Lect. 7 The Syntax of English
Learning outcomes: Students will
be able to know noun & verb
phrases and grammatical
functions.
Objectives: To teach the different
phrases and their functions.
Syntax deals with how words are •
combined into larger structures,
phrases, clauses, sentences.
A. Noun phrases:
What is the noun phrase consist of?
It consists of a noun and all the
words and word group that belong
to the noun and cluster around it.Eg.
The yellow tulips
The yellow tulips in the garden. •
Some modifiers precede the •
head and others follow the
head.
Ex 14-1 page 204 •
Ex 14-1 page 204
• Underline the head of the following
noun phrases:
• 1. The fence
• 2. The old fence
• 3. The new aluminum fence
• 4 The fence between the houses
• 5. The old fence which was painted
green. Home work 6-10
Ex 14-2 page 204
Make each list of words •
into a noun phrase and
underline the headword.
1.table, the ,small,study •
2.European,any,opra,great •
.
3.somber,evening,that ,sky •
4.my,shoes,rommmate’s ,tennis •
5.linen,white,handkerchiefs,the,oth •
er,all
Home work 6-10 •
Noun phrases can contain other noun
phrases,eg:
Boys often build dams in the spring.
Small boys who are not in school often build
dams in the spring.
Ex 14-3 •
Expand the italicized noun phrases by adding
modifers before, after:
1. I gave the cat a dish of milk.
2.The doctor remain in his office till five.
Ex 14-3
Home work 1-4
Some syntactic categories
of nouns
Count noun class: includes
everything that is readily countable,
such as books. Count nouns have
both singular and plural forms. The
singular is preceded by a
determiner,e.g.,
The student is coming.
A student is coming.
student is coming(wrong).
In the plural they may come
without a determiner.
The mass nouns: include everything
that is not readily countable, such
water, music, justice. Mass as
nouns have no plural, they occur in
the singular such as,
Information is useful.
The information is useful.
An information is useful(wrong)
Many words may be mass nouns in
one context and count nouns in a
different context, e.g., lemonade,
lemonades, virtue, eggs, bread.
Proper nouns class:
Consists of names of particular
persons, places, and things.
Verb phrases
It consists of a verb and all the •
words and word group that
belong to the verb and cluster
around it. The verb is the head
and the other words are called
auxiliaries modifiers, and
complements.
Example of verb phrases: •
1.soon arrived. •
2.arrived late. •
3.soon arrived at the station. •
Ex. 14-6
Underline the head in these verb
phrases:
1. stepped lightly
2. stepped into the room
3. quickly stepped in
4. stepped where he was told
Home work 4-10 •
Some syntactic categories of Verbs
Transitive verbs(receive
the action of the verb)
Intransitive verbs
Linking verbs, such as, be,
become, seem, and look.
Examples
Suzan prepare the
manuscripts .
She sang beautifully.
The instructions were clear.
Grammatical function of
parts of speech
Table p 213 •
Identifying the subject
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ex. 14-14
Change the plural subjects to singular.
The students study.
The houses deteriorate.
Ex. 14-15
Change the singular subjects to plural.
The professor teaches
The bus wait.
Home work Ex. 14-14/15