THE SYNTAX OF ENGLISH

I. WHAT IS SYNTAX?
The term ‘syntax’ is from the Ancient Greek ‘syntaxis’, a verbal noun which literally means
‘arrangement’ or ‘setting out together’. Traditionally, it refers to the branch of grammar
dealing with the ways in which words, with or without appropriate inflections, are arranged
to show connections of meaning within the sentence.
(Matthews, 1992:1)

‘Syntax deals with how sentences are constructed.’

(Robert J. Van Valin, 2001:1)

‘Syntax: the grammatical principles, units, and relations involved in sentence structure.’
(Jacobs, 1995:4)

‘Syntax involves learning the various forms of a word and how they should be deployed in a
sentence. It also means recognizing the function of grammatical words and organizing
lexical and grammatical words in a meaningful order not only within a phrase but also within
clauses.’
(Blake N.F. & Jean Moorhead, 1993: 41)

II. ANALYZING BY FORM, FUNCTION, AND POSITION

A word or a group of words in a sentence can be of different grammatical categories or parts
of speech. For example, ‘late’ may be an adjective or an adverb; ‘swimming’ may be a
gerund or a present participle, etc.
Ex: I usually get up late. (Adverb)
I am always late to school (Adjective)
Swimming regularly helps to keep fit. (Gerund)
Swimming one hour every morning, I am getting fitter and fitter. (Present participle)

A word cannot be analyzed precisely basing on its form only. Stageberg suggested a three-
criteria analysis of sentence units: analyzing by Forms, Functions, and Positions.
Ex: This morning, I met him at the supermarket.
This morning is a Noun Phrase by Form; a Modifier by Function; and an Adverbial by
position.
At the supermarket is a Prepositional Phrase by Form; a Modifier by Function, and an
Adverbial by Position.

Ex: This morning, I met him at the supermarket.

NP /M /Aval PP /M /Aval

1
 FORM CLASSES
THE PARTS OF SPEECH

I. PARTS OF SPEECH
‘Grammar is the system of rules that define a language. It comprises the classes of words,
their pronunciations, and their functions and relations in the sentence’.
(Lester, p.243)
The parts of speech are the classes of words. Words in English can be divided into two main
classes:

 OPEN CLASSES (lexical words): noun, verb, adjective, adverb

o Words that have lexical meaning. (dictionary meaning)
o They have a large membership.
o They always open to receive new members.
 CLOSED CLASSES (grammatical or functional words): pronoun, auxiliary,
determiner, preposition, conjunction.
o Words that do not have lexical meaning, only grammar meaning.
o They have a small, restricted membership which rarely changes.
o They are not open for new members.

 LEXICAL WORDS (OPEN CLASSES)

1. NOUNS
Nouns are known to be names of persons, places, thing and ideas. They can be
categorized according to the kind of thing that is named.
Types of nouns
- Proper noun: refers to a specific place or person.
Ex: Winchester, John Smith, January, Monday
- Common noun: signifies a more generalized range of things, and can be classified
into concrete and abstract nouns.
o Concrete nouns signify material things. Ex: table, dog, boy
o Abstract nouns signify nonmaterial things, such as ideas, conditions,
and feelings. Ex: science, patience, hope
They can also be classified according to their countability.
- Count noun: signifies things that can be counted. They include both abstract
nouns and concrete nouns, and they have both a singular and a plural form.
Ex: hope  hopes, apple  apples
o A count noun may be preceded by a / an in the singular.
o A count noun takes a final –s / -es in the plural.

- Non-count noun: refers to an undifferentiated mass and do not have a plural form.
Ex: knowledge, foliage, information, research

2
 o A non-count noun is not immediately preceded by a / an.
o A non-count noun has no plural form.
o Most non-count nouns refer to a ‘whole’ that is made up of different parts.

Many nouns can be used as either count or non-count nouns with usually a change in
meaning. Ex: A coffee (a cup of coffee); Fishes (kinds of fish) …
- Collective nouns refer to a group of people and can take a singular or plural verb.
o Singular if the word is used to mean a single group or unit.
Ex: Family is the basic element of society.
In this case we use it, its, which / that.
Ex: The government wants to improve its image.
The crowd which has gathered here is in a cheerful mood.
o Plural if the word is used to mean all the members of the group.
Ex: My family are going to Vung Tau this weekend.
In this case, we use they, their, who.
Ex: The teacher staff want to improve their image.
My family, who have just come back from DL, are going to
VT this weekend.

2. ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a word that describes the quality or the state of something.
- It is a modifier or attributive adjective when it goes right after or before a noun.
Ex: She is a beautiful girl. (modifier), I want someone intelligent. (attributive adj)
- It is a subject complement or predicative adjective when following a linking verb
Ex: The plan seems incomplete and unusually expensive. (subject complement)

They have three forms:

- The base form: (wide, careful, happy, lucky)
- The comparative:
o To one syllable adjectives and some two-syllable adjectives, notably
those that end in –y (happy, lucky), the comparative adjectives are
formed as: the base form + the inflectional morpheme –er (wider,
happier)
o To other two-syllable adjectives and those with three or more syllables,
their comparatives are formed by placing more before the base (more
careful, more dangerous)
- The superlative:
o To one syllable adjectives and some two-syllable adjectives, notably
those that end in –y (happy, lucky…), the superlative adjectives are
formed as :the base form + the inflectional morpheme –est (widest,
happiest)
o To other two-syllable adjectives and those with three or more syllables,
their superlatives are formed by placing most before the base (most
careful, most dangerous)

3
3. ADVERBS
Adverbs define the manner, place, or time of an action. Some adverbs are used to
intensify adjectives and other adverbs. Usually they answer the question when, why,
where, how, what for…
An adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, adverbs, phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Ex: He sings beautifully. (modify verb sings)
Severely punished by his father, the boy ran away from home
The boy sitting alone in the corner of the class is a new student.
She is extremely nice. (modify adjective nice)
He drove very quickly. (modify adverb quickly)
Coming home, he went straight to bed. (modify Infinitive phrase to bed)
Luckily, he did not die. (modify sentence he did not die)

The adverbs have four suffixes: the derivational suffixes -ly, -wise, -ward, and -s –
and one free form like.
Ex:
Source Derived Adverb
fortunate (adjective) fortunately
student (noun) studentwise
north (noun) northward
night (noun) nights
student (noun) studentlike
casual (adjective) casual-like

4. VERBS
Verbs are said to express action, being, and states of being.

Types of verb
They have two main sub-classes:
- Auxiliary
 Primary or semi-auxiliaries: the ones that can act as auxiliary or main verb. As
auxiliary verbs, they have the full range of forms. (be and have have the full range
of forms, but do does not have the infinitive, present participle or past participle
forms) e.g. be, have, do, need …
Ex: I am a teacher (main verb)
I am teaching English. (auxiliary)
My friend has a beautiful car. (main verb)
He has just bought it from a friend (auxiliary)
 Modal auxiliaries: modal verbs are always auxiliaries. They have only one form.
(will, shall, can, would, should, could, may, might, must, ought, used to, need, dare)
 Some compound auxiliaries: have to; have got to; be to; be able to; be about to;
be supposed to; be expected to …

4
- Main verbs (Lexical verbs): function as vocabulary items; they have meaning
which can be found from the dictionary.
 Linking verbs express a state of being. For example: be; seem; appear; taste;
smell; feel ...
A linking verb can be identified by:
o describing a state. Ex: The soup tastes good
o followed by an adjective. Ex: The well ran dry.
o can be replaced by ‘be’, ‘become’, remain…
Ex: The screw worked loose => the screw became / was loose.
Note: After a linking verb, we usually have a subject complement (if there is a subject).
 Action verbs express an action.
o Transitive verbs require a direct object to be complete.
Ex: I want a beer. (want what?)
o Intransitive verbs: self-sufficient verbs; they do not need an object.
Ex: He is laughing.

Forms of Verb
- Finite verbs agree with the subject.
Ex: The boy goes to school by bus. (A clause must contain a finite verb.)

- Non-finite verbs do not agree with the subject and do not form a clause (only a phrase):
infinitive, gerund, present participle, past participle.
Ex: The boy sitting near the window is a new student.
Prest.p phrase/ OP

5
  FUNCTIONAL WORDS (CLOSED CLASSES)

1. PRONOUNS
A pronoun acts in the place of a noun, phrase, or clause called its antecedent.
Types of pronouns
- Personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things. They change form to show
number and person. Ex: I, me, we, us…
- Relatives pronouns introduce dependent clauses called relative or adjective clauses. Ex:
who, which , that, whom, when, where, why, whose …
They are very similar to question words. The difference is that, in most cases, relative
pronouns have an antecedent while question words do not.
Ex: I don’t remember the town where I was born. (Relative pronoun)
I don’t remember where I was born. (Question word)
I’ll follow you where you go. (Adverb)
Some special relative pronouns:
 As
When the antecedent is modified by same and such, the adjective clause is
usually introduced by as.
Ex: She wore the same dress as she wore at Mary’s wedding.
I’ve never heard such stories as he’s telling.
 But
In a negative sentence, but is used instead of who / which to form a double
negation.
Ex: There’s not a single man here but loves you. (= who doesn’t)

- Interrogative pronouns introduce a question: who, what, which whom…

Ex: Who are you? What do you want?
- Reflexive pronouns name a receiver of an action that is identical to the one doing the
acting: myself, yourself, himself, herself … A reflexive pronoun can have the functions
of a noun.
Ex: John is looking at himself in the mirror. (at John)
Pro/OP (object of preposition)
- Intensive / Emphasizing pronouns also name a receiver of an action that is identical to
the one doing the acting as reflexive pronouns but with the function for emphasis.
Ex: The President himself visited me last night.
- Reciprocal pronouns: each other; one another.
Ex: They are fighting each other.
- Demonstrative pronouns show which nouns perform or receive the action: This, That,
These, Those.
Ex: The new computers are now in the library. Those on the far wall have hard disks.
These have color monitors.
- Possessive pronouns : mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs
Ex: That car over there is mine.

6
- Indefinite pronouns stand for a vague or unspecified number of people or things.
all both many one
another each neither others
any either nobody several
anybody everybody no one some
anyone everyone none somebody
anything few nothing someone something…

Note: Demonstrative pronouns and Indefinite pronouns become Adjectives when they
precede a noun. Ex: Many books, these boys, …

2. AUXILIARIES (See ‘Types of word’, p.4)

3. PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions are words used with a noun or pronoun (and their modifiers, if any) to form a
phrase that shows place, position, time, or means. In this phrase, the preposition is the head
and the following word is its object (OP: Object of Preposition).
Ex: The boy is sitting near the window.
NP/OP
Types of preposition
- Simple prepositions consist of one word e.g. about, above, across, after, …
- Compound prepositions consist of two or more words e.g. according to, ahead of, as
well as, because of, by reason of, in addition to, in case of, in front of, in place of, in spite
of, inside of, instead of, rather than, with respect to, with the exception of, on behalf of,
on account of, with regard to, in advance of, by way of, in comparison with, by means of,
together with, contrary to, due to, apart from, up to, out of, up at, as for, owing to …
- -ing prepositions have a verb as stem e.g. assuming, beginning, barring, concerning,
considering, during, following, including, involving, pending, regarding, succeeding, …
(Stageberg, 1981: 169-172)

4. CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses to show order and to relate two or more
ideas.
Types of conjunctions
- Coordinating conjunctions join equal items: and, or, but, so, nor, for, yet.
Ex: Paul and Peter went to school by bicycle. (joins 2 words).
We left the party early, but everyone else stayed there. (joins 2 clauses).
We will live in a dorm or on an off-campus apartment. (joins 2 prepositional phrases)
- Correlative conjunctions also join items of equal grammatical rank, but they always
function as a pair: both …and; either … or; neither … nor; not only … but also …
Ex: You look attractive in either the pink dress or the yellow.
- Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses. Subordinating conjunctions
show relationships of cause, time, location, degree, manner,…
Ex: Unless you take the car, I won’t go. / I’ll buy a car if I win the lottery
When the subordinate clause precedes the main one, it is usually separated by a
comma.

7
5. DETERMINERS
Determiners identify the noun and always precede the noun.
Determiners consist of:
- Articles: a, an, the. Ex: a book, an apple, the boy near the window.
- Possessive adjectives or possessive case of proper names
- Ex: my car; his father; Paul’s hat
- Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those
- Ex: This car is mine; that one is his.
- Numbers: cardinal and ordinal numbers
- Indefinite words: one, another, some, several, many, a lot of, a great deal of, such,
enough, much …

Note
 The first three types (articles, possessive, demonstrative) are always named
determiner.
 The last two types (number and indefinite) are named by their position:
 determiner: when they are followed directly by a noun.
Ex: Three students came to visit me last weekend.
Some students offered me some fruit.
Have you got any children?
 pre-determiner: When they are before a determiner.
Ex: All the students must be here on time.
 post-determiner: When they are after a determiner.
Ex: All the three students received a gift.
I always remember her many acts of kindness to me.
The government’s decision to control interest rate is prompt.