TOPIC: SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of these weeks, the pre-service teacher (PST) should be able to:
a. tell the important of syntax; and
b. describe syntactic structure.

MODE OF DELIVERY: Video Presentation

MEMBERS:
Bugue, Lerma Joy S.
Lagoy-yo, Saffron D.
Nayusan, Jerylle Kaye P.
Villanueva, Zhain Jeirish R.
Yco, Rubelyn

CRITERIA:
Content (50): __________
Delivery (30): __________
Materials (20): __________
Add-on points (10): __________
I. SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE

A. Structure of Predication
- Consists of a Subject (s) and a Predicate (p)
- Concerned with the properties or features of the verb which acts as the predicate and
with the features of the noun which serves as the subject of the sentence.

Example: The baby starts to cry.

S P

 Subject
- Maybe a word or group of words that tells who and what about the subject.

 Predicate
- A verb or a verb with its modifier, direct object, indirect object, or complement.
- Usually follows the subject.
- It has verb component in it either as a single verb or more or less complex structure.

The predicate has verb component in it either as a single verb or a more or less complex
structure.
 Person  Aspect  Status
 Tense  Mode
 Phrase  Voice

1. Person
Verb form
 Common- present( verb base form) Example: I love baking.

- Used with plural subject and I and you.

 Third Singular Example: He knows how to

- verb + s form with singular subjects solve math problems.

2. Tenses
2 Tenses
 Common- base + (-s) Example: Shina dances gracefully.
 Past- base +(ed) Example: Shina danced gracefully.

3. Phrase
2 types
 Simple- the verb base form Example: I speak.
 Perfect- have + past participle Example: I have spoken.
 4. Aspect
3 aspects
 Simple
Example: I love eating banana.
 Durative- be + present participle base + ing verb
Example: We will be staying here for tonight.
 Inchoative- expresses beginning of the action, get + ing verb
Example: Let's get going.

5. Modal
 Modal auxiliaries + base form: must stop, may come, should see, etc.
Example: You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.

 Certain other auxiliaries + infinitive (to + base form): used to study, ought to come,
have to go, etc.
Example: Kim and Shey have to go to the meeting since they are officers.

6. Voice
 Active voice
Example: The cats eat the mice.
 Passive voice – the subject receives the action of the verb.
Example: Mice are eaten by cats.

7. Status
4 Statuses
 Affirmative Example: He is working.
 Interrogative Example: Is he working?
 Negative Example: He is not working.
 Negative interrogative Example: Is he not working?

B. Structure of Modification
- Consists of a Head (H) and a Modifier (M)

 Modifier- Serves to qualify.

 Makes the meaning more specific and vivid.

 Head- The word which is modified.

 Can be any of parts of speech.
 Maybe a word, phrase, or a sentence.

Example: Jay sings the song confidently.

H M
a. 5 Parts of Speech that can modify the Noun
1. Adjective as Noun Modifier
Example: Lenie bought this good book.
2. Noun as Noun Modifier
Example: My father's house has a greeny ground.
3. Verb as Noun Modifier
Example: The sun is shining. (Present participle)
Maria baked a cake for her sister's birthday. (Past participle)
I need to talk to my husband. (Infinitive)
4. Adverb as Noun Modifier
Example: The temperature inside is higher than in the outside.

5. Prepositional Phrases as Noun Modifier

- Simple prepositions
Example: They bought a house in the city.
- Compound prepositions
Example: He sent her flowers along with a pretty card.

- Phrasal prepositions
Example: The boss put out a memo on regard to the new rule.

b. Verb as Head
 Adverb as Verb Modifier
- After the verb Example: He works successfully.
- Before the verb Example: He successfully tried.
- Between auxiliary verb Example: He has seldom been heard.
 Noun as Verb Modifier
Example: He walked this way.
 Noun as the Object
Example: He measured a mile.
 Adjective as Verb Modifier
Example: The dog went crazy.
 Verb as Verb Modifier
- Present participle Example: The children came running.
- Infinitive form Example: He loves to eat.
- Prepositional phrase as Verb Modifier Example: He came down the street on a
bicycle.

c. Adjective as Head
1. Qualifier as adjective modifier
Example: She is very intelligent.
2. Adverb as adjective modifier
Example: The incredibly difficult exam.
 3. Noun as adjective modifier
Example: The sea green cloth.
4. Verb as adjective modifier
- Present participle form (-ing)
Example: It's freezing cold.
5. Adjective as adjective modifier
Example: His dark blue eyes catch my attention.
6. Prepositional phrase as adjective modifier
Example: Garry came back stronger than ever.

d. Adverb as Head
1. Qualifier as adverb modifier
Example: She completed the puzzle very easily.

2. Adverb as adverb modifier

Example: The mountain loomed far away.

3. Noun as adverb modifier

Example: He threw the ball a meter away.

4. Prepositional phrase as adverb modifier

Example: After working tirelessly, Luz decided to go away for a week to relax
and recharge.

C. Structure of Complementation
- A structure of complementation is a verb phrase consisting of two major components: a
verbal element (VB) and a complement (C).
- The verbal element may be a finite verb or verb phrase, or a non-finite verb in the form
of an infinitive, an infinitive without „to‟ or a present participle.
- The complement is an essential part; it cannot be omitted since it helps make the
construction meaningful.

There are four kinds of verbs that occur in the structure of complementation: each has its
own complement or set of complements as follow:

c1. Linking verb + subjective complement

VB SC
Ex. becomes + a real teacher

c2. Mono-transitive verb + direct object

VB DO
Ex. drinking + low-fat milk
 c3. Di- transitive verb + indirect object + direct object
VB IO DO
Ex. to tell + the class + all the instructions

c4. Complex-transitive verb + direct object + objective complement

VB DO OC
Ex. to tell + the policy + a smart one

Note: Complements may be words, phrases, or clauses of various types.

D. Structure of Coordination
- Coordination occurs between parts of a sentence that have the same status, such as two
main clauses, two noun phrases, two adjectives, two adverbials, etc.
- These parts liked by a coordinating (CO) conjunction or coordinator (i.e. and, or, but).

Coordination between main clauses:

Example: I speak French but I don’t speak German.

Coordination between nouns:

Example: Would you like tea or coffee?

Coordination between adjectives:

Example: The weather was cold and damp.

Coordination between adverbials:

Example: He ran out of the garden and across the road.

a. Linked Coordination and Unlinked Coordination

 Linked Coordination
 When two or more parts of a sentence are linked by coordinating conjunctions
Example: The children were cold and tired and hungry.

 Unlinked Coordination
 If commas or other punctuation are used in place of coordinating conjunctions.
Example: The children were cold, tired and hungry.

b. Segregatory Coordination
- These are two types of coordination in which noun phrases are linked by and:
segregatory coordination and combinatory coordination.

 Segregatory Coordination
 - The noun phrases can be separated to form two clauses.
Example: Mark and Ruth live in Scotland. → Mark lives in Scotland and Ruth
lives in Scotland.

 Combinatory Coordination
- The noun phrases form a single unit and cannot be separated.
Example: The president and the prime minister met to discuss the crisis. (not
*The president met to discuss the crisis and the prime minister met to discuss the
crisis)

E. Structure of Subordination
- Occurs between parts of a sentence that do not have the same status.
- It also refers to the relationship between clauses in a sentence where one clause is
dependent on another.
- Emphasizes major ideas in independent clauses and places minor ideas in dependent
clauses, marked by subordinating conjunctions, fostering sentence variety and avoiding
fragments.

a. Subordinate Clauses
 You can use subordinate clause in place of any of the main elements of a sentence
(apart from the verb).

 As the subject
Example: What you need is a more powerful computer.
 As the direct object
Example: I don’t know where she lives.
 As the indirect object
Example: Please tell whoever is making that noise to stop it at once!
 As the complement
Example: This is what I am looking for.
 As subject and complement
Example: What you see is what you get.
 As the adverbial
Example: I broke my ankle when I fell down the stairs.

 You can also use a subordinate clause as part of one of the main elements of a
sentence:

 After a noun, as part of the subject or object

Example: The dog that bit me belongs to my neighbor.
 After a preposition
Example: He gave us some advice on what we should do next.
  After an adjective
Example: She was reluctant to tell us her name.

 In most of the above examples, the subordinate clause is the finite clause. In other
words, it contains a verb in the present or past tense:
 What you need
 That bit me
 When I fell down the stairs

 A subordinate clause may contain the infinitive or one of the participles (the -ing form
or -ed form) of a verb:
Example: She was reluctant to help.
They had an accident while driving home.

b. Multiple Subordination
 Occurs when one subordinate clause contains another subordinate clause.
Example: She knows || that she will fail her exams | if she doesn’t work harder.

F. Structure of Correlation
- A correlative conjunction gets its name from the fact that it is a pair conjunction that has
a reciprocal or complementary relationship.

There are short meanings for correlative conjunctions:

 Correlate
 Working in pairs
 To join phrases or words
 To connect two equal grammatical items.

Examples are:
 Either is used with or
Example: You can either drive your car to the grocery store or ride your bike.
 Neither is used with nor
Example: It is neither an obsession nor a projection of his mind, although it
certainly does compel him.
 Whether is used with or
Example: She didn’t know whether she is laughing or crying.
 Both is used with and
Example: They are both tired and hungry after shopping.
 Not only with but also
Example: Lily eats not only string beans but also broccoli.
 Reminder:
If a noun follows a first conjunction, then a noun will also follow the second conjunction.
If a verb follows the first conjunction, then the verb will also follow the second
conjunction.

G. Structure of Negation
- A grammatical construction that contradicts or denies all or part of the meaning of a
sentence.
- Also known as negative construction or standard negation.

Rules of Negation
- By changing the auxiliary verb of the sentence into negative, we can apply negation in
a sentence.

a. Double Negation
 The existence of 2 forms of negation in the same sentence.
Example: The lecture was not unclear (this does not necessarily mean that the
lecture was clear).

 Uses of Double Negative

- Double negative can be used in two ways. They are:

1. Using negative words

- never, nobody, anyone, nothing, nowhere, etc.

Example: He can not go nowhere without informing me.

2. Using Prefix
- Adding of prefix to the positive form of a word
-ir, un, non, pre, anti, il, im, etc.

Example: Showbiz people claim that they are not unmindful of the church’s teachings
on morality (they are not quite unmindful, either).

Note: In modern English, double negatives are highly avoidable as it is grammatically

wrong.

b. Emphatic Negative
 A construction which looks like a double negation is one in which the main clause,
in the negative, is modified by a phrase or clause introduced by NOT.

Example: The librarian will not sign your clearance, not until you return some books
you borrowed some semesters back.
 G.1. Split Structure
- Splitting a sentence is opposite to joining a sentence.
- We have to break up or split complex sentence into two or more simple sentence.

Splitting of sentences:
1. Mark the clause
2. Make a sub-clause independent by omitting sub-ordinating linkers and inserting
subjects or other words wherever necessary.
Example:

G.2. Parallel Structure

- Refers to same word pattern within a sentence by repeating a chosen grammatical
form
- Also called parallelism
- Follow the grammatical form of the first information when expressing multiple ideas
in a sentence.
- Can be constructed in words, phrase, or clause level, in different sentences.
- Maintaining parallel structure helps you avoid grammatically incorrect sentences.
Example: I like to jog, bake, paint, and watch movies. (correct)
I like to jog, bake, paint, and watching movies. (incorrect)

 Parallel Structure in a Series

- Use parallel construction when items in a series have an equal level of importance.
- Usually joined by commas or semicolons along with and or or.

a. Parallel Words
- On the word level, a noun should be grouped with other nouns, an adjective with
other adjectives, and so on.

Example: The Company is looking for a candidate who is friendly, organized,

meticulous, and is going to arrive to work on time. (incorrect)

The Company is looking for a candidate who is friendly, organized,

meticulous, and punctual. (correct)

b. Parallel Phrases
- Should be used to balance a series of phrases with the same grammatical structure
- Avoid mixing noun phrases with verb phrases.

Example: Initial trials showed that exposure to the chemicals caused memory
problems, intermittent dizziness, and deter sleep. (incorrect)

Initial trials showed that exposure to the chemicals caused memory

problems, intermittent dizziness, and insomnia. (correct)
 c. Parallel Clauses
- Parallelism is also applicable to a series of clauses in a sentence.

Example: The report card stated that the student often talked in class, that he
bullied other students, and rarely finished his homework. (incorrect)

The report card stated that the student often talked in class, that he
bullied other students, and that rarely finished his homework. (correct)

d. List after a Colon

 A list that follows a colon should always have parallel elements.

Example: Mainstream economists have attributed the recession to several key

causes: deregulation policies, spike in interest rates, manufacturing orders
declining, and the emergence of asset bubbles. (incorrect)

Mainstream economists have attributed the recession to several key

causes: deregulation policies, high interest rates, low manufacturing orders,
and asset bubbles. (correct)

e.Parallel Construction in Pairs

 Use parallel construction when a sentence contains a pair of connected ideas.
 Pairs can be connected by coordinating conjunctions which include and, nor, but,
or, and yet.

Example: She planned to collect data by either using an online survey or phone
interviews.

She planned to collect data by either using an online survey or

conducting phone interviews.

G3. Elements of Sentence

- It is the various units that come together to form the structure of a sentence.

A sentence can consist of five units. The units are as follow:

 Subject
 Verb
 Object
 Adverbial (Adjunct)
 Complement
Abbreviated as S.V.O.A.C
1. Subject
 ‘S’ element or the subject is located at the beginning of the sentence.
 You cannot have a sentence that does not contain a subject.

2. Verb
 The ‘V’ element must be present in all sentences.
 All sentences in the English language must contain at least a verb.
3. Object
 The ‘O’ element in a sentence refers to the object of the sentence.
 Objects in sentences receive actions from the subject.
 NOT all sentences have objects.

4. Adverbial
 The ‘A ‘element is the adverbial and it tells us more about a verb
 Does not appear in all sentences
 Also be called an ‘adjunct’

5. Complement
 The ‘C’ element is the complement.
 Always comes after a linking verb.
 Not all sentences contain complements
References:

Books

Fergusson, R., & Manser, M., H. (2010). The Complete Guide to Grammar. Arcturus, London.

Malicsi, J. (2010). English Manual: The English Linguistics Project. Anvil Publishing, Inc.

Phingkarawat, N., Wichitsopon, R. (n.d.) Analysis of the English Word and Sentence Structure.
Educational Service Center, Walailak University.

Online

Bright, J. (2013, December 4). Elements of a Sentence. Hosbeg.com. https://hosbeg.com/

elements-of-a-sentence/

Correlation. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/AEVAbovEka4?si=O91FmeWMWVswIcbI

Liwanag, L. (2021, October 10). El 102 / Syntactic Structure: Subordination and Correlation.
[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/AEVAbovEka4?si=O91FmeWMWVswIcbI

Luo, A. (2023, February 6). Parallel structure & Parallelism | Definition, use & examples.
Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/sentence-structure/parallelism/

Negation in English | English grammar | English EFL. (n.d.). English EFL. https://www.english-
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Negation: Definition, Rules & Examples | Learn English. (n.d.). https://www.learngrammar.net/

english-grammar/negation

Sentence Structure Basics: Subordination. (2010). Writers Resource Lab.

https://www.cla.csulb.edu/departments/english/docs/SENTENCESTRUCTUREBASICS
_SUBORDINATION.pdf

Soccoro Amor Muring. (2022, June 22). STRUCTURE OF NEGATION (Split structure, parallel
structure, and elements of sentence) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Uoz JcPhdoWo
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Studocu. (n.d.). Syntatic Structures – Lesson 2; Syntatic Structures. https://www.studocu.com/

ph/document/university-of-perpetual-help-system-jonelta/structure-of-english/syntatic-
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Syntactic Structures: Types, Examples & analysis | StudySmarter. (n.d.). StudySmarter UK.
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/syntax/syntactic-structures/