ENGLANG METALANGUAGE SYNTAX

Simple sentences

one main clause

e.g. I went for a run

• can be used for stylistic effect, say in a speech to draw particular attention to a punch line, deliberately using a short, sharp, simple sentence in contrast to the rest fo the speech

Compound sentence

2+ main clauses

e.g. I went for a run and I did some work

• helps maintain fluency and are good for providing lots of information

Complex sentences

1 main clause, 1 subordinate clause. Joined by a subordination conjunction.

e.g. I went for a run rather than doing some work

• helpful and necessary when providing stipulations or conditions

Compound complex sentences

2+ main clauses, 1+ subordinate classes, joined by both coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

e.g. I went for a run and i did some work despite not wanting to do either

Fragments

This refers to a grammatically incomplete sentence that nonetheless makes sense, used to be more concise.

e.g. ‘Rubiks cube 2 for 1’ instead of rubiks cube are selling at 2 for 1

• more common in advertisements

Declaritive

Declaratives declare something. They are statements.

e.g. I like salt

• fundamentally, they help provide information, and this is often easily linked back to supporting the function of a text. Its worth nothing if one person is using more declaratives compared to others.

For example, in a podcast or interview, the guest is more likely to use more declaratives than the host, so their sentence type usage reflects their role in the discourse

Interrogative

Questions

e.g. could you pass the salt?

• they help elicit information or, in certain instances, seek agreement and understanding

Imperative

Imperatives tell you to do something - or at least, encourage you to do something.

e.g. ‘pass the salt’

• these are often used in advertising to encourage a potential buyer to take action. Imperatives can be used to give orders or directions or guidelines or suggestions, but they can also be used among friends and reflect close social distance

Exclamative

Exclamatives make exclamations, typically charged with a great deal of emotion. - look for exclamation marks!

e.g Wow!

• when analysing exclamatives, consider what emotion is being expressed. Then think how this might relate to the bigger picture.

For example, expressing shock and joy in response to your friend’s good news may help build rapport and fulfil one of the social purposes of an interaction

Active voice

Sentence that follow subject-verb-object structure.

e.g. Lily broke the vase. subject = Lily, verb = broke, object = the vase

• we speak in active voice by default

Passive voice

This refers to a sentence that follows the patient-verb-agent structure.

e.g. The vase was broken by Lily. Patient = the vase, verb = was broken, agent = Lily.

• To shift focus from the agent and onto the subject

Parallelism (syntactic patterning)