The initial position of the clause is the position that precedes the first verb of a main clause, or precedes the complementiser or subordinator of a dependent clause. This position can be filled by one constituentonly. By default, the subject is the first constituent of a main clause, but through topicalisation, specific or wh-interrogative formation and the existential daar there construction, other elements can occupy the initial position, which will leave the subject in the middle field of the clause, usually immediately after the verb in second position. Typical options for the initial position of the main clause are illustrated in example (1).

The initial position of a is the position preceding the complementiser or subordinator. In the case of relative clauses and wh-interrogative complement clauses, the relativiser or interrogative element comes first, but usually there is no overt complementiser. The exception occurs in a subset of wh-interrogative complement clauses that are infinitive, where the interrogative does precede the complementiser omin order/for. Otherwise, overt complementisers like dat that, of whether/if and om in order/for, are not preceded by any element of the dependent clause. In the case of clauses introduced by a subordinator, typically an adverbial clause, there is no material preceding the subordinator at all. The clause-initial options of the dependent clauses are illustrated by the examples in (2). The word order after the initial position, subordinator and/or complementiser is usually filled by the middle field, with all the verbs clustered together in the final position, with the exception of wh-interrogative complement clauses, illustrated by (2d), where two word order variants are attested, with a verb immediately after the wh-interrogative, or with all verbs in final position.

A number of main clauses have no constituent preceding the first verb. In these cases, the initial verb is followed by the middle field and there is no separate constituent in the clause-initial position. These main clause types include general interrogatives and imperatives, as illustrated by the examples in (3).

The three main types of possibilities for the initial position of the clause and the specific manifestations thereof are discussed in the following sections:

• Declarative main clause with verb second
• Interrogative main clause with verb second (wh-interrogative)
• Interrogative main clause with verb first (Yes/No interrogative)
• Exclamatives with verb second or no verb at all
• Imperative main clause with verb first
• Dependent clauses