Grammar and verb types, Lecture notes of Grammar and Composition

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I. Sentence Elements

II. Verb Types

III. Sentence Combination

Identity: Never changes.

I. Sen tence Elemen ts:

Function: Changes depending on the sentence. Ex: - The boy arrived - I met the boy Ide ntity: Noun Phrase Ide ntity: Noun Phrase Functio n: Subject Functio n: Direct Object

1. Coordinators, Subordinators, Ar ticles and Quan tifiers/ Specifiers.

The conjunctions’ function depends on the type of the conjunction, whether it is a coordinator or a subordinator. Ex: I didn’t go to school for I was ill. I was ill, and I didn’t go to school. I had lunch after I had finished my work. Element Identity Function For Conjunction Coor dinator And Conjunction Coor dinator After Conjunction Subor dinator The articles and Quantifiers’ function is “determiner” because they determine or refer to a noun. Ex: His father works in a factory. Many students were absent. The factory is very big. So me questions were easy. She was sitting in an office. English teachers are fe w. Element Identity Function A Ar ticle Deter miner The Ar ticle Deter miner An Ar ticle Deter miner Many Quantifier / Specifier Deter miner Some Quantifier / Specifier Deter miner

3. Reflexive pronouns.

Reflexive pronouns’ function also depends on where they are placed in the sentence. Ex: He, himself , wrote the letter. She talks a lot about herself. She hurt herself. You are not yo urself today. Element Identity Function Himself Reflexive Pr onoun Intensifier Her self Reflexive Pr onoun Dir ect object Her self Reflexive Pr onoun Object/ Complement of pr eposition Your self Reflexive Pr onoun Subject complement Note: In the first example, the reflexive pronoun “Himself” is not necessary. It is used for emphasis, and the sentence can stand without it. So it is called “intensifier”. When there’s a preposition + noun we say that all prepositions have objects/ complements.

• Direct and Indirect objects.
• A direct object answers the questions “What?” or “Whom?” It rephrases the sentence in the passive voice.
• An indirect object answers the questions “To what?”, “To whom?”, “For what?” or “For whom?” It is usually placed directly before the direct object. Ex: Our boss has fired an e mployee. (D.O) She wrote her frie nd a letter. (I.O) The athlete won the race. (D.O) She gave the child a present. (I.O)
• Subject and object complemen ts.
• A subject complement renames the subject. It is always preceded by the verb to be. Ex: My grandfather is a farmer. (S.C) (“Farmer” refers to the grandfather). Subject
• An object complement renames or defines the direct object. Ex: My aunt calls my uncle s weetheart. (O.C) (“Sweetheart” refers to the uncle). Direct Object

• Phrases A phrase is a group of words without a verb. Ex: We put a rug over him. Phrase

1 .Nouns and noun phrases.

Nouns are traditionally defined as “persons, places, things, and ideas.”Noun phrases are defined as phrases that consist of a noun or pronoun and any number of constituents including adjectives, determiners, prepositional phrases, verb phrases, and adjective clauses. Ex: I liked the boo k. No un phrase I liked the boo k. No un Head of the noun phrase They had dinner in the garden. I can’t find my history book. I met the stude nts outside. I will meet you to morro w. She gave the child a present. They met in the park. They elected him preside nt. They bought a gift to Mary. He is a doctor. A stranger is in the garden. I told Mr. Alami, the dean , about the meeting. Element Identity Function Gar den Noun Head of the noun phr ase The students Noun Phr ase Dir ect Object The child Indir ect Object The par k Complement of pr eposition Pr esident Object complement To Mar y Complement of pr eposition A doctor Subject complement Astr anger Subject The gar den Complement of pr eposition The dean Appositive Histor y Modifier of noun Tomor r ow Adjunct Note: How to distinguish between a noun and a noun phrase? First, you should make sure whether the element and the number of constituents accompanying it are underlined or not. If they are, we’ll say that the identity is “Noun Phrase” and the function will depend on where the element is placed in the sentence. If only the element is underlined, then the identity will remain as “Noun” and it will function

Relative pronouns are used to combine two sentences in order to avoid repetition. They are many. Who, That, Whom, Which, When, Where, Whose, and What. Instead of: The man is outside. The man is an officer. Consider: The man who is outside is an officer. The most important thing here is not how to combine the sentences, but how to find the function of the relative pronoun. Transform the sentence given into a simple sentence. Ex: The man who is outside is an officer. The man is an officer. Subject The woman who m I showed you is the president. I showed you the wo man. D.O The film which I talked to you about is interesting. I talked to you about the film. Comp of pr ep The film about which I talked to you is interesting. I talked to you about the film. Comp of pr ep The man whose car was stolen is here. They stole the man’ s car. Genitive Except for the adverbs of time and place, they shouldn’t be transformed into a simple sentence because they are usually preceded by a preposition, and so the function would be “complement of preposition” not “adjunct.” Ex: The time whe n they met was convenient. They met at a co nve nie nt time. This is not an adjunct because it is preceded by the preposition “at”. In grammar, the genitive is a noun which is used mainly to show possession. In English grammar, a noun or name with ‘s added to it, it’s sometimes called the genitive form.

3. Adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions.

Adjectives are known for describing a subject or a noun, but their functions differ. Ex: She found the most recent information on the subject. They have a very large garden. The room is quite large.

They consider what he did foolis h. They pushed the door o pe n. The people involved / co ncerne d are here. Element Identity Function Recent Adjective Head of adjective phr ase Ver y lar ge Adj. phr ase Attr ibutive Quite lar ge Adj. phr ase Subject complement Foolish Adj. phr ase Object complement Open Adj. phr ase Object complement Involved/ Concer ned Adj. phr ase Modifier in noun phr ase In grammar, “Attributive” is a word that comes in front of a noun but literally, it gives something or somebody a certain quality. In the sentence: “They have a very large garden”, the adjective phrase “very large” comes in front of the noun “garden” and gives it that quality.

• An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much". Ex: He speaks very elo quently. I’ll see you the n. She speaks Arabic flue ntly. Oddly e no ugh , he is not here yet. They are o utside. He is quite a man. Frankly , I am tired. It went right through the wall. They are pro bably at home. He was dead sure. It’s raining hard; ho wever , they are going to play. He sings very well. Element Identity Function Eloquently Adver b Head of adver b phr ase Fluently Adver b Phr ase Adjunct Outside Subject complement Fr ankly Disjunct Pr obably Disjunct However Conjunct Then Adjunct Oddly enough Disjunct Quite Modifier of noun phr ase Right Modifier of pr eposition Dead Modifier of adjective Ver y Modifier of adver b Adisjunct is a word or group of words that can be placed either at the beginning or at the end of a sentence and sometimes, even in the middle. At the beginning: Pro bably , they are at home.

There are two kinds of clauses: Dependent clause and Independent clause.

• The dependent clause is incomplete and meaningless, because it always depends on an independent clause to complete the meaning.
• The independent clause does not depend on any sentence because it has a complete sense; thus, it can stand alone. Ex: Jo hn has visite d Ne w York. Jo hn visite d Ne w York when he got marrie d. Main Clause Subor dinate Clause Dependent Clause Independent Clause Identity Function John has visited Ne w York Finite Ver b Clause Independent Clause John visited Ne w York Finite Ver b Clause Main Clause He got mar r ied Finite Ver b Clause Subor dinate Clause  This is a general rule. The first part of the clause is called “Main Clause” and the second part is called “Subordinate Clause” because it starts with the subordinator “When” that relates both the clauses. Even though “When” is not underlined, the clause will remain “ Subordinate Clause” because it is preceded by the subordinator “When.” Now let’s see some different exceptions where a clause can be included.

1. That-Clauses

Ex: That s he is still alive is a miracle. I knew that he was wrong. The rumor is that things will improve. The rumor that Jo hn is a s py is a lie. I am sure that things will improve. Your belief, that things will improve , is unfounded. Clause Identity Function That she is still alive Finite Ver b Clause/ Nominal Clause Subject That he was wr ong Dir ect Object That things will impr ove Subject Complement That John is a spy Modifier in noun phr ase That things will impr ove Complement of Adjective That things will impr ove Appositive

2. Wh-Caluses

Ex: Ho w the boo k will sell is the question. I can imagine what made him do it. The answer is whatever yo u like. The question, why he did it at all , was not answered. No one was consulted on who s ho uld go. He gave whoever was prese nt a gift. You can call it whatever yo u want. You should vote for whichever yo u want.

Clause Identity Function How the book will sell Finite Ver b Clause/ Nominal Clause Subject What made him do it Dir ect Object Whatever you like Subject Complement Why he did it at all Appositive Who should go Complement of Pr eposition Whoever was pr esent Indir ect Object Whatever you want Object Complement Whichever you want Complement of Pr eposition

3 .Relative Clause

Ex: The man who is sitting there is our teacher. John, who is over there , is a doctor. Clause Identity Function Who is sitting ther e F.V.C/ Adjective Clause Modifier in Noun Phr ase Who is over ther e Appositive

4. Adverb Clause

Ex: Because he was ill , he didn ’t go to work. Altho ugh he hadn ’ t eate n for days , he looked strong and healthy. Clause Identity Function Because he was ill F.V.C/ Adverb Clause Adjunct/ Adv of r eason Although he hadn’t eaten for days Adjunct/ Adv of concession

5 .To-Infinitive Clause

Ex: For a bridge to collapse like that is unbelievable. He likes everyone to be unhappy. The best thing to do it is to tell everyo ne. I consider him to be a man of exce ptio nal intellige nce. He wants to study abroad. His ambition, to be an actor , never materialized. I am glad to help yo u. Peter was playing to win. The man to do the jo b is John. Clause Identity Function For a br idge to collapse like that Non-F.V.C/ To-Infinitive Subject To be unhappy Object Complement To tell ever yone Subject Complement To be a man of exceptional intelligence Object Complement To study abr oad Dir ect Object To be an actor Appositive To help you Complement of Adjective To win Adjunct/ Adver b of pur pose To do the job Modifier in Noun Phr ase

9. Verbless Clause

Ex: The oranges, whe n ripe , are picked and stored. Whe n ripe , apples are picked and stored. Whe n in difficulty , consult a dictionary. Dozens of people, many of the m childre n , died in the crash. Clause Identity Function When r ipe Ver bless Clause Appositive When r ipe Adjunct When in difficulty Adjunct Many of them childr en Appositive Well, some of these clauses that we have seen contain at least a subject and a verb but some others don’t; that’s because they are non-finite verb clauses or verbless clauses. Concerning the functions, the same rule is applied as in the phrases. To figure out the function, we should see what comes before and after the element. Finite and Non-finite

II. Verb Types: Stative and Dynamic

Tr ansitive and Intr ansitive Finite verbs are conjugated verbs. Non-finite verbs are verbs that are not conjugated such as the infinitives, and the participles. Ex: I we nt to school twice last week. I want to go out now. I will stand here. I will stand here. The children ate all the cookies. F Smoking is bad for health. N.F I am eating. I am eating. Dogs and cats make excellent pets. She is a growing child. Stative verbs are verbs that use emotions and feelings. Dynamic verbs are verbs of action. Ex: I like going out. (Stative) He bo ught three books. (Dynamic) Transitive verbs contain one or more objects, whereas intransitive verbs don’t contain any object. Ex: She writes lessons on her copybook. (Tr) She s wims very well. (Intr) D.O Adjunct Mono-tr ansitive There are 3 types of transitive: Di-tr ansitive Complex tr ansitive

Mono-transitive has only one object. Ex: They have starte d their project. D.O Di-transitive has two or more objects. Ex: She wants to show her the picture. I.O D.O Complex transitive has a direct object and an object complement. Ex: They electe d him president. D.O O.C The verb “To be” is stative, and it is always intransitive. Sometimes, it can also function as “intensive” which means that it can be replaced by some verbs that give almost the same meaning to the sentence. These verbs are called “Linking verbs.” Intensive verbs are always intransitive and stative. Some examples of linking verbs are: “To become” “To sound” “To seem” “To look”…etc. Ex: He is fine; He beco mes fine; He so unds fine; He see ms fine; He looks fine. They left yesterday: Predication. Note: The predicate is everything that follows the subject. Ex: I co nsider him to be a man of exce ptio nal intellige nce. P r e d i c a t i o n

I. Sen tence Combination

Sentence combination is a group of sentences separated and need to be combined into one complex sentence. Acomplex sentence consists of one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Ex: Rain finally came, although many had left the area by then. Main clause Subordinate clause Neither coordinators nor punctuation can be used except commas between sentences if necessary and a full stop at the end of a whole sentence. Repetition and addition of words from one’s mind are also forbidden, but changing the form of some words as from the verb to the noun or so does not matter. Yo u can ( use): commas, change the lexical category, subordinators, relative pronouns. Yo u cannot use: coordinators, punctuation (except commas), repetition, word addition. Ex: The prophet Muhammad was the founder of Islam. The prophet Muhammad was born about 570 CE in the city of Mecca. He grew up in the care of his grandfather. He grew up in the care of an uncle. Both of his parents had died. He was very young.