| absolute clause |
| Definition -
An adverbial clause that (1) contains its own subject, (2) has a non-finite verb or no verb at all, (3) is separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas, and (4) is not introduced by a subordinator (e.g., because). |
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Example - (1) The dinner having been prepared, I went to store. (2) The building being empty once more, I waxed prolific. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - The term's first citation is from 1889: "The notions usually expressed by an absolute clause in Latin are habitually denoted otherwise in Anglo-Saxon. [Ibid.] The absolute construction is not an organic idiom of the Anglo-Saxon language." (M. Callaway Absol. Pple. in Anglo-Saxon vii. 51) |
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Quotation - "Absolute Clauses are clauses in which the Predicate is formed with a Participle instead of a Finite Verb, and which are equivalent in meaning to Adverb Clauses of Time, Reason, Condition, or Concession, or to an Adverbial Phrase expressing Attendant Circumstance." (Source: C. T. Onions, Advanced English Syntax) |