Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

typical collocations

untypical collocations

blonde hair 

blonde car

lean meat

slim meat

perform a play

perform a meeting

Comment Comment refers to the main part of the message which indicates the

important information about the topic. A comment is typically associated with

the predicate in a clause:

topic    comment

Sue

is starting a new job on Monday.

‘Theme’ is also a term used to describe the topic or starting point for a message.

‘Rheme’ then refers to the information about the theme:

theme            rheme

Beijing

has been chosen as the site for the Olympic Games.

Û

541 Index for individual terms not in the Glossary

Glossary | 895

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Comparative, comparison The comparative is the form of a gradable adjective or

adverb which is used to compare the different degree of qualities, properties,

states, conditions, relations, etc. between two entities. The comparative is

realised by the suffix -er, or by the use of more:

Africa is 

bigger than Europe.

It is 

more difficult to get into a famous university than a little-known one.

Complement, complementation A word or phrase which is required to complete

the meaning of another word or phrase:

A rise 

in interest rates

is inevitable.

The claim 

that he was innocently involved

was not accepted by the judge.

Complementation is the process of completing the meaning of an item. For

example, the complementation requirement for the verb put is that it must

normally include an object and a phrase indicating location: