METALANGUAGE : Syntax Flashcards
Clause
Usually contains a verb. It may stand alone as a simple sentence or be part of a compound or complex sentence
e.g “I went to the shop”
Sentences
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Sentence Type: Declarative
Usually makes a statement. Uses the structure of a basic clause
e.g “I like ham sandwiches”
Sentence Type: Imperative
A sentence type used to express a command
e.g “Look at me”, “Go away”
Sentence Type: Interrogative
A type of sentence usually used to ask questions
e.g “How are you?”, “What is the weather like?”
Sentence Type: Exclamitive
A sentence that begins with either what or how as an exclamation
e.g “What a fantastic sunset!”
Clause Structure: Subject
The part of the sentence that is doing the action denoted by the verb
Clause Structure: Object
The part of a sentence affected by the verb
Clause Structure: Complement
The part of a sentence which includes the verb and object
e.g In the sentence ‘I like to eat out’, ‘like to eat out’ is the complement
Clause Structure: Adverbial Clause
A dependent clause in a sentence used to indicate time, place, condition or contrast
e. g (capitals=adverbial words/clauses)
- My sister USUALLY visits ON SUNDAY.
- WHEN SHE ISN’T WORKING, my sister visits ON SUNDAYS.
- My sister visits ON SUNDAYS WHEN SHE ISN’T WORKING.
Sentence Fragments
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Sentences: Simple
A sentence with only 1 clause
e.g “I have a pet cat”
Sentences: Compound
A sentence with multiple main clauses, usually joined by a conjunction
e.g “We had a dinner party last night and it was a success.”
Sentences: Complex
A sentence containing at least 1 main and subordinate clause
e.g ‘Computers have come a long way since they first came on the market.’
This example begins with an independent clause (subject ‘computers’ and verb ‘have come’) that forms a complete thought, followed by a dependent clause (subject ‘they’ and a verb ‘came’).
Sentences: Compound-Complex
A sentence which contains more than 1 independent clause and at least 1 dependent clause
e.g ‘Because I paid attention, I got an A on the test and I was so happy’
Ellipsis
Omission of information from discourse because it is already understood. used to help with cohesion
e.g “Does anyone here do Methods?” “I do” (it is understood that only someone who is actually doing Methods would answer, thereby eliminating the need to specify= “I do Methods/it”)
Nominalisation
The conversion of a verb or adjective into a noun
e.g ‘innocent’ to ‘innocence’, ‘running’ to ‘going for a run’
Coordination
The relationship between two language units of the same sort, such as phrases or clauses, that are joined together by means of a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and’, ‘or’, and ‘but’
e.g “I wanted to watch TV but I had to finish my homework”
Subordination
The combination of clauses that are syntactically non-equivalent; a subordinate clause is part of another clause (the main clause) and is introduced by a subordinator
e.g “I bought a book because I liked it” (‘because I liked it’ is the subordinating clause)
Voice: Active
A grammatical ‘voice’ in which the agent appears as the subject (object)- the actor is in front of the under-goer
e.g “The dog ate the homework”
Voice: Passive
A grammatical ‘voice’ in which the patient or ‘undergoer’ appears as the subject instead of the agent or ‘doer’. If the agent is there at all it is in a prepositional phrase beginning with ‘by’
e.g “The homework was eaten by the dog”
Antithesis
The placement of 2 clauses together which have clearly opposite meanings
e.g ‘It was a happy time, but also a sad time’
Listing
A stylistic technique in which a number of items are placed in succession of each other
e.g ‘He dropped his pens, papers, pencils and rulers’
Parallelism
A stylistic technique where identical syntactic structures are used in close succession
e.g ‘Like father, like son’, ‘Easy come, easy go’, ‘We lived and laughed and loved and left’
