Syntax

English Language Syntax

What is a phrase?

A collection of words that have a grammatical relationship with each other, lack both a subject and a predicate

Noun phrase: contains a noun and other related words that describe the noun

Verb phrase: comprises a main verb and any other related verbs

Prepositional phrase: consists of a preposition and the object of the preposition

Adjective phrase (complement): a group of words functioning as an adjective in a sentence

Adverb phrase: consists of an adverb or words acting as adverbs in a sentence, adds extra information and the sentence can still make sense even without it

What is a clause?

The main structures used to compose sentences, minimally consist of a subject and a verb (noun phrase and verb phrase)

What is a main clause?

A clause that makes sense on its own

EXAMPLE: the cat is cute.

What is a subordinate clause?

A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence

EXAMPLE: because it is soft

What is a sentence fragment?

They act as a sentence even though they aren't a complete main clause

EXAMPLE: potato cakes 3 for $1

What is the subject of a sentence?

The person or thing carrying out the action

EXAMPLE: She baked brownies (she is the subject)

What is the object of a sentence?

Something that is affected by the verb.

Direct object: the thing being acted upon by the verb
EXAMPLE: she gave a present. present is the direct object.

Indirect object: tells to who or for whom the action was done.
EXAMPLE: she gave her friend a present. her friend is the indirect object, the present is the direct object.

What is a complement?

Gives extra information about the subject or object. Can be an adjective phrase, a noun phrase, a pronoun, a numeral or a clause.

EXAMPLE:
the music was superb (adjective phrase)
the dress was a bargain (noun phrase)
that cup is his (pronoun)
the old man was eighty (numeral)
this street is where the brawl took place (clause)

What is an adverbial?

Provides information about time, manner and place. Can be found by asking questions like how? when? where? and how often?

EXAMPLE: He went to the city \[by train\] \[last week\]

What is a predicate?

The part of the sentence or clause that tells us what the subject does. (Everything excluding the subject noun phrase)

EXAMPLE: someone [stole my bike last week]

What is a sentence?

A group of words that contain at least one main clause.

What is a simple sentence?

A sentence that contains just one main clause and one finite verb.

EXAMPLE: the young boy kicked the football into the goal.

What is a compound sentence?

A sentence that contains to or more main clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction.

EXAMPLE: the girl weeded the garden and swept up the leaves.

What is a complex sentence?

A sentence consisting of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

EXAMPLE: because I left late, I missed the train.

What is a compound-complex sentence?

A sentence consisting of two main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.

EXAMPLE: the lorry left [main] when it had been loaded [subordinate] and returned [main] after it had delivered its load [subordinate]

What is an ellipsis?

When words or clauses are left out because they appear elsewhere, or can be inferred from the context. Appear in both informal and formal discourse, avoiding repetition of words.

EXAMPLE: I washed the dishes and [I] swept the floor.

[I will] See you at six!

What is a declarative sentence?

A statement.

EXAMPLE: that dog is cute.

What is an imperative sentence?

A command or order. Begins with a verb in the base form.

EXAMPLE: clean your room.

What is an interrogative sentence?

A question.

EXAMPLE: are you okay?

What is an exclamative sentence?

An utterance with lots of emotion, typically has an exclamation mark.

EXAMPLE: that's so cool!

What is coordination?

The joining of two or more main clauses that are equal in function and status. Are done using coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)

EXAMPLE: Jamie bought ice-cream and Tommy bought chocolate.

What is subordination?

The combination of clauses that are syntactically non-equivalent. (That is, joining a main clause with a subordinate clause using subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns)

EXAMPLE: although I was sick, I still went to school.

What is nominalisation?

The process of turning verbs into nouns.

EXAMPLE: innocent → innocence, running → a run

What is active voice?

A sentence in which the subject is doing the action

EXAMPLE: Sam drove the car

What is passive voice?

A sentence in which the patient is the subject

EXAMPLE: The car was driven by Sam

What is agentless passive?

Where the agent (the doer) is left out of a sentence

EXAMPLE: the car was driven.

What is parallelism?

When similar syntactic structures are used in close succession. It creates a sense of balance and rhythm, which aids fluency

EXAMPLE: Alice ran into the room, into the garden, and into our hearts.

What is antithesis?

A type of parallelism which involves contrasting phrases. It draws attention to the contrast by juxtaposing antithetical words and phrases.

EXAMPLE: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

What is listing?

When number of items are placed in succession of each other. It creates a sense of chaos, confusion, logic, or reason, depending on the context

EXAMPLE: The use of syndetic listing in “We had scones and muffins and jams and fruits and sandwiches and biscuits and teas and quiches and pastries and everything else that was required for the perfect traditional English high-tea” (lines 2-5) has an accumulative effect which creates a sense of abundance and indulgence.

What is a vocative?

Words used to name people or refer to people in order to gain their attention or to address them.

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EXAMPLE: ‘Billy’', help yourself to the food.

What is syntactic patterning?

Parallelism, antithesis, listing

What are the sentence types?

Interrogative, exclamative, declarative, imperative

What are the sentence structures?

Simple, compound, complex, compound-complex