SEMINARSKI RAD

PREDMET SINTAKSA

TEMA:"SENTENCES"

STUDENT MENTOR

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 "A sentence is a series of words, or occasionally only one word, considered as a
unit, formally distinguishable in writing from other units by an initial capital letter and
a full stop, a question-mark or a note of exclamation at the end, making a statement,
asking a question, expressing a wish or a command, or being merely exclamatory."
The traditional of a sentence is much simpler-it is a group of words
expressing a complete thought. It can express a statement, question, request and
order; this would be the first division of the sentences (according to the purpose of
communication).

1. declarative (statements)
a) I am going out.
b) Mary was here last night.

2. interrogative (questions)
a) Do you go out often?
b) Why do you do these things?

3. imperative (commands)
a) Shut the door!
b) Go out at once!

4. exclamatory (exclamations)
a) How I liked going out!
b) How I used to hate him!

There is another type of sentences, the elliptic ones. They usually consist of
one word, a verb, and the subject is omitted.
a) Fire!
b) Run!

All of the previous sentences are affirmative, but they can also be negative:

1. declarative (statements)
a) I am not going out.
b) Mary was not here last night.

2. interrogative (questions)
a) Don't you go out often?
b) Why don't you do these things?

3. imperative (commands)
a) Don't shut the door!

1 G. Scheurweghs, Present-Day English Syntax, Longman, 1959. ,page I

b) Don't go out!

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 4. exclamatory (exclamations)
a) How I didn't like going out!
b) How I didn't used to hate him!
As can be seen in previous, the negation is accomplished by inserting not, n't
between the subject and the predication. It is not always possible to use the
abbreviated form n't.
a)You may not go out. -correct
b)You mayn't go out. -incorrect
There are certain items that do not occur outside negative and interrogative
forms: any, anyone, anywhere, any way, either, much, far, long ...
a) I don't see anyone here.
b) How much longer is this going to last?
c) Mark isn't here either.
Sometimes, another word beside the verb, can be negated.
a) I saw no man there.
b) He said no such thing.
An inversion of subject and predicate is sometimes possible.
a) She will never see him again.
b) Never will she see him again.
It is possible to use some words to make a sentence negative without inserting
not or n't. Those words are: seldom, rarely, scarcely, hardly, barely, little, few and
only.
a) I rarely go out.
b) He hardly does any work at all.
c) I realized in that moment how little do I know him.
Adjuncts within the sentences can change its meaning depending on their
position between the subject and the predicate.
a) I definitely didn't want to see him again.
b) I didn't definitely want to see him again.
All the modal verbs can be used in negative forms, and all but may can use
the abbreviated form.
Statements have both subject and predicate, and the subject usually preceeds
the verb. Statements without subject are called elliptic.
Questions differ the other types of sentences because of the question mark (?)
in the end. There are three different ways questions can be formed:
1. those beginning with some auxiliary verb:
a) Do you play basketball?
2 .WH -questions (beginning with WHAT, WHO, WHERE, HOW, WHEN ...):
a) What are you doing tonight?
3. questions that look like statements, but when read in rising intonation, become
questions:
a) You did this?
Questions can further be divided according to the answer they expect into:
1. those expecting YES or NO for an answer
a) Did you eat your breakfast?

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b) Did anyone look for me while I was out? (positive orientation)
c) Can't you do me a favour? (negative orientation)
d) She does that often, doesn't she? (tag questions) or
e) She doesn't do that often, does she? (also tag questions)
f) You've had your breakfast? (declarative questions)
g) May I go out? (questions with modal verbs)
2. WH-questions (who, whom, whose, what, which, when, where, how, why)
a) Who are you waiting for?
b) When are you going home?
c) Why do you let him do that?
3. Alternative questions (those offering more than one option as an answer)
a) Would you like to have dinner here or at the restaurant?
b) Are you going to be reasonable or not?
Exclamatory and rhetorical questions should also be mentioned as two minor
types of questions:
a) Wasn't that nice of you! - exclamatory
b) What difference does it make? - rhetorical
Commands usually do not have subject, and the verb is in the imperative.
a) Put your pencils down!
b) Go out!
However, they sometimes have a subject:
a) You shut up!
b) Somebody help me!
Minor types of commands are those with let, negative and persuasive:
a) Let me go out! - commands with let
b) Don't talk! - negative commands
c) Do go out! - persuasive commands
Exclamations usually begin with "what" or "how", with no inversion
between the subject and the predicator.
a) What a pretty girl she is!
b) How well you behaved!
c) What a problem that is!
Word order in simple sentences:
1) declarative:
-affirmative statements:
a) subject + predicator (in the role of the predicate)
b) subject + predicator (verb linking or incomplete predication) + subject
complement
c) subject + V transitive (mono, di, complex) + object ( DO, IO, OC )
d) a + b + c + adverbials (manner, place, time)
-negative statements:
a) subject + aux verb + not + V base + ...
b) subject + aux verb + not + verbal elements + ...
c) subject + special finite + not + ...

2. interrogative:

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a) simple inversion
b) do + subject + V base
c) aux verb + subject + verbal form + ...
4. exclamatory
-exclamatory words + ...
5. commands
a) direct ( V base ) 2nd person singular or plural
b) indirect-let + objective case of personal pronoun + V base
There are more ways a sentence can be classified. One of the basic
characteristics that influence the division is verbal form. Traditionally, a finite
verbal form is applied. But, contemporary linguistic description of English identifies
both verbal forms to play the most important role in the sentence-predicator
(verb).Either finite or non-finite form can act as a predicator.
According to the number of predicators, a sentence can be divided into:
1. simple one
2. complex one
Considering SIMPLE sentence, from the point of view of form, it is consisted
of only one clause and only one verbal form in the role of a predicator .Mostly the
predicator is consisted of a finite verbal form (verbal tenses and verbal aspects).
Considering complexity in certain relationships, a complex sentence can be
divided into clauses that could be either in an equal rank-the relationship of
coordination (independent clauses) or connected with the relationship of
subordination (dependent clauses).
"Subordination is a non-symetrycal relation, holding between two clauses in
such a way that one is a constituent or part of the other." 2
When all the previous is taken into consideration, we can conclude that
sentences, according to their structure, can be divided into:
1. simple sentence
a) John is going home.
b) She went to Belgrade a week ago.
2. complex sentence (that consists of at least two clauses that stand in the
relationship of subordination)
a) I will never forgive you ,if you tell him that.
b) If only I wrote that essay yesterday, I wouldn't be in this mess.
3. compound sentence (that consists of at least two clauses which stand in the
relationship of coordination)
"There are three coordinators :and, or, but. And and or are the central
coordinators from which but differs in some respects." 3
a) You will go out and play.
b) I wanted to have lunch with him yesterday, but I didn't have any free time.
4. complex-compound sentence (that consists of at least three clauses that
stand in the relationship of coordination and subordination)
a) He promised that he would come, but I knew him better than that.
2 Quirk-Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English, Longman, 1973, page 309
3 Quirk-Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English, Longman, 1973 ,page 254
b) Cathy said that no one was following her, and Mark believed her.

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 The fact that both finite and non-finite verbal form can act as a predicator
was mentioned previously, but there is another type of clauses that needs to be
mentioned-verbless clause.
The finite clause has both subject and the predicate (except in the case of
commands and ellipsis 4).Almost all independent clauses are finite.
Non-finite clauses are usually formed without a subject. There are four types
of non-finite clauses:
1) infinitive with 'to'
2) infinitive without 'to'
3) -ing participle
4) -ed participle
Finally, a verbless clause is the one containing no verbal form (but otherwise
generally analysable in terms of one or more clause elements 5).
a) When apart from her family, she gets really upset.
Structurally, a sentence as a unit is regarded as a structure placed lineary (in
this description meaning is not involved) and such a structure can be divided into
four basic ones:
1. predication (subject + predicate)
2. modification (modifier + HW)
3. complementation (verb + complements)
4. coordination & subordination (two or more equal structures ; main + subordinate
structure)
Sentence elements (nuclei),according to their function and meaning, can be
divided into:
1. obligatory
2. optionals (thanking to optionals, simple sentences are divided into extended and
non-extended).
Obligatory elements are:
1. verb (predicator)
-action
-state being
-affirmation
-negation
-command
-request
It is represented by a finite verbal form (all except infinitival, gerundial and
participle clauses).
2. subject (doer of the action)
In declarative clauses, everything that is put in front of verbal form is subject
(sentence modifiers are excluded);in questions, the subject occurs after the verb.

4 Quirk-Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English, Longman, 1973, page 310

5 Quirk-Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English, Longman, 1973 ,page 310

The subject in a sentence is easily picked out, and the predicate is what remains

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when the subject has been set apart. The subject is a noun or a noun equivalent.
There is also a so called, empty it subject.
a)It is cold outside.
Prop subject is a replacement for a postponed clausal subject.
a) Going there was awful. - It was awful going there.
Optional elements are:
1. object (direct or indirect)
It is usually a noun phrase or a clause with nominal function. It comes after the
subject and the verb phrase and can become a subject when the sentence is
transformed into passive.
There are two types of objects: direct and indirect. Direct object is similar to the
subject considering the role. Nouns as well as nominals can have the role of the
subject. The indirect object is usually indicated by a person and is realised by: 1.
personal pronoun in objective case; 2. nominal phrase; 3. rarely by a finite clause.
An object follows the transitive verbs. There are three types of transitive
verbs:
1. mono transitive + direct object (basic complementation)
a) I watched TV last night.
2. ditransitive verb + object indirect + object direct
a) Mary bought Jim a notebook.
3. complex transitive verbs + object direct + object complement
a) I painted my room yellow.
Intrasitive verbs can be followed by an object, a special one, which is called
'cognate'. This object is represented by a derived noun and the meaning could be
adverbial.
a) They fought a good fight.
2. complement-caused by a certain group of words
a) A certain number of verbs cannot stand alone-verbs of incomplete predication
(linking verbs),and they should be with another sentence element. The element that
follows formally fulfills the verb, but it reflects a subject-complement subject.
b) Verb complex transitive (it completes the verb, but refers to object)-complement
object.
Complements are mostly represented by nouns or nominals.
3. adverbials (adjuncts);resulted by verbs, their basic function is to fulfill the
meaning of the predicator. They are represented by an adverb or an adverbial (an
adverbial could even be a clause-adverbial clauses).Adverbials follow all the rest of
the sentence elements, usually in this way: manner, place, time (while time can
preceed the whole construction).
In an English sentence there is a concord-agreement in number and person
between the subject and the verb. A subject in singular is followed by a verb in the
singular and the subject in plural by one in the plural. There is also concord
between the subject and the nouns of inherent possession.

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 Literatura:

1. Scheurweghs G., Present-Day English Syntax, Longman, 1959 .

2. Quirk-Greenbaum,A University of English Grammar,Longman,1973.