Descriptive Grammar
(Syntax lecture 2)
Various classifications of sentences:
simple, compound and complex sentences,
declarative, interrogative, imperative,
exclamative sentences,
positive and negative sentences,
active and passive sentences.
The grammatical hierarchy
The sentence is at the highest level in
the hierarchy, the word is at the lowest
level. Within the hierarchy:
a sentence consists of one or more
clauses
a clause consists of one or more phrases
a phrase consists of one or more words
a word
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A one-clause sentence:
His sister writes interesting short stories.
His sister writes interesting short stories.
His sister writes interesting short stories.
His sister writes interesting short stories.
We can divide that sentence into three phrases:
His sister - noun phrase
writes - verb phrase
interesting stories - noun phrase
Each phrase can be assigned a grammatical
function in the clause:
His sister - subject: noun phrase
Writes - verb: verb phrase
interesting stories - direct object: noun phrase
The grammatical hierarchy is
subverted in two ways:
A grammatical unit can contain other units at
the same level in the hierarchy
e.g. phrases commonly contain other phrases:
the title of the course - NP
of the course - PP
the course - NP
Units at a higher level in the grammatical
hierarchy can function within units at a
lower level:
the clause pay as you earn can be embedded in the
noun phrase the pay-as-you-earn policy
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Above the sentence &
The sentence is the highest unit that
is normally treated in grammar.
However, some grammatical phenomena
apply equally across sentences.
For example, pronouns may refer to words
in a preceding sentence:
Organic farming takes its cue from
traditional agriculture. It makes use of
the best ideas from the past
The initial pronoun it in the second sentence
refers back to the initial phrase organic
farming in the first sentence
& and below the word
The unit below the word is the morpheme.
Words consist of one or more
morphemes; e.g. grandfather - two
morphemes: (1) grand and (2) father
Inflections are morphemes that signal
the grammatical variants of a word
e.g. the inflectional -s at the end of ideas
indicates that the noun is plural
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Classification of sentences
Traditionally, sentences are classified
according to their internal clause
composition as:
simple i.e. consisting of one clause (clauses
are units that, like sentences, can be analysed in terms
of constituents functioning as subject, verb, direct
object),
compound i.e. consisting of two or more
clauses at the same grammatical level,
complex i.e. containing a subordinate
clause as one of its constituents
A simple sentence
i.e. consisting of one clause:
Examples:
[1] I went there last week
[2] My Right Honourable Friend the
Secretary of State met health authority
chairmen on the tenth of July and more
recently at a briefing seminar in Cardiff on
the nineteenth of October.
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A compound sentence
A compound sentence - consists of two or more
clauses at the same grammatical level
Example:
It has only been a week and I feel lonesome
without you.
The two main clauses above are linked by the co-
ordinator and.
A complex sentence:
A complex sentence contains a subordinate
clause as one of its constituents
Example:
Men of rank and education in the provinces
understood that the preponderance of Roman
strength doomed resistance or revolt to failure.
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Declarative, interrogative, imperative,
and exclamative sentences
We can distinguish four types of sentences with
respect to their major uses in communication:
1. declaratives, or declarative sentences, for
statements
2. interrogatives, or interrogative sentences, for
questions
3. imperatives, or imperative sentences, for
directives
4. exclamatives, or exclamative sentences, for
exclamations
Declarative, interrogative, imperative,
and exclamative sentences
Examples
[1] They work hard. (declarative)
[la] Do they work hard? (interrogative)
[lb] Work hard. (imperative)
[lc] How hard they work! (exclamative)
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Declarative, interrogative, imperative,
and exclamative sentences
Declaratives are the most common type
The two major types of interrogatives
are:
yes-no questions - generally intended to elicit
the reply yes or no (e.g. Do you always work
very quickly?)
wh-questions - expect a reply that supplies the
information that the wh-word indicates as
required (What did he mean?)
Interrogatives (questions)
In yes-no questions the auxiliary verb is
placed before the subject. This change
is subject-operator inversion, the
operator generally being the first or only
auxiliary.
If the question does not have an auxiliary,
do is inserted as a dummy auxiliary. For
example:
It interferes with your life (declarative)
Does it interfere with your life (interrogative)
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Wh-questions
The wh-word is generally at the beginning of
the question. If the wh-word or the phrase it is
part of is the complement of a preposition, in
formal style the preposition moves to the front
together with its complement:
e.g. First of all to what companies does that scheme
apply?
In less formal style, the preposition remains at
the end:
e.g. First of all what companies does that scheme apply
to?
Wh-questions
The rule of subject-operator inversion
applies generally to wh-questions. For
example the direct object what begins the
question and is followed by the dummy
operator do and the subject you:
What do you think?
If the wh-expression is the subject of
the sentence, there is no inversion
Who communicates about the threat?
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Alternative questions
In addition to yes-no questions and wh-
questions there are alternative
questions which offer two or more
options for the responses:
Do we ask too much or too little of our police?
(resembles a yes-no question)
What are you doing for the summer, staying in
Paris or going home?
(resembles a wh-question)
Tag questions
Tag questions are attached to clauses that are
not interrogatives
Tag questions generally consist of an
operator followed by a pronoun. The
operator echoes the previous auxiliary and
the pronoun is co-referential with the
previous subject. If there is no previous
auxiliary, the dummy operator do is introduced,
as with all yes-no questions
And I think your mum likes company, doesn't she?
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Tag questions
A positive declarative generally takes
a negative tag question:
Your heroines are very much of a type, aren't
they?
A negative declarative generally takes
a positive tag question:
I can't be sure, can /?
Tag questions
Both the declarative and its tag question are
sometimes positive:
You're going to be transcribing all this are you?
You've marked it have you?
Tag questions may also be used with
imperatives and exclamatives:
Take a seat, won't you?
Let me have a look, will you?
What a mess he was in, wasn't he?
How well she played, didn't she?
Innit is an occasional informal variant of
isn't it:
[. . .] it's good news for you though innit [. . .]
Bit cheeky innit?
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Imperative sentences
Second person imperatives - the typical and
by far the most frequent imperatives -
generally do not have a subject, but you is
implied as subject:
Stir the spices into the meat
You can be added either for contrast or for some
kind of emphasis (e.g. warning):
You pay now and I'll pay next time.
You tell me.
Occasionally, third person subjects occur:
Nobody say anything.
Those without letters from their parents raise their
hands.
Imperative sentences
First and third person imperatives are
formed with let.
Let me put it this way
Let's get really drunk
Do is placed before the imperative verb or
auxiliary to make it less abrupt and more
persuasive
Do come in.
Do let's have another game.
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Imperative sentences
Don't or do not is placed initially to negate second
person and third person imperative sentences:
But don't underestimate the problems
Don't be intimidated by vehicles following too close behind
Do not hesitate to contact me if you need any more
information.
First person imperatives may be negated simply by
inserting not after the pronoun:
Oh let's not get touchy touchy.
Alternatively, don't is inserted before let's or let me
(BrE) or after let's (AmE)
Don't let's tell the police.
Don't let me think about it.
Let's don't tell anyone.
Exclamative sentences
Exclamative sentences begin with what or
how. What introduces noun phrases.
Otherwise, how is used.
What a star you are!
How clever he is!
The exclamative phrase is fronted like the
interrogative wh-phrase,
Such is a determiner introducing a noun phrase,
and so is a premodifier of an adjective and can
also premodify an adverb.
Exclamatives are often abbreviated to just
the exclamative phrase:
What a shame!
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Statements, questions,
directives, exclamations
Sentences fall into four main types that
differ in form and these four types are
associated with four major uses in
communication:
1. declaratives - statements
2. interrogatives - questions
3. imperatives - directives
4. exclamatives - exclamations
There is not a complete correlation between the
sentence types and the communicative uses. For
example, rhetorical questions have the form
of a question but the communicative
function of a statement.
Speech acts
When we utter a declarative, we generally
do more than state something.
For example, we can use declaratives to praise
[1], to request [2], to apologize [3], to
advise [4], to give permission [5], and to
make an offer [6]:
[1] I'm very happy with your work.
[2] I should like some sugar, please.
[3] I'm sorry for the interruption.
[4] You should use another route.
[5] You may have another piece.
[6] I can lend you a hand with the washing-up.
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Speech acts
When we speak or write, we are performing communicative
actions. These actions, expressed in words, are
speech acts, which are intended to convey communicative
purposes to the intended hearers or readers. For example
It's going to rain may be simply a prediction, or it may
be intended as a warning to take an umbrella.
Speakers occasionally convey their purpose by using
performative verbs, which explicitly denote their
communicative purpose:
I apologize for the interruption.
I predict that it will rain this afternoon.
Talking to the driver is forbidden.
I must inform you that your time is up.8
I sentence you to three months' imprisonment.
We advise you to avoid becoming involved.
Positive and negative sentences
The most frequent method of negating
sentences is to insert not or the contracted
form n't in the verb phrase:
He would not stay long.
Such communication was not part of the proceedings
Like questions, negative sentences require an
operator. Not is positioned after the operator,
and n't is attached to the operator.
In negative questions, contracted n't is
attached to the operator and therefore comes
before the subject, whereas not generally follows
the subject:
Can't we do this at some other time?
Why did they not speak out?
14
Negative sentences
In standard English, two negative words
occasionally occur in the same sentence (or
clause), but in that case they make a
positive:
None of the countries have no political prisoners. ('All
the countries have some political prisoners.')
Non-standard dialects use more than one
negative to emphasize the negation:
Nobody told me nothing.
Negation may affect a phrase, without
making the sentence negative:
They spent a not unpleasant time at my place, didn't
they?
Negative sentences as speech acts
As speech acts, negative sentences are used
to deny something that has been
mentioned:
A: I mean four of the five sabbaticals were missing
B: That's irrelevant
A: It isn't irrelevant
Negative sentences are also used to reject
an offer or invitation:
A: Have some banana bread!
B: Look I'm not much of a banana bread eater.
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Active and passive sentences
An active sentence contains an object as one of its
constituents. Active sentences can generally be made passive.
The changes required by the transformation of active to passive
are illustrated in the contrast of active [1] with passive [la]:
[1] One of the lecturers recommended us to do this at the university.
[1a] We were recommended to do this at the university by one of the
lecturers.
Some of the changes affect the verb phrase:
An additional auxiliary (generally the auxiliary be) is added,
which in [la] is were (get is used less commonly as a passive
auxiliary: Some get invited to staff meetings),
the main verb is made into a passive participle, which for
recommended is the same form as the past.
The active object us becomes the passive subject we; the
active subject is moved to the end, where it is introduced by
the preposition by.
Passive sentences
A valid reason for resorting to the passive is
that it is then possible to omit any mention
of the agent (or cause) of the action, which is
expressed in the active by the subject
The usual motivation for omitting mention of
the agent is that identification of the agent
is irrelevant or intended to appear so.
In scientific and technical writing it is quite
common for writers to resort to the
agentless passive to avoid frequent use of the
personal pronouns / and we and thereby
maintain a more impersonal style:
This approach was therefore considered and found to be
far more attractive.
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Summary
Words, phrases, clauses, and sentences are grammatical
units that constitute a hierarchy (the sentence is at the
highest level).
Some grammatical phenomena apply across sentences, and
some morphemes (constituents of words), such as
inflections, need to be treated in the grammar.
Sentences can be classified in various ways:
(1) simple, compound, complex;
(2) declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamative;
(3) statement, question, directive, exclamative;
(4) assertion, request, offer, apology, and other kinds of
speech act;
(5) positive, negative;
(6) active, passive.
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