English Grammar Notes #12:

SENTENCE SYNTAX
 
 Back to GRAMMAR main page:
 

DEFINITIONS (fragment from Definition S1 in LSEG)

"Syntax" is the branch of grammar working with syntactic elements. Syntax defines the rules governing logic
structures of syntactic elements ...

"Syntactic elements" are words grouped on relational

functionality. Syntactic elements exist only within the
sentence structure; outside the logic, relational sentence
structure, words are studied as ...

Syntax has two parts:

1. sentence syntax
2. complex sentence syntax

"Sentence syntax" analyses relational functionality

developed between syntactic elements.

 
The structure employed to present sentence syntax--in its most general form--in this page is:
1. Syntactic Elements
2. Subject
3. Predicate
4. Subject-Predicate  Agreement
5. Attribute
6. Object
7. Adverbial
8. Natural Syntactic Elements Succession/Order
9. Nouns Having Many Qualifiers

ATTENTION
These Grammar Notes are not sufficient to understand the topics presented. For accurate and detailed information
we recommend LOGICALLY STRUCTURED ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
 

SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS

Spoken and written languages are advanced

forms of communications which people employ
to exchange ideas. Because one language is used
by many people, it needs to be structured
logically, based on the form of the words and on
their functionality. The form of the words is
studied by morphology; the functionality of the
words is analyzed using syntax.

Syntactically, the groups of words are structured

in:
A. phrases
B. sentences
C. complex sentences

Sentence syntax works with syntactic elements grouped in:

A. principal syntactic elements: subject and predicate;
B. secondary syntactic elements: attribute, object, and adverbial.

Within the sentence structure, syntactic elements are grouped according to their relational functionality in the
following grammatical categories:
1. subject
2. predicate
3. attribute
4. object
5. adverbial

A sentence has one subject and one predicate, and each may be expressed (in turn) explicitly or implicitly. In order to
facilitate syntax analysis, sentences are categorized based on their:
A. structure
B. meaning
C. form

The structure of the sentence allows for the following sub-classification:

A1. unextended sentences (also known as "simple sentences");
A2. extended sentences.

According to their meaning sentences are conventionally categorized as being:

B1. declarative, when they contain a statement;
B2. interrogative, when they are interrogations;
B3. exclamatory, when they have strong emphatic content;
B4. imperative, when they are used to express an order, a plea, an advice, etc.;
B5. optative, when they express wishes;
B6. dubitative, when they express doubt.

Taking into account their form, sentences are:

C1. positive
C2. negative

In order to facilitate syntactic analysis, sentences are commonly re-grouped into five major syntactic categories:
1. affirmations, or "declarations";
2. negations;
3. interrogations (including "negative interrogations");
4. conditional complex sentences
5. comparative complex sentences
 

Fragment from LSEG: syntactic elements.

 THE SUBJECT

Definition (fragment from Definition S1.2 in LSEG)

"Subject" is syntactical name marking/identifying morphological sentence element in nominative which executes (or
suffers in few instances) the action/state expressed ...

Within the sentence/clause structure, the subject is principal syntactic element. The subject is detected by answering
the following question: ...

Considering their form, subjects are:

1. simple
2. compound
3. double

Morphologically, simple subject is a noun, or a noun-equivalent. Further, a noun-equivalent may be:

1. a pronoun
2. an adjective
3. a numeral
4. a gerund verb
5. a past participle verb
6. an infinitive verb
7. any other noun-equivalent

Considering its meaning, the subject can be:

A. grammatical subject: the sentence element in nominative case;
B. logic subject: the true subject executing the action/state of the verb; in most instances it is a construction in
accusative case.

Fragment from LSEG: using compound subjects.

NOTE
Few important aspects related to syntactical subjects are:
1. using elliptic subjects
2. placing the predicate ahead of the subject
3. using subjects in accusative case
4. using "grammatical" and "logic" subjects
5. subject-predicate agreement

THE PREDICATE

Definition (fragment from Definition S1.3.0.1 in LSEG)

"Predicate" is syntactical name marking/identifying the verb used to express the action/state of the subject ...

The predicate is principal syntactic element. It is detected by answering the question ...

Not all verbs can form perfect, meaningful predicates. Generally, the verbs in personal moods may form predicates,
therefore they are syntactically named, predicative moods. The verbs in impersonal moods cannot form predicates,
and they are syntactically named
non-predicative moods.

Again, not all verbs in predicative moods may form the predicate alone in order to transmit a complete, perfectly
meaningful message in a sentence. Based on their meaning, the verbs in predicative moods are further structured
into:
1. verbs of complete predication
2. verbs of incomplete predication

According to its structure, the predicate in a sentence takes the following forms:
A. verbal predicate, having complete/incomplete meaning;
B. nominal predicate--has a complex structure.

Further, verbal predicate can be:

A1. a complete predication verb
A2. an incomplete prediction verb

Nominal predicate has two parts:

B1. a copulative/linking verb named "copula";
B2. a predicative complement which can be subjective or objective complement.

Predicative complement may be expressed using one of the following:

1. a noun
2. a pronoun
3. an adjective
4. a numeral
5. an adverb
6. an interrogative pronoun or adjective
7. an infinitive verb
8. a gerund verb
9. a participle verb
10. a prepositional phrase

Fragment from LSEG: using predicative complement.

NOTE
Few important aspects related to syntactical predicates are:
1. categories of copulative verbs
2. using predicative adjectives
3. copulative verbs are followed by adjectives, not adverbs
4. using verbal predicate
5. using appositive predicate
6. using predicate of result

SUBJECT-PREDICATE AGREEMENT

The subject--a noun in most instances--and the predicate have to agree in number in order to build meaningful
grammatical constructions. However, nouns may have singular form and plural meaning, or vice-versa.

Fragment from LSEG: subject-predicate agreement.

NOTE
Few important aspects related to subject-predicate agreement are:
1. subjects taking the predicate in either singular or plural form
2. subjects taking the predicate only in singular form
3. subjects taking the predicate only in plural form
4. "compound subject"-predicate agreement

SECONDARY SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS: ATTRIBUTES

Definition (fragment from Definition S1.5 in LSEG)

"Attribute" is syntactical element used to present particular characteristics of the determined noun. In most
instances the attribute is an adjective or adjective-equivalent. The attribute is in genitive, or it takes the case ...

Within the sentence structure the attribute is a secondary syntactic element.

The attribute is used to mark/identify syntactic elements having the same functionality as adjectives do: to qualify
nouns. Note that in syntax analysis only the functionality of the syntactic elements is important, not the
type/category/form of the morphologic sentence elements. Therefore, the attribute may also be an adverb, article,
adjective, numeral, etc.

Many morphologic sentence elements work similar to the way the adjectives do, and they are all grouped,
syntactically, into the attributes category. Therefore, the attribute can be:
1. qualifying adjective
2. determining adjective
3. article
4. numeral
5. gerund or participle verb
6. noun working as adjective
7. noun in genitive case
8. infinitive verb
9. adverb
10. apposition
11. prepositional or adverbial phrases
 
ATTENTION
"Apposition" is a particular grammatical construction working as a noun attribute. However, appositions are a bit
different from regular attributes.

Fragment from LSEG: positioning attributes.

NOTE
Few important aspects related to attributes are:
1. positioning attributes
2. using appositions

SECONDARY SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS: OBJECTS

Definition (fragment from Definition S1.6 in LSEG)

"Object" is syntactical element which suffers, directly or indirectly, the action/state expressed by the predicate. The
most common form of syntactical object is ...

The object is a secondary syntactic element.

There are three categories of syntactic objects:

1. direct object
2. indirect object
3. prepositional object

Direct object is used in morphology to define transitive verbs: a verb is transitive if it is accompanied by a direct
object. Direct object may be a noun or a noun equivalent, a pronoun, an adjective, a numeral, and an infinitive,
gerund, or a participle verb. Generally, direct object is positioned right after the verb it determines, but there are
instances when it is separated.

Direct object's place within the sentence structure is very important, because it affects the meaning. A general rule
says, the predicate should not be separated form its direct object--same as for subject-predicate. However, there are
many exceptions; in certain situations, between direct object and its predicate may be intercalated:
1. an indirect object
2. a prepositional object
3. adverbials
4. an adverbial particle
5. attributes

Indirect object suffers the action of the predicate indirectly, since it is the target/address of predicate's action.
Indirect object is in dative case marked by the preposition "to" or "for" ahead expressed either explicitly or
implicitly. Indirect object may be a noun, pronoun, adjective, numeral, past participle verb working as noun, etc.
Regarding the form it takes, indirect object can be:
1. indirect object without preposition
2. indirect object with preposition

It is fairly difficult to identify prepositional object because it is easily confused for prepositional adverbial.
Generally, prepositional object presents details about how is the action/state of the verb performed from a different
perspective than prepositional adverbial does.

Prepositional objects are in accusative case; indirect objects are in dative case; direct objects are in accusative case.

Fragment from LSEG: using prepositional object.

NOTE
Few important aspects related to using objects are:
1. positioning direct object
2. using "cognate object"
3. using verbs having two direct objects
4. using indirect object with/without preposition
5. placing indirect object
6. verbs allowing only indirect objects without preposition
7. verbs requiring an indirect object to follow a direct object
8. predicates requiring both direct and indirect objects
9. using "retained object"
10. identical prepositional object and prepositional adverbial
11. using "complex object"

SECONDARY SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS: ADVERBIALS

Definition (fragment from Definition S1.9 in LSEG)

"Adverbial" is syntactical element used to present particular circumstances in which the action/state expressed by
the predicate is executed. In most instances syntactical adverbial is an adverb in accusative case, or ...

Within the sentence structure, all adverbials are secondary syntactic elements.

Adverbials describe the circumstances (the environment) in which the action of the verb is performed, or they
present particular, characteristic features. In most instances the adverbial is an adverb, but it can also be any sentence
element or phrase working as adverb.

ATTENTION
It is important to note that not all adverbs have adverbial correspondent, and not all adverbials reflect all
categories/subcategories of adverbs.

Fragment from LSEG: chart; categories of adverbials.

NOTE
Few important aspects related to using adverbials are:
1. detecting each category of adverbials
2. using compound adverbials

NATURAL SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS SUCCESSION/ORDER

The default/natural order of syntactic elements is very important, and it should not be changed. The default (or
natural, or reference) sentence is structured orderly in: first, the "subject group"; secondly, the "predicate group".
The displacement of the secondary syntactic elements from their default positions is not only possible: it is quite
frequent. Generally, when a secondary syntactic element is moved from its default (natural) place, commas are
employed to mark/isolate it.

NOTE
Equally important is "natural interrogative sentence" order.

NOUNS TAKING MANY QUALIFIERS

There are many instances when a noun has multiple qualifiers, and there are no absolute rules to handle their order.
Many grammar books strive to implement various models, but there are no logic grounds or syntactical reasons to
support their enthusiastic efforts.

Generally, it is wise to limit the number of qualifiers to three or four in one sentence/clause; for more than four, a
good second thought is strongly recommended, and also using a second clause dedicated to developing the topic.

Multiple qualifiers may be positioned ahead or after the noun; generally, the shortest in length, the simple ones, are
positioned towards the beginning of the sentence, while the complex ones are closer to the end.
Fragment from LSEG: positioning multiple qualifiers.

NOTE
The book Logically Structured English Grammar does more than just presenting syntactic elements in details: it
explains how to identify/detect them correctly!