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S NP VP
NP (Det) A* N (PP/S)
VP V (NP)(PP/S/VP)
AP A (PP/S)
AdvP (AdvP) Adv
PP P NP
article
pronoun
noun noun phrase nominal clause
adjective adjective phrase relative clause
adverb adverb phrase adverbial clause
verb verb phrase
preposition prepositional phrase
conjunction
interjection
AdjP AdjP
English is a SVO language because it prefers the sequence of Subject+verb+object in its simplest
unmarked declarative statements.
Markedness – if something is marked, it is rather emphatic; if it is unmarked, it is neutral.
Point of departure – usually it is the subject of a declarative clause; a p.o.d. is marked
when it is not the subject:
o I got up this morning. (unmarked)
o This morning I got up.
o I blame you for this misunderstanding. (unmarked)
o You I blame for this misunderstanding.
o Will you tell me a story after dinner? (unmarked)
o After dinner, will you tell me a story?
o Improve your grammar! (unmarked)
o You improve your grammar!
o Do improve your grammar!
Is a unit of language consisting of a combination of subject and predicate, it states only
one thing, idea or question, but expresses a complete thought; it consists of one
independent clause.
o The dog barks.
o The brown dog with the red collar always barks loudly early in the morning.
The verb and its objects, complements and modifiers form the predicate of the sentence.
A clause contains one subject and one predicate and it can either constitute the whole
sentence or part of it
Independent clauses are normally the whole sentence except in compound structures,
whereas subordinate clauses are only part of a sentence
Simple sentences:
S P
He [is here.]
S P
He [loves you.]
Clauses:
S1 V1 conj. S2 V2 D.O.
I know that he is here.
S1 V1 V2
That he loves you is obvious.
P1 P2
S2
Types of sentences:
Simple sentence – one independent clause with no subordinate clauses
Compound sentence – contains two or more independent clauses with no subordinate
clauses
Complex sentence – is composed of one independent clause plus one or more subordinate
clauses
Compound-complex sentence – at least two independent clauses and at least one
subordinate clause
S V I.O. D.O. S.C. O.C. Adv.C.
SV John is sleeping.
S V SC John is tired.
S V AC John is here.
S V DO Mary loves John.
SV IO DO Mary bought John a watch.
SV DO OC Mary called John a liar.
SV DO AC Mary put the watch there
SV DO IO Mary bought a watch for John.
Types of exercises
Complete the following sentence with finite adverbial clauses: 1 using the introductory
words given and specifying the syntactic function, 2 using the required adverbial
clauses.
Build sentences of your own according to the following patterns.
Analyse the underlined words of phrases.
Give examples in sentences of...
Point out the constituents of the following phrase.
Point out the constituents of the full sentence.
Types of predication.
Identify the finite subordinate clause in the following text and state the type of sentence
in each case. Clearly but briefly explain your choice.