In British English, “Practice” is a noun.
e.g. A doctor works at a “Doctor’s Practice”.
“Practise” is a verb.
e.g. “I practise English every day because I want to move to England.”
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Desert or Dessert?
This is difficult because the words look and sound similar. But remember, there is a huge difference between the “Desert” and “Dessert”.
Desert = Sand, Dry Land, No Water, Hot, Too Much Sun!
Dessert = Tasty Cakes, Chocolate Pudding, Ice-Cream, Sugary Food!
NB – A good way to remember which is which, is to remember there are 2 “s” in Dessert, because it is delicious and you want more!
Desert = Sand, Dry Land, No Water, Hot, Too Much Sun!
Dessert = Tasty Cakes, Chocolate Pudding, Ice-Cream, Sugary Food!
NB – A good way to remember which is which, is to remember there are 2 “s” in Dessert, because it is delicious and you want more!
Parents or Fathers?
In many Latin languages, the mother and father are titles as “fathers”. This dates back many many years and is completely normal in Spanish.
But remember, in English, a father is a father and a mother is a mother. Together, they are “parents”.
It is a mistake we hear all the time and it is an easy error to correct. Just remember not to speak spanglish!
But remember, in English, a father is a father and a mother is a mother. Together, they are “parents”.
It is a mistake we hear all the time and it is an easy error to correct. Just remember not to speak spanglish!
Choose Vs Chose
Because choose and chose sound so similar, it is often difficult to remember which is the past tense version.
Just remember that “choose” is the present and future, and it has 2 “Os”. One “O” for the present and one “O” for the future.
e.g. “Today I will choose which university I will go to”
e.g. “Tomorrow I will choose which book to read”
The past only has one “O”.
e.g. “Yesterday I chose a book to read, it’s great!”
e.g. “Last year I chose a film to watch but it was terrible”
Just remember that “choose” is the present and future, and it has 2 “Os”. One “O” for the present and one “O” for the future.
e.g. “Today I will choose which university I will go to”
e.g. “Tomorrow I will choose which book to read”
The past only has one “O”.
e.g. “Yesterday I chose a book to read, it’s great!”
e.g. “Last year I chose a film to watch but it was terrible”
Too VS To
This is another common problem and people often get the two confused.
Too
“Too” can be used to express “an excess”.
e.g. “I have drank too much coffee”. This expresses that somebody has drank an excess of coffee.
“I am too tired to go to the gym”
To
“To” is usually used with a verb.
e.g. “I am going to france”
“I like to read”
“I want to run”
Too
“Too” can be used to express “an excess”.
e.g. “I have drank too much coffee”. This expresses that somebody has drank an excess of coffee.
“I am too tired to go to the gym”
To
“To” is usually used with a verb.
e.g. “I am going to france”
“I like to read”
“I want to run”
Your / You’re Your / You’re
My friends on Facebook, many of which speak English as their first and only language, always get this wrong and it’s really frustrating. Although I must say, I used to make this mistake too.
Your = Possessive
“Your” means “belonging to you”.
e.g. “This is your jacket”
“You’re” = “You are”
e.g. “You’re the best friend I have ever had”
NB When you see people write: “This is you’re jacket”, they are saying “This is you are jacket”. You can see the mistake! Don’t forget, in English, the apostrophe often indicates an abbreviation
Your = Possessive
“Your” means “belonging to you”.
e.g. “This is your jacket”
“You’re” = “You are”
e.g. “You’re the best friend I have ever had”
NB When you see people write: “This is you’re jacket”, they are saying “This is you are jacket”. You can see the mistake! Don’t forget, in English, the apostrophe often indicates an abbreviation
Saturday 4 February 2012
Advance Grammer!
What is grammar?
Grammar drived from Greek
“grammatike” meaning “to
write”
- Kinds of grammar:
Prescriptive grammar: to be
phrased as prohibition -
standard grammar
Descriptive grammar: to describe
the grammatical system of a
language (e.g to describe how to
play football: using a ball, hand
and a basket...)
- Grammar development:
• Traditional grammar: grammar
teaching at school, parts of
speech, The traditional
categories
• Immediate constituents: using
techniques for displaying
sentence structure is the use of
immediate constituent (IC)
analysis
• Phrase structures and
transformational grammar:
- Phrasal structure: the division
of a sentence into parts, or
constituents, and the division of
those constituent into subparts.
- the transformational rules can
be informally thought of as an
instruction to change one
structure to another
• Functional grammar: showing
grammar communicating
meaning in social interaction.
Grammar
Open class items
• It conveys content words
(lexical words).
• Too many of them, can not
count them - the number of this
class is unlimited.
• Two members can go together
- the members of this class do
not exclude each other.
• Can always create new
members. Closed system items
• It conveys function words.
• Can count them - the number
of them is limited.
• Two members cannot go
together - the members of this
class exclude each other.
• Can never create new
members.
Example:
a car
N
act (v) actor (n)
actress (n) action (n)
activity (n) active (a)
actively (adv)
a school-girl (n)
new-born (adj)
good-looking (a)
Ex.: 12 a car
- one/ indefinite
- in general
- In particular
a/ my/ this/ the car
1, Is it right to say that right
wrongs no man?
2, One can not right all the
wrongs in the world.
3, Cure that cold with a drink of
hot lemon before you go to bed.
4, Drink this quick! Don’t let it get
cold.
5, Before the fire, there had been
a plague, the like of which had
not been known before and has
not been seen since.
6, It is a common failing to
suppose we are not like other
men, that we are not as other
people are.
7, As your doctor, I must warn
you that the results of taking this
drug may be very serious.
8, Growth in weight results in the
development of muscles and fat.
9, Warm pan, sift dry ingredients
and stir well.
10, Dry hair thoroughly with
warm towel and comb.
Unit 1 - Phrases – clauses -
sentences
1..PHRASES
1.1. Definition
A group of one or more than one
words, equivalent to a part of
speech.
A phrase consists of (Pre-
modification) + Head + (Post-
modification)
1.2. Kinds of phrase: 5
a, Noun phrase (NP): a phrase in
which there is a noun as a head
girls
N head
a beautiful girl
premod. N head
a beautiful girl in the class
premod. N head postmod.
b, Adjective phrase (Adj.P): a
phrase in which there is an
adjective as a head
beautiful
Adj. head
more beautiful than I am
premod. Adj. head postmod.
c, Adverb phrase (Adv.P): a
phrase in which there is an
adverb as a head
slowly
Adv head
more slowly than I did
premod. Adv head postmod.
d, Prepositional phrase (Pre.P):
in the class
pre. NP
a noun phrase dominated by a
preposition
e, Verb phrase (VP): a group of
one or more than one verbs in
which there is a verb as a head.
- Structurally, there are 2 kinds of
VP:
VP Finite VP ‘To’ Inf.NFVP
Nonfinite VP: - Infinitive NFVP
Bare Inf.NFVP
- -Ing participle NFVP
- -Ed participle NFVP
• Finite verb phrase: a verb
phrase whose verb element
agrees with the subject in
person and number.
He is a student.
3rd person, sing. 3rd person,
sing.
FVP – simple
I have learnt English.
FVP - complex
• Non – finite verb phrase: a
verb phrase whose verb element
does not agree with the subject
in person and number.
- Infinitive non-finite verb
phrase:
+ “To” infinitive non-finite verb
phrase: To learn English is
difficult.
+ Bare infinitive non-finite verb
phrase: Run away is what I could
do then.
- -Ing participle non-finite verb
phrase: My duty is learning
English.
- -Ed participle non-finite verb
phrase: Asked a lot of questions,
she was tired.
Finite VPs
• Finite VPs (V, V-s & V-ed1, etc.)
have tense and mood of a
certain type.
They go there very often.
He goes there twice a week.
(Tense: past; mood : indicative)
We went there yesterday.
(Tense: past; mood : indicative)
• Finite VPs often have their own
subject.
If she liked, she could go.
S + V-ed1
• Finite VPs often appear in the
simple, compound or complex
sentence (making up finite
clauses)
Non-finite VPs
• Non-finite VPs (to V, V-ing & V-
ed2) do not have tense and
mood.
They want to go there then. She
enjoyed watching TV.
Can be used either with Present
or Past tense)
• Non-finite VPs may have but
more often do not have their S.
For him to go there is difficult.
S + to infinitive
• Non-finite VPs often perform
the function of S, O, C or A of the
main finite clause and make up
the complete complex sentence.
2. CLAUSES
2.1 Definition a part of a
sentence, conveying an
independent supposition
2.2. Clause elements : S,V,O,C,A
a. Object: - Direct object (Od.): I
like him.
S V Od
- Indirect object (Oi) + Od: I gave
him a book.
S V Oi Od
b. Complements:
- Subject complement (Cs): to
describe or indicate the
characteristics or feature of the
subject - after copular verbs (link
verbs)
+ BE group: be, appear, seem,
feel, look, see, sound, smell,
taste…, expressing the current
attribute:
He appears tired.
S V Cs
+ BECOME group: become, come,
get, go, grow, turn,…, expressing
the resulting attribute:
He becomes famous.
S V Cs
- Object complement (Co): to
describe or indicate the
characteristics or features of the
object:
She painted the door red.
S V Od Co
He drove me mad.
They elected him chairman.
I have my car repaired.
I saw her sleeping in the garden.
He made me cry.
They found her a good wife.
S V Oi Co
They found him a good wife.
S V Oi Od
They found a good wife for him.
He gave a book to me.
- Adjective complements (Cadj.)
I’ m happy to meet you.
S V Cs Cadj.
- Prepositional complement
(Cpre.)
She is interested in making up all
day.
S V Cs Cadj.
- Adverbials:
+ Semantically: adverb of time,
place and process (manner)
He worked hard at school then.
S V Amanner Aplace Atime
+ Functionally: 3 kinds
Adjuncts: integrated in the
structure of the clause
He worked carefully.
S V A adjunct (How)
Disjuncts: peripheral to the
structure of the clause
Carefully, he worked .
A disjunct S V
(generally speaking, in fact, to be
honest, to tell the truth…)
Conjuncts: peripheral to the
structure of the clause and
connective function
Secondly, you have to learn
French.
A conjunct S V Od
(finally, on the other hand, in
brief, that’s why, in other words,
in addition, moreover, in
conclusion, what’s more, further
more...)
Ex. 5, 7
2.3 Classification
a, According to usage: 2
- Independent clause:
+ Simple sentence : Tom saw
Mary.
+ Compound sentence: Tom saw
Mary and he ran away.
+ Complex sentence: When Tom
saw Mary, he ran away.
+ Dependent clause: When he
saw Mary, he ran away.
b, According to clause elements
and verb complementation: 7
kinds
S, V, O, C, A
SV
SVA
SVC
SVO
SVOA
SVOC
SVOO
- S + V(intransitive) : He has
arrived.
- S + V(intensive) + Adverb : He is
in the garden.
- S + V(intensive) + Cs : He looks
tired.
- S + V(mono transitive) + Od : I
love you.
- S + V(complex transitive) + O +
A : They put him in a good
position.
- S + V(complex transitive) + Od +
Co : He made me happy.
- S + V(di transitive)+ Oi + Od : He
gave me his book.
INTENSIVE
V intransitive
EXTENSIVE mono-transitive
transitive di-transitive
complex transitive
Ex. 98
c, According to Verb phrase
structures (Structural
classification): 3
Finite clause
Infinitive “to” inf. NFC
Cl Non-finite clause bare inf. NFC
-Ing participle NFC
- Ed participle NFC
Verbless
C1, Finite clauses: a clause whose
verb element is a finite verb
phrase.
He is a student.
FCl.
C2, Non – finite clauses: a clause
whose verb element is a non -
finite verb phrase.
- Infinitive NFC:
+ “To” infinitive non – finite
clause:
To learn English is difficult.
+ Bare infinitive non – finite
clause:
All I did was hit him on his head.
-Ing participle non – finite clause:
The teacher being ill, we missed
our lesson.
- Ed participle non – finite clause:
Given a beautiful present, she
was happy.
His job finished, he went home.
C3, Verbless clause: a clause
whose verb element is absent
He went to bed angry.
verbless
ß> When he was angry, he went
to bed.
She stayed at home jobless.
ß> Because she was jobless, she
stayed at home.
Ex: 11
d, According to syntactic
function of the clauses: 2
- Independent clauses (main/
super ordinate) :
He ran away when I turned out.
- Dependent clauses (sub-clause/
subordinate)
What he wants is what I want.
Functionally : I think that you can
do it if you try.
c
b
a
‘a’ is the superordinate to ‘b’ or
‘c’ is the subordinate to ‘b’
‘b’ is the superordnate to ‘c’ ‘b’ is
the subordinate to ‘a’
Structurally:
FCl
FCl
FCl
Cl.elements + V.complementation:
s v
S V O A
e, According to the syntactic
functions of sub-clauses: 4 kinds
- Nominal clauses: (S, O, C)
What I want is not what he
wants.
I wonder whether he’ll come or
not.
I know you are rich.
I enjoy listening to music.
I want to learn English.
- Relative clauses:
The man who was standing at
the door is my brother.
Defining relative clause
- Comment clauses:
Generally speaking, he is honest.
- Adverbial clauses:
After having breakfast, he went
to school.
Ex: 4, 6
Chart of clauses classification
3. SENTENCES
3.1. Definition
An English sentence must have
the subject that governs the
verb and a finite verb phrase.
3.2. Sentence elements
1. Traditional classification:
Subject + Predicate
2. Modern classification: S-V-O-C-
A
Obligatory: 7 pattern clauses
Optional: Adverb of place/time
She went to London last Sunday.
Aplace Atime
The plane took off immediately.
Ex: 99
3.3. Classification
a. According to communicative
functions (purposes of
utterances): 4
a. Statements (Declarative):
usually with the word order: S-V
- Affirmative: I’ll speak to him
tonight. (+)
- Negative: I won’t speak to him.
(-)
b. Questions (Interrogative):
Normally with the inversion of
the first auxiliary verb or modal
verb - called the operator - and
the subject.
Do you like cat?
Op S
Questions are sentences marked
by one or more of these three
criteria:
- The placing of the operator in
front of the subject (S-operator
inversion):
Do you like coffee?
- The initial positioning of an
interrogative or “Wh-” element:
What do you like?
- Rising intonation: You know
him?
Ex: 15
c. Commands (imperative):
sentences which have no overt
grammatical subject and whose
verb element is in imperative
V
Don’t + V
- Without subject: Be careful.
Don’t be silly.
- With subject: Someone open
the door.
Don’t someone open the door.
- With ‘let’ Let’s go.
Let him know.
Don’t let him go.
Let him not go.
Ex: 118
d. Exclamations: sentences which
have an initial phrase introduced
by “what” or “how” without the
inversion of subject and
operator.
How + adj/adv + S + V! How
beautiful she is!
What +NP + S +V! What a
beautiful girl she is!
Sometimes, we have verbless
utterances in exclamation (in
spoken language)
b. According to their structures:
I like you.
FCl
I told him this but he didn’t
believe me.
1st indep. cl. 2nd indep. cl.
I know that you’re honest.
__ S V C = sub. clause
S V O = main clause
Grammar drived from Greek
“grammatike” meaning “to
write”
- Kinds of grammar:
Prescriptive grammar: to be
phrased as prohibition -
standard grammar
Descriptive grammar: to describe
the grammatical system of a
language (e.g to describe how to
play football: using a ball, hand
and a basket...)
- Grammar development:
• Traditional grammar: grammar
teaching at school, parts of
speech, The traditional
categories
• Immediate constituents: using
techniques for displaying
sentence structure is the use of
immediate constituent (IC)
analysis
• Phrase structures and
transformational grammar:
- Phrasal structure: the division
of a sentence into parts, or
constituents, and the division of
those constituent into subparts.
- the transformational rules can
be informally thought of as an
instruction to change one
structure to another
• Functional grammar: showing
grammar communicating
meaning in social interaction.
Grammar
Open class items
• It conveys content words
(lexical words).
• Too many of them, can not
count them - the number of this
class is unlimited.
• Two members can go together
- the members of this class do
not exclude each other.
• Can always create new
members. Closed system items
• It conveys function words.
• Can count them - the number
of them is limited.
• Two members cannot go
together - the members of this
class exclude each other.
• Can never create new
members.
Example:
a car
N
act (v) actor (n)
actress (n) action (n)
activity (n) active (a)
actively (adv)
a school-girl (n)
new-born (adj)
good-looking (a)
Ex.: 12 a car
- one/ indefinite
- in general
- In particular
a/ my/ this/ the car
1, Is it right to say that right
wrongs no man?
2, One can not right all the
wrongs in the world.
3, Cure that cold with a drink of
hot lemon before you go to bed.
4, Drink this quick! Don’t let it get
cold.
5, Before the fire, there had been
a plague, the like of which had
not been known before and has
not been seen since.
6, It is a common failing to
suppose we are not like other
men, that we are not as other
people are.
7, As your doctor, I must warn
you that the results of taking this
drug may be very serious.
8, Growth in weight results in the
development of muscles and fat.
9, Warm pan, sift dry ingredients
and stir well.
10, Dry hair thoroughly with
warm towel and comb.
Unit 1 - Phrases – clauses -
sentences
1..PHRASES
1.1. Definition
A group of one or more than one
words, equivalent to a part of
speech.
A phrase consists of (Pre-
modification) + Head + (Post-
modification)
1.2. Kinds of phrase: 5
a, Noun phrase (NP): a phrase in
which there is a noun as a head
girls
N head
a beautiful girl
premod. N head
a beautiful girl in the class
premod. N head postmod.
b, Adjective phrase (Adj.P): a
phrase in which there is an
adjective as a head
beautiful
Adj. head
more beautiful than I am
premod. Adj. head postmod.
c, Adverb phrase (Adv.P): a
phrase in which there is an
adverb as a head
slowly
Adv head
more slowly than I did
premod. Adv head postmod.
d, Prepositional phrase (Pre.P):
in the class
pre. NP
a noun phrase dominated by a
preposition
e, Verb phrase (VP): a group of
one or more than one verbs in
which there is a verb as a head.
- Structurally, there are 2 kinds of
VP:
VP Finite VP ‘To’ Inf.NFVP
Nonfinite VP: - Infinitive NFVP
Bare Inf.NFVP
- -Ing participle NFVP
- -Ed participle NFVP
• Finite verb phrase: a verb
phrase whose verb element
agrees with the subject in
person and number.
He is a student.
3rd person, sing. 3rd person,
sing.
FVP – simple
I have learnt English.
FVP - complex
• Non – finite verb phrase: a
verb phrase whose verb element
does not agree with the subject
in person and number.
- Infinitive non-finite verb
phrase:
+ “To” infinitive non-finite verb
phrase: To learn English is
difficult.
+ Bare infinitive non-finite verb
phrase: Run away is what I could
do then.
- -Ing participle non-finite verb
phrase: My duty is learning
English.
- -Ed participle non-finite verb
phrase: Asked a lot of questions,
she was tired.
Finite VPs
• Finite VPs (V, V-s & V-ed1, etc.)
have tense and mood of a
certain type.
They go there very often.
He goes there twice a week.
(Tense: past; mood : indicative)
We went there yesterday.
(Tense: past; mood : indicative)
• Finite VPs often have their own
subject.
If she liked, she could go.
S + V-ed1
• Finite VPs often appear in the
simple, compound or complex
sentence (making up finite
clauses)
Non-finite VPs
• Non-finite VPs (to V, V-ing & V-
ed2) do not have tense and
mood.
They want to go there then. She
enjoyed watching TV.
Can be used either with Present
or Past tense)
• Non-finite VPs may have but
more often do not have their S.
For him to go there is difficult.
S + to infinitive
• Non-finite VPs often perform
the function of S, O, C or A of the
main finite clause and make up
the complete complex sentence.
2. CLAUSES
2.1 Definition a part of a
sentence, conveying an
independent supposition
2.2. Clause elements : S,V,O,C,A
a. Object: - Direct object (Od.): I
like him.
S V Od
- Indirect object (Oi) + Od: I gave
him a book.
S V Oi Od
b. Complements:
- Subject complement (Cs): to
describe or indicate the
characteristics or feature of the
subject - after copular verbs (link
verbs)
+ BE group: be, appear, seem,
feel, look, see, sound, smell,
taste…, expressing the current
attribute:
He appears tired.
S V Cs
+ BECOME group: become, come,
get, go, grow, turn,…, expressing
the resulting attribute:
He becomes famous.
S V Cs
- Object complement (Co): to
describe or indicate the
characteristics or features of the
object:
She painted the door red.
S V Od Co
He drove me mad.
They elected him chairman.
I have my car repaired.
I saw her sleeping in the garden.
He made me cry.
They found her a good wife.
S V Oi Co
They found him a good wife.
S V Oi Od
They found a good wife for him.
He gave a book to me.
- Adjective complements (Cadj.)
I’ m happy to meet you.
S V Cs Cadj.
- Prepositional complement
(Cpre.)
She is interested in making up all
day.
S V Cs Cadj.
- Adverbials:
+ Semantically: adverb of time,
place and process (manner)
He worked hard at school then.
S V Amanner Aplace Atime
+ Functionally: 3 kinds
Adjuncts: integrated in the
structure of the clause
He worked carefully.
S V A adjunct (How)
Disjuncts: peripheral to the
structure of the clause
Carefully, he worked .
A disjunct S V
(generally speaking, in fact, to be
honest, to tell the truth…)
Conjuncts: peripheral to the
structure of the clause and
connective function
Secondly, you have to learn
French.
A conjunct S V Od
(finally, on the other hand, in
brief, that’s why, in other words,
in addition, moreover, in
conclusion, what’s more, further
more...)
Ex. 5, 7
2.3 Classification
a, According to usage: 2
- Independent clause:
+ Simple sentence : Tom saw
Mary.
+ Compound sentence: Tom saw
Mary and he ran away.
+ Complex sentence: When Tom
saw Mary, he ran away.
+ Dependent clause: When he
saw Mary, he ran away.
b, According to clause elements
and verb complementation: 7
kinds
S, V, O, C, A
SV
SVA
SVC
SVO
SVOA
SVOC
SVOO
- S + V(intransitive) : He has
arrived.
- S + V(intensive) + Adverb : He is
in the garden.
- S + V(intensive) + Cs : He looks
tired.
- S + V(mono transitive) + Od : I
love you.
- S + V(complex transitive) + O +
A : They put him in a good
position.
- S + V(complex transitive) + Od +
Co : He made me happy.
- S + V(di transitive)+ Oi + Od : He
gave me his book.
INTENSIVE
V intransitive
EXTENSIVE mono-transitive
transitive di-transitive
complex transitive
Ex. 98
c, According to Verb phrase
structures (Structural
classification): 3
Finite clause
Infinitive “to” inf. NFC
Cl Non-finite clause bare inf. NFC
-Ing participle NFC
- Ed participle NFC
Verbless
C1, Finite clauses: a clause whose
verb element is a finite verb
phrase.
He is a student.
FCl.
C2, Non – finite clauses: a clause
whose verb element is a non -
finite verb phrase.
- Infinitive NFC:
+ “To” infinitive non – finite
clause:
To learn English is difficult.
+ Bare infinitive non – finite
clause:
All I did was hit him on his head.
-Ing participle non – finite clause:
The teacher being ill, we missed
our lesson.
- Ed participle non – finite clause:
Given a beautiful present, she
was happy.
His job finished, he went home.
C3, Verbless clause: a clause
whose verb element is absent
He went to bed angry.
verbless
ß> When he was angry, he went
to bed.
She stayed at home jobless.
ß> Because she was jobless, she
stayed at home.
Ex: 11
d, According to syntactic
function of the clauses: 2
- Independent clauses (main/
super ordinate) :
He ran away when I turned out.
- Dependent clauses (sub-clause/
subordinate)
What he wants is what I want.
Functionally : I think that you can
do it if you try.
c
b
a
‘a’ is the superordinate to ‘b’ or
‘c’ is the subordinate to ‘b’
‘b’ is the superordnate to ‘c’ ‘b’ is
the subordinate to ‘a’
Structurally:
FCl
FCl
FCl
Cl.elements + V.complementation:
s v
S V O A
e, According to the syntactic
functions of sub-clauses: 4 kinds
- Nominal clauses: (S, O, C)
What I want is not what he
wants.
I wonder whether he’ll come or
not.
I know you are rich.
I enjoy listening to music.
I want to learn English.
- Relative clauses:
The man who was standing at
the door is my brother.
Defining relative clause
- Comment clauses:
Generally speaking, he is honest.
- Adverbial clauses:
After having breakfast, he went
to school.
Ex: 4, 6
Chart of clauses classification
3. SENTENCES
3.1. Definition
An English sentence must have
the subject that governs the
verb and a finite verb phrase.
3.2. Sentence elements
1. Traditional classification:
Subject + Predicate
2. Modern classification: S-V-O-C-
A
Obligatory: 7 pattern clauses
Optional: Adverb of place/time
She went to London last Sunday.
Aplace Atime
The plane took off immediately.
Ex: 99
3.3. Classification
a. According to communicative
functions (purposes of
utterances): 4
a. Statements (Declarative):
usually with the word order: S-V
- Affirmative: I’ll speak to him
tonight. (+)
- Negative: I won’t speak to him.
(-)
b. Questions (Interrogative):
Normally with the inversion of
the first auxiliary verb or modal
verb - called the operator - and
the subject.
Do you like cat?
Op S
Questions are sentences marked
by one or more of these three
criteria:
- The placing of the operator in
front of the subject (S-operator
inversion):
Do you like coffee?
- The initial positioning of an
interrogative or “Wh-” element:
What do you like?
- Rising intonation: You know
him?
Ex: 15
c. Commands (imperative):
sentences which have no overt
grammatical subject and whose
verb element is in imperative
V
Don’t + V
- Without subject: Be careful.
Don’t be silly.
- With subject: Someone open
the door.
Don’t someone open the door.
- With ‘let’ Let’s go.
Let him know.
Don’t let him go.
Let him not go.
Ex: 118
d. Exclamations: sentences which
have an initial phrase introduced
by “what” or “how” without the
inversion of subject and
operator.
How + adj/adv + S + V! How
beautiful she is!
What +NP + S +V! What a
beautiful girl she is!
Sometimes, we have verbless
utterances in exclamation (in
spoken language)
b. According to their structures:
I like you.
FCl
I told him this but he didn’t
believe me.
1st indep. cl. 2nd indep. cl.
I know that you’re honest.
__ S V C = sub. clause
S V O = main clause
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