A sentence is a unit of syntactic structure that contains at least one finite clause. It may have more than one clause; if it does, the additional clauses may be finite or nonfinite. There are two main ways of categorizing sentences: by their internal clause structure, and by their functional/grammatical type. We will look at each in turn.
Classifying sentences by internal structure
This means classifying sentences into types based on how many clauses the sentence contains, as well as what relationships the clauses bear to each other, if there is more than one. There are three categories:
Simple sentence: a sentence
consisting of only one clause. It will be finite, since the definition
of 'sentence' requires a finite clause. Examples:
| A. The tree | fell. |
| NP | VP |
| subject | predicate; past marked verb (present would be falls) |
| B. That big luxury car in the parking lot | belongs to the president of the university. |
| NP | VP |
| subject | predicate; present marked verb belongs |
| I | understand. |
| NP | VP |
| subject | predicate=one finite clause (a simple sentence) |
|
|
|
| I | understand something. |
| NP | V NP |
| subject | predicate (containing a verb + direct object NP something)= one finite clause (a simple sentence) |
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|
|
| I | understand that my remark was hurtful to you. |
| NP | V clause |
| subject | predicate (containing the verb 'understand' and a clause, 'that my remark was hurtful to you') |
| The predicate in this last sentence contains another clause: | |
| that | my remark was hurtful to you |
| conjunction | NP VP |
| clause-embedder | subject predicate |
This is a finite clause on its own: the verb was is in its past form. But the clause plays a role in the overall sentence by being the direct object of the verb understand: remember that a direct object is a person or thing that the action of the verb is directed towards. In this sentence, the understanding of the subject 'I' is directed towards the concept 'my remark was hurtful to you'; this clause names the thing understood.
Since the clause that my remark was hurtful to you is a building block for the overall sentence I understand that my remark was hurtful to you , it is subordinate to the overall sentence.
Subordinate clauses can play all the same roles as phrases: subject, adverbial, and so on. More examples:
a. That she was tired
was obvious.
Clause
VP
subject
predicate ('was obvious' is a comment about 'that she was tired')
b. I like you
because you are a friendly person.
clause
clause
main clause
adverbial modifier of main clause: tells why I like you
The subordinate clause in a complex sentence does not have to be finite. A nonfinite clause may also play the role of a phrase (that is to say, a constituent) in a particular sentence. Consider:
I
saw Mary eating strawberries.
NP
VP (verb + nonfinite clause)
subject
predicate (Mary eating strawberriesis the direct object of 'saw')
We
heard the tree fall.
NP
VP (verb + nonfinite clause)
subject
predicate (the tree fall is the direct object of 'heard')
John having called the waiter,
we placed our orders.
nonfinite clause
finite clause
adverbial (tells why or when
main clause
we placed our orders)
Compound sentence: A compound
sentence contains more than one sentence (therefore, more than one finite
clause). The component sentences may be simple or complex. The sentences
that join to form a compound are independent of one another; that is to
say, one is NOT a building block inside the other. They both contribute
equally to the compound sentence.
We stayed until the end of the party, but Pete left early.
Compound sentence, consisting of:
We stayed until the end of the
party, but
Pete left early.
finite clause #1; simple sentence
+ conjunction + finite clause
#2; simple sentence
(clause joiner)
Pete left because the party was real wild, and we stayed for the same reason!
Compound sentence, consisting of:
Pete left because the party was
real wild
and
we stayed for the same reason
Sentence #1: complex (2 clauses)
+ conjunction +
sentence #2: simple sentence
Classifying sentences by functional/structural
type
Another way of classifying sentences is according to their function in communication. Does the sentence make a statement (assert a fact)? Does it ask for information? Does it ask for confirmation of something the speaker thinks is true, but is not sure about? Does it correct an incorrect assumption by a listener? Sentences come in different forms (different grammatical structures) to serve these different functions.
The plainest or most basic type of sentence is the kind that makes a statement, the declarative type (it 'declares' something that the speaker knows to be true). For example:
(1) Jose washed his car today.
Now, imagine various situations in which a speaker and listener are talking about this event of car-washing, but in ways that call for something other than a statement of fact. For instance ...
The speaker wants to know whether Jose washed his car today or not. The listener has that information. The speaker will then form a question of a particular type in order to get that information: a yes-no question.
(2) Did Jose wash his car today?(Yes-no question)
Notice that this sentence differs from (1) in two ways: The word did appears before the subject Jose, and the verb wash is not marked for past: did carries the past tense.
A form of the verb do will appear in yes-no questions that do not already have a 'helping' verb (auxiliary) verb. If there is an auxiliary verb, or if the verb is be, it will appear in front of the subject of the sentence:
(3) Jose has washed his car
already. (Has is an auxiliary verb; washed is the main verb.)
(4) Has Jose washed his
car already?
(5) Jose will wash his car
this weekend. (Will is an auxiliary verb used to indicate future
tense.)
(6) Will Jose wash his car
this weekend?
(7) Nguyen is the president
of the new club. (Is is the only verb; no auxiliary)
(8) Is Nguyen the president
of the new club?
Notice that here, the only difference between the statement and the question is that the auxiliary verb was appears as the first thing in the sentence.
Yes-no question form: Aux. verb / is / do + subject NP + main verb + rest of sentence
Let us now imagine some other possible scenarios.
-- The speaker knows most of the car-washing situation, but there is some information lacking. For example, the speaker knows a car got washed, but doesn't know who did the washing. In this case, the speaker will utter an information question, also known as a wh-question (because such questions always contain words like what, when, where, why, who, how, most of which begin with 'wh' in the spelling).
Imagine the following information gaps; below each is the information question that would help the speaker get the information they want:
(9) _(Noise)_ washed his
car today. (Imagine a noisy truck goes by at the moment 'Jose' is uttered.)
(10) Who washed his car
today?
(11) Jose washed _(noise)_
today.
(12) What did Jose wash
today?
(13) Jose washed his car _(noise)_.
(14) When did Jose wash
his car?
(15) Jose _(noise)_ his
car today.
(16) What did Jose do to
his car today?
(17) Jose _(noise)_ today.
(18) What did Jose do today?
There are a few things to notice about the structure of these information questions. First of all, the wh-word -- who, what, when, etc. -- always appears as the first thing in the question. The slot that the questioned element would occupy in the declarative version of the sentence (the blank in (9), (11), (13), etc.) is empty. Second, after the wh-word, we find the same order of elements as in the yes-no question: a form of the verb do comes before the subject, and the tense marking appears on that. Just as with yes-no questions, any other auxiliary, or the verb is as lone verb, will appear before the subject in information questions.
(19) Jose has washed _____.
(20) What has Jose washed?
(21) Jose will wash his car _____.
(22) When will Jose wash
his car?
Information / wh-question form: Wh-word + aux / is / do + subject NP + main verb + rest of sentence, with nothing appearing where the item represented by the wh-word would appear in the declarative version of the sentence.
Now, imagine a scenario in which you think it's true that Jose washed his car, but you aren't sure. You want someone to confirm your belief. You might use a tag question in such a situation: the term 'tag' question comes from the addition of elements at the end of the sentence, in order to create the question.
(23) Jose washed his car.
(24) Tag question: Jose washed
his car, didn't he?
The rules for tag-question formation
are complex:
(a) The tag will contain a pronoun
that has the subject of the main verb as its antecedent: Jose washed his
car, didn't he?
(b) The order of words in the tag
is: AUX+NEGATIVE MARKER+SUBJECT PRONOUN: Jose washed his car, didn't he?
(c) The base statement and the
tag will have opposite negative marking: if the base is positive, the tag
will be negative; if the base is negative, the tag will be positive:
--Jose didn't wash his car, did
he?
--Jose washed his car, didn't he?
(d) The verb in the tag must be
either an auxiliary verb or the verb be (British English also allows have
in tags). If the base sentence has no auxiliary verb, do will appear:
--Jose is tall, isn't he? (Verb
be)
--Jose will wash his car, won't
he? (Future AUX will)
--Jose has washed his car, hasn't
he? (Pres. perfect AUX have)
--Jose likes cars, doesn't he?
(No AUX in base sentence; tag has do)
--Jose has a new car, doesn't he?
(American) (No AUX in base sentence; tag has do)
--Jose has a new car, hasn't he?
(British)
Indrect questions embed a question inside of another clause. They do not show question word-order.
Base question
Indirect version
Karen is sick.
I do not know whether Karen is sick.
Where is Karen?
I do not know where Karen is.
Who is here?
Ask someone else who is here.
Why is she here?
Tell me why she is here.
Echo questions are wh-questions without the movement of the wh-word:
Base question
Echo version
Jose washed his car.
Jose washed what?
Jose washed his car in the yard.
Jose washed his car where?
Jose washed his car yesterday.
Jose washed his car when?
Some other sentence types and their
functions and structures:
You can use your subconscious knowledge of English grammar to analyze a sentence into its component phrases or constituents. You do this by creating certain kinds of questions from the sentence you are analyzing. Be very careful change the base sentence only in the ways you are instructed to.
General: Using who/what questions to find constituent phrases
Sentence to be analyzed:
The coach saw two members of the team in town after curfew.
Who/what questions that can be formed from this sentence (each question will use a wh-word such as 'who, what, when, where, how, what kind of' to replace a constituent phrase):
1. Form a: Who saw two members
of the team in town after curfew?
Answer:- The coach. ( means
'the coach' is a constituent phrase of the sentence)
2. Form a: The coach saw who
in town after curfew?
Form b: Who did the coach see
in town after curfew?
Answer: - two members of the
team (this is also a constituent phrase of the sentence)
3. Form a: The coach saw two
members of the team where after curfew?
Form b: Where did the coach
saw two members of the team after curfew?
Answer: In town.
4. Form a: The coach saw two
members of the team in town when?.
Form b: When did the coach see
two members of the team in town?
Answer: After curfew.
Therefore, the component or constituent
phrases of this sentence are:
the coach, two members of the
team, in town, and after curfew.
Using questions to find subject and predicate:
Create a who/what question from your base sentence. Your question should NOT have a form of the verb 'do' in it: do, does, did. If it does, reformulate it without the 'do' verb.
Sentence to be analyzed:
The coach saw two members of
the team in town after curfew.
1. Who/what question: Who saw
two members of the team in town after curfew? Answer: The coach.
This is the subject of the sentence.
Whatever remains that is not replaced
by 'who' is the predicate. In this sentence, saw two members of the
team in town after curfew is what is left after formation of the 'who'
question; thus it is the predicate.
Finding direct and indirect object
Use a who/what question with a
form of the verb 'do' in it. DO NOT USE 'WHEN, WHERE, HOW, WHY, OR WHAT
KIND OF' QUESTIONS.
Sentence to be analyzed:
The coach gave two members of
the team a lecture about being in town after curfew.
1. Form a: The coach gave who
a lecture about being in town after curfew?
Form b: Who did the coach gave
a lecture to about being in town after curfew?
Answer: two members of the team
Using the indirect object definition
(who or what got the lecture?), this is the indirect object (see Syntax:
Terms and Concepts)
2. Form a: The coach gave two
members of the team what?
Form b: What did The coach gave
two members of the team?
Answer: a lecture about being
in town after curfew.
Using the direct object definition
(what was given?), this turns out to be the direct object.
Do a parse for the following six sentences: Identify the sentence-level phrases and their functions. Use everything in this handout for help. Find only the phrases that function as constituents of each SENTENCE. Do not worry about phrases that are constituents of other phrases.
1. The sushi at that restaurant
is wormy sometimes.
2. Real men don't eat quiche.
3. The UPS driver delivered the
package to the wrong address.
4. Into the room rushed a monk
with a long knife. (Caution here! Unusual word order.)
5. Pet owners should feed their
dogs a Milk Bone twice a day.*
6. You can make grammar
your friend!
* I am not being paid for product
endorsements. : )