Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 March 2014
We develop the theory of partial satisfaction relations for structures that may be proper classes and define a satisfaction predicate (⊨*) appropriate to such structures. We indicate the utility of this theory as a framework for the development of the metatheory of first-order predicate logic and set theory, and we use it to prove that for any recursively enumerable extension Θ of ZF there is a finitely axiomatizable extension *Θ′ of GB that is a conservative extension of Θ. We also prove a conservative extension result that justifies the use of ⊨* to characterize ground models for forcing constructions.