Introduction to Linguistic (7)

Phrases and Sentences: Grammar

Traditional Grammar (1)• Grammar is the structure of a language and the

way in which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language.

• A word is a single unit of language which means something and can be spoken or written.

• A phrase is a group of two or more words which can be used as a grammatical unit within a sentence, that is all the words in a phrase together serve as the same part of speech in a sentence.

Traditional Grammar (2)

• A clause is a group of words which forms a grammatical unit and has a subject and predicate, there is finite verb.

• A sentence is a group of words that makes sense because the words are constructed and arranged according to the grammatical rules for expressing statements, questions and commands.

• Traditional Grammar is the term which is usually based on earlier grammars of Latin or Greek and applied to some other language, it analyzes the language based on part of speech and concord or agreement

Parts of Speech (1)• Nouns • A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing,

state, or action.• The position a noun in a sentence:• as a subject: John eats. The man runs.• as a direct object: She loves John. He writes books.• as a indirect object: He gave John a book.• as the object of preposition: According to John, you are wrong.• as the subject of complement (the word that is linked the

subject by a verb such as is, was, seem, become): That seems to be the man.

Parts of Speech (2)• as the object complement (the word that comes after the

object and is directly related to it): She calls him an angel.• as an appositive (the word or phrase placed next to another

word or phrase to explain what the latter refers to): The hero, Tarzan, is a very brave man.

• as a possessive (word that indicates ownership): John’s project has been praised.

• to modify another noun: The shoe factory has a lady accountant.

• Types of noun:• Common Noun is a general name, common to all the people,

all the things, all the places etc…. that are of the same type, eg. boys, cat, zoo. It is divided into:

Parts of Speech (3)• Concrete Noun names people, animals and things can be known

directly through the senses (they can be seen, heard, touched, smelt, etc), eg pig, ball, book, fire, smoke, table.• Animate Noun (nouns that refer to living things: brother, tiger).• Inanimate Noun (nouns that refer to non-living things: sugar, apple).

• Abstract Noun is a noun that refers to intangible items (items cannot be seen, heard, touched or smelt), eg. justice, beauty, communication.

• Proper Noun is a particular name eg. Charles Dickens, Mount Everest.

• Countable Noun is a noun which has a singular form as well as a plural form, eg. cat and cats, bush and bushes, man and men.

• Uncountable Noun is a noun which has only one form and take a singular verb, eg. rice, advice, furniture, information.

Parts of Speech (4)• Pronoun•A pronoun is a word used in the place of a noun or

noun phrase to avoid repetition of the same noun or noun phrase.• Types of pronouns:• Personal pronoun is divided into:• First person pronouns, it represents the speaker(s) or

writer(s):• Singular: I, me, my, mine Plural: we, us, our, ours

• Second person pronouns, it represents the person or people who is/are being addressed:• Singular: you, your, yours Plural: you, your, yours

Parts of Speech (5)• Third person pronouns, it represents people or things other

than the speaker /writer and the listener/reader.• Singular: he, him, his, she, her, it, its Plural: they, them, their, theirs

• Emphatic and reflexive pronouns• Both of them are different from each other in the ways they

are used. However, they have the same spelling:• myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourself,

yourselves, themselves.

• An emphatic pronoun is used to emphasize a particular person or thing: Only the engineer himself can repair this machine.

• A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of the sentence. It occurs in a sentence in which the subject and object are the same person or thing: She cuts herself with the knife.

Parts of Speech (6)• Demonstrative Pronoun• This, these, that and those are demonstrative noun. It points to a

specific person, or a specific group of people or things.• This is used to refer to a thing or person that is near the speaker in

terms of space or time. That is used when the thing or person is far from the speaker in terms of space or time. These is the plural form of this. Those is the plural of that.

• Interrogative Pronoun• Who, whom, what, which, and whose are called interrogative

pronouns or question words when they are used to ask questions.• Relative Pronoun• Who, whom, whose, which and that are relative pronouns when

they are used not only as pronouns but also as conjunctions to two sentences or clauses.

Parts of Speech (7)• Indefinite Pronoun• It refers to people or things generally rather than specifically.

It is divided into:• that refer to general amounts and quantities: many, most,

some, none, any, all, both, several, much, enough, others.• that indicate alternatives or choice: either, neither.• that refer to unspecified person(s) or thing(s): somebody,

something, someone, nobody, none, anybody, anyone, anything, everyone, everything, everybody, they, you.

• Reciprocal Pronoun• Each other and another are reciprocal pronouns. They are

used when two or more subjects interchange the action denoted by the verb.

Parts of Speech (8)• Expletive Pronoun• It and there are often used as expletive pronouns, they take

place of the subject of a sentence that would otherwise be without a subject and would therefore be incomplete.

• Verb• Verbs are words which express the actions carried out by the

subject of the sentence.• Types of verbs:• Finite and non-finite verbs• A finite verb has a subject and its form changes when:• the subject is changed from singular to plural:

• Today she wants to go.• Today they want to go.

Parts of Speech (9)• the time of the action is changed

• Today he wants to go.• Yesterday he wanted to go.• Tomorrow he will want to go.

• In the above examples want, wants, wanted, will want are finite verbs. Go is a non-finite verb. It remains the same in all the five sentences.

• Transitive and Intransitive Verbs• A transitive verb is a verb which takes an object, eg. The man

killed the snake.• An intransitive verb is a verb that does not take an object, eg.

The baby sleeps.

Parts of Speech (10)

• Linking Verb• Linking verbs are a type of intransitive verbs. They

are sometimes called intransitive verbs of incomplete predication because they must be followed by a completing word or phrase called a complement.

• Linking verbs are sometimes known as verbs to be. To test whether a verb such as become, look, seem is linking verb, substitute it with verbs to be, eg. He became a doctor. = He was a doctor.

Parts of Speech (11)

• Verbs phrases, main verbs, auxiliary verbs• A clause or simple sentence may have a single verb (He sits

down) or a verb phrase (He will be sitting down). The main verb is either the only verb in the clause or the final verb in a verb phrase. Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs used before the main verb.

• Adjectives• An adjective is a word which describes a noun or pronoun

either by pointing out of its qualities (the red dress, a long pole) or by limiting its reference (the only desk, ten kilometers, the first road).

Parts of Speech (12)• Descriptive Adjectives• It points out a quality of the person, thing or idea it

describes, in other words it tells us what kind of person, thing or idea is referred to.

• Many descriptive adjectives have no special endings: old, young, large, short, long, safe, white, hard, soft, bad, rich, hot.

• Limiting Adjectives or determiners have some categories:

• Article, there are two classes of articles: indefinite and definite articles.

Parts of Speech (13)

• A and an are known as indefinite articles because it is normally used as mean any one. The is called the definite article because it is normally used to mean that particular one.

• Demonstrative Adjectives: this, that, these, those are called demonstrative adjectives because they point out the things, person or ideas that are referred to.

• Possessive Adjectives: my, his, her, your, our, its and their are called possessive adjectives because they are used to show ownership or possession.

Parts of Speech (14)

• Interrogative adjectives: whose, which, and what are called interrogative when they are used with noun to ask questions.

• Quantifiers are adjectives that either indicate definite numerical quantities, eg. three hammers, some students, every Sunday.

• Relative adjectives are like relative pronouns in that they both link dependent clauses to main clauses. The difference is that while relative pronouns link the clauses by taking the place of nouns, relative adjectives link the clauses by modifying nouns.

Parts of Speech (15)

• Adverbs• An adverb is a word that may be used to give more

information about;• a verb, eg. runs quickly• an adjective, eg. very interesting• another adverb, eg. very interestingly• a conjunction, eg. only because• a preposition, eg. only after• an entire sentence, eg. Surprisingly, she recovered.

• Most adverbs are formed from adjectives by the addition of –ly.

Parts of Speech (16)• Adverbs of Time shows when something happens or

happened eg. We saw it yesterday. I have seen him before.

• Adverbs of Frequency indicates how frequently something happens or happened eg. I always do it this way. The instructions were given twice.

• Adverbs of Place refers to where or in what direction an action occurs or occurred eg. Birds were everywhere. He has gone out.

• Adverbs of Degree shows to what extent an action occurs or occurred eg. The equipment must be washed thoroughly. The supervisor absolutely forbids us to be lazy.

Parts of Speech (17)• Adverbs of Manner indicates how something is or was

done eg. The job was done professionally. Do it slowly and steadily.

• Adverbs of Sequence shows in what order things occur eg. First, the tap must be turned off. Finally, the cap must be replaced.

• Adverbs of Result expresses the result of an action eg. He won. He was therefore happy. She hates him. So she won’t help him.

• Adverbs of Contrast expresses an idea is either in contrast to a preceding one or different from what is expected eg. He won. However, he was not happy. She hates him. Nonetheless, she helps him.

Parts of Speech (18)

• Preposition• A preposition is a word that links a noun or a noun

equivalent (eg. a pronoun or a gerund) to another word by expressing such relationship as location (eg. at, on, in, over) direction (eg. to, across, toward), time (eg. before, after, during), or purpose (eg. to, for).

• Examples: Sit on the floor. (on links the noun phrase the floor to sit), He sits on the box. He sits in front of the box. He sits near the box.

Parts of Speech (19)

• Conjunction• Conjunctions are words used to; join words, eg. John

and Mary, slowly but carefully; join phrases, eg. the plays of Shakespeare or the music of Mozart; join clauses, eg. I like him because he is kind. It divides into:

• Coordinating conjunction has the same function as the conjunction in general, eg. I had fish and chips. It could be on the self or in the drawer. The journey was long and tedious but it was worth the effort.

Parts of Speech (20)

• Some coordinating conjunction are used in pairs, it is called correlative coordinating conjunctions, eg. You should buy either the red shirt or the blue one. John was not only a good teacher but also a well-known artist. Both the police and the fire brigade should be commended.

• Subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate or dependent clause to a main or independent clause, eg. The water boiled when the temperature reached 1000 C. If you switch on the current, the room will be bright. John was afraid because he saw a ghost.

Parts of Speech (21)

• Correlative subordinating conjunction, eg. The poor man was so weak that he could hardly talk. As soon as he recovered his breath, the messenger continued his journey. No sooner had we put him in bed than we heard him snoring away.

• Compound subordinating conjunction, subordinating conjunctions formed by a series of two or more words, eg. I would have gone with you except that I had run out of petrol. Given that he is so pathetic, I think we should help him. We did the job in order that we might widen our experience.

Agreement or Concord

• In grammar, agreement or concord means that related parts of a sentence have the right form to indicate:• person (whether the word refers to: the speaker –

the first person; the person spoken to – the second person; or the person spoken about – the third person).

• number (singular or plural)• gender (male or female)