I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR
TWO-WEEK SPRING BREAK!
OR, IF YOU TOOK AN EXAM OR
TWO, I HOPE YOU PASSED WITH
FLYING COLORS!
TIME TO GET BACK TO OUR WORK!
ADVERBIALS
REVIEW: what we did last time.
CLASS #1: AP
CLASS #2: AP/AdvP
CLASS #3: AdvP, PP
CLASS #4: PP
CLASS #5: ADVERBIALS
CLASS #6: ADVERBIALS
CLASS #7: MIDTERM OVERVIEW
AND SIMPLE SENTENCE INTRO
MIDTERM TEST
CLASS #8: SIMPLE SENTENCE
CLASS #9: SIMPLE SENTENCE
CLASS #10: COMPLEX SENTENCE
CLASS #11: COMPLEX SENTENCE
CLASS #12: COMPLEX SENTENCE ,
WRAP-UP & ORAL EXAM HINTS
SINCE WE ARE SLIGHTLY BEHIND SCHEDULE IN
TERMS OF PRACTICE CLASSES…
 THE
MIDTERM EXAM IS RE-SCHEDULED FOR
 MAY 15, 2012
THAT’S TUESDAY FOUR WEEKS FROM NOW.
 THE EXACT TIME WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON, BUT
IT WILL BE IN THE AFTERNOON AND IT WILL TAKE
PLACE IN THE AUDITORIUM (‘AMFITEATAR’)
ADJUNCTS
SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION
SEMANTIC TYPES OF ADJUNCTS
Process
Space/
Place
Subjuncts
Respect/
Viewpoint
Time
Adjuncts
Modality
Contingency
Degree/
Intensifier
Focusing
1. ADJUNCTS – PROCESS
 They favor the FINAL position
 Some can take the MEDIAL position
 Co-occurrence possible:
She was accidentally struck with a racket by her partner.
2. ADJUNCTS – SPACE / PLACE (1/2)
 Co-occurrence is possible. Relative order is fixed:
 distance + position: He swam a mile in the open sea.
 direction + position: He fell into the water near that rock .
 distance + direction: She walked a few steps towards him.
 two of the same subtype: position smaller/more specific + position bigger/less specific
 Many people eat in restaurants in London.
 goal + source or source + goal (depending on information structure):
 We flew from Cairo to Istanbul. We flew to Istanbul from Cairo.
 Only adverbials of same meaning can be coordinated:
 I drove down Gower Street and into University College /*several miles.
2. ADJUNCTS – SPACE / PLACE (2/2)
Position of SPACE ADJUNCTS in the sentence:
 Normally, they take FINAL positions
 If they are clustered, the order is:
DISTANCE – DIRECTION – POSITION
She walked [a few steps] [towards him] [in the dark]
 SPACE ADJUNCTS OF POSITION can be moved to INITIAL
position:
On the top of the building, two men were gesticulating wildly.
Some space adjuncts denoting POSITION AND DIRECTION cause
subject-operator inversion (LOCATIVE INVERSION) when they are
placed initially:
Here he is!
There was the book.
Down swooped the hawk.
3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (1/5)
 They typically favor the FINAL position.
 However, they can often take the INITIAL position:
In 1982, the economy started to recover.
For many years, no one wanted to buy the house.
 Some, especially short adjuncts (such as: always, often, just, recently,
already) take the MEDIAL position:
She often arrives late.
You could then take a train to London.
3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (2/5)
TIME ADJUNCTS – SUBCLASSIFICATION
TIME ADJUNCTS
TIME
WHEN/POSITION
DURATION
(backward/forward
span)
FREQUENCY
OTHER TIME
RELATIONSHIP
3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (3/5)
 TIME ADJUNCTS – SUBCLASSIFICATION:
 TIME WHEN/POSITION – answers the question WHEN?
See you tomorrow / then.
 Two of the same type: more specific + less specific
I’ll see you [at nine] [on Monday].
 However, if one of the two adjuncts is very long, the order is: shorter + longer
I lived there in the fifties when my first child was born.
 DURATION (backward/forward span) – three subtypes:
 Duration of specific or indefinite length: answers the question HOW LONG?
He walked for 6 hours.
He waited from 1 to 5.
He worked all day.
 Duration – forward span: answers the question TILL WHEN?
He will arrive till / until five o’clock. He didn’t arrive until 5. (till + negation)
 Duration – backward span: answers the question SINCE WHEN?
He will arrive till / until five o’clock. He didn’t arrive until 5. (till + negation)
3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (4/5)
 TIME ADJUNCTS – SUBCLASSIFICATION:
 FREQUENCY
 Frequency of occasion: answers the question HOW MANY TIMES?
He did it twice. He sent that message three times.
 Frequency of period: answers the question HOW OFTEN?
He is paid daily/monthly.
 Definite frequency: TWICE, DAILY
 Indefinite frequency – four subsets on the scale:
 UNIVERSAL FREQUENCY: always
 HIGH FREQUENCY: often, frequently
 USUAL OCCURRENCE: usually, generally
 LOW FREQUENCY: seldom, hardly ever, never
o low frequency time adjuncts sometimes cause NEGATIVE INVERSION when
they are in the initial position:
Never have I seen such a play.
 OTHER TIME RELATIONSHIPS: previously, again, already…
3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (5/5)
 When time adjuncts co-occur, their relative order is:
1. DURATION – 2. FREQUENCY – 3. POSITION
I was there [for a short while] [every day or so] [last year].
THIS IS WHERE WE STOPPED LAST
WEEK.
SO, LET’S CONTINUE!
4. ADJUNCTS – CONTINGENCY
 Mostly occur in the INITIAL and FINAL positions.
 When they co-occur in the FINAL position, the order is:
1. RESPECT – 2. PROCESS – 3. SPACE – 4. TIME – 5. CONTINGENCY
Many people died [in Africa] [in the 20th century] [from malnutrition].
IMPORTANT NOTE: CAUSE vs. REASON
CAUSE (no subject’s control): She died of cancer.
REASON (subject’s control): Working hard, she got promoted.
5. ADJUNCTS – FOCUSING
THIS IS AN ADVERB
MODIFYING NP, NOT AN
ADJUNCT.
 They don’t favor any position in particular.
 The general rule for their position is that they are placed before the
focused element:
She had also questioned only her patients only the previous week also.
 If the whole predication is focused, they take medial position:
She had only questioned her patients the previous week.
HOWEVER, not all focusing expressions are really adjuncts:
He [only] wants to help. (ADJUNCT)
[Only he] wants to help. (MODIFIER OF NP)
FOCUSING ADJUNCTS: additional info
 RESTRICTIVE FOCUSING ADJUNCTS make it explicit that
WHAT IS BEING COMMUNICATED IS RESTRICTED TO THE
PART THAT IS FOCUSED:
 EXCLUSIVES restrict the application of the communication
EXCLUSIVELY to the part that is focused:
 Alone, exactly, exclusively, just, merely, only, precisely, purely, simply, solely
 PARTICULARIZERS restrict the application of the communication
PARTICULARLY OR MAINLY to the part that is focused:
 Chiefly, especially, largely, mainly, mostly, notably, particularly, primarily, principally,
specifically, at least, in particular
 ADDITIVE FOCUSING ADJUNCTS make it explicit that WHAT IS
BEING COMMUNICATED IS AN ADDITION:
 Again, also, either, equally, even, further, likewise, neither, nor, similarly, too, as
well, in addition
6. ADJUNCTS – DEGREE/INTENSIFIER
DEGREE/INTENSIFIER ADJUNCTS
 Intensifiers have in common the heightening or lowering
effect on some unit in the sentence.
 The term “INTENSIFIERS” is slightly misleading, because
they are not restricted to intensification: THEY INDICATE A
POINT ON THE INTENSITY SCALE WHICH MAY BE
HIGH OR LOW.
 There are two groups of INTENSIFIER ADJUNCTS:
 AMPLIFIERS: they scale upwards and are divided into
MAXIMIZERS and BOOSTERS
 DOWNTONERS: they have a lowering effect and are divided
into COMPROMISERS, DIMINISHERS, MINIMIZERS and
APPROXIMATORS
DEGREE/INTENSIFIER ADJUNCTS:
AMPLIFIERS
 MAXIMIZERS denote the upper extreme on the scale.
 BOOSTERS denote a high degree or a high point on the
scale.
 MAXIMIZERS include: absolutely, altogether, completely,
entirely, extremely, fully, perfectly, quite, thoroughly, totally,
utterly, most and in all respects.
 BOOSTERS include: badly, bitterly, deeply, enormously, far,
greatly, heartily, highly, intensely, much, severely, so, strongly,
terribly, violently, well, a great deal, a good deal, a lot, by far
and more.
DEGREE/INTENSIFIER ADJUNCTS:
DOWNTONERS
 COMPROMISERS have a slight lowering effect.
 Kind of, soft of, quite, rather (I kind of like it.)
 DIMINISHERS scale the intensity downwards.
 Mildly, moderately, partially, slighlty (I partly agree with you)
 MINIMIZERS scale the intensity downwards, but close to the
minimum
 Barely, hardly, little, scarcely… (I can scarcely ignore her views)
 APPROXIMATORS serve to express an approximation to the
force of the verb, whine indicating its non-application.
 Almost, nearly, practically (I almost resigned.)
7. ADJUNCTS - MODALITY
 They favor THE MEDIAL POSITION.
They are very similar to DISJUNCTS, but they do not
NECESSARILY CONVERY THE OPINION OF THE SPEAKER >
they are more general and are NOT SUBJECTIVE
(i.e.FACTUAL).
Compare:
Certainly, she is a great writer. DISJUNCT
She is certainly going to sign a publishing deal. MODALITY ADJUNCT
8. ADJUNCTS – RESPECT/VIEWPOINT
VIEWPOINT ADJUNCTS
 All viewpoint adjuncts can be roughly paraphrased by:
 “if we consider what we are saying from a/an <ADJECTIVE> point of view”,
or
 “if we consider what we are saying from the point of view of <NOUN
PHRASE> ”.
 Most viewpoint adjuncts are derived from adjectives using –LY suffix.
 They are SENTENTIAL ADJUNCTS in the sense that their meaning
encompasses THE WHOLE SENTENCE.
 That is why they favor INITIAL POSITION, but can occur in the MEDIAL
POSITION.
 Visually, it was a powerful novel.
 Morally, politically and economically, it is urgent that the government should act
more effectively.
 To tap a private telephone line is not technically a very difficult operation.
 Weatherwise, we are going to have a bad spring.
RESPECT ADJUNCTS
 All respect adjuncts can provide a frame for the interpretation of the
activity denoted by the verb > they, in a way, restrict the meaning of the
verb to particular DOMAIN OF THE ACTIVITY.
 They are PREDICATION ADJUNCTS in the sense that their meaning
only modifies THE PREDICATION (the part of the sentence to the
right of the verb).
 That is why they favor FINAL POSITION:
 She is advising me legally.
 She is solving the problem from the PR perspective only.
 The president will accept that phrasing of the justification for the attack
just as far as international relations are concerned.
9. ADJUNCTS - SUBJUNCTS
 Very similar to MANNER adjuncts.
 They favor the INITIAL position:
Nervously, he answered the phone. (SUBJUNCT)
He answered the phone nervously. (MANNER ADJUNCT)
THE END OF ADJUNCTS
HOWEVER, THERE ARE ALSO
DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTS
DIGRESSION: frequent words
 The most frequent words in English are:








THE
A
IS
ARE
WAS
WERE
DID
DO
 However, these are just INDIVIDUAL WORDS.
 We know that language actually operates on UNITS LARGER THAN
WORDS: PHRASES and CLAUSES
 So, what do you think, what is the most frequent phrase/clause in the
English language?
THE MOST FREQUENT
PHRASE/CLAUSE IN ENGLISH:
IMPORTANT NOTE:
THIS REFERS TO
SPOKEN ENGLISH
YOU KNOW /j’ nou/
Closely followed by:
I mean, I suppose, You see, Sort of and
similar expressions.
YOU KNOW, I MEAN, YOU SEE…
AN EXAMPLE
IS THIS GOOD
ENGLISH?
 When
my sister and I were children, we had a small, ahm, a little,
sort of, patch, you know, cunningly a bit tucked away at the
back of somewhere at our place and we used to grow tomatoes
and the odd vegetable.
 I mean, I've always felt that's an important part of , you know,
one'sconnection with nature and the soil, and so, I suppose, that
was part of it.
 But
thenWANT
whenTO
I, you
know, when I came down here, and I just
IF YOU
SOUND
wanted
stuck in and I'd always wanted
to do a bit of farming
LIKEto
ANget
EDUCATED
OFFICIALLY, THIS IS
- PERSON,
I'm not YOU
very SHOULDN’T
good at it but fortunately there
are lots of other
REALLY BAD
LIKEto
THIS.
peopleTALK
around
help.
ENGLISH!
WHO IS, THEN, THIS PERSON?
 Who is this person that tortures and abuses the beauty of the
language of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, Joyce, etc?
 Who is this uneducated scum of the earth who dares ruin the
perfection of English as it has evolved over two millennia?
 What is his walk of life, education and social background?
 PRINCE CHARLES > heir to the throne of England
YOU KNOW, YOU SEE, I MEAN…
 ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE DISJUNCTS, ACTUALLY.
DISJUNCTS
RELEVANT POINTS
DISJUNCTS
DISJUNCTS
STYLE
DISJUNCTS
Comment the style, form,
conditions of speaking
CONTENT/
ATTITUDINAL DISJUNCTS
(comment the truth value of an
utterance)
CERTAINTY
EVALUATION
DISJUNCTS: more info
 Disjuncts are typically PPs and CLAUSES.
 STYLE DISJUNCTS convey either:
 Speaker’s assertion of truth (truthfully), or
 Speaker’s indication of generalization (broadly).
 ATTITUDINAL DISJUNCTS comment on:
 TRUTH VALUE OF THE SENTENCE (CERTAINTY)
 General: certainly
 General + perception: obviously
 General + comment on reality of content: really
 CONTENT OF COMMUNICATION (EVALUATION)
 General: understandably
 General + comment on clause subject: wisely (similar to subjuncts)
CONJUNCT
RELEVANT POINTS
CONJUNCTS (1/2)
 They have a CONNECTIVE FUNCTION between SENTENCES
(sometimes, they are called SENTENCE LINKERS)
 Most typically, they take the INITIAL POSITION, but they are not
restricted to it.
 Sometimes, they can take the MEDIAL and FINAL position:
CONJUNCTS (2/2)
 There are many classifications of conjuncts, below there is a
list of THE MOST FREQUENT classes of conjuncts (there
are many other classes, which are not given here):
CONJUNCTS: add-on
 According to most textbooks there are two more groups:
 INFERENTIAL CONJUNCTS:
 They convey an inference from what is implicit in the preceding sentence
or sentences:
 Else, otherwise, then, in other words, in that case
 TEMPORAL TRANSITION CONJUNCTS:
 They convey that the temporal ordering is simultaneous with the previous
sentences (similar to TIME ADJUNCTS):
 In the meantime, in the meanwhile…
CONJUNCTS: add-on
 Also, according to most textbooks there are four subtypes of
CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:
 REFORMULATORY CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:
 BETTER, RATHER, IN OTHER WORDS…
 REPLACIVE CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:
 AGAIN, ALTERNATIVELY, RATHER, BETTER, WORSE, ON THE OTHER
HAND
 ANTITHETIC CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:
 CONTRARIWISE, CONTRASTINGLY, CONVERSLY, INSTEAD,
OPPOSITELY, ON THE CONTRARY, IN CONTRAST, IN COMPARISON,
ON THE OTHER HAND…
 CONCESIVE CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:
 ANYHOW, ANYWAY, BESIDES, ALSE, HOWEVER, NONTHELESS,
NEVERTHELESS, NOTWITHSTANDING, STILL,YET, IN ANY CASE, AT
ANY RATE, FOR ALL THAT, ALL THE SAME…
MIDTERM TEST
WHAT IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE…
IT’S WORTH TAKING A GOOD LOOK,
BECAUSE IT’S WORTH 25% (OF YOUR FINAL
GRADE)
Exercises 7 & 8 deal with ADVERBIALS
 7. Underline all the adverbials in the following
sentences and specify their a. type (adjunct,
conjunct, disjunct), and subtype; b. position in
YOU WILL (I,
ALLM,
DOF):
THIS KIND OF EXERCISE DURING
sentence
YOUR FIRST PRACTICE CLASSES IN APRIL, SO
 Example:The people upstairs are noisy [in the evening]. type: adjunct
WE WILL NOT DO THEM NOW,
(time, time-when); position: F
AS WE WANT IT TO BE FRESH IN
 8. Underline all the adverbials in the following
YOU MEMORY FOR THE TEST!
sentences and specify their syntactic structure (type
of phrase or clause):
 Example:The people upstairs are noisy [in the evening]. structure: PP
NOW, LET’S DO (ALMOST) EVERY
OTHER TASK…
SO THAT YOU CAN BE FULLY PREPARED…
1. Identify the word class of the underlined items
in the following sentences:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
ADJ
He was the last person to hear the news.
__________
ADV
He finished last.
__________
ADV
She thinks highly of her teachers.
__________
P
I’ve been feeling under stress lately.
__________
CONJ.
It may be many years before the situation improves.
__________
P
The task before us is a difficult one.
__________
ADV
We drove up to Inverness to see my father.
__________
ADJ
In case of emergency, take the up escalator.
__________
ADV
You should have told me so before.
__________
The travel agent recommended a cruise up the Neva.
__________
P
ADVERB PARTICLE OF A PHRASAL
VERB
Don’t you ever give up!
__________
2. Underline the required phrases in the following
sentences and analyze their structure and syntactic
function. Examples:
She is [very happy] S: AdjP=Adv+Adj; F: Cs
He speaks [fluently enough]. S: AdvP=Adv+Adv; F: A
She has [a house in the woods] S: PP=P+NP; F: complement of NP
 2.1. APs – Adjective phrases
a) This is a very interesting book.
AP=Adv + ADJ
premodication in an NP
S: _____________________
F: ______________________
b) She isn’t old enough to get married.
AP=Adv + ADJ +Cl (n.f.) F: _____________________
Cs
S: _____________________
c) We are delighted that you have made it.
AP=ADJ +Cl (f.)
Cs
S: _____________________
F: ____________________
d) He found her prettier than her sister.
AP=ADJ +PP
Co
S: _____________________
F: _____________________
2. Underline the required phrases in the following
sentences and analyze their structure and syntactic
function. Examples:
She is [very happy] S: AdjP=Adv+Adj; F: Cs
He speaks [fluently enough]. S: AdvP=Adv+Adv; F: A
She has [a house in the woods] S: PP=P+NP; F: complement of NP
 2.2. AdvPs – Adverb phrases
e) He plays the piano surprisingly well
AdvP=Adv + ADV
A(dverbial)
S: ___________________
F: ___________________
f) I hope to meet him soon enough.
AdvP=Adv + ADV
A(dverbial)
S: ____________________
F:___________________
g) He spoke too fast for us to take notes.
AdvP=Adv + ADV+ Cl(non-f.)
A(dverbial)
S: _________________
F: _____________________
2. Underline the required phrases in the following
sentences and analyze their structure and syntactic
function. Examples:
She is [very happy] S: AdjP=Adv+Adj; F: Cs
He speaks [fluently enough]. S: AdvP=Adv+Adv; F: A
She has [a house in the woods] S: PP=P+NP; F: complement of NP
 2.3. PPs – Prepositional phrases
h) An extra £10 million will be sent to the flooded region.
PP=P +NP
S: ___________________________
F: _________
obligatory ADVERBIAL
i) For certain personal reasons I shall not be able to attend.
PP= P + NP
optional ADVERBIAL
S: ___________________________
F: _________
j) We’re very sorry about the damage we caused.
PP=P +NP
complement of AP
S: ___________________________
F: ______________
k) From what I heard, the company’s in deep trouble.
PP=P +Cl (finite, wh)
S: ___________________________
F: _____________
optional ADVERBIAL
PP=P +NP
obligatory ADVERBIAL
S: ___________________________
F: _____________
3. Arrange the adjectives into the correct order within
the NP:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
dress (silk/ long/ extravagant/ red)
an extravagant long red silk dress
_____________________________________________________
dog (brown/ friendly/ large)
a friendly large brown dog
_____________________________________________________
biscuits (home-made/ delicious/ chocolate)
delicious home-made chocolate biscuits
_____________________________________________________
skirt (striped / tight / silk)
a tight striped silk skirt
_____________________________________________________
woman (thirty-year old / attractive / tall / blonde)
an attractive tall thirty-year old blonde woman
_____________________________________________________
4. Transform the following sentences by changing the
nouns with adjectives into verbs followed by suitable
expressions (AdvP, AdjP, PP):
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
There has been a drastic fall in the dollar.
The dollar has fallen drastically.
_________________________________________________________
Why did she give me such a stern look?
Why did she look at me so sternly?
_________________________________________________________
Tom is a good cook.
Tom cooks well.
_________________________________________________________
I gave her a fatherly talk.
I talked to her in a fatherly way/manner.
_________________________________________________________
The flowers had a fragrant smell.
The flowers smelt/smelled fragrant.
_________________________________________________________
5. Rephrase the sentences so that they begin with the
words in italics:
 I have never met such a man.
Never have I met such a man.
 _______________________________________________
 You should not sign the document on any account.
On no account should you sign the document.
____________________________________
 I realized what happened only when they left.
Only when they left did I realize what happened.
_________________________________________
 A truer word has seldom been spoken.
Seldom has a truer word been spoken.
______________________________________________
6. Underline the adverbs in each of the following sentences and
determine their syntactic functions (1. Adverbial - adjunct, conjunct,
disjunct; 2. Modifier of – NP, AdjP, AdvP, PP, Det; 3. Complement of P):
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Understandably, the project was a success.
ADVERBIAL - disjunct
She has an awfully bad temper.
MODIFIER - AP
He showed us straight to our seats.
MODIFIER - PP
Mary works very hard.
1:MODIFIER - AdvP
2:ADVERBIAL- adjunct
MODIFIER - NP
He is quite a nice man.
1: ADVERBIAL - conjunct
Yet, she could never forgive him.
2: ADVERBIAL- adjunct
Over twenty people came to the party.
MODIFIER - Determiner
This letter came from abroad.
Complement of P
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
LECTURE #1 – 2012-04-18
WHAT IS A SENTENCE?
Basic concepts of a science are notoriously
difficult to define, e.g. atom, number, society, etc.
SENTENCE

In the traditional view, a sentence is defined:
 “A
sequence of words that is complete in itself,
conveying a statement, question, exclamation or
command, typically containing a subject and
predicate.” (OED)
 “A group of words that usually contains a subject and a
verb, and expresses a complete idea” (LDOCE)
 “A grammatical unit that is syntactically independent
and has a subject that is expressed or, as in imperative
sentences, understood and a predicate that contains at
least one finite verb.” (MWED)
SENTENCE

In computational linguistics, a sentence is defined:
 “A
sequence of words that begins with capital letter
and ends in “.”, “!” or “?”.” (Manning and Schutze)
SENTENCE: some examples








“A dog sleeps.”
“A friendly dog in the kennel next to our house
sleeps like a baby.”
“Yes.”
“No!”
“Good.”
“Aaaargh, a dog!”
“The more, the merrier!”
“To hell with Skyrim!”
SENTENCE: some examples







“A dog sleeps [wherever it finds a suitable place].”
“I know [that a friendly dog in the kennel next to
our house sleeps like a baby].”
“Stop [doing that]!”
“Stop that!”
“Stop!”
“Wow!”
“A-ha.”
SENTENCE: what examples tell us

Not all sentences contain a subject and a verb:
 Structures
such as “Wow!”, “Yes.”, “Aaaah, a dog!”,
“The more, the marrier.”, which do not contain a subject
and a verb, are called SENTENCE FRAGMENTS or
MINOR SENTENCES.
 Structures such as “A dog sleeps.” and “I bought a book
yesterday in a nice bookstore somewhere on the West
Side.”, which do contain both a subject and a verb, are
called FULL SENTENCES or MAJOR SENTENCES.
SENTENCE: what examples tell us

Not all sentences contain just one subject and one
verb:
 Structures
such as “A dog sleeps.” and “I bought a book
yesterday in a nice bookstore somewhere on the West
Side.”, which contain just one subject and one verb, are
called SIMPLE SENTENCES.
 Structures such as “A dog sleeps [wherever it finds a
suitable place].” and “I know [that a friendly dog in the
kennel next to our house sleeps like a baby].”, which
contain more than one subject and a verb (i.e. which
contain more than one clause), are called COMPLEX
SENTENCES.
WHAT IS A CLAUSE?
SENTENCE vs. CLAUSE
SENTENCE
CLAUSE
CLAUSE

In the traditional view, a clause is defined:
 “A
unit of grammatical organization next below the
sentence in rank, and in traditional grammar said to
consist of a subject and predicate.” (OED)
 “A group of words that contains a subject and a verb,
but which is usually only part of a sentence.” (LDOCE)
 “A group of words containing a subject and a
predicate and forming part of a compound or complex
sentence.” (MWED)
SENTENCE vs. CLAUSE



CLAUSE – a syntactic unit which is larger than a
phrase and which consists of ONE PREDICATION.
Clauses can be both FINITE and NON-FINITE, and
DEPENDENT and INDEPENDENT.
SENTENCE – the biggest syntactic unit. It consists of
at least one clause. Sentences are always FINITE.
Sentences are always INDEPENDENT.
E.g.
clause (non-finite), function: S, structure: VCs
To
be
happy
clause (non-finite), function: Od, structure: VA
means
to
be
in
love.
clause (finite) = sentence, structure: S(clause) V Od(clause)
SENTENCE vs. CLAUSE
Some other examples:
I am happy.

clause (finite) = sentence, structure: S V Cs
clause (non-finite), function: Od, structure: V Cs
I want to be happy.
clause (finite) = sentence, structure: S V Od(clause)
clause (finite), function: Od, structure: S V Od (clause)
clause (non-finite), function: Od, structure: VCs
I know that he wants to be happy.
clause (finite) = sentence, structure: S V Od(clause)
SENTENCE vs. CLAUSE
The previous example showed us an important feature of all
human languages including English:
 LANGUAGES ARE RECURSIVE
 IN OTHER WORDS, YOU CAN EMBED A CLAUSE INTO
ANOTHER CLAUSE AND THEN EMBED YET ANOTHER
CLAUSE INTO THAT CLASUE, AND THEN DO IT AGAIN…
Mary is telling the truth.
I know [that Mary is telling the truth].
I know [that John knows [that Mary is telling the truth]].
I know [that John knows [ that Bill knows [that Mary is telling
the truth]]].
I know [that John knows [ that Bill knows [ that the police
believe [that Mary is telling the truth]]]].

CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES
STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION
STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION

Sentences and clauses are structurally classified
according to two different criteria:
 THE
NUMBER AND TYPE OF CLAUSES IN A SENTENCE
> THE BASIS FOR SENTENCE CLASSIFICATION
 THE
TYPE OF VERB IN A SENTENCE > THE BASIS FOR
CLAUSE CLASSIFICATION
SENTENCES - CLASSIFICATION BASED
ON NUMBER AND TYPE OF CLAUSES

STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION = based on the
NUMBER AND TYPE of clauses in a sentence:
SENTENCE
SIMPLE
COMPLEX
COMPOUND
SENTENCES – IMPORTANT NOTE



COMPOUND SENTENCES ARE REALIZED BY
MEANS OF THE GRAMMATICAL REALITIONSHIP OF
COORDINATION.
COORDINATION IS LEXICALLY REALIZED
THROUGH COORDINATORS (AND, OR & BUT)
HOWEVER, EVERYTHING CAN BE COORDINATED,
SO THE EXISTANCE OF A COORDINATOR DOES
NOT AUTOMATICALLY INDICATE THAT THE
SENTENCE IS A COMPOUND SENTENCE.
SENTENCES – IMPORTANT NOTE

John kissed Mary and Bill kissed Angelina.


John kissed Marry when he invited her to a candlelight
dinner but Bill kissed Angelina when they went to a
football match.


COMPOUND SENTECE (COMPLEX SENTENCE + COMPLEX
SENTENCE)
John kissed and embraced Mary.


COMPOUND SENTENCE (SIMPLE SENTENCE + SIMPLE
SENTENCE)
SIMPLE SENTENCE (COORDINATED VERB)
John kissed Mary and embraced Mandy.

COMPLEX SENTENCE (SIMPLE SENTENCE + SIMPLE
SENTENCE WITH ELIDED SUBJECT)
CLAUSES- CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
NUMBER AND VERB VALENCY



One of the properties of verbs is VALENCY.
VALENCY is the number of obligatory elements that
a particular verb takes.
On the basis of VALENCY verbs can be divided into
five types.
VERB CLASSES
VERBS
INTENSIVE
EXTENSIVE
INTRANSITIVE
monotransitive
ditransitive
TRANSITIVE
complex
transitive
CLAUSE TYPES
ON THE BASIS OF VERB CLASSES
CLAUSE TYPES
VERBS
CLAUSE TYPES
THE SINGLE VERB ELEMENT OF A
SIMPLE SENTENCE IS ALWAYS A
FINITE VERBS
VP.
INTENSIVE/LINKING
SO, THESE ARE THE 7 TYPES OF
SIMPLE SENTENCES
IN ENGLISH
INTRANSITIVE
EXTENSIVE
TRANSITIVE
1. SVCs
2. SVA
3. SV
MONOTRANSITIVE
4. SVO
DITRANSITIVE
5. SVOiOd
COMPLEX TRANSITIVE 6. SVOCo
7. SVOA
CLAUSE TYPES
Naturally, OPTIONAL ADVERBIAL may be added to
sentences of any type:
(Luckily) the sun is (already) shining.
I (definitely) must send her a birthday card (tomorrow).
 The S, V, O and C are OBLIGATORY sentence
elements, whereas the A can be either OBLIGATORY
or OPTIONAL. The A is obligatory in the SVA and
SVOA clause types:
John often goes to the cinema. S(A)VA
She kept the children in bed during the storm. SVOA(A)

SENTENCE ELEMENTS
SYNTACTICALLY DEFINED
SYNTACTIC CONSTITUENTS (S, V, O, C, A) can be realized in different forms:
PHRASES and CLAUSES
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
PP
In the state of nirvana is how I want to feel.
AdvP
Here is the latest report from Tripoli.
Tomorrow is Thursday.
AP
Beautiful beyond words is how I would describe it.
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
SEMANTICALLY DEFINED
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
semantically defined
Let’s take a simple sentence as an example:
Eric Cartman killed Kenny with a knife.
SUBJECT
VERB
OBJECT
ADVERBIAL
A syntactic analysis of the sentence would yield the
following syntactic structure: SVOA
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
semantically defined
Semantically speaking, every verb describes a
SITUATION in which one or more PARTICIPANTS are
involved.
If we look at the sentence “Eric Cartman killed Kenny
with a knife.” we can say that the verb KILL describes
a situation which involves three different participants:
1 = THE PERSON WHO
PERFORMED THE ACTIVITY
2 = THE PERSON WHO WAS
KILLED
3 = THE INSTRUMENT USED
FOR KILLING
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
semantically defined
One SYNTACTIC ELEMENT/CONSTITUENT can have
VARIOUS SEMANTIC ROLES.
For example, the SUBJECT can have three different semantic
roles:
John opened the door. (SUBJECT is the AGENT)
The key opened the door. (SUBJECT is the INSTRUMENT)
The door opened. (SUBJECT is the THEME/PATIENT)
Actually, this is just the tip of the iceberg: the subject can
have as many as THIRTEEN (13!!!) different semantic roles.
SUBJECT – semantically defined
DIRECT OBJECT – semantically defined
INDIRECT OBJECT – semantically defined
COMPLEMENTS – semantically defined
NOW…
…SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
CONCORD
CONCORD
Concord is AGREEMENT between two sentence
elements with respect to certain grammatical features.
Officially:
CONCORD
(sometimes
termed
AGREEMENT) is the relationship between TWO
GRAMMATICAL UNITS such that one of them
DISPLAYS A PARTICULAR FEATURE (e.g. plurality) that
ACCORDS WITH A DISPLAYED (or semantically
implicit) FEATURE in the other unit.
There are several types of concord.
Even in English! But more about it later.
WHERE CAN WE SEE CONCORD?
*Mary were in London yesterday. S-V concord (gender,
person , number)
*John cut herself. S-O concord (gender, person, number)
*John cut themselves. S-O concord (gender, person,
number)
*John is an actress. S-Cs concord (gender, person,
number)
*John considers Bill an actress. S-Co concord (gender,
person, number)
*John considers them an actor. S-Co concord (gender,
person, number)
CONCORD – types of
CONCORD
Depending on
SENTENCE
ELEMENT
Subject-verb
concord
Subjectcomplement
concord
Objectcomplement
concord
Depending on
GRAMMATICAL
FEATURES
Concord of
NUMBER
Concord of
PERSON
Concord of
GENDER
S-V concord: NOUN PHRASES
The CHANGE in male attitudes is most obvious in
industry.
The CHANGES in male attitude are most obvious in
industry.
When the subject is realized by a noun phrase, the
phrase counts as singular IF ITS HEAD IS SINGULAR.
S-V concord: AdvP and PP
Slowly does it!
In the evenings is best for me.
Prepositional phrases and adverb phrases
functioning as subjects count as SINGULAR.
S-V concord: CLAUSES
How they got there doesn’t concern me.
To treat them as hostages is criminal.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous to your health.
To drink and drive is a recipe for disaster.
Finite and non-finite clauses generally count as
SINGULAR.
However, there are some apparent exceptions.
S-V concord: clauses add-on
What were supposed to be new proposals were in fact
modifications of earlier ones.
What was once a palace is now a pile of rubble.
Whatever book a Times reviewer praises sells well.
What ideas he has are his wife’s.
 These are NOMINAL RELATIVE CLAUSES:
 their number depends on the interpretation of the number
of the WH-ELEMENT, e.g. with determiners WHAT and
WHATEVER the concord depends on the number of the
determined noun (the last two examples)
S-V concord: general rules
General rule of S-V concord:
A subject which is not clearly semantically plural
requires a singular verb.
In other words: SINGULAR is the UNMARKED FORM
which is to be used in neutral circumstances when
there is no positive.
This explains why in informal speech we can often
hear:
There is hundreds of people in the streets.
S-V concord: exceptions
Measles is sometimes serious.
Our people are complaining.
Apparent exceptions include SINGULAR NOUNS
ending in –S (e.g. measles, billards, mathematics, etc.)
and PLURAL NOUNS lacking the –S (e.g. cattle,
people, clergy, etc.).
S-V concord: exceptions
Crime and Punishment is a great novel.
Brother Karamzov is his masterpiece.
The Cedars has a huge garden.
‘Senior citizens’ means people over sixty.
Plural noun phrases (including coordinate phrases) count
as singular if they are used as NAMES, TITLES,
QUOTATIONS, etc.
Such NPs can be regarded as appositive structures with
an implied singular head: the book ‘Crime and
Punishment’, the expression ‘senior citizens’, etc.
S-V concord: exceptions
The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts.
The Canterbury Tales exist in many manuscripts.
The titles of some works that are collection of stories
may be counted as either singular or plural.
Principles of grammatical concord:
NOTIONAL concord & PROXIMITY
No one except his own supporters AGREE with him.
 The head is NO ONE, but the verb agrees with
SUPPORTERS – this is called PROXIMITY.
 PROXIMITY (also called ‘ATTRACTION’) denotes
agreement of the verb with a closely preceding NP in
preference to agreement with the head of the NP that
functions as subject:
 Proximity is here reinforced by NOTIONAL CONCORD
(‘Only his own supporters agree with him’).
 NOTIONAL CONCORD – how the speaker understands
the concept denoted with the NP (singular or plural)
regardless of the grammatical form
EXAMPLES OF NOTIONAL CONCORD

Ten dollars is all I have left.
 [That

Fifteen years represents a long period of his life.
 [That

distance is…]
Two thirds of the area is under water.
 [That

period is…]
Two miles is as far as they can walk.
 [That

amount is…]
area is…],
Sixty people means a huge party.
 [That
number of people means…]
Principles of grammatical concord:
NOTIONAL concord & PROXIMITY



Conflict between grammatical concord and proximity
increases with the distance between the NP head of the
subject and the VP (e.g. when an adverbial or a
parenthesis intervenes between the subject and the
verb).
Proximity concord occurs mainly in unplanned discourse
– in writing it will be corrected to grammatical concord.
We will discuss GRAMMATICAL CONCORD, NOTIONAL
CONCORD and PROXIMITY in the following cases:
Collective noun head
 Coordinated subject
 Indefinite expressions

COLLECTIVE NOUNS
The audience were enjoying every minute of it.
The public are tired of demonstration.
England have won the cup.
Our Planning Committee have considered…
Singular collective nouns may be notionally plural. In
BRITISH ENGLISH the verb may be EITHER
SINGULAR or PLURAL.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
The audience was enormous.
The public consists of you and me.
The crowd has been dispersed.
The choice between singular and plural verbs
depends in BRITISH ENGLISH on whether the group
is being considered as a single undivided body or
as a collection of individuals.
On the whole: the plural is more popular in speech,
whereas in writing the singular is preferred.
COORDINATED SUBJECTS
When a subject consists of TWO or MORE noun
phrases (or clauses) coordinated by AND, we must
make a distinction between:
COORDINATION (PROPER)
COORDINATIVE APPOSITION
COORDINATION (PROPER)
Tom and Alice ARE now ready.
=[Tom is now ready and Alice is now ready.]
 What I say and what I think ARE my own affair.
=[What I say is my own affair and what I think is my own
affair]
BUT:
 What I say and do IS my own affair.
COORDINATION REFERS TO CASES WHEN WE HAVE
FULL COORDINATED FORMS (not REDUCED FORMS).
A PLURAL VERB IS USED EVEN IF EACH CONJOIN IS
SINGULAR.

COORDINATION (PROPER)
His camera, his phone, his money WERE confiscated
by the customs officials.
A PLURAL VERB IS ALSO NEEDED WHEN THERE IS NO
COORDINATOR.

COORDINATION (PROPER)
You problem and mine ARE similar.
=[Your problem is similar to mine and mine is similar
to yours.]
 What I say and do ARE two different things.
=[What I say is one thing and what I do is another
thing.]
Conjoins expressing MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP are
also PLURAL.

COORDINATION PROPER TRICKY
ISSUE
Every adult and every child was holding a flag.
 Each senator and congressman was allocated two
seats.
 Each of them has signed the petition.
BUT:
 They have each signed allocated two seats.
PREPOSED EACH AND EVERY HAVE A DISTRIBUTIVE
EFFECT AND REQUIRE A SINGULAR VERB.

COORDINATIVE APPOSITION
This temple of ugliness and memorial to Victorian bad
taste was erected in the main street of the city.
BUT:
 His ages servant and the subsequent editor of his
collected papers was with him at his deathbed.
 His ages servant and the subsequent editor of his
collected papers were with him at his deathbed.
SINGULAR IS USED IF THE SERVANT AND THE EDITOR
ARE THE SAME PERSON (APPOSITIVE
COORDINATION) AND PLURAL IS USED IF THEY ARE
TWO DIFFERENT PERSONS (COORDINATION
PROPER).

COORDINATION WITH
OR AND NOR
Either the Mayor or her deputy IS (ARE) bound to come.
2.
What I say or what I think IS(ARE) no business of yours.
3.
Either the strikers of the bosses (HAS) HAVE misunderstood the
claim.
4.
Either your brakes or your eyesight IS (ARE) at fault.
5.
Either your eyesight or your brakes ARE (IS) at fault.
When coordinated items have the same number, there is pure
grammatical concord: when they are both singular (1 and 2) the
verb is also singular, when they are both plural (3), the verb is also
plural.
When coordinated items do not have the same number, English follows
the principle of PROXIMITY: whichever phrase comes last determines
the number of the verb. (4 and 5).
NOT…BUT and NOT ONLY…BUT behave like EITHER…OR.
1.
INDEFINITE EXPRESSIONS AS SUBJECT
- CONCORD
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
CU NEXT WEEK!
THE END
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
CU NEXT WEEK!
THE END