Existential clause

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Existential clauses are clauses, which indicate only an existence. In English, they are formed with the dummy subject construction with "there", e.g. "There are boys in the yard". Many languages do not require a dummy subject, e.g. Finnish, where the sentence Pihalla on poikia is literally "On the yard is boys". Some languages have a different verb for this purpose, e.g. Swedish finns as in Det finns pojkar på gården, which is literally "It is found boys on the yard". On the other hand, some languages do not require a copula at all, and sentences analogous to "In the yard boys" are used.

Possession or being under influence of something may also be indicated by existential clauses, e.g. Irish "There is hunger on me", or Hungarian Van egy halam "I have a fish" (literally "Is a fish-my").

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