What is "small clause"

n. (context grammar English) minimal predicate structures that possess arguments and predicates but no tense. Small clauses usually occur within the context of full clauses and may act as the direct object of the verb.

In linguistics, a small clause is a frequently occurring construction that has the semantic subject-predicate characteristics of a clause, but that lacks the tense of a finite clause and appears to lack the status of a constituent. The structural analyses of small clauses vary in part based upon whether a flat or layered analysis is pursued. The small clause is closely related to the phenomena of raising-to-object, exceptional case-marking, accusativus cum infinitivo, and even object control.