Syntactic Rules 2. What does the criticism refer to?

- Dealing with the syntax of the core sentences, its transformation

and the combinations of two or more core sentences  If you feel your writing becomes more “refined” or “elegant” by avoiding
Syntax prepositions at the end, you may position the preposition before the
- the part of linguistics that studies sentence structure: relative pronoun which introduces the clause.
• Word order:
- I want these books. Examples:
- *want these I books.
• Agreement – subject and verb, determiner and noun, . . . often must agree: 1. The president is the one with whom I have to discuss this crisis.
- He wants this book.
- *He wants this book. This is facetiously called “Pied Piping”, referring to the close positioning of
- I want these books. preposition and relative pronoun. This construction may sound awkward in
- *I want this books.
sentences which have a conversational tone, neither does it work with many
• How many complements which prepositions and forms (cases):
- I give Mary a book. idiomatic constructions.
- *I see Mary a book.
Examples:
- I see her.
- *I see she.
1. He’s the one about whom we are chatting.
• Hierarchical structure – what modifies what
- We need more (intelligent leaders). (more of intelligent leaders) He’s the one we were chatting about.
- We need (more intelligent) leaders. (leaders that are more intelligent) 2. That’s an insult up with which I shall not put.
- • etc. That’s an insult I shall not put with.

Syntax is not about meaning! Sentences can have no sense and still be Also, never double the prepositions:
grammatically correct:
- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. – nonsense, but grammatically Examples:
correct
- *Sleep ideas colorless furiously green. – grammatically incorrect 1. The safety of the students while on a school field trip is something for
- Syntax: From Greek syntaxis from syn (together) + taxis (arrangement). which teachers are responsible for.
- Cf. symphony, synonym, synthesis; taxonomy, tactics The safety of the students while on a school field trip is something
for which teachers are responsible.
The safety of the students while on a school field trip is something
which teachers are responsible for.
POSITION OF PREPOSITIONS AND PARTICLES

 Ignore the rule which states that you should “never use a preposition with
SEQUENCE OF ADJECTIVE
which to end a sentence”. Put prepositions or particles where they are
 Adjectives in a series follow a definite sequence according to their
more “natural,” following spoken usage i.e. you may use a preposition to
meanings.
end a sentence.
Examples:
Examples:
1. The school’s German, first, blonde, three, tall, young, boys.
1. The new chairman is someone we should look up to.
 The school’s first three young, tall boy, blonde, German boys
However, no general formula can be written for this sequence, apart from noting
that:
o Ordinal and cardinal numerals, in that order, come immediately after
determiner;
o Inherent characteristics are closer to the noun
o Subjective judgments are farther from the noun.
POSITION AND SEQUENCE OF ADVERBS
 The normal word order the adverbs come to the end of the
sentence in the following sequence: (1) adverb of manner, (2)
adverb of place, (3) adverb of time. Note that the adverbs of place
and time, when used with verbs other than be, maybe repositioned
elsewhere but not the adverb of manner.
Examples:
1. He delivered the lecture this morning excellently at the
conference.
He delivered the lecture excellently at the conference this
morning.
At the conference this morning, he delivered the lecture
excellently.
 The adverb of frequency is placed before the verb, except the verb
be.
Example:
1. Books often seem authoritative, yet are sometimes erroneous.
 The adverb of time is often proposed, i.e. put at the beginning of
the sentence
Example:
1. This morning, he delivered the lecture excellently at the
conference.
 This initial position makes the adverb of time refer directly to the
same time of the main verb. A final position could make the
reference of the adverb.
Examples:
1. De Klerk initiated reconciliation move with Mandela, when still the
prime minister of South Africa.
When still the prime minister of South Africa, De Klerk
initiated reconciliation move with Mandela.
2. De Klerk initiated reconciliation move with Mandela, while still in
prison.
De Klerk initiated reconciliation move with Mandela, while
still in prison.
SEQUENCE OF TIME WORDS
 Dates in text may take three forms. Note the absence of comma in
the second form.
Example:
1. The infamous attack on the World Trade Center happened on
September 11, 2001.
2. The infamous attack on the World Trade Center happened on
11September 2001.
3. The infamous attack on the World Trade Center happened on 11th
September, 2001.
 Or this infamous date of the terrorists’ attack. September the 11th
has become the common idiom in the international media.
 The name of the day precedes the date:
The American occupation of the Philippines officially ended
on Thursday, the 4th July, 1946
TIME AND SPACE ORDER IN THE SENTENCE
The sequence of verbs in a narrative sentence