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English Syntax 1

English grammar

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39 views5 pages

English Syntax 1

English grammar

Uploaded by

cimanukajoseph908
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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English Syntax

Syntax in the English Language

Meeting #1#
• Syntax is the set of rules that helps readers
and writers make sense of sentences. It's also
an important tool that writers can use to
create various rhetorical or literary effects.
• What Is Syntax?
• The word “syntax” comes from the Ancient
Greek for “coordination” or “ordering
together.” In spoken and written language,
syntax refers to the set of rules that
determines the arrangement of words in a
sentence. Along with diction, it is one of the
key ways writers convey meaning in a text
• 4 Essential Rules of Syntax in the English Language
• The rules of syntax can be quite complex and vary greatly by language (as well as
by time period and place). Depending on the language you are speaking or writing
in, these rules might be very restrictive, or quite flexible.
• When it comes to English syntax, there are four baseline rules to keep in mind:
• A complete sentence requires a subject and a verb and expresses a complete
thought. This is also called an independent clause. A sentence without a subject
and a verb is considered a fragment.
• Separate ideas generally require separate sentences. A sentence containing
multiple independent clauses that are improperly joined is considered a run-on
sentence.
• English word order follows the subject-verb-object sequence. (It’s usually the same
in French and Spanish.)
• A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb—but it doesn’t express a
complete thought.
• 4 Sentence Types in the English Language
• The English language is extraordinarily flexible when it comes to building
sentences. At the same time, all sentences in English fall into four distinct types:
• Simple sentences. Simple sentences consist of a single, independent clause. For
example: “The girl hit the ball.”
• Compound sentences. Compound sentences consist of two or more independent
clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction. The coordinating conjunctions are
“but,” “or,” and “so.” For example: “The girl hit the ball, and the ball flew out of the
park.”
• Complex sentences. Complex sentences consist of an independent clause and one
or more dependent clauses joined by a subordinating conjunction. Some
subordinating conjunctions are “although,” “because,” “so,” “that,” and “until.” For
example: “When the girl hit the ball, the fans cheered.”
• Compound-complex sentences. Compound-complex sentences consist of multiple
independent clauses as well as at least one dependent clause. For example:
“When the girl hit the ball, the fans cheered, and the ball flew out of the park.”

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