ENGLISH

SYNTAX

Abdullah
 ENGLISH SYNTAX

Hak Cipta @ 2023 oleh Abdullah

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Cetakan pertama Februari 2022
Cetakan kedua Januari 2023

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Layout & Desain Cover: Muhammad Rafli Pradana, S.Ds.

ANGGOTA IKAPI No. 011/SSL/2010

ANGGOTA APPTI No. 006.063.1.10.2018

Dilarang memperbanyak buku ini dalam bentuk

apapun tanpa izin tertulis dari penerbit

iii, 106 hlm; 21 cm

ISBN 978-623-387-043-6
 Preface
English Syntax is one of the compulsory courses for
the English Department at FBS UNM or also at other
universities.
This English Syntax book is a learning material or
teaching material which includes definition and classification
of words, types of phrases, clauses, and sentences.
This English Syntax book includes knowledge of language and
linguistics theories as well as grammar and linguistics
knowledge which is part of the English Syntax course. This
English Syntax book is very helpful for students in the
learning and teaching process because in this book the
teaching materials are adapted to the curriculum and syllabus
for students of the English Department.
This book consists of five chapters. The first chapter
discusses the classification of words and types of words along
with examples. Chapter two, phrases and types of phrases.
Chapter three, clauses, which discusses the definition and
types of clauses. Chapter four, sentences that discusses the
definition and types of sentences. Chapter five, the
grammatical function which discusses the function of the
subject, verb and object.

Makassar, January 2023

Abdullah

Abbreviation
N : Noun
V : Verb

English Syntax | i
Adj : Adjective
Adv : Adverb
Aux : Auxiliary
Conj : Conjunction
Int : Intensifier
NP : Noun Phrase
VP : Verb Phrase
AdjP : Adjective Phrase
AdvP : Adverb Phrase
PrepP : Prepositional Phrase
GerP : Gerund Phrase
InfP : Infinitive Phrase
PartiP : Participle Phrase
PPartP : Past Participle Phrase
PredP : Predicate Phrase
AbsP : Absolute Phrase
TV : Transitive Verb
IntV : Intransitive Verb
Prep : Preposition
Pro : Pronoun
QW : Question Words

Table of
Contents
Preface i
Abreviation ii

English Syntax | ii
Table of Contents iii

CHAPTER 1 1
Classification of Words 1

CHAPTER 2 31
Phrase 31

CHAPTER 3 53
Clause 53

CHAPTER 4 69
Sentence 69

CHAPTER 5 89
Grammatical Function 89

REFERENCES 105

English Syntax | iii

 Chapter 1
classification OF WORDS
The classification of words are divided into two main
categories, they are class words and function words,
(Fries, 1964). The classification is consistently based on form,
The class word can be subdivided into: (1) noun, (2) verb,
(3) adjective and (4) adverb. These four classes of words
which are called the parts of speech. The other words which
do not belong to the four part of speech are called function
words, namely, words which do not have lexical meanings.
These function words always occur with the parts of speech
to form phrases.
Based on the parts of speech they occur with, the
function words can be divided into the following groups:
(1) determiners (2) auxiliaries, (3) intensifiers, (4)
preposition, (5) conjunctions, and (6) question words

A. CLASS OF WORDS
Content words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs. Those are the words that help us form a picture
in our head; they give us the contents of our story and tell
our listener where to focus his or her attention. We want our
listener to be able to quickly grasp the main content of our
story, so we make the content words easier to hear by
bringing attention to them with added stress.
According to Bloomfield (1933) Word is a smallest
unit of a language that has a meaning, for example I, is a
word because it has a meaning (lexical meaning)

Classification Of Words | 1
1. Noun
A noun is a word which is used to denote a person
(traffic warden, woman, Prime Minister, pianistetc.), a
concrete or abstract entity (binoculars, fork, field, truth,
incoherence etc.) or a place (office, garden, railway station).
These are all common nouns; there are also proper
nounswhich are the names of a specific person, place, event
etc., usually starting with a capital letter, for
example, York , John, Christmas, Saturday.
A noun can be extended to a noun phrase. In the
example phrases given below, the noun (in the first example)
and the noun phrase (in the remaining examples) is in bold.
Note how much the noun phrase can be extended by adding
extra information each time.
Example:
house lake
computer John
student science

Kind of nouns
Pronoun
Pronouns are used in place of a noun that has already been
mentioned or that is already known, often to avoid repeating
the noun.
For example:
Kate was tired so she went to bed.
Michael took the children with him.
Kieran’s face was close to mine.
That is a good idea.
Anything might happen

Possesive pronoun
The personal pronouns mine, yours, hers, his, ours, and
theirs are known as possessive pronouns: they refer to

English Syntax | 2
something owned by the speaker or by someone or
something previously mentioned.
For example:
That book is mine.
John’s eyes met hers.
Ours is a family farm.

Possesive adjective
possessive adjectives are the words used to show a form of
possession/ ownership or are used to express a close
relationship with someone or something. Moreover, just like
the article “the,” a possessive adjective also implies
definiteness. Some of the most basic possessive adjectives
that are commonly used in the English language are: my,
your, our, its, her, his, their, and whose (interrogative).
For example:
His name is Kevin.
Her name is Michaela.
Our cat is always licking its.
We sold our dune buggy yesterday.
The children thanked their.

Reflexive Pronoun
Reflexive personal pronouns
include myself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves,
and themselves. These are used to refer back to the subject
of the clause in which they are used:
For axample:
I fell and hurt myself.
Daisy prepared herself for the journey.
The children had to look after themselves.

Objective Pronoun
The personal pronouns me, you, us, him, her, it, and them
are called objective pronouns because they act as the objects
of verbs and prepositions:
For example:

Classification Of Words | 3
Catherine saw her.
Nick drove us home.
She waved at me.

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

Nouns can be either countable or uncountable. Countable
nouns (or count nouns) are those that refer to something
that can be counted. They have both singular and plural
forms (e.g. cat/cats; woman/women; country/countries). In
the singular, they can be preceded by a or an. Most nouns
come into this category.
A smaller number of nouns do not typically refer to things
that can be counted and so they do not regularly have a
plural form: these are known as uncountable nouns
(or mass nouns). Examples include: rain, flour, earth, wine,
or wood. Uncountable nouns can't be preceded by aor an.
Many abstract nouns are typically uncountable, e.g.
happiness, truth, darkness, humour.
Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural as
well, depending on the meaning or context of the
word. Take a look at these sentences:

uncountable because it's

Would you like some coffee? referring to the drink in
general
countable, because it's
He ordered a coffee. referring to a cup of
coffee
uncountable, because it
There's no truth in the
refers to the quality or
rumours.
state of being true
countable, because it's
The fundamental truths about
referring to facts or beliefs
human nature.
that are true

English Syntax | 4
In the Oxford Dictionary of English and the New Oxford
American Dictionary, nouns that are chiefly uncountable are
described as ‘mass nouns’. This type of noun entry may also
include an example sentence showing a countable use of the
type described above. For example:
beer noun [mass noun] an alcoholic drink made from yeast-
fermented malt flavoured with hops: a pint of beer | [count
noun] he ordered a beer.
There are some words that should only be used with
countable nouns and some that you should only use with
uncountable nouns. Here are the main examples:
with with
word countable uncountable examples
noun? noun?
fewer
few,
✓ ✗ students; few
fewer
cars
little,
less food;
less, ✗ ✓
little time
least
many, several books;
✓ ✗
several many changes
much
Much ✗ ✓ pleasure;
much sleep

Collective pronoun
Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things,
e.g. audience, family, government, team, jury. In American
English, most collective nouns are treated as singular, with a
singular verb:

Classification Of Words | 5
The whole family was at the table.
In British English, the preceding sentence would be correct,
but it would also be correct to treat the collective noun as a
plural, with a plural verb:
The whole family were at the table.
Abstark pronoun
An abstract noun is a noun which refers to ideas, qualities,
and conditions - things that cannot be seen or touched and
things which have no physical reality, e.g. truth, danger,
happiness, time, friendship, humour.
For example:
Ability
Adventure
Artistry
Awe
Belief

2. Verb
Verb is a word that characteristically is the
grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an act,
occurrence, or mode of being, that in various languages is
inflected for agreement with the subject, for tense, for voice,
for mood, or for aspect, and that typically has rather full
descriptive meaning and characterizing quality but is
sometimes nearly devoid of these especially when used as an
auxiliary or linking verb.
For example:
enjoy
purchase
visit
understand
believe
look forward to

English Syntax | 6
Kind of verbs:
Transitive and intransitive verbs
A transitive verb is one that is used with an object:
a noun, phrase, or pronoun that refers to the person or thing
that is affected by the action of the verb. In the following
sentences, admire, maintain, face, and love are transitive
verbs:
I admire your courage.
We need to maintain product quality.
I couldn’t face him today.
She loves animals

Some transitive verbs can be used with a direct object and

an indirect object:

Liza brought her a glass of water.

[indirect
[direct object]
object]
He sent her a letter.
[indirect
[direct object]
object]
Here is a short list of some common verbs that can
take a direct and indirect object:
Verb Example

Give Pat gave me a book for my birthday.

Buy Can I buy you a drink?
Pass Paul passed her a cup of coffee.
Make Shall I make us some lunch?
Sell Jenny was trying to sell me her car.
Take We took Maria some flowers and wine.

Classification Of Words | 7
 Show Show me your holiday photos.
Offer The company has offered me a job.
Leave Leave me a message and I’ll get back to
you.
Wish Everyone wished us all the best for the
future.
Lend Could you lend me £20?
Cost Ben’s mistake cost him his job.

An intransitive verb does not have an object. In the

following sentences, cry, work, laugh, and talk are intransitive
verbs:
The baby was crying.
I work for a large firm in Paris.
They laughed uncontrollably.
We talked for hours.

Here is a short list of some common verbs that can be

transitive or intransitive:

Verb Transitive Intransitive

Move Could you move your The trees

car please? were moved in the
breeze.
Start Taylor was found The match starts at 3
guilty of starting the p.m.
fire.
Change Marriage The
hasn’t changed her. area’s changed greatly
in the last decade.

English Syntax | 8
Close Close your eyes; I’ve Most shops
got a surprise for you. here close at 5.30 p.m.
Open Open the window; The museum opens at
it’s too hot in here! 10 a.m.
Stop Greg tried When the rain stopped,
to stop her from we went for a walk.
leaving.
Do Have you done your Joe’s doing well in his
coursework? new job.
Set Kate set a chair next The sun
to the bed. was setting and a red
glow filled the sky.
Run Michelle used The path ran over the
to run a restaurant. hill.
Live Our cat lived till he He was living a life of
was 10. luxury abroad.
Wash Have I washed, dressed, and
you washed your went out.
hands?
Write Write your name Kevin couldn’t read
here. or write.

Regular and Irregular verbs

Many English verbs are regular, which means that they form
their different tenses
according to an established pattern. Such verbs work like this:

3rd 3rd
past present
Verb person person
participle participle
singular singular

Classification Of Words | 9
 present past tense
tense

he/she he/she
laugh Laughed laughing
laughs laughed
he/she he/she
love Loved loving
loves loved

he/she he/she
boo Booed booing
boos booed

There are many irregular verbs that don’t follow the normal
rules. Here are the forms of some of the most common
irregular verbs:

3rd person
3rd person
singular past present
Verb singular
present participle participle
past tense
tense

Be Is Was Been being

Begin begins Began begun beginning

Bite bites Bit bitten biting

Break breaks Broke broken breaking

Buy buys Bought bought buying

Choose chooses Chose chosen choosing

Come comes Came come coming

Dig Digs Dug Dug digging

Do does Did Done doing

Linking verbs
A linking verb is a verb which connects a subject to
its predicate without expressing an action. A linking verb is
used to reidentify or describe its subject.

English Syntax | 10
For example:
William is excited about his promotion.
She appears upset about the announcement.
The eggs smell rotten.
He went red after tripping on the rug.
Your plans for the wedding sound nice.

Active and Passive verb

When the verb is active, the subject of the verb is doing the
action, as in these examples:
France beat Brazil in the final.
[subject] [active verb]

More than 300 million

speak Spanish.
people
[subject] [active verb]
Jack will take the matter forward.
[subject] [active verb]

When the verb is passive, the subject undergoes the

action rather than doing it:
Brazil was beaten in the final.
[subject] [passive verb]
is spoken by more than 300
Spanish
million people worldwide.
[subject] [passive verb]

The matter will be taken forward by Jack.

[subject] [passive verb]

Classification Of Words | 11
The passive is formed with tenses of the auxiliary verb ‘to be’
and the past participle of the main verb. Here is a table
showing the passive forms for most English verbs:

Tense Passive Example

present am/are/is + He is taken to school by
simple past participle his mum.
am/are/is
present
being + past They are being bullied.
continuous
participle
have/has Have you been
present
been + past interviewed for many
perfect
participle jobs?
was/were + We were told not to touch
past simple
past participle anything.
was/were
past Our computers were being
being + past
continuous attacked by hackers.
participle
had been + His mother had been
past perfect
past participle brought up in India.
Arrangements will be
will be + past
Future made to move them to
participle
other locations.
will have been All the merchandise will
future
+ past have been shipped by
perfect
participle tomorrow.

3. Adjective
The simplest definition of an adjective is that it is a
word that describes or clarifies a noun. Adjectives describe

English Syntax | 12
nouns by giving some information about an object’s size,
shape, age, color, origin or material.
For example:
heavy
difficult
careful
expensive
soft
fast

Kind of Adjectives
Attributive and predicative adjectives
Most adjectives can be used in two positions. When they are
used before the noun they describe, they are
called attributive:
a black cat
a gloomy outlook
a slow journey
a large suitcase

When they are used after a verb such as be, become, grow,
look, or seem, they’re called predicative: The cat
was black.
The future looks gloomy.
The journey seemed slow.
They were growing tired.

There are some adjectives that can only be used in one

position or the other. For example, these two sentences are
grammatically correct:
She was alone that evening. [‘alone’ = predicative ]
It was a mere scratch. [‘mere’ = attributive]
These sentences, on the other hand, are not correct:
* I saw an alone woman. [‘alone’ cannot be used in the
attributive position]

Classification Of Words | 13
* The scratch was mere. [‘mere’ cannot be used in the
predicative position]

Comprative and Superlative adjectives

Most adjectives have three different forms, the positive,
the comparative, and the superlative:
positive comparative Superlative
Sad Sadder Saddest
happy Happier Happiest

unusual more unusual most unusual

The comparative form is used for comparing two people or

things:
He is taller than me.
This puzzle is easier than the last one.
The book was more interesting than the film.
The superlative is used for comparing one person or
thing with every other member of their group:
He was the tallest boy in the class.
This puzzle is the easiest in the whole book.
It’s the most interesting book I’ve ever read.

Gradable and Non-gradable adjectives

Most adjectives are gradable. This means that their meaning
can be modified (made stronger, weaker, or otherwise
altered) by placing one or more adverbs in front of them.
For example:
an expensive car
a very expensive car

English Syntax | 14
The adverbs very, fairly, and extremely are telling us where
this particular car belongs on the scale of ‘expensiveness’. By
using them, we can make a significant difference to the
meaning of an adjective.

Non-gradable adjectives are those with meanings which

cannot be modified by adverbs. For example:
the western side of the mountain
electronic devices
a nuclear reactor

Qualitative and Classifying adjectives

Not all adjectives have a comparative and superlative form
nor can they all be graded. This is because there are two
types of adjective, known as qualitative and classifying.

Qualitative adjectives describe the qualities of a person or

thing – whether they are large or small, happy or sad, etc.
This type of adjective is gradable.
For example:
a fairly tall man
a very boring film
a really long holiday
an extremely expensive car

Classifying adjectives place people and things into

categories or classes. Do you read a daily newspaper or
a weekly one? Does your house have an electric oven or
a gas oven? Here are some more examples of classifying
adjectives:
the western hemisphere
an annual event

4. Adverb
Adverb is a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an
adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a

Classification Of Words | 15
relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree,
etc. (e.g., gently, quite, then, there).
For example:
slowly
carefully
sometimes
thoughtfully
often
suddenly

Kind of Adverbs:
Adverbials and Adjuncts
An adverbial is a word (an adverb), phrase, or clause which
modifies (changes, restricts or adds to the meaning of) a
verb. An adverbial can be a noun phrase (we met that
afternoon), a prepositional phrase (we met in the cafe), or a
clause (we met because we needed to talk) as well as an
adverb, but always functions to modify the meaning of a verb.
A sentence can contain just one adverbial or several.
We typically use adverbials to talk about:
where something happens (place):
I put my bag on the floor.
Don’t just sit there!
Could you let the cat out?
when something happens (time):
We’re in Paris today, but where will we be tomorrow?
The rain lasted all night.
She’d been travelling for three days.

the way in which someone does something or something

happens or exists (manner):
The abbey now lies in ruins.
You’re acting as if you were still a teenager.
These shirts come in three sizes.

English Syntax | 16
An adverbial adjunct is a type of adverbial which adds more
information to a sentence. It differs from other adverbials
because if it is left out of a sentence, the rest of the sentence
still makes sense. Adverbial adjuncts provide extra but
optional information, whereas adverbials offer information
that is integral to the meaning of the sentence.
Compare these two examples:
I put my bag on the floor.
✗ I put my bag
[on the floor is an adverbial: the sentence isn't meaningful
without it]
I dropped my bag next to my seat and sat down.
I dropped my bag and sat down.
[next to my seat is an adverbial adjunct; the sentence makes
sense without it]
Adverbial adjuncts can provide extra information about:
where things happen:
At low tide you can cross the bays on the beach.
The children were playing upstairs.
when things happen:
I can’t sleep at night.
She visited her family yesterday.
how things happen:
I found out how to do this by accident.
why things happen or are done:
No one is turned away because of a lack of means.
I still send her a Christmas card each year for old times'
sake
condition (i.e. if this happens, then that happens):
Leslie had left no letter for me to read in the event of his
death.
concession (i.e. even if this happens, still that happens):
Despite all their efforts, the dishwasher is still broken.

Classification Of Words | 17
degree (i.e. answering the question ‘how much?’):
I wouldn’t worry at all.
Comprative and superlative adjectives
Many adverbs can have three different forms, the positive,
the comparative, and the superlative.

Positive Comparative Superlative

loudly more loudly most loudly
fast faster fastest
well better best

The comparative form is used for comparing two actions or

states:
She ate her lunch more quickly than Joe (did).
Can’t we go any faster?
The company performed better this year (than last year).
I made my cough sound worse than it actually was.
The superlative is used for comparing one action or state
with all the others in the same category:
The first stage of a divorce passes the most quickly.
We need people who are determined, not just those who can
run the fastest.
He’s playing the kind of role that suits him best.
Worst of all, we didn’t have the rights to our own films.
Note that it’s not possible to have comparatives or
superlatives of certain adverbs, especially those of time
(e.g. yesterday, daily, then), place (e.g. here, up, down), and
degree (e.g. very, really, almost).

Positions of adverbs
Adverbs can be used in three positions in a sentence or
clause:
front (perhaps they’ll arrive this evening)
mid (she hardly knew him)

English Syntax | 18
end (I left the bedroom and ran downstairs)
Different types of adverbs go in different positions. Here are
some general guidelines:
Front position
The main types of adverbs that can be used in this position
are those that:
begin a sentence or clause that’s linked in meaning to
another:
People tend to put on weight in middle age. However,
gaining weight is not inevitable.
I’ll begin with an overview of the product. Secondly, I’ll talk
about projected sales.
refer to time or frequency:
Afterwards, we went out for a walk.
Sometimes she wonders what life’s all about.
refer to place:
There goes my bus!
Up he ran, soon disappearing from view.
comment on the rest of the sentence or clause (sentence
adverbs):
Luckily, our meal lived up to expectation.
Clearly, more research is needed.
Mid position
This term refers to adverbs that can be used in the middle of
a sentence or clause. The main kinds of adverbs found in this
position are those that:
refer to frequency:
We always meet for coffee on Saturday.
She’s never been to Sweden.
refer to manner:
He carefully avoided my eye.
I slowly walked into town.
make the meaning of a verb, adjective, or other adverb
stronger or weaker:
She nearly fell asleep at her desk.
These ideas are very complicated.

Classification Of Words | 19
comment on the rest of the sentence or clause:
When we first heard this story, frankly, we couldn’t believe
it.
End position
The main types of adverbs which can be used at the end of a
sentence of clause are those that:
refer to manner:
It's an interesting plot twist, and one that works well.
For some reason, his career progressed slowly.
refer to time or frequency:
The troops flew home yesterday.
They’re sending hundreds of texts to each other monthly.
refer to place:
They’re sitting at the table over there.
There was a sudden burst of laughter from the people who
could see outside.

Sentence adverbs
Some adverbs refer to a whole statement and not just a part
of it. They are called sentence adverbs and they act as a
comment, showing the attitude or opinion of the speaker or
writer to a particular situation.
Sentence adverbs often stand at the beginning of the
sentence. Here are some examples:
Clearly, there have been unacceptable delays.
(=It is clear that there have been unacceptable delays.)
Sadly, the forests are now under threat.
(= It is sad that the forests are now under threat.)
Curiously, he never visited America.
( It's curious that he never visited America.)
The sentence adverbs are used to convey the writer or
speaker's opinion that it is clear/sad/curious that something
happened or is the case. If you compare the way clearly,
sadly, and curiously are used in the next three sentences,

English Syntax | 20
you can easily see the difference between the meaning of the
sentence adverbs and the 'ordinary' adverbs:
He spoke clearly and with conviction.
( He spoke in a clear way and with conviction.)
She smiled sadly.
( She smiled in a sad way.)

B. FUNCTION WORDS
Function words are the words we use to make our
sentences grammatically correct. Pronouns, determiners, and
prepositions, and auxiliary verbs are examples of function
words. If our function words are missing or used incorrectly,
we are probably considered poor speakers of English, but our
listener would probably still get the main idea of what we are
saying. Since function words don't give us the main
information, we don't usually want or need to do anything to
give them added attention and the words remain unstressed.
In addition, sometimes we do things to deliberately push
function words into the background almost the opposite of
stressing.

1. Articles / Determiners
Determiners are function words which always occur
with nouns to from noun phrases. They always occur before
nouns in the frame. So, to identify all determines in English,
we can use the following frame.
For example:
a/an
the
this
those
every
no
each
all

Classification Of Words | 21
Words like my, our, your, his, her, its, and their are known a
possessive determiners. They come before nouns and indicate
ownership of the noun in question, as their name suggest:
My leg hurts.
James sold his business.
Bring your children with you.

2. Auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are function words which always occur with
verbs to form verb phrases. They always precede verbs in the
frame. So, th auxiliaries can be identifed as follows.
For example:
Might
Can
Will
Shall
Was
Had
Auxiliaries verb
Are so called because they help to form the various
tenses,moods,and voices of other verbs. The principal ones
are be, do, and have.
Be is used with other verbs to continous tenses and the
passive voice:
She is reading a book.
We were talking to them for ages.
England were beaten by Germany in the final.
Have is used to make perfect tenses:
The judge had asked her to speak up.
In two years,we will have established community gardens.
Do is used:
He did look tired.
Do you want a coffee?

English Syntax | 22
Does She go?
I don’t like meat.
Didn’t he know how to play football?
Modal
There is a futher set of auxiliary verbs known as modal verbs
or modal auxiliary verbs. These combine with other verbs to
express necessity, possibility, intention, or ability. The modal
auxiliary verbs are must, shall, will, should, would, ought(to),
can, may, and might.
For example:
You must act promptly.
Can you speak Italian?
I would go if i could afford it.
He said he might reconsider his decision.
I ought to visit my family.
We should get to Korea before midday.
May i come in ?

3. Intensifiers
Intensifiers are function words that always occur with
adjectives or adverbs to form adjective phrases or adverb
phrases. They function as modifiers of adjectives or adverbs,
they always preced the adjectives or advebs thet modify. So,
intesifiers can be iddentified as follows
For example:
Very
Quite
Really
Too
Rather
Awfully

4. Prepositions
Prepositons are usually used in front of nouns or
pronouns and they show the relationship between the noun
or pronoun and other words in a sentence.

Classification Of Words | 23
For example:
After
In
To
On
With
Up
For
From
The positon of something:
Her bag was under the chair.
The dog crawled between us and lay down at our feet.
His flat over the stop.
The time when something happens:
They arrived on Sunday.
The class starts at 9 a.m.
Shortly after their marriage they moved to Canada.
The way in which something is done
We went by train.
They stared at aech other without speaking.
Some prepositions are made up of more than one
word
They moved here because of the baby.
We sat next to each other.
The hotel is perchad on top of a cliff.

5. Conjunctions
A conjunction also called a connective are used to
connect phrases, clauses, and sentences.
For example:
And
Because
But

English Syntax | 24
If
For
Or
When
Coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions join items that are of equal
importance in sentence:
You can have ice cream or srawberries.
He play football and cricket.
The weather was cold but clear.
Subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunction connect subordinate clauses to the
main clause of a sentence:
I waited at home until she arrived.
He went to bed bacause he was tired.

6. Question Words
Question words are function words used as signals of
question sentences. They can be identified by using the
following frames.
For example:
What
When
Where
Who
Why
Which
Whom
Whose
How

What
Asking for information about something, asking for repetition
or comfirmation, and asking for a reason.
What is your name?
What? I can’t hear you.

Classification Of Words | 25
 You did what?
What did you do that for?

When
Asking about time.
When did she leave?

Where
Asking in or at what place or position.
Where do you live?

Who
Asking what or which person or people (subject)
Who opened the window?

Why
Asking for reason and asking what ... for
Why do you say that?

Which
Asking about choice
Which colour do you want?

Whom
Asking what or which person or people (object)
Whom did you see?

Whose
Asking about ownership
Whose are these keys?
Whose turn is it?

How
Asking about manner and asking about condition or
quality.
How does this work?
How was your exam?

English Syntax | 26
Classification Of Words | 27
 Chapter 2
PHRASE
DEFINITION OF PHRASE
A phrase is a group of two or more words that can be
used as a grammatical unit in a sentence (Richard, et al.
2002). Kridalaksana (1988) defines phrase as a combination
of two or more words which are not predicative, the joint can
be tight; stretchable; for Example Mountain: High Mountain is
a phrase because it is a no predicative construction. This
construction differs from the mountain that is high, which is
not a phrase because it is a predicative.
A phrase is a group (or pairing) of words in English. A
phrase can be short or long, but it does not include the
subject-verb pairing necessary to make a clause.
A phrase, therefore, is a group of words which has no
finite verb in it and acts to complete the sentence for making it
meaningful.
“A phrase is a small group of words that form a
meaningful unit within a clause.”
Oxford Dictionary (1986)
“In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or
possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the
syntax of a sentence, a single unit within agrammatical
hierarchy.”
Osborne, Timothy, Michael Putnam, and Thomas Gross
(2011)

Endocentric Construction
Some types of phrase contain a head word and have the
same formal function in their clause as the single head would:
very dreadful

Phrase | 31
 rather more surprisingly
must be obeyed

Exocentric Construction
Containing no element that is functionally equivalent to the
whole structure (non-headed or unheaded) Some phrases are
always exocentric
on the burning deck.
in the iron mask?
A basic English sentence (consisting of subject and predicate)
is always exocentric, since neither part can stand for the
whole:
The boy / stood on the burning deck

Noun Phrases
A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that is headed
by a noun (a person, place, or thing) that includes modifiers
(e.g., 'the,' 'a,' 'of them,' 'with her')
A noun phrase plays the role of a noun. In a noun phrase, the
modifiers can come before or after the noun.

Note: A noun phrase can also be headed by a pronoun.

For Example:
the dog with fleas
the one with fleas
(This is a noun phrase headed by a pronoun. In the
infographic, "None of us" is another example.)
Examples of Noun Phrases
In normal writing, nouns nearly always feature in noun
phrases. It is rare to find a noun functioning by itself (i.e.,
without any modifiers) in a sentence.
Man proposes, but God disposes. (German canon Thomas à
Kempis)
(This example features two nouns without any modifiers.
That's rare. In other words, there are no noun phrases in this
example.)

English Syntax | 32
In real life, it is far more common for nouns to feature in noun
phrases, i..e, to be accompanied by modifiers. Here is a list of
noun phrases. In this list, every noun phrase consists of a
head noun (highlighted) and at least one modifier.
People: the soldier, my cousin, dopey Alan, the lawyer
with the big nose
Animals: that aardvark, one rat, a shark, funny Mickey
Places: the house in the corner, inner London, dirty
factory, no shelter
Things: this table, our London Bridge, the sharp chisel,
that nitrogen, last month, an inch, her cooking
Ideas: utter confusion, some kindness, your faith, the
Theory of Relativity, a joy
So, a noun with any sort of modifier (even it's just "a" or "the")
is a noun phrase.

The Function of Noun Phrases

Like any noun, a noun phrase can function as a subject,
an object, or a complement within a sentence. In each
example below, the noun phrase is in bold and the head noun
is highlighted.
Singing in the bath relaxes me.
(Here, the noun phrase is the subject of the verb "relaxes.")
I know the back streets.
(Here, the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb "know.")
She was the devil in disguise.
(Here, the noun phrase is a subject complement following
the linking verb "was.")
It follows therefore that a noun phrase functions as a noun in
a sentence. We can test this because we know that a noun
can be replaced by a pronoun (e.g., he, she, it, them).
Looking at the examples above, we can replace each noun
phrase with a pronoun.
It relaxes me.
I know them.
She was him.

Phrase | 33
Here are some real-life examples of noun phrases as
subjects, objects, and complements:
This man has a nice smile, but he's got iron teeth.
(Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko on Mikhail
Gorbachev)
("This man" is the subject of the verb "has." The phrase "a
nice smile" is the direct object of "has." The noun phrase "iron
teeth" is the direct object of the verb "got." Here's the
"pronoun test": He has one, but he's got them.)
I never learned from a man who agreed with me.
(Science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein)
(The noun phrase "a man who agreed with me" is the object
of the preposition "from." Here's the "pronoun test": I never
learned from him.)
Every man of courage is a man of his word.
(French dramatist Pierre Corneille)
("Every man of courage is" the subject of the verb "is." The
noun phrase "a man of his word" is a subject complement
following the linking verb "is." Here's the "pronoun
test": He is one.)
It can get complicated. It's not unusual for nouns and noun
phrases to be embedded within noun phrases. Looking at the
last example, "courage" and "word" are both nouns, but they
are not the head nouns of the phrases. They are both objects
of the preposition "of," sitting in prepositional phrases that
modify the head nouns.

Verb Phrase
A verb phrase consists of an auxiliary, or helping, verb and a
main verb. The helping verb always precedes the main verb.
A helping verb includes forms of be, such as am, is, are, was,
were, being, and been; forms of have, such as has and had;
forms of do, such as does and did; forms of can, such
as could, will, would, and shall; and forms of should, such
as may, might, and must.

English Syntax | 34
Verb Phrase Examples:
Verb Phrase Example: Do you think she will join us?
(Do think is the verb phrase. Do is the helping verb,
and think is the main verb. You is a pronoun functioning as a
subject. It is not part of the verb phrase.)
Verb Phrase Example: Could Elizabeth bring us our coats?
(Could bring is the verb phrase. Could is the helping verb,
and bring is the main verb. Elizabeth is a noun functioning as
a subject. It is not part of the verb phrase.)
Verb Phrase Example: Due to the extreme heat,
we did not go to the beach.
(Did go is the verb phrase. Did is the helping verb, and go is
the main verb. Not is an adverb and is not part of the verb
phrase.)
Verb Phrase Example: Theresa will soon have her dream
job.
(Will have is the verb phrase. Will is the helping verb,
and have is the main verb. Soon is an adverb and is not part
of the verb phrase.)
Phrase Is the Predicate of the Sentence
Following are some verb phrase examples where the verb
phrase is the predicate of a sentence. In this case, the verb
phrase consists of the main verb plus any auxiliary, or
helping, verbs.
She was walking quickly to the mall.
He should wait before going swimming.
Those girls are not trying very hard.
Ted might eat the cake.
You must go right now.
You can't eat that!
My mother is fixing us some dinner.
Words were spoken.
These cards may be worth hundreds of dollars!
The teacher is writing a report.
You have woken up everyone in the neighborhood.

Adjective Phrase

Phrase | 35
An adjective phrase is a group of words headed by
an adjective that describes a noun or a pronoun.
In English grammar, an adjective phrase is a group of words
that functions as an adjective in a sentence. An adjective
headword may be accompanied by modifiers, determiners,
and / or qualifiers (all of which are called dependents). Also
known as an adjectival phrase.
Adjective phrases modify nouns. They may be attributive
(appearing before the noun) or predicative (appearing after
a linking verb), but not all adjectives can be used in both
positions.
Examples of Adjective Phrases
In each example below, the adjective phrase is shaded and
the head adjective is bold.
She had extremely blue eyes.
(This adjective phrase describes the noun eyes. The adjective
"blue" heads the adjective phrase.)
She wore very expensive shoes.
(This adjective phrase describes (or "modifies" as
grammarians say) the noun "shoes." The adjective
"expensive" heads the adjective phrase.)
Sarah was very humble
The movie was not too terrible.
A person smarter than me needs to figure this out.
The final exams were unbelievably difficult.
This pie is very delicious and extremely expensive.
(This adjective phrase modifies the noun "Sarah." The
adjective "hostile" heads the adjective phrase. Like a normal
adjective, an adjective phrase can be used before the noun
it's modifying (as in the first two examples) or afterwards (as
here)
Real-Life Examples of Adjective Phrases
Here are some real-life examples of adjective phrases (with
the head adjectives in bold)
An overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this
shaky earth. (German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

English Syntax | 36
(This adjective phrase modifies the noun "heart.")
I'm a fairly intelligent person, but I don't think my grades
reflected that. (American footballer Barry Sanders)
(This adjective phrase modifies the noun "person.")
People are so sick of these Twitter tirades. They want to
be proud of their leaders. (US politician Tom Perez)
(The first adjective phrase modifies the noun "people." The
second modifies the pronoun "they." Obviously, adjectives can
modify pronouns too.)
There is always someone better than you and more talented
than you. Always. (Restaurateur David Chang)
(The adjective phrases modify the pronoun "someone.")

Adverb Phrase
An adverb phrase is simply a group of two or more words that
function as an adverb in a sentence. Just as an adverb can
modify a verb, adjective or another adverb, an adverb phrase
of more than one word can further describe a verb, adverb,
or adjective.
Adverb phrases typically answer the questions how, where,
why or when something was done, as you'll see in the adverb
phrase examples below.
Consider the following sentences:
I parked the car very well
I parked the car right here.
I parked the car right here under the bridge.
The first sentence does not contain an adverb or adverb
phrase at all. The second sentence contains the adverb
"here" to describe where the car was parked. The third
sentence contains the adverb phrase "right here," which
emphasizes where the car was parked and employs a phrase
instead of a single adverb.
The final sentence of the group contains a longer, more
informative adverbial phrase. Note that "right here under the
bridge" is a prepositional phrase that uses the preposition
"under" and the object "bridge." In this case, the prepositional

Phrase | 37
phrase functions as an adverb in the sentence. Since it
modifies the verb to describe location, it is both a
prepositional phrase and an adverbial phrase.
Adverb Phrases Show How, Where, Why, When
A simple adverb phrase usually contains an adverb and at
least one other word before or after it, though a prepositional
phrase or infinitive phrase can also act as an adverbial.
Adverb Phrases Describing How
Surprisingly well
In total silence
Often under duress
Very carefully
Quite easily
Adverb Phrases Describing Where
Near the edge
Through the looking glass
Over the rainbow
By the mailbox
Around the sun
Adverb Phrases Describing Why
To understand better
For her happily ever after
For pity's sake
To make the most of it
To end discrimination
Adverb Phrases Describing When
As quickly as possible
Any time
Yesterday afternoon
After a few minutes
Never at midnight
Adverb Phrase in a Sentence
Adverb phrases can be used in any position in a sentence.
Consider these adverb phrase examples so you'll know what
you're looking for:
Bob nodded like a bobblehead.

English Syntax | 38
 Meet me at the mall later this evening.
Without thinking, he turned down the road.
They must kiss before sunset to break the spell.
She went online for more information.
In the forest, many creatures snarl and growl.

Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that consists of a
preposition, its object (which will be a noun or a pronoun), and
any words that modify the object.
Easy Examples of Prepositional Phrases
In these examples, the prepositional phrase is shaded and the
preposition is in bold.
A singer with passion
A town near London
Keep in time.
He acts without thinking.
It is a little bit more complicated than shown above because
the noun can be anything that plays the role of a noun. For
example:
It's a present from her.
(Remember that the "noun" can be a pronoun.)
She stole it from the man across the street.
(Here, the noun is a noun phrase.)
It's obvious from what he said.
(Here, the noun is a noun clause.)
The noun that follows the preposition (i.e., everything that's
shaded but not bolded in the examples) is called the object of
a preposition. There will often be modifiers in the object of the
preposition making it a noun phrase. For example:
I sat with Simba.
(There are no modifiers in this example.)
I sat with the wonderful Simba.
(With the modifiers "the" and "wonderful," the object of
the preposition is now a noun phrase.)

Phrase | 39
Here is another example:
He beat Lee without trying.
(There are no modifiers in this example. The object of the
preposition is a noun. In this case, it's a gerund)
He beat Lee without overly trying.
(With the modifier "overly," the object of the preposition is a
noun phrase.)

Appositive Phrase
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase (appositive phrase)
that gives another name to the noun right next to it. It adds
descriptive words about a specific thing (the noun), which
helps make a sentence more detailed; or, it adds essential
information to make the sentence’s meaning clear.

Examples of an Appositive Phrase

An appositive noun or phrase can come before or after the
main noun. It can be at the beginning, middle, or end of a
sentence, as long as it is right next to the noun it describes. In
the examples, appositives are red, and nouns are green.
The smallest state in the US, Rhode Island is in the
northeast.
The dog, a beagle, is great at following a scent.
The apartment had bugs, big brown cockroaches!
As you can see, the appositives add information about the
nouns. For instance, “a beagle” describes the type of dog,
while “a cockroach” describes the bug in the cereal.

Types of Appositive Phrases

Apposite phrases follow two forms: a noun followed by
apposite phrase, or appositive phrase followed by a noun.
You can identify an appositive phrase because it is what adds
details to the main noun, so, depending on the sentence’s
style, sometimes it comes before, and sometimes it comes
after.
a. Noun followed by an appositive

English Syntax | 40
 The most common way to use an appositive phrase is by
putting it after a noun, like this:
Sparky, the dog who loved popcorn, was well known
around the neighborhood.
The dog, who loved popcorn, could often be spotted at
the fair.
The dog named Sparky was loved by everyone.
At the fair, we saw Sparky, the friendly neighborhood
dog.
Even though it might add important information, an appositive
phrase shouldn’t affect a sentence’s grammar. So, a sentence
should make sense without it:
Sparky was well known around the neighborhood.
You can see that though the sentence is less detailed, it is still
grammatically correct!

Appositive followed by a Noun

Though not as common as the examples above, sometimes
appositive phrases come before the noun, like this:
Named Sparky, the dog was well known around the
neighborhood.
A lover of popcorn, Sparky was often spotted at the fair.
The neighborhood’s favorite dog, Sparky was friendly to
everyone.
Here, the appositive phrase describes the noun that follows it.
Again, if you remove the appositive phrase, the sentences still
make sense, like this:
The dog was well known around the neighborhood.

Gerund Phrase
A gerund phrase is a phrase that begins with a gerund, and
functions as a noun. Let’s break down this definition to
understand it better. A gerund is a verb ending with –ing, but,
it works as a noun and can act as a subject, object, or
complement in a sentence. Meanwhile, a phrase is a group of
words that contains either a subject (noun) or a verb but not
both. So together, a gerund phrase can also act as a subject,

Phrase | 41
object, or complement, while adding more details to the
sentence.
First, here is an example of a gerund phrase in a sentence
Eating a slice of pie quickly is a recipe for disaster.
So, we can breakdown the gerund phrase like so:
The gerund in the sentence is eating. (Remember, a gerund
is a noun that is formed by adding the -ing suffix to a verb.)
The Gerund phrase object in the sentence (the thing being
acted upon, in this case by eating) is a slice of pie.
The modifier in the sentence is quickly.

Gerund Phrase Examples

While the rules of gerund phrases set out earlier help us
recognize them in a sentence, gerund phrases have various
uses in a sentence. They have a variety of roles in a sentence
and can be acted upon in varying ways: Sometimes the
gerund phrase is the subject; sometimes it is the object or
indirect object; other times it is the object of a preposition; and
finally, it can also be the predicate nominative.
Examples of gerund phrases for each group are given below:

Subject Examples
In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as the
subject of the sentence. The subject is the thing or person
that carries out the action of the verb.
Sleeping through the night is difficult for me.
Making noise is what happy children and almost all
teenagers do best.
Watching bad television defined my teenage years.
Running with scissors on a slippery floor was a terrible idea.
Travelling across France should be a rite of passage for all
writers.

Direct Object Examples

In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as the
direct object in the sentence. The direct object is the noun or
pronoun that receives the action of the main verb.
I love sleeping through the night.

English Syntax | 42
 My parents prefer eating dinner alone.
We would not recommend travelling without insurance.
His daughter enjoys fixing broken bicycles.
Do they like swimming with dolphins?

Indirect Object Examples

In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as the
indirect in the sentence. The indirect object is affected by the
action of the verb, but it is not its main object.
As part of her new wellness regimen, Jenny made
sleeping through the night her priority.
Clinton gave running for president her best shot.
We make writing three poems a requirement to pass our
course.
Men don’t always see raising children well as an
accomplishment.
Why don’t you make completing a marathon your main
goal?

Predicate Nominative Examples

In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as a
predicate nominative. A predicate nominative completes the
linking verb and renames the subject. For example, in the
examples below the gerund phrases answer or define the first
part of the sentence.
My biggest difficulty is sleeping through the night. (What
is my biggest difficulty? It is sleeping through the night.)
Our top priority was getting everyone on the plane.
The critical issue of his arrest wasn’t driving without a
license.
Her favorite thing was listening to music.
A good career for her might be coaching soccer.

Object of a Preposition
In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as the
object of the preposition in the sentence. The object of a
preposition is simply a word or phrase that is preceded by a
preposition and completes its meaning.
The doctor suggested drinking warm milk

Phrase | 43
for sleeping through the night. (For what?
For sleeping through the night.)
By crying like a baby, you won’t get anywhere in life.
Exercise is futile without eating healthily.
He wanted to learn more about riding a bike.
Detectives were relieved after finding the evidence.

Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase is the infinitive form of a verb plus
any complements and modifiers.
The complement of an infinitive verb will often be its direct
object, and the modifier will often be an adverb.

For example:
He likes to knead the dough slowly.
(The infinitive verb is "to knead." The complement is its direct
object ("the dough"). The modifier is the adverb ("slowly").
They all make up the infinitive phrase (the shaded text).)
Examples of Infinitive Phrases
Here are some examples of infinitive phrases (shaded):
He helped to build the roof.
The officer returned to help the inspectors.
Let me show you the best way to fit a door quickly.
She tells you to dance like no one is watching.
Present Participle Phrase
A participial phrase is a group of words consisting of a
participle and the modifier and/or nouns, pronouns or noun
phrases that function as the direct objects, indirect objects, or
complements of the action or state expressed in the
participle. Guide to Grammar and Style For example:
Removing his pants, Ron jumped into the water to save the
child.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying
‘Ron’. Removing (participle) his pants (direct object of action
expressed in participle)
Theresa observed her father jogging along the path.

English Syntax | 44
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying
‘father’. jogging (participle) along the path (prepositional
phrase as adverb)
Tots interested in music early develop powerful intellectual
skills.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying
‘tots’. interested (in) (participle) music (direct object of action
expressed in participle) early (adverb)
Having been a pole vaulter, Gale knew the importance of
exercise.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying
‘Gale’. Having been (participle) a pole vaulter (subject
complement for Gale, due to state of being expressed in
participle)
Participle Phrases
In each of these examples, the participle phrase is shaded
and the participle is in bold.
Look at the panther climbing the tree.
(The participle phrase describes "the panther.")
Sebastian reached across for the pipe, signalling his
agreement with the chief's proposal.
(The participle phrase describes "Sebastian.")
A Participle Phrase Can Start with a Past Participle or a
Present Participle
Here is a quick revision about participles. Remember that a
participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective.
There are two types of participles:
Present Participles (ending "-ing"). Here is an example of one
as an adjective:

The rising tide

Past Participles (usually ending "-ed," "-d," "-t," "-en," or "-n").
Here is an example of one as an adjective:
The risen cake

Past Participle Phrase

Phrase | 45
A past participial phrase includes a past participle and any
modifiers. Past participial phrases function adjectivally to give
more information about a noun or a pronoun in a sentence.
A past participial phrase can come right after the noun or
pronoun it describes. If the past participial phrase provides
information that is essential to understand the noun or
pronoun, the past participial phrase should not be set off by
commas.
 Leroy tossed a rope to the man thrown overboard.
 The library book damaged by water needs to be
replaced.
 The team defeated in Super Bowl XL had been expected
to win.
 A student confused by the assignment asked the
instructor for extra help.

A past participial phrase that provides information that is non-

essential to understand a subject should be set off by
commas.
 Roberto, thrown overboard, struggled in the water until
Leroy tossed him a rope.
 The Denver Broncos, defeated in Super Bowl XL, had
been expected to win.
 My television andstereo, stolen in the burglary, will be
replaced by insurance.
 Maria, Confused by the assignment, asked her instructor
for extra help.

Phrase with Past Participle

1. The boy wanted by the police hid among the crowd.
2. The man invited by mother is Aris.
3. Surprised by the gift, my mother was speechless.
4. Lost many years ago, that coin has never been found.
5. The museum destroyed by a fire, was never rebuilt.
6. Ara nervously watched the woman, alarmed by her
silence.

English Syntax | 46
Predicate Phrase
A predicate phrase is a linguistic phrase with a predicate
phrase head (typically a verb) that states something about
the linguistic subject.
Context:
It can (typically) not include a Phrase Subject.
It can range from being a Clause Predicate to being a
Sentence Predicate.
It can have a Predicate Phrase Modifier, which is typically
have a Sentence Object.
It can range from being a Simple Predicate Phrase to being
a Complex Predicate Phrase.

Example(s):
“ate” in “John ate.”
“walked home” in “John walked home.”
“barked very loudly” in “The dog barked very loudly”
“gave Joe a gift” in “Jay gave Joe a gift.” (with predicate-
argument structure of [A Jay] gave [A Joe] [A1 a gift])
“Managers [expect increases in pay].” (with Predicate
Argument Structure of [A Managers] expect [A1 increases in
pay]).
Normative Predicate, such as “is good”.
Descriptive Predicate, such as “is red”.
Counter-Example(s):
Verb Phrase.
Subject (Grammar).

Absolute Phrase
An absolute phrase is a phrase that modifies a whole
independent clause (a full sentence); not just one word. It
generally combines a noun and a participle, so it can be as
short as two words, or sometimes have other modifiers and
objects, too.
Absolute phrases are not full sentences on their own, but they
can add very important details to sentences that make them
more informative or relevant.

Phrase | 47
Examples of Absolute Phrase
Unlike a normal modifier that just modifies a word in a
sentence, an absolute phrase modifies a whole sentence.
Below, the absolute phrases are orange:
Sally waited for her friends to arrive, muffins baking in the
oven.
Muffins baking in the oven, Sally waited for her friends to
arrive.
Her muffins freshly baked, Sally waited for her friends to
arrive.
Sally waited for her friends to arrive, her muffins
freshly baked and ready.
What’s more, absolute phrases are not full sentences on their
own; they only modify full sentences. As you can also see,
they are NOT connected to the full sentence by a conjunction
(like and).
For Examples of Absolute Phrase:
My cousin finally returning to the homeland, we will be
able to have fun in the family gatherings like before.
The singer’s performance in the concert, the organizers
were so happy.
Jeff is waiting for his friends, having the food cooked in the
microwave oven.
Having the work done early, I decided to go home.
The concert finished, we all were ready to go the restaurant.
Being a doctor, you should know it.
The exam over, the friends were ready to hang out.

English Syntax | 48
 Chapter 3
CLAUSE
A. DEFINITION OF CLAUSE
According to Richards, Platt and Weber (2002),
clause is a group of words which form a grammatical unit and
which contains a subject and a finite verb, clause forms a
sentence or part of a sentence and often function as a noun,
adjective or adverb. Furthermore, Chaer (2003) argues that
the clause is a syntactic unit in the form of a series of words
with a predicate construction.
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject
and a predicate. A clause may be either a sentence (an
independent clause) or a sentence-like construction within
another sentence (a dependent or subordinate clause).

B. KINDS OF CLAUSE
1. Independent Clause
Main (or independent) clause is a clause that
expresses a complete thought and can stand as a sentence.
Examples :
I met the boy who had helped me.
She is wearing a shirt which looks nice.
The teacher asked a question but no one answered.
He takes medicine because he suffers from fever.
He became angry and smashed the vase into peaces.

In the above sentences each underlined part shows main

clause. It expresses complete though and can stand as a
sentence that is why a main or an independent clause is
normally referred as a simple sentence.

Kinds of Independent Clause

Clause| 53
1) Transitive Clause is action verbs that have an object to
receive that action. In the first sentence above, the direct
object ball received the action of the verb hit.
Examples:

All of the verbs in the above sentences are transitive

because an object is receiving the action of the verb.

2) Intransitive Clause is action verbs but unlike transitive

verbs, they do not have an object receiving the action.
Notice there are no words after the verb sang.
Examples:

In all of the above cases the subject is performing the

action of the verb and nothing is receiving the action.
is walked transitive or intransitive? Think about the rules.
Since walked has words coming after it, the verb must be
transitive, right? WRONG! The phrase to the park is a
prepositional phrase and today is an adverb. There is no
object receiving the action of the verb walked so the verb
is intransitive.To recap, a transitive verb must be an
action verb plus there must be an object to receive that
action.

3) Equative Clauses are clauses whose predicates are

filled by equative verbs, like be, become, grow, seem,

English Syntax | 54
 appear, look, etc. These verbs are commonly followed by
complement slots filled by nouns, noun phrases,
adjectives, or adjective phrases.
Examples:

2. Dependent Clause
Dependent Claus is a clause that can’t stand alone as
a mayor sentence or main sentences.
Kinds of Independent Clause
1) Nominal Clauses are dependent clauses that function or
act like noun. They can fill the subject, object, or
complement slots at the clause level. At the sentence
level, they can fill the margin slot. Nominal clauses can
be transitive, intransitive or equative clauses.
Example :
I don’t know where he lives
What you have said is not clear
Nominal clauses are commonly introduced by relaters
like what, where, who, why, that,etc.
Like a noun, a nominal clause names a person, place,
thing, or idea. A nominal clause may function in a
sentence as any of the following: Subjec, subjective
complement, appositive, object of preposition, direct
object, indirect object, retained object.
Nominal clauses may begin with interrogatives:
who whom what which whoever
whomever whatever when where how why
An interrogative beginning a nominal clause has a
function within the nominal clause.
Each of the following examples illustrates

Clause| 55
  a nominal clause
 the function of the nominal clause within the sentence
 the function of the interrogative within the nominal
clause
Nominal clause as subject in sentence

Nominal clause as subjective complement in sentence

Nominal clause as object of preposition in sentence

English Syntax | 56
Nominal clause as direct object in sentence

Nominal clause as indirect object in sentence

Clause| 57
 Nominal clause as retained object in sentence

Nominal clauses may also begin with expletives:

that whether if
An expletive beginning a nominal clause has no function
within the nominal clause.

Nominal clause beginning with expletive that

English Syntax | 58
Nominal clause beginning with expletive whether

Nominal clause beginning with expletive if

Clause| 59
2) Adjectival Clauses are dependent clauses that function
like adjectives. They can fill the modifier slot at the
phrase level . like nominal clauses, adjectival clauses
can be transitive, intransitive or equative clauses.
Example :
The man, who came yesterday, is his uncle
The book, that you bought last week, is very interesting
He sent some money to his son who studies English in
the USA Like a single-word adjective, an adjectival
clause describes a noun (in the sentence's main clause)
and answers one of these questions
which one? what kind?
An adjectival clause usually begins with a relative
pronoun, which makes the clause subordinate
(dependent).
Common relative pronouns:
that which who whom whose
NOTE: Use who, whom, and whose to describe people.
Use that and which to describe things.
Adjectival clauses always follow the person, place, or thing
they describe, usually immediately.

Example of adjectival clause answering which one?

English Syntax | 60
Which book did Joe read? Answer: the one that I gave him

Example of adjectival clause answering what kind?

What kind of politician has the support of the people?

Answer: one who is trustworthy

Adjectival clauses may also begin with selected subordinating

conjunctions:

when - to describe a time

Clause| 61
 where - to describe a place

why - to describe a reason

Comma use with adjectival clauses depends upon

essentiality of the adjectival clause.
If the adjectival clause is essential (or "needed"), no commas
should be used to separate it from the main clause.
Generally, essential adjectival clauses should not begin with
which.
Examples

English Syntax | 62
Since the adjectival clauses in the above examples are
needed to clarify the noun that they describe, they are
essential and should not be separated from the rest of the
sentence with commas.
If the adjectival clause is nonessential (or "not needed"),
commas should separate it from the main clause.
Nonessential adjectival clauses should not begin with that.
Examples

Clause| 63
 Since the adjectival clauses in the above examples
are not needed to clarify the noun that they describe, they
are nonessential and should be separated from the rest of
the sentence with commas.
Note the difference between the sentences in each pair:

English Syntax | 64
3) Adverbial Clause are dependent clauses that function
as adverbs. They fills slots adverbs, namely, the slots of
location, time or temporal, manner, reason, and purpose.
Based on the slots they occupy, adverbial clauses
are several types :
Place / Location Clauses
I left the book where I found it.
Thay visited the place where many people gathered
together.
Time / Temporal Clauses
He was watching a TV program when I came.
He went to the office after he had read the morning
newspaper.

Manner Clauses
He behaves as if he were drunkard.
She always plays with children like her mother does.

Clause| 65
 Reason Clauses
He didn’t go to class yesterday because he was sick.
Purpose Clauses
He has tried to improve his English so that he can study
at an American college.
John left the house early in case he should miss the
last train.
Conditional Clauses
John will drive to California if he has a car next summer.
Betty won’t pass chemistry unless she works hard.
Like a single-word adverb, an adverbial clause describes
a verb (in the sentence's main clause) and answers one
of these questions
where? why? how? when? to
what degree?
An adverbial clause begins with a subordinating
conjunction, which makes the clause subordinate
(dependent).

Common subordinating conjunctions:

After in order (that) unless
Although insofar as until
As in that when
as far as Lest whenever
as soon as no matter how where

as if now that wherever

as though Once whether
Because provided (that) while
Before Since why
even if so that
even though supposing (that)
How Than
If That
inasmuch as Though
in case (that) Till

English Syntax | 66
 Example of adverbial clause answering when?

When will the flowers bloom? Answer: when spring arrives

Example of adverbial clause answering why?

Clause| 67
 Chapter 4
SENTENCE
A. DEFINITION OF SENTENCE
Sentence is the largest grammatical unit that contains
word classes, such as nouns, verbs, adverbs and uses
grammatical classes, such as words, phrases, and clauses
Bloomfield (1933)
The standard definition of a sentence is that it is a
group of words containing a subject and a predicate and
expressing a complete thought. But for this definition to be
helpful, you must be able to recognize a subject and a
predicate and understand what is meant by “a complete
thought.”
A sentence has a subject (what or whom the sentence
is about) and a predicate. The predicate tells what the subject
does or is or what is done to the subject (for example, The
books were left outside). The simple subject is a noun or
pronoun. The complete subject is this noun or pronoun and
the words that modify it. The simple predicate is a verb or
verb phrase (for example, has walked, will have walked). The
complete predicate is the verb or verb phrase and the words
that modify or complete it.
A sentence is the largest independent unit
of grammar: it begins with a capital letter and ends with a
period, question mark, or exclamation point. On the other
hand, (Hadumo Bussmann, "Routledge Dictionary of
Language and Linguistics." Trans. by Lee Forester et al.

Sentence | 69
Routledge, 1996) stated that “A sentence is a unit of speech
constructed according to language-dependent rules, which is
relatively complete and independent in respect to content,
grammatical structure, and intonation." According to Ba’dudu
(2008), the sentence level is the level at which clauses are
combined into larger units. The sentence is a grammatical
unit, a construction in which the constitute is any utterance
with final intonation contour, and the constituents are the
clauses, connecting particles, and intonation patterns. A
sentence is the largest independent unit of grammar: it begins
with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or
exclamation point. The word "sentence" is from the Latin for
"to feel." The adjective form of the word is "sentential." The
sentence is traditionally (and inadequately) defined as a word
or group of words that expresses a complete idea and that
includes a subject and a verb.

B. THE TYPES OF SENTENCES

1. Based on internal structure
a. Complete sentence
Sentences work as a framework for individuals to
properly express their thoughts and feelings in the
form of words. It isn’t difficult to recognize a
complete sentence from an incomplete one,
especially if you’re familiar with its standard
components. Generally, a complete sentence has
most, if not all, of the following characteristics:
It starts with a capital letter.
It must have a subject and a predicate (verb).
It must convey a complete thought.
It ends with a period (.), a question mark (?) or an
exclamation point (!).

English Syntax | 70
 For example:
The teacher explained the main topic of the
subject very well in the classroom at 7.30 A.M
yesterday
A complete sentence must have a subject, which
tells us “who” or “what” is being referred to, along with a
predicate, which is the action of the subject. The predicate
may even contain compliments, which are words that
accompany the verb. Another important characteristic to
take note of is to see whether or not the sentence
expresses a complete thought. If you’re left hanging or
feel as if there’s something missing from it, then it’s
probably an incomplete sentence.
However, there are instances when a statement
starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation
mark, yet cannot be considered as a complete sentence.
This is because it may be missing the main clause. The
main clause in the sentence consists of both the
independent subject and verb. If it lacks either of the two,
you may have written a fragment as opposed to a
complete sentence.
Let’s take this for example:
Because a group of great white sharks swam by the shore.
Because a group of great white sharks swam by the shore,
Blake and Leighton decided to return their surfboards
back to the van.
The first line represents a fragment, while the
second line is a complete sentence. You can see that by
adding a main clause to the fragment, it helps complete
the overall thought of the given statement. Complete

Sentence | 71
sentences may consist of a number of clauses, as long it
has one main or independent clause present.
b. Incomplete sentence
Another way to tell if a sentence is complete or
incomplete is to see if the sentence expresses a complete
thought. If there is not a complete thought, if you feel left
hanging when you read the sentence, it probably is
incomplete. An incomplete sentence also referred to
as a sentence fragment, is surprisingly a common
mistake even in today’s age. While they may be
acceptable in spoken English, they can cause
confusion and misunderstanding in writing. For
example : Here are some 'sentences' that are incomplete
because they are missing subjects:
'Went to the store.'
'Ran into the woods.'
'Ate three plates of nachos.'

2. Based on the response

a. Command Sentence
Command sentences are used when you are telling
someone to do something. Commands usually start
with an imperative verb , also known as a 'bossy
verb', because they tell someone to do something.
Just like that, Commands are sentences by which
someone tells his hearer to do something or not to
do anything. Commands are used to give orders or
to make requests.
For example :
Open the door!
Go to the market now!
Shut the door, please!
Fetch me some biscuits!

English Syntax | 72
In this example, 'fetch' is the imperative verb. You should also
use commands when you are writing instructions telling
someone how to do something.

b. Imperative Sentence
An imperative sentence is a lot similar to a declarative
sentence in form but is easily distinguished through
the message being conveyed. Imperative sentences,
which consist of requests and commands, are
typically an exception to the rule. Even without
indicating the subject in the sentence itself, it is still
implied. Imperative sentences are used to issue a
command or instruction, make a request, or offer advice.
Basically, they tell people what to do. Examples:
Get my keys from the drawer.
Please lead the way.
Get down from there.
Imperative sentences can be in positive or negative
form, and can refer to present or future time.
The function of an imperative sentence
The usual function (job) of an imperative sentence is to
give a command or instruction. It tells us to do
something.
Look at these examples:
Help!
Go now!
Don't sit there.

How do we use an imperative sentence?

Although we use imperative sentences to give direct
commands, we can also use them to give instructions
more politely than a straight command. Instructions like
this are quite common, for example in a user guide to

Sentence | 73
explain how to operate a machine. Imperatives can also
be used with words like "please" or "kindly" to add
politeness.
Look at these positive and negative examples. You will
notice that some of them refer to present time, some to
future time and some to both:

example Positive negative

context

Army Shoot! Don't move!

user Remove the Do not

guide packaging. Open the dispose of
blue box battery in the
and connect the two trash.
wires.

school Now wash your Don't

hands! forget your
homework.

airplane Please remain seated Do not

until the seatbelt sign smoke in the
is off. toilets.

Hotel Kindly help yourself Please don't

to fruit. forget your
belongings.

English Syntax | 74
 friends Please be waiting Don't be late!
when we arrive.

c. Interrogative sentence
These sentences ask questions. Accordingly, they end
with a question mark. This type is simple to understand
as it helps in asking a question. You use a question mark
at its end. For framing your question, choose words like
“why,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “do,” or “how.”
For example: Has anyone seen my torch?
What's the capital of Peru?
Shall we ask Simon or Jonesy?

Interrogative sentences can be in positive or negative form,

and in any tense.
Example :

(+) How long have they (-) Haven't they lived

been married for? together for over thirty years?

What is the function of an interrogative sentence?

The basic function (job) of an interrogative sentence is to ask
a direct question. It asks us something or requests informa-
tion (as opposed to a statement which tells us something or
gives information). Interrogative sentences require an answer.
Look at these examples:
Is snow white? (answer → Yes.)
Why did John arrive late? (answer → Because the
traffic was bad.)

Sentence | 75
 Have any people actually met an alien? (answer → I
don't know.)
How do we use an interrogative sentence?
We use interrogative sentences frequently in spoken and
written language. They are one of the most common sentence
types. Here are some extremely common interrogative
sentences:
Is it cold outside?
Are you feeling better?
Was the film good?
Did you like it?
Does it taste good?
What is your name?
What's the time?
Where is the toilet please?
Where shall we go?
How do you open this?
There are three basic question types and they are all
interrogative sentences:
Yes/No question: the answer is "yes or no", for
example:
Do you want dinner? (No thank you.)
Question-word (WH) question: the answer is
"information", for example:
Where do you live? (In Paris.)
Choice question: the answer is "in the question", for
example:
Do you want tea or coffee? (Tea please.)

3. Based on Action
a. Active and Passive
The active voice describes a sentence where the subject
performs the action stated by the verb. It follows a clear

English Syntax | 76
 subject + verb + object construct that's easy to read. In
fact, sentences constructed in the active voice add impact
to your writing.
With passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb.
It makes for a murky, roundabout sentence; you can be
more straightforward with active voice. As such, there are
many ways to change the passive voice to the active
voice in your sentences.

To change an active voice sentence to a passive voice

sentence:
1. Make the object of the active sentence into the subject of
the passive sentence.
2. Use the verb “to be” in the same tense as the main verb
of the active sentence.
3. Use the past participle of the main verb of the active
sentence.
Here are some active and passive voice examples to help!
Active: People drink champagne on New Year’s Eve.
Passive: Champagne is drunk on New Year’s Eve.
Active: Chefs use these machines to mix the ingredients.
Passive: These machines are used to mix the ingredients.
Active: They renovated the restaurant in 2004.
Passive: The restaurant was renovated in 2004.
Active: The teachers informed the students that the class had
been cancelled.
Passive: The students were informed that the class had been
cancelled.

4. Based on the Presence

Affirmative Sentences
Affirmative sentences are the opposite of negative sentences
because affirmative sentences state things positively. In

Sentence | 77
English, we create negative sentences by the word after the
auxiliary, or helping, verb. An example of an auxiliary verb is
the helping verb 'be.' There are different forms that 'be' takes,
including 'am,' 'is,' 'are,' 'was,' and 'were.'
For example : David is a happy person.
The clouds were blocking the sun's rays.
Negative Sentences
A negative sentence is a sentence that states that something
is false. In English, we create negative sentences by adding the
word 'not' after the auxiliary, or helping, verb. An example of
an auxiliary verb is the helping verb 'be.' There are different
forms that 'be' takes, including 'am,' 'is,' 'are,' 'was,' and 'were.'
For example : David is not a happy person.
The clouds were not blocking the sun's rays.

5. Based on number of clauses

Simple Sentences
A simple sentence has only one clause, which must be an
independent clause. The word “simple” does not necessarily
mean “easy”; simple sentences can also contain phrases, so
they are often long and complicated. However, they still have
only one subject and one finite verb.
A simple sentence has one independent clause and no
subordinate clauses.
A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb.
It expresses a single complete thought that can stand on its
own.

English Syntax | 78
Examples:
1. The baby cried for food.
(There is a subject and a verb that expresses a complete
thought)
2. Professor Maple’s intelligent students completed and
turned in their homework.
(A simple sentence does not necessarily have to be short. It
can have adjectives. In this case, there are two verbs
“completed” and “turned in.” However, the sentence
expresses one complete thought and therefore is a simple
sentence)
3. Megan and Ron ate too much and felt sick.
(Although there are two subjects and two verbs, it is still a
simple sentence because both
verbs share the same subjects and express one complete
thought)

Compound Sentences

Sentence | 79
A compound sentence has two independent clauses. An
independent clause is a part of a sentence that can stand
alone because it contains a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete thought.
Basically, a compound contains two simple sentences. These
independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (for, and, nor,
but, or, yet, so).
Examples:
1. The shoplifter had stolen clothes, he ran out, and he saw
the police.
(Both sides of the conjunction and are complete sentences.
“The shoplifter had stolen clothes” can stand alone and
also he ran out, and he saw the police. Therefore, this is a
compound sentence)
2. They spoke to him in Spanish, but he responded in English.
(This is also a compound sentence that uses a conjunction
to separate two individual clauses)
3. John goes to school with his friend or he stays at home to
do the work.
(two independent clauses joined by or)

Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is an independent clause joined by one or
more dependent clauses. A dependent clause either lacks a
subject or a verb or has both a subject and a verb that does
not express a complete thought.
A complex sentence always has a subordinator (as, because,
since, after, although, when) or relative pronouns (who, that,
which).

Examples:

English Syntax | 80
1. After eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, Tim went to
the gym to exercise.
(The independent clause is ‘Tim went to the gym to
exercise.” The subordinating clause before it is dependent
on the main, independent clause. If one were to say “after
eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory,” it would be an
incomplete thought)
2. Opinionated women are given disadvantages in societies
that privilege male accomplishments.
(The subject is “opinionated women” and the verb is “are
given.” The first part of the sentence “opinionated women
are given disadvantages in societies” is an independent
clause that expresses a complete thought. The following
“that privilege male accomplishments” is a relative clause
that describes which types of societies)
3. The woman who taught Art History 210 was fired for
stealing school supplies.
(The dependent clause in this sentence is “who taught Art
History 210” because if removed, the rest of the sentence
would stand as an independent clause. “Who taught Art
History 210” is an adjective clause that provides necessary
details about the subject, woman)
In this type of sentence, each clause has equal (or nearly
equal) importance.

The clauses can be joined in three ways:

1. With a coordinating conjunction
ie. and, but, or, for, nor, yet, so
e.g. Diversity has become a strategic imperative for
corporations, and the term has already entered the
corporate vocabulary.3
or with a correlative conjunction

Sentence | 81
 e.g. not only ... but also
e.g. Not only have conservationists been successful in
bringing issues to the attention of governments, but they
have also achieved considerable success in having policies
and institutions introduced or changed to meet their
demand.
2. With a semi-colon (;)
e.g. Astute depositors could see what was happening to
the value of the land that was supporting the assets of the
banks; they moved quickly to remove their deposits for
cash.
3. With a semi-colon and another kind of link word called a
conjunctive adverb
e.g. furthermore, however, therefore, in contrast, similarly
e.g. These obvious contamination problems have long
been known; however, what is not often realised is the
organic matter carried in ground water can contaminate
samples.

Compound-Complex Sentences
A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent
clauses and at least one dependent clause. Compound-
complex sentences are the most complicated sentences, as
their name implies. A compound-complex sentence has at
least two independent clauses and at least one dependent
clause. In simple terms, an independent clause can be a
sentence on its own while a dependent clause cannot.
Compound-complex sentences help us express longer more
complicated thoughts, with more parts than other sentences.
They’re good tools for explaining complicated ideas or
describing long chains of events.
Examples:

English Syntax | 82
1. After the two soccer players lost their game, they joined
their other teammates for lunch, and they went to the
movies.
(If we remove the dependent clause “after the two soccer
players lost their game,” we have a compound sentence.
The dependent clause makes this sentence compound-
complex)
2. The man believed in the system, and he knew that justice
would prevail after the murderer was sent to jail.
3. When the new structure was proposed in 2003, the
Council at first refused to discuss the plans with
community groups, but the Environment Court over-
ruled the decision and insisted on a full consultation
process.

C. SENTENCE STRUCTURE
1. Phrase Structure Rules
Phrase structure rules specify the well-formed
structures of a language pre cisely and concisely. They
express the regularities of the language and make explicit a
speaker's knowledge of the order of words and the grouping
of words into syntactic categories (phrases)
Phrase structure rules are a type of rewrite rule used
to describe a given language's syntax and are closely
associated with the early stages of transformational grammar,
proposed by Noam Chomsky (1966).
The Phrase Structure Rules (PSR) of English are as follows:

Sentence | 83
English Syntax | 84
Notes:
S : Sentence
NP : Noun Phrase
VP : Verb Phrase
AdjP : Adjective Phrase
AdvP : Adverb Phrase
MV : Main Verb
PrepP : Prepositional Phrase
Aux : Auxiliary
M : Modal
Prep : Preposition
Adv : Adverb

Based on the Phrase Structure Rules (PSR) or Formula of the

Sentence structure, There are some examples of sentence
analysis by using a tree diagram. They are as follow:

2. The students come late

S = NP + VP
NP = Det + N (The + Students)
VP = V + Adv (come + late)

Sentence | 85
3. The pretty girls are singing the English song

S = NP + VP
NP = Det + Adj + N (The pretty girls)
VP = Aux + MV + NP (are + singing + the English
song)

4. Do the students come late ?

Aux

Do

S = NP + VP
NP = Det + N

English Syntax | 86
VP = V + Adv
Aux = Do

6. The students do not study the English Syntax

S

NP VP

Det N Aux Mv NP

Det Adj N

The students do not study the Eng syntax

S =NP +VP
NP = Det + N
VP = Aux + V + NP

Sentence | 87
 Chapter 5
Grammatical functions
The grammatical functions have seen that in a given clause
the verb can be regarded as the head, controlling the other
major phrases. Two sets of concepts bear on the relationship
between the verb in a clause and its complements; one is the
set of grammatical functions or grammatical relations, that is,
subject, direct object, indirect object/second object and
oblique object, and the other is the set of roles such as Agent
and Patient. The first three terms used to be familiar to
anyone who studied any of the foreign languages normally
offered in British schools French, German, Spanish, and
Latin, They are in constant use in grammars of languages
from every part of the world and have been deployed for
centuries in the study of European languages, yet it turns out
to be far from straightforward to define the concepts, and it
has yet to be determined whether they apply to languages
which differ greatly from English in their grammar.

Subject
The most complex grammatical function is that of subject.
Consider the example in (1).
(1) The tigers hunt prey at night.
Tigers precedes the verb. It agrees with the verb in
number, as becomes clear when it is made singular: The
tiger hunts its prey at night. In the active construction, it is
never marked by any preposition. The corresponding full
passive clause, is Prey is hunted by the tigers at night ; in the
passive clause, the subject of the tigers, turns up inside the
prepositional phrase by the tigers.
The above criteria – agreement in number with the verb,
never being preceded by a preposition, occurring in the by

Grammatical Functions | 89
phrase in the passive – are grammatical, and the noun
they pick out in a given clause is the grammatical
subject of that clause. Tigers has another interesting
property:
It refers to the Agent in the situation described by (1).
Many analysts consider that tigers refers to the Agent in
the passive sentence too, although it is inside the by
prepositional phrase and at the end of the sentence.
They call tigers the logical subject, by which is meant that
in either syntactic construction tigers denotes the Agent.
That is, its role inthe situation does not change.
Other analysts maintain that in the passive sentence
tigers no longer denotes the Agent but rather the Path
by which the action reaches and affects the prey. Such
arguments lead us into a very old and unresolved
controversy as to whether language corresponds
directly to objective reality or whether it reflects a mental
representation of the outside world. For the moment, we
put this controversy aside; but it will return (possibly to
haunt us) when we take up the topic of roles. All we need
do here is note the assumptions that lie behind the notion
of logical subject, and to understand that in any case the
grammatical subject NP in an active construction of
English typically denotes an Agent. This follows from the
fact that most verbs in English denote actions.
A third type of subject is the psychological subject. In (1),
tigers is the starting point of the message; it denotes the
entities about which the speaker wishes to say
something, as the traditional formula puts it. Example (1)
is a neutral sentence: it has a neutral word order, and the
three types of subject coincide on the NP tigers.
Psychological subject and grammatical subject need not
coincide. In This prey tigers hunted, the psychological
subject is this prey. (It is what was called ‘topic’.
In contemporary linguistic analysis, the notion of
psychological subject has long been abandoned, since it
encompasses various concepts that can only be treated

English Syntax | 90
 properly if they are teased apart. Again, the details need
not concern us. That is important is that in sentences
such as (1) the grammatical subject noun phrase
typically denotes the Agent and typically denotes the
entity which speakers announce and of which they then
make a prediction.
It is the regular coincidence of grammatical subject,
Agent and psychological subject in English and other
languages of Europe that makes the notion of subject so
natural to native speakers and to analysts. Here, we take
the grammatical criteria to be the most important and
explore them further. Consider the following examples:
a. Fiona hoped to meet the Prime Minister.
b. Susan intends to reach Kashogi.
c. Arthur tried to bake a cake.

All these examples contain infinitive phrases: to meet the

PM, to reach Kashogi, to bake a cake., such infinitives are
nowadays regarded as non-finite clauses, one of their
properties being that they have understood subjects: for
example, Fiona is the understood subject of meet the PM;
Fiona is, so to speak, doing the hoping and Fiona is the
person who is to do the meeting.
The infinitive meet is dependent on the main verb hoped,
and the grammatical subject of the main verb, Fiona, is
said to control the understood subject of the infinitive.
In the sentences in (2), the main verbs have only one
complement, the infinitive. In the examples in (3), the
verbs have two complements, a noun phrase and an
infinitive.
(2) a. Fiona persuaded Arthur to bake a cake.
b. Susan wanted Jane to study German.
In (3a, b), the verbs persuaded and wanted are followed by
a noun phrase, Arthur and Jane, and then by an infinitive
phrase. These infinitive phrases too have understood

Grammatical Functions | 91
 subjects controlled by the noun phrases Arthur and Jane
to the right of the verb; Arthur underwent the persuasion
and did the baking; Jane was the target of Susan’s wishes
and was to do the studying. Suppose we expand (3a) to
include the ‘missing’ constituents:
(3a) Fiona persuaded Arthur: Arthur to bake a cake.
Suppose we relate the infinitive to a finite clause: Arthur
baked a cake. The path from the finite clause to the
infinitive involves deleting a constituent; the affected
constituent is always the grammatical subject of the non-
finite clause, which is why analysts see the subject as
pivotal tothe infinitive construction.
The sentences in (4) exemplify a different construction.
(3) a. Ayala went to the ball. Ayala chatted to Jonathan
Stubbs.
b. Ayala went to the ball and chatted to Jonathan Stubbs.
The two sentences in (4a) yield the single sentence in (4b)
by the ellipsis of the grammatical subject, Ayala, in the
second sentence. Only the grammatical subject can be
ellipted. Example (5a) cannot be converted into (5b) by
the ellipsis of the non-subject Ayala in the second
sentence.
(4) a. Ayala went to the ball. Jonathan Stubbs chatted to
Ayala.
b. *Ayala went to the ball and Jonathan Stubbs chatted
to.
It does not matter whether the grammatical subject NP
denotes an Agent, as is demonstrated by the combining
of active and passive sentences in (6).
(5) a. Ayala went to the ball. Ayala was chatted to by Jonathan
Stubbs.
b. Ayala went to the ball and was chatted to by Jonathan
Stubbs.
In this construction, too, the grammatical subject is
pivotal, in the sense that it is a grammatical subject that
is omitted on the way from the (a) to the (b) examples.

English Syntax | 92
 Furthermore, the understood subject of the second
clause in (4b) and (6b) is controlled by the initial
grammatical subject.

A third construction in which the grammatical subject NP

is central is exemplified in (7)
(6) All the Tringles came to Merle Park.
b. The Tringles all came to Merle Park.
c. Both Jane and Elizabeth were at home.
d. Jane and Elizabeth were both at home.
In (7b), the word all is part of the noun phrase all the Tringles.
That noun phrase is the subject, and all can ‘float’ out of the
NP to a position next the finite verb, as in (7b). Similarly, both
can be part of the subject noun phrase as in (7c) but can float
to the same position, as in (7d).
Only subject NPs allow all and both to float. In (8a), all is part
of the non-subject phrase all the foxes and cannot float to the
left of the finite verb, as shown by the unacceptable (8b), nor
to the right, as in the un- acceptable (8c). Nor can both in (8c)
and (8d).
(7) a. Larry Twentyman hunted all the foxes.
*Larry Twentyman all huntedthe foxes.
*Larry Twentyman hunted the foxes all.
b. George built both the houses.
c. *George both built the houses.
d. *George built the houses both.
As with the missing subject in the conjoined clauses in (5) and
(6), quantifiers can float out of subject noun phrases in both
active and passive clauses, as shown by (9a, b).
(8) a. All the foxes were hunted by Larry Twentyman.
b. The foxes were all hunted by Larry Twentyman.
One final property of grammatical subjects is worth
mentioning, namely that just as subjects control the understood
subjects of non-finite clauses, so they control the

Grammatical Functions | 93
interpretation of reflexive pronouns inside single clauses. This
is shown in (10), where Augusta and herself refer to the same
woman called Augusta.
(9) Augusta blamed herself for what happened.
In the above discussion, we have talked of grammatical
subject noun phrases as having particular properties, but to
talk in this way is to take the notion of grammatical subject for
granted. The present the state of affairs more accurately if we
say that in English various properties attach to noun phrases:
denoting an Agent, specifying the entity the speaker wishes
to say something about, acting as the pivot of various
constructions (coordination, infinitives, both and all floating,
reflexives), being involved in person and number agreement
with the finite verb. In the neutral active declarative
construction of English, these properties converge on one
NP, which is accorded the title of grammatical subject. As the
discussion of psychological subject showed, the properties
do not always converge on one noun phrase. The
psychological subject of
(10) is thee documents, which does not agree with is in number
and person and is not the grammatical subject.
(11) These documents Elizabeth is checking at this very
moment.
One property must be added to the list. It is not relevant to
English (apart from the pronoun system) but it is central to
other Indo-European languages such as Russian. The
property is that of taking nominative case, as exemplified in
(12).
(12) a. Ivan tolknul Mashu (‘Ivan – pushed – Masha’)
b. Masha tolknula Ivana (‘Masha – pushed – Ivan’)
In (12a), Ivan is in the nominative case (as the traditional
formula puts it) and Mashu is in the accusative case. In (12b),
Masha is in the nominative case and Ivana is in the accusative
case. Analogous changes only show up in the pronouns in
English, as in I pushed him and He pushed me.

English Syntax | 94
 Morpho-syntactic properties:
There are two semantic properties. One is simply that
grammatical subjects typically refer to Agents. The second is
that they refer to entities that exist independently of the
action or state denoted by the main verb, whereas there are
many verbs whose direct object does not have this property
(see section 8.3 below on direct objects.) For example, in
Skilled masons built the central tower in less than a year the direct
object, the central tower, denotes an entity that does not exist
independently of the action for the simple reason that it is
created by the activity of building. Note that the passive
clause The central tower was built by skilled masons in less
than a year does not contradict what has just been said. The
central tower is certainly a subject and denotes the entity
created by the building activity, but the passive construction
is not basic.
a. Direct object
The concept of direct object is as widely used as that
of subject and has just as long a tradition. Nonetheless, it too
turns out to be elusive. As with grammatical subject, it is
possible to provide criteria for direct objects in English, but the
criteria do not necessarily carry over to other languages.
Keeping to the [ACTIVE DECLARATIVE] construction, we
can say that in sentences such as (13) the NP following the
verb is the direct object.

(13) a. Louise broke the cup.

b. Alison drove the car.
c. Martha chewed the bread.
The direct object NP is never preceded by a preposition
in the sentence Martha chewed on the bread, bread is not a direct
object, and the entity it denotes is not completely affected by
the action of chew in. One of the properties of the English NPs
called direct objects is that they correspond to the grammatical
subjects of passive sentences. This is shown in (14a–c), the
passive counterparts of (13a–c).
(14) a. The cup was broken by Louise.

Grammatical Functions | 95
 b. The car was driven by Alison.
c. The bread was chewed by Martha.
Even for English alone, difficulties appear. One problem is
that the criteria, even with the help of the weasel adverb
typically, do not extend unequivocally to other constructions.
Consider the passive sentences in (15).
(15) a. How is a girl to be chatted to if she does not go
out? (AnthonyTrollope, Ayala).
b. These fields were marched over by all the armies of
Europe.
These passive sentences contain grammatical subjects (on
the criteria applicable to English), but their active counterparts
do not contain direct objects – compare (16).
(16) a. How is someone to chat to a girl if she does not go
out?
b. All the armies of Europe marched over these fields.
In (16), the correspondents of the grammatical subjects in (15)
are inside prepositional phrases: to a girl, over these fields. The
examples show that either more than direct objects can be
converted to grammatical subjects in the passive construction or
we have to regard chat to and march over as single verbs that
take direct objects.
Another difficulty with English is that some apparent active
transitive clauses have no corresponding passive: That car
weighs two tons is not matched by *Two tons are weighed by that
car, Arthur measures six feet is not matched by *Six feet are
measured by Arthur, Her daughters resemble Lucy is not matched
by *Lucy is resembled by her daughters and The cage contained a
panda cannot be converted to *A panda was contained by the cage.
It has been suggested that, for example, in The cage contained a
panda, the panda is not a Patient (compare Chapter 11), but
nobody has suggested that the panda is not a direct object.
In spite of the reservations mentioned above, in the
[NEUTRAL, ACTIVE DECLARATIVE] construction of English
we do have criteria for recognizing direct objects with most

English Syntax | 96
verbs combining with two NPs. (The exclude the copula
construction, ‘copula’ including. Another criterion that has been
proposed for direct objects in English relates to the positions
occupied by particles such as back. There a verb combines
with two NPs, the particle occurs after the verb, but before or
after the direct object NP, as in (17).
(17) a. Ayala sent back the diamond necklace.
b. Ayala sent the diamond necklace back.
In clauses with three NPs, the occurrence of the particle is
limited.
(18) a. Ayala sent her cousin the diamond necklace.
b. *Ayala sent back her cousin the diamond necklace.
c. Ayala sent her cousin back the diamond necklace.
d. Ayala sent her cousin the diamond necklace back.
Example (18b) is bad, although back is in the same position
as (17a), between the verb and the immediately following
noun phrase. Example (18c) is not acceptable to all speakers,
although back follows the NP immediately to the right of the
verb. To be balanced against this criterion is the fact that her
cousin in (18a) can become the grammatical subject of the
corresponding passive: Her cousin was sent back the diamond
necklace by Ayala. Thick of the two criteria is to be given
precedence: the position of back or becoming grammatical
subject of the passive?
Another complication that deserves mention is that pronouns
behave differently from full NPs with respect to back. Example
(18c) merits no more than a question mark, but the
substitution of him for her cousin yields an acceptable
sentence: Ayala sent him back the diamond necklace.
(Interestingly, other particles, such as away, exclude
potential direct objects. They allow prepositional phrases, as
in Ayala sent away the diamond necklace to her cousin ; but
compare *Ayala sent her cousin away the diamond necklace.)
The general picture of direct object in English is fragmented,
unlike the picture of grammatical subject. The latter can be
recognized for any construction, but for direct object only one

Grammatical Functions | 97
construction provides solid evidence, the basic active
declarative construction, both in itself and in its relationship
with the passive. As for the concept of subject, one criterion
can be added for some languages other than English; as
shown in (12a) and (12b), direct object nouns are in the
accusative case.

b. Oblique object and indirect object

Recent work in syntax deploys the concept of oblique
object; in English, any noun phrase that is the complement of
a preposition is an oblique
object, where the prepositional phrase is itself the complement
of a verb. In (19), to Onegin, to Egilsay and for Jane are oblique
objects.
(19) a. Tatiana wrote to Onegin.
b. Magnus went to Egilsay.
c. Frank bought a piano for Jane.
Phrases such as to Onegin used to be analyzed as
containing indirect object nouns, but this concept of indirect
object is problematical. Grammars of English would merely
refer to verbs, which occur in the construction V NP 1 TO NP2 or
V NP2 NP1: compare Celia gave the car to Ben vs Celia gave Ben
the car, where the car is NP1 and Ben is NP2. The indirect object
was said to be the noun phrase preceded by to, and the
relevant verbs were either listed individually or divided into
classes labelled ‘verbs of saying’, ‘verbs of giving’ and so on in
order to avoid the label ‘indirect object’ being assigned to
phrases such as to Dundee in He went to Dundee.
In fact, it is difficult to separate indirect objects from adverbs of
direction. It is sometimes suggested that the two can be
distinguished on the grounds that indirect object NPs contain
animate nouns, whereas adverbs of place contain inanimate
nouns denoting countries, towns and other places. If this were
correct, we would expect inanimate nouns not to occur
immediately to the right of a verb such as sent in (20) and (21).
(20) a. Lucy sent a letter to Isadore.
b. Lucy sent Isadore a letter.

English Syntax | 98
(21) a. The Government sent an envoy to China.
b. (*) The Government sent China an envoy.

It has been suggested that (21b) is not correct, but the fault
is semantic and not syntactic. Example (21b) has the
interpretation that a person is sent to China so that China can
use him/her as an envoy. This is a rather unusual situation – at
least out of context, (21b) seems odd. The oddness can be
removed by substituting different lexical items, as in (22).
(22) The company sent China its senior mining engineers
to help planthe new mines.
Example (22) presents China not just as a geographical area
but as a body that is to benefit from the engineers. Thith the
appropriate interpretation, then, an inanimate noun can occur
to the right of the verb.
Another suggestion is that indirect objects can occur
immediately to the right of the verb but not immediately to the
right of genuine adverbs of direction. (Genuine adverbs of
direction would not include China in (22).) This suggestion is
correct, but it still fails to distinguish indirect objects, because
an indirect object noun cannot always occur immediately to
the right of the verb, as shown by (23).
(23) a. *The experts attributed Raphael this picture.
b. *I forwarded Thinifred the letter.
c. *The manager presented the foreman a gold watch.
d. *Kick John the ball.
e. *Monica hit Martina the ball.
f. *The critics ascribe Shakespeare this play.
The particular examples in (23) have been tested on
many classes of students at all levels. Some have accepted
some of the examples, especially (23b), but the vast
majority have not accepted any of them.
Other evidence that attacks any clear distinction between
indirect objects and adverbs of direction is presented in
(24)–(25), which illustrate certain syntactic patterns common
to indirect objects and adverbs of direction. The first shared

Grammatical Functions | 99
property is that both can occur in The interrogatives with the
preposition to at the end or beginning of the clause.
(24) a. Thho did John send a book to?
b. To whom did John send a book?
(25) a. Thhat place did you travel to?
b. To what place did you travel?
Another property in common is that both can occur in active
interrogative The clauses with to omitted, but not in passive
The interrogatives.
(26) a. Thho did John send the book?
b. That place did John send the book?
(27) a. *Thho was the book sent by John.
b. *That place was the book sent by John?
Indirect objects and adverbs of direction can occur at the
front of clauses preceded by only. In such constructions, the
preposition to cannot be omitted, and compare the indirect
object in (28) and the adverb of direction in (29).
(28) a. Only to the best students would he give this book.
b. *Only the best students would he give this book.
(29) a. Only to Glasgow would he go by train (because the
service is fast).
b. *Only Glasgow would he travel by train.

The same applies to the cleft construction in (30) and (31),

where the indirect object to the best students in (30) and the
adverb of direction to Storminess in (31) are preceded by it is.
(30) a. It is to the best students that he gives this book.
b. *It is the best students he gives this book.
(31) a. It is to Stromness that he is going.
b. *It is Storminess’ that he is going.
There is one difference (concealed by the use of what place
in (25)): indirect objects are questioned by who … to or to
whom, but adverbs of direction are questioned by where.

English Syntax | 100

However, this is one difference to be set against a number of
similarities, and it could in any case be argued that the
difference does not reflect a syntactic category but a
difference in the sorts of entities that are the end point of the
movement, where being reserved for places, who for human
beings.
The analysis indicated by the above data is that we cannot
maintain the traditional concept of indirect object as the to
phrase with verbs such as give and show and that all verb
complements introduced by a preposition should be treated
as one category, namely oblique objects. The concept of
indirect object is not dead, however. Some traditional
analyses applied it to, for example, the phrase to Harriet in (32)
and to thephrase Harriet in (33).
(32) Emma gave advice to Harriet.
(33) Emma gave Harriet advice.
The label ‘indirect object’ is useful for Harriet in (33). It can be
declared to reflect the fact that while Harriet is an object –
compare Harriet was given advice by Emma – it is felt by
many analysts to be less of a direct object than advice, even
though advice in (33) is not next to the verb.

Grammatical Functions | 101

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