+ English grammar and correctness II LGEN30 session 6 - ch 20 – Pia Köhlmyr ©pk15

+ Ch 20 Subject clauses: what are they? For John to ignore her advice would be foolish. To ignore her advice would be foolish. John’s ignoring her advice was very foolish. Ignoring her advice was very foolish. That he ignored her advice is a well-known fact. Why he ignored her advice is not clear. inf cl gerund cl that cl interrogative cl

+ Alternative versions of subject clauses It is easy to please John. It is certain that John will please (someone). John is easy to please. John is certain to please. John is eager to please. *It is eager to please John. *It is eager that John will please. extraposition tough movement subject raising neither tough movement nor subject raising

+ IMPORTANT to understand: principle of end weight information principle (given – new contract) finite and nonfinite clauses extraposition tough movement structure subject raising sentences

+ Ch 21 Complements – what are they? Verb complements: I want to watch television. He enjoys watching television. I think that he will watch television tonight. We recommend that he buy a new television. inf cl gerund cl that cl

+ Meaning can differ I remembered to mail it. I remembered mailing it. They stopped to visit me. They stopped visiting me. Annie tried to slap John’s face. Annie tried slapping John’s face.

+ Meaning can differ

+ IMPORTANT to understand: term ‘complement’ verbs + complements finite & nonfinite clauses subjunctive verb form

+ Ch 22 Focus Structures – what are they? BASIC word order: S-V-O focus structures = word order variation to emphasize sth: clefting fronting inversion

+ Cleft sentences: form 1 Bill bought a car yesterday. It was Bill who bought a car yesterday. (S) It was a car /that/ Bill bought yesterday. (O) It was yesterday /that/ Bill bought a car. (A) Bill’s favourite relative is auntie Rose. It is auntie Rose who is Bill’s favourite relative. (sC) it clefts

+ Cleft sentences: form 2 [Bill bought] [a car yesterday]. What Bill bought yesterday was a car. (O) What Bill did yesterday was buy a car. (V) [Bill told us] [that he had bought a car]. What Bill told us was that he’d bought a car.(O) wh clefts

+ Function of clefts contradict Bill must have bought the car. No, it was Betty who bought it. argue a point But why is a car so important? It’s a car that will help him get a jo b. establish a topic It was 100 years ago that …. resume a topic … Well, what I didn’t realize at the time was that the beverage was alcoholic. present the gist … So what you’re saying is that they will never let you near the house. contradict & give alternative What really happened was that I lost control of the car and hit the tree. clarify a misunderstanding What I meant was WHICH car do you want? it cleftswh clefts

+ Fronting: form and function “clause initial placement of e.g. a dO, wh-clause, predicative complement (sC) or postmodifier to give it prominence” This I like. (dO) NP That he knows the answer I don’t doubt (dO) that-clause What a lovely day we had yesterday! (dO) wh-clause Skillful he wasn’t. (sC) AdjP Across the plains they galloped. (A) PP There were 50 participants. Of these, 30 were men and 20 women. (postmod) PP

+ Use of fronting emphasize a clause element emphasize a contrast introduce a topic introduce a topic shift Why he chose to do it that way we will probably never know. Pretty they aren’t, but affordable they are. Rocked by drug scandals, rider departures, team withdrawals, and fighting among the leaders of the sport, the 94 th Tour de France ended Sunday… Theories of global warming have been challenged by a small group of scientists. They claim that warming occurs at various times and then slacks off for even longer periods of time. To test this theory, two scientists have mapped average climate temperatures over several centuries…

+ Inversion: types and use lexical stylisticinformation packaging Here comes the bus! Down with the ball comes Messi. Neither do I/So can you. The committee argued for hours. At issue was section 34 dealing with the Never have I seen such a … new shopping centre in town. Had you done that I would have left.

+ IMPORTANT to understand: basic word order SVO word order variation: clefting, fronting, inversion subjunctive form and use information principle (given – new contract) principle of end weight

+ Preparation for next class All study groups read ch Make sure you understand the grammar areas covered. Work with exercises in the book. Discuss text and solutions in your group. One assigned study group is in charge of preparing study questions and a key for each chapter. These will be used in discussions next time in class. Each group member chairs the discussion on ‘their’ chapter briefly. choosing one grammar area from Problems that ESL/EFL students have with … & Suggestions for teaching … to present in class next time 5-8 min per group ©pk15