Review of English Syntax
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause, which may be one of seven types: SV, SVO, SVC, SVA, SVOO, SVOC, SVOA. Optional adverbials can be added to any of these types. Several verbs, such as get, can belong to more than one class and hence create more than one clause type.
Verb classes: Intransitive (no obligatory element), Transitive (require object), or Copular (followed by subject complement or adverbial. The sentence elements O, C, A are obligatory, but in some situations they can be omitted: They are eating. Verb eat has in this case multiple class membership.
Indirect object is more central in being closer to the verb, but it is more likely to be optional, and can be paraphrased by a prepositional phrase in function of adverbial (Justin poured some whisky for David).
Obligatory adverbials typically refer to space. Adverbial can be subject- or object-related like complements. The distinction between obligatory adverbial and complement is not clear cut for all prepositional phrases. Some prepositional phrases are semantically typical to adjective or noun phrase functioning as complement.
SEMANTIC ROLE OF clause elements
Every clause describes a situation which involves one or more participants, i.e. entities realised by noun phrases. The typical semantic role of a subject in a clause that has a direct object is AGENTIVE. Direct object is an affected participant. The indirect object plays the role of the recipient, complements are most commonly ATTRIBUTES. The attributes have two subtypes: identification (Kevin is my brother) and characterisation (Martha was a good student).
Subject has the role of external causer, that expresses the unwitting cause of an event (electric shock killed him), the role of instrument, which the agent uses to perform a process. With intransitive verbs, the subject also frequently has the affected role elsewhere typical of the direct object.
The role of the subject, with verbs such as have, own, possess, benefit, is recipient. The perceptual verbs see and hear require an experiencer subject, the same as several verbs indicating cognition or emotion. The positioner role has subject with intransitive stance verbs such as sit, stand, lie, live, stay, remain, and with transitive verbs related to stance verbs such as carry, hold, keep, wear. The subject may have the locative role of designating the place of the state or action, or the temporal role in designating its time (Los Angeles is foggy, this jar contains coffee, yesterday was a holiday).
An important role of the subject is eventive. The noun at the head of the noun phrase is commonly deverbal (derived from a verb) or a nominalization – The match is tomorrow. There are clauses in which no participant is required. In such cases, the subject function may be assumed by the prop word it, which has little or no semantic content. The clauses are typically signifying time, atmospheric conditions, and distance.
The direct object may have a locative role with such verbs as walk, swim…
SUBJECT – VERB CONCORD
Clauses in the position of subject count as singular, the same do the prep. phrases and adverbs functioning as subject. Plural phrases count as singular if they are used as names, titles… NOTIONAL concord – concord according the idea of number, not grammatical marker. PROXIMITY principle – the noun closer to the verb determines the number. Collectives are singular, except in case the group is viewed as single body. All conjoints are plural, on the contrary to coordinative apposition. Concord of PERSON – in a co-ordinate subject noun phrase with or or nor the last noun phrase determines the person (proximity). Concord of COMPLEMENTS – concord of number between subject and object and their complements.
VOcatives
Usually a noun phrase, denoting the one or more persons to whom the sentence is addressed. It is either a call or an address. Vocatives may be: names, perhaps with title, standard appelatives, terms for family relationships, title of respect, markers of status, general nouns with specialised senses…
SENTENCE TYPES
declaratives (discourse function statement) 2) interrogatives (yes-no, wh-interrog., question) 3) imperatives (directive) 4) exclamatives (exclamation)
QUESTIONS
Yes-no question – if it contains non-assertive items, there is no bias in expectation towards +/-. Though the question may be conducive, if you use assertive form. Also negative questions are conducive. TAG question is appended to a statement. It consists of an operator and subject pronoun. DECLARATIVE question differ from declarative only in intonation in the end, it is conducive and resembles tag. WH-question – interrogative words are used, have falling intonation. The wh- element can have various clause functions. ALTERNATIVE questions – two types, each of them resembling one of the previous types. Any yes-no question can be converted into alternative question.
DIRECTIVES - Typically without subject and verb in the base from. The verb lacks tense and allows no modal auxil. When the subject you is present, it expresses irritation, or insistence.
EXCLAMATIVES - Utterance introduced by what or how
IRREGULAR SENTENCES 1) optative subjunctive – few old expressions. It is combined with subject-verb inversion 2) irregular wh- questions in colloquial speech – How about another kiss? 3)Several kinds of subordinate clauses with exclamatory force – Well, if it is not Susan! 4) Adverbials have the force of commands – Left! Hands up! 5) Proverbs with aphoristic sentence structure – Out of sight, out of mind. BLOCK LANGUAGE - Labels, titles, headlines…Often an isolated noun phrase.
PRO FORMS AND ELLIPSIS
RECOVERABILITY
Textual recoverability (from a neighbouring part of text), Situational (extralinguistic situation), Structural (knowledge of grammmat. Structure). The antecedent is not necesarilly identical with the expression replaced or ellipted. Kraviny, na ty seru, sorry
COORDINATION
Syndetic, asyndetic, polysyndetic co-ordination – co-ordinating conjunctions. Three conjunctions are clearly coordinators: and, or, but. Both coordinative and subordinative conj. are linkers. And, or, but are restricted to initial position in the second clause. Co-ordinated clauses are sequentially fixed. The co-ordinators and subordinators so, that and for cannot be preceded by a conjunction. Coordinators may link clause constituents, but not the other linkers. AND and OR can link subordinate clauses. Coordinators may link more than two clauses – multiple co-ordination. All but he final instance of the two conj. can be omitted.
USAGE OF AND
the events in the two clauses are chronologically sequent – I washed up and then I dried it.
The event in the second clause is a consequence or result – He heard an explosion and he (therefore) called the police
The second clause is in the contrast – Peter is secretive and David id open.
The first clause has the concessive force – She tried hard and (yet) she failed.
The first clause is a condition of the second – Give me some money and I’ll do shopping.
The second clause makes a point similar to the first – A trade agreement should be no problem, and a cultural exchange could be easily arranged.
The second clause is a pure addition to the first – He has long hair and he often wears jeans.
The second clause adds an appended comment on, or explanation of, the first – There is only thing to do now – and that is to apologise.
USAGE OF OR
Typically, or is exclusive: it excludes the possibility that the contents of both clauses are true or are to be fulfilled.
Sometimes, or is inclusive. We can add a third clause that makes this inclusive meaning explicitly: You can boil an egg, or you can make some sandwiches or you can do both.
The alternative expressed by or may also be a restatement or a corrective to what is said in the first conjoin: They are enjoining themselves, or they appear to be enjoining themselves.
In addition to introducing alternatives as indicated above, or may imply a negative condition: Switch on the radio or we will miss the news
USAGE OF BUT
1)The content of the second clause is unexpected in view of the content of the first: John is poor, but he is happy
The second clause expresses in positive terms what the negation in the first clause conveys: I am not objecting to his morals, but to his manners.
CORRELATIVES
The three pairs either…or, both…and, neither…nor are correlatives. The first word is an endorsing item and the second is co-ordinator. Either… emphasises the exclusive meaning of or. May link lesser constituents. Both…emphasises the additive meaning of and. Neither…is the negative counterpart of both…and. It says that the negation applies to both units. It cannot link complete clauses. Nor and neither can be also used without the correlative pair, when followed by subject-operator inversion. They presuppose that the previous clause is negative explicitly or implicitly. NOT ONLY...BUT may be also correlative.
TYPES OF SIMPLE COORDINATION
may be co-ordinated, so long as they belong to the same function class. Non-finite clauses of the same type and verbless clauses may be coor. Predicates and predication may be coor. – the subject is shared
THE SCOPE OF ADVERBIALS
Adverbials often stand outside the structure of the co-ordination. The conjoins are within scope of adverbials.
SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
FUNCTIONAL CLASSES
Nominal clauses: function as subject, object, complement, appositive, and prepositional complement. They refer to abstractions. Only the nominal relative clause can function as indirect object. Adverbial clauses: mainly adjuncts or disjuncts. There they are like adverb phrases. Relative clauses: restrictive or non-restrictive modifiers of noun phrases. Comparative clauses: resemble adjectives and adverbs in their modifying function.
NOMINAL CLAUSES
THAT-clauses: subject that-clause usually extraposed. When it is direct object, complement or extraposed, that is frequently omitted.
WH-interrogative clauses: may function even as prepositional complement.
YES-NO and alternative clauses: The yes-no clause is introduced by subordinators whether or if, alternative clauses are formed with correlatives whether…or
EXCLAMATIVE clauses: extraposed subject, direct object, prepositional complement
NOMINAL relative clauses: introduced by wh-element, have the same range of functions as noun phrases
TO-infinitive clauses: function as subject, direct object, subject complement, appositive, adjectival complementation. Extraposition is usual with subject clauses. The presence of subject normally requires the presence of preceding for. Pronoun in subject has objective case, if it can form it. When the clause is direct object, for is absent before subject.
ING-clauses: Subj., dir.obj., subj. compl., appositive, adj. compl.. If there is a subject, it may be in genitive, objective or common case. Genitive is preferred if the subject is a pronoun. Common case is preferred with nonpersonal noun phrase
BARE infinitive clauses: subj., subj. compl. In pseudo-cleft sentence.
VERBLESS clauses:
ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
TIME clauses: finite adv.cl. - subordinators after, as, once, since, until, when, while…
-ing adv.cl. – once, until, when, whenever
-ed and verbless cl. – as soon as, once, until, …NEMOHU DÁLE
NONFINITE CLAUSES: 1) to-infinitive: The best thing would be to tell everybody 2) bare infinitive: All I did was hit him on the head. 3) –ing participle: Leaving the room, he tripped over the mat. 4) –ed participle: Covered with confusion, they apologised abjectly.
In negative non-finite clauses, the negative particle is generally positioned before the verb or the to of the infinitive.
SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FUNCTIONS OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
Subordinate clauses may function as subject, object, complement, or adverbial in a superordinate clause.
FUNCTIONAL CLASSES:
There are four major classes of sub. Classes: nominal, adverbial, relative and comparative.
Nominal clauses may function as subject, object, complement, appositive, and prepositional complement. Semantically the clauses are abstract, they refer to events, facts, ideas.
Adverbial clauses function mainly as adjuncts or disjuncts.
Relative clauses function as restrictive or non-restrictive modifiers of noun phrases and are parallel to attributive adjectives.
Comparative clauses resemble adjectives and adverbs in their modifying function.
NOMINAL CLAUSES
That-clauses: function as subject, direct object, subject complement, appositive, adjectival complementation. Subject that-clause is usually extraposed. When the clause is object, complement or extraposed, the that element is often omitted, leaving a zero that-clause. That can not be omitted in subject and non-restrictive appositive clause, because it may be misinterpreted as main clause. The presence is also necessary to clarify whether an adverbial belongs to matrix or that-clause, to prevent a co-ordinated that-clause from being misinterpreted as a main-clause, when the object that-clause is fronted and when a clause or long phrase intervenes between verb and the that-clause.
Wh-interrogative clauses: wh-clauses occur in the whole range of functions and in addition it may function as prepositional complement (They did not consult us on whose names should be put forward.). Semantically, these sentences resemble wh-questions in that they use the wh- element to represent an unknown information. An infinitive wh-clause may be formed with all wh-words, though instances with why are rare. Prepositions are optionally omitted before the wh-clauses.
Yes-no and alternative interrogative clauses: Yes-no clause is introduced by the subordinators whether or if, alternative clauses are formed with the correlatives whether…or, if…or. The subordinator is repeated only if the second unit is a full clause, but repetition is possible with to-infinitive clauses.
Exclamative clauses: generally function as extraposed subject, direct object, or prepositional complement. The exclamative element is formed with what as predeterminer in a noun phrase and how as intensifier of an adjective, adverb, or clause. Element is positioned initially regardless of its normal position in a declarative clause.
Nominal relative clauses: resemble wh-interrogative clauses, also introduced by wh-element. They can be analysed as noun phrases modified by relative clauses, except that wh-element is merged with its antecedent.
To-infinitive clauses: function as subject, dir object, subject complement, appositive, adjectival complementation. Extraposition when subject clause. When there is a subject, for must precede it, however the direct object does not require it.
-Ing clauses: function as subject, direct object, subject complement, appositive and adjectival complementation. The subject may be in genitive or objective case; genitive is preferred when subject is a pronoun, the noun phrase has personal reference or the style is formal. It is avoided when the noun phrase is lengthy and requires a group genitive.
Bare infinitive clauses: subject or a subject complement in a pseudo cleft-sentence. To of the infinitive is optional, when the clause is subject complement.
Verbless clauses: debatable category, may be paraphrased.
ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
Function mainly as adjunct and disjunct.
Clauses of time: finite clauses are introduced by after, as, once, until, since, when, while; -ing clauses by once, till, until, when, whenever, while, whilst; -ed and verbless clauses by as soon as, once, till, until, when, whenever, while, whilst. To-infinitive clauses without a subordinator or a subject may have a temporal function, expressing the outcome of a situation. The time relationship may be simultaneous, previous or subsequent to the matrix clause, or it can convey duration, recurrence, and relative proximity. When may imply concession as well as time. Matrix with an until-clause must be durative to the time indicated by the until-clause. When the matrix is imperative, sentence with before-clause may imply condition as well as time. In these sentences, non-assertive items may appear.
Clauses of place: introduced mainly by specific where and non-specific wherever. The clause may indicate position or direction. Several temporal subordinator may have a place meanings.
Clauses of condition, concession and contrast: overlap
Conditional clauses: direct condition - the situation in matrix is contingent on the situation in the conditional clause. Indirect condition – condition is not related to the situation in the matrix. Direct condition may either open or hypothetical. Open conditions are neutral, they do not solve the fulfilment of the condition. The hypothetical condition conveys the speakers belief that the condition will not be fulfilled (future con.), is not fulfilled (present con.), or was not fulfilled (past con.)
Rhetorical conditional clauses: a strong assertion. There are two types: a) if the proposition in the matrix is absurd, the conditional clause is false. b) if the proposition in the matrix is patently true, the conditional clause is true. The if-clause is positioned finally.
Concessive clauses: introduced chiefly by although or less formal though. While, whereas and even if are also available. Except for whereas, all of them may introduce –ing, -ed and verbless clauses. The situation in the matrix is contrary to what one might expect in view of the situation in the concessive clause. Often it is possible to choose which sentence will be subordinate.
Alternative conditional-concessive clauses: the correlative sequence whether…or combines the conditional meaning of if with the disjunctive meaning of either…or.
Universal conditional-concessive clauses: free choice from any number of conditions. Its is introduced by the wh-words combined with ever. (Do not let them in, whoever they are.)
Clauses of contrast: introduced by subordinators of concessive clauses: whereas, while, whilst. Often there is a mixture of contrast and concession.
Clauses of exception: introduced by but that, except, except that, only, excepting, save (rare and formal), save that (formal). Clauses introduced by but that and only must follow the matrix clause.
Reason clauses: they convey a direct relationship with the matrix clause. The relationship may be of cause and effect, reason and consequence, motivation and result, circumstance and consequence. Reason clauses are commonly introduced by because and since, less commonly by as, for, and seeing that. A for-clause must be in final position.
Purpose clauses: usually infinitival, may be introduced by in order to, so as to. Finite clauses of purpose are introduced by so that, so, in order that. Finite clauses, which are putative, require a modal auxiliary.
Result clauses: introduced by subordinators so that and so. From purpose clauses they differ by absence of modal auxiliary, that purpose clauses need for because of their putativeness.
Clauses of similarity and comparison: semantic blend with manner if the verb is dynamic. Similarity clauses are introduced by as and like, both of which are commonly pre-modified by just and exactly. Comparison clauses are introduced by as if, as though, like. If the comparison is hypothetical, a subjunctive or hypothetical past may be used as alternative. All of the subordinators except like may introduce a verbless or non-finite clause, as if and as though may introduce a to-infinitive clause.
Clauses of proportion: involve a kind of comparison. They express a proportionality or equivalence of tendency or degree between two situations. They may be introduced by as, with or without correlative so, or by fronted correlative the…the followed by comparison forms.
Clauses of preference: usually non-finite, introduced by rather than and sooner than, with the bare infinitive as the verb of the clause.
Comment clauses: parenthetical disjuncts. They may occur initially, finally, or medially and thus they usually have a separate tone unit. They are of following types: a)like matrix of a main clause, b) adverbial finite clause (introduced by as – I am working, as you know.), c) nominal relative clause, d) to-infinitive clause as style disjunct (I am not sure what to do, to be honest.), e) –ing clause as style disjunct, f) -ed clause as style disjunct.
Sentential relative clauses: refer back to the predicate or predication of a clause, or to a whole clause or sentence, or even to a series of sentences. They parallel non-restrictive post-modifying clauses in noun phrases. They are commonly introduced by relative pronoun which.
Supplementive clauses: Adverbial particle and verbless clauses without a subordinator, they are very flexible in what we wish them to convey. We may wish to imply temporal, conditional, causal, concessive, or circumstantial relationship – it generally implies accompanying circumstances to the situation described in matrix. (We spoke face to face.)
Comparative clauses: a proposition expressed in the matrix is compared with the one in subordinate clause. Words repeated in both clauses may be omitted. Standard of comparison, comparative element, basis of comparison. The comparison may be of equivalence, non-equivalence, sufficiency and excess. All of them except sufficiency are non-assertive, so that you can use non-assertive forms. The comparative element can be any of the clause elements.
COMPLEMENTATION OF VERBS
MULTI-WORD VERBS
Lexical verb plus particle (adverb iv phrasal verbs, preposition in prepositional verbs). Intransitive phrasal verbs: we cannot predict their meaning from the isolated verb or particle, they are idiomatic, in free combinations we can do so. The particle of phrasal verb cannot be separated or fronted, in free combinations we can do so.
Transitive phrasal verbs: they take a direct object, but some of them can be also intransitive, with possible change of meaning. The particle may follow or precede the direct object., in case the object is a personal pronoun, the particle must follow the object. The distinction of freee combinations and phrasal verb is the same as for intransitive.
Type I prepositional verbs: lexical verb + a preposition semantically or syntactically associated. The prepositional object equals direct object. An adverbial can be inserted between lexical verb and preposition, between direct object and verb it is usually avoided. The criterion for distinction between free combinations and prepositional verbs that the direct object can become subject of passive clause for prep. verbs. The second is that the wh- question eliciting the prepositional object are formed with who(m) or what rather than adverbial questions.
Type II prepositional verbs: ditransitive verbs, followed by two noun phrases, the second of which is prepositional object. The direct object becomes the subject in the passive clause.
phrasal-prepositional verbs: both an adverb and a preposition as particles. Type I has only a prepositional object. The prepositional passive is possible. Type II are ditransitive verbs (Do not take it out on me!) Only the active direct object can be made passive subject. Both types form the wh- question eliciting the prepositional object with who(m) and what.
other multi-word verb constructions: a) verb-adjective combinations – these constructions may be copular (break even, plead guilty) or complex transitive. B) verb-verb combinations – the second verb is non-finite and may be even infinitive or participle (make do with, let be, leave standing). C) verbs with two prepositions – further variant on prepositional verbs (struggle with for, apply to for)
VERB COMPLEMENTATION
Some verbs are always intransitive. Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive without change in relationship between verb and subject..
copular verbs: verb is copular when it is followed by a subject complement or predication adjunct. They are of two classes according to the role of attribute: current copulas (appear, feel, look…) and resulting copulas (become, get, grow…). The adjectival complementation is formed mostly by space adjuncts, time adjuncts (with eventive subject), and other types of adjuncts are possible too. With some intransitive verbs the adverbial is not clearly obligatory, but their meaning is completed by the adverbials.
monotransitive verbs: they require a direct object, which may a noun phrase a finite clause, or a non-finite clause. Noun phrase as direct object: may become a subject of corresponding passive clause, only a few monotransitive stative verbs do not allow passive (“middle verbs”, such as fit, suit, resemble, equal, mean…). noun phrase as prepositional object: the prepositional object of type I prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs resembles the direct object in accepting the passive and in being elicited by pronoun in question. That-clause as object: that is optional, but the clause being made passive subject must have it. Normal passive has it and extraposition, that again optional. There are four categories of verbs that can be complemented by that-clause: factual, suasive, emotive and hypothesis. Factual verbs are followed by that-clause with indicative verb (factual verbs are divided into two groups: public factual verbs, such as admit, agree, promise, predict, suggest… and private factual verbs such as believe, consider, forget, think… Suasive verbs (agree, ask, decide, prefer, suggest, urge…) must have in that-clause putative should or subjunctive. The indicative verb appears rarely in BrE. An alternative for that-clause for some suasive verbs is infinitive clause. Emotive verbs require indicative or putative should for their that-clauses. They are annoy, concern, marvel, rejoice… Hypothesis verbs have hypothetical past or the were-subjunctive in the that-clause. They comprise of wish, suppose and would rather. wh- clause as object: many of the factual verbs that take that-clause as object can take a wh-interrogative clause. Usage of it is common where the superordinate clause is interrogative or negative, but verbs that themselves express uncertainty occur without this non-assertive constraint. non-finite clauses as direct object: five types of non-finite clauses may function as direct object: 1) wh-infinitive clause – He discovered how to do it. 2) subjectless infinitive clause – I prefer to go by bus. 3) to infinitive clause with subject – I want you to stand for election. 4) subjectless –ing participle clause – They like talking about… 5) –ing participle clause with subject – I hate them gossiping about their pals. With subjectless clauses, the subject is usually identical with the one in the superordinate clause. Passive is usually not admissible with these. Complex-transitive verbs complementation: the two elements following the complex-transitive verb have a subject-predicate relationship. The direct object can be complemented by object complement (which may have current or resulting attributive role, SVOC pattern), adjunct (SVOA pattern, mostly prepositional phrases of direction, rarely of space), to-infinitive clause (factual verbs with indicative in their that-clause, or non-factual verbs of intention, causality, modality and purpose), bare-infinitive clause (causative verbs have, let, make, and verbs of hearing and seeing, help and know, normally requiring a to-infinitive passive), -ing participle clause (verbs of perception, encounter and causative verbs get, have, the noun-phrase following the superordinated verb cannot take genitive case), and –ed participle clauses (perceptual verbs, volitional verbs and get, have). ditransitive verbs complementation: Noun Phrases as both indirect and direct object: indirect object is usually animate and positioned first. Indirect or for some verbs either object can be omitted. Some ditransitive verbs have two passives, where any of the objects may become a passive subject. object and prepositional object: second object is prepositional. These verbs have normally only the first passive. Some verbs allow more than one preposition. Most ditransitive verbs with two noun phrases can be paraphrased with one prepositional object. Indirect object and that-clause object: only the first passive is acceptable, with some verbs, the direct object cannot be omitted. If that-clause includes an indirect statement, it contains an indicative verb. If it introduces an indirect directive, the verb may be indicative, subjunctive, putative should or other modal auxiliary. The indirect directive structure is rare and formal in comparison with the infinitive equivalent (advise, bet, convince, ask, beg, tell). Prepositional object and that-clause object: the prepositional phrase is optional. Ditransitive prepositional verbs allow that-clause to become subject of a corresponding passive clause, more acceptably with extraposition (admit, complain, mention, say, write, propose). indirect object and wh-clause object: the second object may be a finite wh-clause. A preposition, usually optional, may precede the wh-clause. Some verbs take even a wh-infinitive clause as second object. Prepositional verbs also appear in this pattern (Could you please suggest to me which museums to visit?). ndirect object and to-infinitive clause: introduces indirect directives. Only the indirect object can be made subject of the corresponding passive clause. The implied subject of the infinitive clause is generally identified with the indirect object (I persuaded Mark to see a doctor – that he should see…).