Understanding English Grammar Analysis, Study notes of Grammar and Composition

Download Understanding English Grammar Analysis and more Study notes Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! -1- UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS LEVEL, LABEL, AND FUNCTION "Grammar," which comes from Latin, means the scientific study of the form and arrangement of words, phrases, and sentences. Every language has a grammar (even if that language is not written); every language has its own patterns. Just as biologists can label parts of plants and can sort animals into groups, grammarians can label parts of speech and can sort sentences into patterns. In order to understand grammatical analysis, the student must learn a certain amount of terminology. Confusion arises when these terms are not accurately understood. Actually, there are three basic things going on during English grammar analysis. As a student, one must keep these three straight: level, label, and function. LEVEL Language is made of sounds, words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and even more complex pieces (such as essays, chapters, and books). Each of these levels can be analyzed. SOUNDS Letters represent sounds. The English alphabet includes only five vowels (a, e, i, o, u), but the English language has at least twelve vowels sounds. Consonants (the other letters) also represent sounds. Linguists (language analyzers) can break these sounds into even smaller pieces. Examples of sounds: m, n, t, ou, z WORDS When sounds are combined, words are created. Words can be labeled according to their function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. Once its function is determined, a word can be labeled. Examples of words: students, light, run, be, the PHRASES Phrases do not contain subjects and verbs. A phrase is incomplete in thought. Phrases (and parts of phrases) can be labeled, as well. Examples of phrases: writing a letter broken by the fall through the door around the corner to proofread a paper in a minute CLAUSES Clauses contain subjects and verbs. There are two kinds of clauses: independent and dependent. Independent clauses can stand alone and can be called a "sentence." Dependent clauses cannot stand alone, are not sentences, and can be labeled according to their function in sentences. Examples of independent clauses: I'm tired. The car is running. Examples of dependent clauses: because I'm tired which is my excuse -2- SENTENCES Sentences have two essential parts: complete subject and predicate. They have various patterns. In English there are five forms of sentences: simple: one independent clause-- The children are playing outdoors. compound: two or more independent clauses-- The children are playing outdoors, and their parents are playing Scrabble indoors. complex: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses-- The children are playing outdoors while their parents are playing Scrabble indoors. compound-complex: two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses-- The children are playing outdoors because the weather is nice, but their parents are playing Scrabble indoors. complex-complex: one or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause which contains an imbedded dependent clause-- The children, who are playing outdoors because the weather is nice, are happy. Sentences can also be analyzed according to usage (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory). Examples of sentences: Rain is falling. (declarative) Does Henry live here? (interrogative) Open the window. (imperative) What a noise you made! (exclamatory) PARAGRAPHS Paragraphs also have "grammar" even though they are bigger pieces than sentences. Paragraphs are made up of related sentences and are about one topic only. Paragraphs have a topic sentence; all the other sentences relate to it. Example of a paragraph (topic sentences is underlined): My father loves to fish. Every October he goes to Canada along with several fishing buddies. It doesn't really matter if he catches anything or not. The whole point is relaxation and companionship with good friends. Of course, he usually catches enough bluegill to have at least one fish fry with the family when he gets back. My dad would not miss his annual fishing trip for all the fancy vacations in the world. Beyond the paragraph there are even more complex levels: essay, chapter, book, and so on. With each of these larger levels, patterns exist. Relationships between pieces can be analyzed. Each level can be either built up to create a higher lever (for example, word to phrase to clause to sentence) or broken down to a lower level (for example, sentence to clause to phrase to word). -5- PREPOSITIONS In many ways, prepositions are what hold the English language together (and what give second language speakers fits!). Out of the 25 most frequently used words in English, nine of them are prepositions (of holds the number two spot behind the.) Prepositions show relationships between words. This part of speech can be labeled on two levels: word and phrase. Prepositional phrase = preposition + modifiers + object. Prepositional phrases function in a sentence as phrase level adjectives and adverbs. If a preposition has no object, it becomes an adverb. In fact, many English verbs are made up of a main verb + preposition- that-has-become-an-adverb (for example, look up; sit down; turn around). Examples of prepositional phrases: Between you and me, I'm not surprised. Put your dirty socks in the laundry basket. One of the children is late for the party. Note: Objects of prepositions are nouns and pronouns, but these never function as the subject of a sentence. (See Function) INTERJECTIONS Interjections are words or short phrases that are used alone to express strong emotion. They are usually followed by an exclamation point. Examples: Hey! Wow! Oh, Boy! Congratulations! -6- FUNCTION Outside of its context, a word cannot be accurately labeled. Even a word as simple as the cannot always be labeled as an article. For example, "The is hard to pronounce for people learning English." In this sentence, the is functioning as the subject; it is doing a noun thing, so it will be labeled a noun in this sentence. Also, consider the word "light": Turn on the light. (noun) I wish you wouldn't light your cigarette in here. (verb) The cake was light and fluffy. (adjective) His eyes were light blue. (adverb) In other words, A WORD IS LABELED BECAUSE OF ITS FUNCTION, not the other way around. Failure to understand this principle is probably the primary cause of confusion for students of grammar. Students usually know that the subject of a sentence must be a noun ( or pronoun). However, they often fall into the trap of calling every noun in a sentence the "subject." This is an all too common error. This problem can be avoided if one understands functions within a sentence and realizes that labels are to be attached accordingly. A WORD CAN HAVE ONLY ONE LABEL AT A TIME! Functions of a noun: A word, phrase, or clause is labeled a noun if it functions as one of the following: 1. Subject: who or what the sentence is about; who or what is doing the action Equality under the law is guaranteed for all. (What is guaranteed?) 2. Direct Object: who or what receives the action of the verb I never saw what was coming. (Never saw what?) 3. Indirect Object: who or what follows an implied "to" or "for" The teacher gave Bill an A in the course. (Gave to whom?) 4. Object of the Preposition: answers "Who?" or "What?" after the preposition I hung a picture on the wall. (On the what?) 5. Object of a Verbal (Gerund, Participle, Infinitive): answers "Who?" or "What?" after the verbal Playing tennis is a good exercise. (Playing what?) 6. Subject Complement: who or what follows a linking verb and means the same as the subject Margaret was the mother of five. (Margaret was who?) 7. Appositive: renames another noun Henry, my cousin, lives on my block. (renames Henry) 8. Direct Address: who or what is being talked to I told you, Larry, that I'll be there when I get there! (talks to Larry) -7- Functions of a verb: A word or group of words will be labeled a verb if it shows physical or mental action (or a state of being). Verbs answer the question "What is happening?" The verb, its modifiers, and its objects are called the "predicate" of a sentence. 1. Verbs that take a direct object are labeled "transitive." Mother baked bread. 2. Verbs that are not followed by an object are called "intransitive." The baby cried frequently. NOTE: Both transitive and intransitive verbs are called "action" verbs. 3. Verbs can connect subjects to complements. Mary looked tired after her test. NOTE: This kind of verb is called a "linking" verb. 4. Verbs can be made up of more than one word: helpers and main. You should have told me before now. 5. Verbs show time changes (tense). Tommy runs quickly. He ran out of steam. He will run in the race again next week. 6. Verbs can show voice (active/passive). Marie baked the pie. The pie was baked by Marie. **Nouns and verbs are like the mother and father of the grammar family. All the other parts are described in relation to these two basic parts. The other parts of speech function in less complicated ways. Functions of a pronoun: the same function as that of a noun They are late. (subject) The movie didn't make sense to me. (object of prep.) Function of an adjective: modify nouns and pronouns; adjectives have a determined place in the sentence according to level (word level adjectives normally precede the noun, except for complements; phrase and clause levels follow the noun). The show that I really like is on now. Little children are adorable. Function of an adverb: modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; these words, phrases, and clauses are generally much more movable than adjectives. I did not take her seriously because she was always joking. Because she was always joking, I did not take her seriously. Function of a conjunction: connect words, phrases, and clauses; create dependent clauses