Sentence Structure

The simple sentence

There are only seven clause types in English. Consequently if you are well acquainted with these seven basic clause types in English, you will be able to identify correct sentences in English. When you can do this you have some competence linguistically

Your next step is simply to imitate these types and produce "good" sentences of your own. Linguistically speaking, you are ready to pass from competence to performance. That's why it is of utmost importance for learners of English to get these "secrets". But first feel the spirit of it. Then, and only then, should you take a closer look at the details.

Clause structure

Clause types

1. A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause, which may be one of seven types. The types differ according to whether one or more clause elements are obligatory in addition to the subject (S) and verb (V). The V element in a simple sentence is always a finite verb phrase. The other elements that can be obligatory in addition to the S and the V are the object (O), complement (C) and the adverbial (A).

1. SV The sun (S) is shining (V).
2. SVO The lecture (S) bored (V) me (O)..
3. SVC Your dinner (S) seems (V) ready(C).
4. SVA My office (S) is (V) in the next building (A).
5. SVOO I (S) must send (V) my parents (O) an anniversary card (O):
6. SVOC Most students (S) have found (V) him (O) reasonably helpful (C ).
7. SVOA You (S) can put (V) the dish (O) on the table (A).

It helps to learn the "secrets" of these seven clause types. Any other clause or sentence which seems not to belong to one of these basic types is generally derived from one of them.

Example

He was bored (by the lecture) is a transformation of 'The lecture bored him' SVO type clause into the passive.

Questions and negations can also be said to be transformations of the assertive form.

Optional adverbials can be added to sentences of any of these types.

Verb classes

2. There are three main verb classes, which are exemplified above in 1.

• INtrANSITIVE VERBS are followed by no obligatory element, and occur in type SV (eg: shine).
• trANSITIVE VERBS are followed by an object, and occur in types SVO (eg: bore), SVOO (eg: send), SVOC (eg: find), SVOA (eg: put).
• COpuLAR VERBS are followed by a SuBJECT COMpLEMENT or an ADVERBIAL, and occur in types SVC (eg: seem), SVA (eg: be).

NOTE: The term trANSITIVE is applied to all verbs that require an object. Transitive verbs can be further classified:

• MONOtrANSITIVE VERBS occur in type SVO.
• DItrANSITIVE VERBS occur in type SVOO.
• COMpLEX-trANSITIVE VERBS occur in type SVOC and SVOA.

Multiple class membership of verbs

3. A given verb can belong, in its various senses, to more than one class, and hence can enter into more than one clause type. The verb get is particularly versatile and is excluded only from type SV (and even then not universally: see NOTE below).

SVO	He'll get a surprise.
SVOC	He's getting angry.
SVOA	He got through the window.
SVOO	He got her a splendid present.
SVOC	He got his socks wet.
SVOA	He got himself into trouble.

Through the multiple class membership of verbs, ambiguities can arise:

1. She made a good model. - SVO or SVOC
2. I found her an entertaining partner - SVOO or SVOC
3. He is cooking his family dinner -- SVO or SVOO

NOTE: In informal (especially dialectal) AmE, get is used even as an intransitive verb (= leave at once) in type SV: She told him to get. Meaning: to leave at once.

Complementation

4. The elements O (Object), C (Complement), and A (Adverbial) in the patterns exemplified in 1 are obligatory elements of clause structure in that they are required for the complementation of the verb. By that we mean that if we use a particular verb in the relevant sense, the sentence is incomplete when one of these elements is omitted. Eg *Your dinner seems (type SVC) and *You can put the dish (type SVOA) are unacceptable. In some cases, however, an element could be considered grammatically optional:

1. They are eating. (SV) They are eating lunch. (SVO)
2. We elected her. (SVO) We elected her our delegate. (SVOC)
3. He is teaching. (SV) He is teaching chemistry. (SVO) He is teaching her chemistry. (SVOO)

We regard verbs in these sentences as having multiple class membership, so that eat can be either transitive or intransitive.

Syntactic functions of clause elements

Objects and complements

5. There are two subcategories each of object and complement. The two types of object can co-occur.

Justin poured David some whiskey. [1]

In [1] David is the indirect object and some whiskey is the direct object. Whenever there are two objects (in type SVOO), the indirect object normally comes before the direct object. The indirect object often can be paraphrased by a prepositional phrase functioning as an adverbial (Justin poured some whiskey for David). This sentence can also be treated, as we have stated above, as the transformed variant of the SVOO type. The two types of complement occur in different clause patterns. The subject complement is found in the SVC pattern:

Robert is becoming quite mature. [2]

The object complement, on the other hand, is found in the SVOC pattern

Dorris considers Robert quite mature. [3]

In [2] the subject complement characterizes the subject Robert, whereas in [3] the object complement characterizes the direct object Robert. In [2] and [3] the complement is an adjective phrase, but complements can be realized by a noun phrase as well:

Benjamin is becoming a conscientious student (subject C ).
His parents consider Benjamin a conscientious student (object C).

Obligatory adverbials

6. Obligatory adverbials typically refer to space. They can be divided into those occuring in the SVO pattern, in which location is attributed to the referent of the subject, and those occuring in the SVOA pattern, in which a location is attributed to the referent of the direct object. There is a parallel between obligatory adverbials and complements, which is demonstrated in the pairs of sentences below:

1. Daniel stayed very quiet (Subject Complement).
2. Daniel stayed in bed (Subject Adverbial).
3. Linda kept Daniel very quiet (Object Compliment).
4. Linda kept Daniel in bed (Object Adverbial).

In [2] the adverbial is subject-related (like the subject complement in [1]), and in [4] it is object-related (like the object complement in [3]). The parallel is further evident in verb classes, and we therefore call the verb in both [1] and [2] copular, since it is equivalent to the copula (linking verb) BE, and call the verb in both [3] and [4] complex-transitive (see 2 f).

space adverbials include not only position (in bed [2]), but also direction (to bed, as in John and Linda went to bed). Other meanings conveyed by obligatory adverbials include metaphorical extension of space:

• The next meeting will be in March.
• We kept him off cigarettes.

Still others have no connection with spatial meaning:

• They treated her kindly.
• He is without a job.

Syntactic characterization of clause elements

7. As seen from the discussion above, we can identify five clause elements traditionally called parts of a sentence. They are the VERB (also called pREDICATE), the SuBJECT, the OBJECT, the COMpLEMENT, and the ADVERBIAL. Clause elements, in their turn, are normally realised by certain phrases, or often by some other clauses. phrases always consist of one or more words, which belong to different word classes traditionally called parts of speech: a noun, adjective, adverb, preposition, article, etc.

NOTE: In the linguistic hierarchy the sentence is treated as the highest unit, and as such is considered to be the best for starting a grammar analysis with. In this hierarchy it is the clause that comes next after the sentence. Then the phrase, the word, and the morpheme, strictly in this order. On the lowest level we have the phoneme. It means that sentences, as a rule, consist of clauses, clauses of phrases, phrases of words, words of morphemes, and morphemes of phonemes. All units, except the phoneme, can be further split into their constituents to be analysed. On the other hand, this does not mean that a sentence must necessarily contain more than one clause, a clause more than one phrase, and so on. A phoneme alone may make a morpheme, a morpheme a word, a word a phrase, a phrase a clause, and a clause a whole sentence. Consider 'Oh!' for example, which is one phoneme only, but can be a sentence as well in a wider context.

1. The VERB is always realized by a verb phrase. (That is why there is no need to give it another name; like pREDICATE for instance). It is normally present in all clauses, including imperative clauses where the subject is typically absent. The verb determines what other elements (apart from the subject) may or must occur in the clause (cf 2 f).
2. The SuBJECT:
   1. is typically a noun phrase;
   2. normally occurs before the verb in declarative sentences and after the operator in yes-no interrogative clauses;
   3. determines the number and person, where relevant, of the verb.
3. The OBJECT:
   1. is typically a noun phrase;
   2. normally follows the subject and verb, and if both objects are present, the indirect object comes before the direct object;
   3. may generally become the subject of the corresponding passive clause.
4. The COMpLEMENT:
   (a) is typically a noun phrase or an adjective phrase;
   (b) normally follows the subject and verb if subject complement, and the object if object complement;
   (c) relates to the subject if subject complement, or to the direct object if object complement;
   (d) does not have a corresponding passive subject
5. 5. The ADVERBIAL:
   (a) is normally an adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, or clause, but can also be a noun phrase;
   (b) is typically capable of occuring in more than one position in the clause, though its mobility depends on the type and form of the adverbial;
   (c) is optional except in the SVA and SVOA clauses.