SYNTACTIC
STRUCTURES
(OUTLINE DRAFT)
LTE 103 | BSED-1A
Submitted by:
Bugue, Lerma Joy S.
Lagoy-yo, Saffron D.
Nayusan, Jerylle Kaye P.
Villanueva, Zhain Jeirish R.
Yco, Rubelyn
Submitted to:
Ma’am Mildred Laruan-Takinan
I. Syntactic Structure
A. Structure of Predication
- Consists of a Subject (s) and a Predicate (p)
- Concerned with the properties or features of the verb which acts as the predicate and
with the features of the noun which serves as the subject of the sentence.
Subject
- Maybe a word or group of words that tell who and what about the subject.
Predicate
- A verb or a verb with its modifier, direct object, indirect object, or complement.
- Usually follows the subject.
- It has verb component in it either as a single verb or more or less complex structure.
1. Person
Verb form
Common- present( verb base form)
- Used with plural subject and I and you
Third Singular- verb + s form with singular subjects
2. Tenses
2 Tenses
Common- base + (-s)
Past- base +(ed)
3. Phrase
2 types
Simple- the verb base form
Perfect- have + past participle
4. Aspect
3 aspects
Simple
Durative- be + present participle base + ing verb
Inchoative- expresses beginning of the action, get + ing verb
5. Modal
Modal auxiliaries + base form: must go, may come, should see, etc
Certain other auxiliaries + infinitive (to + base form): used to study, ought to come,
have to go, etc.
6. Voice
Active voice
Passive voice – the subject receives the action of the verb
7. Status
4 Statuses
Affirmative
Interrogative
Negative
Negative interrogative
B. Structure of Modification
- Consists of a Head (H) and a Modifier (M)
Modifier- Serves to qualify.
- Makes the meaning more specific and vivid.
Head- The word which is modified.
- Can be any of parts of speech.
- Maybe a word, phrase, or a sentence.
5 Parts of Speech that can modify the Noun
1. Adjective as Noun Modifier
2. Noun as Noun Modifier
3. Verb as Noun Modifier
4. Adverb as Noun Modifier
5. Prepositional Phrases as Noun Modifier
- Simple prepositions
- Compound prepositions
- Phrasal prepositions
Verb as Head
Adverb as Verb Modifier
- After the verb
- Before the verb
- Between auxiliary verb
Noun as Verb Modifier
Noun as the Object
Adjective as Verb Modifier
Verb as Verb Modifier
- Present participle
- Infinitive form
- Prepositional phrase as Verb Modifier
Adjective as Head
1. Qualifier as adjective modifier
2. Adverb as adjective modifier
3. Noun as adjective modifier
4. Verb as adjective modifier
- Present participle form (-ing)
5. Adjective as adjective modifier
6. Prepositional phrase as adjective modifier
Adverb as Head
1. Qualifier as adverb modifier
2. Adverb as adverb modifier
3. Noun as adverb modifier
4. Prepositional phrase as adverb modifier
C. Structure of Complementation
- A structure of complementation is a verb phrase consisting of two major components: a
verbal element (VB) and a complement (C).
- The verbal element may be a finite verb or verb phrase, or a non-finite verb in the form
of an infinitive, an infinitive without „to‟ or a present participle.
- The complement is an essential part; it cannot be omitted since it helps make the
construction meaningful.
There are four kinds of verbs that occur in the structure of complementation; each has its
own complement or set of complements as follow;
Linking verb + subjective complement
VB SC
Mono-transitive verb + direct object
VB DO
Di- transitive verb + indirect object + direct object
VB IO DO
Complex-transitive verb + direct object + objective complement
VB DO OC
Complements may be words, phrases, or clauses of various types.
D. Structure of Coordination
- Coordination occurs between parts of a sentence that have the same status, such as two
main clauses, two noun phrases, two adjectives, two adverbials, etc.
- These parts liked by a coordinating (CO) conjunction or coordinator (i.e. and, or, but).
Coordination between main clauses:
I speak French but I don’t speak German.
Coordination between nouns:
Would you like tea or coffee?
a. Linked Coordination and Unlinked Coordination
Linked Coordination
- When two or more parts of a sentence are linked by coordinating conjunctions
Unlinked Coordination
- If commas or other punctuation are used in place of coordinating conjunctions.
b. Segregatory Coordination
- These are two types of coordination in which noun phrases are linked by and:
segregatory coordination and combinatory coordination.
Segregatory Coordination
- The noun phrases can be separated to form two clauses.
Combinatory Coordination
- The noun phrases form a single unit and cannot be separated.
E. Structure of Subordination
- Occurs between parts of a sentence that do not have the same status.
- It also refers to the relationship between clauses in a sentence where one clause is
dependent on another.
- Emphasizes major ideas in independent clauses and places minor ideas in dependent
clauses, marked by subordinating conjunctions, fostering sentence variety and avoiding
fragments.
Subordinate Clauses
- You can use subordinate clause in place of any of the main elements of a sentence
(apart from the verb)
As the subject
As the direct object
As the indirect object
As the complement
As subject and complement
As the adverbial
- You can also use a subordinate clause as part of one of the main elements of a sentence:
After a noun, as part of the subject or object
After a preposition
After an adjective
- A subordinate clause may contain the infinitive or one of the participles (the -ing form
or -ed form) of a verb:
Examples:
- She was reluctant to help.
- They had an accident while driving home.
Multiple Subordination
- Occurs when one subordinate clause contains another subordinate clause.
For example:
She knows || that she will fail her exams | if she doesn’t work harder.
F. Structure of Correlation
- A correlative conjunction gets its name from the fact that it is a pair conjunction that has
a reciprocal or complementary relationship.
There are short meanings for correlative conjunctions:
Correlate
Working in pairs
To join phrases or words
To connect two equal grammatical items.
Examples are:
Either is used with or
Neither is used with nor
Whether is used with or
Both is used with end
Not only with but also
Reminder:
If a noun follows a first conjunction, then a noun will also follow the second conjunction.
If a verb follows the first conjunction, then the verb will also follow the second
conjunction.
G. Structure of Negation
- A grammatical construction that contradicts or denies all or part of the meaning of a
sentence.
- Also known as negative construction or standard negation.
Rules of Negation
- By changing the auxiliary verb of the sentence into negative, we can apply negation in
a sentence.
Double Negation
- The existence of 2 forms of negation in the same sentence.
Uses of Double Negative
- Double negative can be used in two ways. They are:
1. Using negative words
- never, nobody, anyone, nothing, nowhere, etc.
2. Using Prefix
- Adding of prefix to the positive form of a word
-ir, un, non, pre, anti, il, im, etc.
Note: In modern English, double negatives are highly avoidable as it is grammatically
wrong.
Emphatic Negative
- A construction which looks like a double negation is one in which the main clause, in
the negative, is modified by a phrase or clause introduced by NOT.
G.1. Split Structure
- Splitting a sentence is opposite to joining a sentence.
- We have to break up or split complex sentence into two or more simple sentence.
Splitting of sentences:
1. Mark the clause
2. Make a sub-clause independent by omitting sub-ordinating linkers and inserting
subjects or other words wherever necessary.
G.2. Parallel Structure
- Refers to same word pattern within a sentence by repeating a chosen grammatical form
- Also called parallelism
- Follow the grammatical form of the first information when expressing multiple ideas in
a sentence.
- Can be constructed in words, phrase, or clause level, in different sentences.
- Maintaining parallel structure helps you avoid grammatically incorrect sentences.
Parallel Structure in a Series
- Use parallel construction when items in a series have an equal level of importance.
- Usually joined by commas or semicolons along with and or or.
Parallel Words
- On the word level, a noun should be grouped with other nouns, an adjective with
other adjectives, and so on.
Parallel Phrases
- Should be used to balance a series of phrases with the same grammatical structure
- Avoid mixing noun phrases with verb phrases.
Parallel Clauses
- Parallelism is also applicable to a series of clauses in a sentence.
List after a Colon
- A list that follows a colon should always have parallel elements.
Parallel Construction in Pairs
- Use parallel construction when a sentence contains a pair of connected ideas.
- Pairs can be connected by coordinating conjunctions which include and, nor, but, or,
and yet.
G3. Elements of Sentence
- It is the various units that come together to form the structure of a sentence.
- A sentence can consist of five units. The units are as follow:
Subject
Verb
Object
Adverbial (Adjunct)
Complement
- Abbreviated as S.V.O.A.C
Subject
- ‘S’ element or the subject is located at the beginning of the sentence.
- You cannot have a sentence that does not contain a subject.
Verb
- The ‘V’ element must be present in all sentences.
- All sentences in the English language must contain at least a verb.
Object
- The ‘O’ element in a sentence refers to the object of the sentence.
- Objects in sentences receive actions from the subject.
- NOT all sentences have objects.
Adverbial
- The ‘A ‘element is the adverbial and it tells us more about a verb
- Does not appear in all sentences
- Also be called an ‘adjunct’
Complement
- The ‘C’ element is the complement.
- Always comes after a linking verb.
- Not all sentences contain complements
References:
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Liwanag, L. (2021, October 10). El 102 / Syntactic Structure: Subordination and Correlation.
[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/AEVAbovEka4?si=O91FmeWMWVswIcbI
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structure, and elements of sentence) [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoz JcPhdoWo
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