NUSA NIPA UNIVERSITY

THE FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING

AND EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE

SYNTAX
DESIGNED FOR THE 7TH SEMESTER STUDENTS
ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM
2 SKS

Stefanus Igolois G. Uran, S.Pd., M.Ed.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Syntax is the study of how words are combined to
form phrases and clauses or sentences and the rules
that govern the formation. It is a branch of linguistics
that specifically looks at:

a. The relationship among constituents in a syntactic

structures.
b. The hierarchical order of the structure.
c. The function of the elements that build up the structure
d. The combination and the structure of those syntactic
units which are larger than clauses and simple
sentences, including compound and complex
sentences.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
After this subject is taught, learners are expected:

a. To develop the skill of syntactic argumentation and

critical evaluation of syntactic arguments.
b. To become familiar with the central issues in
generative syntax, with major syntactic
construction of English sentences and their
analysis.
c. To become familiar with various syntactic
structures of English sentences and be able to
make use of and to construct them in their daily
performance.
d. To be able to analyze various English construction
critically according to syntactic theories.
COURSE OVERVIEW
1. INTRODUCTION & PART OF SPEECH (week 1-2)
2. SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUENT
STRUCTURE (week 3-4)
3. SYNTACTIC RULES AND PHRASE STRUCTURE
RULES (week 5-6)
4. MID-TERM TEST (week 7)
5. SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS AND CATEGORIES
(week 8-11)
6. GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS (week 12-13)
7. ENGLISH SENTENCE STRUCTURES (week 14-15)
8. FINAL TEST (week 16)
References
 Kroon, Yosep B. 2007. SYNTAX; Teaching Material. Nusa
Cendana University: Kupang
INTRODUCTION
‘Language’ is only possessed by human beings; a
fact which distinguishes human from other
creatures. Thus, to understand our humanity, we
must understand first the language that makes us
human.
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols
used for human communication (Wardhaugh,
1971).
The ‘systematicness’ of languages can be shown
by the fact that they are learnable and are used
consistently.
Thus, a language has form, meaning and sound
TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR
Within traditional grammar, the syntax of a language is
described in terms of a taxonomy (i.e. classificatory list)
of the range of different types of syntactic structures
found in the language.

The central assumption underpinning syntactic analysis

in traditional grammar is that phrases and sentences are
built up of a series of constituents (i.e. syntactic units),
each of which belongs to a specific grammatical
category and serves a specific grammatical function.

The task of the linguist in analysing the syntactic

structure of any given type of sentence is to identify each
of the constituents in the sentence, and (for each
constituent) to say what category it belongs to and what
function it serves.
INTRODUCTION
The component of language:
A component of sound, which is linguistically dealt
in PHONOLOGY.
A component of combination of meaningful element
to form words, which is linguistically dealt in
MORPHOLOGY.
A component of combination of words to form
larger structure than words, which is linguistically
dealt in SYNTAX.
A component of meaning, which is linguistically
dealt in SEMANTICS.
INTRODUCTION
The system in which words are combined together to form
larger structures is dealt with in Syntax.
Knowing a language also means being able to put words
together to form phrases and sentences that expresses out
thoughts.
Part of the meaning of the sentence we compose is found
in the words of which builds up the structure, but the
sentence meaning is more than the sum of the meanings of
words.
For example, the sentence The children sang a song
for the teacher, does not have the same meaning as The
teacher sang a song for the children. The string of words
*song the sang a for the children teacher has no linguistic
meaning at all, even though it is made up of exactly the same
meaningful units used in those previous two examples.
Example:
‘Students protested.’

 It would traditionally be said that the sentence consists of two

constituents (the word students and the word protested), that
each of these constituents belongs to a specific grammatical
category (students being a plural noun and protested a past
tense verb) and that each serves a specific grammatical
function (students being the subject of the sentence, and
protested being the predicate).
 The overall sentence Students protested has the categorical
status of a clause which is finite in nature (by virtue of denoting
an event taking place at a specific time), and has the semantic
function of expressing a proposition which is declarative in
force (in that it is used to make a statement rather than e.g. ask
a question).
 Accordingly, a traditional grammar of English would tell us that
the simplest type of finite declarative clause found in English is
a sentence like above, in which a nominal subject is followed by
a verbal predicate.
 In traditional grammar, words are assigned to grammatical
categories (called parts of speech) on the basis of their
semantic properties (i.e. meaning), morphological properties
(i.e. the range of different forms they have) and syntactic
properties (i.e. word-order properties relating to the positions
they can occupy within sentences): a set of words which
belong to the same category thus have a number of semantic,
morphological and syntactic properties in common.

 There are traditionally said to be two different types of word,

namely content words/contentives (= words which have
substantive lexical content) on the one hand, and function
words/functors (= words which essentially serve to mark
grammatical properties) on the other.
The fundamental aim in the linguistic analysis of
a language is to separate the grammatical
sequences which are sentences of the language
from the ungrammatical sequences which are
not sentences of the language and to study the
structure of the grammatical sequence
(Chomsky, 1957).
INTRODUCTION
Syntax does not only analyze the structure of
elements that build up a sentence and how these
elements relate one with another within the
sentence, but also what semantic property the
sentence brings.
The semantic property depends very much on
functions of the elements and the nature
relationship among the sentence elements. This is
called the concept of the theory of Universal
Grammar.
 Universal Grammar

The central concept of Universal Grammar

concerns with the system of principles, conditions,
and rules that are elements or properties of all
human languages (Chomsky, 1976, p. 29).
PART OF SPEECH
1) Nouns
2) Verbs
3) Adjectives
4) Adverbs
5) Prepositions
6) Conjunctions
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
1) Occurrence with Determiners
 Demonstrative (this, that, these and those)
 Article (definite article (THE) and indefinite
articles (A and AN))
 Possessive (possessive adjective, which
includes my; your; his; her; its; our; your and
their)
 Quantifier (many, few, little, several, much, a lot
of, plenty of, a piece of, a loaf of, three
kilograms of, etc.)
 Numeral (cardinal numbers, such as one, two,
three, etc; or ordinal numbers, such as first,
second, third, etc.)
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
1) Occurrence with Determiners
Determiners, especially demonstrative, quantifiers
and numeral, can also stand alone without a noun, the
case in which they replace the function of a noun. When
this happens, the words are called function nouns as
they substitute the function of a noun, as shown in the
following examples.
(a). That book is expensive.  That is expensive.
(b). All men are free here.  All are free here.
(c). Will you have more turkey?  Will you have more?
(d). In courage, he is second to no man. 
In courage, he is second to none.
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
2) Inflection (the plural {-s/-es} and the possessive
(sometimes called the genitive {-'s})
3) Derivational Suffixes
 Added to verbs:
{-age}: demurrage, breakage.
{-ance}: conveyance, contrivance.
{-er}: boiler, sailor, liar, sawyer.
{-ee}: payee, employee, draftee.
{-ment}: payment, agreement, argument.
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
3) Derivational Suffixes
 Added to adjectives
{-ce}: abundance, convenience, compliance,
independence.
{-cy}: consistency, relevancy, intricacy.
{-ity}: facility, hostility.
{-ness}: happiness, boldness, friendliness,
hopelessness.
{-ster}: youngster, oldster.
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
3) Derivational Suffixes
 Added to other nouns:
{-er}: lifer, liner, outfielder.
{-cy}: advocacy, democracy, captaincy.
{-ian}: mathematician, librarian.
{-ism}: methodism, monarchism, gangsterism.
{-ist}: physicist, violinist, Jansenist.
{-ship}: friendship, professorship.
{-ster}: gangster, roadster, dopester.
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
3) Derivational Suffixes
 Added to bound stems
{-er}: carpenter, tailor, porter.
{-ism, -ist}: monism, monist; polytheism,
communism, Fascism, etc.
{-ity}: depravity, debility, felicity.
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
4) Position in a structure (pronouns)
 Personal pronouns as subject: He is a student.
 Personal pronoun as object : I hate him.
 Reflexive pronoun : I can see myself in the
mirror.
 Reciprocal pronoun : The couple helps each
other.
 Demonstrative pronoun: This resembles that.
 Indefinite pronoun : I am looking for
someone.
 Relative pronoun : I hate people who hurt
me.
 PART OF SPEECH
I. NOUNS
4) Position in a structure (pronouns)
Reflexive
Subject Object Possessive
Person Pronouns
pronoun pronoun pronoun
Myself
Singular 1 I Me Mine
Yourself
2 You You Yours
Himself
3 He Him His
She Her Hers Herself
It It Its Itself
Ourselves
Plural 1 We Us Ours
Yourselves
2 You You Yours
Themselves
3 They Them Theirs
PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS

Verb is the name given to the part-of-speech class in

which occur most of the words that expresses
actions, processes, and the like. There are five
kinds of verb-marking formal criteria. They are
inflection, function words, derivational affixes,
positions, and superfixes.
 PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS
1) Inflection
 The third-singular inflection {-s} (has three allomorphs, /-s,
z, -iz/)
 The {-ed 1} inflection for past tense (allomorphs are /-t, -d,
-id/)
 The {-ed 2} inflection for past participle (allomorphs are /-t,
-d, -id/)
 The present participle inflection {-ing}
2) Occurrence with Function words (Auxiliaries)
 Auxiliaries appearing with the base form of the verb are:
can/could must may/might dare
shall/should need will/would (had)better/best
do/does/did
 PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS
2) Occurrence with Function words (Auxiliaries)
 Auxiliaries appearing with the present participle (base +
{-ing,}) form of the verb are:
am/is/are was/were
 Auxiliaries appearing with the past participle (base + {-
ed2}) form of the verb are:
am/is/are was/were have/has had
 Auxiliaries appearing with the infinitive form of the verb
are:
have/has/had ought am/is/are was/were
about
am/is/are/was/were
going
 PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS
3) Derivational affixes (see notes!)
4) Position in a Structure
A few positions serve to mark verbs, though seldom
without aid from other formal devices which mark either
the verb or other neighboring words.
 Utterance-initial position
This position may be filled by a verb in the base
form, alone or preceded by one of the function words
please, let's, do, or pray
hope for the best please answer at once
bring your skates let's go home
love your neighbor pray come in
 PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS
4) Position in a Structure
 Between two nouns
The position between two nouns, with or without
determiner may be occupied by many sorts of verbs and
verb-phrases. Examples:
dogs chase sticks
people harbor misunderstanding
the stars light our path
5) Auxiliaries as Function Words
Any of the auxiliaries may appear without the normally
expected form of a full verb, provided a full verb has been
expressed (or in rare cases implied) in the immediate
linguistic context.
Example: Will you come later?
I will (come) if I can (come)
 PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS
6) The Verb Substitute ‘DO’
The verb do and its various inflectional and phrasal
forms may appear in place of any full verb already
appeared in the immediate linguistic context.
Ex: he works harder than I do  (substituted for work)
the music sounds better than it did yesterday
 (substitute for sounded)
7) Phrasal Verbs
An important group of English verbs have the formal
peculiarity of consisting of two parts, which may appear
together or be separated by one or more other
elements of the structure of which they are a part.
 PART OF SPEECH
II. VERBS
7) Phrasal Verbs
An important group of English verbs have the formal
peculiarity of consisting of two parts, which may appear
together or be separated by one or more other
elements of the structure of which they are a part.
a. Separable phrasal verb:
- She took of her dress  She took her dress off.
- He turned off the light.  He turned the light off.
b. Inseparable phrasal verb:
- She applied for the job.  *She applied the job for.
- He gave up smoking.  *He gave smoking up.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
Traditional notional definition of adjectives identifies
them as the class of words denoting qualities or
attributes; i.e. they function to modify nouns. In English,
adjectives usually have the following properties:

They can be used before a noun, e.g. a heavy bag

They can be used after be, become, seem, etc. as
complements, e.g. the bag is heavy.
They can be used after a noun as a complement, e.g.
these books make the bag heavy
They can be modified by an adverb, e.g. a very heavy
bag
They can be used in a comparative or superlative form,
e.g. the bag seems heavier now.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.1 Base Adjectives
- They take the inflectional suffixes {-er}; and {-est} to form
the comparative and superlative degrees.
- They are also distinguished formally by the fact that they
serve as stems from which nouns and adverbs are formed
by the derivational suffixes {-ness} and {-ly1}.
Adjective Noun Adverb
strange strangeness strangely
black blackness blackly
false falseness falsely
bad badness badly
good goodness well
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.1 Base Adjectives
Most base adjectives are of one syllable, and none
have more than two syllables except a few that
begin with a derivational prefix like {un-}:
uncommon, inhuman.

A fair number of base adjectives form verbs by

adding the derivational suffix {-en,), the prefix {en-},
or both, such as: brighten, cheapen, enlarge,
embitter, enlighten, enliven.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.2 Derived Adjective
- Derived adjectives are those which are formed by
the addition adjective-forming suffixes to free or
bound stems.
- There is a relatively large number of these suffixes,
and the resulting array adjectives is much larger
than the class of base adjectives.
- Ex:
- {-y), added to one- and two-syllable nouns and
bound stem as in faulty, leafy, healthy, rickety;
holy.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.2 Derived Adjective
- Ex:
- {-al}, added to nouns and bound stems: fatal, natural,
national, traditional; local, physical, racial.
- {-able}, added to verbs and bound stems. This very
common suffix is a ‘live’ one which can be added to
virtually any verb. Since it is descendant of an active
derivational suffix in Latin, it also appears as part of
many words borrowed from Latin or French.
- examples formed from verbs: remarkable, understandable, adaptable,
conceivable;
- examples formed from bound stems: viable, portable, capable, terrible,
visible.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.2 Derived Adjective
- Ex:
- {-ful} and {-less}, added to nouns: hopeful, hopeless;
useful, useless: plentiful; penniless.
- {-ar}, {-ary}, {-ic}, {-ish2}, and {-ous}, added to nouns
and bound stems: columnar, popular, regular: legendary,
literary: climatic, comic; childish, lavish; marvelous,
pernicious.
- {-ent} and {-ive}, added to verbs and bound stems:
abhorrent, significant, convenient; active, native,
impulsive.
- {-en2}, added to nouns: woolen, waxen, wooden.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.2 Derived Adjective
- Ex:
- {-ed2}, added to verbs, nouns, and some bound stems. They form past
participles, such as ragged, beloved, rugged, aged, learned,
garlanded, overcooked, booted, flowered.
- {-ing2}, added to verbs and forms present participle such as:
interesting, exciting, revealing, tiring, pleasing.
- {-ly2}, added to nouns and some bound stems. This is distinguished
from the adverb-forming suffix {-ly1} by the fact that its stems are
nouns and bound stems, while the stems from adverbs are formed are
adjectives.
Adjective (Noun or base + {-ly2} Adverb (Adjective + {-ly1}
friendly widely
orderly crazily
homely formally
mannerly remarkably
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.2 Derived Adjective
- Ex:
- The table below illustrates some of the complicated
paradigms of derivation that may result.
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
3.3 Adjective Qualifier
The principal qualifiers common to most dialects of
English are the following:

very somewhat more enough

quite a bit most indeed

rather a little less

pretty so least

mighty too
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
Sometimes there are two or more fact adjectives. Very
often (but not always) we put fact adjectives in this order:

1 2 3 4 5
how  how  what  where  what is it  NOUN
big? old? colour? from? made of?
Example: - a tall young man (1  2)
- a large wooden table (1  5)
- big blue eyes (1  3)
- an old Russian song (2  4)
- a small black plastic bag (135).
- an old white cotton shirt (235).
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
Notes on some peculiarities of adjectives
 Good is an adjective, the adverb is Well.
Example: - Your English is very good.
- You speak English well.
- Susan is a good pianist.
- She plays the piano well.
 Fast / hard / late are both adjectives and adverbs.
Adjective Adverb
Ex: - Jack is a very fast runner. - Jack can run very fast.
- Ann is a hard worker. - Ann works hard (not work hardly).
- The train was late. - I got up late this morning.
Hardly means almost not
Example:- We hardly know each other (= we almost do not know each other).
- I hardly ever go out (= I almost never go out).
Lately means recently
Example: - Have you seen Tom lately?
- She looks so pale lately?
 PART OF SPEECH
III. ADJECTIVES
Notes on some peculiarities of adjectives
 We use some past participles (verbs ending in- ed) and
present participles (verbs ending in - ing) as adjectives.
These two forms are sometime confusing. Those ending in -
ing generally describe the effect produced by a noun and
those ending in -ed describe states, feelings, or conditions.
Example: Sue's mother is reading an exciting
story to her. Sue is excited.
Meaning: The story is exciting. It excites Sue.
The result is that Sue is excited.

 We can use some adjectives as nouns, especially when

referring to certain groups of people.
Examples: The library has special books for the blind. (i.e.
The blind refers to blind people.)
Caring for the sick is a difficult task. (i.e. sick people)
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS

Adverbs are words that describe or add to the meaning

of a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence,
and which answer such questions as how?, where?, or
when?.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
The largest and most clearly marked group of all
comprise those adverbs which are formed by the
addition of the derivational suffix {-ly} to derived
adjectives, as in hopefully. Other examples that might
be listed are healthily, traditionally, remarkably,
visibly, uselessly, climatically, legendarily,
marvelously, popularly, impulsively, conveniently,
woodenly, learnedly, exhilaratingly, friendlily.

Almost as unmistakable are the adverbs formed by

the addition of the suffix {-ly} to base adjectives, such
as eagerly. Others are slowly, strangely, falsely,
blackly, etc.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
Another well-marked group of adverbs consists of
those that are formed by adding the derivational
prefix {a-} to nouns, verbs, adjectives, and stems, like
aloud. Other examples of these adverbs are ahead,
away, aboard, etc.

A group of adverbs originally small but at present

exhibiting signs of rapid growth includes those formed
by adding the derivational suffix {-wise} to nouns. A
few in this group are well-established words like
lengthwise, clockwise, etc.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
A smaller group of adverbs is formed by the addition of the
derivational suffix {-ward(s)} to a limited group of nouns,
such as backward(s), forward(s), homeward(s),
eastward(s), rightward(s), etc. Most adverbs of this group
have forms, one with final -s and one without, variously
distributed. The forms without final {-s} are ambiguous,
they may be either adjectives or adverbs. Usually position
prevents ambiguity; thus, in the backward child, backward
is clearly an adjective, since it occupies an adjective
position, while in he walked backward it is equally clearly
an adverb. When one of these is found in a position that
can be occupied by both adverb and adjective, structural
ambiguity results, as in the child looks backward. This may
mean "the child appears to be backward" (backward as
adjective) or "the child gazes backward" (backward as
adverb). The forms with final -s, however, are always
adverbs; there is no ambiguity about the child looks
backwards.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
Another quite important though small group of
adverbs comprises those which are formed by
combining the noun-determiners some, any, every,
and no with a limited list of nouns and function
words as in someplace, anyway, everywhere,
nowhere, etc.
Another relatively small group of adverbs includes
those that are formally identical, with certain
function words of the class called prepositions,
such as:
- he brought the cat in.
- the drowning man went under.
- I left may hat and coat inside.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
The last group of adverbs is the miscellaneous
class of those that have no formal markers at all to
distinguish them in isolation we know them as
adverbs because we find them in adverb position
in utterances in which the other parts of speech
are clearly identifiable. Many in this group are
exceedingly frequent in occurrence are memorized
by all speakers of the language, just as function
words are; such are now, then, here, there, often,
seldom, perhaps, still, even, always. Others in this
group are words which may also appear as other
parts of speech, such as yesterday, downstairs,
home, later, little, fast, slow, early, far, near.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
Other classification of Adverbs:
1. Adverb Inflection
A few adverbs make comparative superlative
forms by means of the inflectional suffixes {-er}
and {-est}. Most of those that do so are the so-
called "flat adverbs" that is those that are
morphemically identical with certain base adjective
like slow, quick, cheap, hard, fast. Some irregular
and suppletive forms are well-known.
well better best
bad(ly)
worse worst
ill }
farther farthest
far
further furthest
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
2. Adverb Qualifiers

Like adjectives, most adverbs may appear with function words

of the kind we have called qualifiers. A few of the more
important adverb qualifiers are:
 All adverbs in -ly and a few others, such as often and alive
may appear with any of the list of qualifiers such as in very
easily, more slowly, rather often, alive enough.
 Many adverbs of the "preposition-type" adverbs) and some
in group formed with {a-}) use far or much as a qualifier,
such as far ahead, far down, much alive.
 Adverbs in the comparative degree, whether formed with the
inflectional suffix {-er} or with the qualifier more, may use the
same set of qualifiers that comparative adjectives use as in
lots oftener, still more easily, a little slower.
 Some of the adverbs of groups 7 and 8 use right as a
qualifier, in come right in, he drove right past, I want my
dinner right now.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
3. Adverb Substitute

Four adverbs then, there, thus, and so, and the adverb-
phrases this way and that way frequently act as adverb
substitutes. That is, they appear in place of an adverb
already expressed in the immediate linguistic context. In
this respect they operate just as do the noun-substitutes
he, she, it, and they, and the verb-substitute do. Thus, in
each of the following examples, the second italicized
adverb is the structural and lexical equivalent of the first,
and could be replaced by it.
- I didn't see him yesterday because I wasn't here then.
- I am looking forward to going abroad, since I have
never been there
- he writes very gracefully; I wish I could write so (or
thus, that way)
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
Classification of Adverbs by Substitute-Groups

Just as nouns can be grouped according to the

substitutes which may replace them, so may adverbs.
The groups are:
1. Then-group : today, daily, seldom, early, still,
sometimes.
2. There-group : outside, ahead, backward,
somewhere, past, indoors.
3. This/So – group: easily, slowly, regularly, aloud, fast,
(mostly –ly adverbs).
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
Classification of Adverbs by Substitute-Groups:

When functioning as modifier of verbs or verb phrases,

adverbs commonly express time, place, direction,
manner, cause and reason, etc, as shown in the
following examples.
Adverb modifying verb:
(1). They arrived last night. adverb of time.
(2). They live here.  adverb of place.
(3). They turn right.  adverb of direction.
(4). They walked slowly. adverb of manner
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS
Classification of Adverbs by Substitute-Groups:

In most cases, adverbs expressing time, place and

direction occur with a preposition. They form a
prepositional phrase functioning to modify a
sentence element in the structure in which they
occur. For example:
The man is sitting on a desk.  adverb of place
The man arrived at seven o’clock.  adverb of
time.
The man is going to the beach.  adverb of
direction.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. ADVERBS

In addition, there are adverbs functioning as a sentence

modifier. When this happens, the adverbs expresses
speaker’s attitude toward the event being spoken of, as
in the following example: Unfortunately, the lady is not
able to pay the fine

When adverbs function as modifier of adjectives and

other adverbs, they commonly express degree. In
English, most adverbs of this type end in –ly. They are
derived from an adjective by the addition of prefix –ly.
Example:
Adverb modifying adjective: The test is extremely
difficult.
Adverb modifying adverb : They walked very slowly.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. PREPOSITION

Prepositions are regarded as connective words that show

the relationship between the elements being connected
and one of the basic sentence elements discussed in the
section that follows this.
The phrases so formed consist of a preposition and its
complement, sometimes called object of preposition.
They usually indicate relationships, such as position,
place, direction, time, manner, agent, possession, and
condition, between their objects and other parts of the
sentence.
They, therefore, usually provide information asked for by
questions words, such as who, what, where, when, why,
how and how long.
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. PREPOSITION
(a). Simple Prepositions:
The most familiar ones used in present-day English are:
after as at but by down
for from in like near of
off on out over per round
up down since with for

about above across along amid among

around before behind below
beneath beside
between beyond despite during except
toward
underneath unlike until until unto
against concerning considering opposite
regarding
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. PREPOSITION
(b). Compound Prepositions
These are prepositions that consist of two or more
free bases, with or without affixes. Commonly the first
element is an adverb (usually but not always one of
those that may also be a simple preposition) and the
second a simple preposition.
across from down from off of
together with
along with due to onto upon
alongside of except for out of up to
apart from inside of outside of up with
away from instead of over to within
back of into throughout without
 PART OF SPEECH
IV. PREPOSITION
(c). Phrasal Prepositions
These consist of three words: a simple preposition, a
noun, and another simple preposition usually to or of.
All of these may be analyzed syntactically into a
prepositional phrase followed by a simple preposition.
For example:
- in regard to - by means of on top of
- in account of - in addition to in behalf of
- in spite of - in front of on behalf of
 PART OF SPEECH
V. CONJUNCTION
Conjunctions are another word class that is
categorized as function or grammatical words. They
are words that are used to conjoin words, phrases, or
clauses together, such as but, and, when, etc. Units
larger than single words which function as
conjunction are sometimes known as conjunctives,
for example so that, as long as, as if, etc. Two
general classes of conjunctions include coordinating
and subordinating.
 PART OF SPEECH
V. CONJUNCTION
Coordinating conjunctions are those that assign equal
rank to the conjoined elements, in English like and, or
and but. They generally occur between the elements
that they conjoin.
Subordinating conjunctions are those that assign
unequal rank to the conjoined elements, marking one of
them as subordinate to the other. English subordinating
conjunctions are for examples whether, that and
although, as shown in the following sentences. They are
used with compound and complex sentences.
a. I don’t know whether she came to the meeting last
night.
b. He said that he would come on time.
c. Although she was sick, she kept on doing her
homework last night.
 Exercise
A. Determine what word-class or part of speech of
the the underlined words below.

1) I need your help to solve this math problem

2) Sorry, I have troubled you with this matter.
3) Her beauty is beyond compare.
4) I want you to help me with this assignment.
5) The teacher assigned his students to complete the
work at home.
6) The man slept soundly after a hard day at work.
7) Each element in a sentence has its own function.
8) Put the box under the TV stand.
9) She bought some underwear at the traditional market.
10) That building has undergone several major
renovations.
 Exercise
B. Supply the missing parts in the following sentences with an appropriate
word! The type of the element required is indicated underneath.

1. The sun ___________ _______________ ______________ ____________

Frequency Verb Place Time
2. ______________ are studying ___________________.
Subject Place
3. His vacation begins __________________
Time
4,_________________ will rest ____________________
Subject Manner
5. _________________ is working __________________
Subject Manner
6. _________________ is working _________________ ______________
Subject Place Time.
7. The children ____________ ________________ _____________ happily.
Frequency Verb Place
8. The boys usually _____________ on the floor _____________________
Verb Time
9. They _____________ play ___________________ in the afternoon.
Frequency Place
10. The students ______________ work ________________ ___________
Frequency Manner Time
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
Dogs bark.
S P
S P O Adv

The man who is giving a speech in the hall has just bought

S P
an expensive luxurious car.

O
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION (Syntactic Function)
1) Subject
Every sentence in English must have a subject.
It can be a single noun as in (1), a pronoun as in (2),
and a noun phrase (i.e. a sequence of words
consisting of a noun as head plus modifiers) as in (3).
(1). Dogs are animal.
(2). They bark.
(3). A ferocious dog can be very dangerous.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
1) Subject
The notion subject in English Grammar simply
applies to the noun, pronoun or ‘noun phrase’
which:
(a). typically precedes the main verb in a sentence
and is most closely related to the verb.
(b). determines concord (i.e. the agreement
between subject and verb)
(c). refers to something about which a statement
or assertion is made in the rest of the sentence.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
1) Subject
Since a verb, after being modified into gerund
and infinitive, may function in the same way as a
noun.
- Swimming is my favorite sport.
- To err is human.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
1) Subject
A noun subject may be expanded by adding modifiers
either before or after the noun. Those modifiers that may
precede a noun include determiners, i.e. articles,
demonstratives, possessives, quantifiers, numerals, and
adjectives. Other modifier may appear after the subject
noun; modifier of this type is mostly an adverb of place,
which takes the form of a prepositional phrase.
(a). The book is expensive.
(b). Those books are mine.
(c). My books are here.
(d). Some students are not so smart.
(e). Three students are required to join the club.
(f). Wild animals are sometimes harmless.
(g).The books on the table are John’s.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
2) Predicate
The predicate of a sentence consists of a verb (or a
verb group), and object, complements and adverbials, if
there are any. To avoid confusion, we will refer the verb of
a sentence as PREDICATOR or simply VERB, and other
elements building up a predicate as their names, i.e.
OBJECT, COMLEMENT and ADVERBIAL. Note that the
term ADVERB refers to the name of a word-class (part of
speech), while adverbial refers to a sentence element
syntactically functioning to modify elements other than
noun.
When we discuss about word class or part of speech, then
the term verb refers to a word class, whereas when we
discuss about the function of a sentence element then the
term verb refers to the function of the element. The use of
verbs in English sentences is intimately related to tenses.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
2) Predicate
The verb of a sentence may consist of only a
single word; in this case it is a main / real verb. It
may also contain several words; in this case it is
called verb group, consisting of a main verb plus
an auxiliary verb or a modal or both.
(a). Dogs bark.
(b). The dog does not bark.
(c). The puppy can bark.
(d). Dogs do not have to bark
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
2) Predicate
The type of verbs:

(1). The children sleep on the floor every night.

 SUBJECT + IV (intransitive verb).
(2). She looked pale yesterday.
 SUBJECT + LV (linking verb) +
COMPLEMENT
(3). They killed a snake in the room this morning.
 SUBJECT + TV (transitive verb) + OBJECT
(4). They gave the dog some biscuits yesterday.
 SUBJECT + DT (ditransitive verb) + IO + DO
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
3) Object
The term object refers to the noun, noun
phrase or clause, or pronoun in sentences
with TRANSITIVE VERBS, which is
traditionally described as being affected by
the action of the verb.
In English, an object usually comes after a
verb. The object of a verb can be affected by
the verb either directly or indirectly.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
3) Object
Just like its counterpart, the subject, an object is also
a noun. As a noun, it can be modified by a noun
modifier, including determiners and adjectives as well
as prepositional phrases, as shown in the following
examples.

(1). They bought the book yesterday.

(2). I like that book.
(3). They have a lot of dogs at home.
(4). They have three dogs at home.
(5). She likes black shirt.
(6). They bought a house with a garden.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
4) Complement
The term complement refers to the part of a
sentence which follows a predicator (a verb)
and which thus completes the sentence.
There are three types of complements in
English, they are subject complement,
object complement and prepositional
complement.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
4) Complement
(a). Subject Complement:
A subject complement is linked to the subject of
the sentence in which it occurs by a linking verb
or to be.
(a). A noun as subject complement :
It is a dog.
(b). An adjective as subject complement :
It is black, or It seems sick.
(c). An adverb as subject complement :
It is there / under the table.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
4) Complement
(b). Object Complement
An object complement, on the other hand, is linked to
an object of the construction where it occurs. It
usually follows a transitive verb.
(a). A noun as object complement :
We made her the chairman.
(b). An adjective as object complement :
She wanted her hair short.
(c). An adverb as object complement :
She always wants her house in the city center.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
4) Complement
(c). Prepositional Complement
A prepositional complement is actually the
noun that follows a preposition. Some
grammarians call it object of preposition.
For example, They put the book on the
table. The table is the object of the
preposition on.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
5) Adverbial
An adverbial is a word, phrase or clause with
a distribution and function similar to that of a
lexical adverb, such as tomorrow night, in
the garden, when she arrives, or in order to
find out.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
5) Adverbial

(a). A lexical adverb functioning as adverbial :

They slept here.
(b). An adverb phrase functioning as adverbial :
They walked very slowly.
(c). A noun phrase functioning as adverbial :
They arrived last night.
(d). A prepositional phrase functining as adverbial :
They slept in the kitchen.
(e). An adverb clause functioning as adverbial :
They arrived when I was sleeping.
(f). A non-finite verb phrase functioning as adverbial:
They came here to see my baby.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
6) Modifier
Modifier is a word or gorup of words which
gives further information about (modifies)
another word or group of words (which is the
HEAD), with which it co-occurs. Modification
may occur in a noun phrase, in a verb
phrase, in an adjective phrase, and in an
adverb phrase.
 BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
1. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
6) Modifier
(a). Modifier within a noun phrase:
The book is expensive.
Wild animals are sometimes harmless.
The book on the table is mine.
(b). Modifier within a verb phrase:
The students usually comes late.
The boy slept under the tree.
(c). Modifier within an adjective phrase:
The girl is extremelly beautiful.
The book is very expensive.
(d). Modifier witihn an adverb phrase:
They walked very slowly.
The word is quite appropriately used.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
1. Pattern I : SUBJECT + INTRANSITIVE
VERB
No. Subject Intransitive Verb

1. A dog barks
2. Birds fly
3. Water flows
4. Plants grow
5. The wind blows
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
1. Pattern I : SUBJECT + INTRANSITIVE
VERB
Obligatory Elements Optional Elements

No. Adverb
Intransitive Adverb Adverb
Subject of
Verb of place of time
manner
in the
1. Fish swim
water
2. A horse runs fast

3. Bats come out at night.

in the
4. The boy plays happily every day
field
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
1. Pattern I : SUBJECT + INTRANSITIVE
VERB
Adverb of
Auxiliary frequency Auxiliary Other
No. Subject Verb
1 2 adverb

1. A cat can never swim

2. Ann doesn’t usually smoke.

3. They are always sitting on the floor.

4. The boy has been sleeping soundly

5. Fish always swim in the water.

 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
2. Pattern II : SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB
+ OBJECT

No. Subject Transitive Verb Object

1. Alfred collects stamps

2. We killed a snake

3. He likes swimming

4. The professor is cutting a tree.

 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
2. Pattern II : SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB
+ OBJECT
No. Subject Verb Adverb Object

1. The students study hard

Intransitive 2. The professor reads constantly

3. She writes well

1. The students study English

Transitive 2. The professor reads journals

3. She writes novels

 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
2. Pattern II : SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB
+ OBJECT
Adverb of Adverb of
No. Subject Verb Object
Frequency place/manner/time

1. The students often study English in the room.

2. She usually writes novels quickly

3. The professor reads journals every day

 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
3. Pattern III : SUBJECT + DITRANSITIVE
VERB + INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT
OBJECT.
No. Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2

1. He gave me the book

2. Jim bought Mary a present

3. They sent me some flowers

 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
3. Pattern III : SUBJECT + DITRANSITIVE
VERB + INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT
OBJECT.
Prepositional Phrase
Indirect Direct
No. Subject Verb as
Object Object
Indirect Object
1.a. He gave me the book.
b. He gave the book to me.
2.a. Jim bought Mary a present.
b. Jim bought a present for Mary.
3.a. They sent him a letter
b. They sent a letter to him
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
3. Pattern III : SUBJECT + DITRANSITIVE VERB +
INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT.

Thus, a prepositional phrase introduced by ‘to’ or ‘for’

is frequently used to express the indirect object in other
way. The prepositional phrase using ‘to’ may follow all
of the verbs listed above except buy, fix, and make.
The prepositional phrase with ‘for’ follows buy, fix, and
make. The prepositional phrase as object is generally
used when the direct object is a pronoun. Compare the
sentences below!
CORRECT: He gave me the book.
CORRECT: He gave the book to me.
CORRECT: He gave it to me.
INCORRECT : He gave me it.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
3. Pattern III : SUBJECT + DITRANSITIVE VERB +
INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT.

A few verbs, including deliver, describe, explain, return and

say are regularly followed by direct object + prepositional
phrase as indirect object.
Example:
 CORRECT: She described her house to us.
 INCORRECT: She described us her house.
 CORRECT: He explained the theory to us.
 INCORRECT: He explained us the theory.
Like previous patterns, this pattern is also open for the
addition of adverbial elements, as some examples exhibit
below.
a. They sent me some flowers by mail a few days ago.
b. The boys often buy some flowers for their mothers.
c. She explained the procedures to us in the field.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
4. Pattern IV : S + TRANSITIVE VERB +
OBJECT + OBJECT COMPLEMENT
a. Object Complement is a NOUN
A noun as
No
Subject Verb Object Object
.
Complement
1. They call him a coward.
2. We appointed the man president.
an interesting
3. He finds politics
subject.
4. He names the boy a liar.
5. Lorraine thought the boy a genius.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
4. Pattern IV : S + TRANSITIVE VERB +
OBJECT + OBJECT COMPLEMENT
b. Object Complement is an ADJECTIVE
An Adjective as
No. Subject Verb Object
Object Complement
their new
1. They found strange
home
2. Alice wants her hair short
3. The lawyer proved the man innocent.
4. The sun makes the sky red.
Most of the verbs used in the previous variation can be used
equally well in this variation. A few verbs, however, such as like
and keep require an adjective as the object complement.
Similarly, the verbs like appoint, elect and name require a noun
as the object complement.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
4. Pattern IV : S + TRANSITIVE VERB +
OBJECT + OBJECT COMPLEMENT
c. Object Complement is an ADVERB

An Adverb as
Subject Verb Object
No. Object Complement

1. They want their bags here

2. Alice wishes her house in the city center.

3. The lawyer put his bag on the table.

 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
5. Pattern V : SUBJECT + LINKING VERB + SUBJECT
COMPLEMENT
a. Subject Complement is a NOUN
In this pattern, a linking verb connects the subject of the
sentences to a complement, which is a noun, that tells
something about, or renames, the subject. The complement
can be a noun or pronoun, and is often called the predicate
nominative. If the complement is a personal pronoun, it will
be a subject pronoun in careful writing and formal speech,
but may be an object pronoun in informal conversation.
For example:
Informal : “Who is that?” “It is me”.
Formal : “Who answers the telephone?” “It is I”.
 The most common linking verb used in this pattern is be.
However, such verbs as become, remain, continue, prove,
stay may also be used in this pattern.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
5. Pattern V : SUBJECT + LINKING VERB + SUBJECT
COMPLEMENT
a. Subject Complement is a NOUN
In this pattern, a linking verb connects the subject of the
sentences to a complement, which is a noun, that tells
something about, or renames, the subject. The complement
can be a noun or pronoun, and is often called the predicate
nominative. If the complement is a personal pronoun, it will
be a subject pronoun in careful writing and formal speech,
but may be an object pronoun in informal conversation.
For example:
Informal : “Who is that?” “It is me”.
Formal : “Who answers the telephone?” “It is I”.
 The most common linking verb used in this pattern is be.
However, such verbs as become, remain, continue, prove,
stay may also be used in this pattern.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
5. Pattern V : SUBJECT + LINKING VERB +
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
a. Subject Complement is a NOUN
Linking A Noun as Subject
No. Subject
Verb Complement
1. My name is Bobby.

2. Those men are teacher.

3. My cousin will become a doctor.
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
5. Pattern V : SUBJECT + LINKING VERB +
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
b. A subject Complement is an ADJECTIVE
The most common linking verb used in this pattern is
be, however, such verbs as remain, stay, become,
appear, continue, look, feel, grow, seem, taste may be
used as linking verb.
Linking An Adjective As Subject
No. Subject
Verb Complement
1. Alfred is sick.
2. Ina looks very pale.
The
3. became very famous
professor
 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
5. Pattern V : SUBJECT + LINKING VERB +
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
c. Subject Complement is an ADVERB
An Adverb As Subject
Linking Complement
No. Subject
Verb
Adverb of place Adverb of time

1. Alfred is there
2. Ina must be in her room.
3. It is in the morning
4. The meeting will be tomorrow.

5. The professor was in Kupang yesterday.

Make a sentence of following sentence patterns:
1. Subject + Transitive Verb + Indirect Object +
Direct Object
2. Subject + Transitive Verb + Object + Adjective
as Object Complement
3. Subject + Linking Verb + Adjective as Subject
Complement

Draw tree diagram for following sentence:

4. Those black hungry dogs break that well

painted door.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
I. ADVERB PHRASE
Loudly in this sentence is an
adverb which modifies snores
by defining how she does it. An
adverb often adds information
in relation to circumstances of
manner, time, or place. Such
this type of adverb, which
mostly ends in -ly, is therefore
called circumstance adverbs.
They answer the question
HOW, WHEN and WHERE.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
I. ADVERB PHRASE
In addition, there can be another adverb that is used to modify or to
limit the sense of another adverb. Adverb of this type include,
among other, very, quite, too, highly, extremely, more, less, rather,
etc. They are called degree adverb. This sort of adverb tells us to
what extent or what degree something is done.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
When an adverb modifies the entire sentence, it is called
sentence adverb. This type of adverb has the ability to appear
in a range of sentence position and often expresses an attitude
or evaluation. They include words, such as frankly, certainly,
actually, perhaps, unfortunately, etc.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
ADVERB CLAUSES

Adverbs phrases may be in the form of complex

structures within which there may exist clauses, for
example: They arrived when I was having dinner.
The main component (head) of the predicate is
arrived which is modified by when I was having
dinner, which tells the time of arrival. This verb
modifier, thus, functions as adverbial, but within the
adverbial structure, there is subject I and predicate
was having dinner, which is undeniably a clause.
Since it functions as adverbial, the clause is
grammatically called ADVERB CLAUSE.
 Conjunction Examples
after since by the time (that) as
before until the last time (that) once
when every time (that) the first time (that) while
Time whenever the next time (that) as/so long as as soon as

because as/so long as since now that

Cause and effect as inasmuch as so (that) in
order that
although even though though whereas
Opposition while

if whether or not in the event (that) unless

even if providing (that) provided (that) in case (that)
Condition only if

Comparison than as much as as many as

Place where wherever
Result so (that) so + adjective + that such + noun phrase + that
Reason because on account since as of the fact that

Manner as as if
Contrast although though even though no matter if
while even if whereas
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
ADVERB CLAUSES
(a). Adverb Clause of Time:
- After she graduates, she will get a job.
- When I arrived, he was talking on the phone.
(b) Adverb clause of cause & reason :
- He went to bed because he was sleepy.
- Since he's not interested in classical music, he decided not to
go to the concert.
(c). Adverb clause of purpose :
- I'm going to cash a check so that I can buy my textbooks.
(d). Adverb clause of condition :
- If I have enough time, I write to my parents every week.
- If I don't eat breakfast, I always get hungry during class.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
ADVERB CLAUSES

(e). Adverb clause of manner :

- He does the test however he likes.
- They acted as if they were actresses.
(f). Adverb clause of comparison :
- I do not swim as well as he does.
- She swims better than I do.
(g). Adverb clause of contrast :
- Although I had a slight handicap, I was an ambitious student.
- My grades were always excellent, even though I was often
absent.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
ADVERB CLAUSES
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

Preposition (P) is a group of closed class category which

expresses relations of place, direction, time or possession. A
prepositional phrase may consist of only a single word, that is a
preposition, or of a preposition followed by a noun phrase.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning as adverbial (Adv.)
When a prepositional phrase functions as an adverbial, it
answers the question HOW, WHERE and WHEN.
Example:
i). Sally looked up.  How did Sally look? Up
ii).Sally looked up the chimney.  Where did Sally look? The
chimney.
iii). Sally reads in the morning.  When does Sally read? In
the morning.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning as indirect object (IO)
A prepositional phrase functioning as indirect object is
generally found in sentences with verb of ditransitive verbs,
such as give and tell.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning as subject complement
(SC)
A prepositional phrase functions as a subject complement when
it appears with an intensive verb (which is sometimes referred
to as relational verb, linking verb or copular).
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning as object complement
(OC).
A prepositional phrase can function as an object complement
when it occurs with a complex-transitive verb, such as put.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning a prepositional object
(PO)

A prepositional phrase functioning as a prepositional object

occurs with prepositional verbs, i.e. those verbs require a
prepositional phrase in order to complete. Verbs such as
glance, lean, refer and consist fall into this class. In fact they are
so closely link to a preposition that it is easy to think of them as
verbs consisting of two parts, as in glance at, lean against/on,
refer to and consist of. Without a prepositional phrase,
sentences using such this type of verbs are not complete, such
as *Sally leant or The book consists.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning a prepositional object
(PO)
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases functioning a prepositional object
(PO)
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE

The most meaningful part of a noun phrase is the noun, which is

the obligatory constituent and is the head of the phrase.

A noun phrase may consist of a PRONOUN (PRON).

There are several groups of pronouns, including personal,

indefinite, demonstrative, interrogative, possessive and reflexive
pronouns
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
1. Personal Pronoun

Personal Pronoun as Personal Pronoun as

Person
SUBJECT OBJECT
Singular
I Me
I
II You You
III He, She, It Him, Her, It
Plural
We Us
I
II You You
III They Them
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
1. Personal Pronoun
You can use pronoun to categorize a noun phrase by
replacing it with a pronoun, as the beautiful lady in the
beautiful lady is cruel with she in she is cruel.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
2. Indefinite Pronouns
They are unspecified entities, such as some, something, anything,
anyone, anybody, somebody and someone.
Example: Someone is knocking at the door.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
3. Demonstrative Pronouns, such as this, that, these and those.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
4. Possessive Pronouns (possessive pronoun & possessive
adjective)
Possessive pronoun (or some call it possessive of noun) may
stand alone as a NP, where possessive adjective stands to
modify other noun.
Person Possessive Pronoun Possessive Adjective
Singular I Mine My
II Yours Your
III His, Hers, Its His, Her, Its
Plural I Ours Our
II Yours Your
III Theirs Their
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
4. Possessive Pronouns (possessive pronoun & possessive
adjective)
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
5. Reflexive Pronouns (such as myself, yourself, herself,
himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves)
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
1. PRONOUNS
5. Reflexive Pronouns (such as myself, yourself, herself,
himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves)
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
1. Pre Modification
a. Definite articles, such as the
b. Indefinite article, such as a and an;
c. Demonstrative, such as this, that, those and these;
d. Quantifiers, such as some, any, each, every, and no;
Example:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
1. Pre Modification
e. WH Determiner, such as: whose, which, what
Example:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
1. Pre Modification
g. Other nouns
When other noun serves to modify a head noun, the noun
pre-modifier is so closely connected to the head noun that the
two can almost be considered one word. This close link is
proved by the fact that when nouns do pre-modify other nouns,
they always come next to the head noun; nothing else can
come between them, as ungrammatical sentence in the
following.

 The boy bought a new computer game, not *I bought a computer new game.
 His old gold medal was stolen, not *His gold old medal was stolen.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
1. Pre Modification
f. Possessive, such as: my, your, her, his, its, our and their, as well as genitive
phrase using apostrophe (-'s), such as father’s house and my brothers' books
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
1. Pre Modification
g. Other nouns
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
2. Post Modification

Constituents that modify the head noun can also appear after
the noun. Such constituents are post-modifiers. In this
section, we look at two types of modifying constituent that
occur after a noun head; they are prepositional phrase and
relative clause.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
2. Post Modification
1. Prepositional Phrase

Just as an adjective before a head noun, a prepositional

phrase coming after a head noun also modifies the noun by
narrowly defining or describing it. The prepositional phrase
belongs closely to the head noun and forms part of the
noun phrase.
Example: The man with a gun killed a cat with three legs.

You can compare above prepositional phrase with the

one that does not function to modify the noun before it in
the sentence, like The man with a gun killed a cat in the
early morning.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
2. Post Modification
2. Relative Clause
As the name implies, a relative clause is a clause that
functions to post-modify a head noun. The clause is a
subordinate one which is connected with the main clause by
a relative pronoun, such as that, which, where, who, etc.
Example: The man who kicked you this morning is crazy.

The relative clause is who kicked you this morning post-

modifies the noun head man. As with other examples of
post-modifier, this means that the NP the man and the
relative clause who kicked you this morning both function
together at a higher level as one constituent, that is as the
subject of the sentence.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
2. Post Modification
2. Relative Clause

There seems to be two sentences in the above construction;

one more complete than the other. The one that is more
complete, i.e. The man is crazy is called the main clause,
and the other chunk, i.e. who kicked you this morning, is a
subordinate clause.
In this case, the type of the subordinate clause is a relative
clause. In the tree diagrams, the two sentences are
represented by using S1 for the main clause and S2 for the
subordinate clause
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
2. PRE- and POST-MODIFIER
2. Post Modification
2. Relative Clause
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE

In addition to consisting of an adjective clause, a noun phrase

may consist of a complex structure within which there is a
clause. The clause functions in the similar way as a noun
phrase does. A noun clause, therefore, can have various
syntactic functions including subject, object, and complement.

Observe and compare the following two structures!

(a) The story is interesting.
(b) What you told me is interesting.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE

(a) The story is interesting.

(b) What you told me is interesting.

In (a), the noun phrase the story functions as subject. The

phrase consists of only a DET the and its head-NOUN story.
In (b), however, the subject is what you told me, which
consists of what as clause introducer, you as subject and told
me as predicate. Within the predicate, there is verb told and
its complement me which functions as direct object. The
whole structure what you told me functions similarly to the
story in (a), but that in (b) is in the form of clause. The
structure is called noun clause.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE
1. Noun Clause as Subject
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE
2. Noun Clause as Direct Object
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE
3. Noun Clause as Indirect Object
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE
4. Noun Clause as Subject Complement
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. NOUN PHRASE
3. NOUN CLAUSE
5. Noun Clause as Object Complement
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
IV. ADJECTIVE PHRASE

Adjectives (Adj) as far as the meaning is concerned are

sometimes called "describing words" because they define
attributes or characteristics.

Like other lexical categories, an adjective can also form an

adjective phrase (AdjP) which may consist of a single
constituent or more than one constituent.

When an adjective phrase consists of more than one

constituent, it may have an adjective as the head and an adverb
as the modifier. The phrase a beautiful girl can be extended
into an extremely beautiful girl. Since extremely modifies
beautiful, they form a constituent under the node AdjP
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
IV. ADJECTIVE PHRASE
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
IV. ADJECTIVE PHRASE
1. ADJ PHRASE AS SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
Adjectives and adjective phrases don't have to appear with
nouns. They can also appear in structure like The dog is
quite disgustingly fat.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
IV. ADJECTIVE PHRASE
2. ADJ PHRASE AS OBJECT COMPLEMENT
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
IV. ADJECTIVE PHRASE
3. PRE-MODIFIER WITHIN NP
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
III. ADJECTIVE PHRASE
4. ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

Adjectives phrases may be in the form of complex structures

within which there may exist clauses. Consider this example:
I liked the book that you bought. This structure consists of I as
subject, and liked the book that you bought as predicate. The
main component (head) of the predicate is liked with its
complement the book that you bought functioning as direct
object. Within the noun phrase as the direct object, there
exists a clause that you bought which functions to modify the
head-noun of the direct object book. Since the function of the
clause is similar to an adjective that is to modify a noun, the
clause is grammatically called adjective clause. Some
grammarians called such a structure relative clause or
restricted clause or modifying clause.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
1. Transitive Verb
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
2. Intransitive Verbs
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
2. Intransitive Verbs
In some cases, there can be other constituent occurring with
an intransitive verb. Such constituents may be adverb phrase
(AdvP) or prepositional phrase (PP)
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
3. Ditransitive Verb
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
4. Intensive Verbs
Intensive verbs are sometimes referred to as relational
verbs, linking verbs or copular.
They belong to a small group which include verbs like, be,
become, appear, seem, look, etc.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
5. Complex-Transitive Verb
Another class of verb to appear with a complement is called
complex-transitive verb. The complement occurs with this
verb relates to the object in the structure not the subject.
The complement is therefore an object complement (OC).
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
5. Complex-Transitive Verb
An object complement (OC) may also be in the form of a
PP and AdjP
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
5. Complex-Transitive Verb
An object complement (OC) may also be in the form of a
PP and AdjP.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
V. VERB PHRASE
6. Prepositional Verb
This class of verb is one which requires a PP in order to
complete. In fact, such verbs are so closely linked with a
preposition that it is easy to think of them as verbs
consisting of two parts: verb and preposition, such as
glance at, lean on, consist of, etc.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
In our examples so far, we used only a single verb as the
predicator. Verb, however, can consist of one or more than
one element. These elements form verb group (Vgp).
In the example below, (a) has only a single verb, the rest (b -
e) have more than one elements.

(a). They killed his dog.

(b). They are killing his dog.
(c). They will kill his dog.
(d). They have killed his dog.
(e). They would have killed his dog.
(f). The dog was killed by them.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
1. TENSE
There are two tenses in English: the present tense (pres)
and the past tense (past). Future does not exist as a
tense in English because it is indicated by modal
auxiliaries. More over the form of a lexical verb for future
is not affected as that in the present and the past tense
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
1. TENSE
There are two tenses in English: the present tense (pres)
and the past tense (past). Future does not exist as a
tense in English because it is indicated by modal
auxiliaries. More over the form of a lexical verb for future
is not affected as that in the present and the past tense
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
2. MODAL AUXILIARY

Modal auxiliary (MOD) indicates modality which allows us to

express whether a state of affairs is likely, possible,
necessary, and so on. The modal auxiliaries are:

(a). WILL and WOULD indicate volition or prediction.

(b). CAN, COULD, MAY and MIGHT indicate possibility or probability.
(c). SHALL, SHOULD, MUST and OUGHT TO signify obligation.
(d). Marginally NEED, DARE and USED TO.

A modal auxiliary does not carry tense and always appear

with infinitive (either with to before it or a bare infinitive
(without to).
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
2. MODAL AUXILIARY
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY

Primary auxiliaries are auxiliary verbs which are not included in

modals. They are HAVE, BE and DO. Our discussion here is
restricted only on HAVE and BE which are used to signify
aspect (ASP) and voice. Aspect has to do with time and the
relationship of actions or states to periods of time or duration.
There are two kinds of aspect: perfect and progressive.

The prefect aspect (PERF) is indicated by the presence of the

auxiliary HAVE, and is followed by verb in -en (the third form of
verbs) or often called the past-participle, as indicated below.
Unlike modal axillaries, primary auxiliaries carry tense. In the
verb group without a modal, it is always the first element which
is marked for tense; that is the element immediately following
tense. If there is only one element in the verb group, it is the
element that carries tense, but if there is a primary auxiliary, the
auxiliary carries it.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
The modal auxiliary can also combine with the perfect, in which case
tense cannot feature. Although different types of auxiliary may appear
together, each type can only appear once in any verb-group structure.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
The progressive aspect is indicated by the presence of the auxiliary
BE and is followed by base verb + {-ing} or often called the present
participle,
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
Progressive combined with modal:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
Progressive combined with perfect:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
3. PRIMARY AUXILIARY
Progressive combined with modal and perfect:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
4. VOICE
 Voice refers to whether a sentence or utterance is in
ACTIVE or in PASSIVE. Our examples so far all were in
ACTIVE VOICE. There is no overt marking that
indicates this voice, since most of the utterances and
sentences are in active. In some occasions, however,
people utter PASSIVE VOICE.

 To change the sentence into PASSIVE VOICE, we first

switch the position of the agent (doer) and the patient.

 The agent or the doer is put into a prepositional phrase

indicating that it is the noun in the phrase that commit
the action mentioned in the verb group.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
4. VOICE
PASSIVE VOICE
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
4. VOICE
(a). Passive appearing with modal:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
4. VOICE
(b). Passive appearing with perfect aspect:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
4. VOICE
(c). Passive appearing with progressive aspect:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
4. VOICE
(d). Passive appearing with modal, perfect aspect and
progressive aspect:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
5. THE PRIMARY AUXILIARY ‘DO’

The primary auxiliary DO turns up to lend support to lexical

verb only in certain construction and where there is no
other auxiliary verb already present.
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
5. THE PRIMARY AUXILIARY ‘DO’
(a). In the negating structures, as in the following:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
5. THE PRIMARY AUXILIARY ‘DO’
(b). In the question structures, YES/NO QUESTION:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
5. THE PRIMARY AUXILIARY ‘DO’
(b). In the question structures, WH QUESTION:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
5. THE PRIMARY AUXILIARY ‘DO’
(b). In the question structures, WH QUESTION:
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
VI. VERB GROUP
5. THE PRIMARY AUXILIARY ‘DO’
(c). In the construction used for emphasis, as follows: