Noelia González

GRAMMATICAL UNITS
THEY ARE MEANINGFUL AND COMBINE WITH EACH OTHER IN
SYSTEMATIC WAYS.

WE MAY DISTINGUISH A
HIERARCHY OF UNITS:
DISCOURSE
(SENTENCE)
Most typically, a unit CLAUSE
PHRASE
consists of one or more WORD
elements on the level MORPHEME
PHONEME/GRAPHEME
below, i.e. a clause
consists of one or more
phrases, a phrase
consists of one or moe
word, a word consists of CLAUSE, PHRASE AND WORD

one or more morphemes, The most basic kind of clause

etc. consists of a subject followed
by a predicate.
In the simplest case, the (Subj)
is a noun and the (Pred) is
averb.
Most often, the subject and or
the predicate consists of more
tha one word while still having
a noun and verb as their most
importante component.

The syntactically most straitghforward sentences have the form of a single

clause or else of a sequence of two or more coordinated clauses joined by a
coordinator (e.g. and, or, but)
I. CLAUSAL SENTENCES (having the form of a clause)
Kim is an actor
II COMPOUND SENTENCES
Kim is an actor, but Pat is a theacher.
 NOELIA GONZÁLEZ

SENTENCE LEVEL

Sentences are not just a group of words randomly put together, but an ordered
string of words which follow certain rules of combination.
English sentences are made of some obligatory and some optional elements.
All sentences in English can be reduced to one of the seven basic patterns of
sentences.

FUNCTIONAL AND FORMAL LABELS

In the grammar of English we talk
A sentence consists of smaller units. about the following formal labels (also
Single words or combination of words called "categorical labels"):
(phrases). Each of these units performs Noun (and noun-phrase, verb (and
some function in the sentence. We use verb-phrase), adjective (and adjective-
labels like subject, predicate, object, phrase), adverb (and adverb-phrase),
complement and adjunct These are pronoun, proposition (and
functional labels, which are different prepositional-phrase), articles,
from formal labels like noun, adjective, ordinals, quantifiers, demonstratives,
adverb, etc. conjuctions, etc.
Formal lebels are related to the form of a
word. The form of a word is always Here are some common functional
stable and independent of its position in labels:
a sentence. A word may occur in Subject, predicate, verb (is found in
different positions in different sentences. both the lists), object, complement,
It may have different functions in those adjunct, modifier, classifier, etc.
sentences. We will use different
functional labels to show these different
functions. But in all these sentences its
form will be the same.
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
Labels like noun, adjective or adverb are Sentences are made of
formal labels. If a word is a noun, it will functional alements.
remain a noun in any sentence. But it can Every sentence has two basic
be a subject in one sentence, an object parts- the subject and the
in another and a complement in a third predicate.
sentence.

SUBJECT: normally indicates the person or thing performing the action.

Syntactically, the subject is distinguished from other elements by the flowing properties:
*It usually has the form of a NP (noun phrase).
*Its default position is before the verb.
*In interrogative clauses typically occupies a distinctive position just after the verb.
Note 👉 (Subject is a function while NP is a category).
PREDICATE: describes the action. Typically describes a property of the person or the thing referred to
by the subject, or describes a situation in which this person or thing plays some role.
DIRECT OBJECT: is the person or thing that directly receives the action or effect of the verb. It
answers the question "what" or "whom." E.g. She eats watermelon for breakfast.
INDIRECT OBJECT: receives what is meant by the direct object.
An Indirect Object answers the question "for what," "of what," "to what," "for whom," "of whom," or
"to whom" and accompanies a direct object.
 NOELIA GONZÁLEZ
BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
subject S
verb V These elements (major
object O - direct object dO sentence constituents)
O - indirect object iO function in the basic
complement C - subject complement sC sentence structures or
patterns.
C - object complement oC
A - adverbial complement aC

Remember that basic sentence patterns are related to the obligatory elements present in the sentence. These
are called basic patterns, becasuse any sentence can by reduced to one of these patterns. Even if you come
across a long sentence you will see that it contains many optional elements, whithout which the sentence can
still be grammatically complete. If you take these optional elements away,, what remains is a basic pattern.
For example:
-After a long chase the hunter ultimately killed the lion with a precise gunshot. (SVO)
-The hunter killed the lion

1. SV (Subject+ verb) obbligato elements

The minimum necesary for this kind of sentences are the subjetc and the verb. We can add any number of additional
elements to enlarge the sentence, but will all be optional.
e.g. Birds fly.
The girl laughed.
2. SVA (Subject+ Verb+ Adjunct) obbligatory elements
Adjuncts are expressions of place, time, direction, etc. Remember that, in this pattern, adjuncts are obligatory
elements, that is, if you remove them the sentence will become grammatically incomplete. Most common adjuncts
are adverbs or adverbial phrases, particulary adverbs of place.
e.g. The director is in the office.
Everyone was on the streets.
3. SVC (Subject+ Verb+ Complement) obbligatory elements
If you take away the complement, the sentence will be incomplete. A complement is normally a noun or an adjective.
In such sentences the verb is usually "be" or "become"- type (become, turn, seem, look, etc.)
e.g. The students became uneasy.
Her face turned red.
4. SVO (Subject+ Verb+ Object) obbligatory elements
Any type of word can be the object. But most commonly nouns take the position of objects. Nouns comming after
"be" or "become" type of verbs are complements, while nouns comming after other types of verbs are usually objects.
Yo can use the "test of passivisation"- the noun as the object become he subject in te passive.
e.g. The car hit the truck.
He drops the ball.
5. SVOA (Subject+ Verb+ Object+ Adjunct) obbligatory elements
Once again th adjuncts are usually adverbs or prepositional phrases.
e.g. She put the book on the shelf.
The host left the guests at the Italian restaurant.

6. SVOC (Subject+ Verb+ Object+ Complement) obbligatory elements

The complement may be related to the subject or the object, Accordingly, it is called "subject complement" or "object
complement".
e.g. They elected her the leader of the group.
The news made her very sad.
7. SVOO (Subject+ Verb+ Object+ Object) obbligatory elements
One of the objects is considered the direct object and the other the indirect object.
The object following the preposition is the indirect object. If there are two prepositions, then the first object after the
verb is the indirect object.
e.g. The office will send you a formal invitation.
Her parents gave her a lot of support.

links
Sentence Patterns - What you need to know! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=745WT5bcFwA
 PHRASE LEVEL

CLAUSE PHRASE
A group of words that contains a subject A group of words whithout a subject-verb
and a verb. component.

INDEPENDENT CLAUSE: There are five types of phrases:

makes sence on its own as a sentence,
E.g. I went to school. NOUN PHRASE main word Noun
VERB PHRASE main word verb
DEPENDENT CLAUSE: ADJECTIVE PHRASE main word Adj.
doesn´t makes sence on its own as a ADVERBIAL PHRASE main word Adv.
sentence. E.g. Although I wasn´t feelin PREP. PHRASE main word Preposition
well.
(Although I wasn´t feeling well, I went to
school.)

1. A phrase may contain another phrase with in (embedded).

E.g. We had some very pleasant times in Florida.
-The noun phrase: some very pleasant times, has the adjective phrase: very pleasant, between
, some and times.
A clause may also be embedded in a phrase.
E.g. The school that I attend is quite small. (that I attend- clause)
2. They are also characterized by their potential functions.
For example, a noun phrase may funtion as a subject, direct object or indirect object (among
others).
3. There ir an inevitable circularity in talking about phrases and words: a noun is a word that
can be main word in a noun-phrase, and a noun-phrase is a phrase whose main word is a noun.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE NOUN PHRASE

.The main word in a noun phrase is a noun or a pronoun.

(determiners) (pre-modifiers) noun (post-modifiers)

Determiners (words like... the, a, those, some) introduce noun phrases. Modifiers are units that are
dependent on the main word and can be omiited. Modifiers that come before the noun are pre-
modifiers, and those that come after the noun are post-modifiers. Examples:
noun books
determiner+noun those books
pre-modifier+noun new books
determiner+pre-modifier+noun some long books
noun+post-modifier books on astronomy
determiner+noun+post-modifier some books on astronomy
pre-modifier+noun+post-modifier popular books on astronomy
determiner+pre-determiner+noun+post-modifier some popular books on astronomy

 NOELIA GONZÁLEZ

Determiners : three classes

1) pre-determiners, e.g. all, both, half
2)central determiners, e.g. a(n), the, those
3)post-determiners, e.g. other, two, first
examples:
all these other works
both our two daughters

Modifiers: the noun phrase may have more than one pre-modifier or post-modifier.
a long hot summer
acute, life-threatening diseases
a nasty gash on his chin wich needed medical attention

*the modifier may itself be modified.

a comfortably cool room
the investigation of crimes against children

*a modifier may also be discontinuous, one part coming before the noun and the other part after it:
the easiest children to teach
(compare) the childre -who are- easiest to teach

Functions of noun phrases

1- subject:
The people in the bus escaped through the emergency exit.
2- direct object:
They are testing some new equipment.
3- indirect object:
The bank gave David a loan.
4- subject complement:
The performance was a test of their physical endurance.
5- object complement:
Many of us consider her the best candidate.
6- complement of a preposition:
The box of chocholates is intended for your children.
7- pre-modifier of a noun or noun phrase:
Milk production is down this year.
8- adverbial
The term finishes next week.
 NOELIA GONZÁLEZ

THE STRUCTURE OF THE VERB PHRASE

.The typical structure of the verb-phrase consists of a main verb preceded optionally by a
maximum of four auxiliary verbs.

auxiliary 1 auxiliary 2 auxiliary 3 auxiliary 4 main verb

Main verbs
Regular verbs have four forms that are constructed Verbs can be marked by tense,
in this way: aspect, mood, person.
1- base form: Verbs can be finite and non finite.
The base form is what we find in dictionary entries: There are modal auxiliaries.
laugh, mention, play. There are multi-words verbs as:
2- -s form: i) phrasal verbs: give in
The -s form adds to the base form an ending in -s: ii) prepositional verbs: look after
laughs, mentions, plays. iii) phrasal prepositional verb: put up with
3- -ing participle:
The -ing participle adds to the base form an ending
in -ing: laughing, mentioning, playing.
4- -ed form (past or -ed participle)
The -ed form adds to the base form an ending in -
ed: laughed, mentioned, played.
The sequence of auxiliaries
If we choose to use auxiliaries, they must appear in the following sequence:
(1) modal auxiliary, such as can, may, will
(2) perfect auxiliary have
(3) progressive auxiliary be
(4) passive auxiliary be

These four uses of the auxiliaries specify the form of the verb that follows:
(1) modal, followed by base form: may phone
(2) perfect have, followed by -ed participle: have phoned
(3) progressive be, followed by -ing participle: was phoning
(4) passive be, followed by -ed participle: was phoned

Gasps in the sequence are of course normal:

1 + 3: will be phoning (modal+progressive)
2+4 : has been phoned (perfect+passive)
2+3: has been phoning (perfect+ progressive)
1+4 : can be phoned (modal+passive)

There are also phrasal auxiliaries, which are intermediate between auxiliaries and main
verbs. For example: Sandra is going to apply for the job./ I had better eat now./ My parents are
about to leave. / We have got to speak to her./ He may be able to help us.
Only the first word in a phrasal auxiliary is a true auxiliary, since only that word functions as
an operator, for example in forming questions. For example: Is Sandra going to aply for the
job? / Had I better eat now? / Is Jennifer supposed to phone us today?
 NOELIA GONZÁLEZ
ADJECTIVE PHRASE
The main word is and adective. . The structure of the typical adjective phrase may be
represented as follows:

(pre-modifiers) adjective (post-modifier)

Modifiers qualify in some respect what is denoted by adjective

Functions of the adjective phrase
they have two main functions
1- pre-modifier in a noun phrase
He was a tall man, dressed in a blue suit.
2- Subject complement
The photogrgraphs were quite professional.
3- Object complement
My parents made me aware of my filial responsabilities.
4- post-modifier in a noun phrase
The OS/2 makes good use of the memory available.

ADVERB PHRASE
.The main word is and adverb. The structure of the typical adjective phrase is similar to the
adverbial phrase.

(pre-modifiers) adverb (post-modifier)

Here are some examples of possible structures of adverb phrases:

adverb surprisingly
pre-modifier+ adverb very surprisingly
adverb+post-modifier surprisingly for her
pre-modifier+adverb+post-modifier very surprisingly for her

Functions of the adverb phrases:

they have two main functions
1- Modifier of an adjective or and adverb in
phrase structure.
The description was remarkably (adj) accurate.
The new drug was hailed, somewhat (adv)
prematurely, as the penicillin of the 1990s.
2- Adverbial in sentence structure.

 NOELIA GONZÁLEZ
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
The prepositional phrase is a structure with two parts:

preposition complement

The prepositional complement is typically a noun phrase, but it may also be a nominal relative
clause, or an -ing clause.
Functions prepositional phrases
they have three main functions:
1- Post-modifier of a noun
2- Post-modifier of an adjective
3- Adverbial

Two or more prepositional phrases may appear independently side by side:

I read stories to children (A) at home (A) in the evening (A)