chapter 1

I. Functions of Parts of Speech in Simple SentencesTypes of Functions:

  • Nominal

  • Adjectival

  • Adverbial

Nominal Functions

Types:

  • Subject (S): the main noun that the sentence is about.

  • Subject Complement (S.C.): provides additional information about the subject (typically follows linking verbs).

  • Direct Object (D.O.): receives the action of the verb.

  • Indirect Object (I.O.): the recipient of the direct object.

  • Object of Preposition (O.P.): follows the preposition and completes its meaning.

  • Object Complement (O.C.): renames or describes the direct object.

  • Appositive (App): a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun.

Examples:

  • "The famous actor turned furious when he heard the bad news."NP (S), Adj (S.C.), Pro (S), NP (D.O.)

  • "Ann offered both her brothers expensive watches."N (S), PG (I.O.), NP (D.O.)

  • "They found Tom, the new recruit, unfit for the job."N (D.O.), NP (App), Adj (O.C.), NP (O.P.)

Verb Patterns:

  • Linking Verb: V + S.C. (e.g. "Ann is a doctor.")

  • Intransitive Verb: V + Ø (e.g. "The kids are sleeping.")

  • Mono-transitive Verb: V + D.O. (e.g. "I read this book last year.")

  • Di-transitive Verb: V + I.O. + D.O. (e.g. "She made the kids a nice cake.")

  • Complex Transitive Verb: V + D.O. + O.C. (e.g. "She made the kids happy.")

Adjectival Functions

Types of Adjectives:

  • One-word: e.g. "A round table" (a simple single adjective).

  • Derived: e.g. "Helpless love" (adjective formed from a verb).

  • Participial: e.g. "The landing plane" (adjective formed from a verb and typically ending in -ing or -ed).

  • Prepositional: e.g. "The man with the hat" (using prepositional phrases).

  • Determinants: Articles (a, an, the), distributives (each, every), and quantifiers (some, many) all function as adjectives.

Adverbial Functions

Definition: Words or phrases modifying the verb, adjective, or another adverb, providing additional information to indicate time, place, or manner.Examples:

  • Time: "The train left an hour ago."

  • Place: "They stayed at home all weekend."

  • Manner: "The man was driving recklessly."

  • Adverbs of Degree: Modify adjectives or other adverbs (e.g. "The room was almost empty.").

  1. Types of SentencesForms of Sentences: Simple, compound, and complex sentences can perform various communicative functions, allowing speakers to convey messages more effectively.

a. Sentence Types

  • Declarative Sentences: Make statements (affirmative or negative).

    • Affirmative: Follows SVO (subject-verb-object) format (e.g. "The weather is nice today.")

    • Negative: Uses negation to express the opposite (e.g. "Nobody helped me.")

  • Interrogative Sentences: Ask questions by inverting the typical word order (VSO).

    • Types of Questions:

      • Wh-questions: e.g. "What time is it?"

      • Yes/No questions: e.g. "Do you understand?"

      • Interro-negative: e.g. "Why didn’t you call me?"

      • Tag-questions: e.g. "You live here, don’t you?"

  • Imperative Sentences: Make requests or commands, with the subject "you" often implied.

    • Examples: "Shut the door!"; "Don’t open the door!"

  • Exclamatory Sentences: Express strong emotions or states, often characterized by exclamation marks.

    • Examples: "This is a nice day!"; "What a nice day!"

  1. The Clause in EnglishI.

    Clause Types and Definitions

  • Clause: A group of words that contains a subject and a verb. Clauses can be classified as main (independent) or subordinate (dependent).

  • Main Clause: A clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence (e.g. "He met a student.")

  • Subordinate Clause: A clause that cannot stand alone and must be linked to a main clause (e.g. "Although he worked hard, he failed his exam.")

II. Types of Sentences (Structure)

  • Simple Sentence: Contains one subject and one predicate, forming a complete thought.

    • Example: "The players arrived."

  • Compound Sentence: Contains two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

    • Example: "I have never played tennis, but I hope to start taking lessons."

  • Complex Sentence: Consists of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses, allowing for more nuance and detail.

    • Example: "He met a student who left school last year."

  • Compound-Complex Sentence: Contains two independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses, demonstrating advanced sentence structure.

    • Example: "Although I have never played tennis, I planned to start taking lessons next year; I really need the exercise."

  1. Sentence Combination TechniquesA. Coordination

  • Joining Sentences: Involves the use of coordinators (commonly remembered by the acronym FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

B. Subordination

  • Joining Clauses: Employing subordinating conjunctions (such as "because," "although," "since") or relative pronouns (like "who," "which") helps in combining clauses more effectively.

    • Examples: "Because the train was late, I arrived late to work."

C. Semantic Types of Sentences

  • Declarative: These make statements and can be either affirmative or negative.

  • Interrogative: These sentences aim to ask questions.

  • Imperative: These sentences make requests or commands.

  • Exclamatory: These express strong emotions, typically featuring various forms and structures depending on context.