Syntax

Introduction to Linguistic
The words in the sentences above are arrange
in such a way that they both mean the same.
Yet the first sound more emphatic, which
focuses on the ’’properties’’ while the second
sentences focuses on the act of ‘’figuring out’’.
Although the words use in both sentences are
similar, the first sentences concretely suggests
the meaning while the second appeals more
creative, which generates mental images
common in poetry. This is the beauty and 2
 - Nominals (Nouns and
Pronouns)

parts of - Verbs
- Modifiers (Adjective and

speech
Adverbs)
- Prepositions, Conjunctions,
and
Interjections

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Nominal
( Nouns and Pronouns )
NOUNS
- are names, this names may be abstract or
concrete. Anything that names a concrete
object, person, place, thing, and animal or an
abstract idea, feeling, and sentiments is a
noun.
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Examples :
• Philippines ( proper )
• Country ( common )
• Anxiety ( abstract )
• Real State ( abstract, compound )
• Curiosity ( abstract, derived )
• Book ( common, concrete )
• Swarms of Ants ( collective, concrete, non-count )
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PRONOUNS
- are noun substitutes. They are often used in the
sentences to avoid mentioning the same noun
repeatedly.

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Examples:
• Jane is here.
She is here.
• The man drives his car every day.
He drives his car every day.

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NOUNS AND PRONOUNS
- carry nominal functions in the sentence. These
include nominative cases, where nouns
function as a subject. In the objective case,
nouns function as objects. In the possessive
case nouns show ownership.
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Examples:
• Jack invites Marie to dinner
( nominative case )
• Jack invites Marie to dinner
( objective case )
• Jack’s mother invites Marie to dinner.
( possessive case )
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verbs
Verbs are words that denote activities, whether they are
action words or words of being. Verbs could be main verbs,
be-verbs, do-verbs, have-verbs, modals and participial
verbs. Main verbs are action verbs while the rest will either
link or function as an auxiliary and act as helping verbs.
Be-verbs include is, am, are, was, and were. Do-verbs are
do, did, and does. Have-verbs are has, have, and had.
Modals include will, would, shall, should, ought to, might,
can, could etc. It is important to take note that be, do, have,
and modals serve both the main verb and the auxiliary verb. 12
Examples:
• Write ( main verb, base-form, used in plural subject )
• Writes ( main verb, s-form, used in singular subject )
• Is writing ( be verb paired with present participle )
• Is written ( be verd paired with past participle )
• Will write ( modal paired with main-verb in base form )
• Do write ( do verb paired with main-verb in base form )
• Have written ( have-verb paired with past participle ) 13
Modifiers
( Adjectives and Adverb )
ADJECTIVES
- are modifiers of nouns or pronouns. They
either directly precede the nouns or
complement the nouns or pronouns. Adjectives
are words that describe. Other grammatical
categories could also function as an adjective
when they come before the noun.
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Examples:
•Jane is creative ( adjective complementing the
noun ‘’ Jane ‘’ )
•creative woman ( adjective directly modifying
the word woman )
•a very creative woman ( article, adverb,
adjective all modifying the ‘’ woman ‘’ )
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ADVERBS
-an adverb is a syntactic category or a
word that modify an adjective, a verb o
another adverb.

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Examples:

•very lightly ( adverb modifying adverb )

•speaks slowly ( adverb modifying verb )
•hardly gentle ( adverb modifying an
adjective )

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preposition
 A preposition is a
syntactic
category that states
the location. 20
Examples:

•In the room ( inside )

•Between subject and verb ( in the middle
of two elements )
•Over the moon ( way above )
•At the pool ( somewhere near the pool )
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conjunctions
 Conjunctions are connectors
that the link the words, phrases,
or clauses. Conjunctions are
classified into three. These
include coordinating,
subordinating and correlating. 23
Examples:
•Take it or leave it. ( coordinating )
•Neither I nor John will follow you. ( correlating
)
•I will go when you go. ( subordinating )
•We are the bread and butter of this company.
( coordinating )
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interjections
 Interjections are words or
phrases that
express feelings, reactions,
exclamations
and greetings.
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Examples:

•Wow, Hurrah, Alas,

Ouch, Oops, Aha,
Yahoo, Eww 27
ARTICLES
 Articles are words that precede a noun or pronoun
modifier. Article are markers of nouns, which include
the a, an.
‘’ The ‘’ is used to refer to common count nouns,
although it can be used in proper nouns in specifying a
person who is renowned for something to emphasize
the person’s qualities. ‘’ The ‘’ is used to specify a
particular noun.
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Examples:

•the chair ( article + noun )

•the small chair ( article + modifier + noun )
•That was the Merriam you always talk
about.
( article + proper noun )
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‘’ A ‘’ is used generally in
singular noun or a noun
descriptor that begin with a
consonant letter. It is used
when the noun is not specified.
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Examples:

•a man ( article + non-specific noun)

•A tall man ( article + modifier + non-
specific noun )
•A man just passed by. ( article + non-
specific noun )
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‘’ An ‘’ is used in a singular
noun or a noun descriptor
that begins with a vowel
letter. It is also used when
the noun is not specified. 33
Examples:
•An apple ( article ‘’ an ‘’ + noun that begins
with a vowel letter )
•A sweet apple ( article ‘’ a ‘’ + modifier that
begins with a consonant letter )
•An amazing-looking apple ( article ‘’ an ‘’ +
modifier that begins with a vowel letter )
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Syntactic unit
Syntactic unit is the unit or form of syntax that includes
words, phrases, clauses and sentences.
WORDS
- A word is a basic meaningful unit of speech or writing.
As previously described, a word is created through a sing
root morpheme or combination of morphemes. Although
some morphemes make up one word, in many cases,
words are combinations of morphemes.
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Examples:
• analyze ( free morpheme )
• my ( free morpheme )
• this ( free morpheme )
• grateful ( free + bound morpheme )
• life ( free morpheme )
• consciousness ( free + bound morpheme )
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phrase
A phrase is a series of words that do not
constitute a complete thought. A phrase could
be a noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective
phrase, adverb phrase, and prepositional
phrase.
A noun phrase is a syntactic unit, which
consists of a single modifier and noun or a
series of modifiers, the head of which is the
noun. 39
Examples:

•A bird ( determiner + noun )

•A beautiful bird ( determiner +
adjective + noun )
•A very beautiful bird ( determiner +
adverb + adjective + noun )
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A verb phrase is a syntactic
unit, which starts with a verb
and all the cluster of words that
follow. A verb phrase functions
as a predicate of the object.
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Examples:

•She sings.
•She sings a beautiful song.
•She sings with grace
•She is singing in front of the audience.
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An adjective phrase is a syntactic
unit consisting of an adjective and
all the cluster of words around it
that modify a noun or pronoun.
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Examples:

• The show was not so awful.

• She was extremely surprised by the
gift.
• Your style is very interesting.
• You are nothing but awesome. 44
An adverbal phrase is a syntactic
structure that is composed of adverbs
and all the clusters of words around
functioning as one unit in describing a
verb, adjective or adverb.
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Examples:

• He is speaking so loudly.
• I tried to explain it quickly.
• You talk very convincingly.

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A prepositional phrase is a syntactic
structure that starts with a prepositional and
ends with a noun.
Examples:
He stays in his room. I keep it in my pocket.
I read it on the post.
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A conjunctional phrase is a syntactic structure
that conducts the function of a conjunction.
Examples:
Jessa is not only fashionable but also elegant.
Neither I nor he drinks alcohol.
We will start the program as soon as everyone
comes.
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An interjectional phrase is a syntactic structure
that functions as interjections. These include
statements that express emotions, greetings,
hesitations, etc.
Examples:
My goodness!
Oh no!
Thank God!
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clause
 - A clause is a series of words that
contain a subject and verb phrase. It is
classified as dependent or independent.
Independent clauses are clauses found
in simple or compound sentences.
These clauses can stand by
themselves. 51
Examples:

• He ran fast.
• He is a man and she is a woman.
• I am finishing my work.

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Dependent clauses are clauses that cannot stand
on their own and nee another clause to be
complete.
Examples:
He ran fast, so he will not be caught.
She is the woman whom he made a promise to.
I was finishing my work when you arrived.
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SENTENCE
 A sentence is a syntactic unit that is made
up of a word or phrase that makes a
complete thought. Sentences are
categorized according to purpose and
function. According to purpose, a sentence
could be declarative, interrogative,
imperative and exclamatory.
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Examples:
• The sun rises in the east and sets at the west.
( declarative )
• Where does the sun set? ( interrogative )
• Wake up the sun is rising. ( imperative )
• It is so hot today! Get inside. ( exclamatory )

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According to structure, a sentence could be simple,
compound, complex and compound-complex.
A simple sentence consists of a single subject and a single
verb phrase. A compound sentence consists of two subjects
and two verbs, usually joined by a coordinating conjunction.
A complex sentence consists of one dependent and one
independent clause usually joined by a subordinating
conjunction. A compound-complex sentence comprises one
dependent clause and two independent clauses.
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Examples:
Simple sentence:
• Cherry reads about language.
S + VP
Compound sentence:
• Cherry reads about language and Jack studies about literature.
S + VP conj. + S + VP
Complex sentence:
• Although Cherry reads about language, she could not make sense all of it.
conj S + VP S + VP ( dependent )
Compound-complex sentence
• Cherry reads about language but Jack does not because he doesn’t like
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