1.  SYNTAX Subsystems

2. SUBSYSTEMS The five subsystems in the English language are:  Phonetics and Phonology (The study of sounds and sound patterns)  Morphology and Lexicology (The study of words)  Syntax (The study of phrases and sentences)  Semantics (The study of meaning)  Discourse Analysis (The study of connected sentences)

3. SYNTAX  Today we’ll be looking at syntax  Make sure you take notes… you have a SAC next week!!  Flip to page 27 of your textbook for a description of syntax  We’ve spoken briefly about syntax before… remember this slide?

4.  Syntax is the area of linguistics that concerns itself with the arrangement of words and phrases.  Syntax provides us with rules that show how sentences and other expressions are built up out of smaller parts and eventually out of words.  The meaning of a sentence depends not only on the words it contains, but on its syntactic structure/makeup.  E.G. Compare the syntactic structure of “The young man carries the lady” with “The lady carries the young man” – this slight change in syntax actually changes the entire meaning of the sentence.  People learning a new language often have issues with syntax as it may differ from the syntactic structure of their own language. For example, “To your house we are going” – we can understand the meaning, but the syntax is awkward for us to hear. SYNTAX

5.  Syntax involves a level of structure that native speakers take completely for granted.  For example, take two simple words red and brick in answer to the question ‘Describe the house’. With a simple rule of modification, we can get four very different meanings:  It’s brick  It’s red  It’s red brick  It’s brick red

6. SYNTAX  SYNTAX is the study of how words relate to each other and combine to form phrases and sentences.  Sentences and phrases are built out of words by the rules of syntax (the words themselves are built out of smaller bits, governed by the rules of morphology)

7. PHRASES  In order to understand syntactic structure we need to understand that a sentence isn’t just a string of words… rather, words can join together into phrases; phrases can join into larger phrases; and phrases can join together into clauses; clauses make sentences.  A phrase is a group of words that have a grammatical relationship with each other.  A phrase does not contain a subject and a verb  E.G. ‘The old chicken’ is a phrase  it contains a subject but no verb  E.G. ‘went first’ is a phrase  it contains a verb but not a subject

8. CLAUSES  A clause contains both a subject and a verb  There are two types of clauses:  Independent  Dependent  An independent clause is a complete sentence, it contains both a subject and a verb  E.G. Frank was old. (Frank = subject, was = verb)  A dependent clause is a part of a sentence that needs the rest of the sentence in order to make sense  E.G. Because Frank was the oldest  (see, on its own, this doesn’t make much sense! Although it contains both a subject and a verb, the transitional word ‘because’ indicates a cause/effect relationship that needs developing)  you’d need to add something like ‘he went first’ (this is an independent clause as it contains both a subject and a verb and expresses an entire thought.)

9. SENTENCE STRUCTURES  The English language contains FOUR main sentence structures. These are:  Simple sentences  Compound sentences  Complex sentences  Compound-complex sentences

10. SIMPLE SENTENCE Page 129 of your text book… SIMPLE SENTENCE A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football on Wednesdays. C. Alicia went to the library yesterday. D. Tom walks to school everyday. The four examples above are all simple sentences. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought.

11. COMPOUND SENTENCE Page 129 of your text book… COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping. C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping. The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it.

12. COMPLEX SENTENCE Page 129 of your text book… COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. A. When he handed in his homework, Nick forgot to give the teacher the last page. B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying. *Note that sentences D and E are almost the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, in sentence E, however, the independent clause begins the sentence..

13. WHAAAAAAT???  A complex sentence is very different from a simple sentence or a compound sentence because it makes clear which ideas are most important. For example : 1. Although Tom reads novels, Billy reads comics. 2. When he was younger, Mike had many dogs. 3. Many people enjoyed the movie; however, William did not (Independent clauses, dependent clauses and subordinate conjunction/relative pronoun)  Let’s re-cap that…  Simple: My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.  Compound: My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.  Complex: Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.

14. ACTIVITY  Write a simple, compound and complex sentence for this picture (keep in mind that a complex sentence must include at least one dependent clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun and an independent clause):

15. SELF CHECK 1. Does each sentence have an independent clause? Highlight it BLUE or draw a box around it. 2. Does each sentence have at least one dependent clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun? Highlight the dependent clause GREEN or circle it. Highlight the subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun RED or underline it. 3. Does each sentence start with a capital letter? 4. Does each sentence end with punctuation? If you have answered YES to all these questions, good Job!

16. COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE Page 129 of your text book… COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE A compound-complex sentence has one complex sentence joined to a simple sentence with a conjunction. That means at least two independent clauses (joined with a conjunction) and a dependent clause in the sentence. A. While Tom reads novels, Jack reads comics, but Sam only reads magazines. B. Although thought to be indestructible, the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, and that forever changed the NYC skyline. C. The Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorists, who thought they could tear the US apart, but instead, this tragedy brought the US people together.

17. CONNECTORS FOR COMPOUND- COMPLEX SENTENCES  The complex and simple sentences may be joined by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) or conjunctive Adverbs.  Examples of conjunctive adverbs: furthermore, meanwhile, therefore, hence, moreover, thus, however, and nevertheless  Examples of coordinating conjunctions: (FANBOYS) for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

18. TRANSITIONAL WORDS OR PHRASES  Transitional words or phrases connect one idea to another.  To show chronological order - afterward, again, also, as long as, as soon as, at last, before, besides, earlier, equally important, furthermore, meanwhile, moreover, simultaneously, soon, then, therefore, too, until, when  To indicate Spatial Order - above, below, beyond, elsewhere, farther on, here, near, Nearby  To connect examples or show emphasis - for example, for instance, in fact, of course, specifically, such as  To compare and contrast - in comparison, also, likewise, similarly, although, on the contrary, and yet, but, despite, even so, however, yet  To trace cause and effect - because, consequently, otherwise, since, then, therefore  To summarise - in short, in simpler terms, in summary, that is, to summarise

19. ACTIVITY  Using the picture below, write 2 compound-complex sentences of your own.  Remember to join the two independent clauses with a conjunction and to include a dependent clause in your sentences.

20. SELF CHECK  Does each sentence have at least 2 independent clauses? Highlight them BLUE or draw a box around them.  2. Are your sentences joined by a conjunction? Highlight them RED or underline them.  3. Does your sentence have a dependent clause? Highlight it GREEN or circle it.  4. Does your dependent clause start with a transitional word or phrase? Draw a box around it. If you have answered YES to all these questions, good Job!

21. ACTIVITY  Label these sentence types: 1. The teacher walked into the classroom, greeted the students, and took attendance. 2. Juan played football while Juanita went shopping. 3. Juan played football, yet Juanita went shopping. 4. Although Mexico has the better football team, it lost. 5. The island was filled with many winding trails, a small lake, and dangerous wild pigs. 6. Sally passed the test because he studied hard and understood the material. 7. Even though she was angry, Samantha forgave her brother and even bought him a present to clear the air.  Complete activity 11.3 on page 130 of your text book for homework.

22. SYNTAX  Turn to page 131 of your text book  English sentences have four main purposes. We can further categorise sentences in the following ways: 1. Declaratives (make statements) “I saw Kate” 2. Imperatives (issue directions) “Listen to Kate!” 3. Interrogatives (ask questions) “Where did Kate go?” 4. Exclamatives (express exclamations) “Kate is hilarious!”  Complete Activity 11.4 on page 131 of your textbook for homework