Syntactic Structures

Saeed Ahmed Rind

 Clause
• Subject + Predicate

– Subject (doer of an action+ Someone/something

you talk about in a sentence)
• They are working in a factory.
• She is an intelligent girl.
– Predicate
• Verb
• Object/Complement/Adjunct
 Verbs
• Finite vs non-finite
– Finite
• Limited, restricted
• Tense,
• Number of subject
– She goes to market.
– They go to market.
– She went to market.
– They went to market.
– Non-finite
• They can join you. (bare infinitive)
• She can join you.
• They could join you.
• She could join you.
• SVO
• SVC
• SVA

• They are moving to London. (Adjunct)

• They beat their fellows. (Obj)

• He is a king. (Complement)
 Types of sentence
• Simple sentence
– It consists only a single independent clause.
• They love to read books.
• They are enjoying their meal.
• Tina and Shaneela are playing together.
• Compound sentence
– It consists two independent clauses joined together by a ‘Coordinating
conjunction’.
• I want an ice-cream cup but she wants a cup of coffee.
• I want an ice-cream cup; she wants a cup of coffee.
• F.A.N.B.O.Y.S
• (;) semicolon
• Complex sentence
• For = I couldn’t join you for I was busy in a meeting.
• I want to buy a gift for you.
• And = They eat mangoes and I eat apples.
– Charlie and Susan were on a party.
– They wanted to buy apples and mangoes.

• Nor =They don’t like it nor do I.

• But = He wanted to join them but I was not ready for that excursion.
• Or = You may go to library or join us at the party.

• Yet = She is charismatic yet none of her classmates likes her.

• I have not done it yet.
• So = I was not ready for the exams so I didn’t pay the fees.
• Resultantly
• As a result
• She was so pretty that everyone likes her.
• Complex Sentence
– A dependent clause + An Independent clause
• Joined by a subordinating conjunction
• I want to go to China because I want to study there.
– Subordinating Conjunctions
» If, When, which, who, that etc
•If you work hard, you’ll be successful.
•You’ll be successful if you work hard.
• When I was a kid, I used to fight with my friends.
I used to fight with my friends when I was a kid.
• The boy who is sitting there is my brother.
Relative clause
• While I was moving, I saw you eating a bun.

• I saw you eating a bun while I was moving.

• Compound-Complex sentence
– It has two independent clauses and one or more
dependent clauses.
• I wanted to buy a new watch because I had lost the old
one but I had to wait for my brother who was having
money.
• If, while, when, for, and, because, but, so, yet, nor, or,
although etc.

• If the ozone depletes, the global community will suffer.

• I baked it perfectly because I have been taking baking

classes for a month.

• We won the game but my uniform was muddy because it

rained the entire time.
• She did not cheat in the exams for it was wrong thing to do.

• I did not go to the party for some personal issues.

• He was going to wear the clothes that she bought for the trip.

• I haven’t seen that movie yet so don’t tell me how it ended.

• Her eyes were almond shaped, the brown of the iris, so dark that it was almost black.

• She feels guilty now for she made a big mistake.

• Would you like to tell me the reason or should I leave the room?

• He wants to buy a car; he has not enough money to buy it.

• He was at bank for that why he couldn’t meet
you at showroom.
• He couldn’t meet you at showroom for he was
at bank.
• They didn’t go to park nor did they go to mall.
• He cooked food well but his father is an
amazing chef.
• My coffee was too cold so I heated it in the
microwave.
• The dog started barking; I drove the car away
but I could not keep up so I stopped it.
• I will do the dishes if you are not feeling well.
• She is good for me nor for others.
• I don’t like online classes because I don’t
understand the online lectures.
• I couldn’t find you there for I just visited your
office.

• I was there to help my friend because he was

very exhausted.

• Whenever I ask him to help me, he tells me

that he has a busy schedule.
• If I had money, I would give it to you.

• I would give it to you if I had money.

• They were in search of diamond.

• Charles and William were good friends but their greed turned them into foes.

• Although I had a cup of coffee, I couldn’t resist to have tea at Hik-2-Adhai.

• I couldn’t resist to have tea at Hik-2-Adhai although I had a cup of coffee.

 Correct use of Tense
• What do you know about tenses in English?
– Present, past
– Time of an action/ describing action with
reference to time
– 3 tenses divided in to four aspects
• Past, present and future
• Simple/indefinite, progressive/Continuous, perfect and
perfect progressive
 Present Tense
• Aspects
– Simple/ Indefinite
– Continuous/ Progressive
– Perfect
– Perfect progressive/ Continuous
• Present simple/ Indefinite
– He plays game.
• Morpheme
– Inflectional morpheme
» Suffix
– He does not play game.
– Does he play game?
– Does he not play game?
– Doesn’t he play game?
• Use
– Universal fact/ general truth
• The earth goes round the sun.
– Daily routine and habits
• I play cricket.
• I play cricket in evening.
• I used to play cricket.
• I use to play cricket. (Incorrect)
• Action taking place right now
– She writes a letter.
– Two colleagues are talking and they see their boss
going out of the office.
• A: see, the boss goes out.
• Newspaper headline
– IK visits Turkey.
– The US withdraws its forces from Afghanistan.
• In exclamatory sentences beginning with
‘here’ and ‘there’.
– Here comes the bus!
– There goes the chairperson!
• To express future planned/scheduled activities
– The P.M visits America next Sunday.
• To introduce quotation
– Wordsworth says, “Beauty lies in the eyes of
beholder.”
• Present Progressive/ Continuous
– He is writing an application.
– He is not writing an application.
– Is he writing a letter?
– Is he not writing a letter?
• Usage
– Action taking place at the time of speaking
• He is still writing a letter.
– Temporary actions
• She is acting in the film these days/ nowadays.
• She is reading a book.

– For future actions (near future)

• We are going to visit Islamabad.
• They are moving to Hyderabad.
• Present perfect
– She has completed her homework.
– I have eaten meal.
– I have not eaten meal.
– Have I eaten meal?
– Have I not eaten meal?
– Just completed actions
• I have just eaten meal.
• I have just finished my home-work.

• Drink, drank, drunk

• Arrive (at)
• Reach (no preposition)
– Past actions that are not time specific
• Have you ever visited Murree?
• I have visited Murree twice.
• I have never seen her before.
– Past events/actions whose result is still felt
• He has watered the plants.
– (His clothes are wet now)
• Perf Cont/ Prog
– It has been raining since last day.
– It has not been raining since last day.
– Has it been raining since last day?
– Has it not been raining since last day?
• Action which began at sometime in past and is
still going on
– I have been reading this novel since 20th July.
• Since/for
• Since= point of time
• For= period of time

• He has been learning to survive in this world for 18

years.
• The lake has froze.
• ICC has selected players that show poor
performance.
• They visit America many times.

• Clock-wise rotation of a fan

– A fan rotates clock-wise.
• Past
– Indefinite
– Progressive/Continuous
– Perfect
– Perfect cont
• Past Ind
– I wrote a letter.
– I went to Lahore. (adjunct)
– I did not write a letter.
• I did not wrote a letter.
– I did not go to Lahore.
– Did I write a letter?
– Did I go to Lahore?
– Did I not write a letter?
– Did I not go to Lahore?
• Usage
– Past action with past time adverbs
• She wrote a letter yesterday.
– A past discontinued habit
• He visited his hometown frequently.
• Tarique usually sang songs in the evening.
– ‘Used to’
– He used to visit his hometown.
– Tarique used to sing songs in the evening.
– To narrate a story
• Cruel
• Kneeled
• Bouquet
• Knock
• Red hair
• Palace
• Past Cont
– They were playing in the garden.
– They were not playing in the garden.
– Were they playing in the garden?
– Were they not playing in the garden?
• Usage
– An action going on at sometime in past
• We were watching a movie yesterday evening.
– To talk about a persistent habit in past
• He always snatching my cup of tea at the canteen.
• Whenever I met her, she was always talking about fairy-
tales.
• My students were always thinking about their book
review submission.
• Past perfect
– She had met him. before the party started.
– She had not met him.
– She had never met him.
– Had she met him?
– Had she not met him?
• They had a party last night. (past perfect)
• They had had a party before Mom entered the
house.
• They have a party. (present perfect)
• They have just had a party.
• Usage
– To express one of the two actions which had taken
place earlier.
• When we reached the theatre, the film had already
started.
• Past Perf Cont
– We had been working for two days.
– We had not been working for two days.
– Had we been working for two days?
– Had we not been working for two days?
• Usage
– An action which began and had been in progress
before another action started.
• When I went to visit them in 2001, they had been
working in the industry for past ten years.

• We had been sleeping for eight hours when father

came.
• Future
– Simple
– Continuous
– Perfect
– Perfect Cont
• Future simple
– I shall go to Karachi.
– I shall not go to Karachi.
– Shall I go to Karachi?
– Shall I not go to Karachi?
• Usage
– Future actions
• I shall meet you tomorrow.
• I will meet you tomorrow.
• Future Cont
– I shall be going to Karachi.
– I shall not be going to Karachi.
– Shall I be going to Karachi?
– Shall I not be going to Karachi?
• Usage
– An action going on in future
• When I go home, she’ll be waiting for me.

• Reach (no preposition)

• Arrive (at)
– Future planned actions
• We will be getting married this July.
• Future Perfect
– They will have gone to Karachi by evening.
– They will have not gone to Karachi by evening.
– Will they have gone to Karachi by evening?
– Will they have not gone to Karachi by evening?
– A future completed action
• I shall have written this story by tomorrow.
• Friend’s arrival
• Peoples = Nations
• People = Collection of pupil
• Future perfect Continuous
– At November, I will have been working for my
institute for ten years.
• Usage
– An action that will continue up until a point in the
future.
• They will have been completing their tenure by the end
of next month.