 Consequently, Burley claims that in the act of referring one substance to another we can distinguish five constitutive elements: (1) the relation itself (e.g., the form of paternity); (2) the substrate of the relation, i.e., the substance that denominatively receives the name of the relation (the animal which begets another similar to itself); (3) the foundation (fundamentum) of the relation, i.e., the absolute entity in virtue of which the relation inheres in the substrate and makes reference to another substance (in this case, the generative power); (4) the antecedent term (terminus a quo) of the relation, i.e., the substrate of inherence of the relation considered as the subject of that relation (the father); and (5) the consequent term (terminus ad quem) of the relation, i.e., the substance with which the substrate of the relation is connected, considered as the object with which the antecedent term is correlated (in our example, the son). The foundation is the main component, since it joins the relation to the underlying substances, permits the relation to link the antecedent to the consequent term, and transmits some of its properties to the relation (EP, ch. de relatione, fol. 35rb–vb). Even though the relation depends for its existence on the foundation, its being is completely distinct from it, so that when the foundation fails the relation also fails, but not vice versa (EP, ch. de relatione, fol. 35ra).