
Where there are two distinct Processes like this (i.e. two clauses), each can be
associated with its own circumstances, as in he left hurriedly at 3 pm, having told them
his news quietly before the meeting.
Less clear-cut is the analysis of examples similar to those in the first group above
but where the first lexical verb has a mental or verbal meaning:
they want  to change their library books
they ’d like  to bring their friends
they claim  to know the Minister
IFG recommends that these be analysed as a single transitivity configuration, in
the same way as the earlier examples. Thus:
they want to change their library books
Actor Process: material Goal
This does not, however, foreground the fact that the choice of participant is
restricted by the lexical verb in the first verbal group (i.e. only a conscious or semiotic
entity can be construed as the major participant). An alternative analysis which gives
equal status to both verbal groups by taking them to be processes of separate clauses
may therefore be preferred:
they want  to change their library books
Senser Process: mental Process: material Goal
The interpretation here is that there are two clauses forming a clause complex,
just as in cases where each process has its own set of participants and circumstances,
as in the following examples:
they want  you to change their books tomorrow
they told us  they would change their books tomorrow
See IFG2 7A.6 and IFG3 8.8 for discussion of alternate analyses of the inter-
mediate examples.
3.4 Material clauses

(i) Material or non-material clause?
An important test for distinguishing among the main process types is to check the
unmarked tense selection used to represent present time. Is it the simple present or
the present-in-present (present continuous/progressive)? Of the three main types
(material, mental, relational) only material clauses favour present-in-present:
Right now Janey is digging the garden. Material clause
At the moment Janey likes arty films. Mental clause
Right now Janey has no energy. Relational clause
In this respect, material clauses are like behavioural and many verbal ones.
A second crucial probe is whether the clause can project (i.e., report or quote)
another clause or not. If it can, it is not material (but rather verbal or mental). Finally,
it is important to realise that in certain types of text a material process may in fact be
quite abstract in character. (See Section 2.1 above.)
(ii) Material or relational?
See Section 3.6 (i) below.
(iii) Material clauses with an Attribute
In addition to the participant roles discussed in the Survey section (Actor, Goal,
Client/Recipient, Scope, Initiator), we may also find an Attribute in a material clause
which has a Goal. The Attribute either specifies the state of a participant when
participating in the process or as a result of the process. For example:
They left the bedroom happy
Actor Process Goal Attribute (depictive)
They painted the bedroom pale green

Actor Process Goal Attribute (resultative)
Note the potential here for an interpretation according to the relational model of
Attributor + Process + Carrier + Attribute. However in a material clause the Attribute
can always be left out, which is not the case in an attributive relational clause. Thus we
folded the paper flat: we folded the paper but not we kept the paper flat: we kept the
paper. (See further IFG2: 157; IFG3: 194-5.)
(iv) Scope13 or Goal?
The difference between a Scope and a Goal in a material clause is very clear in the
prototypical case: the Goal is (as the name suggests) the participant that is impacted
by the performance of the Process by the Actor. For example:
he squashed the slug;
they felled the tree;
they threw the ball into a corner;
he mashed the potatoes;
she repaired the car;
he broke the glass.
The nature of the relationship between Actor-Process and Goal is thus very much
a material one.
In contrast, the Scope elaborates or enhances the Process.
(1) It elaborates the Process –
(a) by restatement (the traditional category of cognate object), as in:
he ran a tremendous race
(b) by specification (of the ‘lexical content’), as in:
they took a leisurely walk; she took a brisk shower
(c) or by exemplification (i.e., by giving a subtype of the process), as in:
13 Note (1) Scope is referred to by the ergative term Range in IFG2. (2) An equivalent role in a behavioural
clause is termed Behaviour (e.g. She sang four songs). (See IFG3: 294.)
they played a game of tennis; they danced a polka
(2) Alternatively, the Scope may enhance the Process, typically, by a circumstantial
feature of space (location or extent):
they climbed the nearest peak; the horse jumped the fence; they roamed the streets
The Goal and the Scope thus differ in the degree and type of their involvement in
the Process: the Goal is a real participant, actually affected by the performance of the
process, whereas the Scope is a restatement or further specification of the Process
itself. From these differences follow differences in probes:
Goal: (1) it is impacted (affected), so it can often be followed by an Attribute, a
Role, a Recipient, or a Location of destination that represents the result of the impact 14
– drive the car [Attribute:] hot [the car is hot]; paint the wall [Attribute:] pink; cut the
onions [Role: product:] into cubes; kick the cat [Location:] down the stairs; give
[Recipient:] the kid a car, etc.; (2) it is impacted, so it can be probed by do to/with
(what did he do to the wall? – he painted it pink).15
Scope: it represents the scope of the performance of the Process, so it can often
be preceded by a preposition that indicates the nature of this scope (on, at, in, etc.) –
she climbed up the ladder. When it is a restatement of the Process, there is typically an
alternative wording with Process alone – have a walk ~ walk; take a shower ~ shower.
Since the Scope isn’t impacted, it can neither be construed with a result (Attribute, etc.)
nor be probed with do to/with. Scopes are contrasted with Goals in Table 4.15:
Table 4.15 Contrasting examples of Scope and Goal
Process + Scope Process + Goal
play (on) the piano polish the piano (bright)
scale the wall paint the wall (pink)
reach the post shake the post (loose)
climb (up) the steps wash the steps (clean)
jump (over) the fence pull the fence (down)
visit churches build churches
hit a volley hit the boy
row the lake row the boat (across the lake)
As can be expected, there are a number of cases that are less clear than those
represented by the examples given above. From one point of view, Goal and Scope are
really points on a cline between highly affected material participant (i.e., Goal) and
non-affected material participant (i.e., Scope). Various factors determine to what
extent a particular participant approximates a prototypical Goal or a prototypical
14 This resultative Attribute may be 'incorporated' in the process itself – kill = 'cause to be dead'; break =
'cause to be broken'; flatten = 'cause to be flat'; etc. – in which case it cannot be configured as a separate
element.
15 This probe with 'do to/with' does not apply to Goals in creative material clauses, i.e. Goals that are
actually brought into existence by the performance of the process; but the nature of the impact on them
is clear enough – they actually result from the performance of the process: he'll bake a cake tomorrow,
Wren wants to build another gazebo, Danes design opera houses.
Scope. For instance, affectedness is related to (textual) specificity: specific referents

are more likely to be affected than generic ones. Thus the Goal in farmers shoot
ducklings is arguably less affected and more scope-like than the Goal in the farmer shot
the ugly duckling; shooting ducklings is just one type of shooting just as hunting lions
is just one type of hunting. Related to this is the fact that a Scope is less likely to be a
personal pronoun she/he than is a Goal. In fact, often the Scope has no real referential
existence independent of the Process – play tennis, football.
3.5 Mental clauses

(i) Mental or behavioural?
Tests to distinguish these types of clauses were given in Section 2.5 where Table 4.8
provides examples of agnate clauses. (See also IFG2 :139; IFG3: 248-52.)
(ii) Mental or verbal?
Mental clauses are similar to some verbal clauses in their unmarked present tense
selection – the simple present: he thinks that would be a good idea, he says that would
be a good idea. They are also similar in that they may project another clause: He
thought  he was ambitious, he said  he was ambitious. But on the one hand, a mental
projection is an idea, whereas a verbal one is a locution, and on the other hand, while
all verbal clauses can project, only certain mental ones can (namely, cognitive ones and
certain affective ones).
In addition, mental and verbal clauses differ critically in that verbal ones can have
a Receiver, whereas mental ones cannot. Thus we can get he said to us  he was
ambitious, but not he thought to us  he was ambitious. (With ‘think’, a kind of interior
voice can be represented – he thought to himself  ‘that is the way to do it’ – but this
borderline type is quite restricted; we do not get he believed/knew/dreamed... to
himself.)
See also discussion of ‘judgmental verbs’ in Section 3.7 (i) below.
(iii) Mental or relational?
Certain verbs can serve in relational attributive clauses as well as in mental ones. One
group comprises the verbs taste, feel, smell. Contrast:
The rabbit smelt the fox. (mental)
The rabbit smells good. (relational)
In the first case, the rabbit is treated as a conscious being; in the second, an
Attribute is ascribed to it and it is not necessarily a conscious being – indeed, it may
have been turned into an inanimate stew. The verb smell belongs to different sets in
the two cases; compare:
The rabbit smelt/saw/perceived/sensed the fox. (mental)
The rabbit smells/seems/is good. (relational)
Further, while the mental clause can be passive – the fox was smelled by the rabbit,
the relational: attributive one cannot – good is smelled by the rabbit is not possible.
A second group involves verbs which may construe either a mental process of
emotion or a relation of causality. Compare:
Violent TV programs affect/influence our children. (mental)
Temperature affects/influences humidity. (identifying: causal)
Note that the first example, like many other mental clauses, has an alternative
active version where the Senser is Subject in Our children respond to violent TV
programs.
Mental and relational clauses both construe emotion. And very often the same
emotion may be construed either as a mode of conscious processing or as an attribute.
For example:
Who fears Virginia Wolf? (mental)
Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf? (relational)
Her story depressed me. (mental)
I felt unhappy. (relational)
Since both clause types construe emotion, it may be hard to know whether a
particular example is a mental or relational clause. The pairs above are clearly distinct.
For instance, relationally fear or misery can be intensified by very (as in he’s very
afraid of Virginia Wolf; I felt very unhappy), and mentally they can be passive (as in
Virginia Wolf is feared by him; I was depressed by her story). However, with clauses such
as he is scared, it is harder to tell:
He is scared
mental Senser Process: passive
relational Carrier Process Attribute
The mental interpretation relates the example to he is scared by large dogs: large
dogs scare him, he got scared, and so on; the relational interpretation relates it to he is
very scared, he seems scared, he became scared, and so on.
(iv) Phenomenon or projected idea?
It is not always easy to judge whether a clause is embedded into the Phenomenon role
or whether it is ‘projected’ as a separate clause by the mental process. (See further
Chapter 6.) The first thing to consider is what category of mental clause is involved,
since perception clauses do not project and nor do emotion clauses, such as enjoy or
dislike: See Table 4.16:
Table 4.16 Mental process types
Mental Process Projection Type of idea Example

possible? projected
perception No16
cognition Yes proposition he knew  that it was too late
(statement, question) he wondered  if it was late
desideration Yes proposal he wishes  us to leave
(‘wanting’) (command) we’d like  them to play sport
emotion No
(‘feeling’)
Where a cognitive or desiderative mental process is involved, then, it may be

necessary to discriminate an embedded fact clause functioning as Phenomenon from a
16 Note that a perception verb like see may also function as a (projecting) cognition process, as in he saw
that no amount of discussion would make any difference.
projected clause. One test is to see whether the element in question can function as
Subject in a passive variant of the clause. If it can, it is a participant (Phenomenon).
Consider the following examples:
The supervisor wanted them to leave.
Jem thought the idea was preposterous.
Did you find out who was responsible?
He accepted that he would not get sole custody.
They all understood that there would be a cancellation fee.
If we explore the possibility of passive variants we find that this is only possible
for the final two examples:
* (For) them to leave was wanted by the supervisor.
* (That) the idea was preposterous was thought by Jem.
* Was who was responsible found out by you?
(The fact) that he would not get sole custody was accepted by him.
(The fact) that there would be a cancellation fee was understood by them all.
Thus them to leave, that the idea was preposterous and who was responsible are
projected clauses not participants.
Another test that can be applied in doubtful cases is that of theme predication
(see Chapter 2). As a participant, a Phenomenon is available for a theme predicated
variant of the clause, whereas a projected clause is not. Thus:
* It was (for) them to leave that was wanted by him.
* It was (that) the idea was preposterous that was thought by Jem.
* Was it who was responsible that was found out by you?
It was (the fact) that he would not get sole custody that was accepted by him.
It was (the fact) that there would be a cancellation fee that was understood by them all.
(v) Projecting clause complex or verbal group complex?
See Section 3.3 above and IFG2 Section 7A.6; IFG3 Section 8.8.
3.6 Relational clauses

(i) Relational or material?
Certain verbs can serve in both relational and material clauses. In particular, the
semantic domains of location, possession and change of state can be construed either
relationally or materially.
Location
A number of locative verbs occur either in relational clauses, simply denoting relation
in space, or in material clauses, denoting movement in space (verbs of motion). The
following example is relational even though the verb is go:
The idea of relativity goes back, certainly, as a principle to Newton and Galileo.
If you consider what the unmarked present tense is, the analytic decision is
usually easy: here it would not be possible to use the choice, present-in-present (the
so-called present progressive or continuous), which is the unmarked choice in a
material clause. Thus we would not expect to find:
The idea of relativity is going back, certainly, as a principle to Newton and Galileo.
This correlates with the fact that the idea of relativity is not construed as moving
back to Newton and Galileo. As usual, we can also probe by exploring agnate verbs.
Here we would have the idea of relativity dates from Newton and Galileo, which is
clearly relational (cf. the impossibility of the idea is dating from Newton and Galileo);
but we cannot relate the example to the idea of relativity moves back to Galileo and
Newton, which would be material; nor can a circumstance of Manner be added to
represent the rate of motion: we cannot say the idea of relativity is going back quickly
to Newton and Galileo.
Similarly contrast:
The road runs along the river (relational) :
The jogger is running along the river (material)
The fence surrounds the White House (relational) :
The protestors are surrounding the White House (material)
Possession
Although have, in its meaning of possess, is a relational process, the meaning of
possession may be construed materially where it involves some dynamic aspect such
as getting, taking, obtaining, giving, receiving. Thus:
The young man has high qualifications. (Carrier + Pro + Attribute)
The young man is obtaining high qualifications. (Actor + Pro + Scope)
(Note also the material use of have, as in the young man is having dinner.)
Change of state
A state of being is typically represented in a Carrier + Process + Attribute structure
such as in the porridge was cold. In addition, a change of state can be represented
relationally, as in the porridge became/got/turned cold. This latter set of attributives is
distinctive however, in selecting present-in-present as the unmarked choice for
present time: it’s getting late, it’s turning cold, etc. In this they reflect a greater
semantic proximity to the material process type. And in fact a change of state can also
be construed as a material process with no Attribute element, as in she paled, the sky
brightened, the water boiled.
(ii) Relational or mental?
See Section 3.5 (iii) above.
(iii) Relational or verbal?
See Section 3.7 (iii) below.
(iv) Attributive or identifying?
(1) The most important test is that of reversibility. Compare:
Tendulkar is short : *Short is Tendulkar [attributive]
Border is the captain : The captain is Border [identifying]
Attributive clauses really have only one participant that can serve as Subject – the
Carrier. Consequently, these clauses have no passive variants and are thus not
reversible.
The reversibility test distinguishes easily between ‘quality’ type attributive
clauses and identifying ones, but is not so successful if the clause is a nominal type
attributive. Compare:
Tendulkar is short : *Short is Tendulkar [attributive]

Tendulkar is a good batsman : A good batsman is Tendulkar [?]
This last example is tricky because its reversal still makes sense. The clause needs
to be considered in context; for example:
A: Tell me something about Tendulkar.
B: Tendulkar is a good batsman.
In this case, B’s answer is an attributive clause (and B could not reply A good
batsman is Tendulkar here). However, the following exchange shows the clause in a
different context:
A: Tell me the name of (an example of) a good batsman.
B: Tendulkar is a good Batsman / A good batsman is Tendulkar.
B’s reply is an identifying clause and therefore reversible. The question is
whether the clause assigns class-membership or gives an example of something. If it
assigns class membership, it is attributive; if it exemplifies, it is identifying.
(2) In general, it is best to replace the unmarked intensive verb be with another
more specific verb when using the reversibility test to distinguish between attributive
and identifying clauses. If the reversal makes sense in the context then the clause can
be taken as identifying. This can be done with Tendulkar is a good batsman:
Tendulkar exemplifies a good batsman : A good batsman is exemplified by Tendulkar
(v) Token or Value?
Token and Value differ in meaning along the lines suggested in Section 2.3 above. If
you have difficulty in a particular case in determining which participant is Token and
which Value you can apply the following rule. If the clause is active, as in Tendulkar
exemplifies a good batsman, then the Subject17 is the Token. If the clause is passive, as
in A good batsman is exemplified by Tendulkar, then the Subject is Value. To apply the
test when the relational verb is be, simply replace be with another relational verb and
see whether the clause is then active or passive. For example:
This piece of work is our best effort : This piece of work represents our best effort
Subject/Token Value
(You can use represent as a substitute relational verb as here, or check IFG2: 120, 123
and IFG3: 238 Table 5(18) for other relational verbs.)
(vi) Relational clauses sometimes not recognised
There are some relational clause types that differ from the typical Carrier + Process +
Attribute or Token + Process + Value structure in some respect – (i) they have an
Agent (Assigner, Attributor), or (ii) a Beneficiary, or (iii) the Process itself embodies
the Attribute role. These types are sometimes not recognised in analysis so we are
drawing attention to them here with a few examples of each.
17 See Chapter 3 for identification of the Subject role.

(1) Causative relational clauses (IFG2: 171; IFG3: 237-8, 299)

identifying
They christened the girl Victoria
She calls him uncle
They elected her President
They voted him man of the year
This proves (that) my point
Assigner Process: identifying Token Value
attributive
She made him a good citizen
This proves him wrong
Attributor Process: attributive Carrier Attribute
Note that these should not be confused with material processes which include a
‘resultative’ Attribute. See Section 3.4 (iii) above.
(2) Benefactive (attributive) relational clauses (i.e. with Beneficiary role)
He owes her three dollars
He makes her a good husband
The room cost me fifteen dollars
Note the ambiguity of an example such as she made him a good friend:
she made him a good friend
(a) Attributor Process Carrier Attribute
(b) Carrier Process Beneficiary Attribute
(c) Actor Process Client Goal
(a) means ‘she caused him to be a good friend’

(b) means ‘she was a good friend to him’
(c) means ‘she made (produced) a good friend for him’. The third reading is
material and is not very reasonable with this particular example, but is perfectly
straightforward with something like she made (baked) him a cake.
(3) Clauses with Process/Attribute (i.e. a quality normally represented as an
Attribute is inherent in the Process)
It doesn’t matter. (‘it is not important’)
That figures.
That stinks.
Doctors and treatments differ the world over. (‘are different’)
(vii) Attribute or part of process?
Certain adjectives such as eager, keen, willing, unwilling, happy, loath; able, unable;
afraid, scared; ready; quick, slow can occur as Attributes in attributive clauses:
Maxine is afraid
Rover is slow
Carrier Attribute
They can also, however, function to modify the meaning expressed by the verb in
examples where the process is not relational:
Maxine is afraid to play against that team.

Doctors are quick to prescribe antibiotics...
Compare doctors are quick to prescribe antibiotics : doctors prescribe antibiotics
quickly/willingly. In both cases the process being construed is the behavioural
prescribe. But in the second case, an additional meaning feature has been added to
create a ‘verbal group complex’ (see IFG3: 518). The additional meaning is modal in
character, relating to inclination or ability. Compare:
Janey is eager to please her professors
Phenomenon Process: mental Senser
Professor Beech is easy [[to please]]

Carrier Process: attributive Attribute
3.7 Verbal clauses

(i) Verbal or behavioural?
Note that there are a number of processes representing verbal behaviour – talk,
chatter, gossip, speak, lie – that are behavioural rather than verbal18; they cannot
project. (See Table 4.9 above for examples.) For example, we cannot say they gossiped
that their neighbours had had a wild party. (Note that while behavioural process can, in
a written narrative, project by quoting: ‘I enjoyed it thoroughly’, he lied, a true verbal
process can project both direct and indirect speech in all contexts.)
Included in this behavioural group are processes which concern the creation of a
symbolic representation. Verbs such as characterise, outline, describe, portray are used
here, but again projection is not possible (e.g. they outline the plot is normal, but they
outlined that the heroine was kidnapped is not possible) and these are behavioural
rather than verbal.
We can also include on the behavioural borderline such ‘judgmental’ verbal
processes as flatter, insult, praise, malign, slander, abuse which have the peculiarity of
allowing for an additional participant role, the Target. These are analysed in IFG2: 141,
IFG3: 256 as follows:
They praised her to her parents
Sayer Process: verbal Target Receiver
But as noted in IFG, they cannot project reported speech and are towards the
material end of a cline. Because they cannot project, these too could be taken as
behavioural and analysed in the following way:
They praised her to her parents
Behaver Process: behavioural Target Receiver
One final borderline case is when a sound is ‘quoted’, usually with go realising the
process. For example:
the tyres went ‘screech!’
the little engine went ‘wheeee!’
the car went ‘bang!’
18 IFG3: 251 Table 5(24) lists these as verbs functioning in behavioural clauses; however they also appear
on p. 255 as examples of verbs functioning in verbal clauses of ‘activity’. The inability of such clauses to
project is an argument for preferring the behavioural interpretation.
It is not possible to have a Receiver in these clauses since the sound is simply a
sound and not a piece of language being addressed to anyone. They are therefore
moving towards the material end of a cline and are best treated as behavioural.
(ii) Verbal or mental?
See Section 3.5 (ii) above.
Note too that a small set of ‘verbal judgement’ verbs – see Section 3.7 (i) above –
such as condone, criticise, excuse, applaud may also occur with an embedded fact
clause: The press applauded the fact that no violence occurred; The press condoned the
fact that some violence occurred. In these contexts, no Receiver is possible and such
verbs are functioning as mental processes of emotion.
(iii) Verbal or relational?
There are a number of verbs (show, indicate, suggest) that can serve either in verbal
clauses or in identifying relational ones. Contrast:
She showed (told, convinced) us || that the substance was potassium (verbal)
The result showed (meant, was) [[that the substance was potassium]] (relational)
They emphasised/highlighted/underlined (said clearly) to the union || that there would
be no further negotiations on the pay offer (verbal)19
The stripes emphasise/highlight the width of the material (relational)
One difference between the two process types illustrated by these examples is
that a verbal clause will usually admit a Receiver whereas a relational one will not.
3.8 Behavioural clauses

(i) Behavioural or mental?
Examples and tests to distinguish these types of clauses were given in Section 2.5
above. (See also IFG2: 139, IFG3: 250-1.)
(ii) Behavioural or verbal?
See Section 3.7 (i) above.
(iii) More than one participant
Most behavioural clauses have only one participant role, the Behaver. However, there
may, in some instances, be candidates for a second participant role. Consider for
example: they solved the problem, they stared at the doctor; they watched the cricket,
they described the new project.
IFG3: 251 suggests that where the participant role re-expresses the process
meaning as in he sang a song, she smiled her mysterious smile, the participant be
termed the Behaviour to capture this fact. However, there are many behavioural
clauses where this would not be an apposite term for the second participant. And
since the Behaviour role is clearly very close to the role of Scope in such material
clauses as they took a walk; they had a rest, it is simpler to extend the term Scope to
all cases of a second participant in a behavioural clause. This would bring out the fact
that such clauses treat mental and verbal processing too as material activity.
Alternatively, if it is useful to highlight the relationship with an agnate mental or verbal
19 Note that he took the pen and highlighted/underlined the main points in the chapter is an example of these
verbs functioning in a material clause.
clause, you may choose to label the second participant as Phenomenon or Verbiage:
they solved the problem
they watched the cricket
Behaver Process: behavioural Phenomenon
they described the new project (to the Board)

Behaver Process: behavioural Verbiage (Receiver)
Note that some behavioural clauses of the verbal subtype will also admit a Target
role, as in:
they insulted her (to her face)
Behaver Process: behavioural Target (Receiver)
3.9 Discriminating circumstance type

Use the probes provided in Table 4.4 to help you.
3.10 Distinguishing between circumstances and other elements

When you identify a unit as a circumstantial element of clause structure, you have to
make sure that it does not actually serve another function. In particular, circumstances
have to be distinguished from:
(i) participants;
(ii) Qualifiers in nominal groups;
(iii) dependent clauses in clause complexes;
(iv) conjunctive Adjuncts (textual).
(i) Circumstance or participant?
Circumstance or participant with phrasal verb?
Because of the prevalence of phrasal verbs in English, it may sometimes be difficult to
decide whether to interpret a structure as process + circumstance or process +
participant. For example, which is the best analysis of the following:
They got off the old bus OR They got off the old bus
Actor Process : material Scope Actor Pro : mat Location
We looked at the snail OR We looked at the snail

Behaver Process : behav. Scope/Behaviour Behaver Pro : behav. Location
They weren’t worrying it OR They weren’t about it

about worrying
Senser Process : mental Phenomenon Senser Pro : mental Matter
Often it will be obvious that the preposition must count as part of the process
realisation. For example:
They ran down the boy They ran down the lane
Actor Process : material Goal Actor Pro : mater. Location
They called for change They called for a chat

Saver Process : verbal Verbiage Actor Pro : mater. Cause
If in doubt, the best test is to check the ‘circumstance’ as the focus of theme
predication.
??It was off the old bus they got.
?It was at the snail we were looking.
It wasn’t about the strike (that) they were worrying.
It was for a chat they called.
Where the prepositional phrase is feasible as a predicated Theme, as in the last
two cases, it is likely to be functioning as a circumstance.
Circumstance or Recipient (or Client)?
Examples:
She sent the parcel to New York. Location
She sent the parcel to her aunt. Recipient
If an expression like to New York or to her Aunt is Recipient then it can also occur
in an alternative position in the clause without the preposition to. Thus:
*She sent New York the parcel.
She sent her aunt the parcel.
A similar test can discriminate a Client from a Cause:
She committed crimes for her children. Cause
She made a cake for her aunt. Client
*She committed her children crimes.
She made her aunt a cake. Client
Manner or Attribute?
Examples:
Last year, the term went by faster. Manner
Maybe it is a bit like reading a book. Attribute
He is luckier than most. Attribute
The Attribute is always inherent in an attributive clause, whereas Manner is not
inherent in any transitivity types. Consequently, you can probe the difference by
leaving out the element in question. Further, while you can’t tell with faster whether it
is adjectival or adverbial, you can check a related lexical item to see whether it is
adjectival (and hence Attribute) or adverbial (and hence Manner). For example:
Time goes more quickly when you’re having fun.
Manner: means or Agent?
Examples:
His jaw was broken by a particularly savage blow. Agent (Actor)
He was chosen for that task by chance. Manner
An Agent is a participant in the clause, although when it appears as a by phrase in

a passive clause it may be hard to distinguish from a Manner circumstance. However,
only the participant can take on the Subject role in an active variant of the clause. Thus
the active form of his jaw was broken by a particularly savage blow is A particularly
savage blow broke his jaw whereas the active variant of He was chosen for that task by
chance is They chose him for that task by chance (rather than Chance chose him for
that task).
(ii) Circumstance or Qualifier?
A prepositional phrase may function as a circumstance in the clause, as in the cop hit
the man [Manner:means:] with his baton. But prepositional phrases may also be
embedded as the ‘Qualifier’ part of a nominal group, as in the cop beat the man with
red hair. (See Chapter 5.) In this case the man with red hair functions in its entirety as
the Goal. It is essential to pay attention not only to the form of a unit, but to its
function. If unsure about a particular prepositional phrase, check whether it actually
represents the circumstance of the process, answering where, when, how, what like, etc.
with respect to the process. For example, with the clause: The report commented on a
number of inconsistencies in their stories, the phrase in their stories does not provide
the location of the commenting, it does not answer the question ‘where did the report
comment?’; instead, it qualifies inconsistencies.
Here are some further examples:
The children [from local schools] were missing out on athletics.
The Council sent information to all residents [near the development].
For the clock on the space ship was showing a different time [to the clocks on earth].
In all these examples, too, the prepositional phrases in square brackets are
embedded into the nominal groups functioning as participants. Thus from local schools
defines the children, it does not provide the location of the process of missing out.
Similarly, near the development is part of the participant all residents near the
development, it does not tell where council sent the information. Because they are part
of a nominal group, these phrases cannot by themselves function as Theme. For
example:
*Near the development the Council had sent information to all residents.
*In their stories the report commented on a number of inconsistencies.
Compare now the circumstances in the following:
Sixty children travelled from local schools || to participate.
Several protesters set up camp near the proposed development site.
The commission criticised a number of officials in its report.
In these clauses the prepositional phrases genuinely provide the ‘setting’ for the
process. Because they function as circumstances, they can readily occur as marked
Theme, as in In its report the commission criticised a number of officials.
(iii) Circumstance or dependent clause in clause complex?
Meanings of location, manner, cause and so on can appear as part of the clause in the
form of a circumstance. However, these meanings can also occur as a separate clause
with its own process configuration, such as when she was a young girl, by transmitting
information or where angels fear to tread. Such clauses are ‘secondary’ or ‘dependent’
in character, with respect to a main or ‘alpha’ clause. (See further Chapter 6.) Here are
some examples of clauses that are dependent in clause complexes but might be
mistaken as circumstances. They are marked with β. Processes are picked out in bold:
α H. Hertz had demonstrated the truth in the theory ||
β by transmitting radio waves over a short distance.
α Newtonian physics used this argument ||
β in developing the special theory of relativity.
α As well as committing funds to this new highway
β we should be upgrading public transport in our cities...
(iv) Circumstance or textual conjunctive?
Circumstances and conjunctives are metafunctionally distinct, but there can be areas
of overlap within the semantic domain of space-time. First let’s look at a Conjunctive
example:
Earlier, several attempts had been made to cross the Blue Mountains.
Here earlier marks a temporal relation in construction of the narrative – a
flashback. Such relations in text are conjunctive and if they are made explicit, they are
marked by elements serving as linkers within the textual layer of the clause.
By contrast, circumstances of time construe time as an aspect of the process
configuration itself, representing a location in time, in terms of some time interval (in
the morning, on Monday, after midnight, before Easter, during the Middle Ages), in terms
of the now of speaking (now, then; yesterday, tomorrow), or in terms an event (after the
meeting, at breakfast, before the war).
In principle, you can probe the difference by checking whether the element in
question can be the focus of theme predication. For example, it was before 1820 that
several attempts had been made to cross the Blue Mountains is perfectly fine, whereas it
was earlier that several attempts had been made to cross the Blue Mountains is not so
good. This is clearer outside the domain of space-time. For instance, it was however/
nevertheless/consequently/furthermore that several attempts had been made to cross
the Blue Mountains are all impossible.
The border between conjunctives and circumstances is hazier in the domain of
space-time, as shown in Table 4.17:
Table 4.17 Temporal conjunctives and circumstances
Conjunctive Adjunct Circumstantial Adjuncts (experiential)

nominal groups prepositional phrases
Earlier... The previous year Before the war

Later... The following week After six weeks
Next… A few minutes later In a few minutes
Afterwards; after this After the meeting
There are unambiguously textual items with a clear anaphoric sense: earlier
means ‘earlier than this’, previously means ‘before this’, afterwards means ‘after this’;
all these relate the current clause to previous text. Then there are circumstances
which provide a time reference within the clause in which they occur, such as earlier
than 1942, before the war, after the meeting.
In between these, are those items which have a noun representing a period of
time (year, day, hour, minute, month, period, etc.) as the central (‘Head’) element and
which are modified by an item with conjunctive implications in the text: (next, previous,
subsequent, following, etc.) – The previous year they had made several attempts; the
following day they would try again. On the grounds that these can be the focus of
Theme predication – only available to ‘topical’ Themes – they can be analysed as
circumstances.
4.1 Phase I
4.1.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Practising the tense test
Write a clause agnate to each of the following examples which would be used to
comment on action or states concurrent with the moment of speaking:
A small boy stood bravely on the ramparts. A small boy is standing bravely on the
ramparts.
He had a crown on his head. He has a crown on his head.
1. He will have a sceptre in his hand. 1. ..............................................

2. The young king calmed the crowds. 2. ..............................................
3. The lad was James V of Scotland. 3. ..............................................
4. His father had fallen in battle. 4. ..............................................
5. James wanted his uncle’s sword. 5. ..............................................
6. Only his closest attendants knew his identity. 6. .............................................
7. The farmer saw the battle on the bridge. 7. ..............................................
8. He said that his name was ‘The Goodman of 8. ..............................................
Ballengiech’.
Exercise 2 Practising the ‘do to/do with’ probe

Write a clause related to the example, which asks a question focusing on the process
(formed with do to or do with).
The farmer was wielding his flail against What did the farmer do with his flail?
the attackers.
The man led James to the barn. What did the man do with James?
1. The farmer had been threshing corn. 1. ..............................................
2. They admitted the bondsman immediately. 2. ..............................................
3. James clutched Wille’s arm. 3. ..............................................
4. He removed his hat. 4. ..............................................
5. He gave him the farm. 5. ..............................................
6. Feuding divided the country. 6. .............................................
7. Ruffians attacked the king. 7. ..............................................
8. He brought water to the king. 8. ..............................................
Exercise 3 Practising the projection test

Find a clause related to the example, which reports or quotes, as in the models:
James heard things that normally would James heard that there was trouble in the
not have reached his ears. land.
The king asked the labourer a question. The king asked the labourer, ‘Who are
you?’
1. He answered quickly. 1. ..............................................
2. James saw the castle. 2. ..............................................
3. James knew the answer. 3. ..............................................
4. The king replied. 4. ..............................................
5. The king smiled to himself. 5. ..............................................
6. James assured him of his welcome. 6. .............................................
Exercise 4 Discriminating process types

Label the following clauses appropriately as material or mental. See Section 3.4 (i)
The boy stood bravely on the ramparts. material
Only his closest attendants knew his true identity. mental
1. The ruffians robbed him. 1. ..............................................
2. The king retreated to a nearby bridge. 2. ..............................................
3. The farmer saw the battle. 3. ..............................................
4. The famer wanted a farm of his own. 4. ..............................................
5. Kinsmen performed the service for 300 years. 5. ..............................................
6. The king was amused by his wonder and comment. 6. .............................................
7. Nothing could please me more. 7. ..............................................
8. ... whenever the king should pass over the land. 8. ..............................................
9. How will I recognise the king? 9. ..............................................
10. Willie suddenly realised the true rank of the man. 10. ...........................................

Label the following clauses appropriately as mental or verbal. See Section 3.5 (ii)
The sight of their young king calmed the crowds below. mental
Willie said so. verbal
1. James wanted his uncle’s sword. 1. ..............................................
2. Willie eagerly agreed. 2. ..............................................
3. James asked a question. 3. ..............................................
4. James decided on peace. 4. ..............................................
5. Willie answered slowly. 5. ..............................................
6. James heard things about the feuding chieftains. 6. .............................................
7. He liked the simple pleasures. 7. ..............................................
8. ‘Easily’, replied his companion. 8. ..............................................
9. Willie suddenly realised the true rank of the man. 9. ..............................................
10. ‘His hat’, repeated his escort. 10. ...........................................

Label the following clauses appropriately as material or relational.
Willie had been threshing corn. material
He must be either you or me. relational
1. All but the two of us are bareheaded. 1. ..............................................
2. Willie had rescued the king. 2. ..............................................
3. He had a crown on his head. 3. ..............................................
4. He became king. 4. ..............................................
5. Willie fell to his knees. 5. ..............................................
6. My name is Willie. 6. .............................................
7. He was content with his lot. 7. ..............................................
8. The suspect was kept in a cell. 8. ..............................................
9. He was attacked by ruffians. 9. ..............................................
10. Who are you? 10. ...........................................
Exercise 7 Identifying clause elements

Find the process, and each participant and circumstance in the following clauses as
shown in the example:
Long ago a small boy stood on the ramparts.
circumstance participant process circumstance
1. The sight of their king calmed the crowds.
2. This lad was James V of Scotland.
3. Shortly after his birth his father had fallen in battle.
4. Disorder spread throughout the kingdom.
5. In the hall, Mum took off his boots.
6. One day he was attacked by a band of ruffians.
7. He retreated to a nearby bridge.
8. Jamie put on his thickest jersey.
9. The farmer had been threshing corn in his barn.
10. He travelled with the king.

Label the following clauses as material, mental, verbal or relational.
That was awful. relational
1. It was Christmas Eve. 1. ..............................................
2. Josie had played in the car almost all the way to 2. ..............................................
Grandma’s.
3. ‘Yes’, answered Dad. 3. ..............................................
4. Now it was bedtime... 4. ..............................................

5. From the landing she could see the decorations 5. ..............................................
in Grandma’s hall.
6. …and she was wide awake. 6. ..............................................
7. Have some hot milk and a biscuit. 7. ..............................................
8. No one will notice. 8. ..............................................
9. Josie grew more and more excited. 9. ..............................................
10. This Josie knew. 10. .............................................
11. In the porch, the ringers said goodnight to each other. 11. .............................................
12. She curled up tight. 12. .............................................
13. She lay there quietly. 13. .............................................
14. The present delighted her. 14. .............................................

Label the following clauses as relational or existential.
There was a sudden noise. existential
The noise was loud. relational
1. She is a very tall woman. 1. ..............................................
2. There will be a storm soon. 2. ..............................................
3. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. 3. ..............................................
4. This is ridiculous. 4. ..............................................
5. Her favourite colour was red. 5. ..............................................
6. In the lane there was a new sports car. 6. ..............................................
7. There are many different kinds of toadstool. 7. ..............................................
8. Many toadstools are poisonous. 8. ..............................................
9. This time there can be no excuse. 9. ..............................................
10. Her father is going to be furious. 10. .............................................
Exercise 10 Discriminating circumstance types

Label the underlined circumstance in the following clauses, as in the examples. See
Table 4.4.
Jamie had slept in the car. Location: place
He lay with open eyes. Manner: quality
1. They opened the box with the rusty key. 1. ..............................................
2. Are you going out? 2. ..............................................
3. You can come with me. 3. ..............................................
4. Some of the people were moving fast. 4. ..............................................
5. They pulled the ropes twice. 5. ..............................................
6. They rang for several minutes. 6. ..............................................
7. Now the bells were ringing sweetly. 7. ..............................................
8. See you in the morning. 8. ..............................................
9. Dad had to carry him for the last bit. 9. ..............................................
10. Nobles quarrelled among themselves 10. .............................................
over land and power.
11. James dressed as a yeoman. 11. .............................................
12. They went towards the cottage. 12. .............................................
13. He wanted to own the farm for himself. 13. .............................................

14. Willie prepared for his important journey. 14. .............................................
15. You will know him by his hat. 15. .............................................
16. He played a trick for a laugh. 16. .............................................
17. According to Willie, he was just a yeoman. 17. .............................................
18. He laughed in spite of himself. 18. .............................................
19. It seemed odd to him. 19. .............................................
20. They exploded to bits. 20. .............................................
Exercise 11 Discriminating circumstances from textual and interpersonal

elements (See Chapters 2 and 3.)
Pick out the circumstances in the following examples:
Unfortunately, they could not get away quickly.
1. However no-one followed him into the valley.
2. We hurried || but did not arrive until the evening.
3. While they were taking the boxes into the yard || they were singing loudly.
4. They were probably working the whole week.
5. They just came with their friends || although they were uninvited.
6. The men often travelled away from home.
7. Next they opened the presents with great excitement.
8. During the long drought, he lost much of his crop.
9. Although she disliked him || she graciously offered him a drink.
10. Perhaps he will be noticed at the hunt by some of the others.

Identify the process types and circumstance types in Texts 1 and 2, which were earlier
presented in Chapter 2. Write the labels in the table below the text. To help you,
processes are in bold and circumstances underlined. What comparisons can be made
between the two texts? How do the selections of PROCESS TYPE and CIRCUMSTANTIATION
reflect the purposes of the texts?

1. The numbat is an unmistakable slender marsupial with a pointed muzzle and short
erect ears. || 2. The body is reddish brown || 3. but the rump is much darker || 4. and has
about six white bars across it. || 5. The eye has a black stripe through it || 6. and the long
bushy tail is yellowish. || 7. The toes are strongly clawed and very effective in digging out
termites. || 8. The tongue is extremely long, || 9. as it is in all mammalian ant or termite
eaters. || 10. Unlike most marsupials, the numbat is active during the day. || 11. It
shelters in hollow logs. || 12. It was once relatively common || 13. but now lives only in a
small area of S.W. South Australia. ||
[Adapted from The Concise Encyclopedia of Australia 2nd ed. Buderim, Queensland, Bateman,
1984: 459.]
Text 1
PROCESS TYPE CIRCUMSTANTIATION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Text 2 Explanation
1. After flash floods, desert streams from upland areas carry heavy loads of silt, sand and
rock fragments. || 2. As* they reach the flatter area of desert basins || 3. they slow down ||
4. and their waters may soak quickly into the basin floor.|| 5. Then the streams drop
their loads; || 6. first they drop the heaviest material – the stones, || 7. then [they drop]
the sand || 8. and finally [they drop] the silt. || 9. Soon these short lived streams become
choked by their own deposits ||10. and they spread their load in all directions.|| 11. After
some time, fan or con-shaped deposits of gravel, sand, silt and clay are formed around
each valley or canyon outlet. || 12.These are called alluvial fans.||
[Adapted from Sale, C., Wilson, G & Friedman, B. Our changing world Bk 1. Melbourne,
Longman Cheshire 1980:54.]
* Note that as, then, first, then, and finally have no role in transitivity. They are textual elements, linking
one clause or sentence to another, rather than being circumstances. See Section 3.10 (iv).
Text 2
PROCESS TYPE CIRCUMSTANTIATION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Text 3 Taxonomising report

Identify the processes in the following text and label according to type. What semantic
work is achieved by the different types of process and how do the choices compare
with those of Text 1?
There are many species of whales*. They are conveniently divided into toothed and baleen
categories. The toothed whales are found world-wide in great numbers. The largest is the
Sperm whale, which grows to about the size of a boxcar. Other species familiar to
Canadians are the Beluga or white whale, the Narwhal with its unicorn-like tusk, the Killer
whale or Orca, the Pilot or Pothead whale, which is commonly stranded on beaches, the
Spotted and Spinner Dolphins, that create a problem for tuna seiners, and the Porpoises,
which we commonly see along our shores.
There are fewer species of the larger baleen whales*, which filter krill and small fish
through their baleen plates. The largest is the Blue whale, which is seen frequently in the
Gulf of St Lawrence. It reaches a length of 100 feet and a weight of 200 tons, equivalent to
about 30 African elephants. The young are 25 feet long at birth and put on about 200 lbs. a
day on their milk diet. Other species are: the Fins, which at a length of 75 ft. blow spouts of
20 ft., the fast swimming Seis, the Grays, so commonly seen on migrations along our Pacific
coast between Baja California and the Bering Sea, the Bowheads of Alaskan waters, the
Rights, so seriously threatened, the Humpbacks, enjoyed by tourists in such places as
Hawaii and Alaska, the smaller Bryde’s whales, and the smallest Minke whales, which
continue to be abundant worldwide.
As with the growing interest in birding, increasing numbers of whale watchers now
notice the differences between the various species of whales.
[Martin, W R 1989 ‘Innovative Fisheries management: International Whaling.’ A T Bielak (ed)
Innovative Fisheries Management Initiatives, Ottawa, Canadian Wildlife Federation: 1-4.]
* An ‘existential’ clause, used to introduce something into the text.
Text 4 Magazine feature (excerpt)

Pick out and classify the processes, writing them into the table below. (A longer
version of the text will be analysed and discussed in Phase 2.) Note: You can ignore for
now a process in an ‘embedded’ clauses – one enclosed in square brackets – since it
forms part of a participant role.
Dangerous liaisons
Women [[who form relationships with prisoners]] often believe they alone understand the
men, and can reform them. ‘They say, ‘I know this guy; I know he’s good’. It’s partly a
nurturing instinct, but some prisoners are also very physically attractive and charming,’
notes Sister Janet Glass, who works with a Catholic chaplaincy team at Sydney’s Long Bay
jail.
‘Often, these women are attracted to prisoners because they have just ended a
relationship,’ Glass adds. ‘They’re empty, and want some sort of emotional fillip. The
prisoners are probably telling them lies, but they appear gallant and masculine and
women believe them. ’
[Adapted from box inset into large feature by F. Robson ‘Prisoners prey’. Sydney
Morning Herald. Good Weekend magazine 24/6/95: 24.]
Text 4
material verbal mental relational
4.2 Phase II
4.2.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Identifying participant roles
Go back to Phase 1, exercise 4 and label the Actor, Goal, Senser and Phenomenon
participants. For example:
The boy stood bravely on the ramparts. material
Actor
Only his closest attendants knew his true identity. mental
Senser Phenomenon
Exercise 2 Identifying participant roles

Go back to Phase 1, exercise 5 and label the Senser, Phenomenon, Sayer and Verbiage
participants:
The sight of their young king calmed the crowds below. mental
Phenomenon Senser
Willie said so. verbal
Sayer Verbiage
Exercise 3 Disinguishing Client, Recipient, Receiver participants from

circumstances
The underlined phrase in the following clauses functions as either a circumstance or a
participant (Recipient, Client in a material clause or Receiver in a verbal one). Note
that if it is a participant there will be a related clause in which the underlined phrase
appears without a preposition, as in the example. See Section 3.10 (i).
They made some food for their Royal guest.
They made their Royal guest some food. participant (Client)
1. He granted sole possession of the farm to Willie. 1. ..............................................
2. All the children ran up to her. 2. ..............................................
3. She was thirsty for a drink. 3. ..............................................
4. He poured a glass of milk for her. 4. ..............................................
5. Father Christmas’s box of clothes was brought 5. ..............................................
to your house.
6. She made a good dinner for her. 6. ..............................................
7. And I shall creep very quietly to the spare room. 7. ..............................................
8. She trained hard for the race. 8. ..............................................
9. She poured a drink for her sister. 9. ..............................................
10. He sent some money to his friend. 10. ...........................................
11. She worked hard for her mother. 11. ...........................................
Exercise 4 Differentiating identifying and attributive clauses

Label the following clauses as attributive or identifying; if identifying, formulate an
agnate clause in reverse sequence. See Section 3.6 (iv). For example:
He had a crown on his head. attributive
This lad was James V of Scotland.
James V of Scotland was this lad. identifying
1. His mother was the regent. 1. ..............................................
2. The lion represents courage. 2. ..............................................
3. James became adventurous and resourceful. 3. ..............................................
4. At 16 he was an experienced fighter. 4. ..............................................
5. He was both wise and good. 5. ..............................................
6. His name was Willie. 6. ..............................................
7. That was only a foolish dream. 7. ..............................................
8. Which one are you? 8. ..............................................
9. The king must be either you or me. 9. ..............................................
10. All but the two of us are bareheaded. 10. .............................................
Exercise 5 Existential clauses

Underline the Existent role in the following examples:
There were his carrots in a sack and on the table (there) was a fine cooked goose .
1. In his hand there was a royal sceptre.
2. There will be a continuing struggle.
3. In the townships, there had been a riot.
4. There was a rose in the vase.
5. On the table lay some tattered books.
Exercise 6 Practising tests to differentiate mental from verbal processes

Identify the following clauses as verbal or mental by checking whether a Receiver role
is possible (verbal) and whether the ‘active’ participant must be conscious (mental).
E.g. Mary told an exciting tale of her adventures.
Mary told us an exciting tale of her adventures
The diary told an exciting tale of her adventures verbal
1. They didn’t explain that we needed to pay in advance. 1. ..............................................
2. We always expect a quick response. 2. ..............................................
3. Please consider all the options carefully. 3. ..............................................
4. They suggested that there were alternative flights. 4. ..............................................
5. They promised that there would be a short interval. 5. ..............................................
6. We believe it’s the best idea. 6. ..............................................
7. They understand that they won’t be able to stay. 7. ..............................................
8. They insisted that portable computers would 8. ..............................................
not be insured.
Exercise 7 Practising tests to discriminate behavioural from mental processes

Fill in the following grid for each of the clauses given by answering questions (i) and
(ii) below.
(i) (Regardless of the tense in the example), what would be the unmarked tense
for commenting on ongoing activity at this moment? (If present, mental.)
e.g. I understood the question.
present e.g. I understand the question.
present in present e.g. *I am understanding the question.
(ii) Could the process in question report what was thought? (If yes, mental.)
e.g. He heard the news: he heard that they’d left. yes
e.g. He meditated in his room: he meditated that they’d left. no
unmarked present? can report? PROCESS TYPE

e.g. I understood the question present yes mental
e.g. He heard the news present yes mental
e.g He meditated in his room present in present no behavioural
1. The baby was watching me
2. No one will notice
3. She knew the reason for his
silence
4. He pondered the situation
5. Jamie hadn’t remembered
6. Listen to this
7. They all looked round
8. I could smell the roses
Exercise 8 Differentiating behavioural from verbal processes

Identify the process in the following examples as behavioural or verbal by checking
whether or not the process can report another clause. (If yes, verbal)
E.g. Jamie explained everything.
Jamie explained that he was coming. verbal
Jamie laughed.
*Jamie laughed that he was coming. behavioural
1. They all talked at once. 1. ..............................................
2. They were singing at the top of their lungs. 2. ..............................................
3. Jamie agreed. 3. ..............................................
4. The barometer says rain. 4. ..............................................
5. The baby was screaming its head off. 5. ..............................................
6. Everyone praised him. 6. ..............................................
7. They stated their beliefs. 7. ..............................................
8. She spoke loudly and firmly. 8. ..............................................
Exercise 9 Identifying participants (behavioural clauses)

Analyse the following clauses for Behaver, Scope (or Behaviour) and Target as
required. See Section 3.8 (iii).
They praised Caesar.
Behaver Target
They sang a carol.

Behaver Scope (or Behaviour)
1. She has described the problem clearly.

2. He insulted his audience.
3. He was talking rubbish.
4. She flattered her teacher.
5. They uttered a cry of joy.
6. He slandered his rival.
7. She blamed the judges.
8. She gave a speech.
9. He smiled a most compelling smile.
10. He pondered the problem.
Exercise 10 Discriminating mental from attributive clauses

Identify the following clauses as mental or relational attributive. See section 3.5 (iii).
Joanna was very excited. relational attributive
I don’t believe it. mental
1. I didn’t know. 1. ..............................................
2. The play upset him. 2. ..............................................
3. I wasn’t aware of that. 3. ..............................................
4. The children could see from a distance. 4. ..............................................
5. Joanna was very upset. 5. ..............................................
6. But I didn’t notice him. 6. ..............................................
7. None of the children believed it except Sylvia. 7. ..............................................
8. Sylvia always had good ideas. 8. ..............................................
9. I’ve never felt so irritated. 9. ..............................................
Exercise 11 Discriminating material from attributive clauses

Identify the following clauses as relational attributive or material. See Section 3.6 (i):
change of state.
The night grew cold. relational attributive
Stranger things happen. material
1. The play begins at six. 1. ..............................................
2. She became upset. 2. ..............................................
3. The paint turned brown. 3. ..............................................

4. The term ends in November. 4. ..............................................
5. A problem arose with that solution. 5. ..............................................
6. It goes bad sometimes. 6. ..............................................
7. It goes sour in the heat. 7. ..............................................
8. A bridge appeared in the distance. 8. ..............................................
Exercise 12 Discriminating Scope from Goal

Pick out a Scope or a Goal in each of the following examples. See Section 3.4 (iv).
He never gave it a thought. Scope
He picked up a stone, threw it and hit the little robin. Goal(s)
1. We’re doing ‘The Coventry Carol’. 1. ..............................................
2. He ran a terrific race. 2. ..............................................
3. He pulled his little broken wing along. 3. ..............................................
4. Why did they tear it up? 4. ..............................................
5. He made a nest. 5. ..............................................
6. They crossed the muddy river. 6. ..............................................
7. They had a game of catch. 7. ..............................................
8. They licked their fingers. 8. ..............................................
9. He played the piano beautifully. 9. ..............................................
10. The Sergeant kicked another cannon ball. 10. .............................................
11. They climbed the wall. 11. .............................................
12. He had the best dinner ever. 12. .............................................
Exercise 13 Discriminating Token and Value

Label the Token and Value functions in the following relational identifying clauses, as
in the examples. See Section 3.6 (v).
She ’s the one.
Token Value
The last thing we want is for something to go wrong.

Value Token
1. What was the last item on the program?
2. Garden maintenance is his responsibility.
3. Now was the time for everyone to join in.
4. The basic mechanism is one where the teacher surveils the student.
5. The substantial cost of the program is the only disadvantage.
6. The view of English that I have developed represents a minority position.
7. It was the best concert ever.
8. One of the results is that real differences are obscured.
9. What is immediately striking is the manner in which it works.

10. The exercise doesn’t involve composing a written response.
11. My birthday is today.
Exercise 14 Types of attributive clause

Label the Carrier and Attribute in the following relational attributive clauses; also note
whether the clause is intensive, possessive or circumstantial. See Section 2.3.1.
I have plenty of carrots. possessive
Carrier Attribute
It wasn’t any use. intensive

Carrier Attribute
1. He was in the phone booth. 1. ..............................................

2. It was a tracksuit. 2. ..............................................
3. He grew thoughtful. 3. ..............................................
4. Has he got a plan? 4. ..............................................
5. The fare seems exorbitant. 5. ..............................................
6. That’s easy. 6. ..............................................
7. He had a sore head. 7. ..............................................
8. Where’s our lunch? 8. ..............................................
9. Here are his paw marks. 9. ..............................................
Exercise 15 Discriminating projected ideas and locutions from participants

Label all participants and circumstances in the following clauses; remember that
separate clauses are not participants unless embedded. See Sections 3.5 (iv), 3.7 (i).
‘We ’re home!’ they said.
Locution || Sayer
Carrier Attribute
No one saw [[them opening the kitchen window with a jemmy]].

Senser Phenomenon
Actor Goal Manner:means
1. They love ice-cream.

2. They don’t like us taking this.
3. I want you to have it.
4. She repeated the answer.
5. I wish there was someone to talk to.
6. Are you quite sure you’re not imagining it?
7. We’ve all been wondering where you disappeared to.
8. ‘But we’ll get cold,’ said Rachel.
9. I told everyone to leave.
10. The toy amused her.
11. I don’t even know if her family exchanges gifts at Christmas.
12. It was wonderful to be wrapped in paper with pictures on it.
Exercise 16 Discriminating circumstances from other elements

Label the participants and circumstances in the following clauses. See Table 4.4.
As the snowflakes fell, the two girls danced.
Actor Actor
1. On Christmas eve, he crept out to his woolshed.
2. He ran away out of fear.
3. He had a surprise for them all.
4. The sledge began moving, because the ground sloped down.
5. They saw some toys in the sack.
6. In no time at all, he made a top.
7. They ate the icing on the cake.
8. They ate the icing off the cake.
9. What did the youngsters say on your arrival?
10. Can I see the presents you got from Santa?

Text 1 Explanation (for young children) (excerpt)
Consider again the following text from Chapter 3. Analyse it for TRANSITIVITY,
subcategorising mental and behavioural processes (see Sections 2.5; 3.8 (iii)). What
patterning can you observe to the choices and – if you analysed it in Chapter 3 – how
does this relate to the MOOD choices?
1. Do you enjoy [[making sounds]]?
2.1 What sounds do these things make || 2.2 if you bang them?
3. What different sounds can you make with your body and your voice?
4.1 Put your fingers on your throat || 4.2 as you talk || 4.3 or [as you] sing.
6. Hold a ruler on the edge of a table.
7.1 Press down the end || 7.2 and let go.
8. Can you hear a sound?
9. What do you see?
10.1 Whenever you hear a sound || 10.2 there is [[something moving]].
11. This movement is called a vibration.
12.1 Try this with a rubber band || 12.2 and see.
13.1 You can make musical sounds with rubber bands of different sizes
13.2 or by plucking the strings of a guitar.
14. Strike a triangle with a beater.
15.1 Touch the triangle || 15.2 while it is ringing.

17.1 When something stops vibrating|| 17.2 the sound stops.
18. How does someone’s voice reach you?
19. The sound travels through the air as sound waves.
20. Throw a stone in a pool of water.
21. Watch [[the waves spreading out]].
22. Sound waves move through the air in a similar way.
Text 2 Children’s story (opening)

Divide the following excerpt into clauses. Identify and label the processes, participants
and circumstances. How do the choices made relate to the concerns of the book?
1988
My name’s Laura and this is my place. I turned ten last week. Our house is the one with the
flag on the window. Tony says it shows we’re on Aboriginal land, but I think it means the
colour of the earth, back home. Mum and Dad live here too, and Terry and Lorraine, and
Aunty Bev, and Tony and Diane and their baby Dean. He’s my nephew and he’s so cute! We
come from Bourke, but Dad thought there’d be more jobs in the city. This [picture] is me
and Gully. I have to keep her on a lead because she chases cars. She comes from Bourke too.
I guess she thinks they’re sheep. This is a map of my place. We’ve got a McDonalds right on
the corner!
[from Wheatley, N. My place. Blackburn, Collins Dove, 1989.]

Revisit the following text from earlier chapters. Identify and label processes,
participants and circumstances. Be careful not to confuse circumstances with
elements that are purely interpersonal or textual in function. (See Chapters 2 & 3.)
(M= mother, C= 4 1/2 year old boy)
M: [One] Like the one in the garden, are you thinking of ?
Well, sometimes birds die || when they get very old, ||
or maybe they get sick || because they got some disease, ||
or maybe a cat got it. || Baby birds sometimes die ||
when they fall out of the nest, || or, in the winter <<if you were in a cold
place>> birds might die || because they can’t get enough food.||
C: Yeah, but what happens || if one bird falls out ||
and then – and when it’s just about at the ground || it flies?
M: Yes, well if it’s big enough to fly || it’ll be all right.
And sometimes birds fall out of the nest || but they don’t die...
But that didn’t look like a baby bird; ||
maybe there was something wrong with it; || maybe a cat killed it – ||
(hastily) I don’t think || it was our cat.
C: Perhaps it was on the ground || and then a cat got it.
M: Yeah, it was probably pecking something on the ground...
Maybe it was just a very old bird. || ...
C: (referring to dead bird in garden) But it looks as if it’s alive.
M: Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?
C: Perhaps its eye got blind.
M: Could have been, || but it definitely wasn’t alive.
Text 4 Magazine feature

Text 4 from Phase 1 is reproduced here in a longer version and without one
simplification included in Phase 1. Analyse the text again, this time including
participant and circumstantial roles. Reflect on the patterning of process choices
through the text and the roles construed for the various people mentioned in the text.
Dangerous liaisons
Women [[who form relationships with prisoners]] often believe they alone understand the
men, and can reform them. ‘They say, ‘I know this guy; I know he’s good’. It’s partly a
nurturing instinct, but some prisoners are also very physically attractive and charming,’
notes Sister Janet Glass, who works with a Catholic chaplaincy team at Sydney’s Long Bay
jail.
‘Often, these women are attracted to prisoners because they have just ended a
relationship,’ Glass adds. ‘They’re empty, and want some sort of emotional fillip. The
prisoners are probably lying to them*, but they appear gallant and masculine and women
believe them.’
Prison Fellowship (see main story) is an interdenominational organisation with its
own programs and volunteers. Although seen as independent, PF has received financial
support from the Baptist Church and its director, Ross Coleman, was a welfare worker with
Baptist Community Services. Coleman says PF volunteers must provide character
references and undergo a training program before starting the work. Volunteers use
pseudonyms in letters and prisoners’ replies are sent to PF headquarters and then
re-directed. The forming of emotional attachments with prisoners is forbidden.
Coleman admits that volunteers [[who transgress]] ‘would only be detected if they
told us, so sometimes that could happen and we were oblivious to it, which is always a
risk...’ He says PF is ‘particularly concerned’ [[with Christian prisoners, or prisoners [[who
have found Christ whilst in prison.]] ]]
Not unexpectedly, mainstream churches often criticise the influence of pentecostal or
charismatic Christian groups within the penal system. ‘Some PF volunteers want to baptise
prisoners after one week,’ says Sister Glass. ‘Some pentecostal types raise emotional levels
to an extraordinary degree, then leave prisoners to deal with** the realities of prison life,
which can be dangerous,’ says Sister Glass. ‘Born again prisoners believe they can wipe out
all memory of their crimes, because Jesus has forgiven them.’
[Adapted from box inset into large feature by F. Robson ‘Prisoners prey’ Sydney Morning
Herald. Good Weekend magazine 24/6/95: 24.]
* Note: This clause was edited slightly in the Phase 1 version of the text.
** They leave prisoners to deal with the realities is a causative structure agnate to They make prisoners
deal with the realities. Leave ... to deal with can be regarded as a single causative material process
with prisoners as Actor and they as Initiator. See Section 2.7.
For further practice in analysing texts for transitivity, texts 5 & 6 are provided.
The Key will include analyses for embedded clauses.
Text 5 Procedure
Blackbirds take the heaviest toll of raspberries. They are more troublesome in gardens
where there is plenty of cover to nest in, and fewer plants to feed from, than in large open
raspberry fields. Unless you can devise a really efficient way of scaring them, you will have
to net. To support the net, make a framework of wires or canes fixed to posts over the row.
Cover the tops of the posts with polythene or jam jars so that the net can be pulled
smoothly over them without snagging. Alternatively, buy more expensive supports which
slot together to form a rigid frame. The net should be high enough above the row to
prevent birds sitting on the top and pecking through; it must hang well clear of the sides
as fruit is carried on side shoots growing out from the canes.
[From Spiller, M. Growing fruit. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books: 155.]
Text 6 Biographical recount

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, on July 26, 1856. He attended four
different schools but his real education came from a thorough grounding in music and
painting, which he obtained at home. In 1871, he was apprenticed to a Dublin estate agent,
and later he worked as a cashier. In 1876, Shaw joined his mother and sister in London,
where he spent the next nine years in unrecognised struggle and genteel poverty.
From 1885 to 1898, he wrote for newspapers and magazines as critic of art,
literature, music and drama. But his main interest at this time was political propaganda,
and, in 1884, he joined the Fabian Society. From 1893 to 1939, the most active period of
his career, Shaw wrote 47 plays. By 1915, his international fame was firmly established
and productions of Candida, Man and Superman, Arms and the Man, The Devil’s Disciple,
were being played in many countries of the world, from Britain to Japan. In 1925, the
playwright was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Between the ages of fifty-seven
and sixty-seven, Shaw wrote such dramas as Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah,
Androcles and the Lion, St. Joan. During his lifetime he was besieged by offers to film his
plays, but he accepted only a few, the most notable being Pygmalion, which was adapted
(after his death) as the basis for the musical My Fair Lady. He died at the age of ninety-four
at Ayot St. Lawrence, England, on November 2, 1950.
4.3 Phase III
4.3.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Relational clauses

Analyse the following clauses as attributive or identifying, assigning Carrier, Attribute
or Token, Value labels as appropriate.
E.g. The red stands for our mother earth. identifying
Token Value
1. It was the best movie I’d ever seen.
2. It was pretty good.
3. Isn’t he just the cutest little thing!
4. One good batsman is Lara; another’s Tendulkar.
5. If Scully’s a babe || is Mulder a fox?
6. (Give an example of a Goal.) – The coffee is a Goal in Take the coffee.
7. ‘You’re the greatest’, (he exclaimed.)
8. He’s a good player.
9. That has to be the slowest century ever scored.
10. Dolphins are toothed whales with a clear dorsal fin, some cervical vertebrae
fused and spatular teeth.
Exercise 2 Differentiating verbal and identifying clauses

Analyse the following clauses as verbal or relational, assigning Sayer or Token, Value
labels as appropriate. See Section 3.7 (iii). For example:
He said hello.
Sayer verbal
1. Ulan means ‘rain’.
2. The report reflected their intelligence.
3. The last item on the program said Secondary School Choir – Carol.
4. Our protest shows we’re against apartheid.
5. It means peace in our time.
6. It indicates the lack of consensus on the issue.
7. The clouds suggest rain.
8. The report revealed they’re intelligent.
9. He indicated he’d be there at six.
Exercise 3 Distinguishing facts from ideas (mental & relational clauses)

Determine whether the projections in the following examples are embedded or
projected; enclose embedded projection in [[ ]] and underline projected ideas. (See
Section 3.3, 3.5 (iv) and Table 6.11 in Chapter 6.)
I heard that she’d arrived.
I heard [[that she’d arrived]]. embedded
1. I wondered if she was winning.
2. It struck me that she was late.
3. She had been upset she hadn’t won.
4. She expected him to leave.
5. He rejoiced that she’d arrived.
6. He was angry that she’d arrived.
7. It piqued him that she’d won.
8. He is hopeful that she’ll pass.
Exercise 4 Causative mental and verbal clauses

Analyse the following clauses as verbal or mental, including Sayer, Receiver or Inducer,
Senser roles as appropriate. For example:
He convinced her (to go.) i.e. ‘he told her persuasively’
Sayer Pro:verbal Receiver
He persuaded her (that the proposal was genuine.) i.e. ‘he made her believe’
Inducer Pro:mental Senser
1. They tried to convince them that resistance was futile.
2. He’d have liked Data to take charge.
3. He satisfied them that victory was possible.
4. She failed to teach them that Tokens were Subject in the active.
5. She implored them to leave.
Exercise 5 Causative Relational processes

Label the following agentive clauses as involving an Assigner or Attributor, including
as appropriate either Carrier, Attribute or Token, Value functions. See Section 3.6 (vi a).
For example:
You must make it a good one.
Attributor Carrier Attribute
1. I’m keeping my windows shut.
2. Dad had called their cat Sally.
3. It would make her feel better.
4. You can consider it done.
5. They elected her chair person.
6. I declare the games open.
7. I want it well done.
8. I pronounce him the winner and new champion.
Exercise 6 Resultative and Depictive Attributes

Pick out and label the resultative or depictive Attributes in the following clauses. See
Section 3.4 (iii). For example:
She arrived sick. Depictive Attribute
He painted the town red. Resultative Attribute
1. She left town exhausted. 1. ..............................................
2. She planed the edge straight. 2. ..............................................
3. He kissed the cut all better. 3. ..............................................
4. He cooked the onions brown. 4. ..............................................
5. He walked out happy. 5. ..............................................
Exercise 7 Discriminating material, existential and attributive clauses

Analyse the following clauses as material, existential or attributive.
1. On the table was a vase of flowers.
2. Immediately there took place a fearful conflagration.

3. The phenomenon occurs every few minutes.
4. Few of the books were on the shelf.
5. There wasn’t much rain last year.
6. It happens all the time.
7. Along the stream ran a worn path.
8. The Renaissance began in Italy.
Exercise 8 Discriminating verbal and agentive identifying clauses

Analyse the following clauses as verbal or relational identifying, assigning Assigner +
Value (+Token) or Sayer roles as appropriate. See Section 3.6 (vi) for agentive
identifying clauses. For example:
The results confirmed that E = mc2.
Assigner Value identifying
Einstein indicated || that E = mc2.

Sayer locution verbal
1. She demonstrated that that was the case.
2. She asserted that it was obvious.
3. She proved her point.
4. The map indicates that this is the way.
5. Her actions confirmed their suspicions.
6. He confirmed he’d be there by six.
7. The report proves that the best solution.
8. Their reply shows that to be the point.
9. Their efforts ensured a quick result.
Exercise 9 Circumstantial relational processes

Determine the circumstance which is conflated with the Identifying process in each of
the following clauses. Label the participants.
Temperature affects humidity.
Token Pro:identifying:circumstantial (Cause) Value
1. Night follows day.
2. These voting patterns resulted in a hung Parliament.
3. He faced tremendous opposition.
4. Taking on a new job is related to increased stress.
5. Temperature influences humidity.

6. A bronzed skin is associated with health and beauty in their minds.
7. Spines cover its back.
8. The earlier figures correlate with our results.
9. His statement conflicts with the government’s position.
10. Jo Chaney resembles a young Marlon Brando.
Exercise 10 Ergativity
Analyse the follwing clauses from both a transitive and ergative perspective:
He opened the box slowly.
Actor Material Goal Manner
Agent Process Medium Manner
1. He was shot in the elevator.
2. They were looking at the dancers.
3. She’d been waiting every evening for ten nights.
4. The clothes dried quickly on the line.
5. The dog chased the bird in a frenzy.
6. We really enjoyed the concert.
7. She was very unhappy.
8. It made her very unhappy.
9. Don’t give Peter any more money, will you?
10. The whole business excited her.
Exercise 11 Ergativity
Analyse the following clauses from both a transitive and ergative perspective.
The argument convinced her later that evening.
Phenomenon Pro:mental Senser Location
Agent Process Medium Location
1. The rice lasted them a couple of weeks.
2. She kept it fresh with daily watering.
3. According to critics, his dancing reflects tremendous artistry.
4. This time he asked her the time.
5. The region boasts a number of attractions for visitors of all ages.
6. She thought over their proposal without any assistance.

7. He sang them a moving balled.
8. They walked the horses round and round the paddock.
9. She passed them the contract in light of their request.
10. My daughter proved my harshest critic.
Text 1 Description
The following text was considered in Chapter 2 from the point of view of Theme
choices. Now analyse the TRANSITIVITY structures.
The trail of the meat
The land was cold and white and savage. Across it there ran a thread of frozen waterway,
with dark spruce forest looming on either side. Along this waterway toiled a string of
wolfish dogs, hauling a sled of birch-bark. On the sled, along with the camp-outfit, was
lashed a long and narrow oblong box. In front of the dogs, on wide snowshoes, toiled a
man. Behind the sled came a second man. On the sled in the box lay a third man, whose life
was at an end – a man whom the Wild had beaten down and conquered. The bodies of the
live men were covered with soft fur and leather. Their faces were blurred and shapeless
under a coating of crystals from their frozen breath. All around them was a silence which
seemed to press upon them as water does upon a diver.
[J. London White Fang. Abridged Edition N. Farr, Pendulum Press 1977.]
Text 2 Historical explanation

Identify the participants in the following text as Agent or Medium and write them in
the chart below:
How Did the Long March Contribute to the Eventual Communist Victory?
First of all, it established the leadership of Mao Zedong. Although Mao was challenged by
the leader of the Fourth Route army, Zhang Guotao, the prestige Mao acquired during the
Long March assured his dominance. Mao’s leadership also brought an end to the
dominance of the Soviet Union in the party and made Chinese Communism more
independent.
The Long March forged a tightly knit army that drew strength from its sufferings. The
survivors formed the tough nucleus of the New Red Army which developed at Yanan. The
policy of going north to fight the Japanese also stimulated high morale in the Red Army
and inspired patriots throughout China.
As it passed through twelve provinces the Red Army brought the message of
Communism to hundreds of millions of peasants, who would otherwise have never heard
of Communism.
[T. Buggy. The long revolution: A history of modern China. Sydney, Shakespeare Head Press
(Modern History Series) 1988: 240.]
Agent Process Medium

Text 3 Narrative (excerpt)

Analyse the following text for transitivity and/or ergativity and reflect on the world
view presented through the narrator’s eyes.
The bushes twitched again. Lok steadied by the tree and gazed.
A head and chest faced him, half-hidden. There were white bone things behind the
leaves and hair. The man had white bone things above his eyes and under the mouth, so
that his face was longer than a face should be. The man turned sideways in the bushes and
looked at Lok along his shoulder. A stick rose upright and there was a lump of bone in the
middle. Lok peered at the stick and the lump of bone and the small eyes in the bone thing
over the face. Suddenly Lok understood that the man was holding the stick out to him but
neither he nor Lok could reach across the river. He would have laughed except for the echo
of the screaming in his head. The stick began to grow shorter at both ends. Then it shot out
to full length again. The dead tree by Lok’s ear acquired a voice. ‘Clop!’ His ears twitched
and he turned to the tree. By his face there had grown a twig...
He rushed to the edge of the water and came back. On either side of the open bank
the bushes grew thickly in the flood; they waded out until at their farthest some of the
leaves were opening under water; and these bushes leaned over.....
[Extract from William Golding’s The Inheritors London, Faber 1961:106-7.]
Text 4 Written exposition

You may have analysed the interpersonal structure of this ‘letter to the editor’ in
Chapter 3. Now add a transitivity analysis.
TV Violence
It is essential for the well-being of the Youth of Australia that we adopt a less tolerant
attitude to violence in television. It has been known for some time that young children can
be disturbed by the violent scenes presented by the television scene. No apparent effort
however has been made by either the producers of children’s programs or the
programmers of children’s programs to take this into account: one only has to look at the
extraordinary popular cartoon ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’. At some schools it was
necessary to ban the accessories associated with the program because children were
engaging in fights in the playground, emulating their cartoon heroes, this sort of situation
is deplorable, this incident also highlights how impressionable young children are. There is
a definite danger that children, after years of exposure to violence on television, come to
accept that violence is an acceptable solution to conflict. It is of vital importance for the
future of Australia that young people realise that violence is not to be condoned, nor
applauded. It is also essential that young people do not associate violence with bravery
and heroism, which is an inevitable outcome if we persist in allowing our children to be
influenced by the garbage that fills our screens every afternoon and evening, and succeeds
in passing for entertainment. It is possible that children come to accept violence as an
inevitable, but vaguely unpleasant part of the world. If this unfortunate scenario becomes
true, we will never combat violence. It is of utmost importance then, that the television
industry assumes a sense of responsibility by carefully regulating the materials that
appear in children’s programs.
[Text courtesy of Bill Crowley]
5.1 The clause as experiential construct

When considering the clause from the perspective of the experiential metafunction,
the relevant systems are collectively known as TRANSITIVITY and the clause itself is
interpreted as a process configuration. Notice in particular the three types of
component in this configuration – the process itself, participants involved in the
process and circumstances associated with the process. The key to the difference
between participants and circumstances lies in the degree of involvement in the
process – and it is indeed a matter of degree: participants are centrally involved in the
process by bringing it about, being affected by it, benefiting from it, and so on;
circumstances are much less centrally involved – we say they are associated with (or
attendant on) rather than involved in the process. We can diagram these relationships
by showing the process as the centre of the transitivity structure of the clause. See
Figure 4.6.
circumstances
associated with
participants
involved in
process
Figure 4.6 Transitivity structure
The major options in TRANSITIVITY as they are presented in IFG are summarised in
the system network in Figure 4.7, with references to sections in IFG2 followed by
references to IFG3 if different.
middle
AGENCY
§ 5.8;5.7 effective Medium/ Agent/ Range/

+ Agent
happening Actor
material
+ Actor § 5.2 doing Goal Actor
+ Goal
behavioural
+ Behaver § 5.5.1
‘please’-type Senser Phenom.
‘like’-type Senser Phenom.

mental
+Senser; §5.3 perceptive
+Phenomenon
cognitive
affective
PROCESS verbiage Verb

TYPE + Verbiage
no verbiage
verbal Sayer
+ Sayer §5.5.2 receiver
+ Receiver
no receiver
attribute Carrier Attrib.
+ Carrier/Subject;
+ Attribute
identifying Value Token
+Token; +Value;
relational +Identified; +Identifier
§ 5.4
intensive
possessive
circumstantial
existential Existent
+ Existent §5.5.3
middle effective
material happening/ [happening] The sugar [doing] She dissolved the
doing dissolved in the glass. sugar in the glass.
behavioural She coughed. They criticised IFG.
mental perceptive She saw the kite. The kite caught her
attention.
cognitive She forgot his name. His name escaped her.
affective She enjoyed the chocolates. The chocolates pleased her.
verbal She told us a story.
relational intensive She was a leader. She was the leader.
possessive She had a VW bug. She owned the VW bug.
circumstantial The trees were around her. The trees surrounded her.
existential There was once a man
from Manchuria.
Figure 4.7 Transitivity options and examples
5.2 Ergative perspective

In addition to the participant roles associated with each clause type which are shown
on the network itself, the table on the righthand side of Figure 4.5 shows how these
various participant roles can be generalised as Agent, Medium and Range when any
clause is viewed from an ergative perspective20.
Thus, for example:
She enjoyed the chocolates. The chocolates pleased her.
Senser Process Phenomenon Phenomenon Process Senser
Medium Range Agent Medium
The sugar dissolved. It dissolved the sugar.

Actor Process Actor Process Goal
Medium Agent Medium
Viewed from this perspective, the core of the clause is the Process together with
the Medium participant. Where the process is something external to this, there will
also be an Agent present in the structure. See Figure 4.9 below.
5.3 Relation to other metafunctions

The transitivity structure of the clause maps on to the textual and interpersonal layers
described in Chapters 2 and 3. Thus, the example Madam, you’ll look like a tulip, in
addition to its textual and interpersonal meanings, is a representation with a process
of attribution (will look) and two participants, an Attribute (like a tulip) and the
Carrier of this attribute (you). See Figure 4.8:
20 Note that from an ergative perspective the central core of the configuration is Process + Medium, rather
than Process alone.
Madam, you ’ll look like a tulip.

clause textual interp. topical
Theme Rheme
interpersonal Vocative Mood Residue
ideational Carrier Process Attribute
Figure 4.8 Multifunctional analysis of a clause
This example shows that not every element that enters into a textual or
interpersonal structure will be part of the transitivity structure. Here the Vocative
Madam plays no role in the representation of the process. We can see this easily
enough if we probe the clause textually by means of theme predication: we can get
Madam it is you who’ll look like a tulip (focus on Carrier), Madam it is a tulip that you’ll
look like (focus on Attribute), but not it is Madam that you’ll look like a tulip (attempted
focus on Vocative). This difference is explained by the interpretation of the Vocative as
a purely interpersonal element.
The general correspondences between the experiential and interpersonal
functions are shown in Table 4.18:
Table 4.18 Correspondences between experiential and interpersonal functions
type of experiential transitivity interpersonal function realisation

function
Process Finite & Predicator verbal group

participant functions Subject; Complement nominal group
(Agent, Medium, Beneficiary, Range)
circumstance functions Adjunct adverbial group/
(Location, Extent, Cause, Contingency, prepositional phrase
Manner; Accompaniment; Role; Angle,
Matter)
The general principle is that participants have the potential for being given the
interpersonal status of modal responsibility; thus they serve as Subject (actual modal
responsibility) or as Complement (non-actual but potential modal responsibility). For
example, all three participants in our earlier example Hermes gave my aunt these
flowers out of pity can serve as Subject. See Tables 4.19 - 4.21.
Table 4.19 Mapping of participant roles and interpersonal roles
(i) active clause: Hermes gave my aunt these flowers out of pity
participant function Subject Complement Adjunct
Agent √ Hermes
Beneficiary √ my aunt
Medium √ these flowers
Cause √ out of pity

(ii) passive clause, 1: My aunt was given these flowers (by Hermes) out of pity
Agent √ Hermes

(iii) passive clause, 2:These flowers were given my aunt (by Hermes) out of pity
Agent √ Hermes
Note that in the passive clauses, the Agent does not in fact serve as Complement
although it is a participant. We can therefore make a simple yet powerful
generalisation about the hierarchy of participants in relation to the interpersonal
functions Subject, Complement and Adjunct. See Table 4.22:
Table 4.22 Hierarchy of participant functions in relation to interpersonal functions
VOICE: Agent {Medium, Beneficiary} {Beneficiary, Medium}
active [unmarked] Subject Complement Complement
passive [marked] Adjunct: by Subject Complement
In the active, unmarked voice, the Agent is Subject and the other participants are
Complements; in the passive, marked voice, either of the other participants can be
Subject and the one that is not serves as Complement. All of these are simply nominal
groups. The passive Agent is marked and its marked status is indicated by the
preposition by. It serves neither as Subject nor as Complement, but as Adjunct. It has
the characteristics of a circumstantial Adjunct: (i) it is realised by a prepositional
phrase, not by nominal group; and (ii) it is optional, not obligatory (in fact, the
majority of passive clauses have no Agent).
In fact, we can take one step further in our generalisation about the relation of
participants to interpersonal roles. There is a variant of our three-participant clause
where the Beneficiary (but not the Medium) is realised by a prepositional phrase
rather than by a nominal group; for example: Hermes gave these flowers to my aunt.
Here the Beneficiary is an Adjunct rather than a Complement (there is no passive
clause to my aunt was given these flowers (by Hermes)).
Thus we can now revise the table of correspondences between transitivity

functions and interpersonal functions. See Table 4.23. The interesting result is that the
participant function we have called the Medium stands out among the participant
functions: it is the only one that serves as Subject or Complement but not as Adjunct.
Agent, Beneficiary and Range are closer to circumstances in that they can also be
mapped onto Adjunct.
Table 4.23 Correspondences between transitivity functions and
interpersonal functions
experiential transitivity function interpersonal function

participant functions Medium Subject; Complement
Agent, Beneficiary, Range Adjunct
circumstance Location, Extent, Cause,

functions Contingency, Manner;
Accompaniment; Role;
Angle, Matter
This suggests a view of transitivity which has the Medium as a nuclear participant,
at the centre of the configuration, as shown in Figure 4.9:
circumstances (elaboration: Role; extension: Accompaniment;

enhancement: Location, Extent, Manner, Cause;
projection: Angle, Matter)
associated with:
at the Peninsula
other participants:
politely Agent, Range, Beneficiary
because of tradition involved in
according to Mr.
Fodor
Process
bell boy open
nucleus
Medium
door
Figure 4.9 Ergative clause structure

Further reading
For further interpretation of the semantics of TRANSITIVITY, see Halliday & Matthiessen
1999, Chapter 4.
Butt, David G, Annabelle Lukin & C M I M Matthiessen. 2004 ‘Grammar – The First
Covert Operation of War.’ Discourse & Society 15(2-3): 267-290.
perspective . Amsterdam: Benjamins.
[It further interprets TRANSITIVITY from a functional typological perspective across
a range of languages. Matthiessen 2007 surveys recent descriptive and theoretical
developments relating to lexicogrammar, including TRANSITIVITY, MOOD and THEME.]
Davidse, Kristin 1992 Transitive/ergative: the Janus-headed grammar of actions and
events. M Davies & Louise Ravelli (eds) Advances in systemic linguistics. London:
Pinter. 105-135.
[An intensive study of transitive and ergative motifs in English grammar.]
Davidse, Kristin 1996 The verbal/mental domain: prototypes and cryptotypes. In R
Hasan et al (eds) 85-144.
Fawcett, Robin P 1987 The semantics of clause and verb for relational processes in
English. In M A K Halliday & R.P. Fawcett (eds) New developments in systemic
linguistics Vol. 1: Theory and description. Amsterdam, Benjamins. 130-183.
Halliday, M A K 1971 Linguistic function and literary style: an enquiry into the
language of William Golding’s ‘The Inheritors’. In Seymor Chatman (ed), Literary
Style: a symposium. New York: Oxford University Press. [Reprinted in M A K
Halliday 2002 Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse. London: Continuum (Vol. 2
in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday). 88-125.]
[This paper shows how transitivity is used to project different world views in
Golding’s novel.]
Halliday, M A K 1985 Dimensions of discourse analysis: grammar. In Teun A van Dijk
(ed), Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press. [Reprinted
in M A K Halliday 2002 On Grammar London: Continuum (Vol. 1 in the Collected
Works of M A K Halliday) 261-286.]
[For an example of a text analysed in terms of transitivity.]
Halliday, M A K 1992 Some lexicogrammatical features of the Zero Population Growth
text. In Sandra Thompson & William Mann (eds), Discourse Description: diverse
analyses of a fund-raising text. Amsterdam: Benjamins. [Reprinted in M A K
Halliday 2002 Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse. London: Continuum (Vol. 2
in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday) 197-227.]
[For an example of a text analysed in terms of transitivity.]
Halliday, M A K & C M I M Matthiessen 1999 Construing experience through meaning: a
language based approach to cognition. London: Cassell. [Reprinted by Continuum
2006.]
Hasan, Ruqaiya 1987 The grammarian’s dream: lexis as most delicate grammar. In M
A K Halliday & R P Fawcett (eds) New developments in systemic linguistics v.1:
Theory and description. London, Pinter. 184-211. [Reprinted in C Cloran, D Butt &
G Williams (eds) 1996 Ways of Saying, Ways of Meaning (Selected Papers of

Ruqaiya Hasan). London: Cassell. 73-103.]
Hasan, Ruqaiya, Cloran Carmel & Butt, David (eds) 1996 Functional descriptions.
Amsterdam: Benjamins.
[It includes studies of transitivity in English, Duch, French, Finnish and
Pitjantjatjara.]
Martin, J R 1996 a. Metalinguistic diversity: the case from case. In R Hasan, C Cloran &
D Butt (eds) Functional Descriptions: Theory in practice. Amsterdam: Benjamins
(Current Issues in Linguistic Theory). 323-372.
[It discusses various theoretical parameters surrounding the study of case
relations.]
Martin, J R 1996 b. Transitivity in Tagalog: a functional interpretation of case. In M
Berry, C Butler & R Fawcett & G Huang (eds) Meaning and Form: systemic
functional interpretations. (Vol. 2 in Meaning and Choice in Language: studies for
Michael Halliday) Norwood, NJ: Ablex. 229-296.
[It shows how a transitivity system other than that of English is organised. It
introduces another transitivity model alongside the ergative and transitive ones
discussed in IFG.]
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 1993 The object of study in cognitive science. Cultural
Dynamics 6.1-2. 187-242.
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 1995 Lexicogrammatical cartography: English systems.
Tokyo: International Language Sciences Publishsers.
[Chapter 4; experiential resources: Section 2.3.3; metaphor: Section 2.4.2 and
Section 7.3.3.3.5; TENSE and PROCESS TYPE: Section 7.5.2.2.4.]
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 1999 The system of TRANSITIVITY: an exploratory study of
text-based profiles. Functions of Language 6.1. 1-51.
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 2007 Lexicogrammar in systemic functional linguistics:
descriptive and theoretical developments in the ‘IFG’ tradition since the 1970s. R
Hasan, C M I M Matthiessen & J Webster (eds) Continuing Discourse on Language: a
functional perspective Vol. 2. London: Equinox. 765-858.
McGregor, William B 1996 Attribution and Identification in Gooniyandi. In M. Berry, C.
Butler, R Fawcett and G Huang (eds) Meaning and Form: systemic-functional
interpretations (Vol. 2 in Meaning and Choice in Language: studies for Michael
Halliday). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. 395-430.
[It looks at relational processes in an Australian language.]
Chapter 5
Group and phrase

below the clause
1. Orientation
IFG2, 3 Chapter 6 (Main discussion of groups/phrases);

IFG2: 23, 35 The rank scale of English grammar where groups/phrases are
located;
IFG3: 31-2 Function-rank matrix;
IFG2 Section 2.4;
IFG3 Section 2.5;
IFG2 Section 9.2-3 (Cohesive resources of reference, ellipsis and
substitution);
IFG3 Section 9.4-5;
IFG2 Section 10.3 (Role of nominal group in ideational grammatical
metaphor, including nominalisation);
IFG3 Section 10.5.
1.2 Characterisation of groups/phrases

In Chapters 2, 3 and 4, we have been dealing with the clause and the way that it is
structured into functional parts. In this chapter we will look at the smaller units –
groups and phrases – which realise those parts. As an example, we can take a clause
from the following extract:
He’s been working in this space – the Sydney Cove Authority’s red-brick Victorian building
– for three days now. It’s an unimagined luxury for someone more accustomed to being
admitted to a site for the set-up on the day of an event. In this bare, drab hall, James
Gordon has decided to create a physical interpretation of the magazine. From the
front door (front cover) guests will walk through a number 10 (an echo of the magazine’s
cover design) into an anteroom (table of contents), then into different sections or spaces
(the body of the magazine) – rooms covered with stories and memorable quotes: a place
for photography, just like Portrait, where guests have their pictures taken against the Good
Weekend masthead.
The highlighted clause can be analysed into its constituent parts from three
different perspectives as shown below:
Table 5.1 Clause constituency from three perspectives
In this bare, James Gordon has decided to create a physical interpretation

drab hall, of the magazine
Theme Rheme
Adjunct Subject Finite Predicator Complement

Resi- Mood -due
Location Actor/Agent Process Goal/Medium
[prep. phrase] [nom. group] [verbal group] [nom. group]
These three configurations are mapped onto one another; they are unified in a
single structural representation through a series of conflations of functions:
Theme/Adjunct/Location, Subject/Agent/Actor, Finite & Predicator/Process, and
Complement/Medium/Goal.
Such bundles of conflated functions are realised by grammatical units as follows:
Theme/Adjunct/Location – realised by: a prepositional phrase;
Subject/Agent/Actor – realised by: a nominal group;
Finite & Predicator/Process – realised by: a verbal group;
Complement/Medium/Goal – realised by: a nominal group.
To put this the other way around: the grammatical units of prepositional phrase,
nominal group and verbal group serve functions in the structure of the clause.
The example thus illustrates how the functional parts of a clause are realised by
groups/phrases, which are units of a lower ‘rank’ than that of the clause. In their turn,
groups are made up of words (they are groups of words), and words are made up of
morphemes. The rank scale of the grammar of English is thus:
clause
group/phrase
word
morpheme
We find the same rank-based principle of constituency elsewhere in English; for
example, phonological constituency is determined by the rank scale of tone group –
foot – syllable – phoneme (see IFG2 Chapters 1 and 8, IFG3 Chapter 1). We also find it
outside language in other kinds of system; for example, molecules are made up of
atoms, and atoms are made up of subatomic particles.
In this chapter, then, we are concerned with the rank immediately below clause
rank – with the units that make up clauses, i.e. with groups/phrases. They make their
contribution to the creation of meaning in the environment of the clause; and they are
differentiated according to the generalised functions they serve in the clause. We can
begin by considering this differentiation from the point of view of the generalised
transitivity functions of process + participants + circumstances:
process – realised by: verbal group
participants – realised by: nominal group
circumstances – realised by: adverbial group;
prepositional phrase
Let us exemplify from the text extract above.
CHAPTER 5 GROUP AND PHRASE 163
Table 5.2 Examples of groups and phrases
verbal group has decided to create; has been working; is; to being admitted;
will walk; covered; will have taken
nominal group this bare, drab hall; James Gordon; a physical interpretation of
the magazine; he; this space; – the Sydney Cove Authority’s
red-brick Victorian building; three days,...
adverbial group now
prepositional phrase in this bare, drab hall; in this space; for three days; for
someone...; from the front door,...
As the examples illustrate, a prepositional phrase always consists of at least two

elements: in + this bare, drab hall; in + this space; for + three days. These are
interpreted as (minor) Process/Predicator + (minor) Range/Complement. The
Process/Predicator is realised by a preposition (or a combination of prepositions, as in
above and beyond the call of duty). The Range/Complement is realised by a nominal
group (or a combination of nominal groups). As the interpretation suggests, the
prepositional phrase is similar to a clause; it is, as Halliday puts it, a shrunken clause.
Prepositions may in fact be derived from verbs (e.g. regarding, concerning, following),
and, as in a clause, the ‘participant’ is realised by a nominal group.1
In contrast, groups are groups of one or more words; that is, a group is an
expansion of a word. For example, has been working is a group of three verbs (two
auxiliaries and one lexical verb) and this bare, drab hall is a group of four nominals
(one determiner, two adjectives and one noun). The general principle is that a group is
a group of words from the same (primary) class, as shown in the table below:
Table 5.3 Kinds of group
class of group class of word

primary secondary
a verbal group is a group of verbs (auxiliary verbs, lexical verbs)
a nominal group is a group of nominals (nouns [common, proper,
pronoun], adjectives, numerals,
and determiners)
an adverbial group is a group of adverbs
a conjunction group is a group of conjunctions (linkers, binders, continuatives)
a preposition group is a group of prepositions
(The word classes of English are summarised in Section 6.6 of IFG – IFG2: 214, IFG3: 362.)
In the limiting case, a group may consist of a single word; but such groups are still
groups rather than simply words. One reason is that a one-word group is always
agnate with other groups of more than one word; it always has the potential for being
expanded. The verbal group covered is thus agnate with the verbal groups is being
covered, has been covered, and so on. Similarly, the adverbial group now is agnate with
right now, almost right now, now or tomorrow....
So while groups may consist of single words, they also have the potential for
being expanded indefinitely (at least in principle). Thus we can find a nominal group
1 Under certain conditions, this participant may even come to serve as Theme, Wh and/or Subject in the
clause: see IFG2: 169, IFG3: 297.
such as those two splendid old electric trains or a verbal group such as will have been
going to have been tested still with potential for further expansion: for example those
first two splendid old electric trains and will have been going to have been being tested.
We can develop these groups step by step:
trains > electric trains > old electric trains > splendid old electric trains > two splendid
old electric trains > first two splendid old electric trains > those first two splendid old electric
trains
will > will have > will have been going to > will have been going to have > will have been
going to have been > will have been going to have been being > will have been going to have
been being tested
These examples reveal that groups are structured serially as strings or chains of words.
There is one central or nuclear word, which serves the function of Head. In principle,
this is the only element of structure in the series that is required (trains and will in the
examples above). In addition, this Head may be expanded by other words; these serve
the general function of Modifier. In the most expanded examples above, there are
several instances of the Modifier function:
those first two splendid old electric trains
Modifier.6 Modifier.5 Modifier.4 Modifier.3 Modifier.2 Modifier.1 Head
will have been going to have been being tested

Head Modifier.1 Modifier.2 Modifier.3 Modifier.4 Modifier.5 Modifier.6
Since the elements of groups form chains, each Modifier expands on the
preceding links in the chain. For example, electric expands trains, and old expands
electric trains. In other words, the Modifiers do not simply relate directly to the Head
of the group.
To show this step-wise modification, we can represent the structure as a series of
linked elements denoted by small Greek letters, with for the Head and ,,etc. for
successive Modifiers. For example:
will have been going to have been being tested
Head Modifier.1 Modifier.2 Modifier.3 Modifier.4 Modifier.5 Modifier.6
      
This serial kind of structure derives from the logical subtype of the ideational
metafunction2.
This logical type of structure is known as univariate structure because it
involves repeated instances of one and the same structural variable – the relation of
modification. In contrast, a structure such as Actor + Process + Goal or Theme +
Rheme is a multivariate structure: each element makes a different structural
contribution to the unit whole of the clause. Further, multivariate structures are all
modelled as constituency structures – as configurations of component parts of a unit
whole (see IFG2 Section 2.1, IFG3 Section 1.1.3 on grammatical constituency).
There are thus two basic types of grammatical structure whose characteristics
are summarised in Table 5.4.
2 As explained in Chapter 6, the Modifier-Head type of logical structure is the hypotactic mode, the other
type of logical structure is the paratactic.
Table 5.4 Types of grammatical structure
multivariate univariate
type of different functions making unique contributions repeated instances of same
variable to unit whole – fixed number of elements (e.g. function expanding a series
Theme + Rheme) of elements – open number
of elements (indefinitely
expandable)
unit clause; group
phrase
composition constituency relational interdependency
(series)
examples Theme + Rheme;    
Mood + Residue + Moodtag;
Process + Medium + Agent + Location + Manner;
Minor Process + Minirange
diagramming Actor Process Goal Location       
(One major domain for univariate structure is that of groups. Chapter 6 will discuss
the other major domain, which is chaining (complexing) of units in general, including
complexing of clauses and groups/phrases.)
The concept of univariate structure allows us to show very explicitly how a group
is a group of words, which would seem to suggest that groups are organised only to
realise the logical meaning of modification. But what about the other metafunctions
– the experiential subtype of the ideational metafunction, the interpersonal
metafunction and the textual metafunction? To account for these other metafunctional
contributions, we also have to posit multivariate structures for groups – at least for the
most complex ones, i.e. nominal groups and verbal groups. For example, the nominal
group cited above can be interpreted both univariately and multivariately as follows:
those first two splendid old electric trains
      
Deictic Numerative: ordinal Numerative: cardinal Epithet: attitudinal Epithet: age Classifier Thing
The multivariate structure here is shown as one layer only (rather than the three
metafunctional layers of the clause), but it embodies contributions from all three
metafunctions. (See Section 2 below.)
Groups will be surveyed first and then prepositional phrases. We start with the
nominal group, which is the most elaborated of the groups.
2.1 Nominal group

The nominal group is a group of nominal words; that is, it is a group of nouns
(common nouns, proper nouns and pronouns), adjectives, numerals and determiners
(see Section 6.6 of IFG). In addition, it also has the potential for including embedded
groups/phrases and clauses in its structure.
2.1.1 The three metafunctional contributions to the nominal group

Like a clause, a nominal group embodies all three metafunctions. Experientially a
nominal group construes a participant – a conscious being (human or animal), an
animal not treated as conscious, an institution, a discrete object, a substance, or an
abstraction. The group provides the resources for construing a participant as a thing
located somewhere in a taxonomy of things expanded by a range of different qualities.
Interpersonally, a nominal group enacts a person – a role defined by reference to the
interaction as either an interactant (‘first/second person’) or a non-interactant (‘third
person’) and it can be expanded by various interpersonal assessments. Textually, a
nominal group presents a discourse referent – a participant and person created as
part of a message with status as recoverable (identifiable) to the addressee (e.g. that
bird) or as non-recoverable (non-identifiable) at a given point in the discourse (e.g. a
bird).
2.1.2 Multivariate structure of the nominal group

Together, the experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunctions determine the
multivariate structure of the nominal group. For example, the nominal group an
absolute fool in I think she’s made an absolute fool of herself, has the multivariate
structure shown in Figure 5.1.
an absolute fool
textual non-specific
interpersonal non-interrogative interpersonal boost negative connotation
experiential conscious being
Figure 5.1 Multivariate structure of the nominal group an absolute fool

In addition to these three functions of Deictic, Epithet and Thing, there are several
further functional parts which may appear in a nominal group: The Post-deictic
contributing further textual and interpersonal meaning and the Numerative,
Classifier and Qualifier, all related to the experiential metafunction. Table 5.5
illustrates:
Table 5.5 The multivariate structure of the nominal group
function Deictic Post-deictic Numerative Numerative Epithet* Epithet* Classifier* Thing Qualifier*
examples those famous first two dreadful long maths sums in the exam
word class determiner adjective ordinal cardinal adjective adjective noun noun prep. phrase
other a, the, every, typical, second, five, several, wretched, big, Pekinese, dog, boy, in the yard,
examples both, some, other, third... many, terrific, small, copper, star, [[that he gave
his, our, usual... much... spunky... green, Renaissance, mistake, us]]...
Peter’s... old... post-modern... loss...
* Starred functions may occur more than once in the structure.

The two most important multivariate functions are the Deictic and the Thing: see
Figure 5.2 below. When the Thing is realised by a common noun, Deictic and Thing are
separate, as in Table 5.5. However, when the Thing is realised by a pronoun (such as I,
you, she, it, who, somebody, something), there is no separate Deictic element; but since
the options realised by the Deictic are embodied in the pronoun, we might say that the
Deictic and the Thing are fused: Deictic/Thing3.
The Deictic provides the key to the textual status of the particular referent
presented by the nominal group. For example, his dog, that dog, the dog are all shown
to be identifiable or recoverable by the hearer, whereas a dog, some dogs are shown to
be non-recoverable. The Deictic thus ‘contextualises’ the nominal group (compare the
way a Theme ‘contextualises’ a clause). The choices associated with the Deictic all
concern particular referents at a given point in the discourse – their recoverability
status, their location relative to the speaker, etc. At the same time, the Deictic also
embodies the interpersonal orientation of the group: it indicates whether the group
gives information (e.g. this dog, a dog) or demands information (e.g. which dog?).
The Thing provides the basic general class in terms of which the participant is
construed. It thus locates it in some particular domain of experience, such as the
domain of conscious beings or the domain of abstractions. (In this respect, it is similar
to the Process of the clause: the Process locates the clause in some domain of
experience such as sensing or being-&-having.)
Thing:
general experiential class
in taxonomy of classes
bird/penguin/kite/
swallow…
frame of construal:
the general
experiential system
Deictic:
members of class:
particular referents
this/that/some/any…
frame of reference:
the here-&-now of
the speech situation
Figure 5.2 Deictic and Thing in the nominal group

Between the Deictic and Thing is a region which can be interpreted as a cline
from the instantial domain of the unfolding text to the generalised domain of our
experience (see IFG Section 6.2.1). Classifiers are closest to the Thing and tend to
3 As the form of non-specific pronouns suggests: something, nothing, everything, somebody, nobody,
everybody, etc., with Deictic: some/no/every... and Thing: body/thing.
represent (complexes of) qualities that are long-term, inherent ones. They are
typically realised by nouns or else de-nominal adjectives (wooden, golden, etc.) or
participial forms of verbs (v-ing, v-en). Classifiers answer the question what kind/
subclass? and their meanings encompass those manifested in circumstances in the
clause (see Chapter 4). See Table 5.6:
Table 5.6 Meanings of Classifier
TYPE Examples
role guise a city state, a child star, a toy soldier
accompaniment part a two-legged creature, a yellow-crested bird
a Medieval treatise, postmodern architecture, a lunch
location time
date
place a country house, a desktop computer
extent duration a two-week vacation
frequency an annual report
distance a five-mile hike
manner means: material a plastic bag, a wooden house, a brick wall
means: agent a Hemingway novel, a Wenders movie
comparison Kafkaesque literature, Socratic dialogue
a delivery truck, a beer glass, a reference manual,
cause purpose
cleaning agents
matter a maths tutor, a weather report
In addition, where the noun construing the Thing is a nominalisation (see further
below), the Classifier and the Thing may stand in a participant-process relation. Thus
cancer treatment relates to treat cancer.
Epithets tend to represent experientially simpler and often more transitory
qualities than those represented by Classifiers; for example: age (old/young; old/new),
size (big/small), length (long/short), height (tall/short), loudness (loud/quiet), degree
(strong/weak), weight (heavy/light), behavioural propensity (skillful/clumsy), rating
(good/bad), emotion (happy/sad), dimension (round/square/rectangular/oval...),
colour (red/green/blue/yellow...), taste (salty/sour/sweet...). Many of these are in fact
locations on one-dimensional scales between polar opposites (old/new) and are
typically gradable, for example from a very new car to a very old car. Others form
taxonomic oppositions, e.g. those construing colour and shape. These latter are closer
to Classifiers which also form taxonomic oppositions and which are never gradable (*a
very delivery truck). The closer relation between taxonomic Epithets and Classifiers is
reflected in relative sequence: Epithets of colour, shape, etc. come after those Epithets
that construe polar oppositions. Thus we say a big blue wooden house rather than a
blue big wooden house, a large round wooden table rather than a round large wooden
table, a delicious sour Thai dish rather than a sour delicious Thai dish.
In contrast, at the other end of the cline, the Postdeictic is concerned with
particular referents; it serves to indicate how particular referents are selected from
some general class – for example, particular referents that are the same or different
from another set of referents (the same sedimentary rocks, some different sedimentary
rocks). Similarly, Numeratives are concerned with the numerative properties of
particular referents (their order in a series or the size of the set of referents) rather
than with general experiential classes.

Qualifiers are not, of course, located anywhere on this cline between the Deictic
and the Thing since they come after the Thing as Post-Modifying elements: the lady
[with a hat], the man [[who came to dinner]], the notion [[that the earth is flat]]. As
these examples show, Qualifiers are typically realised by ‘downranked’ units –
embedded clauses or prepositional phrases, and this is one reason why they occur
after rather than before the Thing. Another reason derives from the textual
management of the ‘flow of information’ within the nominal group. As we noted above,
the Deictic is a kind of nominal group Theme analogous to a clause Theme. Similarly,
the other end of the nominal group, where the Qualifier occurs, has the potential for
providing new information just as the end of the clause is the location for the New.
Sometimes the Qualifier will even become ‘detached’ from the rest of the nominal
group so as to take on the role of New in the clause, as in these feelings were very
intimate [[that we tried to put in our paintings]]. (See further Section 3.4.1 below.)
2.1.3 Conflation of multivariate structure and univariate structure

(i) Elliptical nominal groups
In the unmarked case the multivariate Thing will be conflated with (mapped onto) the
univariate Head as shown earlier. However, the Head may also conflate with other
multivariate functions when the nominal group is elliptical (see IFG Section 6.2.6). For
example, if someone asks which files have you changed?, the response could be those
three (instead of those three files), where the nominal group those three has the
following structure:
those three
multivariate Deictic Numerative
univariate Modifier Head
Or the response might simply be those, with the Head conflated with the Deictic.
The most common multivariate elements other than the Thing that serve as Head
are the Numerative and the Deictic, as illustrated above. Except in cases where
adjectival nominal groups serves as Attributes (as in her dress was yellow, the puppies
became boisterous), Epithets are not so common as Heads.
(ii) Full nominal groups
When the nominal group is full rather than elliptical, the Thing of the multivariate
structure and the Head of the univariate structure are conflated: these two structures
are in phase. However, there is one situation where the two types of structure are out
of phase with one another even though the nominal group is a full one (see IFG2:
195-196, IFG3: 332-5 for grammatical indications of the two structures being out of
phase). This happens when the Head is a noun that does not represent a thing in its
own right but rather an elaboration or extension of another thing, as in the side of the
house, two metres of fabric, another cup of coffee. In such cases the multivariate and
univariate structures are out of phase with one another:
two metres of fabric
multivariate: Thing
univariate:  Head 
Here the univariate Head has a kind of ‘numerative’ function, but in fact, the full
potential of the nominal group (including Deictic, Post-Deictic and Numerative) is still
available after this initial Numerative choice. We might have, for example, two metres
of the first fabric [[I looked at]]. Nominal group expansions of this kind are very
common, and we’ll suggest an analysis here that treats these structures as having an
embedded nominal group with the multivariate function Focus; in these nominal
groups of functions as a structure marker, signaling the embedding (there is no need
to label it separately in the analysis).
two metres of fabric
multivariate: Focus Thing
univariate:  Head 
The Focus element can have a range of functions, which are outlined in Table 5.7
below.
Table 5.7 Range of Focus nominal groups (where Thing and Head are out of phase)
Focus subtype examples

Head:
perspective (an angle side, top, front, back, foot, peak, Oscar saw [the top of] the
on something) summit, root; start, end; picture, mountain; Oscar drew [a
painting, photo, drawing picture of] Dorian
re-counting cup, glass, jug, tank; pound, Oscar drank [a glass of]
(quantifying mass yard, metre, gallon, litre; set, wine; Oscar attracted [a
nouns, amassing collection, group, crowd, school, crowd of] admirers
count nouns) herd, flock, gaggle, pod, swarm
partitive (a part of bit, part, piece, component; leg, Oscar finished [a chapter
something) arm, branch, stem; chapter, of] the book
section; member
selecting (picking three, four, some, none, Oscar won [three of] the
out a subgroup)4 hundreds, thousands; bigger, awards; he preferred [the
smaller; largest, smallest; first, smaller of] the two cakes
third; last, next
dimensional (a size, shape, colour, height, Oscar felt [the texture of]
descriptive quality of weight, length, texture, taste, the cloth
something) smell, nose, aroma, feel, look,
sound
evaluative (an bastard, bitch, fuck, pig, dingbat, It was [a bugger of] a day
evaluative quality of fool, bugger; saint, darling,
something) angel, genius
classifying (a kind, type, class, category, brand, This is [a tasty kind of] beer
sub-type of make, form, variety, species
something)
Closely related to these ‘of’ expansions are groups that would be considered
appositive in traditional terms. Here there is a relation between a thing and its class
identity: the month of May, the state of Alabama, the city of Rome, the kingdom of
Norway, the house of Windsor, the science of cladistics, the title of Mayor (cf. the month is
4 Some selecting Focus items appear without the structure marker of (e.g. half the boys, all the problems).
May, the state is Alabama, etc.). We could assimilate these with the classifying type
above5.
2.1.4 Grammatical metaphor involving nominal groups

When we are first working our way into the linguistic system as pre-school
children, nominal groups are used to construe the concrete sensible objects of our
experience of the material world. They refer to the people and things that we can see,
hear, smell, taste and feel. For this reason they may involve modifying Epithets that
describe in terms of sensuous qualities like size, shape and colour: the big teddy, the
round window, the red truck etc. Some of these concrete objects may be quite
specialised, like anvil, megazord or laserwriter, but they are still tangible entities that
we can learn about ostensively (by having someone point them out to us).
Around the time we first enter school, we begin learning to use nominal groups to
construe less tangible entities that we can’t perceive directly through our senses.
These include terms for semiosis (fact, idea, notion, word, meaning, concept...), terms
for ‘generic’ dimensions (manner, time, size, type, kind, set, class, cause...), terms for
institutional entities (taxes, laws, rules, penalties, bureau, council...) and technical terms
from a range of disciplines (inflation, gene, alluvial fan...). The meaning of these
abstract terms can’t simply be pointed out; it has to be explained (defined if the terms
are technical ones).
At around the time we enter secondary school, we begin to use nominal groups
not only to construe concrete and abstract entities, but to reconstrue other kinds of
meanings as if they were entities. The kinds of meanings that get reworked in this way
include processes (collide-collision, perceive-perception, depart-departure...), qualities
(strong-strength, brave-bravery, ugly-ugliness...), modal assessments (might-possibility,
must-requirement, may-permission...) and logical relations (so-cause, so that-purpose,
if-condition...). These nominalisations are interpreted within the general framework of
(ideational) grammatical metaphor in IFG Chapter 10. Metaphorical groups involve the
grammar ‘dressing up’ a meaning as something else. Consequently, metaphorical
nominal groups have to be interpreted grammatically (as entities) and semantically
(as the processes, qualities, modal assessments or logical relations we also understand
them to be) in order to fully account for their meaning.
2.2 Verbal group

The verbal group is a group of verbal words; that is, it is a group of verbs (lexical verbs
such as run, darken, sneeze, think, say, be, have, and auxiliary verbs [i.e. grammatical
verbs] such as do, be, have, will, may, must6). In addition, it may contain the adverb not,
which either serves as a mood Adjunct in the clause (in which case we can label it
Polarity in the structure of the verbal group) or is fused with the Finite element of the
verbal group; and it may also contain certain adjectival expressions such as keen, eager,
willing as in they are keen to get started. Unlike the nominal and adverbial types of
group, it cannot include embedded groups/phrases and clauses. The verbal group
5 Some have variants without of: the name of James: the name James is very common in these parts. The
version without of is a nominal group complex and some classes can only be elaborated in this way; for
example: (the word) kataba means ‘write’, (the clause) ‘visiting generativists can be dangerous’ is
ambiguous.
6 Some verb forms have different uses as either lexical verbs or auxiliary verbs: do, be, have, will. They may
of course occur in one and the same verbal group, as in now you [auxiliary:] are [lexical verb:] being very
silly; he [auxiliary:] has [lexical verb:] had his car for two years.
serves as Finite + Predicator in the interpersonal (modal) structure of the clause and it
serves as Process in the experiential (transitivity) structure of the clause. Because it
serves the combination of the two interpersonal functions Finite and Predicator, the
verbal group is often split for interpersonal reasons as in Are they leaving? However,
as we will see, the structural unfolding of the verbal group is not disrupted, merely
‘delayed’.
2.2.1 The three metafunctional contributions to the verbal group

Like a clause, a verbal group embodies all three metafunctions:
(i) experiential: a verbal group construes a process – an action, an activity, a
happening, and so on. The verbal group provides the resources for construing a
process as unfolding in time. Let’s consider a natural text example:
A: So when is this thing scheduled to produce results, Frank?
B: Oh, it’s been producing results for a long time.
Here the verbal group construes the process of unfolding in a series of three
temporal relations. (1) It sets up a present time in relation to the now of speaking (has
rather than had or will have), (2) it sets up a past time in relation to that present time
(has been rather than is or is going to), and (3) it sets up a present time (the time of
producing) in relation to that past time (been producing rather than had produced or
been going to produce).
(ii) interpersonal: a verbal group enacts polarity & modality – the experiential
process is assessed in relation to the interpersonally defined speaking time, the ‘now’.
For example, in those birds are flying across the sky, the time of the process of flying is
assessed as being located temporally in relation to the actual now of speaking,
whereas in those birds may be flying across the sky, the actualisation of the process is
assessed as being located modally on a scale of probability: it is possible rather than
actual in relation to the actual now of speaking. Other interpersonal variants include:
those birds may not be flying across the sky, those birds must be flying across the sky,
those birds may be required to fly across the sky.
(iii) textual: a verbal group presents the interpersonal and ideational meanings as
part of a message – it provides the resources (i) for indicating contrastive meanings in
the environment of continuous meanings, as in those birds fly across the sky every day
around sunset, but these don’t [ ], and (ii) for selecting some element of the verbal
group as having newsworthiness (often implying contrast), as in those birds are flying
across the sky vs. those birds are not flying across the sky, where the marker of the
polarity has been selected, or as in those birds are flying across the sky, where the
event itself has been selected.
2.2.2 The multivariate structure of the verbal group

As the examples illustrate, verbal groups are centrally concerned with
establishing a relation between the interpersonal ‘now’ of speaking and the
experiential time of the event itself. Semantically, these are the two bridgeheads of the
verbal group (see Figure 5.3).
Event:
general experiential class
in taxonomy of events
located at event time
building/producing/
baking…
temporal/modal bridge swallow…
frame of construal:
the experiential domain
of the clause
[experiential time]
Finite:
enactment in time
or modality relative
to the actual ‘now’
did/does/will‖
can/will/must…
frame of enactment:
the now of speaking
[interpersonal time]
Figure 5.3 Finite and Event in the verbal group

Grammatically, the two bridgeheads are represented by the Finite and the Event
in the structure of the verbal group. The Event is realised by a lexical verb (or the
grammatical substitute verb do), and, unless it is fused with the Event (cf. immediately
below), the Finite is realised by an auxiliary verb. For example, in a variant of the
verbal group above, will have been producing, the Finite is will and the Event is
producing. The ‘bridge’ is constructed by the intervening series of Auxiliaries, realised
by auxiliary verbs7: have – been:
will have been producing
Finite Auxiliary Auxiliary Event

auxiliary auxiliary auxiliary lexical
The resources of the verbal group make it possible to construct longer bridges
between the interpersonal and the experiential, as in:
7 The term ‘auxiliary’ is thus used in two related but distinct senses: it is the name of a function in the
structure of the verbal group, in which case it is spelt with an initial capital, Auxiliary; it is also the name
of a class of verb, the class of auxiliary verbs, or auxiliaries. Auxiliary verbs are, as we have already noted,
grammatical (as opposed to lexical) verbs.
will have been going to be producing
Finite Auxiliary Auxiliary Auxiliary Event

auxiliary auxiliary auxiliary auxiliary lexical
If the interpersonal time of speaking and the experiential time of the event are
not separated, the Finite and the Event are often conflated, e.g. Finite/Event: produces.
If the times are separated, this may be done modally rather than temporally, with a
modal auxiliary serving as Finite: may produce, must produce, should produce, etc.
Other elements not indicating time or modality may also enter into the sequence
between Finite and Event; in particular, negative polarity may be indicated by a
separate Polarity: not following the Finite and passive voice is indicated by an
Auxiliary: ‘be’ followed by the Event realised by the v-en form of the verb. For example:
will not have been going to be being produced
Finite: Polarity: Auxiliary: Auxiliary: Auxiliary: Auxiliary: Event:

future negative past future present passive v-en
We can generalise the multivariate structure of the verbal group as follows:

Finite ^ (Polarity ^) (Auxiliaryn ^) Event
This structure represents the fact that as the verbal group unfolds from the now
of speaking to the time of the event, it may go through a number of distinct stages,
each one of which makes a distinct contribution. However, the structure fails to bring
out the serial nature of the verbal group; it fails to show the way in which the ‘bridge’
between the interpersonal and the experiential is constructed in a series of very
similar steps. To show this serial property of the organisation of the verbal group, we
turn to the logical metafunction.
2.2.3 Logical realisation in univariate structure

From a logical point of view, the verbal group is just a series of related elements: in a
finite verbal group, the ‘Head’ is the first element, the Finite, and the remaining
elements constitute a series of ‘Modifiers’; for example:
    
The logical structure of the verbal group is univariate (as it is in the nominal
group; see above); the same dependency relation is repeated again and again from 
to . The logical structure construes a semantic ordering of a series of relations
between times: see Figure 5.4.
temporal relations: linear sequence in verbal group:

t0 =
‘now’
α will will
t1
β have [v] have

t2
γ been going to [v-en] been going to
t3
δ be [v] be
t4 = ε producing [v-ing] producing

t event
Figure 5.4 Logical construal of serial time in verbal group

The series of relations between times is realised in the wording of the verbal
group in two ways:
(i) the ordering is reflected in the linear sequence of verbs (: will > : have > :
been going to >...); and
(ii) the ordering is reflected in the dependency relations marked on the verbs (:
will is followed by > : have in the [infinitive] v-form,  have is followed by : been
going to in the [past participle] v-en , etc.).
The principle of organisation embodied in the verbal group is thus that of logical
ordering; and the main system contributing to this is that of TENSE.
2.2.4 TENSE
The English TENSE system construes the temporal relation between the interpersonal
speaking time, ‘now’, and the experiential time of the event, the event time, as a series
of one or more temporal relations. Our earlier example contains a series of four tense
selections:
Table 5.8 Example of 4 tense selections
    
will have, v be going to, v-en be, v produce, v-ing
future past future present (event)
This is, of course, a fairly long series; but it does not represent the maximum
tense series in English (see IFG2: 200, IFG3 Table 6(11)). Verbal groups such as will
have been going to be producing, was going to have been producing, will have been
going to have been producing seem very complex and may be hard to follow in
isolation, out of their discourse environment, where they typically have a temporal
history that warrants the complexity. However, they are really made up of two very
simple choices:
(i) the system of the tense type – ‘past’/‘present’/‘future’ relative to some time;
and
(ii) the system of tense serialisation – the choice whether to introduce another
temporal relation or not.
In the simplest case, only one tense type is chosen and there are no further tense
selections (no tense serialisation): these are verbal groups with simple past, present
or future (e.g. did produce (produced), does produce (produces), will produce). Here the
time of the event is only at one remove from the time of speaking. However, the system
of tense serialisation makes it possible to choose again from the tense type system to
create a tense series of two to five tense choices 8. Thus the example above is built up
as follows:
Table 5.9 Tense choices in English
TENSE (TYPE) TENSE SERIALISATION

(first choice) choose again choose again choose again (event)
past have
present be producing
future will been going to
primary TENSE secondary TENSE
The first tense selection relates the time of speaking to some other time; if no
further tense selections are made, this will be the time of the event. However, if further
tense selections are made, additional times are set up. The time of the event is always
the last time in the series. The first tense selection, the one relating deictically to ‘now’,
is called primary tense. It is obligatory in finite verbal groups – unless the verbal
group is modal, in which case the primary tense is displaced by a modal auxiliary (as
in may be going to have...). Additional tense selections are called secondary tense.
They select from the same three tense types, ‘past’/‘present’/‘future’, but they are
realised in different ways.
To recognise the different tense choices being made, you need to be able to
recognise the five different forms of the English verb. These are shown below with
examples from be, have, take and lift.
Table 5.10 Five forms of the English verb
be have take lift modal
v (infinitive) (to) be (to) have (to) take (to) lift
v-s am, are, is has (have) take(s) lift(s) may/might
v-ed was, were had took lifted
v-en been had taken lifted
v-ing being having taking lifting
As noted above, tense is realised differently after the first (primary tense) choice.
Table 5.11 contrasts the realisation of past, present and future depending on whether
the choice is made with respect to the moment of speaking (primary tense) or with
respect to an already chosen tense (secondary tense).
8 There are restrictions on secondary tense selection as follows: (1) Apart from , future occurs only once.
(2) Apart from  present occurs just once, at deepest level. (3) Apart from , the same tense doesn’t
occur twice consecutively.
Table 5.11 Primary and secondary tense realisations
primary tense secondary tense

future will be going to*
present -s form be ^ -ing form
past -ed form have ^ -en form
*[also be about to for secondary future]

Here’s an example of past primary tense and present secondary tense. This
selection gives the meaning of ongoing action in the past.
By 1500, they were whaling off Greenland; by the 1700s, off Atlantic America; and by the
1800s, in the south Pacific, Antarctic and Bering Sea.
‘present in past’
[primary past] [secondary present] ‘ongoing’ ‘back then’
-ed form be ^ -ing form
were whaling for several months by 1500

a year
Figure 5.5 Present-in-past tense
As is explained in IFG2: 198, IFG3: 338, tense selections are labelled from the
highest-order secondary tense selection downwards to the primary tense selection, so
the selection above is present-in-past.
A few further examples are given in the Table 5.12:
Table 5.12 Examples of English tense forms
example primary tense secondary tense name of tense
(they) produce v-s present

(they ) will produce will + v future
(they) will be producing will + v be +v-ing present in future
(they) were producing v-ed be +v-ing present in past
(they) were going to produce v-ed be going to + v future in past
(they) had been producing v-ed have + v-en be + v-ing present in past in past
This naming convention has the advantage that it makes explicit the tense frame
relative to which a tense selection has been made, such as future relative to past in
were going to produce.
Why has the English tense system evolved to embody this serial principle? The
basic reason is that it allows us to develop discourses where successive time frames
are constructed relative to earlier time frames. To supplement the discussion in IFG,
here are two text examples, analysed using the convention of indicating past, present
and future choices with the notation of -, ø, + respectively:
Example (1) [from CEC]
primary secondary (verbal groups in bold; temporal conjunctions in italics)
past pres fut past pres fut
+ (1) No, it’ll be perfectly all right, Reynard.

ø (2) I’ve got about a week of fairly hard work after the 4th
of July, this CSC stuff, you see
+ (3) and after that I shall have another week pretty hard
about say the 7th to the 14th of August;
+ ø (4) I’ll be doing the Burgos Award from the 20th to the
25th,
ø (5) but I’ve really got about 3 weeks less than that of
hardish work, spread over those two months, you see.
+ (6) The rest of the time, I’ll have plenty of time to deal
with them.
Here the discussion is concerned with the future. There are two predictions with
the simple future, clauses (1) and (6). Two clauses are concerned with present
possession of future work load, clauses (2) and (5). Clause (3) switches to the primary
future (after that I shall have...). Clause (4) continues this primary future perspective,
but it construes a secondary present time relative to that future time: will be doing.
Example (2) [from Halliday, 1992: 41]
primary secondary (verbal groups in bold)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
pres fut past pres fut past pres fut past pres fut pres
A: Can I use the

synthesiser?
ø B: Well I’m afraid we use
it ourselves this
morning.
ø ø A: What, every morning?
Are you using it now?
ø B: Yes, ’fraid so.
ø + ø A: How about this
afternoon?
Are you going to be
using it then?
ø B: No. But this
afternoon’s no good.
A: Why not?
ø + ø B: It’s going to be being
tested.
ø - + ø A: Come off it! It’s been
going to be being
tested for ages.
+ - + - ø It’ll’ve been going
to’ve been being
tested every day for
about a fortnight.
Halliday (1992: 41) comments:

The first part shows a typical build-up of tenses from simple one-term tense choice, here
‘present’, we use it, to tenses of two and three terms: are you using it, are you going to be
using it – a sequential pattern that is very characteristic of dialogue. Although in this
particular instance the temporal sequence was from simple to complex, tenses of up to
three terms are all very frequent and do not need a textual precursor; it would be perfectly
normal to begin a conversation with are you going to be using this machine this afternoon?
But tenses of four and five terms are much rarer, and usually need a text history of this kind
to lead up to them – especially a dialogue, which is often a kind of semiotic folie à deux
leading to all sorts of grammatical extravagances.
TENSEfunctions in the environment of other resources for construing time in the
grammar. Note in particular:
The temporal implications of the different process type (IFG2: 116; IFG3: 206-7).
For example, the meaning of the secondary present is construed in the environment of a
process type – compare [material:] he visits our department [every Tuesday] [habitual]: he’s
visiting our department [right now] [unmarked] with [mental:] he likes our department
[unmarked]: he’s liking our department [better and better] [inceptive];
The resources of temporal circumstantiation (IFG: 152-154; IFG3: 264-5).
For example, with the simple present, the interpretation of what is located at present is
construed in the environment of a process type and a temporal circumstance – compare the
following to material clauses: we sail to KK every Tuesday [present habit]: we sail to KK
tomorrow [present plan].
The resources of temporal conjunction (IFG2: 325-326; IFG3: 544-6);
The resources of (temporal) clause complexing (IFG: 324, 327; IFG3: 411-3).
For example, the meaning of the primary tense contrast ‘past/present/future’ is construed
in a special way in the environment of temporal and conditional bound clauses – compare
[free] they had/have/will have the car yesterday/today/tomorrow with [bound:
temporal/conditional] if/when they had/have/– the car yesterday/today/tomorrow. Here
the ‘future’ is typically not an option and the contrast ‘past/present’ construes a temporal
distinction between past and non-past, so that we get if/when they have the car tomorrow,
we’ll drive down the coast.
2.2.5 Passive voice

In order to show that something other than an Actor, Behaver, Sayer, Senser or Token
is Subject, clauses select for passive instead of active in the verbal group 9. The contrast
between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ in the verbal group is the system of VOICE. The passive
voice is realised by adding the verb be followed by the -en form of the verb to the
verbal group (or, alternatively get + v-en). If we think about this in steps, to get a
present passive verbal group like is seen, we start with the basic verb see; then add be
and turn see into its -en form, giving be seen; then add present tense to be, giving is if
the Subject is third person, resulting in is seen. Figure 5.6 presents an overview of this
process:
9 The exception is the verb be, which has no passive form – thus, I’m the author / the author is me (not *the
author is been by me).
‘present passive’
[present] [passive]
-s form be ^ -en form
is seen
Figure 5.6 The present passive form
2.2.6 Modality
Not all verbal groups in English begin by choosing tense. The alternative to choosing a
tense, relating the verbal group temporally the ‘now’ of speaking, is to choose a
modality. Modality relates the verbal group to the actuality of speaking in terms of
probability, usuality, obligation, inclination or potentiality. In the verbal group, these
assessments may be realised through the modal verbs will, would, can, could, may,
might, should, must, ought to.10 Modal verbs do not choose for tense (the difference
between Jane may go and Jane might go is not a difference in tense; might is not the
past of may11); rather, modal verbs function as an alternative to choosing primary
tense.
Although modals function as an alternative to primary tense, they may combine
with secondary tense and voice. Here are examples with secondary tenses:
Our children should have learned western knowledge in school.
[combined with secondary past]
Our children could be learning western knowledge in school.
[combined with secondary present]
2.2.7 Non-finite verbal groups

In non-finite clauses, verbal groups do not select for either primary tense or modality.
Rather they select for aspect, either imperfective or perfective. (Imperfective (realis) is
the ing form and perfective (irrealis) is the to form.) The general meaning of the
imperfective is that the process has begun; the general meaning of perfective is that
the process is virtual (not yet underway). For example:
[imperfective]
About 1000 A.D., whaling started with the Basques using sailing vessels and row boats.
[perfective]
I told you to ask again.
Non-finite verbal groups may select for secondary tense and voice. In such groups
note that aspect is realised initially, followed by secondary tense selections (or the
passive). For example:
[past imperfective]
...with the Basques having used sailing vessels and row-boats
10 In some dialects need and dare are arguably modal, since they invert with Subject in interrogatives
and/or have negative forms: Need you do it?, You needn’t do it?, Dare you do it?, You daren’t do it.
11 The exception to this is the modal verb can/could when it realises potentiality; thus I can do it now
contrasts in tense with I could do it then.
[present perfective]
... to be asking again
2.2.8 Polarity
In general, negative polarity is realised through the modal adverb not. As we have
already noted, it may be fused with the Finite verb expressing primary tense or
modality: don’t (know), shouldn’t (have come). In such cases the verb in question can
be analysed as carrying both polarity and modality:
don’t know
ø/neg event
shouldn’t have come
have...en
modal/neg - event
When it is not fused with the Finite, it serves a special function in the structure of
the verbal group, that of Polarity (see IFG3: 337); and in the interpersonal structure of
the clause, it serves as a mood Adjunct.
The negative adverb not expresses pure negative polarity. However, in addition to
not, there are negative adverbs that combine the feature negative with another
interpersonal feature, either usuality (seldom, rarely, never) or intensity of the degree
type (hardly, scarcely). These serve as mood Adjuncts in the interpersonal structure of
the clause and are outside verbal group structure proper.
2.2.9 Verbal group complexes

Verbal groups may be combined into complexes. When combined as additions or
alternatives, the relationship is referred to as paratactic (see Chapter 6) and the
groups are numbered in sequence. For example:
He huffed and puffed as hard as he could. [paratactic]
1 + 2
When the second verbal group in the series is non-finite, the relationship is one of
modification of a Head (referred to as hypotactic) and the α β notation you have met
for relations within a group is used to show relations between groups:
I kept thinking about it. [hypotactic – finite verbal group + imperfective non-finite verbal group]

...Niemand declined a second one and started to leave. [hypotactic – finite verbal group
         + perfective non-finite verbal group]
One very common type of hypotactic verbal group complex is used to show that
Agents have been added to the clause; note that these ‘causative’ complexes are
discontinuous (e.g. forced... to be below):
but he forced his face and his voice to be calm [discontinuous hypotactic verbal gp. complex12]

12 In some of these causative complexes the dependent non-finite verbal group appears without to: made
him go, let him go, had him go, helped him go.
2.3 Other groups

The remaining classes of group – adverbial groups (e.g. deeply; more deeply),
conjunction groups (e.g. then; just then), and preposition groups (e.g. to; up to) – are
considerably simpler than nominal and verbal groups. Premodifiers are realised by
grammatical items, not by lexical items so they do not have the potential for lexical
expansion characteristic of nominal groups. Of these groups, the adverbial group has
the greatest potential, since comparative adverbial groups, such as more quickly than
we realised, or as quietly as a mouse, allow for embedded Postmodifiers (prepositional
phrases or clauses specifying the standard of comparison).
Ranking adverbial groups and conjunction groups serve as Adjuncts in clauses,
while preposition groups serve as the Process/Predicator of a prepositional phrase
(see Section 2.4 below). The range of adverbial and conjunction groups is summarised
and exemplified in Table 5.13:
Table 5.13 Range of adverbial and conjunction groups in the clause
meta-function type of Adjunct class of group subtype example

experiential circumstantial adverbial manner: quality (he treated the patient) more
group gently than most interns –
skillfully, beautifully, elegantly,
cautiously, surreptitiously,
quickly, fast, slowly, suddenly
and many others; somehow, so,
thus; how
manner: means (they removed the growth)
surgically –
microscopically,
computationally, manually;
somehow; thus; how
manner: degree (she loved him) deeply
location: time (he treated the patient)
yesterday, today, tomorrow;
sometime; now, then; when
location: space (he treated the patient)
upstairs, above, below,
underneath, away, home,
abroad, homeward, north;
somewhere, anywhere,
nowhere, everywhere; here,
there; where, whence, whither
extent: distance (they walked) quite far; how
far
frequency (they had to operate) again,
often; how often
interpersonal modal: mood polarity (they did) not (walk very far) –
not, no, yes, so
probability probably, possibly, certainly,
perhaps, maybe
usuality usually, sometimes, always,
(n)ever, often, seldom, rarely
readiness willingly, readily, gladly,
certainly, easily
obligation definitely, absolutely, possibly,
meta-function type of Adjunct class of group subtype example

time yet, still, already, once, soon,
just
typicality occasionally, generally,
regularly
obviousness clearly, surely, obviously
intensity just, simply, merely, only, even,
actually, really
degree quite, almost, nearly, scarcely,
hardly, absolutely, totally,
utterly, entirely, completely
modal: opinion personally
comment
admission frankly
persuasion honestly, really, seriously
entreaty please, kindly
presumption evidently, apparently,
presumably
desirability (un)fortunately, regrettably,
hopefully
reservation tentatively, provisionally
validation broadly, strictly
evaluation (un)wisely, understandably,
mistakenly, foolishly
prediction surprisingly, unexpectedly
textual conjunctive conjunction elaborating specifically, more generally;
group namely
extending additionally, moreover,
furthermore, alternatively,
however, nevertheless
enhancing then, later, afterwards, soon,
earlier, meanwhile; there; so,
consequently, therefore;
similarly, likewise
Adverbial groups overlap in their functional potential with prepositional phrases, so

they can form complexes with prepositional phrases, as in (she did it) quietly and
without any fuss: see IFG2 7A.1 and 7A.3; IFG3: 491-6.
2.4 Prepositional phrase

Unlike groups, the prepositional phrase is only organised multivariately (see Section
1.2 above); it is like a miniature clause and has two multivariate functions: that of
Minor Process and Minor Range (or Minor Predicator and Minor Complement). See
Table 5.14.
Table 5.14 Prepositional phrase structure
Example over the bridge

according to Peter and Mary
in spite of these circumstances
Function Minor Process/Predicator Minor Range/Complement
Class preposition (or preposition group) nominal group (or nom. gp. complex)
Since the Minor Range/Complement is realised by a nominal group, a unit of the

same rank as the phrase itself, the prepositional phrase always involves embedding.
Table 5.15 lists prepositions realising the Minor Process of a prepositional phrase
according to the MINOR PROCESS TYPE.
Table 5.15 The range of prepositional realisation of types of minor process
MINOR PROCESS TYPE Minor process realisation

angle to, according to, in the opinion of,
matter about, concerning, regarding, on, of, in
depictive as, in the form/guise/role/shape of, by way
role (guise) of; of (e.g. the state of Washington)
resultative
into
(product)
accompaniment comitative positive with
negative without
additive positive as well as, including
replacive instead of
subtractive except (for), besides
possession of
at, on, in; near (to), by; to, towards, onto,
into; from, away from, off, out of; above,
location spatial
below, under, behind, in front of, on top of;
between, among, through, via, along,...
at, on, in; before, after, since, until, till, by;
temporal
during, throughout,...
extent for; throughout
through, from, because of, as a result of, for
cause reason lack/want of, thanks to, by, for reason(s) of;
of
for, for purpose of, in the hope of, for the
purpose
sake of
for, for the sake of, in favour of, on behalf of;
behalf
against (‘not + in favour of’)
client (partic.) for
in case of, in the event of, in default of,
condition
without (‘if not’)
concession in spite of, despite, in the face of
manner means agentive with, by, by means of, from
material with, out of, of, from
agent (partic.) by (with)
comparison like, unlike; than, as
Note also Range: play somebody at tennis, play beautifully on the flute, speak to somebody in
Chinese.
The prepositional phrase may serve as part of a clause – for example as a

circumstance within the experiential metafunction (e.g. They travelled over the bridge).
It may also be embedded to serve as the Qualifier within a nominal group (as in He
stroked the kitten [with white paws]). Both these types are represented in the table
above. It may also function textually as a conjunctive Adjunct introducing a clause (as
in in spite of this they kept hoping) or interpersonally as a modal Adjunct within a
clause (they grew tired at times). (These types are not in the table.)
Some prepositions are derived from non-finite verbs – e.g. regarding, concerning,
following; but they enter into agnation with other prepositions rather than with other
verbs (he wrote to me about/concerning Henry; following/after the events last year, they
have rethought their approach).
3. Troubleshooting
3.1 Identifying groups/phrases

A group or phrase can be identified by reference to the usual three perspectives on any
grammatical phenomenon – it can be viewed from above, from below and from
roundabout:
(i) From above: Ranking groups and phrases serve as elements in clauses.
Consequently, once we have identified an element of the clause, we can infer that it is a
group/phrase. For example, if an expression can serve either as Theme or not, it is
treated by the textual clause grammar as a constituent element and is thus likely to be
a group or a phrase.
(ii) From below: Groups and phrases display certain structural patterns.
Consequently, we can identify a group/phrase in terms of these patterns. For example,
a nominal group may begin with a Deictic: determiner and end with a Thing: noun or a
Qualifier: prepositional phrase/clause, while a verbal group in a finite clause will be a
series of verbs beginning with a Finite and ending with an Event.
(iii) From roundabout: We can also identify an expression as a group or phrase
by reference to agnate units. For example, if an expression is a nominal group, it
should be agnate to a pronominal variant.
3.1.1 (Phrasal) verbal group or prepositional phrase?

Sequences of verb + preposition + nominal group, as in it would open + up + another
fascinating strand, can potentially represent either of two functional configurations.
The preposition can be analysed as part of the verbal group (open up) or as combining
with the following nominal group to form a prepositional phrase (up another
fascinating strand). Either analysis is possible if we look at the expression from below
since up can be an adverb combining with a verb to form a phrasal verb (as in look up)
or a preposition combining with a nominal group to form a prepositional phrase.
However, if we consider the expression from above and from within, we can reach a
decision.
From above, we can probe by considering textual variants of the clause with a
marked or predicated Theme. Would it be (a) or (b) below?
(a) another fascinating strand it would open up marked Theme

open up it would another fascinating strand marked Theme
it is another fascinating strand that it would open up predicated Theme
(b) up another fascinating strand it would open marked Theme
open it would up another fascinating strand marked Theme
it is up another fascinating strand that it would open predicated Theme
The (a) versions are clearly the appropriate ones. This indicates that another
fascinating strand is a nominal group that serves as a constituent element of the clause
(and not as an element of a prepositional phrase following up).
From within, we can probe by considering textual variants with pro-forms. There
is an agnate version another fascinating strand: it, but there is no agnate version up
another fascinating strand: there. That is, while we can say it would open it up, we
cannot say (as an agnate) it would open there. This resonates with another
consideration from above: the Process would open up can serve as unmarked New by
being split up into would open and up, which is characteristic of phrasal verbs with an
adverb.
3.1.2 Prepositional phrase or non-finite clause?

A preposition may combine with a nominal group to form a prepositional phrase or
may combine with a non-finite clause. Looked at from below we have a preposition +
nominal group on the one hand (on + his way home) and a preposition + verbal group
on the other (on + returning to his home). And from within, we can observe different
agnation patterns, with non-finite clauses introduced by prepositions related to non-
finite clauses introduced by conjunctions:
on returning home, he heard people cheering:
when returning home, he heard people cheering
However there is one special case where a non-finite clause introduced by a
conjunctive preposition has no explicit Predicator/Process. The typical preposition is
with, with a sense of reason: with the kids away, we can relax a little. Here the clause
with the kids away is an attributive relational one and it is agnate with one where the
Predicator/Process being is explicit: with the kids being away (that is, since the kids are
away). This is not a prepositional phrase; the structure of what follows the preposition
is that of a clause rather than that of a nominal group: Carrier: the kids + Attribute:
away. Similarly:
However, Dompok concedes that with the bulk of Sabah’s oil wealth barely exploited or
even discovered, the 1976 agreement surrendering oil rights to the federal government is
something that still bugs Sabahans.
3.2 Assigning a function to a word in a group

Different classes of word serve different functions in groups. For example, a
determiner will only serve as the Deictic element of a nominal group and a modal
auxiliary only as the Finite of a verbal group. However, many classes of word can serve
more than one type of function in a group. Table 5.16 below shows the range of
possible functions for each word class. In analysis, you can use this as a reference
guide. If you are uncertain about which word class or word classes a given word
belongs to, you can check it in a good dictionary.
Table 5.16 The functional potential of different primary and secondary classes of word
group/ function nominals verbals adverbial
phrase
determiner ordinal cardinal adjective noun modal other lexical preposition adverb conjunction
auxil. auxil.
nominal Deictic √
group
Post- √ (c.40 √ as sub-

deictic adjectives) modifier
(e.g.
almost the
first case;
exactly
twenty
birds)
Numeral √ √
Epithet √ √ [v-ing, √ as sub-

v-ed] modifier
(e.g. a very
tall boy)
Classifier √ √ √ [v-ing,
(typically v-ed]
denominal (e.g.
) moving
pictures)
Thing √
verbal Finite √ √ (finite

group form)
Auxiliary √
(non-finite
form)
Event √ (small √ √ as part √ as part

set of a of a
indicating phrasal phrasal
modulation, verb (e.g. verb (e.g.
e.g. keen, look at, look up,
eager, depend take off)
willing, as on)
in is keen
to do.)
adv. Head √ (lexical

group open set)
Modifier √
(various
intensi-
fiers)
conj. Head √
group
Modifier √
prep. Minor √ (in prep.

phrase process group)
clause Conjunctive √
(conjunctive
prep. in
prep.
group)
(introducing
non-finite
clauses, e.g.
instead of
me doing
the work)
IFG2: 236,
IFG3: 416-7
In addition to these possibilities, note that words may also combine at word rank
(rather than group rank) through compounding. Noun compounding (e.g. blackbird,
gravy boat, airship) may look like a configuration of Classifier + Thing and the line
between the two is indeterminate: see IFG2: 185; IFG3: 320.
3.2.1 Verb as Event (verbal group) or Epithet (nominal group)?

A lexical verb such as wrecked can function as the Event in a verbal group and as
Epithet in a nominal group. In any particular instance the syntagmatic environment
can be checked. For example, we find that for the example has been wrecked, wrecked
is preceded by the auxiliary verb been, whereas in the example the wrecked car, it is
preceded by the determiner the and followed by the noun car. This tells us that the
first instance is an Event in a verbal group and the second is an Epithet in a nominal
group. Each environment also has a different set of agnate variants. For example, if
wrecked serves as the Event of a verbal group, there should be an agnate group where
it is conflated with the Finite: has been wrecked: wrecks. In contrast, if wrecked serves
as an Epithet, there should be an agnate group where an adjective serves the same
function: a wrecked car: a rusty car.
Table 5.17 The different adjectival functions in the nominal group
Post-deictic Epithet Classifier
Sequence in nominal √ – –
group:
can always come before the identical three twins the two usual (ordinary, the three identical twins
a numerative everyday, festive) dishes
the usual (typical) two
dishes
Can (typically) be √ √ –
compared and
intensified (by a fast train : a very fast but not: a very fast (express)
submodifiers) train train
May be agnate with – – √

nouns
a wooden cabinet : a wood
cabinet;
a fast train : an express train
Members of class Fairly closed, around 40 open open
Category meanings [i] projection, modalisation: [polar:] sensory [taxonomic:] elaboration

possible, potential, alleged, properties – weight (e.g. role, a teacher friend),
supposed; usual, common, (heavy, light), size (small, extension (e.g. part-whole
habitual, unusual big), height (short, tall), table leg), enhancement
[ii] elaboration – identity: length (short, long), (e.g. purpose, a passenger
identical, same, different, distance (close, far), ferry), material (a stone
other; – exemplification: duration (short, long), mansion), location (a
certain, particular, given; texture (smooth, rough), lake-side mansion)
various; famous, well-known, temperature (cold,
infamous, notorious hot),...; behavioural
[iii] extension (coverage of propensity (clumsy,
class): complete, entire, skillful); value (good,
whole bad)
[iv] enhancement (order): [binary:] life status (dead,
above, aforementioned, alive; married,
earlier unmarried)
[taxonomic:] colour
(blue, red, brown), shape
(round, rectangular,
square, oblong), state
(solid, liquid, gaseous),
nationality (Norwegian,
Panamanian, Tunisian)
3.2.2 Adjective in nominal group: Post-deictic, Epithet or Classifier?

Adjectives may fill any of three different functions in the nominal group: Post-deictic,
Epithet or Classifer, as detailed in Table 5.17, which lists different properties for the
subclasses of adjectives and which can be used as a reference for determining function.
As the table indicates, there are a number of ways of probing the different possible
functions. To test if an adjective is a Post-Deictic, check whether it can come before a
Numerative in the structure. If it can, it is a Post-Deictic rather than an Epithet or
Classifier. Compare:
Her usual two escorts Her two tall escorts
D PD N T D N E T
*Her tall two escorts

To determine whether a word is functioning as Epithet or Classifier, check
whether it can be sub-modified (for example, using very or another adverb like
absolutely, perpetually, etc.). This is possible for an Epithet but not a Classifier. For
example, hard and yapping in a hard floor and a yapping dog are Epithets because a
very hard floor or a continually yapping dog are possible. By contrast a very wooden
floor or an absolutely boxer dog are not possible, indicating that wooden and boxer are
Classifiers not Epithets. (See Section 3.2.6 below for further discussion of submodified
structures.) Note however, that an adjective that appears to be a Classifier out of
context – such as postmodernist – may on a particular occasion be reconstrued, as in
Oh, this important book provides a very post-modernist critique. Here, just as with the
playful this is a very sedimentary rock, the supposedly taxonomic feature must be read
as a gradable characteristic – as an Epithet not a Classifier.
3.2.3 Adjective in verbal group complex or adjective as Attribute?

A small number of adjectives can serve with be as part of a verbal group complex. For
example:
Were they able to finish before dinner?
There are two verbal groups here forming a complex. The first group is were able
and the modifying group is to finish: : were able  : to finish. They enter into sets of
agnates with verbs rather than adjectives in general; for example, be afraid to do is
agnate with fear to do. The patterns of ellipsis are also the same as for verbal
equivalents: Did he ask her? – No, but he was keen/wanted  to. Examples of adjectives
serving in such verbal group complexes are listed in Table 5.18, together with related
variants with verbs.
Table 5.18 Adjectives in hypotactic verbal group complexes
type examples
conation potentiality be able/unable  to do
modulation manner: quality be quick  to do

‘hasten to do, do quickly’
be easy/hard  to do
‘be done easily/with difficulty’
proposal: idea fear be afraid/scared  to do
desideration be eager/determined/happy/keen/willing  to do
probability be certain/likely  to do
Sequences such as be able to finish, be hard to solve look like relational attributive
clauses where the Attribute has an adjectival Head postmodified by a non-finite clause
(as in [Carrier:] he [Process:] was [Attribute:] too scared [[to move]]) and for certain
cases this might be an alternative analysis. However, the constructions have different
properties and these can be used as probes in analysis.
One test is to look for an agnate example consisting of the final verbal group of
the complex. For example, the verbal group complex were able to finish is agnate with
the simple verbal group finished (did finish).
Another is to see whether the example (e.g. were able to finish) is agnate with a
simple version of the first verbal group of the complex (e.g. were able). Here we see the
verbal group complex were able to finish is not agnate with were able. In the second
case, able can be co-ordinated with a range of regular adjectives (they were able, strong
and healthy), but it cannot be in the first case (there is no they were able, strong and
healthy to finish). In contrast, where an adjective functions as Attribute in a relational
clause, there is always an agnate without the Postmodifier. Thus the relational clause
he was too scared [[to move]] is agnate with he was too scared. (This is to be expected
since Postmodifiers are not obligatory elements of structure.)
3.2.4 Adverb as Head, Modifier or Submodifier

As Table 5.16 above indicates, adverbs serve either as the Head of an adverbial group,
as in (she fell) down (and landed) awkwardly, or as Modifier in an adverbial group, as
in straight down and very awkwardly. Contrasting examples are presented in Table
5.19 below.
Adverbs serving as Head cover a fairly wider range of (i) experiential
(circumstantial) types and (ii) interpersonal types. Apart from pro-adverbs such as
then, here, they tend to be lexical items; that is to say, they form fairly open sets. Those
of manner: quality and manner: means may be derived from adjectives by means of an
affix, typically -ly.
Adverbs serving as Modifier are concerned with two areas, viz. comparison and
intensification. They are always Pre-modifiers13; they may modify the Head of an
adverbial group (as in very awkwardly) or they may serve as Submodifiers modifying a
Subhead that is a Modifier within any type of group (with the exception of a verbal
group), as in almost straight down and a very awkward fall. In either case, adverbs
serving as Modifier tend to be grammatical items rather than lexical items; that is, they
form fairly closed sets. This does not mean that they cannot be extended; adverbs of
high intensity are particularly lively. (Adverbs serving as Modifiers and Submodifiers
are mentioned only very briefly in IFG; for further discussion of intensifiers, see Quirk
et al, 1985: 445 ff, and compare also their discussion of Manner: degree, 583 ff.)
Table 5.19 can be used as a guide to discriminating the function of adverbials:
13 The one exception is enough, which comes after the Head, as in they are not working fast enough (for us
to finish the job). See IFG2 p. 211.
Table 5.19 The different functions of adverbials
Submodifier
Unit Modifier [grammatical] Head [lexical] Example
[grammatical]
adverbial group [experiential:] of location

– adverbs of time
(yesterday, today; then,
now), of place (upstairs,
downstairs; here, there)
adverbs of comparison of extent – adverbs of [:]How [:] long (did

and intensification: distance (long, far), of they stay)?
duration (long); (They didn’t walk)
[i] comparison: more, of manner: quality (fast, [:] terribly [:] far.
less, most, least, as, so, quickly, slowly, skillfully), (They danced)
too; of manner: means [:] extraodinarily
(microscopically, [:] breathtakingly
[ii] intensification
surgically), of manner: [:] beautifully
(interrogative: how)
degree (hard, deeply,
– amplification: very,
completely, completely)
quite, much, extremely,
terribly, totally;
– downtoning: almost,
fairly, nearly, rather
[interpersonal:] adverbs (They have)

of modal assessment [:] quite [:] possibly
(mood: modality, (solved the mystery
temporality, mood; and already)
comment: opinion,
presumption, etc.) See
IFG2: 49, 82-83; IFG3: 82
nominal group [Submodifier] [Epithet/Subhead]; (These chips are) [:]less

[Numerative/Subhead] [:] crisp (than the ones
adverbs of comparison we had yesterday);
and intensification: (she’s an) [:] extremely
[:]clever
[i] comparison: ([:]researcher);
more, less, most, least, as, (there were) [:]almost
so, too; [:]40 ([:]penguins)
[ii] intensification
(interrogative: how)
– amplification:
very, much, extremely,
terribly, totally;
– downtoning: almost,
fairly, nearly, rather
conjunction group adverbs of [conjunction: linker, [:] just [:] as,

intensification: binder, continuative] [:] immediately [:]
even, just, only, afterwards
immediately, right
preposition group [preposition] [:] right [:] behind,

[:] approximately
[:] on top of,
[:] almost [:] behind
Note that many adverbs of comparison and intensification may serve either as
(Sub)Modifiers in adverbial and nominal groups or as Heads in adverbial groups that
realise circumstances of Manner: degree. For example: totally.
I totally agree with you adverb as Head
It’s like totally awesome adverb as Submodifier
3.2.5 The verb will in verbal groups

(i) Lexical or auxiliary will
The verb will may be either an auxiliary verb or a lexical verb. To distinguish between
these two is not hard. As with all lexical verbs, the lexical verb will has a full
inflectional paradigm: will(s) – willed – willed. Hornby’s Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
of Current English lists 5 senses: (1) ‘make use of one’s mental powers in an attempt to
do sth. or get sth.’: We cannot achieve success merely by willing it. (2) ‘exercise
will-power’: Willing and wishing are not the same thing. (3) ‘intend unconditionally’:
God has willed it so. (4) ‘influence, control or compel by excercising the will’: Can you
will yourself to keep awake? (5) ‘leave (property, etc.) (to sb.) by means of a will and
testament’: He willed most of his money to charities.
(ii) future will or modal will?
Here the challenge is to distinguish between temporal will (realising the selection of
primary ‘future’ tense, as in I’m not going to have my summers buggered up in this kind
of way. – No, it’ll be perfectly all right, Reynard.) and modal will, as in that’ll be the
postman; he always rings twice, which is median probability (or I won’t mend the fence,
I simply refuse., which is median inclination).
Seen from below, the different types of will have the same formal paradigm (will,
won’t, ’ll, would, wouldn’t, ’d). However, at higher ranks they are clearly distinct. At
group rank, they enter into different sets of agnation, either with different primary
tenses (temporal will)14 or different modal options (modal will). Figure 5.7 sets out
the two systemic dimensions of TENSE and MODALITY VALUE on which the examples are
located. You can thus probe an example by asking along which dimension it makes an
immediately contrastive selection.
that must be [high]
the postman
MODALITY
it was perfectly it is perfectly it’ll be perfectly that’ll be [median]
VALUE
all right all right all right the postman
[past] [present] [future]
that may be [low]

the postman
TENSE
Figure 5.7 Primary TENSE and MODALITY VALUE as immediate dimension

of agnation for will
As well as being related to present and past, primary tense is agnate with
secondary tense, so the primary future will is agnate with the secondary future be
going to. Consequently, any example with primary future will is related to a variant
with (secondary) future-in-present. For example, it’ll be perfectly all right is agnate
with it’s going to be perfectly all right. In fact, the preceding turn in the dialogue from
which the example is taken has this selection: I’m not going to have my summers
14 In some varieties of (British) English, future will serves together with future shall in the realisation of
primary future: shall is used for speaker (plus), i.e. first person; for example: after that I shall have
another two weeks.
buggered up in this kind of way. So you can probe examples with will to check to see
whether they are agnate with a variant with am/are/is going to. For example, the
example that’ll be the postman is not agnate with that’s going to be the postman.
If we move up one rank to that of the clause, we find that there is a wider pattern
of agnation for modal will, which you can again use in probes. Modal will is related to
forms such as probably, I think, and it’s probable/likely that. For example, that’ll be the
postman is agnate with that’s probably the postman and I think that’s the postman.
(Notice that the primary tense here is the present rather than the future.) At clause
rank, you can also probe by means of other temporal specifications; for example, it’ll
be perfectly all right this summer vs. that’ll be the postman now. (If you are trying to
choose between future will and the modal will of inclination [‘be keen to’], it may be
helpful to consider a variant of the clause where the Subject is not likely to exercise
inclination. So if the Subject is a conscious being, you can consider a variant with a
non-conscious being as Subject, possibly a passive version of the clause. For example,
is I won’t mend the fence temporal or modal? It can be either. If it is temporal, it is
agnate with the fence won’t be mended by me, since primary future is not related to the
choice of Subject; but if it is modal: modulation: inclination, it is not agnate with the
fence won’t be mended by me, since this can hardly mean ‘the fence is not keen (willing)
to be mended by me’.
3.2.6 One verbal group or two?

When you find a sequence of verbs such as has to do, seems to do, leaves to do, there are
at least in principle three possible functional interpretations:
(i) the sequence constitutes one verbal group, where the first verb or verbs are
auxiliary verbs serving as Finite or Auxiliary and the last verb is a lexical verb serving
as Event, as in [Finite:] has [Event:] to do.
(ii) the sequence constitutes two verbal groups combined as a (hypotactic) verbal
group complex and realising a single Process. Each verbal group has a lexical verb
serving as the Event of that verbal group, as in [Finite/Event:] seems [Event:] to do,
[Finite:] will [Auxiliary:] have [Event:] seemed [Auxiliary:] to be going [Event:] to do.
(iii) the sequence constitutes two verbal groups, realising two different Processes
in two clauses, as in (he) leaves || (in order) to do (his homework). Here the sequence is
just incidental: it comes about because the first clause ends with a verb, but it could
easily be expanded: he leaves KL tomorrow || to close the deal in Singapore on Sunday.
These all constitute different grammatical environments, each with its own sets
of properties that can be used as probes in analysis. We summarise these properties in
Table 5.20 below for expansion.15
As the table indicates, the first two environments, simple verbal groups and
verbal group complexes, are clearly distinct from the third environment, where there
are two clauses (a hypotactic clause complex). So the greatest challenge is to assign
sequences of verbs to either simple verbal groups or hypotactic verbal group
complexes. In both environments, the verbs are related in a logical hypotactic series
(...) and the line between the two environments is, in principle fuzzy: as
Halliday points out in IFG, it has been crossed in the evolution of English when verbal
group complexes with be and have as the first part have come to be reconstrued as
simple verbal groups with tenses or modalities.
15 The situation is somewhat different with projection: see IFG2: 288-291, IFG3: 515-9.
Table 5.20 Contrasting properties of verbal group, (hypotactic ) verbal group complex
and (hypotactic) clause complex
simple verbal group hypotactic verbal group hypotactic clause complex

complex (non-finite dependent)
He has to eat the cake. He is trying to eat the cake. He is trying, to eat the cake.
process one process one process two processes
event one event two events two events
time one process time one process time two process time
he has to eat the cake he is trying to eat the cake he is trying (fasting) now, to
now/tomorrow now eat the cake tomorrow
agnates agnate verbs grammatical verbs, lexical verbs: is lexical verbs: he is
i.e. auxiliaries: attempting/avoiding/ trying/working/making an
must/should/may... managing/failing to eat; effort  to eat the cake
eat is succeeding in eating
form with ... to eat : in order to eat
explicit binder
finite second ... to eat : so that he may eat
lexical verb
thematic variant To eat the cake, he is trying
with second (making an effort).
lexical verb
Complement as What does he have to What is he trying to eat? *What is he trying, in order
Wh eat (What has he got to eat?
to eat)?
second part He has to eat the cake. He is trying to eat the cake. He is trying, to eat the cake.
presupposed by – Oh, does he have to? – Oh, is he trying to? – *Oh, is he trying (in order)
verbal ellipsis to?
Let us discuss modal am/is/are/was/were to and have to briefly. Looked at from

the point of view of meaning, they clearly enter into the system of modality together
with those modal auxiliaries that can only serve as finite operators (may, can, must,
etc.). Modal am/is/are/was/were to is formally closer to the modal operators in that it
occurs only in finite form. In this respect, modal have to is further away from the
modal operators. It is like the temporal auxiliary have in that it has a full finite and
non-finite paradigm; but it differs from the temporal have in that it is often
constructed with the do operator (contrast temporal he hasn’t done his homework with
modal he doesn’t have to do his homework). The expanded form have got to patterns
more clearly as a simple finite verbal group since the Finite has/have/had is separated
from the Predicator got to... and the Finite is treated as a finite operator (contrast he
doesn’t have to do his homework with he hasn’t got to do his homework).
In the area of modality, we can thus recognise a cline between prototypical simple
verbal group with an auxiliary and a complex of two verbal groups. See Table 5.21:
Table 5.21 Forms of modality within verbal group and verbal group complex
verbal group verbal group
complex
finite modal operator finite form of form of auxiliary form of lexical verb
+ auxiliary be + have + require, oblige, allow,
permit etc. +
second part V/to V V to V
FINITENESS finite may/might // is (am, are)/was has (have)/had require(s)/required//
can/could // (were)  to do  to do is (etc) required  to
will/should/must do
do
no person/number person/number
non-finite – – having/to have  to requiring/to require
do // being required/to
be required  to do
Mood Adjunct Finite ^ Adjunct ^ you must always lock you are always to you have always got
Predicator up lock up to lock up
Adjunct ^ Finite/ you always have to we always
Predicator lock up require you to lock up
(we require you
always to lock up)
interrogative/ as operator can he do it? is he to do it? BE: has he (got) to do
negative he can’t do it he isn’t to do it it?
he hasn’t (got) to do
it
with do as AE/BE: does he have do they require him
operator to do it? to do it?
he doesn’t have to do they don’t require
it him to do it
TYPE OF modulation √ √ AE/BE √
MODALITY (as in you have
to/must lock up)
modalisation √ In the past restricted
to AE, but now also
BE
(as in he has to/must
have locked up)
In analytical practice, there is of course little difficulty in this area: you can always
treat modal have to as part of a simple verbal group.
3.2.7 More than one word realising a nominal group function

(i) Proper names
In analysis, a proper name such as Mr. Terence Lee can simply be analysed as a single
Thing realised by several words.
(ii) Sub-modification of Pre-modifiers
An Epithet such as slender in a slender chance may itself be modified as in a very
slender chance, a pathetically slender chance. The Epithet is then realised by more than
one word and the relation of sub-modification can be indicated with Greek alphabet
notation, as follows:
a very slender chance
 
(iii) Co-ordination (parataxis) of Pre-modifiers or Things

Two or more words which are linked together by a conjunction such as and, or, but
may serve a single function in the group. For example, the black and white kitten, the
small but perfect statue, several enthusiastic young boys or girls. The paratactic relation
between the words is made explicit when they are numbered in sequence (see further
Chapter 6):
the small but perfect statue
1 2
several enthusiastic young girls or boys

Numerative Epithet Epithet Thing
1 2
3.3 Different meanings for prepositions

Prepositions can serve as the Minor Process of a prepositional phrase, as part of a
phrasal verb (See 3.1.1) or as structural conjunctive introducing a non-finite clause
(See 3.1.2). Their primary function is as the Head of a preposition group serving as the
Minor Process of a prepositional phrase. In this role, many prepositions have more
than one sense. For example, the preposition against can mean either ‘towards’ or ‘not
in favour of’. Very often these prepositions have a spatial sense as well as other senses;
in fact, these other senses may derive from the spatial sense (via abstract space). In
determining the ideational meaning of the prepositional phrase, it may be helpful to
have a reference indicating the different senses of prepositions. Table 5.22 provides
this for most simple prepositions (except for archaic ones, such as athwart) and one or
two complex ones. We have not included the full set of complex prepositions since
complex prepositions usually only have one sense (as with in case of, on top of, by
means of).
Table 5.22 Prepositions (mostly simple) with their different senses
prep. expansion projecting participant
enhancing extending elaborating
Location Extent Cause Manner Accomp. Role Matter Angle
about √ (a)round √ on, of,
concerning
above √
across √
according √ in √ according to
to accordance x = ‘x says’, in
with [quality] the words of
after √
against √ towards √ not in
favour of
[behalf:
negative]
along √
among(st) √
around √
as (Note: as a √ like √ for, in the
result of) role of, by
way of
at √ √ Range/
Scope
before √
behind √
prep. expansion projecting participant
enhancing extending elaborating
Location Extent Cause Manner Accomp. Role Matter Angle
below √
beneath √
beside √ at/by the
side of
besides √ (older use:
beside)
between √
beyond √ √
but √
by √ before; via; √ with Agent
at
despite √ [conc.]
down √
during √
except √
(for)
for √ [intended √ [duration, √ [behalf, √ as Beneficiary/
destination] distance] purpose] Client
from √ [source] √ (because) of √ with
[means]
in √ [place, time] note: in + √ with respect Range/
way/manner to Behaviour
inside √
into √ [place] √ [resultative]
like √ [comparative]
near (to) √
of √ (because) of √ on, about,
concerning
off √
on √ [place, time] √ [quality] √ about, of, Range/
concerning Scope
onto √
opposite √
out √
outside √
out of √ [place] √ because of,
from
over √ √ √
past √
re √
round √
since √
through √ √ √ √
throughout √
till √
to √ [place, time] √ to x = ‘x Beneficiary/
thinks’ (as in it Recipient,
seems odd to Receiver
me), in the
opinion/view of
towards √
under √
under-
neath
unlike √
until √
up √
with √ [place] √ for, because √ [means] √ [comitative]
of
within √
without √ √
The two easiest ways of probing a prepositional phrase to find out which sense it
has are:
(1) Check which Wh-element it answers or which Wh-element is used in a theme
nominalisation. For example, the preposition according to can indicate either Manner
or Angle; Manner can be probed by how, but Angle cannot: They built it according to
her instructions – How did they build it? (cf. how they built it was according to her
instructions) but not They built it according to her – How did they build it (cf. how they
built it was according to her).
(2) Check what other prepositions are agnate. For example, the preposition
according to is agnate with in accordance with as Manner but not as Angle: They built it
according to/in accordance with her instructions but not They built it according to/in
accordance with her. The table above indicates examples of agnate prepositions that
can be used in this probe.
With respect to the second probe, sometimes it will also be useful to check what
the agnate hypotactic clause would be. This can be particularly helpful in order to
identify circumstances of Cause since the causal link often has to be inferred but is
made explicit in the agnate enhancing clause. 16 So for example, purpose may be
probed by clauses which are marked by in order to and contain a Process that makes
explicit the purposive link, such as a Process of getting, or having: she worked hard for
her money: she worked hard in order to get/have her money.
3.4 Assigning a function to a phrase or a clause: ranking or embedded?

Prepositional phrases and clauses serve certain functions according to their positions
on the rank hierarchy: prepositional phrases serve as Adjuncts in clauses and clauses
constitute the highest position on the rank scale, which means that clauses do not
serve functions in other units. When they serve according to their positions on the
rank scale, we say that they are ranking phrases and clauses. However, the
grammatical potential may be expanded by ‘downranking’ or embedding phrases and
clauses to serve in functions as if they were lower-ranking units. For example, both
phrases and clauses may be downranked to word-rank so that they can serve as
Postmodifiers in nominal and adverbial groups. Consequently, in analysing text, we
have to decide whether a given prepositional phrase or clause is ranking or embedded.
3.4.1 Prepositional phrase: ranking or embedded?

The range of functions served by ranking and embedded prepositional phrases is set
out in Figure 5.8.
16 In addition, prepositional phrases serving as Cause are often metaphorical versions of enhancing clauses
in clause complexes.
clause as participant in circumstantial as circumstance as non-circumstantial Ajunct

relation clause (interpersonal or textual)
(i) ranking
(iii) ranking expension

group/ as qualifier in group prepositional phrase as dependent expansion in
phrase nom. gp. or prep. phr. complex
(ii) downranked
Figure 5.8 The function potential of a prepositional phrase
(i) Qualifier or circumstance?

When a prepositional phrase follows a nominal group in the clause it may not be clear
whether the phrase is part of the nominal group (a Post-modifying Qualifier) or
whether it is a ranking phrase serving as circumstance. Figure 5.9 illustrates the
analytical problem of a nominal group + prepositional phrase combination; here the
astronomer with a telescope. The issue in this example is whether the person looked at
is the astronomer with a telescope (embedded prep. phrase as part of the nominal
group) or whether the person looking did so with a telescope (ranking prep. phrase as
Manner: means).
he looked at the astronomer with a telescope
or
(i) Actor Process Scope Manner: means
(ii) Actor Process Scope
Deictic Thing Qualifier
Figure 5.9 Prepositional phrase – ranking as circumstantial Adjunct/

Means or downranked as Qualifier
The simplest probe to determine the role of the prepositional phrase in a
particular case is the thematic one. If the prepositional phrase can serve as Theme by
itself, it is a ranking one serving as a circumstance; if the prepositional phrase can only
be thematic together with the preceding nominal group, it is embedded as a Qualifier.
See Chapter 4, Section 3.10 (ii).
In assessing whether a phrase is embedded as a nominal group Qualifier or is
functioning as a circumstance, it is important to be aware of the possibility of a
discontinuous Qualifier. The Qualifier is the one element of the nominal group that
may be split from the rest of the nominal group in the clause for textual reasons. We
will quote an example in its discourse environment so as to illustrate this:

It seemed to Brother Juniper that it was high time for theology to take its place among the
exact sciences, and he had long intended putting it there. What he had lacked hitherto was
a laboratory. Oh, there had never been any lack of specimens; their lungs had been
touched; their houses had burned down and [Thing/:] things had happened to their
children [Qualifier/:] from which one averts the mind. But these occasions of human
woe had never been quite fit for scientific examination...
[Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey]
The structure of the discontinuous nominal group, with a Qualifier split from the
rest of the nominal group, is shown below:
things from which one averts the mind
Thing ... Qualifier
  
The first part of the nominal group, ‘things’, is clearly qualified by the postponed
part, ‘from which one averts the mind’: what things? – ones from which one averts the
mind. From a textual point of view, these two parts serve as Theme and New
respectively: Theme: things... New: from which one averts the mind. And this seems to
be the motivation behind such discontinuous nominal groups: they are split into two
parts to accommodate the swell of information within the clause: the movement from
a peak of thematic prominence (things) to a peak of prominence of news (from which
one averts the mind). As the discourse environment shows, Wilder is building up a
point in the discourse to illustrate instances of calamities, so from which one averts the
mind fits into this pattern, as the culmination of calamities – touched – burned down –
from which one averts the mind. If the nominal group had not been discontinuous, the
rhetorical effect would have been that their children would have been presented as
New, in the discourse company of calamities.
(ii) Qualifier or part of nominal group complex?
In addition to serving in its own right as an element of the clause, a ranking
prepositional phrase may be linked to a nominal group to form a nominal group
complex, as in The rain was pouring down when [:] Margaret, [:] in a yellow raincoat,
greeted us. Such prepositional phrases serve as elements of the clause together with
the nominal groups they expand: that is, the whole complex is treated as an element of
the clause. Thus Margaret, in a yellow raincoat is, in its entirety, the
participant/Theme/Subject of the clause.
Given this situation, it may not be obvious why the prepositional phrase is not
regarded as an embedded Qualifier. The difference is that a phrase linked to a nominal
group within a complex does not define the nominal group. For this reason it can be
used with a proper name; and there is a contrast in meaning between (a) [:]Margaret,
[:] in a yellow raincoat, greeted us and (b) the woman [in a yellow raincoat ] greeted us.
In (a), the referent of the nominal group has already been established and Margaret is
sufficient to identify her. In contrast, in (b), the prepositional phrase in a yellow
raincoat is needed to define the referent of the nominal group of which it is part. In
spoken English, the hypotactically related prepositional phrase in the nominal group
complex would normally be assigned a separate tone group, and in written English
this is indicated by separating it with commas.
3.4.2 Clause: ranking or embedded?

Ranking clauses do not function as constituents in a larger construction. They combine
with one another in clause complexes. Embedded clauses serve as constituent
elements within groups either as Head or as Postmodifier. See Chapter 6, 3.2.1.
This section will focus on analysis of nominal and verbal groups in Sections 4.1 and 4.2
respectively, with only brief exercises for adverbial group and prepositional phrase in
Section 4.3.
4.1 Nominal group
4.1.1 Phase I
4.1.1.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Identifying nominal groups, types of nominal
Underline the nominal groups in the following text and label the class of the Head as
common, proper or pronoun.
‘We’ve absolutely got to stop them!’ Sophie cried. ‘Put me back in your pocket quick and
we’ll chase after them and warn people in England they’re coming.’ ‘I can’t,’ the big friendly
giant said. ‘They are going faster than me and they’ll get there before we are halfway.’
Exercise 2 Discriminating pre-modifier functions

Analyse the following nominal groups for Deictic, Numerative, Epithet, Classifier and
Thing functions as required.
1. your pocket
2. the human beings
3. the gathering dusk
4. many soldiers
5. this red suit
6. a terrific idea
7. those glassy bottle
8. nine disgusting giants
9. each one
10. the witching hour
11. the bedroom windows

12. the big giants
Exercise 3 Distinguishing Epithet (adjectival realisations) and Classifier

Analyse the following nominal groups for Deictic, Numerative, Epithet, Classifier and
Thing functions as required. For groups with Epithets construct an agnate example
with the Epithet graded (via intensification or comparison).
tree tops
C T
one repulsive specimen one particularly repulsive specimen
D E T
1. the frenetic life
2. the soft light
3. the gas fire
4. a merry hiss
5. the divan bed
6. the two comfortable armchairs
7. a greetings card
8. a female robin
9. a frilly apron
10. the coffee table
Exercise 4 Discriminating Epithets and Classifiers (verbal realisations)

Analyse the following nominal groups for Deictic, Epithet, Classifier and Thing as
required; for groups with ungraded Epithets construct an agnate example with the
Epithet submodified.
the working space
D C T
the fading light the rapidly fading light
D E T
1. a greeting card
2. a pleasantly proportioned room
3. the facing window
4. beribboned grape vines
5. the tiled surround

6. lining paper
7. an unshaded light bulb
8. a bentwood rocking chair
9. a coloured woman
10. washed clothes

Exercise 5 Groups with repeated functions

Analyse the following more complex nominal groups:
those big black furry hats
D E E E T
1. a bentwood rocking chair
2. a handsome pop idol
3. a titchy little runty giant
4. the dirty window panes
5. a plain wooden overmantel
6. the faint autumnal smell
7. antiquated gun law policies
8. a single unshaded light bulb
9. three grey army blankets
10. an old-fashioned bamboo curtain rail
Exercise 6 Recognising multiword functions

Analyse the following nominal groups for Decitic, Numerative, and Thing as required.
See 3.2.7 (i).
1. Dalgliesh
2. Sister Gearing
3. the Hospital Management Committee
4. twenty-four hours
5. Mrs Wentworth
6. the Big Friendly Giant
7. a fifty foot tree
8. England
9. 120 stone giant
10. two hundred tons
11. A Boeing 747

Exercise 7 Identifying embedded phrase or clause as Qualifier

Analyse the following nominal groups taking account of embeddings where required:
everyone [in England]
T Q
1. the human beings they are going to gobble up
2. a titchy little runty giant only twenty-four feet high
3. those poor girls and boys who are going to be eaten alive
4. anything in the world
5. something you like
6. a flying bathtub with silver wings
7. those big black furry hats they are wearing
8. dreams about little girls
9. a little girl called Sophie sitting on her window-sill
10. bigger giants than the big friendly giant
4.1.1.2 Texts for analysis
Text 1 Narrative for children

Pick out and analyse all the nominal groups in the following passage, identifying D, N,
E, C, T and Q functions as appropriate.
The Glass Eye
One morning Mrs Twit took out her glass eye and dropped it into Mr Twit’s drink
when he wasn’t looking.
Mr Twit sat there drinking his beer slowly. The froth made a white ring on the hairs
around his mouth. He wiped the white froth on to his sleeve and wiped his sleeve on his
trousers.
‘You’re plotting something’, Mrs Twit said, keeping her back turned so he wouldn’t see
that she had taken out her glass eye....
Mr Twit was plotting away like mad. He was trying to think up a really nasty trick he
could play on his wife that day. ‘You’d better look out,’ Mrs Twit said, ‘because when I see
you starting to plot, I watch you like a wombat.’
‘Oh, do shut up, you old hag,’ Mr Twit said.
He went on drinking his beer and his evil mind kept working away on the latest horrid
trick he was going to play on the old woman.
Suddenly, as Mr Twit tipped the last drop down his throat, he caught sight of Mrs
Twit’s awful glass eye staring up at him from the bottom of the mug*. It made him jump.
‘I told you I was watching you,’ cackled Mrs Twit. ‘I’ve got eyes everywhere.’
[Dahl, Roald The Twits Harmondsworth, Puffin 1982:17-18.]
*the bottom of the mug is best analysed as [Focus:] the bottom of + [Deictic:] the +
[Thing:] mug. (See 2.1.3 (ii).) This kind of structure will be practised in Phase II.
Text 2 Handbook for parents (excerpt)

Babies do not need expensive canned baby foods. These foods usually contain food
additives (labels do not have to include most additives) and pesticide residues. Also, most
canned foods are overheated during processing.
Your food will probably be of higher quality (especially if it has no preservatives, little salt
and no sugar). Just mash it up and offer it to your baby in a spoon, or just put a dab on the
high chair tray and see if your little one takes an interest.
[Gardner, Joy. Healing the family v. 1 Toronto, Bantam, 1982:189.]
4.1.2 Phase II
4.1.2.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Recognising Post-Deictic
Analyse the following nominal groups, including a Post-Deictic function where
required.
their four usual visitors
D N E T
the typical ten questions
D Post-D N T
1. their usual half dozen appalling evening activities
2. the entire five cases
3. the above two problematic examples
4. the three similar problems
5. the countless more obvious difficulties
6. the original two chapters
7. their respective fifth cases
8. the many different things
9. this very rock
Exercise 2 Groups with submodification

Analyse the following nominal groups, showing submodification and discontinuity
where required. See 3.2.7 (ii).
a very careful giant
D E T
 
what a dumb question (cf. a really dumb question)
E... D ...E T
  
1. How many families

2. ‘Preheat Pilot On’ push button
3. Tundish Preheat Control Station
4. too many soldiers
5. Pilot Natural Gas Shut-off valve
6. 110 Volts Ignition Transformer supply
7. a most upsetting offensive question
8. an even more appalling suggestion
9. absolutely anything
10. such an enormous hurry
11. how many more tragedies
12. what a horrible dream
13. a more challenging problem than expected
14. a more challenging than expected problem
Exercise 3 Groups with word complexes

Analyse the following nominal groups, showing paratactic word complexes where
required. See 3.2.7 (iii).
a bold and beautiful innovation
D E T
1 2
1. brown and brittle old newspapers

2. The shocking and senseless killing
3. the little boys and girls
4. the selected goods and services
5. a very dignified and logical remonstrance
6. a productive, safe and equitable environment
7. one or two people
8. a bricks and mortar wall
Exercise 4 Analysing elliptical groups

Pick out and analyse the elliptical nominal groups (nominal groups with their Thing
elided) in the following clauses; in each case show which element is Head (mark as ).
See 2.1.3 (i).
‘Ridiculous,’ the big friendly giant said.

E/
1. ‘Many,’ the BFG said.

2. and I am feeling so sad
3. ‘Disgusting,’ Sophie said.
4. and the third will be the last
5. ‘That simply isn’t true!’ Sophie cried angrily.
6. ‘But I didn’t know you could mix one dream with another.’
7. ‘Those are commonest of all,’ the big friendly giant said.
8. ‘Put that in the dream,’ Sophie said.
9. (I am) the most long-suffering of mortals
Exercise 5 Recognising Pre-elements

Analyse the following nominal groups, labelling Focus, Deictic, Numerative, Epithet,
Classifier, Thing, Qualifier as required. See 2.1.3 (ii).
two of my best friends
Focus D E T
1. both his maths exams

2. his two maths exams
3. some of the wine
4. the first light of day
5. the top of the cupboard with mirrors
6. one of the most popular writers of thrillers
Text 1 Real Estate Ad

Analyse all the nominal groups in the following passage, taking note of
sub-modification where necessary (groups within embeddings need not be analysed).
This striking residence is an authentic restoration of a classic Federation bungalow,
retaining all the warmth and character of its heritage. Utterly convenient, this beautiful
wide-fronted federation home is located opposite Coogee Beach.
Built on an exceedingly generous scale, it is made for a most comfortable lifestyle.
The floorplan comprises a huge hallway entrance, very spacious lounge room for elegant
entertaining, four double bedrooms, private study, large sunroom, formal dining room
overlooking the ocean, extra large eat-in kitchen with breakfast bar, huge master
bathroom, second shower/toilet, rumpus room, 3rd bathroom and laundry. Prominent
corner position captures sunny northeast aspect and side access to double garage.
This property offers an established reputation in one of Sydney’s most desirable
suburbs.
[Adapted from advertisement in Real Estate Section of Wentworth Courier 6/9/90.]
Text 2 Sports manual

Analyse all the nominal groups in the following passage, taking note of
sub-modification where necessary (groups within embeddings need not be analysed).
Successful team play depends on both offensive and defensive rebounding. Offensive
rebounding adds to your team’s scoring opportunities, and defensive rebounding limits
your opponent’s scoring opportunities.
Attacking the offensive glass for rebounds enables your team to create second shot
scoring opportunities. More often than not, these second shots are high percentage inside
shots and many result in 3-point plays. Offensive rebounding takes desire and effort, and
gaining possession of the ball by getting an offensive rebound often inspires your team.
Gaining possession of the ball through defensive rebounding however, is even more
valuable. Controlling the defensive backboard provides your opponent fewer opportunities
to gain second shots that often result in easy scores and 3-point plays. Not only does
defensive rebounding limit your opponents’ second chance scoring opportunities but it
also creates the most opportunities of any method for starting fast breaks.
[Wissel, Hal Basketball: steps to success. Champaign IL, Human Kinetics, 1994: 94.]
4.1.3 Phase III
4.1.3.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Recognising discontinuous Qualifiers
Analyse each nominal group in the following clauses, including embedded groups. See
3.4.1 (i).
When would the felicity begin that she had always associated with social position?
the felicity [[that she had always associated with social position]]
D T Q
she social position
T C T
1. A story was soon published which dealt with their exploits.
2. A friend arrived who they hadn’t seen for years.
3. Did you realise who wrote it?
4. Who left that she wanted to meet?
5. Things had happened to their children from which one averts the mind.
6. Which story did they like?
7. But we can’t just sit here doing nothing!
8. Who was involved that we know?
9. Worse things were said of her, and petitions were afloat that she be looked up.
10. I call a person bad who lies and cheats and is unkind.
Exercise 2 Groups with abstractions as Thing: embedded groups at Q

Analyse the following nominal groups with abstract Things, including embedded
groups.
The Disappearance [of [Lady Frances Carfax]]
D T Q
T
1. an expression of weary patience
2. a cleanser of the system
3. the connection between my boots and a Turkish bath
4. the train of reasoning
5. the habit of doing up your boots in a certain way
6. your usual method of tying them
Exercise 3 Analysing embeddings in premodifiers

Analyse the following nominal groups, including embedded nominal groups where
present:
[the king [of [England]]’s] hat
D T
D T Q
T
1. Australia’s plea
2. his death
3. the Queen of England’s bedroom
4. her bed
5. tonight’s children
6. their children
Exercise 4 Analysing groups with Focus

Analyse the following nominal groups, noting embeddings and noting sub-types of
Focus as perspective (persp), re-counting (re-c), partitive (part), selecting (sel),
dimensional (dimen), evaluative (eval) or classifying (class) as required. See 2.1.3 (ii).
[the top] of his ear
F-persp D T
[D T]
1. many species of whales
2. one of the soldiers

3. a month of Mondays
4. a bugger of a job
5. his bunch of keys
6. the same elementary class of deduction
7. the rest of it
8. the lovely part of it
9. the tip of his thumb
10. the colour of the dream
11. the centre of the hansom
12. half the world
Exercise 5 Analysing complex embeddings

Analyse the following nominal groups with embeddings, including embedded groups.
a more rigourous separation of ranks and occupations
a more rigourous separation [of [ranks and occupations]]
D E T Q
  (1 2)
T T
1. experiences which will lead them to make the appropriate discriminations
2. the framework for the interpretation of errors
3. her insertion as subject into the practice
4. the aspect of the regulation to which she is subjected
5. her consciousness of what teaching means
6. quarterly surveys of prices for a representative range of goods and services
7. an estimation of the pattern of household expenditure in 1984
8. a weighting which reflects the relative importance of the item in the budget
9. the elimination of all forms of harassment
10. an environment free from discrimination
11. the near identity of these two criticisms of the governmental state
Exercise 6 Analysing nominal group complexes

Analyse the following nominal groups and nominal group complexes. For complexing,
see further Chapter 6.
a responsibility [[for taking positive action to ensure that the work and study
environment remains free of harassment || and for dealing with complaints in a serious and
confidential manner]]
a responsibility for taking positive action to and for dealing with
ensure that the work and complaints in a serious and
study environment remains confidential manner
free of harassment
D T Q
1 +2
1. an increase in the general level of retail prices as measured by the consumer
price index
2. the increase of empirical knowledge, and more exact modes of thought
3. demand pull, wage push, external causes, inflationary expectations, public sector
causes, price shocks and excess money supply
4. the consumer price index (CPI)
5. advice such as this [i.e. be wary of approaching children before they are ‘ready’ to
learn mathematics]
6. one aspect of a regime of ‘meaning’, a regime of ‘truth’ in which the teacher

herself is positioned
7. eight groups: food, clothing, health and personal care, housing, household
equipment and operation, tobacco and alcohol, recreation and education, and
transportation
8. my mate John, the actor
Text 1 Sports manual

Return to Phase 2, Text 2 and analyse any downranked (embedded) groups.
Text 2 Theoretical exposition

Analyse all the nominal groups in the following passage. Include analysis of any
embedded nominal groups.
The reflexivity of modern social life consists in the fact that social practices are constantly
examined and reformed in light of incoming information about those very practices, thus
constitutively altering their character. We should be clear about the nature of this
phenomenon. All forms of social life are partly constituted by actors’ knowledge of them.
Knowing ‘how to go on’ in Wittgenstein’s sense is intrinsic to the conventions which are
drawn upon and reproduced by human activity. In all cultures, social practices are routinely
altered in the light of ongoing discoveries which feed into them. But only in the era of
modernity is the revision of convention radicalised to apply (in principle) to all aspects of
human life, including technological intervention into the material world. It is often said that
modernity is marked by an appetite for the new, but this is not perhaps completely accurate.
What is characteristic of modernity is not an embracing of the new for its own sake but the
resumption of wholesale reflexivity – which of course includes reflection upon the nature of
reflection itself.
[Giddens, Anthony ‘Institutional reflexivity and modernity’ The Polity Reader in Social
Theory, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1994: 90-1.]
4.2 Verbal group

4.2.1 Phase I
4.2.1.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Analysing simple groups
Analyse the verbal groups in the following clauses, noting in addition whether the
clause is indicative or imperative:
said the BFG indicative
-ed say
- event
Look out! imperative
event
1. I hate them.
2. Put that in the dream...
3. ... Sophie cried.
4. Get me back in your pocket quick...
5. Come on!
6. Let’s hurry!
7. She stood up...
8. She sees a little girl...
Exercise 2 Analysing groups with simple tenses

Analyse the verbal groups in the following clauses:
we ’ll chase after them
+ event
We are halfway.
-s be
ø event
1. That giant alone has a most voracious appetite.
2. If I was a titchy little runty giant only twenty-four feet high then...
3. She and the big friendly giant sat quietly on the blue rock...
4. She is famous for her kindness...

5. He thinks perhaps...
6. We’ll go to the Queen!
7. She sees a little girl...
8. ... and there are very few people about in the witching hour.
Exercise 3 Recognising discontinuous verbal groups

Underline the verbal groups in the following clauses:
Will he snatch them out of their beds?
1. Had you sat in the centre of a hansom…
2. Do you always know?
3. If I do sometimes show myself…
4. Don’t you worry about that part of it?
5. You obviously do not have exactly that dream in your collection.
6. ‘I did not’ (the big friendly giant said.)
7. Do they eat them on the spot?
8. What does she see?
Exercise 4 Practising tense agnation

For the verbal groups in the following clauses construct complementary agnate groups
for tense (past, present, future):
Will he snatch them out of their beds? future
Does he snatch them out of the beds? present
Did he snatch them out of their beds? past

2. That giant alone has a most voracious appetite.
4. She and the big friendly giant sat quietly on the blue rock...
5. Grown-up human beings are not famous for their kindness...
Exercise 5 Practising MOOD and POLARITY agnation

Analyse the verbal groups in the following clauses; construct agnate clauses to
complement each example with respect to POLARITY (positive vs negative) and MOOD
(declarative vs interrogative vs imperative).
We ’ll chase after them.
+ event
We won’t chase after them.
Will we chase after them?
Chase after them.
1. Will he snatch them out of their beds?
2. If I wasn’t a titchy little runty giant only twenty-four feet high then...
4. If I do show myself...
5. Don’t you worry about that part of it.
6. You obviously do not have exactly that dream in your collection.
7. ‘I did not’ (the BFG said.)
8. Do they eat them on the spot?

Text 1 Information report
Identify and analyse the verbal groups in the following text excerpt:
Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat
Lasiorhinus krefftii
Identification
A large wombat with silky grey fur and black eye-rings. Appearance is similar to the
Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, but the northern species has a much broader muzzle and is
larger (body weight up to 38 kilograms and total length up to 1.1 metres). Both hairy-nosed
wombats differ from the Common Wombat in that they have finer fur, longer ears, longer
muzzles, and hair over the snout. Females are generally larger than males but males have
thicker necks. Both sexes have very powerful forearms and broad forepaws.
Biology
Nocturnal, feeds on grasses and sedges. Each individual uses 3-4 burrows, and burrow use
of different individuals overlaps. Social behaviour largely unknown. Individuals are mostly
solitary but burrows occur in groups, which whole families of wombats occupy. Females
more commonly move between groups than males. Females give birth mainly in late spring
and early summer.
[Adapted from Australian Natural History v.24 no.10, 1994:36.]
Text 2 Recount
Identify and analyse the verbal groups in the following text:
Wednesday 9th November 1994
On Friday, I will go on holidays to Mossy Point for ten days and last time I went up there we
saw a whale in the creek and some people and my little brother and me pushed it back in
the water but it came back out of the water. Then it died the next day. And on the weekend I
went to the beach. Next week my Grandad will come back from England.
Text 3 Conversation
Identify and analyse the verbal groups in the following conversation:
(Mother and child are discussing presentation of awards at local soccer club where child’s
brother, Harry, will get a trophy)
M: ... And everybody gets a little trophy.
C: Will I get one?
M: Well, when you join the soccer club and you play a game, you’ll get these things, darling.
Harry didn’t get them when he was four. You’ll have a shelf and have all your own
trophies on it when you are older.
C: But why did Harry get bigger before I did?
4.2.2 Phase II
4.2.2.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Analysing verbal groups with secondary tenses
Analyse the verbal groups in the following clauses and name the tense:
They ’re coming.
-s be...-ing come
ø ø event [present in present]
1. How many girls and boys are they going to eat tonight?
2. While they’re sleeping...
3. Sophie had never felt so helpless in her life.
4. I have told you five or six times.
5. And they will be sending you straight back to an orphanage.
6. The Queen will be about to laugh.
7. I was going to tell you before.
8. Were you paying attention?
9. As soon as you’ve mixed the dream.
10. I’ll be getting famished.
Exercise 2 Analysing modalised groups

Analyse the modalised verbal groups in the following clauses, taking note of passives
where present:
We could be eaten tomorrow.
could be...-en eat
mod pass event
1. You would probably have had no splashes.

2. I should be obliged to you.
3. But we can’t just sit here.
4. (If I wasn’t a little giant) then I would be stopping them.

5. Why won’t you be persuaded?
6. They might be sticking in his throat.
7. But I could soon be mixing it up.
8. How could you have done it?
9. They must be about to leave.
10. But you could simply have been walking over there.
Exercise 3 Analysing non-finite groups

Analyse the non-finite verbal groups in the following clauses (beginning the analysis
with ). In addition to analysing for tense, voice and polarity, mark the non-finite
group as perfective (per) or imperfective (imp) on the . See 2.2.7.
I think also that the probability is in favour of his having been a country practitioner who
does a great deal of his visiting on foot.
having been
having...-en be
-/imp event
1. I should guess that to have been the Something Hunt.
2. I am bound to say that in all the accounts...
3. Some people without genius have a remarkable power of being about to stimulate
it.
4. I meant that in noting your fallacies, I was occasionally guided towards the truth.
5. We have a fresh basis from which to be starting our construction of the visitor.
6. When would his friends unite to make him promise to come?
7. Is it, then, stretching our inference too far for it to be said that the presentation...
8. As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you...
9. … but at least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars...
10. Having arrived at that conclusion, they continued...
Exercise 4 Distinguishing tense and modality

Analyse the verbal groups in the following clauses, determining the most likely
interpretation as involving future tense or modality. If tensed, show an agnate group
involving another tense; if modalised, show an agnate group involving probability or

inclination. See 3.2.5 (ii).
No, I won’t (whatever you say). I mustn’t.
mod/neg
1. [phone rings] That’ll be John.
2. I’ll finish this bloody exercise (if it kills me).
3. They’ll be here around seven.
4. Shall I get you a drink?
5. (He said) they’ll be working here this evening.
6. That’ll have been (the silliest answer I’ve seen).
7. By then they will have been here for hours.
8. You’ll do it, or else!
9. The line will be closed for repairs for several hours.
Exercise 5 Distinguishing auxiliary from lexical verbs

Analyse the verbal groups in the following clauses, taking into account the difference
between have and be as verbal group auxiliaries or as Processes in relational clauses.
See Chapter 4, 3.5 (iii).
Though strong, the branch was broken by the wind.
-ed be...-en broken
- pass event
1. I have no means (of checking you.)
2. There were several Mortimers...
3. But only one who could be our visitor.
4. ... a step on the stair which is walking into your life...
5. ... I am fairly justified in my inferences.
6. The dog has been in the habit of...
7. How can you possibly be so sure of that?
8. He had risen...
9. He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly fashion.

Text 1 Conversation [from CEC]
Indicate on the table the primary and (where appropriate) secondary tense choices in
the following conversation, as done for the first clause:
primary secondary
past pres fut past pres fut
- A: (1) No, the last time I saw you
(2) you were going to change your job.
B: (3) Yeah, I’d just finished my thesis, hadn’t I?
A: (4) That’s right.
B: (5) I’ve since started my job
(6) and am officially lecturer in East African
languages
(7) and I know one African language.
C: (8) English.
B: (9) Arabic, Arabic.
C: (10) That’s all right.
(11) You’re covered,
(12) you’re covered.
A: (13) You’re lecturing, are you?
B: (14) I’m a lecturer,
(15) but I haven’t got any students,
(16) so I don’t give any lectures.
A: (17) God!
Text 2 Narrative
‘What’s your interest?’ she asked. ‘Oh,’ I replied breezily, ‘I wondered if it had anything to do
with the National Bank robbery.’ She didn’t think it did. ‘You got anything to tell us on that
score?’ she asked. I didn’t. I cast my line again into the Chinatown killing. She said as usual
no-one had seen anything. Even in reasonably broad daylight. I said I might have. She found
that interesting. I asked her if the victim had been wearing a tie. She said no. I asked her if
he’d been wearing kung fu shoes. She said what is this, twenty questions? I said no. I told
her I’d seen a man acting suspiciously in the Chinese Gardens. She asked what I’d been
doing there but I said it was irrelevant. I said I’d seen the same man later that afternoon in
Cabramatta. She asked what I was doing in Cabramatta. I said it was irrelevant. I said it was
a long shot and probably had nothing to do with anything but it might be worth asking a
few discreet questions around the place. Check out the snooker hall. I asked her if she could
tell me any more about the victim. She gave me a lot of bland stuff which would be
appearing in the next press release.
[Marele Day, 1990:41-42, The Case of the Chinese Boxes. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.]
Text 3 Narrative for children

Analyse the verbal groups in the following text.
The Great Plan
‘We absolutely must stop them!’ Sophie cried. ‘Put me back in your pocket quick and we’ll
chase after them and warn everyone in England they’re coming.’
‘Ridiculous and impossible,’ the big friendly giant said. ‘They are going two times as
fast as me and they will be finishing their meal before we are halfway.’
‘But we can’t just sit here doing nothing!’ Sophie cried. ‘How many girls and boys are
they going to eat tonight?’
‘Many,’ the big friendly giant said. ‘One giant in particular has a most voracious
appetite.’
‘Will he snatch them out of their beds while they’re sleeping?’
‘Like peas out of a pod,’ the big friendly giant cried.
‘I can’t bear to think of it!’ Sophie cried.
‘Then don’t,’ the big friendly giant said. ‘For years and years I have been sitting here
on this very rock night after night when they are galloping away, and I am feeling so sad for
all the human beings they are going to gobble up. But I have had to get used to it. There is
nothing I can do. If I wasn’t a titchy little runty giant only twenty-four feet high then I would
be stopping them. But that is absolutely out of the question.’
[Adapted from R Dahl 1984, The BFG Harmondsworth: Puffin. 115.]
4.2.3 Phase III
4.2.3.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Analysing groups with more complex tenses

‘Jenny, what are you going to be doing tonight?’
-s be going to be...-ing do
ø + ø event
1. A beautiful girl with white teeth had been sitting with her boyfriend in a sports
car.
2. Doctor Harding had started the girl’s heart again.
3. No-one has been taking anything.
4. (I asked her) if the victim had been wearing a tie.
5. (She asked) what I’d been doing there.
6. (She gave me a lot of stuff) which is going to be appearing in the press release.
7. I was reclining in a cane-backed chair at the moment.
8. Because for the last few days I have been feeling rheumatic and old.
9. Who had been going to be lacing them?
10. (You say) that you have had it (because you need a change).
Exercise 2 Analsying elliptical groups

Analyse the elliptical verbal groups in the responses in the following examples.
(Don’t move Watson.) – Alright, I won’t.
wo n’t.
mod neg
1. (May I please be excused?) – You may.

2. (Are they coming at six?) – They are.
3. (They were going to go.) – Were they?
4. (They might have done.) – Oh, might they have?
5. (What’s he doing?) – Practising his serve.
Exercise 3 Analysing (expanding) verbal group complexes

Analyse the verbal group complexes in the following clauses, and then the verbal
groups making up the complexes:
‘If I said I wanted to dream that I was in a flying bathtub with silver wings,
could (you) make (me) dream it?’
    
mod event event/per
1. He began writing after a ‘monumental bash on the head’, sustained as an RAF
fighter pilot during the Second World War.
2. Sophie allowed her eye to travel further and further down the street.
3. She appeared to be dreaming it.
4. Can you make a person dream absolutely anything in the world?
5. You are making the cake come out in any way you want, sugary, spongy, curranty,
Christmassy or finger licking good.
6. ‘I’ve been trying to see where you are driving at,’ the big friendly giant said.
7. It was in London and we managed to go for walks all around there.
8. ‘Are you helping me to find this Palace?’ the big friendly giant asked.
9. They appear to have begun walking last evening.
10. He succeeded in avoiding them.
11. They’ll practice volleying for hours.
12. They didn’t know how to finish it.
Exercise 4 Analysing (projecting) verbal group complexes

Analyse the verbal group complexes in the following clauses, and then the verbal
groups making up the complexes:
‘If I said I wanted to dream that I was in a flying bathtub with silver wings, could you make
me dream it?’
wanted to dream
-ed want
   
- event event/per
1. She longed to have ducked underneath them already.
2. She decided to get out of bed.
3. ‘I can’t bear to think of it!’ Sophie cried.
4. The flesh-eating giant wants to gobble her up.
5. He is also saying he would like very much to gobble up one of the soldiers.
6. You were going to promise to say there is a Big Friendly Giant.
7. I am not agreeing to be shot at by her soldiers.
8. I have never pretended to sneak around London in my life.
9. When are you claiming to have agreed to have mixed this special dream.
Exercise 5 Analysing complex modalised groups

Analyse the verbal groups and verbal groups complexes in the following clauses:
1. You really ought to go.

2. There were to leave at about that time.
3. We used to visit quite often back then.
4. Are you happy to stay?
5. They dared not leave.
6. Need you have done it?
7. I can’t fix it right away.
8. But do you actually dare to go?
9. They were ready to leave.
10. They tend to give in easily.
11. They could do it then, but not now.
12. They had to go.
13. I was obliged to return.
14. They weren’t supposed to be coming.
Exercise 6 Analysing verbal groups (negative, emphatic, imperative)

1. They did run very fast.
2. He didn’t play very well.
3. I’m telling you I did not do it.
4. Do take care.
5. Don’t run away.
6. Help!
7. Do not fear.
8. He does in fact train every day.
Text 1
Analyse the verbal groups in the following text:
‘But why Turkish?’ asked Holmes, gazing fixedly at my boots. I was reclining in a
cane-backed chair at the moment, and my protruded feet had attracted his ever-active
attention.
‘English,’ I answered in some surprise. ‘I got them at Latimer’s, in Oxford Street.’
Holmes smiled with an expression of weary patience.
‘The bath!’ he said, ‘the bath! Why the relaxing and expensive Turkish rather than the
invigorating home-made article?’
‘Because for the last few days I have been feeling rheumatic and old. A Turkish bath is
what we call an alternative in medicine – a fresh starting-point, a cleanser of the system.
‘By the way, Holmes,’ I added, ‘I have no doubt the connection between my boots and a
Turkish bath is a perfectly self-evident one to a logical mind, and yet I should be obliged to
you if you would indicate it.’
‘The train of reasoning is not very obscure, Watson,’ said Holmes with a mischievous
twinkle. ‘It belongs to the same elementary class of deduction which I should illustrate if I
were to ask you who shared your cab in your drive this morning.’
‘I don’t admit that a fresh illustration is an explanation,’ said I with some asperity.
‘Bravo, Watson! A very dignified and logical remonstrance. Let me see, what were the
points? Take the last one first – the cab. You observe that you have some splashes on the left
sleeve and shoulder of your coat. Had you sat in the centre of a hansom you would probably
have had no splashes, and if you had they would certainly have been symmetrical.
Therefore it is clear that you sat at the side. Therefore it is equally clear that you had a
companion.’
‘That is very evident.’
‘Absurdly commonplace, is it not?’
‘But the boots and the bath.’
‘Equally childish. You are in the habit of doing up your boots in a certain way. I see them
on this occasion fastened with an elaborate double bow, which is not your usual method of
tying them. You have, therefore, had them off. Who has tied them? A bootmaker – or the boy
at the bath. It is unlikely that it is the bootmaker, since your boots are nearly new. Well,
what remains? The bath. Absurd, is it not?
[Doyle, A.C. The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes, Harmondsworth 1981: 942]
Text 2
Analyse the verbal groups and verbal group complexes in the following text:
Mrs Birling a – I think we’ve just about come to the end of this wretched business.
Gerald b – I don’t think so.
c Excuse me. (He goes out. They watch him go in silence. We hear the front door
slam.)
Sheila d (to Inspector) – You know, you never showed him that photograph of her.
Inspector e – No.
f It wasn’t necessary.
g And I thought it better not to.
Mrs Birling h – You have a photograph of this girl?
Inspector i – Yes.
j I think you’d better look at it.
Mrs Birling k – I don’t see any particular reason why I should.
Inspector l – Probably not.
m But you’d better look at it.
Mrs Birling n – Very well. (He produces a photograph and she looks hard at it.)
Inspector o (taking back the photograph) – You recognise her.
Mrs Birling p – No.
q Why should I?
Inspector r – Of course she might have changed lately.
s but I can’t believe she could have changed so much.
Mrs Birling t – I don’t understand you, Inspector.
Inspector u – You mean you don’t choose to, Mrs Birling.
Mrs Birling v (angrily) – I meant what I said.
Inspector w – You’re not telling the truth.
Mrs Birling x – I beg your pardon!
Birling y (angrily to Inspector) – Look here,
z I’m not going to have this, Inspector.
aa You’ll apologise at once.
Inspector bb – Apologise for what – doing my duty?
Birling cc – No,
dd for being so offensive about it.
ee I’m a public man.
Inspector ff (massively) – Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.
Birling gg – Possibly.
hh But you weren’t asked to come here and talk to me about my responsibilities.
Sheila ii – Let’s hope not.
jj Though I’m beginning to wonder.
Mrs Birling kk – Does that mean anything, Sheila?
Sheila ll – It means that we’ve no excuse now for putting on airs and that if we’ve any
sense we won’t try.
mm Father threw this girl out
nn because she asked for decent wages.
oo I went and pushed her out further, right into the street,
pp just because I was angry
qq and she was pretty.
rr Gerald set her up as his mistress,
ss and then dropped her
tt when it suited him.
uu And now you’re pretending that you don’t recognise her from that photograph.
vv I admit I don’t know why you should,
ww but I know jolly well you did in fact recognise her, from the way you looked.
xx And if you’re not telling the truth,
yy why should the Inspector apologise.
zz And can’t you see both of you, you’re making it worse.
[from Priestley, An Inspector Calls]
4.3 Adverbial group & Prepositional phrase

Exercise 1 Identifying prepositional phrases
List the prepositional phrases in the following text:
Just imagine suddenly knowing you may be eaten for breakfast in the very near future;
dropped like a rasher of bacon into a sizzling frying pan. This is exactly what worries
Sophie when she is snatched from her bed in the middle of the night by a giant with a stride
as long as a tennis court. Luckily for Sophie, the big friendly giant is far more friendly than
his disgusting neighbours, whose favorite pastime is gobbling little children. Sophie is
determined to stop all this and so she and the big friendly giant cook up an ingenious plan
to rid the world of child gobbling giants for ever.
Exercise 2 Identifying adverbial groups

Underline the adverbial groups in the same text.
5.1 Locating groups & phrases: rank and metafunction

Groups and phrases are units of the rank below that of the clause. That is, they are the
smaller units that realise the functional parts – the constituents – of the clause. In the
organisation of the grammar, the basic principle that determines constituency is the
rank scale from the smallest unit (morpheme) to the largest unit (clause) with word
and group/phrase between these. Rank is a principle for distributing a complex
system into simpler subsystems. Thus, instead of doing all the work of construing
experience, of enacting social roles & relations and of creating information at clause
rank, the grammar distributes the labour into a ranked hierarchy of units. For example,
the textual metafunction deals with thematicity at clause rank (in terms of thematic
structure) but with identifiability at group rank (in terms of deictic items, as in this
hall vs. a hall).
At the rank of group/phrase, there are different classes of group according to the
primary class of word making up the group (nominal, verbal, adverbial, conjunction,
preposition) and there is one kind of phrase, the prepositional phrase, which consists
of a preposition and a nominal group.
Groups constitute univariate dependency structures of Modifier(s) + Head,
realising the logical metafunction, but nominal and verbal groups also have a
multivariate structure, as does the prepositional phrase. This multivariate structure is
not as complex as that of the clause and can be analysed as a single configuration of
functions in which the experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunctions all find
expression.
5.2 Nominal group

A nominal group realises a participant or Complement in the clause structure. We can
identify the following textual, interpersonal and experiential systems and structural
realisations in the nominal group. (In Table 5.23 the starred functions can occur more
than once in the structure of the group.)
Table 5.23 Metafunctional realisations within nominal group structure
textual DETERMIN- POST-
ATION: DETERMIN-
specific/ ATION:
non-specific selection of
a, some, any, referent from
every... / experiential
the, this, my, class
Mary’s... identical,
same,
certain,
particular,
previous...
interpersonal NOMINAL NOMINAL ATTITUDE: ATTITUDE:

MOOD: MODALITY: emotive emotive
determinat- assessment property connotation
ive/ of usuality/ sweet, little (‘snarl/purr’)
interrogative probability darling, darling, pet/
a, the, my,.../ of member- poor/ fool, bastard
which, what, ship in wretched,
whose experiential bloody
class
usual,
typical;
possible,
alleged,
obvious
NOMINAL
MOOD;
PERSON (if
pronominal):
something,
it... /
what, which
experiential NUMERA- NUMERA- EPITHESIS: CLASSIFIC- THING QUALIFIC-
TION: TION: exper. ATION: TYPE: ATION:
ordering of cardinality of property of sub-classi- taxonomy of qualification
referents referents thing fication of experiential (e.g. by
first, second, one, two, old, young, thing classes of location) of
next,... three, green, blue, stone, silver, thing thing
several, heavy, Chinese, (conscious/
few... light,... Medieval,... non-conscious)
person/
animal/
object/
matter,
affair...
function
Deictic Post-Deictic Numerative Numerative Epithet* Epithet* Classifier* Thing Qualifier*
structure:
multivariate Premodifier Head Postmodifier
word class determiner; adjective ordinal, cardinal adjective adjective noun noun prep. phrase,
rankshifted superlative (verbal (adjective, clause
poss. nom. participle) verbal
gp. participle)
example these typical first two little darling black German sheepdogs with warm fur
In addition to the functions shown in the table (Deictic, Post-Deictic, Numerative,

Epithet, Thing, Classifier, Qualifier), the meaning potential of the group also includes
the possibility of a Focus function (e.g. the tip of the iceberg, two cups of black coffee, a
dream of a holiday job).
An important aspect of their structure is that nominal groups will allow

higher-ranking units (i.e. clauses or groups/phrases) to be embedded to serve in their
structure as if they were words. That is, a clause or a group/phrase may be embedded
within the structure of a group. For example, the title of one of Hitchcock’s movies (or
rather, two of them, since he remade his own original from the 30s in the 50s), the man
who knew too much, has an embedded clause, who knew too much, qualifying the
Thing/Head of the nominal group: the man – which man? – the man who knew too
much. Here the downranked clause is brought into service because there is no word
that could do the job (cf. a being who knows everything: an all-knowing being. the boy
with green hair: the green-haired boy).
5.3 Verbal group

A verbal group realises a process in the clause structure, or, from an interpersonal
perspective, a Finite + Predicator element. Verbal groups have a possible multivariate
structure of Finite + Auxiliary/ies + Event, as in [Finite:] have [Aux:] been [Event:]
avoiding, which maps onto a univariate structure in which the Finite is Head: [ :] have
[:] been [ avoiding. Finites may realise tense or modality and Auxiliaries may
realise secondary tense and/or passive.
The systems of the verbal group are outlined in the network, Figure 5.10:
perfective ↘ v (to beat)

non-finite
imperfective ↘ v-ing (beating)
modal ↘ may, can, should, must…

finite past ↘ v-ed (took, fitted)
temporal present ↘ v-s (takes)
verbal future ↘ will ^ v (will take)
group
past ↘ have ^ v-en (to have taken)
secondary tense present ↘ be ^ v-ing (to be taking)
– future ↘ be going to ^ v (to be going to take)
active
passive ↘ be ^ v-en (to be taken)
Figure 5.10 Verbal group systems
5.4 Prepositional phrase

The prepositional phrase is a kind of ‘shrunken clause’, with a multivariate structure of
Minor Process/Predicator + Minor Range/Complement. The Minor Process/Predicator
element is realised by a preposition (group) and the Minor Range/Complement is
realised by a nominal group:
beyond their means
Minor Process/Predicator Minor Range/Complement
In the clause structure, prepositional phrases typically realise experiential
circumstances. They may also realise textual elements, such as conjunctive linkers (e.g.
under the circumstances; in contrast) or interpersonal elements such as Modal
Adjuncts (e.g. at times). In addition, they are frequently downranked to serve as
Qualifier within a nominal group, as in the boy with green hair.
Further reading
Matthiessen 1996 develops the reasoning around IFG’s approach to English tense in
some detail; for an alternative perspective see Fawcett 2000a, b. Halliday & James
1993 adopt a quantitative perspective on English tense and polarity. Halliday 2008
touches on English tense at several points. For detailed explorations of the meanings
typically realised through the Epithet function in the English nominal group see
Martin & White 2005, Tucker 1997. For further interpretation of the semantics of
verbal and nominal groups see Halliday & Matthiessen 1999, Chapter 5.
Caffarel, Alice 1992 Interacting between a generalised tense semantics and register-
specific semantic tense systems: a bi-stratal exploration of the semantics of
French tense. Language Sciences. 14.4: 385-419.
Fawcett, R 2000a In place of Halliday’s ‘verbal group’: Part 1: evidence from the
problems of Halliday’s representations and the relative simplicity of the proposed
alternative. Word 51.2. 157-203.
Fawcett, R 2000b In place of Halliday’s ‘verbal group’: Part 2: evidence from
generation, semantics and interruptability. Word 51.3. 327-375.
Halliday, M A K 1979 On being teaching. In S Greenbaum, G Leech & J Svartvik (eds)
Studies in English Linguistics: for Randolph Quirk. London, Longman: 61-64.
[Reprinted in M A K Halliday 2005 Studies in English Language. London:
Continuum (Volume 7 in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday). 209-212]
Halliday, M A K 2008 Complementarities in Language. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Halliday, M A K & Hasan, R 1984 Cohesion in English. London, Cambridge. Deals with
those group resources that are involved in the creation of cohesive links in
discourse.
Halliday, M A K & Z L James 1993 A quantitative study of polarity and primary tense in
the English finite clause. J M Sinclair, M Hoey & G Fox (eds) Techniques of
Description: spoken and written discourse. London: Routledge. [Reprinted in M A K
Halliday 2005 Computational and Quantitative Studies. London: Continuum
(Volume 6 in the Collected Works of M A K Halliday). 93-129]
Halliday, M A K & C M I M Matthiessen 1999 Construing experience through meaning: a
language based approach to cognition. London: Cassell. [Reprinted by Continuum
2006]
Martin, J R 1992 English Text. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
[This moves up one stratum from this grammatical account, presenting the details
of the discourse semantics of cohesive resources, including reference and
substitution/ellipsis which are realised in group structure.]
Martin, J R & P R R White 2005 The Language of Evaluation. London: Palgrave.
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 1983 Choosing primary tense in English. Studies in

Language 7.3.
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 1995 Lexicogrammatical Cartography. Tokyo,
International Language Science Publishers.
[This devotes Chapter 7 to groups/phrases, setting out the major systems at this
rank. ]
Matthiessen, Christian M I M 1996 Tense in English seen through systemic-functional
theory. M Berry, C Butler & R Fawcett & G Huang (eds), Meaning and Form:
systemic functional interpretations. (Volume 2 in Meaning and Choice in Language:
studies for Michael Halliday) Norwood, NJ: Ablex. 431-498.
Tucker, G 1997 The Lexicogrammar of Adjectives: a systemic functional approach to
lexis. London: Cassell.
Chapter 6
The clause complex

above the clause
1. Orientation
IFG2, IFG3 Chapter 7 (above the clause)
1.2 Characterisation of clause complex

With the study of the clause complex, we move to the logical subcomponent of the
ideational metafunction and explore the ways in which the highest ranking
grammatical unit – the clause – can combine with further clauses. This chapter will not
be concerned with the parts of the clause, but with the way the clause as a whole may
be related to one or more further clauses to form a complex of clauses or a ‘clause
complex’. For example, having begun with the ‘primary’ clause We loved the show
ourselves, the speaker could add a (theoretically) limitless number of further linked
clauses, as in: We loved the show ourselves  so we’ll get tickets for Tim and Josie 
when they come over next month  to visit her mother.... The kind of structure created
in this way is a ‘univariate’ one, a series of repetitions of the same grammatical unit
(here, a clause), each related to another in various ways.
Traditionally1, a series of related clauses of this kind has been seen as making up
the higher rank unit of ‘sentence’. However, Halliday argues that when clauses combine
to form a clause complex, they do not thereby create a new grammatical unit of higher
rank. His position is that the sentence is not a unit of grammar, but a unit of English
orthography, realising the grammatical unit of clause complex. The two interpretations
of the status of ‘sentence’ are illustrated in Figure 6.1, with (i) as the traditional view
and (ii) as the IFG position:
1 This position has also been taken by e.g. Michael Gregory within systemic linguistics/communication
linguistics and Robert Longacre within tagmemic linguistics.
(i) (ii)
sentence complexing
clause clause clause clause...

↘ written sentence
rank
group/ group/
phrase phrase
... ...
Figure 6.1 Sentence and clause complex
From a semantic point of view, a clause complex construes a sequence of process

configurations from the flow of events. (Looked at in interpersonal terms, a clause
complex may also serve to group related moves into a move complex in the
development of dialogue.) Figure 6.2 shows this construal schematically. The clause
complex might be used to group process configurations as constituting one
subepisode in an episode, or a subprocedure in a procedure, or a step in reasoning.
The example below is taken from a narrative, where one sub-episode is construed by
11 clauses related by ‘and then’ into a clause complex:
He ran downstairs  splashed into the flood (‘Christ!’)  hurried into the kitchen  put a
kettle on the gas  rummaged for brandy  found a half bottle of whisky  saw a hot
water bottle hanging on the back of the door  filled it  made tea  poured in a dollop
of whisky  carried them upstairs.
flow of events
Figure 6.2 Construing the flow of events into a clause complex
The following examples are from procedural texts; here the clause complexes
construe sequences of operations that constitute subprocedures:
Heat remaining oil in same pan  add salmon  (cook  until lightly browned) 
remove from pan.
If no successors were generated in (3),  (then label node no unsolvable,  and (if the
unsolvability of n makes any of its ancestors unsolvable,  label these ancestors
unsolvable),  and (if the start node is labeled unsolvable,  exit with failure),  and
remove from OPEN any nodes with an unsolvable ancestor).
As the parentheses indicate, clause complexes may contain subcomplexes such as
if the start node is labeled unsolvable, exit with failure. In procedures, clause complexes
serve to guide the sequence of operations and relate conditions (if no successors were
generated in (3); if you want a more substantial stuffing) and temporal limits to them
(until it is lightly browned). Clause complexes are also an important resource in
reasoning, as in proofs and explanations.
CHAPTER 6 THE CLAUSE COMPLEX 231
All the introductory examples so far have been clause complexes where the
clauses are related by expansion. We will survey the subtypes of expanding relations
presently. But first we should introduce one other major kind of relation by which
clauses may be combined in a clause complex. This relation is projection. You have
already met it in the context of mental and verbal clauses (see Chapter 4 and IFG
Chapter 5), since it always involves a mental or verbal clause projecting its own
content of sensing or saying as a separate clause. For example:
Calypso knew  that her aunt knew  she knew  how unwelcome Richard would be in
Enderby Street.
‘You will have to go to hospital’,  said Dr. Smith.
Projection is deployed in narrative to construe the dialogic passages and to
represent the characters’ processes of consciousness; it is also important in news
reporting where it serves to specify the journalists’ sources, as with eye-witness
reports and comments by ‘important people’. Examples:
Greenpeace’s atmosphere and energy campaign co-ordinator Ms Lyn Goldsworthy said
both the tourism and fishing industries at W would be affected by the drilling... ‘The
world now knows  it has a global warming problem,’  Ms Goldworthy said.... A
spokeswoman for BHP Petroleum said yesterday  she did not know  when drilling
would begin...
The difference and complementarity between expansion and projection can be
seen very clearly in the conventions of comic strips. Expansion is represented
pictorially by sequences of frames (sometimes with a conjunction added, if the
unmarked sequence in time is broken, e.g. meanwhile) or by split frames if the
expanding relation is one of addition. Projection, on the other hand, cannot be
represented simply by the pictures: the content of projection is represented
linguistically by text in ‘balloons’ or ‘clouds’.
Clauses within a complex are interrelated grammatically in terms of two systems,

those of TAXIS and LOGICO-SEMANTIC TYPE.
2.1 TAXIS
TAXISis concerned with the interdependency relations between grammatical units
forming a complex, such as groups forming a group complex or clauses forming a
clause complex. Here are some examples of complexes at different ranks:
Table 6.1 Complexes at different ranks
Type of unit in complex Example

word (adjective) the black and white kitten
nominal group the old man and his dog, Rover...
nominal group/prepositional phrase (I’ll take) the blue shirt instead of the red one
adverbial group/prepositional phrase (he threw it) enthusiastically but without skill
prepositional phrase (he drove) from Sydney to Canberra
verbal group (they) began to sing
The two options within the system of TAXIS are those of parataxis or hypotaxis,
categories which relate to (but are not identical with) traditional notions of
co-ordination and subordination, respectively. If the units in a complex are of equal
status, the relation between them is a paratactic one; if the units are of unequal status,
the relation is a hypotactic one.
Where two units within a complex are linked in a paratactic relation, each unit
could stand as an independent functioning whole, and neither is dependent on the
other. Here are some examples of paratactic clause complexes:
He looked terrible; || his clothes were crumpled and dirty.
Miriam was somewhat scared by the wind, || but the lads enjoyed it.
He hated her, || for she seemed in some way to make him
despise himself.
He replied quickly, || ‘I can’t complain.’
This paratactic relation is signalled in the notation by labelling the clauses numerically
in sequence. For example:
The rivers overflow, || the streets become rivers || and everything is soaked.
1 2 3
By contrast, where two units within a complex are linked in a hypotactic relation,
one unit modifies the other, one clause is a ‘principal’ or ‘dominant’ clause and the
other is dependent upon it. Examples are shown in Table 6.2:
Table 6.2 Examples of hypotactic clause complexes
dominant () dependent ()

They spoke to Dr Liu, who was an ear, nose and throat specialist.
The man rarely left the village apart from visiting his sister in York once a month.
I can do my best things when you sit there in your rocking chair.
He explained that there was no possibility of a new lease.
A dependent clause may be a non-finite clause, as in the second example above

(apart from visiting his sister in York once a month), in which case its dependent status
is very obvious.
The relation of hypotaxis between a dominant unit and a dependent one is
signalled in the notation by labelling the clauses with the Greek alphabet, using an
alpha for the dominant, a beta for a clause dependent upon it and a gamma for one
dependent on that, and so on. In the following example the notation is written
alongside each clause:
 e’re going to buy an intercom system
β so that we can hear Stephen in different parts of the house
 whenever he cries.
A hypotactic clause complex will not necessarily have the alpha clause as the
initial clause in the sequence, so this notation is sequenced to indicate the dependency
relations. For example:
β As they walked along the dark fen meadow
 he watched the moon.
Where there are several clauses in the complex, they will not necessarily be linked
in a single line of dependency. Figure 6.3 is an alternative representation of a more
complex example diagrammed in IFG2, where the first three clauses form a block with
the second two clauses dependent upon it.
α I don’t mind
if
α β you leave
as soon as
γ you’ve finished
as long as
α you’re back
β when
β I need you
Figure 6.3 Alternative representation of IFG2 Figure 7-2
While they have been exemplified separately here, paratactic and hypotactic
relationships may well be combined in a single clause complex. For example:
1 We’re going to Childworld
2 and we’re going to buy some diapers for Stephen and Emily
3 and we’re going to buy an intercom system
β so that we can hear Stephen in different parts of the house
 whenever he cries.
or
1 Morel went to bed in misery,
2 and Mrs Morel felt
1 as if she were numbed by some drug,
2 as if her feelings were paralysed.
An alternative representation of the last example can also be given to show the
‘layering’ of the structure:
1 Morel went to bed in misery
and
 Mrs Morel felt
as if
2
1 she were numbed by some drug
β (i.e.)
2 her feelings were paralysed
Figure 6.4 A clause complex, illustrating interdependencies
2.2 Logico-semantic type

One clause in a clause complex is linked to another not only in terms of TAXIS, but also
in terms of a particular logico-semantic relationship. In the most general terms there
are two types of such relationship: expansion – which includes the meanings realised
by conjunctions – and projection – which includes direct and indirect speech and
thought. Thus for any complex there are simultaneously two sets of choices, as shown
in Figure 6.5:
parataxis
TAXIS
hypotaxis
she said she said

projection
that she was happy ‘I am happy’
LOGICO-SEMANTIC
TYPE
because she’d passed, she’d passed,
expansion
she was happy so she was happy
Figure 6.5 Basic clause complex options

2.2.1 Expansion
The various logico-semantic relations included as expanding relations are of three
main kinds: elaboration, extension and enhancement.
2.2.1.1 Elaboration (=)

The elaborating relation is symbolised in the notation with an ‘equals’ sign. In a
paratactic elaborating complex, an initial clause is restated, exemplified or further
specified by another. There is usually no overt linker between the clauses apart from a
colon or semi-colon in a written text:
He looked a fright; || his clothes were damp, dirty and torn.
1 =2
She didn’t like the character she was playing; || she hated her self-confidence.
1 =2
In a hypotactic elaborating complex, the dependent clause – realised by a
‘non-restrictive’ relative clause – provides some kind of elaborating description or
comment. For example:
They were now in the bare country of stone walls, || which he loved.
The accident left him with two broken front teeth, || which was such a shame.
α =β
The dominant and dependent clauses are linked by ‘tone concord’ in speech (IFG2:
228; IFG3: 483), while in writing, a comma or dash can be expected to separate them 2.
The beta clause may elaborate just one participant in the alpha clause, in which case it
often occurs next to that participant, interrupting or included in the alpha clause.
Angled brackets are used to enclose the included clause:
His mother, << who had been watching them all evening>>, made her way over.
α… << = β >> …α
2.2.1.2 Extension (+)

The basic meanings of the extending relation are those of addition (including the
adversative relation) or variation. The extending relation combines most frequently
with parataxis, being realised most typically by the conjunctions and, nor, but and or.
For example:
The beef animal is the buffalo || and its meat is surprisingly tender.
1 +2
Note that the Subject of the continuing paratactic clause may be ellipsed:
The idea of relativity did not originate with Einstein, || but [it] goes back to Newton.
1 +2
Extension is less frequently realised in combination with hypotaxis. Typical
hypotactic linkers are whereas, instead of, except for, apart from, as well as, the latter
four introducing a non-finite dependent clause. (See IFG2:233; IFG3:405 for a
summary of the principal markers of extension.)
2 An embedded clause having the same form, such as who’d been expelled in We spoke to the boy [[who’d
been expelled]], does not have these characteristics.
2.2.1.3 Enhancement (x)

The meanings included as enhancement are those of time, place, manner, cause and
condition, which can also be expressed as circumstances within the clause:
manner as circumstance: They dried their clothes in the wind.
manner as hypotactic enhancement: They dried their clothes || by hanging them on
branches in the wind.
In the clause complex, enhancing relations are most frequently found in
combination with hypotaxis, although paratactic links with so and and then are
common. IFG2: 236 provides a table of paratactic enhancing linkers, while IFG2: 237
summarises the principal markers of hypotactic enhancement. IFG3: 411 tabulates
both paratactic and hypotactic enhancing linkers.
2.2.2 Projection
Projection typically concerns the relation between a mental or verbal clause and the
content which it quotes or reports. A paratactic relation holds when one clause quotes
another (‘direct speech/thought’), and a hypotactic relation when one clause reports
another (‘indirect speech/thought’). See Table 6.3:
Table 6.3 Examples of projection
projecting clause projected clause

paratactic projection They said ‘he’s hopeless’
(quoting) They thought ‘he’s hopeless’
hypotactic projection They said (that) he was hopeless
(reporting) They thought (that) he was hopeless
Projected clauses, i.e. quotes or reports, represent the wording or meaning of the
speaker represented in the projecting clause, not the speaker of the clause complex.
They are thus meta-representations, or metaphenomena. The metaphenomenon
projected by a verbal clause is a locution, symbolised by (‘) notation, while a mental
clause projects an idea, notated as (‘):
He told his aunt that he would write home regularly.
  ‘β (locution)
He decided that he would take a little time off first.
    ‘β (idea)
All the locutions and ideas illustrated so far have been of information clauses
(propositions), but it is also possible for commands and offers to be projected.
Projected clauses of this latter kind are called proposals, and if hypotactic, take the
form of a modalised declarative or a non-finite clause as shown in Table 6.4:
Table 6.4 Examples of projected proposals
projecting clause locution: proposal

His aunt told him (that) he should write home more regularly
His aunt told him to write home at least once a month
His aunt told him not to forget
Projecting clause Idea: proposal

His aunt wishes that he would write home more regularly
His aunt would have liked him to write home regularly
His aunt expected him to forget
2.3 Summary of clause complex relations

See Table 6.5.
Table 6.5 Summary of clause complex relations
parataxis hypotaxis
ELABORATION
1 Jogging on the streets is bad for you;  Jogging stresses your feet,
=2 it damages your feet. =β which can cause serious problems.
1 It was nothing serious;  I met Granny,
E =2 it was just a small cut. =β who was looking very well.
X EXTENSION
P
A 1 They cleared the table +β As well as doing the shopping,
N +2 and washed the dishes.  they cooked all the meals.
S
1 Did they complain  They just kept quiet as usual
I
+2 or did they just keep quiet as usual? +β instead of complaining.
O
N ENHANCEMENT
1 She spent all her money on a car,  She couldn’t afford to go on holiday
x2 so she couldn’t afford to go on holiday. xβ because she had spent all her money.
1 Heat the mixture to boiling point, xβ When the pudding has cooled,
x2 then add the milk very slowly.  remove carefully from the container.
LOCUTION
P 1 The babysitter said:  The babysitter told us
R '2 ‘don’t make a noise!’ 'β not to make a noise.
O
J '1 ‘That’s ridiculous,’  He said to us
E 2 he snapped. 'β that it was ridiculous.
C IDEA
T
I '1 ‘That’s funny,’  He thought
O 2 he thought. 'β we would enjoy it.
N '1 ‘Don’t stop now’,  He expected
2 she thought. 'β everybody to help.
3. Troubleshooting
3.1 Procedure for analysis

When analysing clause complex relationships in a text, you first identify boundaries
between clause complexes. Then identify boundaries between ranking clauses. You
may then find it helpful to write out the text with one ranking clause per line so that
the analysis – in terms of TAXIS and LOGICO-SEMANTIC TYPE – can be written down the left
hand margin.
3.2 Picking out the unit of analysis

When analysing a written text, there is no problem recognising the boundary of a
clause complex since this will be signalled orthographically by a full stop. When
working with a transcript of a spoken text, however, there will be occasions when
boundaries are less clear cut. This arises when a decision has to be reached as to
whether a particular logico-semantic relationship holds between two clauses within a
complex or whether it is a cohesive relationship between two clause-complexes.
One approach would be to recognise a boundary whenever possible and thus to
allow a clause complex relationship only where there is an unambiguous grammatical
signal of hypotaxis or parataxis. If adopting this ‘minimal’ length strategy then the
interpersonal, ideational and textual signals of when to recognise the beginning of a
new clause complex would be as shown in Table 6.6 below:
Table 6.6 Signals of clause complex boundaries: minimal length principle
Nature of signal Point where new complex begins

interpersonal At change of speaker.
After Moodtag.
At change of Mood from one clause to next. (An exception can be
made for threats such as Stop or I’ll shoot!)
Before a thematic Vocative or after a Vocative in clause-final
position.
Before a thematic comment Adjunct or after a comment Adjunct in
clause-final position.
Before yes, yeah, or no.
ideational Before an apparently extending or enhancing clause which is not
introduced by an explicit conjunction.
Before a β clause preceding its α where the β clause is not linked to
the previous one by an explicit conjunction.
Before a conjunction which can function cohesively (e.g. and, but,
so ) in the following situations:
• where there is a pause before the conjunction;
• where there is a lengthening of the syllable before the conjunction;
• where there is a change of pitch level on the conjunction; and
• where the conjunction could be substituted in the text by an
exclusively cohesive one (e.g. moreover, however, therefore).
textual Before a marked topical Theme (e.g. Angle circumstance) without
preceding conjunction.
At a clause initiating a new move in the generic structure of the text.
The ‘minimal length’ approach will allow for a consistency in the analysis, but has
the disadvantage that some logico-semantic relations (particularly of elaboration) are
likely to be missed. This may not be considered too serious a drawback if the text is
also being analysed at the discourse-semantic level, in terms of CONJUNCTION. (See
Chapter 7; also IFG2 9.4, IFG3 9.3 and Martin 1992: Chapter 4; Martin & Rose 2007:
Chapter 4.) Alternatively, an opposite, ‘maximal’ length approach may be taken
whereby a logico-semantic paratactic link is assumed wherever it is possible to argue
for one.
In a written text, it is best to allow punctuation to override grammatical
expectations concerning clause-complex boundaries. And in a similar way, whether a
minimal or maximal approach is favoured, intonation should be taken into account to
modify the general principles being used. IFG2: 306-7 and IFG3: 483 suggest that the
unmarked sequence of tones for two clauses in a cohesive relation is tone 1 (falling)
followed by tone 1; whereas the unmarked sequence for a paratactic sequence is tone
3 (low rise) followed by tone 1.
Below, some examples will be discussed in terms of the two general approaches
(i.e. minimal and maximal):
(i) Paratactic or cohesive elaboration?
Example 1
Teacher: ... his [=chicken embryo] head tucked up under his wing.
Child: He’s squashing.
Teacher: He’s squashing.
He’s filling up nearly the whole of that shell.
A minimal approach will regard the child’s He’s squashing as initiating a fresh complex
and the teacher’s He’s squashing as initiating a further complex. A maximal approach
might take each clause as a paratactic elaboration of the previous one. Given a tone 1
contour on the first three clauses, there would be additional grounds for favouring the
minimal analysis.
Example 2
Child: What does Daddy do
when he’s sick?
Mother: When he’s sick
he goes to bed
and lies down.
When you’re not very well
you, etc.
A minimal approach will regard the Mother’s β clause when you’re not very well as
initiating a new complex on the grounds that this new βα sequence is not linked to the
preceding speech by any explicit conjunction. A maximal approach would see this
section as a (paratactic) elaboration by the mother of her sequence beginning when
he’s sick.
(ii) Paratactic or cohesive extension and enhancement?
Example 1
a ... he said
b he thought
c he knew
d where there was one [dog] in a yard
e so my husband went up
f and looked over the fence
g and there was our dog, only about a block away
h and they also had a male corgi there
i and the two were running together
j so he brought ours home
k and he went back up later...
In this part of an oral recount, clauses e – k might constitute a single complex, or might
be taken as several different clause complexes, depending on whether any of the
conjunctions are interpreted as cohesive rather than paratactic. We can reason about
the boundaries in the following way:
Clause e can be taken as initiating a new complex with a cohesive so, on the
ideational grounds that it is clearly not part of what is projected by a, b or c; and on the
textual grounds that it serves to initiate a new sequence of actions in the story.
Clauses f and g are paratactic links. This is clear from the omission of the Subject
in f and the impossibility of substituting an unequivocally cohesive conjunction for and
at g. It would, however be feasible to have Furthermore at h and/or i and Consequently
at j. It is at these points, then, that phonological considerations will determine the
boundaries. A tone 3 + tone 1 sequence for two clauses ambiguously related will
suggest that the two form a single complex, whereas a series of tone 1s will indicate a
cohesive relation. Other signals of cohesion rather than taxis would be a pause before
the conjunction and/or a lengthening of the syllable before the conjunction and/or a
change of pitch level on the conjunction.
Example 2
A: Can you do that?
B: He can,
I can’t.
In this example, there is a contrastive relation signalled by the opposed polarity and
the intonation (a tone 4, tone 1 sequence). There is however, no extending conjunction.
A minimal clause complex analysis might therefore wish to treat these as lacking any
grammatical relation of extension. A maximal analysis will allow for the relation,
which can be recognised as paratactic rather than cohesive on the grounds that but
could more readily be used than however between the two clauses.
3.2.1 Boundaries of ‘ranking’ clauses within a clause complex

There are several possible problems which may arise in determining where clauses
begin and end within a complex.
(1) Embedded clauses
Embedded clauses do not enter into relations of hypotaxis or parataxis with other
clauses and should be ignored. It is relations between ‘ranking’ clauses which are to be
analysed. See Section 3.3 below for help in recognising embedded clauses.
(2) Included clauses
Sometimes one clause interrupts another clause without being embedded in it. For
example:
Sometimes, when we arrive before 8, the place is still locked up.
‘Mother!,’ the girl implored, ‘Don’t wear that nubbly little bonnet.’
Mary Smith, who was the teacher’s pet, received a glowing report.
However, if we don’t, we’ll get busted again...3
In each of the above examples, the underlined clause is ‘included’ within the other
clause without being a part of it. This can be notated using angled brackets:
Sometimes <<when we arrive before 8>> the place is still locked up.
However << if we don’t>> we’ll get busted again.
or, if displaying the text with one clause per line and the analysis in the left-hand
margin:
Sometimes << >> the place is still locked up.
<< when we arrive before 8>>
However << >> we’ll get busted again.
<< if we don’t >>
(3) Verbal group complex or clause complex?

It is important not to confuse an interdependency relation between clauses with one
between verbal groups at one rank below. See discussion in Chapter 4, Section 3.3. For
example, he started to cry is one clause with a Process realised by a verbal group
complex, started to cry, not a combination of a finite clause he started and a non-finite
clause to cry. Among these, the projection cases may be the trickiest – see IFG2 Section
7.A.6, IFG3 8.8 for projection relations in verbal group complexes.
(4) Separate clause or circumstance within the clause?
Note that a semantic relation such as time, cause or manner may be realised as a
relation between two clauses or as a circumstance within the clause (see Chapter 4,
3.10 (iii)):
α They opened it β by twisting the rusty key very firmly. clause complex
They opened it with a firm twist to the rusty key. clause with Manner circ.
(i) Metaphorical realisation of logical relation
You may be misled into taking a circumstance as a ranking clause where the
logico-semantic relation of the clause is metaphorically realised as a long nominal
group with a nominalisation as the Head of the group. For example: Despite Western
suspicions [[that he was behind some of North Korea’s most heinous terrorist acts in the
past decade]], several Japanese sources paint him as a reasonable, practical man. Here
Despite Western suspicions that he was behind some of North Korea’s most heinous
terrorist acts in the past decade is a circumstance of Contingency within the
transitivity structure of the clause; it contains a nominal group whose central element
is the nominalisation suspicions. The congruent (i.e. non-metaphorical) realisation
would have a clause in a clause complex: Although the West suspects that he was... 
several Japanese sources paint him....
(ii) Relational process left implicit
You may be misled into taking a dependent clause as a circumstance in cases where
the process is omitted (see Section 3.7 (ii) below).
(iii) Non-finite verb (as Process) or preposition? (See IFG2: 212-3, IFG3: 360)
It may be difficult to determine whether a unit is a clause or a circumstance where the
ambiguous unit has a non-finite verb form such as including, regarding, concerning,
3 See IFG3: 372 for further examples.

using. The essential difference is that a prepositional phrase only has a potential for a
two-element configuration, Minor Process ^ Minor Range, whereas a clause is always
expandable and will have some related finite variants. For example:
prepositional phrase (part of clause) functioning as circumstance
What do you intend to do regarding Pamela’s situation?
non-finite clause
He laid out his offer, regarding his opposite number with some hostility.
Including the entire committee in her criticism, the woman made an emotional speech.
3.3 Complexing vs. embedding

Table 6.7 sets out the different logico-semantic types that can occur both in the
environment of clause complexing (parataxis/hypotaxis) and in the environment of
embedding – a clause serving as a constituent part of another unit. See IFG Sections
7.4.5, 7.4.6 (expansion) and 7.5.6, 7.5.7 (projection).
Table 6.7 Logico-semantic types in parataxis, hypotaxis and embedding
clause complex – combining through rankshift – clause embedded

in other grammatical unit
parataxis hypotaxis
He thought He thought He regretted
projection
‘I said those words.’ (that) he’d said those [the fact]

words. (that) he’d said those words.
The boy didn’t wait; The boy ran away, The boy who ran away
elaboration
he ran away. which surprised us. returned.

We saw John, Whoever ran away
expansion
who ran away. returned.

He packed After he had packed The best time would be
enhancement
and then he ran away. he ran away. [the time]

after he has packed.
3.3.1 Relative clauses: Hypotactic elaboration or embedding?

As shown in Table 6.7, a relative clause like who ran away may be embedded within a
nominal group4 (the boy [[who ran away]]) or may enter a hypotactic relation with
another clause (We saw John, who ran away). The two structures are readily
distinguishable in speech, since the hypotactic non-embedded clause is realised in a
separate tone group which maintains tone concord with the main clause (and in
writing is typically preceded by a comma). In terms of function, the hypotactic clause
either elaborates the whole preceding clause or provides further information about a
participant within it whose identity (e.g. as John, my mother) is already fully
established. An embedded clause, on the other hand, itself provides the identity of the
participant, as in the boy – which boy? – the boy [[who ran away]] – hence the
traditional terminology of ‘defining’ relative clause. Compare the following two
examples:
4 As a postmodifying Qualifier. See Chapter 5.

[hypotactic clause complex]
I spoke to my brother || who works in a bank. (I have only one brother.)
[single ranking clause, containing a nominal group with embedded clause as
postmodifying Qualifier]
I spoke to my brother [[who works in a bank]]. (I have several brothers, one of whom
works in a bank.)
3.3.2 Contexts in which embedded clauses occur

(i) within clause
Table 6.8 sets out on a continuum the possible ways a participant may be construed in
English.
A participant is most typically realised by a nominal group 5 construing a thing,
such as the great white whale or a delectable Chinese meal. However a clause can also
serve to represent ‘things’ – what, whoever, whatever, etc. – For example [[what they
need]] is a nice holiday, you can invite [[whoever you like]], [[whatever Janey wants]]
Janey gets. These types of embedded clauses can occur in various participant roles
with various process types.
Table 6.8 Realisations of participant function (from Thing to Fact)
Type of Role in clause Meaning construed Example

realisation
meta- None – not (LOCUTION/IDEA) (separate ranking clause)
phenomenal participant
participant FACT (the fact/proof) [[that he went]] was clear;
(embedded clause) (the need) [[for him to go]] was clear
macro- ACT we saw (the sight of) [[him swimming]]
phenomenal
MACROTHING: we’ll meet (the one) [[who she married]]
WH-CLAUSE
phenomenal participant REIFIED PROCESS, ETC the long swim; the silly idea
(nominal group) CONCRETE THING the great white whale
As well as embedded clauses construing concrete and abstract phenomena,

however, there are embedded clauses representing ‘macro-phenomena’ (acts) or
‘meta-phenomena’ (facts) and these only occur in a few different participant roles. The
different possibilities are outlined below:
Material clauses
Embedded clauses representing acts can occur as Actor.
Act (macro)
[[Cleaning the table with the stain-remover]] damaged its surface.
[[Running the marathon]] killed him.
[[To crush him like that]] would break his bones.
But embedded fact clauses don’t occur as Actor:
5 See Chapter 5. In general terms a nominal group can be thought of as a noun together with any modifying
elements, such as articles, numerals, adjectives preceding the noun and/or an embedded prepositional
phrase (or embedded clause) following the noun, as in the two little boys with red hair or that old green
Ford [[he used to drive]].
Fact (meta)
* [[That he ran the marathon]] killed him.
* It killed him [[that he ran the marathon]].
(Cf. note in IFG2: 249-50, IFG3: 441 including the interpretation of the example the
fact/knowledge that the experiment had failed destroyed his life.)
Mental clauses
Embedded clauses can function as the Phenomenon of a mental clause under certain
conditions. Embedded clauses representing acts can occur as the Phenomenon of
perception in perceptive clauses.
Act (macro)
The driver didn’t see [[them crossing the street]].
He felt [[the ant crawling up his leg]].
I just heard [[him come in]].
Embedded clauses representing facts can occur as the Phenomenon of emotive
clauses – meta-phenomena: such facts exist independently of the Senser’s conscious
processing and impinge on his/her consciousness:
Fact (meta)
I regret (the fact) [[that we have been unable to succeed]]. :
(The fact) [[That we have been unable to succeed]] annoys me. :
It annoys me [[that we have been unable to succeed]]. :
The fact annoys me [[that we have been unable to succeed]].
As shown, these clauses may function as the postmodifying Qualifier in a nominal
group where the Head is a noun such as fact, case, news, idea, etc. Where there is no
such Head noun, the embedded clause itself can be regarded as serving as the Head of
the nominal group. See IFG 7.5.7.
Cognitive mental clauses usually project ideas. That is, they bring ideas into
existence through the cognitive processing (he thought/believed/guessed/dreamed/
imagined that the earth was flat); they don’t usually involve pre-existing facts as
Phenomenon. However, there are a few examples of facts in a cognitive context – for
instance: He accepted (the fact) that the earth is round (see IFG3: 478).
Verbal clauses
Verbal clauses project locutions in clause complexes but they do not typically occur
with embedded clauses of the act or fact type. There are a couple of exceptions with an
embedded clause as Verbiage:
He acknowledged/admitted to the press (the fact) [[that he had made a serious mistake]].
Relational clauses
Clauses representing both acts and facts can occur as Carrier in attributive clauses and
as Token or Value in identifying ones.
Act (macro)
[[Leaving early]] is better.:
My preference is [[to leave early]].
Fact (meta)
[[That he has already left]] is unlikely. :
It’s unlikely [[that he has already left]].
The problem is [[that he has already left]]. :
[[That he has already left]] is the problem.
(ii) Within groups
Embedded clauses only occur within nominal and adverbial groups, not within verbal
groups. Within nominal groups, they may serve as Head, which means that the
embedded clause functions as participant in the clause. In both nominal and adverbial
groups an embedded clause may serve as Postmodifier (see Chapter 5). Table 6.9
provides examples of embedded clauses in nominal groups:
Table 6.9 Embedded clause in nominal group
embedded clause as Head embedded clause as Postmodifier
projection (the problem is) [[that he is (the problem is) the fact [[that he is
negligent]] negligent]]
elaboration [[whatever Wren built]] (was the gazebo [[that Wren built]] (was
admired) admired)
frying green tomatoes (can be fun) the act of [[frying green tomatoes]]
(can be fun)
expansion extension the gazebo [[whose architect later
became famous]] (was admired)
enhancement [[wherever Wren built the gazebo]] the gazebo [[where they used to
(is now a famous place) meet]] (was admired)
(there were) more flowers [[than
they had expected to find]]
With adverbial groups, comparative clauses are embedded as standards of

comparison, serving as Postmodifier, as shown in Table 6.10:
Table 6.10 Embedded clause in adverbial group
embedded clause as Head embedded clause as Postmodifier
projection -- --
elaboration -- --
expansion extension -- --
enhancement -- (he ran) more quickly [[than a man
his age could be expected to]]
3.3.3 Distinguishing ranking and embedded clauses

Since difficulties arise within particular logico-semantic types – projection/expansion,
we have summarised the analysis of clauses as ranking or as embedded in terms of
these types. Contrasting examples are set out in Table 6.11, together with properties
that can be used in probes. With those of projection and elaboration in particular, you
may have to do some work to decide whether they are ranking clauses or embedded
clauses serving within groups.
Table 6.11 Contrast between ranking and embedded clauses
ranking embedded
[hypotactic] in nominal group in adverbial group
projection idea: fact (as Phenomenon):
• typically projected by processes • typically configured with
of cognition [proposition] and processes of emotion
affection: desideration [proposal] • not agnate with paratactic
• agnate with paratactic projection, projection
i.e. can be quoted (although • can be the Subject in the agnate
unlikely) passive variant of the clause (since
• cannot be the Subject (since it is it is a participant)
not a participant) • can be the focus of theme
• cannot be the focus of theme predication (since it is a
predication (since it is not a participant)
participant) • cannot be presumed by
• can be presumed by substitute substitute so/not, only by reference
so/not such as that, it
• cannot follow explicit fact noun • can follow explicit fact noun as
as Head/Thing in nominal group Head/Thing in nominal group
she thought ||that she had painted she regretted (the fact) [[that she
the house : had painted the house]] :
she thought || ‘I painted the house’ : it was (the fact) [[that she had
she thought || so painted the house ]] that she
regretted:
she regretted it
elaboration non-defining relative clause: defining relative clause (as
• spoken on separate tone group, Qualifier):
with tone concord (IFG2: 238, 306, • not on separate tone group
IFG3:402) • not separated by punctuation
• written with separating • not agnate with paratactic
punctuation symbols, usually elaboration
commas (IFG2: 238) • full range of relative forms,
• agnate with paratactic including relative that and ‘contact’
elaboration relative (if Complement)
• range of relative items typically
excluding relative that and
‘contact’ relative
Hyde Park, <<which they used to the park [[which/that/they used
like>>, has been turned into a to like ]] has been turned into a
shopping complex : shopping complex
Hyde Park has been turned into a
shopping complex; ||they used to
like it
extension instead of/as well as going fishing, [*]
they took a stroll on the beach
enhancement serves as qualifying clause in serves as Qualifier in nominal enhancing clauses
clause complex group: embedded Postmodifiers
• cannot follow explicit • can follow explicit circumstantial in adverbial groups are
circumstantial noun noun as Head/Thing in nominal only comparative:
• only certain subtypes can be the group than..., as (if)..., (for x) to...
focus of theme predication • nominal group serves in [IFG2: 210, IFG3: 357-8]
• is agnate with a paratactic relational clause they proceeded more
enhancement • can always be the focus of theme cautiously [[than the other
they went fishing || just before the predication team]]
sun set : • is not agnate with a paratactic
they went fishing || then the sun set enhancement
(the period) [[just before the sun
sets]] is the best time to go fishing
[*] Non-defining relative clauses with whose, of which can be taken as extending (see IFG2: 245,
IFG3: 432).
3.4 Parataxis or hypotaxis?

If you are uncertain as to whether a (non-embedded) clause is hypotactic or paratactic,
then you can check for the signals of hypotaxis listed below. (But note that these
criteria do not distinguish hypotactic from embedded clauses.)
(i) A non-finite ranking clause is hypotactic. See underlined clauses in the
following examples:
She entered, laughing happily.
She went overseas to broaden her mind.
Having broadened her mind, she came home.
(ii) A ranking clause is hypotactic if introduced by a relative pronoun: who, whose,
whom, which.
(iii) A ranking clause is hypotactic if introduced by a conjunction that ‘stays with’
its clause even when that clause is shifted to another place in the complex:
I didn’t hear about the meeting because I was ill.
Because I was ill, I didn’t hear about the meeting.
(iv) A ranking clause is hypotactic if it is reported (indirect) speech or thought:
She said (that) she would come.
They believed (that) the world would end on Saturday at noon.
3.4.1 Linkers occurring in both hypotactic and paratactic relations

There are a few conjunctions which, while typically constructing a hypotactic link
between clauses, may on occasions be used paratactically (See IFG2: 231,235, IFG3:
409, 415-6). Examples are when, so that, except that, because and though. Some
examples of paratactic uses are given below:
He walked to the end of the road || when suddenly he saw the dog.
In this example, the meaning relation between the clauses is of ‘and then’. The
paratactic nature of the link is attested by the fact that the when clause cannot be
moved to thematic position:
* When suddenly he saw the dog || he walked to the end of the road.
When so that is used paratactically, it creates a meaning of ‘result’ rather than
‘purpose’. For example:
He worked hard || so that by five o’clock he had finished.
Although, or clause final though, may be used paratactically with the meaning of
‘however’, as in the following examples:
You could argue that way || although I might have to disagree with you.
You could argue that way || I might have to disagree with you, though.
In all these cases, thematising the clause with the conjunction is not possible.
3.5 Identifying the logico-semantic relation

A number of conjunctions can mark different logico-semantic relations, with different
senses. We tabulate these in Table 6.12.
Table 6.12 Some common conjunctions and their different logico-semantic senses
conjunction TAXIS elaboration extension enhancement

and paratactic addition: ‘and also’ – [i] temporal:
also, additionally, sequence: ‘and then’
furthermore, – then, subsequently
moreover [ii] causal: reason:
‘and so’ – so,
therefore,
consequently
but paratactic [i] adversative: ‘but causal: concessive:
on the other hand’ – ‘but nevertheless,
in contrast, on the and in spite of this’ –
other hand, and yet, and yet, nevertheless,
conversely; though
[ii] replacive: ‘but
instead’ [with not] –
instead, rather;
[iii] subtractive:
‘except’ – except,
apart from that
or paratactic exposition: ‘or in alternation: ‘or
other words’ – in alternatively’ –
other words, that is alternatively, either –
or
yet paratactic adversative: ‘on the causal: concessive:
other hand’ – in ‘but nevertheless,
contrast, on the and in spite of this’ –
other hand, nevertheless, though
conversely
since hypotactic [i] temporal: later:
‘afterwards’ – after,
afterwards, then;
[ii] causal: reason:
‘because’ – as,
because
while hypotactic addition: positive/ temporal: same
adversative: ‘and’/ time: extent:
‘and yet’ – whereas, ‘meanwhile’ –
and/and yet, but meanwhile, as
You can probe which sense is relevant in a given example by considering what the
set of agnate items is: each sense of the item in question will correspond to a different
agnation set. When you are trying to identify the sense of a structural conjunction, you
can also probe it by checking what a variant with an added cohesive conjunction (a
conjunctive Adjunct) would be.
3.5.1 Different meanings for but

Perhaps the hardest conjunction to sort out is but, because the different senses shade
into one another. (See Table 6.12 above.)
The adversative sense of but, relating two points of contrast is probably the most
obvious one. This meaning can be reinforced with a cohesive conjunction such as in
contrast, by contrast, on the other hand. For example:
Now Noah was a good man and this pleased God, but [in contrast] all around him, Noah’s
neighbors were lying and fighting and cheating and stealing. [contrast between Noah and
his neighbours]
Then, no sooner do you get started than you have to stop again, but [in contrast] with
OS/2 you needn’t : whereas with the OS/2 you needn’t. [contrast: other operating systems
(from the preceding discourse) – the OS/2]
If you were one of the people in the book, then time would be the same for everyone in the
book; but [in contrast] if you were outside the book, it would be different. [contrast: in the
book – outside the book]
The replacive sense of but occurs with negative polarity; here but can be
reinforced by instead, rather:
The idea of relativity did not originate with Einstein, but [instead] goes back, certainly as a
physical principle, to Newton and Galileo. [replacement: originate with Einstein –
originate with Newton & Galileo]
Uniform motion cannot be discerned internally but [instead] only by reference to an
external object. [replacement: internally – externally]
It isn’t how sick you are but [rather] where you are when you get sick that determines
how you’re treated by a doctor. [replacement: how sick you are – where you are]
The subtractive sense of but can also be expressed by except:
They had little choice but [/except] to turn back.
The concessive sense of but is used to indicate that a situation does not cause the
effect it could be expected to have (a ‘frustrated cause’); this can be used internally in
the sense of ‘I concede p, in spite of this q’ or ‘you may think p, but in spite of this q’.
Here are some examples from The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, illustrating the
typical use of concessive but in historical accounts to indicate an unexpected situation:
He continued Roosevelt’s policies, i.e., ‘trust busting’ and, in Latin America, ‘dollar
diplomacy,’ but he was more conservative than Roosevelt and antagonised the
progressive elements in his party. [Concessive: ‘and yet, in spite of this’. Although he
continued... , he was more conservative...]
The U.S. long supported and aided the Nationalists, but in the 1970s Taiwan’s
international political position had eroded. [Concessive: ‘and yet, in spite of this’. Although
the US long supported... , in the 1970s Taiwan’s international...]
In elections in 1992 the Kuomintang retained control of the assembly, but the major
opposition party won nearly a third of the seats. [Concessive: ‘and yet, in spite of this’.
Although the Kuomintang retained control... , the major opposition party...]
He supported the French Revolution at first, but after the fall of the monarchy he fled to
England (1792) and then to the U.S. (1794). [Concessive: ‘and yet, in spite of this’. Although
he supported the French Revolution at first... , after the fall of the monarchy he fled...]
A clause complex may contain two buts in different senses:

They had not actually completed the crossing but [in spite of this] they had little choice
but [except] to turn back.
Often alternative readings of a but are possible, either concessive or adversative;
for example:
The Spanish explored the area in 1528, but European settlement began only in 1823.
[Concessive: ‘and yet, in spite of this’. Although the Spanish explored..., European settlement
began only... OR adversative: ‘in contrast’. The Spanish explored the area in 1528; in
contrast, European settlement began only in 1823.]
In Buddhist Tantra those rituals opposing the moral precepts of Buddhism have been
dropped, but the complex MEDITATION practices have been retained. [Concessive: ‘and
yet, in spite of this’. Although rituals have been dropped..., meditation practices have been
retained... OR adversative: ‘in contrast’ Rituals have been dropped; in contrast, meditation
practices have been retained]
3.6 How many ‘layers’ to the clause complex?

The issue here is the notation for analysing multi-clause clause complexes. There are
three points to note:
(i) Change of taxis
One useful rule of thumb is that you should ‘indent’ one layer whenever there is a
change in taxis, from parataxis to hypotaxis or vice versa. For example: she never
enjoys parties  if her boyfriend’s not there  so I won’t invite her will be analysed as
follows:
1  She never enjoys parties
xβ if her boyfriend’s not there,
x2 so I won’t invite her.
Or if the text is not being displayed with one clause per line:
She never enjoys parties || if her boyfriend’s not there, || so I won’t invite her.|||
(1 1xβ) x2
This way of notating indicates for the above example that the paratactic relation
holds between the final clause and the previous two taken together. The ||| notation
signals a clause complex boundary (also signaled by a full stop in written text).
(ii) Change of logico-semantic relation
You should also indent one layer when there is a switch of logico-semantic relation
(even if the taxis is of the same kind). Thus:
1 Once I was going up the steps
+2 1 and someone said
‘2 ‘Don’t go up the steps’
Once I was going up the steps ||and someone said || ‘Don’t go up the steps.’ |||
1 +2 (1 ‘2)
 He hoped
‘β  he would be there in good time
xβ so that he could get the seat next to Jan
He hoped || he would be there in good time || so that he could get the seat next to Jan. |||
 ‘β(xβ)
(iii) Theme marking
When a clause complex begins with a dependent hypotactic clause, this has a thematic
function, best indicated by regarding it as the outermost ‘layer’ in the complex,
regardless of any continuity in logico-semantic function with following clauses. For
example:
xβ When he went away again
  the children retired to various places
xβ to weep alone.
3.7 Implicit clause complex relations

(i) Implicit logico-semantic relation
Where a non-finite clause is linked to a finite one, the relation will always be one of
hypotaxis. However, more often than not, there will be nothing to indicate explicitly
which logico-semantic relation is involved. For example: she skipped downstairs 
whistling happily. IFG:7.4.4 recommends exploring the nearest finite form and using
this as a guide to the analysis of the non-finite one. For example:
Hoping to meet somebody famous  she went to the reception.
Because she hoped to meet somebody famous  she went to the reception.
Between finite clauses where there is an explicit paratactic relation signalled by
and, it may also be possible to infer an enhancing temporal relation which has not
been made explicit. For example:
The rivers overflow, the streets become rivers and everything and everybody is soaked.
While IFG2: 235 argues against interpreting these as enhancing relations, IFG3:
415, 423-4 extends the discussion to show how different perspectives support
different analyses.
(ii) Implicit Process in dependent relational clause
A dependent relational clause may have no explicit Process and thus be mistaken for a
phrase or group. For example: With Henry away  we can really get down to business.
When we probe this, we see that with Henry away is not a prepositional phrase, but a
clause with an implicit Process, related to with Henry being away and since Henry is
away. Similarly: When only a young child  Henry wrote his first short story; An avid
angler,  Henry was very fond of fish.
(iii) Implicit projection (see Section 3.8.2 below)
3.8 Projection
3.8.1 Notation for analysis of projection

The relationship between projecting and projected clause is notated with single quote
(‘) for an idea and double quote (“) for a locution:
1 She thought
‘2 ‘Don’t flatter yourself, chum.’
1 She said
‘2 ‘That would be wonderful!’
If the projected clause happens to be the initiating clause in a paratactic complex,
the quote symbol is written against the 1 to indicate this:
‘1 ‘Don’t flatter yourself, chum,’
2 she thought.
‘1 ‘That would be wonderful!’

2 she said.
3.8.2 Locutions without explicit projecting clauses

In a written text, punctuation may signal a locution without there being an explicit
projecting process. For example, the underlined complexes in the text excerpt below
are within quotation marks, but are not grammatically linked to a verbal process of
projection:
Mrs Wilson rejected the compliment || by raising her eyebrow in disdain.|||
 xβ
‘It’s just a crazy old thing,’ || she said. || ‘I just slip it on sometimes || when I don’t care
[[what I look like]].’ |||
‘1 2  xβ
‘But it looks wonderful on you, || if you know what I mean,’ || pursued Mrs McKee. |||
‘1 xβ 2
‘If Chester could only get you in that pose || I think || he could make something of it.’ |||
xβ    ‘β
As shown here, the analysis ignores the cohesive effect of the quotation marks and
represents only the grammatically explicit projections as part of a clause complex
relationship (IFG2: 251, IFG3: 447).
3.9 ‘Surfacing’ from an embedding

In speech, it is not uncommon for a speaker to begin an extended stretch of text with
an expression such as The problem is… or My idea was…, What really happened was… or
The way you do it is…. These openings set up a Value- Token structure, where the
Token is an embedded clause or clause complex, as in:
The problem is [[that we have no money]].
My idea was [[that we should go to Martha’s and wait for the boys there]].
An issue for analysis arises when the Token turns out to be a substantial
monologue. For example:
What you have to do is [[make up two teams and get someone from Team A to read a
question to Team B, who have a set amount of time to answer, and who – if they get it right
– go on and roll the dice and go forward that number of squares, but if they can’t answer
or they get it wrong, the other people on team A get a chance to have a go]]. Then if
Team A get it right they get to roll the dice and also to receive the next question.
It is as if, having begun with a Value/Theme + Token/News clause structure, the
speaker continues by pursuing the typical choreography of spoken language,
expanding the initial embedded clause several times. By the time a new clause
complex is initiated, there is a sense that it is conjunctively related to the previous
‘embedded’ clause, as though by then the structure has surfaced from the initial
embedding. In such a case it is probably most realistic to let the analysis reflect this
‘surfacing’ by displaying a ‘ranking’ clause complex at the initial embedding:
What you have to do is
1 make up two teams
+2  and get someone from Team A to read a question to Team B,
=β 1 who have a set amount of time to answer,
+2  and who – << >> go on and roll the dice.
xβ <<if they get it right>>
Alternatively, treat the second (or some later clause) within the embedding as
linked by taxis with the initial non-embedded part:
1 What you have to do is [[make up two teams
+2  and get someone from Team A to read a question to Team B,
=β who have a set amount of time to answer,
4.1 Phase I
4.1.1 Exercises
Examples are taken or adapted from various sources including The Wentworth Courier,
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, Aldous Huxley’s
Antic Hay, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
Exercise 1 Identifying clause boundaries

Mark off the clause (||) and clause complex (|||) boundaries in the following pieces of
text. For example:
She complained about the incident to my father || when he returned from work || and was
mortified || when he laughed || until the tears rolled down his cheeks. ||| He apologised. |||
1. Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To fetch her poor dog a bone
When she got there
The cupboard was bare
And so the poor dog had none
2. The Randwick mayor said the Council was very enthusiastic about the new
bowling centre for the Randwick shopping centre. He said he hoped the AMF
company would have the same success as the Manhattan bowling centre at
Mascot, which opened last year.
3. His cheeks were ruddy, and his red, moist mouth was noticeable because he
laughed so often.
4. The Thai do not kill animals, so the meat butchering is left to the Muslims and
Chinese.
Exercise 2 Distinguishing  and β clauses in a hypotactic relation (expansion)

Determine which clause in each of the following hypotactic complexes is the
(dependent) beta and which is the (dominant) alpha. See Section 2.1. For example:
It was lonely for a day or so || until one morning some man stopped me on the road.
   β
1. Mrs Morel was full of information || when she got home from Nottingham.
2. If you want to learn it, || you must begin.
3. Roger remained, || watching the littluns.
4. Presently, seeing Ralph under the palms, || he sat by him.
5. It was a dismal affair, || which might have belonged to Maurice Barres in youth.
6. Whenever I’m having a good time || he wants to go home.
7. I looked back at my cousin, || who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling
voice.
Exercise 3 Distinguishing hypotaxis from parataxis (expansion)

Identify (as hypotactic or paratactic) the taxis relation between the following pairs of
clauses and notate accordingly. See Sections 2.1, 3.4. For example:
As soon as the skies brightened, || Paul drove off in the milkman’s heavy float.
β         
1. William had just gone away to London, || and his mother missed his money.
2. He sent ten shillings once or twice, || but he had many things to pay for at first.
3. If a quarrel took place, || the whole play was spoilt.
4. In a few minutes she put on her coat,|| to walk the two and a half miles to the
station.
5. Mrs Morel talked again to Paul, || who was helping her with her housework.
6. He resented Mr Bojanus’s negleejay, || he was pained and wounded by the

aspersion.
7. Folding him in her arms, || she swayed slightly from side to side with love.
8. Throw it away || or give it to your sister.

9. Whilst Morel was progressing favourably in the hospital, || the family was
extraordinarily happy and peaceful.
10. The Thai do not kill animals, || so the meat butchering is left to the Muslims and
Chinese.
Exercise 4 Distinguishing  from β clauses in a hypotactic relation (projection)

Determine which clause in each of the following hypotactic complexes is the
(dependent) beta and which is the (dominant) alpha. See Section 2.2.2. For example:
They say || he’s a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s.
 β
1. She had already told him || she could not dance.
2. She knew || that it was not everything.
3. Tell me || where it hurts you.
4. It would all come to an end soon, || she hoped.
5. She never believed || that her life belonged to Paul Morel.
6. She thought || they lived in his own house.
Exercise 5 Distinguishing hypotaxis from parataxis (projection)

Indicate the taxis relation between the following pairs of clauses, using 1,2 or ,β
notation. For example:
You asked my sister || if there was cancer in the family.
    β
‘The train gets in at half-past six,’ || she replied emphatically.
1 2
1. Sometimes Mrs. Morel would say: || ‘You ought to tell your father.’
2. But the Sister says || that it’s the pain.
3. The three children realised || that it was very bad for their father.
4. ‘Now I’ll die,’ || he said, in a detached, dreamy voice.
5. I wish || this boiler was at the bottom of the sea!
6. He felt || his son did not want him.
7. Ask him || whether the London train’s come.
8. Paul knew || that this girl, Louise Travers, was now Dawes’s woman.
9. She wondered || who had been talking to him.
10. ‘Who has been talking to him?’ || she wondered.
Exercise 6 Identifying logico-semantic relations (expansion)

Identify the logico-semantic relation between the following pairs of clauses as
elaboration (=) or extension (+). Add the appropriate notation to the analysis. For
example:
William had just gone away to London, || and his mother missed his money.
1 +2
1. He didn’t offer to help, || but just watched her struggling.
1 2
2. Mrs. Morel talked again to Paul, || who was helping her with her housework.
      β
3. It was getting very late; || it was past ten o’clock.
1 2
4. It matters more than her cleverness, || which, after all, would never get her to
heaven.
   β
5. Take it inside || or put it over there.
1 2
6. As well as headlining a special meal, || meat composes several Thai delicacies.
       
7. Now he would transform it; || he would add to it its better half.
1 2
8. He was accompanied by his wife, || whose manner was quite hostile.
     
9. The incident had no serious consequences || apart from upsetting his cousin.
       
10. He was very clever, very artistic; || he seemed to know all the new things, all the
interesting people.
1 2
Exercise 7 Identifying logico-semantic relations (expansion)

Identify the logico- semantic relation between the clauses in the following examples as
elaboration (=), extension (+) or enhancement (x). Add the appropriate notation to the
analysis. For example:
As soon as the skies brightened, || Paul drove off in the milkman’s heavy float.
 β    
1. If a quarrel took place, || the whole play was spoilt.

β 
2. In a few minutes she was gone, || to walk the two and a half miles to the station.
     β
3. They drew apart; || they spent less and less time together.
1 2
4. Whilst Morel was progressing favourably in the hospital, || the family was
extraordinarily happy
and peaceful.
 β 
5. She dared not look at him, || but sat with her head bowed.
1 2
6. To Miriam he more or less condescended, || because she seemed so humble.
          β
7. His face quivered || as he looked at his mother.
       β
8. The clouds empty their watery load || and are then dispelled by the sun.
1 2
9. Mrs. Morel was not anxious to move into the Bottoms, || which was already 12
years old.
        β
10. The women did not spare her, at first; || for she was superior.
1 2
Exercise 8 Identifying the logico-semantic relation (projection)

Go back to exercise 5 and identify the relation between the clauses as projection of
locution (‘) or projection of idea (“). Add the appropriate notation to the analysis. (See
Section 2.2.2.) For example:
‘The train gets in at half-past six,’ || she replied emphatically.
‘1 2

Identify any TAXIS links between clauses in Texts 1 and 2 and note whether they are
hypotactic or paratactic and whether elaborating, extending or enhancing. What
differences do you notice in the way clause complexing resources are used to build
information in the two texts?

The numbat
The numbat is an unmistakable slender marsupial with a pointed muzzle and short erect
ears. The body is reddish brown but the rump is much darker and has about six white bars
across it. The eye has a black stripe through it and the long bushy tail is yellowish. The
toes are strongly clawed and very effective in digging out termites. The tongue is
extremely long, as it is in all mammalian ant or termite eaters. Unlike most marsupials, the
numbat is active during the day. It shelters in hollow logs. It was once relatively common
but now lives only in a small area of S.W. South Australia.
[Adapted from The Concise Encyclopedia of Australia 2nd ed. Buderim, Queensland, Bateman,
1984: 459.]
Text 2 Information report

Note: This text has a number of ‘included’ clauses. See Section 3.2.1(2). These have
been indicated for you with angled brackets << >>. Ellipsed elements have been
indicated in round brackets.
There are many species of whales. They are conveniently divided into toothed and baleen
categories. The toothed whales are found worldwide in great numbers. The largest is the
Sperm whale, which grows to about the size of a boxcar. Other species familiar to
Canadians are the Beluga or white whale, the Narwhal with its unicorn-like tusk, the Killer
whale or Orca, the Pilot or Pothead whale, << which is commonly stranded on beaches>>,
the Spotted and Spinner Dolphins, << that create a problem for tuna seiners>>, and the
Porpoises, which we commonly see along our shores.
There are fewer species of the larger baleen whales, that filter krill and small fish
through their baleen plates. The largest is the Blue whale, which is seen frequently in the
Gulf of St Lawrence. It reaches a length of 100 feet and a weight of 200 tons. The young are
25 feet long at birth and put on about 200 lbs. a day on their milk diet. Other species are:
the Fins << which at a length of 75 ft. blow spouts of 20 ft.>>, the fast swimming Seis, the
Grays, <<(which are) so commonly seen on migrations along our Pacific coast between
Baja California and the Bering Sea>>, the Bowheads of Alaskan waters, the Rights,
<<(which are) so seriously threatened>>, the Humpbacks, <<(which are) enjoyed by
tourists in such places as Hawaii and Alaska>>, the smaller Bryde’s whales, and the
smallest Minke whales, which continue to be abundant worldwide.
[From Martin, W.R. 1989 ‘Innovative Fisheries management: International Whaling.’ A.T. Bielak
(ed) Innovative Fisheries Management Initiatives. Ottawa, Canadian Wildlife Federation: 1-4.]
Text 3 Dialogue in narrative

1. Divide this text into ranking clauses (embedded clauses have been enclosed in
square brackets).
2. Identify any expanding links.
3. Classify each projecting relation as paratactic or hypotactic. For example:
PROJECTION
‘What’s your interest?’ || she asked. parataxis
‘Oh’ << I replied breezily>> , parataxis
I wondered || if it had anything [[to do with the N. Bank robbery]]. hypotaxis
(Claudia Valentine, detective, is trying to elicit information over the phone from an assistant
in a gold shop:)
‘What’s your interest?’ she asked. ‘Oh,’ I replied breezily, ‘I wondered if it had anything [[to
do with the National Bank robbery.]]’ She didn’t think it did. ‘You got anything [[to tell us
on that score?]]’ she asked. I didn’t. I cast my line again into the Chinatown killing. She said
as usual no-one had seen anything. Even in reasonably broad daylight. I said I might have.
She thought that was interesting. I asked her if the victim had been wearing a tie. She said
no. I asked her if he’d been wearing kung fu shoes. She said what is this, twenty questions?
I said no. I told her I’d seen [[a man acting suspiciously in the Chinese Gardens]]. She asked
what I’d been doing there but I said it was irrelevant. I said I’d seen the same man later
that afternoon in Cabramatta. She asked what I was doing in Cabramatta. I said it was
irrelevant. I said it was a long shot and probably had nothing [[to do with anything]] but it
might be worth asking a few discreet questions around the place. Check out the snooker
hall. I asked her if she could tell me any more about the victim.
[Very slightly adapted from Day, Marele The Case of the Chinese Boxes. Sydney: Allen &
Unwin, 1990: 41-42.]
Text 4 Exposition (High School student’s written answer)

We will analyse the clause complexing in this text more fully in Phase II. As a start,
consider the following questions.
1. Divide the following text in clauses and clause complexes and check your
response with the layout given below. How many clauses per clause complex?
2. Count the paratactic links, then the hypotactic. How do the numbers compare?
3. Are there examples of both projection and expansion?
4. What kind of projection is found? What kind of expansion is most frequent?
5. How does this text contrast with Texts 1 and 2 in its use of clause complexing
resources?
Are governments necessary?
I think governments like the Federal Government are necessary because they help to keep
our economic system in order and if any problems occur the Federal Government will more
or less straighten it out.
I also think that the State Government isn’t necessary because there is the local
government, which is known as a shire or municipality, and so there is hardly any use for
the State Government because the local governments do all the work.
[Text courtesy of Bill Crowley]
Are governments necessary? [version set out in clauses]

I think
governments like the Federal Government are necessary
because they help to keep our economic system in order
and if any problems occur
the Federal Government will more or less straighten it out.
I also think
that the State Government isn’t necessary
because there is the local government,
which is known as a shire or municipality,
and so there is hardly any use for the State Government
because the local governments do all the work.
4.2 Phase II
4.2.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Identifying clause boundaries (included clauses)

Mark off the clause boundaries in the following pieces of text. For example:
The Thai, <<being Buddhist,>> do not kill animals, || so the meat butchering is
left to the Muslims and Chinese.
1. They lived, she thought, in his own house.
2. Mrs. Blackmore’s car, which can’t be more than two years old, is already full of rust.
3. Meg and Paul, although they despised the others, remained with the group and
took part in their schemes.
4. The older man, who had been sitting in the corner and seemed uninterested,
suddenly got up and approached them.
5. Marco Polo, journeying through Yunnan in the thirteenth century, after it had been
conquered by the Mongols, observed that the people ate their meat raw.
Exercise 2 Identifying both taxis and logico-semantic relations

Analyse the taxis and logico-semantic relations between the following pairs of clauses.
For example:
They had fetched the money on Friday afternoons, || until they went themselves to work.
    xβ
1. So that the children could fetch the money, school closed early on Friday
afternoons.
2. Paul always examined the big grass bank, because in it grew tiny pansies.
3. He knew the order of the names – they went according to stall number.
4. If they got half a pound, they felt exceedingly happy.
5. Well, there wasn’t any blackberries, so we went over Misk Hills.
6. He nodded sympathetically to Miriam, and became gently sarcastic to Beatrice.
7. ‘Well, you can’t be stuck in the house for ever,’ Annie agreed.
8. Agatha says you’re as good as any teacher anywhere.
9. He held her wrists while she wrestled with him.
10. He bent forward to her to light his cigarette at hers.
Exercise 3 Logico-semantic relations and non-finite clauses

Determine, by comparison with a finite clause example, the logico-semantic relation in
the following clause complexes. See Section 3.7 (i). For example:
She thought him rather wonderful, || never having met anyone like him.
    xβ
(She thought him rather wonderful because she had never met anyone like him.)
1. Hurriedly taking off her bodice, she crouched at the boiler.
2. The valley was full of corn, brightening in the sun.
3. Roger remained, watching the littluns.
4. Mr Pappleworth arrived, chewing a chlorodyne gum, at about twenty to nine.
5. The Thai << being Buddhist>> do not kill animals.
6. On retiring to bed, the father would come into the sickroom.

Exercise 4 Notating taxis and logico-semantic relations in multi-clause complexes

Analyse the following complexes for taxis and logico-semantic relations. Write the
analysis on the left as shown in the example:
1  The three children realised
‘β that it was very bad for their father
+2 and the house was silent, anxious.
1. Paul cleared away,
put on the kettle,
and set the table.
2. Add the pork
and stir fry
until it changes colour.
3. If you’re scared of someone
you hate him
and you can’t stop thinking about him.
4. They thought
anything might happen
if one came from London.
5 Percival finished his whimper
and went on playing,
for the tears had washed the sand away.
6. ‘Now I’ll die,’
he said, in a detached, dreamy voice,
as though he were the dying motion of the swing.
7. ‘You know
that you like them,’
she said.
8. Hurriedly taking off her bodice,
she crouched at the boiler
while the water ran slowly into her lading-can.
9. She complained about the incident to my father
when he returned from work
and was mortified
when he laughed
until the tears rolled down his cheeks.
10. ‘I wish
this boiler was at the bottom of the sea!’
she exclaimed,
wriggling the handle impatiently.
11. The minister glanced several times at his watch,
so I took him aside
and asked him
to wait for a half an hour.
12. He went to the station in a sort of dream,

and was at home
without realising
he had moved out of her street.
Exercise 5 Discriminating verbal group complexes from clause complexes

See Chapter 4, 3.3. Determine the boundaries of ranking clauses in the following
clause complexes. For example:
I liked to walk up 5th Avenue || when I was in New York.
I’d like || you to walk up 5th Avenue || when we are in New York.
1. Soon the larvae begin to hatch and the queen must feed them.
2. He hopes to make this a particularly boring campaign.
3. She had decided, ineptly, that everything was very very sad.
4. He tried frantically to escape but it was no use.
5. Maybe he means it’s some sort of ghost.
6. Why couldn’t you say there wasn’t a beast?
7. He wanted to crush her onto his breast to ease the ache there.
8. ‘Why on earth don’t you let him stop?’ he exclaimed.
9. The heat seemed to increase until it became a threatening weight.
10. I had expected that he would be a florid and corpulent person in his middle years.
11. He began to poke about in the water, while the brilliant fish flicked away.
12. ‘You must make him come back’, he insisted.
13. She told him not to hurry; there was plenty of time.
14. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch,’ I said.
15. He would dearly have liked the children to talk to him, but they could not.
Exercise 6 Discriminating ranking clauses from embeddings (defining and

non-defining relative clauses)
Determine which of the relative clauses below are embedded and which are
elaborating β clauses. See Section 3.3.1. For example:
They gave it to the one [[who scored the most goals]].
My daughter <<who has just turned four>> must now pay for a ticket on the bus.
1. I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited.
2. I’m the first man who ever made a stable out of a garage.
3. Next year she will be issued with a school bus pass, which will save us a lot of
money.
4. We all looked in silence at Mrs. Wilson, who removed a strand of hair from over
her eyes and looked back at us with a brilliant smile.
5. I wanted somebody who wouldn’t gossip.
6. I glanced at Daisy, who was staring between Gatsby and her husband.
7. He was a photographer and had made the dim enlargement of Mrs. Wilson’s
mother which hovered like an ectoplasm on the wall.
8. Those littluns who had climbed back on the twister fell off again.
9. They spoke to the gardener, whose wheezy cough interrupted every question.
10. Japan had a major earthquake in Hokkaido a year ago which shook the island with
a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale.
Exercise 7 Discriminating ranking clauses from embeddings (acts)

Determine the boundaries of ranking clauses in the following examples and mark any
embedded clauses. See Section 3.3.2.
She saw the sunshine going out of him, and she resented it.
She saw [[the sunshine going out of him]], || and she resented it.
1. I could have sworn I heard the owl-eyed man break into ghostly laughter.
2. When Mrs. Morel entered, she saw him almost running through the door to the
stairs.
3. They heard their father throw down his boots and tramp upstairs in his
stockinged feet.
4. I can remember that Tautina O’Brien came there at least once.
5. Playing the piano in the evening had always calmed her but now she could not
play.
6. I realised that it was a fire and tried to get out.
7. Sometimes they watched the three or four lamps growing tinier and tinier,
swaying down the fields in the darkness.
Exercise 8 Distinguishing types of ‘but’: extending vs. enhancing

Identify the relation signalled by but in the following clause complexes as extending or
enhancing. See Section 3.5.1.
Uniform motion cannot be discerned internally || but only by reference to an external
object. extending
We supported the French Revolution at first, || but after the fall of the monarchy fled to
England. enhancing
1. They don’t emphasise rote learning of facts ||

but try to encourage problem solving techniques. 1. .............................................
2. I tried very hard to die, || but I seemed to bear
an enchanted life. 2. .............................................
3. He half expected || her to wander into one of his
parties, some night || but she never did. 3. .............................................
4. I tried to go then, || but they wouldn’t hear of it. 4. .............................................
5. They worked as fast as they could || but couldn’t
meet the deadline. 5. .............................................
6. The pigs did not actually work || but directed and
supervised the others. 6. .............................................
7. The indigenous population was wiped out in the
19th century || but a few thousand mixed-race
descendants survived. 7. .............................................
8. By the mid-1830s it was fighting for reforms for
the common people || but increasingly controlled
by the privileged classes. 8. .............................................
9. She was honest in her way || but the rest of the family
were quite untrustworthy. 9. .............................................
10. He didn’t run, but loped along awkwardly. 10. .............................................

Analyse the clause complex relations in this text in the left-hand margin. Note how this
contributes to the meaning of the text already considered in earlier chapters.
M: [One] like the one in the garden, are you thinking of?
Well, sometimes birds die
when they get very old,
or maybe they get sick
because they got some disease,
or maybe a cat got it.
Baby birds sometimes die
when they fall out of the nest,
or, in the winter – << >> – birds might die
<<if you were in a cold place>>
because they can’t get enough food.
C: Yeh, but what happens
if one bird falls out
and then - and when it’s just about at the ground
it flies?
M: Yes, well if it’s big enough to fly
it’ll be all right.
Text 2 Recount
This text is a written version of a spoken text where the speaker is recalling a period
from his youth. Divide the following text into clauses and analyse the clause complex
relations.
If I would be too late in the morning, the station owner would pour cold water over me.
Sometimes I would watch the cattle while they had their lunch or got ready in the morning,
and if a calf would walk away he would yell out from the camp, ‘Hey, what do you think,
don’t you want that calf, eh?’ I wouldn’t know, because I was looking in another direction.
He would come up and say, ‘You’ve got to start watching those cattle.’ I couldn’t talk back
to him because I was too small. That bloke always did that to me, and he would give me a
good beating with a whip. When I was working there I really had a terrible life with that
man. And if I didn’t do my job, he would starve me for two days and just give me dry
damper. And if I didn’t do my job well, he would next time just give me a piece of meat.
[Adapted from Paddy Patrick Jangala 1985 Stories from Lajamanu. Darwin NT: Dept. of Education.]
Text 3 Children’s story (opening)

Divide the text into clauses and analyse the clause complex relations.
My name’s Laura and this is my place. I turned ten last week. Our house is the one with the
flag on the window. Tony says it shows we’re on Aboriginal land, but I think it means the
colour of the earth, back home. Mum and Dad live here too, and Terry and Lorraine, and
Aunty Bev, and Tony and Diane and their baby Dean. He’s my nephew and he’s so cute! We
come from Bourke, but Dad thought there’d be more jobs in the city. This [picture] is me
and Gully. I have to keep her on a lead because she chases cars. She comes from Bourke too.
I guess she thinks they’re sheep. This is a map of my place. We’ve got a McDonalds right on
the corner! In the McDonald’s yard, there’s this big tree, and whenever I sit in it, it always
makes me feel good. There’s a canal down the bottom of the street, and Mum says it must
have been a creek once. It’s too dirty to swim in, but Tony made me a tin canoe and now
some of the other kids are making them too. If you tip over and go in, the water tastes
yucky and your parents go wild. For my birthday, Mum said we could have tea at
McDonalds! We sat in the outside bit, under the tree, and it felt just like home!
[From N. Wheatley My place Blackburn, Collins Dove, 1989.]
Text 4 Exposition
Here we return to a text from Phase I. This time notate the clause complex relations in
the left hand margin.
I think
governments like the Federal Government are necessary
because they help to keep our economic system in order
and if any problems occur
the Federal Government will more or less straighten it out.
I also think
that the State Government isn’t necessary
because there is the local government,
which is known as a shire or municipality,
and so there is hardly any use for the State Government
because the local governments do all the work.
4.3 Phase III
4.3.1 Exercises
Exercise 1 Identifying embedded clauses (facts)
Enclose in square brackets any embedded clauses in the following examples.
It is important to understand the strategy adopted by the developers.
It is important [[to understand the strategy adopted by the developers.]]
1. It infuriated him that she could not give him an answer.
2. It is instructive to recall the invitation for expressions of interest.
3. That it’s likely market value had diminished had certainly occurred to him.
4. It is good to be seen as the great reformer.
5. It wasn’t at Christmas that he had seen her.
6. To understand the natural order is a good thing.
Exercise 2 Discriminating ranking clauses from embeddings (wh clauses)

embedded clauses. See Section 3.3.3 and Chapter 4, 3.5 (iv). For example:
She asked || what she should do next.
She appreciated [[what they had done]].
1. Whatever she sees, she wants.
2. They didn’t like what she was saying.
3. Tell me what to do next.
4. She asked if he was going by car.
5. She asked where he was going.
6. I don’t understand why you won’t come out frankly and tell me.
7. They didn’t explain how to mix the colours.

8. I hate how he always interrupts you with petty little queries and details.
9. He doesn’t know where they go on holiday.
Exercise 3 Discriminating ranking clauses from embeddings (facts)

embedded clauses:
He decided ||that there was no other course of action possible.
They remain convinced [[that the political winds are blowing in their direction]].
Buckingham Palace expressed relief [[that the Bodyline cricket series was over]].
1 The common factor is the belief that New Zealand has gone too far along the
monetarist free market path.
2. Our understanding was that they would accept the money as final payment.
3. Police believe the fire was lit on a pile of carpet in the stairwell.
4. I see I have given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks
apart were all that absorbed me.
5. He noted that civic leaders did not greet him wearing jacket and tie.
6. I read somewhere that the sun’s getting hotter every year.
7. I would have accepted without question the information that Gatsby sprang from
the swamps of Louisiana.
8. They were convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key.
9. She implied that a dozen chefs awaited her orders there.
10. That’s because your mother wanted to show you off.
11. You kid yourself he’s all right really.
12. One suspects they will have the same problem.
13. NASA’s satellite had discovered landmark evidence that the universe did in fact
begin with the ‘Big Bang’.
14. One prediction that comes out of the theory of inflation is that the mix of big and
small spots in the early universe should follow a characteristic pattern.
Exercise 4 Distinguishing circumstances from clauses with an implicit process

Decide whether the underlined unit in the examples below is a circumstance or a β
clause whose (relational) process is not explicit. For example:
They waited at the cinema with their cousins. circumstance
With John right beside me, I couldn’t say any more at the time. clause
1. They made way for him silently, all of them conscious of
his grim mood. 1. .........................................
2. With all hope of a quick resolution gone, they settled in
for a long night. 2. .........................................
3. With her two dalmations, she stood waiting at the kerb. 3. .........................................
4. They were in the bare country of stone walls which,
though only ten miles from home, seemed so foreign to
Miriam. 4. ........................................
5. We didn’t like to take any major decisions with you away. 5. ........................................
Exercise 5 Distinguishing hypotaxis from parataxis (typically ‘hypotactic’

conjunctions)
See Section 3.4.1. In the following examples, determine whether the relationship
between the clauses is hypotactic or paratactic:
1. They scrambled up the slope as fast as they could so that they might warn the
others.
2. A sudden breeze shook the fringe of palm trees, so that the fronds tossed.
3. He was chattering away to his mother on the phone when he heard a tremendous
crash in the yard.
4. We wanted to ask him along, except that we were too shy.
5. They did not speak of it when they were alone together once more.
6. They used to meet in secret because her father disapproved of their friendship.
Text 1 Conversational narrative

In the transcription of this originally spoken text, clause complex boundaries have
already been determined. Now divide the text into ranking clauses and analyse the
clause complex relations.
There’s lots of things that happen that you just take for granted really. When we first
moved down here from Orange we lost one of our bitches, the first day. And we advertised
and put little notes all around to try and get her back. Anyway about a week later a man
came down and asked had we lost a dog. And he said he thought he knew where there was
one in a yard. So my husband went up and looked over the fence and there was our dog,
only about a block away. And they also had a male corgi there, and the two were running
together. So he brought ours home and he went back up later to let the people know that
we had her, that he’d brought her home, and offered to pay the food that she’d eaten for
the week. Anyway, the people were very good. I don’t think they’d tried to steal her or do
anything like that. But anyway, about two days after that, two big boys came down – they
were about seventeen – to let us know that Mummy said not to be worried that the bitch
would have puppies because even though they ran in her yard all day she locked them up
separately at night. Our bitch wasn’t even in season so they obviously didn’t take her for
gain. They didn’t know enough.
[From Plum, Guenter Textual and contextual conditioning in spoken English: a genre based
approach. PhD thesis. Dept. of Linguistics, University of Sydney, 1988.]
Text 2 Expository
Divide the following text into ranking clauses and analyse the clause complex
relations.
Advice such as this (i.e. be wary of approaching children before they are ‘ready’ to learn
mathematics) has produced teachers who are likely to be wary about interference into
children’s play in case they are not ‘ready’ or they spoil something spontaneous which is
going on, and when they do so interfere they expect that they will have to provide children
with experiences which will lead them to make the appropriate discriminations, which
they will not expect the children already to have mastered. The framework for the
interpretation of errors is therefore given by the pedagogy: that is, that children will fail
because they are not ‘ready’ for that kind of learning, which will in turn lead the teacher to
feel implicitly at fault because (by implication) she was also not sensitive enough. This
provides one aspect of a ‘regime of meaning’, a regime of ‘truth’ in which the teacher
herself is positioned. This creates her insertion as subject into the practice and provides
both the basis of her readings and the aspect of the regulation to which she is subjected.
The regime is not one which is provided by the teacher, but which itself produces her
consciousness of what teaching means: thus it produces not only her assessment of the
children but is bound up with her assessment of herself. The teacher can in no way be
judged as standing outside the practices in which she as teacher is positioned and which
delimit, define, and evaluate her work.
[Walkerdine, V. 1988 The Mastery of Reason: cognitive development and the production
of rationality. London: Routledge (Critical Psychology).]
Text 3 Teaser
Try puzzling out the clause complex relations here. (No key provided.)
Jack thinks
he does not know
what he thinks
Jill thinks
he does not know
But Jill thinks Jack does know it.
So Jill does not know
she does not know
that Jack does not know
that Jill thinks
that Jack does know
and Jack does not know he does not know
that Jill does not know she does not know
that Jack does not know
that Jill thinks Jack knows
what Jack thinks he does not know
Jack doesn’t know he knows
and he doesn’t know
Jill does not know.
Jill doesn’t know she doesn’t know,
and doesn’t know
that Jack doesn’t know Jill does not know.
They have no problems.
[Knots by R. D. Laing, quoted in H.H. Clark Arenas of Language. Chicago & Stanford:
University of Chicago Press and Center for the Study of Language and Information. 1992: 9.]
5.1 Review
In Chapters of IFG and this workbook concerned with ‘Clause as message’, ‘Clause as
exchange’ and ‘Clause as representation’, you have seen how the three metafunctions
come together to define the clause as a plurifunctional grammatical unit; it is
internally organised according to the textual (thematic), interpersonal (modal) and
ideational: experiential (transitivity) metafunctions. See Figure 5.6:

clause textual interpersonal topical
Theme Rheme
interpersonal Mood Residue
Vocative
Subj Fin Predicator Complement
ideational
experiential Carrier Process Attribute
Figure 6.6 The clause as a plurifunctional unit
In this Chapter we have been concerned with how any clause can be combined
with another to form a clause complex, using the resources of the logical metafunction.
These resources also serve to combine smaller grammatical units such as words,
groups and phrases into complexes; however when clauses are combined, no higher
grammatical unit with constituent parts is created. A clause complex is just a complex
of units – clauses; it is not itself a new kind of higher-ranking grammatical unit.
A clause complex would arise if, after having said Madam, you’ll look like a tulip,
the speaker decides to expand this clause by another clause; and this option of
expansion could then be selected again:
Madam, you’ll look like a tulip
Madam, you’ll look like a tulip  so the other guests will laugh at you
Madam, you’ll look like a tulip  so the other guests will laugh at you  and then you’ll
get angry
This expansion is shown diagrammatically in Figure 6.7.

Rheme
Theme
vocative Mood Residue
Subj Fin Predicator Complement
Carrier Process Attribute
so the other guests will laugh at you
and then you’ll get angry
Figure 6.7 Expansion of clause into clause complex
In fact, there is no theoretical limit to the number of times a clause complex can
be expanded by another clause. The reason is that the structure of the clause complex
is relational: one clause is related or linked to another step by step. A clause complex
is thus like a chain or series – it can be expanded indefinitely. Compare TV serials like
Days of our Lives, Coronation Street or Neighbours that just go on and on. A clause
complex is thus structurally quite different from a simple clause. A simple clause is, as
we have seen, on organic whole. Just like other organic wholes, such as biological
organisms or atoms, it has a fixed number of component parts with particular values
relative to the whole: Theme + Rheme (textual), Mood + Residue [+ Moodtag +
Vocative] (interpersonal), and Participants + Process + Circumstances (experiential).
That is, the organisation of the clause is configurational rather than serial or relational.
5.2 Relations between clauses

The serial or relational structure of the clause complex can be described in terms of
the two systems of TAXIS (interdependency relations) and LOGICO-SEMANTIC TYPE. Table
6.13 summarises these, showing how the five general logico-semantic relations – two
of the projecting type and three of the expanding type – are realised in combination
with either parataxis or hypotaxis.
Table 6.13 TAXIS and LOGICO-SEMANTIC TYPE
‘initiating’ ‘continuing’ punctuation tone
hypotaxis parataxis
projection locution " verbal clause that, whether; parataxis –

(without wh-; :&"
Verbiage) non-finite:
perfective
idea ' mental clause

(without
Phenomenon)
expansion elaboration = wh-; i.e., e.g., viz., parataxis –

non-finite: that is, for :&;
imperfective/ example, ... hypotaxis – tone concord
neutral ,
extension + besides, and, or, but

instead of, as
well as, rather
than, while,
whereas,...
enhancement × while, when, (and) then,

before, after, for, (and) so,
since, until, (and) yet,
by, because, if, but...
although, in
spite of
Further reading
For further interpretation of the semantics of clause complexing see Halliday &
Matthiessen 1999, Chapter 3.
Halliday, M A K & Christian M I M Matthiessen 1999 Construing experience through

meaning: a language based approach to cognition. London: Cassell. [Reprinted by
Continuum 2006]
Martin, J R 1981 Conjunction and Continuity in Tagalog. In M A K Halliday & J R Martin
(eds) Readings in Systemic Linguistics. London: Batsford. 310-336.
Martin, J R 1983 Participant identification in English, Tagalog and Kâte. Australian
Journal of Linguistics 3.1. 45-74.
[The discourse function of clause complexing in languages other than English is
discussed here and in Martin 1981.]
Martin, J R 1988 Hypotactic recursive systems in English: toward a functional
interpretation. J D Benson & W S Greaves (eds) Systemic Functional Approaches to
Discourse. Norwood, N J: Ablex. 240-270.
Martin, J R 1992 English text: system and structure. Chapter 4. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
[The semantic resources of conjunctive relations are discussed here, with the
clause complex as one type of realisation.]
Matthiessen, C M I M 1995 Lexicogrammatical cartography: English systems. Tokyo,
[Chapter 3; rhetorical-relational organisation of text: Section 1.7.2; logical
resources: Section 2.3.4.]
Matthiessen, C M I M 2002 Combining clauses into clause complexes: a multifaceted
view. J Bybee & M Noonan (eds) Complex Sentences in Grammar and Discourse:
essays in honor of Sandra A. Thompson. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 237-322.
Matthiessen, C M I M & Sandra A Thompson 1989 The structure of discourse and
‘subordination’. In John Haiman & Sandra A Thompson (eds) Clause Combining in
Grammar and Discourse. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 275-331.
Nesbitt, C & G Plum 1988 Probabilities in a systemic-functional grammar. In R P
Fawcett & D J Young (eds) New Developments in Systemic Linguistics, Vol. 2. London:
Pinter. 6-38.
Teruya, Kazuhiro 2006 Grammar as resource for the construction of language logic for
advanced language learning in Japanese. In Heidi Byrnes (ed), Advanced instructed
language learning: The complementary contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky.
London & New York: Continuum. 109-133.
[The pedagogic implications of the nature of clause complexing are discussed in
the context of teaching a second/foreign language.]
Chapter 7
Text analysis
1. Orientation
IFG3 Chapter 3.9 Thematic interpretation of a text;

IFG3 Chapter 4.8 Texts;
IFG3 Chapter 5.8 Text illustrations;
IFG3 Chapter 9 (Around the clause: cohesion and discourse);
IFG3 Chapter 10 (Beyond the clause: metaphorical modes of expression);
IFG2 Appendix 1 (The ‘silver’ text: analysis and interpretation)
1.2 Characterisation of text analysis

Functional grammar analysis of the kind supported by this workbook enables a rich
semantically oriented reading of clause, group and phrase structure. This is a critical
step in text analysis since, as Halliday comments in his introduction to the 2nd edition,
‘A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not an analysis at all, but simply a
running commentary on a text...’ By the same token, an analysis based solely on
grammar, however rich, is not a complete analysis, since relationships between
sentences (between clause complexes) still have to be accounted for. To interpret these
relations beyond the clause, we need a model of text structure, and a model of social
context. In this chapter we will take grammar as the point of departure and
demonstrate how it can be extended in the direction of text structure 1 and context,
drawing specifically on Martin & Rose's Working with Discourse (2nd edition, 2007)
and Genre Relations (2008) to do so. For this demonstration, we will focus on just one
text, reproduced as Figure 7.1 below – a feature article by Peter FitzSimons from a
monthly lifestyle magazine published by the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney's main
broadsheet newspaper.
1 For an alternative extension see Halliday & Hasan's 1976 Cohesion in English, which elaborates Chapter 9
of IFG (3rd edition).
CHAPTER 7 TEXT ANALYSIS 273
Figure 7.1 FitzSimons' ‘placeintime – bondi beach’ text
As a first step we might consider the layout of the text – its multimodal
'graphology' if you will. To the left we have two photos, Bondi beach below, and Peter
FitzSimons above; then to the right we have a 'kicker', with the main text below. And
below the main text we have two separated paragraphs, one thanking a reader for
drawing Fitzsimons' attention to the 'Black Sunday' rescue, followed by another in
bold soliciting further suggestions for his regular 'placeintime' column. This general
layout is outlined in Figure 7.2, including placement of the photographer's byline
('Photography Marco Del Grande') and the column's heading ('placeintime – bondi
beach') to the left of FitzSimons' photograph.
photographer
byline
Peter kicker
FitzSimons
head- photo
ing
Bondi text
Beach
photo
thanks
solicitation
Figure 7.2 General layout of 'placeintime – bondi beach' column

As we can see, the layout distinguishes between the verbal text and the images,
and within the verbal text between kicker (above, larger font) and two columns of
main text (several 'lines' below, smaller font, first line in left column in bold), and
within the main text between the 'story' proper and the thanks (skipping a line) and
between the thanks and the solicitation (skipping another line and changing back to
bold). In addition the graphology gives us words, sentences and paragraphs, and some
intermediate units between word and sentence separated by a dash, comma or colon.
2. Grammar and beyond
To get started with any linguistically informed text description, we need some units of
analysis. The clause complex is as good a place to start as any, because it makes us
read a text very closely for meaning at the same time as it forces us out of the clause to
consider inter-clause relations. It orients us to text structure in other words.
FitzSimons' text can be divided into clauses using the conventions developed in
this workbook (i.e. double slashes between ranking clauses, triple slashes between
clause complexes and double square brackets for embedded clauses). For this analysis
it is clearer to start each ranking clause on a new line, as illustrated for FitzSimon's
kicker below:
Big waves and Bondi Beach have always gone together, ||
writes Peter FitzSimons, ||
but no one had ever seen [[the ocean rise up with a strength such as this]] … |||
For the analysis of the main body of the text we have in addition skipped a line
between paragraphs (marked ¶), which as we can see are shorter in print media
discourse than print discourse of other kinds (this book for example). For ranking
clauses we have simplified things by aligning paratactically related clauses directly

underneath one another but indenting hypotactically dependent clauses one tab in
relation to the clause they depend upon. As a first step, this can save us some time in
relation to the laborious task of analysing parataxis and hypotaxis, and expansion and
projection, to the point in delicacy2 exercised in Chapter 5 above. By convention, any
included dependent clauses are enclosed in double angle brackets (i.e. <<…>>) and
reproduced on the line below the clause they interrupt. For this text the opposition
between finite and non-finite hypotactically dependent clauses is significant in ways
we will discuss below, and the non-finite clauses have been highlighted by placing
their Predicators in bold.
And so there they lie, ||
happily sweltering in the summer sun on Australia's most famous beach, ||
just as they have for so many generations past. |||
It is such a wonderfully peaceful scene – of people and nature as a happy whole – [[that it
is simply unimaginable [[that in a few seconds nature could ever rear up|| and savage the
lot of them]].]] |||
¶
Ah, but those 35,000 Sydneysiders [[who were lying in those very spots on the afternoon
of February 6, 1938]], surely felt equally at peace. |||
¶
The day was, in the vernacular of the time, a ‘stinker’, ||
and some thought||
it was in fact a record turnout on the beach, ||
with the numbers perhaps swelled by the fact [[that those bronzed boys of the
Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club had turned up in force|| to have one of
their popular surf competitions.]] |||
¶
At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue [[that this afternoon would forever be
known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.]] |||
Then it happened. |||
With a roar like [[a Bondi tram running amok]], an enormous wave suddenly rolled over
the thousands in the surf, ||
including3 those many [[standing on the large sandbank just out from the shore]] ||
– knocking them all over ||
as it went. |||
And then another wave hit, ||
and then another. |||
¶
Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up the beach ||
and grabbed everything [[they could]] along the way – from babies to toddlers to
adolescents to beach umbrellas, to old blokes and young sheilas alike, ||
and then made a mad dash for the open sea again, ||
carrying all before it ||
and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into the deep channel next to it in the
process. |||
¶
In no more than 20 seconds, that peaceful scene had been tragically transformed into utter
chaos. |||
2 This detail can be pursued at a later stage of analysis as required; but a comprehensive analysis of
conjunctive relations, both within and between clause complexes, makes a great deal of this delicacy
redundant.
3 An alternative analysis would treat including those standing on the beach as a prepositional phrase,
realising a circumstance of accompaniment.
Now, the boiling surf, <<…>>, was filled with distressed folk ||
<<with yet more large waves continuing to roll over>>, ||
waving for help. |||
¶
In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest hour of the Australian surf
lifesaving movement. |||
For,<<…>>, the Bondi Boys now charged into the surf, ||
<<ignoring their own possible peril>>, ||
some attached to one of the seven reels available, ||
some relying only on their own strength. |||
As one, they began pulling the people out. |||
¶
On the shore, many survivors were resuscitated, ||
as the Bondi clubhouse was turned into a kind of emergency clearing house, ||
and ambulances from all over Sydney town descended ||
and carried the victims away. ||
¶
4
Finally, just half an hour after the waves hit, ||
the water was cleared of bobbing heads and waving arms, ||
and it was time to take stock: ||
250 people had needed the lifesavers to pull them out, ||
of whom 210 were OK once back on land. |||
¶
Thirty-five needed mouth to mouth ||
to be restored to consciousness, ||
while five people perished. |||
The final two paragraphs of the verbal text parse as follows:
With thanks to Waverly Library and reader Diane Touzell, ||
whose grandfather, Bill Jenkins, was one of the lifesavers. |||
Do you have a historical anecdote about a place in Sydney? |||
Write to Peter FitzSimons at [email protected] |||
Clause analysis of this kind places us in a good position to pursue relations either
within or between clause complexes. Looking within, each ranking or embedded
clause can be analysed for transitivity; as for mood and theme, ranking finite clauses
should probably be our focus of attention, since non-finite hypotactically dependent
clauses and embedded clauses have been demoted from both the arguability of the
discourse and the main thrust of its information flow. Looking between clause
complexes we can move to a consideration of conjunctive relations (WWD Chapter 4),
and explore the rhetorical and logical structure of the text as it unfolds.
2.1 Theme and information flow

Let's begin with a theme analysis, focussing on ranking clauses. We'll box in Themes,
shading marked Themes and treating as unmarked Theme any Subject Themes which
follow them. Our reason for doing this is to highlight the complementary role played
by marked and unmarked Themes – marked Themes to shift our orientation;
unmarked Themes to sustain our perspective. To simplify things, we'll deal here with
just the waves' incursion and the rescue.
4 Taken here as a dependent clause, with just half an hour modifying after; could alternatively be read as a
prepositional phrase with [[after the waves hit]] postmodifying hour.
The incursion proper begins with a marked Theme highlighting the sound of the
first wave, and an unmarked Theme introducing the wave itself. Subsequently, the
waves are unmarked Theme in every ranking clause. Alongside explicit unmarked
Themes we've added boxes for Themes that have been ellipsed in non-finite and
paratactic extending clauses; these missing Subjects all refer to the waves as well. In
this respect, English is operating here like many languages that use an unmarked
Theme to establish an orientation to a field and then don't mention Theme again until
this orientation needs to be reinforced or changed (Caffarel et al. 2004). In terms of
the gaze sustaining function of unmarked Theme it would be quite misleading to treat
the Predicators as Theme in these 'elliptical' clauses.
With a roar like [[a Bondi tram running amok]], an enormous wave suddenly rolled over the
thousands in the surf, ||
including those many [[standing on the large sandbank just out from the shore]] ||
– knocking them all over ||
as it went. |||
And then another wave hit, ||
and then another. |||
¶
Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up the beach ||
and grabbed everything [[they could]] along the way – from babies to toddlers to
and then made a mad dash for the open sea again, ||
carrying all before it ||
and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into the deep channel next to it in the process.
|||
Subsequently another marked theme shifts our attention to the waves' impact:
¶
chaos. |||
Now, the boiling surf, <<…>>, was filled with distressed folk ||
<<with yet more large waves continuing to roll over>>, ||
waving for help. |||
We then shift via a marked Theme to the Bondi Boys, who are unmarked Theme in
every clause involving the rescue; in addition we find another marked Theme, as one,
emphasising the intensity of their cooperation.
¶
some relying only on their own strength. |||
And then we shift focus again, via another marked Theme, to the rescue on shore:
¶
as the Bondi clubhouse was turned into a kind of emergency clearing house, ||
and ambulances from all over Sydney town descended ||
and carried the victims away. ||

The general pattern, as we can see, is for marked Themes to punctuate the text at
intervals, shifting our gaze, and for unmarked Themes to sustain our orientation to the
field in between.
To this point, we've considered waves of information realised in ranking clauses.
Martin & Rose (2007: Chapter 7) develop some of Halliday's ideas on textual meaning
and periodicity by extending the analysis we've been exploring here to larger units of
discourse. The Bondi Boys' rescue for example is introduced as their finest hour, in a
clause which acts as a kind of topic sentence for their endeavours:
[hyper-Theme] In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest hour of the
Australian surf lifesaving movement.
For,<<…>>, the Bondi Boys now charged into the surf,
<<ignoring their own possible peril>>,
some attached to one of the seven reels available,
some relying only on their own strength.
As one, they began pulling the people out.
Similarly, the waves' attack is introduced with a pair of clauses prefacing what is to
come; in addition the results of the waves' incursion is summed once they've left the
beach:
[hyper-Theme] At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue [[that this afternoon
would forever be known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.]] Then it happened.
With a roar like a Bondi tram running amok, an enormous wave suddenly rolled over
the thousands in the surf,
...
[hyper-New] In no more than 20 seconds, that peaceful scene had been tragically
transformed into utter chaos.
Technically speaking, forward looking topic sentences can be referred to as
hyper-Themes (higher level Themes in other words), and retrospective summary
comments as hyper-New. Both are a common feature of planned edited written
discourse, and can be used to reinforce the partitioning of the text into phases
signalled by marked Themes.
Pushing this a step further, the Kicker of FitzSimon's text arguably functions as a
macro-Theme for the text as a whole, with its long wave length reinforced
graphologically through its superordinate position on the page and large bold font:
[macro-Theme] Big waves and Bondi Beach have always gone together,
writes Peter FitzSimons, but no one had ever seen the ocean rise up with a
strength such as this …
2.2 Clause complexing and conjunction

Now that we've considered ranking clauses as waves of information in relation to the
concept of hierarchy of periodicity, let's turn to logical relations between them. A
reading of these relations, following the conventions developed in Chapter 6, is
presented in Table 7.1.
Table 7.1 Clause complex relations for incursion and rescue
At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue [[that this afternoon would
forever be known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.]] |||
Then it happened. |||
  With a roar like [[a Bondi tram running amok]], an enormous wave suddenly
rolled over the thousands in the surf, ||
+
 including those many [[standing on the large sandbank just out from the
shore]] ||
x
   – knocking them all over ||
x
 as it went. |||
1 And then another wave hit, ||

x
2 and then another. |||
1 Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up
the beach ||
+
2 and grabbed everything [[they could]] along the way – from babies to toddlers to
x
3  and then made a mad dash for the open sea again, ||
x
 1 carrying all before it ||
+
2 and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into the deep channel next to it in
the process. |||
In no more than 20 seconds, that peaceful scene had been tragically transformed
into utter chaos. |||
  Now, the boiling surf, <<…>>, was filled with distressed folk ||
+
 <<with yet more large waves continuing to roll over>>, ||
=
 waving for help. |||
In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest hour of the
Australian surf lifesaving movement. |||
  For,<<…>>, the Bondi Boys now charged into the surf, ||
=
 <<ignoring their own possible peril>>, ||
=
 1 some attached to one of the seven reels available, ||
+
2 some relying only on their own strength. |||
 On the shore, many survivors were resuscitated, ||
x
 1 as the Bondi clubhouse was turned into a kind of emergency clearing house, ||
+
2 1 and ambulances from all over Sydney town descended ||
+
2 and carried the victims away. |||
1 1 x
 Finally, just half an hour after the waves hit, ||
 the water was cleared of bobbing heads and waving arms, ||

+
2 and it was time to take stock: ||
=
2  250 people had needed the lifesavers to pull them out, ||
=
 of whom 210 were OK once back on land. |||
1  Thirty-five needed mouth to mouth ||

x
 to be restored to consciousness, ||
+
2 while five people perished. |||
Since FitzSimons' text is a story of some kind, it is important to consider temporal

relations in some detail (Martin & Rose 2007, Chapter 4). In this respect, Table 7.1
offers us both more information than we need and less. In part this is a question of
delicacy, since temporal relations are just one kind of enhancement. Convention also
plays a role since implicit temporal relations are not considered in IFG style clause
complex analysis, so that relations marked by and are treated as extending rather than
enhancing. In addition, relations between clause complexes are beyond the scope of
the analysis. And from the perspective of genre, the fine distinctions between
parataxis and hypotaxis are not immediately relevant to mapping the time line of
events. Shifting our attention from grammar to discourse is one way to overcome
these limitations.
For Martin & Rose the basic distinction 5 as far as temporal relations are
concerned is between simultaneous and successive relations. To simplify the
representation below we'll use '^' for successive relations and '&' for simultaneous
ones here (and put any explicit temporal linkers in bold). Not all relations can be
analysed as temporal, since other types of conjunctive relation are involved (e.g. causal
for, purposive to, contrastive while).
At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue [[that this afternoon would forever be
known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.]] |||
^ Then it happened. |||
& including those many [[standing on the large sandbank just out from the shore]] ||
& - knocking them all over ||
& as it went. |||
^ And then another wave hit, ||
^ and then another. |||
^ Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up the beach
||
& and grabbed everything [[they could]] along the way – from babies to toddlers to
^ and then made a mad dash for the open sea again, ||
& carrying all before it ||
& and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into the deep channel next to it in the
process. |||
chaos. |||
^ Now, the boiling surf, <<…>>, was filled with distressed folk ||
& <<with yet more large waves continuing to roll over>>, ||
& waving for help. |||
5 Contrast IFG 3rd edition 542-3 which focuses grammatically on simple, complex and simple internal
temporal relations, with several subdivisions within each of these; the opposition of successive to
simultaneous events is not a major parameter.
^ In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest hour of the Australian surf
& <<ignoring their own possible peril>>, ||
& some attached to one of the seven reels available, ||
& some relying only on their own strength. ||
^ As one, they began pulling the people out. |||
& as the Bondi clubhouse was turned into a kind of emergency clearing house, ||
^and ambulances from all over Sydney town descended ||
^and carried the victims away. ||
^ Finally, just half an hour after the waves hit, ||
^ the water was cleared of bobbing heads and waving arms, ||
& and it was time to take stock: ||
250 people had needed the lifesavers to pull them out, ||
^ of whom 210 were OK once back on land. |||
& Thirty-five needed mouth to mouth ||
^ to be restored to consciousness, ||
while five people perished. |||
As we might expect, successive (then, now, finally, after) and simultaneous (as,
with) temporal conjunctions are used to time events; but there are many implicit
temporal links with events connected 'neutrally' by simple juxtaposition, and, or the
dependency of non-finite clauses on finite ones. The text, as do stories in general, thus
takes advantage of field based understandings, in this case of what happens when big
waves hit a beach and a rescue operation gets underway – a reasonable expectation in
an article composed for beach-savvy Sydneysiders.
We can also note that many of these relations obtain between clauses inside
clause complexes, and others between clause complexes – since successive and
simultaneous temporal relations can be realised in either way. For example, the same
phrase and then functions both within and between clause complexes during the
waves' attack above, highlighting the borders of a purely grammatical approach to
logical relations:
A further limitation of the grammatical approach outlined in IFG 3rd edition is its
backgrounding of the important distinction between what Halliday & Hasan (1976)
call internal and external conjunction. External conjunctions construct logical
relations between events in the field of discourse; internal relations construct
rhetorical relations among phases of unfolding text. FitzSimons for example begins his
text with And so, even though he hasn't mentioned any events which could be
construed as causing people to be lying on the beach. The causal relation here is a
rhetorical one, related to us settling down with text and image and starting to read
because we have the feature in front of us.
And so there they lie, ||
happily sweltering in the summer sun on Australia's most famous beach, ||
just as they have for so many generations past. |||
It is such a wonderfully peaceful scene – of people and nature as a happy whole – [[that it
is simply unimaginable [[that in a few seconds nature could ever rear up|| and savage the
lot of them]].]] |||
Similarly Ah, but marks the resigned counterexpectation of shifting from viewing
the image in the present to reconstructing events from the past – the meaning is
something like ‘although we've been looking at the picture for a bit, it's time now to
begin our tale’:
Ah, but those 35,000 Sydneysiders [[who were lying in those very spots on the afternoon
of February 6, 1938]], surely felt equally at peace. |||
Likewise For explains why FitzSimons is claiming the rescue to be the Australian
surf lifesaving movement's finest hour, not why one event resulted in another:
some relying only on their own strength. ||
These internal relations, as we can see, tend to be realised between rather than
within clause complexes and are oriented to phases of the generic structure of texts
rather than what happened per se. Working with Discourse introduces conventions for
analysing internal relations alongside external ones, rather than ignoring them
(because they are between clause complexes) or subsuming some of them as delicate
sub-types of expansion (inside clause complexes).
As far as mood is concerned, FitzSimons' text is overwhelmingly concerned with
giving information, and uses declarative clauses to do so. It is only in the final two
clauses that we find an interrogative (Do you...) and then an imperative (Write...) clause,
signalling the shift from chronicling to solicitation:
Working with Discourse, Chapter 7, introduces a framework for dealing with the
function of mood in dialogue; see also Eggins & Slade 1997.
As noted above however, the text does feature a number of non-finite clauses,
many with an implicit Subject/unmarked Theme. All except one (to be restored...) are
imperfective and construct action that is underway and overlapping with the alpha
clause on which they depend for temporal deixis (past) and to which they defer in
terms of arguability (declarative). These clauses in effect help the text accelerate as a
number of synchronous events are canvassed, thereby foregrounding the
encompassing chaos of the waves' incursion and the cooperative intensity of the Bondi
Boys' rescue.
& including those many [[standing on the large sandbank just out from the shore]] ||
& – knocking them all over ||
& as it went. |||
^ Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further … up the beach ||
& and grabbed everything [[they could]] along the way – from babies to toddlers to
^ and then made a mad dash for the open sea again, ||
& carrying all before it ||
& and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into the deep channel next to it in the
process. |||
chaos. |||
^ Now, the boiling surf, <<…>>, was filled with distressed folk ||
& <<with yet more large waves continuing to roll over>>, ||
& waving for help. |||
^ In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest hour of the Australian surf
& <<ignoring their own possible peril>>, ||
& some attached to one of the seven reels available, ||
& some relying only on their own strength. ||
^ As one, they began pulling the people out. |||
2.3 Transitivity and ideation

With all this activity going on, it is worthwhile exploring who is doing what to whom.
An ergative analysis of transitivity reveals 14 6 effective clauses with an Agent
impacting on a Medium. Agency is shared between the waves and the Bondi Boys, both
of whom affect people. The main participants, in other words, don't act on one another;
this is not a struggle between man and nature. Rather nature savages people, and then
other people rescue them. In effect we have two protagonists, not a direct showdown
with nature (antagonist) overcome by Bondi Boys (protagonist).
Table 7.2 Agentive 'man' and 'nature' on 'Black Sunday'
Agent Process (material) Medium

nature savage the lot of them [people]
the fact that…surf comp… swelled the numbers [people]
[an enormous wave] knocking over them all [people]
[three huge waves] grabbed everything… babies to…
[three huge waves] carrying all [‘]
[three huge waves] sweeping everyone
[three huge waves] had been transformed that peaceful scene
[the Bondi Boys] attached some [Bondi Boys]
they [the Bondi Boys] began pulling people
[the Bondi Boys] were resuscitated many survivors
[ambulances] carried the victims
[the Bondi Boys] cleared the water
the lifesavers pull out them [250 people]
the lifesavers to be restored [thirty-five people]
Both effective and middle clauses interact with the temporal relations discussed
above to construct the activity sequences comprising a disaster and rescue operation
6 For this analysis some attached to one of the seven reels available has been treated as a passive material
clause, in line with its treatment as a non-finite process above; it could arguably be taken as relational
attributive, with attached as Attribute.
of this kind. A transitive perspective on what happened is presented in Table 7.3 below.
The experiential grammar builds the figures (participant, process and circumstance
configurations) which constitute the predictable sequences the story recounts. Once
the waves roll in, there are no surprises, which accounts for the absence of external
concessive relations in FitzSimon's article. For more on ideational semantics in
relation to field, see Working with Discourse Chapter 3.
Table 7.3 Activity sequencing – a transitive perspective
Actor Process (material) + Range Goal

it [Black Sunday] happened
an enormous wave rolled
[an enormous wave] knocking over them all [people]
it [an enormous wave] went
another wave hit
another [wave] [hit]
three huge waves piggy-backed their way
[three huge waves] grabbed everything… babies to…
[three huge waves] made a mad dash
[three huge waves] carrying all [‘]
[three huge waves] sweeping everyone
[three huge waves] had been transformed that peaceful scene
yet more large waves continuing to roll
distressed folk waving
the Bondi Boys charged
[the Bondi Boys] attached some [Bondi Boys]
they [the Bondi Boys] began pulling people
[the Bondi Boys] were resuscitated many survivors
ambulances descended
[ambulances] carried the victims
[the Bondi Boys] cleared the water
the lifesavers pull out them [250 people]
the lifesavers to be restored [thirty-five people]
five people perished
2.4 Nominal groups, ideation and identification

Tables 7.2 and 7.3 have introduced the three major participants in FitzSimons' text,
namely the waves, their victims and the Bondi Boys. Each of these entities has to be
constructed grammatically in nominal groups, so let's look more closely at how this is
done, beginning with the waves – this time taking into account the whole of the article.
Experientially, the basic pattern here is to realise the waves as Thing and deploy
Epithets to describe their size. From a discourse semantic perspective relations
between Things are meronymic (part/whole relations): we have nature, including
oceans, involving surf, consisting of waves, made up of water (Working with Discourse
Chapter 3). Taken together the Epithet Thing structure of nominal groups and their
meronymic relations to one another tell us what we are talking about.
Table 7.4 Nominal construal of the waves

Deictic/PD Numerative Epithet Thing
big waves
the ocean
nature
nature
an enormous wave
it
another wave
another [wave]
the huge waves
their way
they
it
the boiling surf
more large waves
the surf
the waves
the water
Textually, from the discourse semantic perspective of participant identification
(Working with Discourse Chapter 5), we also have to keep track of which wave we're
talking about, since the text involves more than one of them. Decitic, Post-Deictic,
Numerative and Thing functions make important contributions to this process. The
comparative another introduces the second wave in relation to the first and the third
set of waves in relation to the second; and more presents further waves in relation to
these. Collectively, these waves are then tracked using the definite article the,
possessive pronoun their, and the pronouns they and it (strangely for the latter, since
there is more than one wave involved at this stage of the text). In addition there are
two examples of indirect reference (or bridging), which make use of meronymy to
treat the boiling surf and the water as if already given (in relation to the waves). The
identity chains reviewed here are outlined in Table 7.5 below (with bridging items
connected to their referent by dotted lines).
Table 7.5 Identity chains for the waves
culminative waves second wave third wave
an enormous wave
it
another wave
another [wave]
three huge waves
their
they
it
the boiling surf
more large waves
the surf
the waves
the water
The experiential construction of the Bondi Boys and closely related participants is
outlined in Table 7.6. The boys themselves involve very little description (bronzed) or
classification (Bondi). Their environs and activities are more developed (described
popular, possible; and classified Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving, surf, Australian,
lifesaving, Bondi).
Table 7.6 Nominal construal of the Bondi Boys
Deictic/PD Numerative Epithet Classifier Thing Qualifier

those bronzed boys [of the...]
the Bondi boys
some7 (of them)
some (of them)
their own strength
they
the lifesavers
...[the Bondi Surf Club]
Bathers' Life
Saving
their popular surf competitions
the Australian movement
surf
lifesaving
their own possible peril
the Bondi clubhouse
The Bondi Boys are a little easier to keep track of, since they are treated as a
group (except for partitioning into those attached to reels and those not). The boys are
introduced esphorically8, with Deictic those resolved in the Qualifier of the Bondi Surf
Bather's Life Saving Club. Thereafter they are tracked through the, their, they (and
elided them). Two related participants, the Australian surf lifesaving movement and
the Bondi clubhouse, are bridged from these lifesavers:
Table 7.7 Identity chains for the Bondi Boys
those bronzed boys of the Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club
their popular surf competitions.
– the Australian surf lifesaving movement
their own possible peril
the Bondi Boys
some (of them)
some (of them)
their own strength
they
7 Treated as elliptical for the partitive some of the boys here; could alternatively be treated as Deictic, with
ellipsis expanded as some Bondi Boys; in which case the reference would be non-phoric (i.e. presenting a
cohort of the boys, not tracking a subset of them).
8 With esphoric reference, deixis is resolved inside the same nominal group, typically from Deictic to
Qualifier.
– the Bondi clubhouse
the lifesavers
The people in the contemporary image of Bondi Beach are minimally construed
by pronouns and ellipsis (letting the picture speak for itself). The people there in 1935
however are variously modified – both situated (at the beach, in the surf and on a
sandbank) through Qualifiers, and quantified via both Numerative (35,000, many, 250,
210, thirty-five, five) and Thing (numbers, thousands, everyone) functions.
Table 7.8 Nominal construal of people on the beach
Deictic/PD Numerative Epithet Classifier Thing Qualifier

they
(they)
them
those 35,000 Sydneysiders [[who... ]]
the numbers
the thousands [in the surf]
those many (people) [[standing...]]
them
babies
toddlers
adolescents
old blokes
young sheilas
everyone
distressed folk
the people
many survivors
the victims
bobbing heads
waving arms
250 people
210 (people)
thirty-five (people)
five people
As far as tracking these people is concerned the text is a much more stop and
start affair. It begins by referring exophorically9 to the people in the image:
they (people on beach in image)
(they)
them
It then turns its attention to the people on the beach in 1935 (with bridging for the
numbers).
9 Exophoric reference is resolved between modalities – from verbiage to image here.

those 35,000 Sydneysiders [[who were lying on those very spot on the afternoon of
Feburary 6, 1935]]
– the numbers
the thousands [in the surf]
those many [[standing on the large sandbank just out from the shore]]
them
Later on, those stranded in the surf are introduced:
distressed folk
the people
And further on the survivors are introduced (providing bridging support for the
victims).
many survivors
– the victims
These different guises reflect the impact that the agentive waves and Bondi Boys have
at the beach that day, transforming Sydneysiders on the beach into distressed folk in
the water and then survivors on shore.
FitzSimons' text also features an important interaction between identification
and periodicity. Note that in three of the text's higher level Themes we find text
reference10 used to point forward to the discourse these Themes dominate (this, it
and this as boxed below):
[macro-Theme] Big waves and Bondi Beach have always gone together, writes
Peter FitzSimons, but no one had ever seen the ocean rise up with a strength such
as this …
[hyper-Theme] At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue that this
afternoon would forever be known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.
Then it happened.
[hyper-Theme] In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest
hour of the Australian surf lifesaving movement.
Text reference is also used retrospectively to consolidate the waves’ attack and
withdrawal:
With a roar like a Bondi tram running amok, an enormous wave suddenly rolled over the
thousands in the surf, including those many standing on the large sandbank just out from
the shore – knocking them all over as it went. And then another wave hit, and then another.
Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up the beach
and grabbed everything they could along the way – from babies to toddlers to adolescents
to beach umbrellas, to old blokes and young sheilas alike, and then made a mad dash for
the open sea again, carrying all before it and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into
the deep channel next to it in the process.
2.5 Periodicity and appraisal

Alongside text reference, these higher level Themes feature critical evaluations of the
day's events. In terms of appraisal theory (Working with Discourse Chapter 2, Martin &
10 Text reference refers to the use of deixis, sometimes in conjunction with a metadiscursive lexical item
(e.g. the process), to treat text itself as if it was a participant, and track it accordingly; it is much more
frequently cataphoric (i.e. pointing forward) than identification of other kinds.
White 2005), these evaluations appreciate the value of things – the strength of the
ocean, the notoriety of the day, the glory of the lifesaving movement's history and the
splendour of this moment in their past:
[macro-Theme] ocean... strength
[hyper-Theme] this afternoon... ‘Black Sunday’
[hyper-Theme] glorious history, finest hour
So instead of highlighting the emotional reactions of people, or their character,
FitzSimons invites us to share attitudes to things (both concrete, like the ocean, and
abstract, like history). His appreciations of the lifesaving movement can of course be
taken as tokens of judgement (of the Bondi Boys' strength and courage). But it is
significant that the text uses almost no inscribed 11 judgement to evaluate the
lifesavers (referring just once to their strength), and employs just four instances of
inscribed affect12 (happily, happy, felt equally at peace, distressed). The main type of
evaluation inscribed throughout the text is in fact appreciation:
Australia's most famous beach
such a wonderfully peaceful scene
The day was, in the vernacular of the time, a ‘stinker’
a record turnout on the beach
one of their popular surf competitions
‘Black Sunday’
that peaceful scene
tragically transformed
utter chaos.
long and glorious history
the finest hour of the Australian surf lifesaving movement
ignoring their own possible peril
For FitzSimons then it is the significance of the moment that matters, not directly
the character or emotional reactions of the lifesavers or the people they rescue. In this
respect, his stance is more that of a historian than narrator, since in narrative proper
we typically use both inscribed affect and judgement to engage reader/listeners in our
tale.
Beyond attitude there are other dimensions of appraisal analysis to consider.
Turning to resources for graduation, as we saw in the nominal group analysis above,
size matters – both with respect to the enormity of the waves and the numbers of
people involved:
big, enormous, huge, large;
35,000, many, many, 250, 210, thirty-five, five;
thousands
In addition, FitzSimons turns up the volume of his article through various types of
grammatical intensification which grade Epithet and Numerative functions:
simply unimaginable; such a wonderful peaceful scene;
most famous, the slightest clue, finest hour;
so many
11 Attitude is inscribed when explicitly evaluative lexis is deployed (e.g. their own strength) and invoked
when the selection of experiential meaning implies an evaluation (e.g. the implied bravery of the Bondi
Boys now charged into the surf).
12 FitzSimons in fact writes of people and nature as a happy whole, with happy arguably inscribing
appreciation here.
Reinforcing these are attitudinal Epithets which intensify nominalisations:

utter chaos (cf utterly chaotic)
mad dash (cf dash madly)
And there is a great deal of lexicalised intensification, with force incorporated 13 in the
choice of non-core lexical items:
sweltering, unimaginable, rear up, savage, stinker, swelled, slightest, enormous, rolled,
knocking, huge, grabbed, dash, sweeping, boiling, roll, chaos, filled, ignoring, charged,
perished
Time and space are also elastic quantities, and scaled with respect to imminence,
distance and scope:
no more than 20 seconds, just half an hour after, long (history);
always, ever, forever, suddenly, still;
continuing to roll;
further and further;
all over Sydney;
just out
Iteration is also used rhetorically to maximise events, especially for the waves' attack:
an enormous wave suddenly rolled over the thousands in the surf…
And then another wave hit,
and then another.
from babies
to toddlers
to adolescents
to beach umbrellas,
to old blokes and young sheilas alike
Taken together, these various types of intensification (referred to technically in
appraisal theory as one kind of graduation, i.e. force) combine to dramatise
FitzSimons' rendering of events. Meanings which afford grading are up-scaled,
compelling readers to get involved.
At this point we can take a moment to consider the interaction of these appraisal
patterns and periodicity. FitzSimons' basic strategy is to situate his key appreciations
(boxed below) in hyper-Themes and hyper-New, and to propagate them throughout
their respective domains with force. For the waves phase, both intensification (italics)
and maximising quantification (bold) are used as peace turns to chaos:
At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue that this afternoon would forever be
known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.
Then it happened. With a roar like a Bondi tram running amok, an enormous wave
suddenly rolled over the thousands in the surf, including those many standing on
the large sandbank just out from the shore – knocking them all over as it went. And
then another wave hit, and then another.
Three huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up the
beach and grabbed everything they could along the way – from babies to toddlers to
adolescents to beach umbrellas, to old blokes and young sheilas alike, and then made
a mad dash for the open sea again, carrying all before it and sweeping everyone off
the sandbank and into the deep channel next to it in the process.
13 Non-core enormous for example is more forceful than the more neutral large.
In no more than 20 seconds, that peaceful scene had been tragically transformed into
utter chaos.
For the rescue and taking stock phases, quantification is the main strategy deployed to
sustain the Bondi Boys' finest hour, a prosody which arguably extends over both these
phases (with the periodicity adjusted accordingly below).
lifesaving movement.
For, ignoring their own possible peril, the Bondi Boys now charged into the surf, some
attached to one of the seven reels available, some relying only on their own strength.
As one, they began pulling the people out.
On the shore, many survivors were resuscitated, as the Bondi clubhouse was turned
into a kind of emergency clearing house, and ambulances from all over Sydney town
descended and carried the victims away.
Finally, just half an hour after the waves hit, the water was cleared of bobbing heads
and waving arms, and it was time to take stock:
250 people had needed the lifesavers to pull them out, of whom 210 were OK
once back on land.
Thirty-five needed mouth to mouth to be restored to consciousness, while five
people perished.
To summarise then, FitzSimons foregrounds appreciation over judgement and affect,
and makes liberal use of force to dramatise events. So the text is about the kind of day
it was, not in the first instance about how people reacted emotionally or how well or
badly they behaved. The point of the story thus seems to involve the historical
significance of the day – its value as a piece of history. And this stance is foregrounded
in trite phrasing verging on lexicalisation as far as history making is concerned.
And so there they lie, happily sweltering in the summer sun on Australia's most famous
beach, just as they have for so many generations past.
Ah, but those 35,000 Sydneysiders who were lying in those very spots on the afternoon of
February 6, 1938, surely felt equally at peace.
The day was, in the vernacular of the time, a ‘stinker’,
known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney.
lifesaving movement. For…
Even the connectives (And so…, Ah but…, For…) seem to flag a long term elegiac view,
particularly FitzSimons' sigh of resignation (Ah) as he moves from his description of
the image of the beach to Black Sunday 1935.
2.6 Deixis and multimodality

As we noted above, this shift is reflected in nominal deixis, with identification resolved
inter-modally before the sigh (i.e. verbal they and them pointing exophorically to the
image) and intra-modally, within the verbal text, once the story gets going. It is also
reflected in verbal deixis, through the shift from present to past tense. Reflecting on
the image, FitzSimons constructs readers as co-present:
present: lie, is, is

past in present: have (sweltered)
He then flashes back to 1935, using past tense to distance himself and readers from
what went on:
past: felt, was, thought, was...
past in past: had turned
This brings us not simply to the frontiers of grammar but to the borders of language
itself. And since our text is a multimodal one, we need to move on. Working with
Discourse Chapter 9 offers some pointers in this direction (see also Kress & van
Leeuwen 1996), and we'll make just a small sortie into images here.
As Figure 7.1 shows, there are two pictures, positioned to the left of the verbal
text. Inspired by IFG's analysis of information structure, Kress & van Leeuwen suggest
interpreting left position as Given and right as New. Turning to the vertical axis,
FitzSimons' portrait is above the landscape photo of the beach, an arrangement they
interpret as Ideal above and Real below. The beach landscape is itself polarised into
Ideal (sky) and Real (land and sea), and FitzSimons is positioned to the right of the top
image in New position. In short then horizontally speaking we have the familiar beach
and columnist as Given and the story as news; vertically FitzSimons is an oracular
Ideal to the landscape's Real (a God-like figure up in the sky perhaps), and the sky is
Ideal in relation to the people on the beach as Real. These textual meanings are
outlined in Figure 7.3.
G N
I
kicker
Peter
FitzSimons
photo
sky
I
text
Bondi
Beach
photo
R
R beach
G N
Figure 7.3 Information values – Ideal vs Real, Given vs New

As far as experiential meaning is concerned, the FitzSimons’ portrait is what
Kress & van Leeuwen call conceptual (as opposed to narrative). He is bald, with a full
beard, closely trimmed, and an open necked shirt; there is no circumstantiation. If we
needed reminding, the portrait confirms that this is in fact the Peter FitzSimons, a well
known sports journalist and pay TV commentator, who played rugby for Australia in
his sporting prime14.

The beach landscape conversely has little attribution, since individual
participants are barely distinguishable; but there is rich circumstantiation for the sky
(with feathery clouds), the sea (small surf and a few bathers), the beach (with many
sunbathers) and the buildings on the border between land and sky. The orientation of
the people and blankets on the beach along with the north of the beach and suburbs
compose release vectors (lower left to upper right); these are counter-balanced by
hold vectors (lower right to upper left) construed by the sea and feathery clouds in the
sky15. From a narrative perspective, the vectors thus oppose man and nature, more
specifically people's urge to get into the water contained by the sea's incursion into the
curving sand.
Interpersonally, FitzSimons' portrait is a close shot (head and shoulders), front
on, level with the viewer and involving eye contact and a smile – rendering him a
trusty friend. The landscape on the other hand is a long shot, from an oblique angle,
positioning viewers well above the beach and involving no eye contact or affect – a
very distancing effect.
Blue colour cohesion resonates across the landscape sky and the portrait (loud
saturated blue in the landscape, more muted in the portrait). Inter-modally, the blue of
the portrait is picked up typographically by Peter FitzSimons' name in the Kicker; and
the green of the sea is similarly replayed on the word in in the ‘placeintime’ title of the
column on the portrait. The general ambient effect is a cool Ideal in relation to the
lightness of the sand on the beach (the Real).
Imagically speaking then the overall tone is cool, calm and distanced, with
FitzSimons himself as a warm engaging guide. This foregrounds the order restored
over the calamity described, and reinforces the historically distanced stance
FitzSimons constructs for us in the verbal text through appraisal resources. The order
construed by the images can also be read as counterpointing the waves unsuspected
eruption in the verbal text, a point we'll return to when considering narrative
structure below.
Inter-modally then both the images and verbal text position readers to look back
from a safe distance on what went on. The early affect (happily, happy, felt… at peace)
invites us to empathise positively with the people on the beach. But then we are
repositioned to back off, historically, to oversee the tragedy and its glorious
redemption as the events of the day unfold. The overall effect is one of balance – the
moral being that there's no stopping accidents at the beach but there are lifesavers on
hand to see us through. We have the yin of mateship complemented by the yang of
nature. Our place, contextualised in time.
3. Text analysis cartography
Where have we been? In this chapter we've tried to build some bridges from the
grammar analyses developed in Chapters 2-6 towards the analysis of discourse. An
outline of these and related resources is presented in Table 7.9 below, which aligns
columns by metafunction and rows by levels of abstraction (stratification). IFG
14 FitzSimons is also the biographer of the federal opposition Labor leader Kim Beazley, and a writer of
popular history (focussing on WWII).
15 The notion of hold and release vectors is taken from Arnheim 1982.
provides rich tools for the analysis of clauses, groups and phrases across
metafunctions; and these analyses inspired Kress & van Leeuwen's tools for analysing
images, as touched on above. Turning our attention to phonology, the key resource is
Halliday & Greaves (2008), which deals with rhythm and intonation in spoken
discourse16.
Martin & Rose (2003) interface with grammar on the discourse semantic side,
and we've illustrated how to move from ideational, interpersonal and textual meaning
in grammar to the discourse structuring resources which they realise. Working with
Discourse in turn interfaces with models of social context, specifically the model of
register (field, tenor and mode) outlined in Martin (1992) and the work on genre
consolidated in Martin & Rose (2008). Each of the sources cited in the left hand
column of Table 7.9 includes extensive references to relevant work in functional
linguistics and related models of language in social life.
As we have tried to illustrate above, analysing a text involves shunting around
Table 9, doing what we can to bring out as many semantic motifs as we can. Basically
we have to be selective and do what time allows, and fine-tune our gaze in terms of
what we are doing the analysis for. Working through FitzSimons' text for this chapter,
for example, is a different goal from analysing it as a piece of media discourse or
critiquing the way it and comparable monthly features by FitzSimons' naturalise
European or Asian Australians’ relationship with their country at the expense of
indigenous belonging (Read 2000). The only generalised advice we feel confident to
give has to do with remembering to look right to textual meaning and look up to
higher levels of contextualisation, whatever analysis we are working on.
Looking up means moving beyond discourse semantics into a model of social
context – the register and genre rows in Table 7.9. Limitations of space preclude too
lengthy an excursion here. We'll make just a few comments on register, before turning
to genre.
Field focuses our attention on the institutional context of a text – including
domestic, work and leisure activities. A field can be defined as a set of activity
sequences defining participation in a specific walk of life – for example doing the
rounds, writing stories, attending staff meetings, reading newspapers, viewing current
affairs programs on TV etc. as a print media journalist. Each step in each of these
activity sequences consists of configurations of participants, processes and
circumstances. And each participating entity, human or non-human, abstract or
concrete, is organised within each field into distinctive taxonomies – of both
subclassification ('is a kind of') and composition ('is a part of').
As we have illustrated above, analysing clause complexes (grammar) in tandem
with conjunctive relations (discourse semantics) is a good way of exploring activity
sequences. To analyse each step in these sequences more closely we need to look at
transitivity (from both transitive and ergative perspectives). And to understand
participant relations we need to look at nominal group structure (Epithet, Classifier,
Thing in particular), relational clauses (identifying and attributive), and relationships
of hyponymy (class/subclass) and meronymy (part/whole) between nominal groups.
We looked at FitzSimons' field in all these ways, in order to bring more fully to
consciousness the senses in which he was concerned with the leisure activity of going
to the beach in relation to the semi-professional activities of the Australian surf
16 Halliday 1985 has some useful discussion of the evolution of the English writing system (graphology).
Table 7.9 Key resources for text analysis (by strata and metafunction)
metafunction ideational interpersonal textual

stratum
genre orbital/serial structure prosodic structure periodic structure
Martin & Rose 2008
register field – tenor – mode –
Martin 1992, Martin & activity sequences, power, solidarity action/reflection,

Rose 2003/2007 participant taxonomies monologue/dialogue
discourse semantics ideation, external appraisal, negotiation identification, internal
conjunction conjunction,
Martin & Rose information flow
2003/2007
lexicogrammar transitivity; nominal mood, modality, theme and information;
group classification, polarity, comment, tense & deixis;
[verbiage] Halliday & description, digital vocation; nominal ellipsis & substitution
Matthiessen 2004 enumeration group attitude, person
[image] Kress & van
Leeuwen 1996/2006
graphology/ tone sequence formatting, emoticons, punctuation, layout;
phonology colour; tone, voice tonality, tonicity
quality, phonaesthesia
Halliday & Greaves
2008
Tenor is concerned with the kind of relationship FitzSimons constructs with his
readers. Its key dimensions are power and solidarity. Power is concerned with
hierarchical social relations, solidarity with horizontal ones. As far as power is
concerned, FitzSimons' position is an authoritative one – he writes for us to read and
we read what he writes. The only real say we have is a yet to be realised one, solicited
in his invitation to e-mail him with suggestions for historical anecdotes he might use.
As we have seen, FitzSimons' authority is enhanced inter-modally – verbally through
his blue coloured by-line in the text's macro-Theme and imagically through his
Ideal/New position above the image of the beach.
Solidarity is also inter-modally construed – imagically, mateship is emphasised, as
he faces us directly, in his casual dress, looking us in the eye with a smile. Verbally the
bonds have more to do with regional pride in the accomplishments of the Bondi Boys;
graduation dramatises events, positioning us to appreciate all the more the historical
significance of the rescue. FitzSimons' elegiac tones confirm us in the heritage he
shares.
Mode deals with the role language is playing in relation to other modalities of
communication and the concreteness of its rendering of the field. As we have seen, the
text is an inter-modal one, with explicit exophoric connections between verbiage and
image early on. In addition, there are many experiential connections between the
beachside lexis of the verbiage and the image of people on the beach. Blue colour
cohesion also ties the graphology explicitly to the ambience of the image.
As far as abstraction is concerned, the text shifts back and forth from more
abstract to more concrete, partly in relation to periodicity. The higher level Themes
and New reviewed above draw on nominalisation and text reference to preview and
consolidate events (a strength, the slightest clue17, utter chaos; this, it, that, this):
[macro-Theme] Big waves and Bondi Beach have always gone together, writes Peter
FitzSimons, but no one had ever seen the ocean rise up with a strength such as this …
[hyper-Theme] At three o'clock there was still not the slightest clue [[that this afternoon
would forever be known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney]]. Then it happened.
[hyper-New] In no more than 20 seconds, that peaceful scene had been tragically
transformed into utter chaos.
[hyper-Theme] In their long and glorious history, this still stands as the finest hour of the
Australian surf lifesaving movement.
And the marked Themes flagging the waves' attack and the rescue involve key
nominalisations (roar, peril).
With a roar like [[a Bondi tram running amok]]
<<ignoring their own possible peril>>
Once the incursion and rescue get underway, however, events unfold
chronologically with text time matching field time (and thus temporal connections
realised between clauses); and figures by and large 18 are realised congruently (with
events as verbs, qualities as adjectives, entities as nouns).
The other factor interacting with mode is genre staging, since one of the story's
early stages is more abstract than the rest of the text. To explore this, we'll have to
move from register (field, tenor and mode) to genre. Martin & Rose (2008) treat genre
as a recurrent configuration of meanings, which phases field, mode and tenor
variables together into stages which enact its social purpose. As far as the family of
story genres is concerned, several stages of FitzSimons' text unfold as a canonical
narrative (along the lines outlined by Labov & Waletzky 1967). There is an Orientation
stage, introducing the story's key participants, setting them in time and place, and
foreshadowing what's to come.
Orientation
Ah, but those 35,000 Sydneysiders who were lying in those very spots on the afternoon of
February 6, 1938, surely felt equally at peace. The day was, in the vernacular of the time, a
‘stinker’, and some thought it was in fact a record turnout on the beach, with the numbers
perhaps swelled by the fact that those bronzed boys of the Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving
Club had turned up in force to have one of their popular surf competitions.
This stage is the most lexically dense phase of the story (cf. Then it happened. in
the next stage). It features two embedded clauses, the second of which acts agentively
on the numbers on the beach (in active voice – the fact that [[...]] swelled the numbers
on the beach).
[[who were lying in those very spots on the afternoon of February 6, 1938]]
[[that those bronzed boys of the Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club had turned up in
force to have one of their popular surf competitions.]]
Some less abstract reworking of several phrases are listed below by way of
17 Taken as grammatically metaphorical here, in relation to concrete mental processing along the lines of
No-one predicted at all.
18 The exceptions to this are the colloquial Process + Scope structure, made a mad dash, which affords
appropriate attitude and graduation; the process, which consolidates the incursion; and their own
strength, which facilitates the comparison of lifesavers attached to reels and those on their own.
exemplifying a shift in mode towards that of the rest of the article:

more abstract: more concrete:
felt equally at peace felt equally peaceful
the day was ‘stinker’ the day was very hot/a very hot one
it was a record turnout a record number of people turned out
the numbers... swelled by the fact the numbers were large because...
had turned up in force many lifesavers turned up
have a surf competition to compete in the surf
Subsequently the time line kicks in, materialising the waves' incursion.
Complication
known as ‘Black Sunday’ in the annals of Sydney19. Then it happened. With a roar like a
Bondi tram running amok, an enormous wave suddenly rolled over the thousands in the
surf, including those many standing on the large sandbank just out from the shore –
knocking them all over as it went. And then another wave hit, and then another. Three
huge waves, just like that, piggy-backed their way further and further up the beach and
grabbed everything they could along the way – from babies to toddlers to adolescents to
beach umbrellas, to old blokes and young sheilas alike, and then made a mad dash for the
open sea again, carrying all before it and sweeping everyone off the sandbank and into the
deep channel next to it in the process. In no more than 20 seconds, that peaceful scene had
been tragically transformed into utter chaos. Now, the boiling surf, with yet more large
waves continuing to roll over, was filled with distressed folk waving for help.
This is followed by a pause in activity as FitzSimons delivers his lofty Churchillian
appraisal of the 'Battle of Bondi'.
Evaluation
Returning to the time line, material activity resumes as equilibrium is restored.
Resolution
For, ignoring their own possible peril, the Bondi Boys now charged into the surf, some
attached to one of the seven reels available, some relying only on their own strength. As
one, they began pulling the people out. On the shore, many survivors were resuscitated, as
the Bondi clubhouse was turned into a kind of emergency clearing house, and ambulances
from all over Sydney town descended and carried the victims away. Finally, just half an
hour after the waves hit, the water was cleared of bobbing heads and waving arms, …
FitzSimons then moves to his Coda stage – a statistical retrospective on the waves' toll.
Note the use of past in past tense to back up in time, from the shore to the water
rescue (had needed).
Coda
… and it was time to take stock: 250 people had needed the lifesavers to pull them out, of
whom 210 were OK once back on land. Thirty-five needed mouth to mouth to be restored
to consciousness, while five people perished.
We have to keep in mind that this canonical narrative has been recontextualised as a
magazine article. So we have a Kicker function, which we wouldn't expect for story
genres outside of media discourse. The glossy lifestyle magazine in addition affords
19 This sentence is taken as part of the Complication here, in line with its treatment as hyper-Theme above;
it is however arguably transitional between Orientation (was) and Complication (would be).
the images which make this text a multimodal one. But FitzSimons has more than a
short mediating caption linking the photograph to his text. He further recontextualises
his story by devoting an initial phase to the photo of Bondi Beach. This explicitly
intermodal phase is an important one for FitzSimons' 'placeintime' column, which is
designed to draw readers' attention to the historical significance of more and less
familiar Sydney landmarks (e.g. The Harbour Bridge, The GPO Clock Tower, Canada
Bay, Coogee Beach, Botany Bay in other issues). It recurs often enough in these
columns to warrant reification as a generic stage, which we'll refer to as Localisation
here.
Localisation
And so there they lie, happily sweltering in the summer sun on Australia's most famous
beach, just as they have for so many generations past. It is such a wonderfully peaceful
scene – of people and nature as a happy whole – that it is simply unimaginable that in a
few seconds nature could ever rear up and savage the lot of them.
FitzSimons' final phase further recontextualises the narrative with the interactive
Thanks and Solicitation stages which construct FitzSimons' readers as participants in
his authoring process.
Thanks
With thanks to Waverly Library and reader Diane Touzell, ||
whose grandfather, Bill Jenkins, was one of the lifesavers. |||
Solicitation
Taken together, the Kicker, Localisation, Thanks and Solicitation underscore the way in
which well established genres can be adapted to new environments. In this case, the
recontextualisation of narrative to fit into FitzSimons' ‘placeintime’ monthly feature
column in a Sydney lifestyle magazine.
Clearly there is more to say about a story of this kind. Our tour of the levels
outlined in Table 9 is far from complete. Our main point here is to give some indication
of the theoretical map within which Halliday's grammar of English has been proposed.
As far as text analysis is concerned, every cell in the Table affords a glimpse of what is
going on; and we have to take care in privileging one cell over another – for reasons of
time, or interest, or familiarity with analysis of one kind or another. Halliday has given
us a far richer grammar than any other grammarian of ours or any other time, and
thus a sound foundation, and a resounding mandate, to push on.
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The Halliday Centre Series in Appliable Linguistics

General Editor: Jonathan J Webster

Deploying Functional Grammar

The Commercial Press

© 2010 J R Martin，Christian M I M Matthiessen and Clare Painter

Printed in the People’s Republic of China

2010 年 3 月第 1 版 开本 787×1092 1/16

Chapter 2 Theme — clause as message 21

5.1 Defining Theme 52

Chapter 3 Mood — clause as exchange 56

Chapter 4 Transitivity — clause as representation 98

3.2 General probes helpful in analysing for TRANSITIVITY 113

Chapter 5 Group and phrase — below the clause 161

Chapter 6 The clause complex — above the clause 229

Chapter 7 Text analysis 272

1. What is functional grammar?

Functional grammar is a theory of grammar. It is resource for engaging with the

2. Why this functional grammar?

grammar would be too shallow to be of much use in text interpretation. In addition,

3. Using the workbook

4. Getting started with text analysis

5. Constituency: functional and class units

Time Actor Process Place

Figure 1.1 Breaking a clause into functional parts

Time Actor Process Place

Time Actor Process Place

Functional roles such as indications of Time and Place are expressed as an

Time Actor Process Place

Deictic Epithet Thing

Figure 1.5 Breaking a nominal group into functional parts

Deictic Epithet Thing

Figure 1.6 Nominal group structure

Deictic Classifier Thing Deictic Epithet Thing

6. Reasoning in a functional grammar

We have discussed the relevance of functional labelling for discriminating potentially

1st person I am we are

2nd person you are you are

3rd person she/he/it is they are

Table 1.2 A simple paradigm for English MOOD

declarative He was tickling the baby.

interrogative Was he tickling the baby?

imperative Tickle the baby!

The labels in a paradigm are the names of grammatical ‘choices’ or ‘selections’

He was tickling the baby

Figure 1.9 Declarative clause showing Subject and Finite

Was he tickling the baby

Figure 1.10 Interrogative clause showing Subject and Finite

not tagged tagged

not tagged tagged

7. Paradigms as system networks

Figure 1.13 Deriving a system network from a two-dimensional paradigm

8. Choice and constituency

Alongside bundles of choices organised by metafunction, we can also interpret

Actor Process Goal

Deictic Thing Finite Event Deictic Thing

Actor Process Goal

Process Goal Finite Event Deictic Thing

Actor Process Goal

Deictic Thing Finite Event 1| |2

Actor Process Goal

2010 年 3 月第 1 版开本 787×1092 1/16