Grammar II
Chapter 8: Exploring the grammar of the clause
Subordination: the type of syntactic structure where one clause (a dependent clause) is
embedded as part of another (the main clause). Clauses introduces by a subordinator is always
a dependent clause.
Finite dependent clause (marked for tense or modality) are signalled by a subordinator or a
wh- word. E.g. You can drink your juice [if you want].
Non-finite dependent clauses themselves signal subordination. E.g. [Leaving the road], they
went into the darkness of the street.
Dependent clause patterns:
subject: at the beginning of the clause. E.g. That it would be unpopular was… / To meet the
lady was… / Including the garlic in the diet can…
subject predicative: after a copular verb. E.g. Their function is to detect…
direct object: after transitive verbs. E.g. She hoped that Joe… / Stephanie liked living…
prepositional object: after a preposition. E.g. Please forgive me for doubting you.
object predicative: after an indirect object. E.g. You can’t expect him to mend those jeans.
adverbial: E.g. I borrowed a phone to ring Waterloo.
Coordination: when clauses are combined by the use of linking words.
Uses of coordinators:
✓ Sentence-initial (less common): And what about you?
✓ Coordination tags: She uses a food processor or something. or something, and things,
and stuff, or so, etc (the last two always at the end)
✓ Correlative coordinators: both…and, either…or, neither…nor. Neither the employee
nor the boss was at work.
Ellipsis: simplified or condensed structures by omitting elements that are recoverable from the
linguistic context or situation.
Types of ellipsis:
✓ Initial: He waved his hand but […] had no response (‘he’ is omitted at the beginning of
the 2nd clause)
✓ Medial: John and Clare went to the shop, he […] to buy some drinks and she […] to buy
some food (‘went to the shop’ is omitted)
✓ Final: Perhaps the situation can now change. It needs to […] (‘change’ is omitted)
✓ Textual: the missing word is found in the nearby text. John and Clare went to the shop,
he […] to buy some drinks and she […] to buy some food (‘went to the shop’ is
omitted)
✓ Situational: the missing word is clear from the context. Your native language is English.
– […] correct? (‘Is that’ correct?)
✓ Comparative clauses: She looks older than my mother [does]
✓ Question-answer sequences: Have you got an extra exam on Monday? – [I’ve got] Two
exams [on Monday]
✓ Noun phrases: It gets you from one place to the next […]
✓ Pronouns: We borrowed the tennis rackets and we used them twice.
✓ Other pro-forms: Who took that picture? - I did.
Subject-verb concord rules
Zero plurals: sheep. One sheep is infected. Two sheep are infected. Which, who, the former,
the latter DON’T CHANGE.
Singular forms -s: nouns denoting fields of study (eg. politics) are singular but if that noun
denotes a mode of behaviour, it can be plural.
And: plural concord. The trees and the church are reflected in the water. BUT: The anxiety and
anger is… (bc it’s a single emotional state).
Or: singular concord if both are singular. No food or drink has been consumed. If one is
singular and the other is plural, there is plural concord. Whether interests rates or intervention
were…
Agreement of person: the verb tends to agree with the closest noun phrase (principle of
proximity). Neither Phillips nor I have seen anything like it.
Indefinite pronouns: everybody, somebody, etc. SINGULAR concord.
Quantifiers: All, some, any, none, a lot, most, either singular or plural. Some of it is…, Most of
the copies are…, All people are equal but some are…
Either/Neither: singular concord is considered more correct. Neither of these words is much
help.
Collective nouns: in BrE it’s correct to use singular or plural. The team is… / The team are…
BUT in AmE they only use singular.
Names, titles, etc: singular concord. The United States is… / The New York Times is a
newspaper
Measure expressions: singular concord if it is a single measure. Two pounds is actually quite a
lot.
Principle of proximity: the tendency for the verb to agree with the closest noun or pronoun.
Do you think any of them are bad?
Notional subject: There is + singular, there are + plural.
Negation
Verbs as operators: they are typically auxiliary verbs
✓ 1st aux verb in the verb phrase: They are not forgotten. What could I do?
✓ The copula BE: You’re not pretty. Are you serious?
✓ Dummy DO: He doesn’t live here anymore. Where does he live?
Negation
✓ Not-negation: not/n’t added after the operator.
Verb contraction: it needs a preceding ‘host’ (pronoun, noun, wh, there) in the clause.
How’s it going? Contraction is not possible when there is no preceding host (ie. yes/no
questions) and with verbs in clause-final position (ie. I don’t know what it is). BE
contraction: You’re not better than You aren’t. HAVE, WILL, WOULD contraction: I
haven’t better than I’ve not.
✓ No-negation: using negative words like no, never or any + not. They had no sympathy
for him. There was nobody at the party. I’ll never be able to tell her.
✓ The scope of negation: the part of a clause that is affected by negative meaning, the
negation is located in adverbials. It’s in the middle of nowhere, isn’t it? - Robertson,
not unexpectedly… - One rabbit can do that in no time.
INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
They are not part of any larger clause structure. They are finite and they are used to perform
speech-act functions. Types:
Declarative clauses: give information and expects no response from the addressee.
subject + verb. Statements: She has left him.
Interrogative clauses: asks for information and expects a linguistic response.
✓ Wh- questions: begin with a wh-word that refers to the missing element in the clause.
- Subject: Who’s calling? – NO subject-operator inversion, bc the operator (‘s) comes
after the subject (who).
- Direct object: What d’you mean? – How many tomatoes do you want? (part of DO)
- Prepositional object: What are you looking at?
- Subject predicative: How was your trip? – Whose turn is it? (part of SP)
- Part of NP: Which photos are we going to look at?
- Adverbial: When did you see Mark? (time) – Why did you buy that? (reason) – What
time will they leave home? (part of ADV) – How can you afford that? (part of ADV)
- Part of adjective phrase: How old is Wendy?
- Ask for some information: Who is bringing what?
- Echo question (repetition): She is a thief. – She’s what?
- Retorical: Who needs sitcoms?
- Exclamation: How dare you speak to me like that?
- Suggestion: Why don’t we go to the beach?
✓ Yes/No questions: VS word order (operator + subject). The addressee is expected to
reply with a truth value (either yes or no). Do you like coffee? Yes, I do.
- She’s a teacher. – Oh is she […]?: elliptic question as a backchannel (to show interest
and keep the conversation going)
✓ Alternative questions: VS word order (operator + subject). It presents alternatives for
the addressee to choose between. – Do you want one or two? - Two
✓ Question tags: not independent clauses. Structure: operator + pronoun subject. Used
to seek confirmation of a statement. The operator is a repetition of the operator in the
previous declarative clause. If there is no operator, the dummy do is used. She is so
generous, isn’t she? – You like my dress, don’t you? (dummy do).
Positive tags: similar to declarative questions to seek confirmation. She likes Tom,
does she?
Imperative clauses: to give orders or requests and expects some action from the addressee.
They lack of a subject as well as modals, tense or aspect markers. Get off the table! – Don’t
forget about the money. Suggestions: let + us. Let’s try this.
Exclamative clauses: expresses the strong feelings of the speaker and expects no specific
response. It begins with a wh-word + SV pattern. How clever you are!
Non-clausal material: block language (newspapers, heading, books). They have only a noun
phrase. Image crisis for Clinton over haircut.
DEPENDENT CLAUSES
Finite (tense, aspect, modality marked)
✓ Complement clauses: (or nominal clauses) controlled by a preceding verb, adjective,
noun or preposition. Introduced by the subordinator that or a wh-word. They believe
that the minimum wage can threaten their jobs / What I don’t understand is…
✓ Adverbial clauses: used as adverbials in the main clause. They are normally optional
elements and can go at the beginning, in the middle or end. They are introduced by
the subordinators if, before, when and although.
If you go to a bank, they will rip you off.
Comment clause: it seems, I guess. The conclusion, it seems, is intolerable.
✓ Relative clauses: postmodifiers that expand the meaning and specify the reference of
the head noun. It is introduced by a relativizer: which, what, who, etc. Those men
who are armed are dangerous.
✓ Comparative clauses: complements in an adjective phrase or an adverb phrase.
Comparative forms require a basis of comparison. It is introduced by the conjunction
than (unequal comparison) or as (equal comparison). She was not as nice as she
pretended to be / She came earlier than she normally does.
✓ Peripheral clauses: reporting clauses – introduce sb’s direct speech or thought: ‘Can
we do some singing?’ he asked. tag clauses (question and declarative tags) – reinforce
the speaker’s commitment to the proposition in the main clause: He’s alright he is.
Non-finite
✓ Infinitive clauses:
- Subject: To maintain a friendship is difficult
- Extraposed subject: It’s difficult to maintain a friendship
- Subject predicative: My goal is to look to the future
- Direct object: I hate to see that
- Object predicative: He considered them to have dealt with it successfully
- Adverbial: You said you were going out to get something to eat
- Noun postmodifier: He found a Christian movement to be based on social justice
- Part of adjective phrase: He is a bit afraid to go into hospital
✓ Ing- clauses: same as infinitive clauses but using -ing
✓ Ed- participle clauses: they have only 3 roles – direct object, adverbial and noun
postmodifier.
✓ Supplement clauses: considered a peripheral type of adverbial clause. They are
marked off by a comma. Considered by many as Disney’s last true classic, The Jungle
Book boasts some terrific songs.
✓ Verbless clauses: when in difficulty, if possible, although not. Although not a classic,
this video is worth watching / She was taught, when in difficulty, to think of a good
life to imitate / Every day, if possible, go and visit her.
Types of verbs