Lingua Inglese Week 8: The grammar of English (part 2) Class 20: Phrases (part 2)

Class 20: Aims  To illustrate the structure of  prepositional phrases  adjective phrases  adverb phrases  verb phrases

The prepositional phrase (PP)  It is composed of a preposition (head word) and another element, generally a NP and sometimes a clause (-ing clause, wh-clause, relative clause) E.g. at school, in that very expensive restaurant, interested in attending, the company for which I work  The element that follows the preposition is called complement of the preposition (C) (a noun phrase, a relative clause, an -ing clause or a wh-clause)  PPs function as post-modifiers of:  Head nouns in NPs: a sharp increase in the number of jobs created  Head adjectives in AdjPs: She’s very good at playing the piano  Head adverbs in AdvPs: Luckily for her, everything went well

Draw a tree diagram 1.that man with the umbrella 2.a box in which he keeps all his valuables

NP Det H:N Post-mod: PP H: Prep C: NP DetH:N that man with the umbrella

NP Det H: N Post-Mod: PP H: Prep C: Relative clause A box in which he keeps all his valuables

The adjective phrase (AdjP)  It consists of a single adjective (head) or an adjective with pre- and/or post-modifiers E.g. Happy – Extremely happy – Really happy for you  Pre-modifiers :  Adverbs : This task is rather boring  Noun phrase : he is fourteen years old  Post-modifiers:  Adverbs : good enough  Prepositional phrase: happy for you – tired of studying  that- clause: glad that you’ve come  Non-finite clauses: easy to do;

Tree diagrams: “John is tired of waiting for the bus” AdjP H: AdjPost- Mod: PP H: Prep C: Non-finite clause tired of waiting for the bus

Draw a tree diagram (from 3.2.3, p. 176) 1.sure that you’ll have the time of your life 2.unhappy with the outcome 3.guilty of “verbally abusing” the tournament director

AdjP H:Adj Post-Mod: that -clause sure that you’ll have the time of your life

AdjP H:Adj Post-Mod: PP H:Prep C:NP Det H:N unhappy with the outcome

AdjP H:Adj Post-Mod:PP H:Prep C: non-finite clause guilty of “verbally abusing” the tournament director

The adverb phrase (AdvP)  It consists of a single adverb (head) or an adverb with pre- and/or post-modifiers E.g. Well – very well – very well indeed  Adverb phrases generally function as modifiers of:  Adjective phrases: This is really good  Verb phrases: Luke was shouting really loudly  Clauses: Perhaps, you should invite him

Tree diagrams: “Luke was shouting really loudly” AdvP Pre-Mod: Adv H: Adv really loudly

The verb phrase  The verb phrase is composed of at least one verb which functions as head word  The head is always a lexical verb (e.g. go, write, say, move, cry)  The head may be accompanied by:  auxiliary verbs: be, have, do  modal verbs: must, should, can, could, may, might, shall, will  Examples: plays, played, has palyed, should play, could not play

Tree diagrams: “John is tired” Cl S:NP P:VP H:N V C: AdjP H: Adj John is tired

Tree diagrams: “Luke was shouting” Cl S: NP P: VP H:N Aux V Luke was shouting

Tree diagrams: “you should invite him” Cl S: NP P:VP H: Pron VP O: NP Aux V H: Pron You should invite him

Finite and non-finite VPs  Finite VPs : verbs in tensed form (i.e. present tense and past tense) E.g. he runs away  Non-finte VPs : verbs in non-tensed form (i.e. infinitive, present participle and past participle) E.g. Our goal is to bring happiness into the lives of children Looking back you realize how special that person was Exasperated, she decided to leave immediately

Grammatical categories expressed in VPs  Tense : present or past  Aspect : unmarked, perfect, progressive or perfect progressive  Voice : active or passive  Modality : unmarked, deontic or epistemic  Mood : indicative, subjunctive or imperative  Polarity : positive or negative  Finiteness : finite or non-finite  Clause structure type : declarative or interrogative

Tense  Two tenses in English: present and past  Tense is marked in lexical verb endings or in auxiliary verbs E.g. She like s dancing/She enjoy ed the concert/She didn’t like the concert  Tense is NOT time!!  Tense  verb form  Time  meaning E.g. Present tense to talk about scheduled future events: Tomorrow, the Birmingham train leaves at 8:00. On Thursdays, it leaves at 8:30.  Expressing future time :  Simple present: The play starts at 9:00pm  Present continuous: What are you doing this weekend?  Modal will: I will come, I promise – You’ll definitely enjoy that film - I’ll have the fish pie  Be going to: It’s going to rain – We’re going to buy a new house

Aspect  Two aspects in English: perfect and progressive  Perfect aspect: completed actions  Progressive aspect: ongoing actions  The perfect aspect may combine with tense: present and past perfect  Present perfect: actions started in the past which continue up to the present (I’ve lived in Turin for three years) or which are relevant for the present (I’ve bought a new necklace. Do you like it?)  Past perfect: actions completed at or before a given time in the past (By my eighteenth birthday, I had already lived in several European cities, as my parents used to move often because of their job)

Aspect  The progressive aspect may combine with tense: present and past progressive  Present progressive: ongoing actions at the time of speaking (she’s watering her plants); plans (I’m going to Sardinia this coming summer)  Past progressive: ongoing actions at a specific time in the past (she was living with her boyfriend when I met her)  The perfect and progressive aspects can combine together and with tense: present perfect progressive and past perfect progressive  Present perfect progressive: for repeated actions started in the past which continue up to the present or which are relevant for the present (She’s been going to school by bike for years - I’ve been waiting for you for hours! Where have you been?)  Past perfect progressive : for repeated actions which finished at or before a given time in the past (Before the train arrived, we had been waiting for more than one hour)

Voice  Voice concerns transitive verbs which may be active or passive  Structure : Auxiliary BE + past participle  Active : Scholars use questionnaires for research purposes [Subject]+ [transitive verb] +[direct object]+[...]  Passive : Questionnaires are used by scholars for research purposes [Subject (Patient)]+[to BE – past participle] + [BY-Agent]+[...]  Why is the passive used?  The agent is unimportant or unknown (The house was built in the 1960s)  To emphasize the agent of the action (This house was built in the 1960s by my grandfather )  To emphasize the action (Questionnaires were distributed. Yellow sheets were given to girls and blue sheets to boys)

Modality  Deontic modality :  Permission and ability : You can have another biscuit if you want – I can swim  Obligation and advice: Students must wear the school uniform – You should stop smoking  Volition: I’ll definitely come!  Epistemic modality:  Possibility and probability: Kim may be ill – Kim might be ill  Necessity: You don’t have to come if you’re tired  Prediction: The local team will not win the match this time either

Exercise 3.2, p. 175: identify phrases E.g. My sister (NP) bought (VP) a very expensive shirt (NP) for her husband (PP) yesterday (AdvP) Liz and Joe talked about their holidays in Sweden He considered his students geniuses or idiots These bulbs bloom in late spring I saw that man with the umbrella at the restaurant with a famous actress last night The strict teacher gave his students a lot of homework for the next day

Keys Liz and Joe (NP) talked (VP) about their holidays in Sweden (PP) He (NP) considered (VP) his students (NP) geniuses or idiots (NP) These bulbs (NP) bloom (VP) in late spring (PP) I (NP) saw (VP) that man with the umbrella (NP) at the restaurant (PP) with a famous actress (PP) last night (NP) The strict teacher (NP) gave (VP) his students (NP) a lot of homework (NP) for the next day (PP)

Some disgusting sugary drink pretending to have something to do with fruits of the forest

NP Det Pre-Mod: Adj H: NP Post-Mod: - ing clause Pre- Mod:Adj H: N Some disgusting sugary drink pretending to have something to do with fruits of the forest

Class 21: Aims  To introduce the concept of clause  To illustrate the different types of clauses: main clauses, coordinate clauses and subordinate clauses

What is a clause?  The clause is a grammar unit composed of at least a verb phrase E.g. Stop!  A clause may be composed of several phrases which perform the following syntactic functions :  Subject (S)  Verb (V)  Direct and Indirect Object (O d, O i )  Subject or Object Complement (C s, C o )  Adverbial (A)

Verb complementation  Verb phrases are the heart of the clause and determine the type of clause elements  Intransitive : S + V: It’s raining  Monotransitive : S + V + O d : I’m watching TV  Complex transitive : S + V + O d + C o : His friends call him Jimmy S + V + O d + A: She put the keys in my bag  Ditransitive : S + V + O i + O d : You must tell me the truth  Copular : S + V + C s : Mary seemed very happy S + V + A: Mary is staying at my place  Clause elements following the VP are said to “complement” the verb  verb complementation

Verb complemetation  Because it is the verb that determines the other clause elements, the clause is divided into two main parts:  Subject : what the clause is about  Predicate: what is said about the subject  The predicate contains the verb and its complementation  Examples: I (S) am reading an interesting book (P)  monotransitive pattern She (s) bought him a present (P)  ditransitive pattern My mother (S) considers me lazy (P)  complex transitive pattern They (S) are a rich family (P)  copular pattern

Intransitive pattern (S+V): “It’s raining” Cl S: NP P: VP H:Pron Aux V It is raining

Monotransitive pattern (S+V+O d ): “I’m watching TV” Cl S: NP P:VP H: Pron VP O d : NP Aux V H: Noun I am watching TV

Complex transitive pattern (S+V+O d +C o ): “His friends call him Jimmy” Cl S:NP P:VP Det H:N V O d :Pron C o :N His friends call him Jimmy

Complex transitive pattern (S+V+O d +A): “She put the keys in my bag” Cl S:NP P:VP H:Pron V O d :NP A:PP Det H:N H:Prep C:NP Det H:N She put the keys in my bag

Diatransitive pattern (S+V+O i +O d ): “You must tell me the truth” Cl S:Pron P:VP VPO i :NP O d : NP Aux V H:PronDet H:N You must tell me the truth

Copular pattern (S+V+C s ): “Mary seemed very happy” Cl S:NP P:VP H:N V C s : AdjP Pre-Mod:AdvH: Adj Mary seemedveryhappy

Copular pattern (S + V + A): “Mary is staying at my place” Cl S:NP P:VP H:N VP A:PP Aux VH:Prep C:NP Det H:N Mary is staying at my place

Draw a tree diagram and recognise the complementation pattern  Obama was elected President of the United States  Jane told me not to water the plants

Copular pattern (S+V+C s ) Cl S:NP P:VP H:N VP C s : NP Aux V H:NPost-Mod:PP H:PrepC:NP Det Pre-Mod:Adj H:N Obama was elected President of the United States

Diatransitive pattern (S+V+O i +O d ) Cl S:NP P:VP H:N V O i :Pron O d : non-finite clause Jane told me not to water the plants

Types of clauses  Form:  Finite and non-finite clauses: depending on the verb  Simple clauses, compound clauses, complex clauses: depending on whether they consist of a main clause only, of main and coordinate clauses and of main and dependent clauses  Function and form:  Main clauses and subordinate clauses: Function: depending on whether the clause can stand alone or not; Form: main clauses  finite; subordinate clauses  finite or non-finite  Declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamative: Function: depending on whether they are used to make a statement, ask a question, express a request or command, make an exclamation. Form: mainly verb form and its position in the clause

Types of clauses

Main clauses  A main clause can stand alone as a sentence E.g. Stop! Call me! I am a student  Four types of main clauses:  Declarative  Interrogative  Imperative  Exclamative

Coordinate clauses  Two coordinate clauses have equal status and could both stand alone as sentences  verbs are in the finite form  They are linked by means of coordinating conjunctions or punctuation E.g. The woman left her suitcase in the hotel room and she went to the theatre The hotel room was expensive but it was very dirty The woman came back from the theatre, she complained about her room and she asked for another one  Two or more coordinate clauses form a compound sentence

Subordinate clauses  Subordinate clauses are dependent on the main clause: they cannot stand alone as sentences  They may function as:  clause elements (S, O, C or A) E.g. When John won the lottery (A), all sorts of distant relatives (S) suddenly (A) appeared (V)  modifiers in phrases : E.g. Yesterday (A: AdvP), I (S: NP) met (P: VP) the girl who lives next door (P: NP – the head noun is post-modified by a relative clause)  Clauses linked through subordination  complex sentence