All rights reserved. J ust as words and phrases form the constituents of the clause rank, so too clauses themselves can combine in several ways as the constituents of the sentence. The idea of the sentence, however, is a difficult one for grammar for many reasons. First, when linguists think of language, they tend to think of sound. And people do not speak in sentences.
People speak in words, and phrases, and clauses.
Look for example at this sequence of clauses. N otice that in transcribing this bit of speech we have no difficulty determining the constituent words, phrases, or even the clauses that exist within this example. However, it is much more guess-work to determine the where the sentences are, especially without the aid of intonation. I eventually had to leave. Because they would not stop talking, I eventually had to leave.