the semantic relation between two events where one event is additionally characterized by the absence of a second event that is normally a part of the first event. In this respect, the subtractive relation is somewhat like a 'negative' version of the additive relation. Example: He did all the problems correctly except (that) he missed the proof on the last one is a figure–ground construal of the simultaneous relation in an adverbial clause construction, and He did all the problems correctly but he missed the proof on the last one is a complex figure construal of the relation in a coordinate clause construction. In the figure–ground construal, the absent event is construed as the ground. (Section 15.3.1)