Sentences and Clauses

Question 1

What are the four sentence functions

Answer 1

Interrogative
Exclamatory
Imperative
Declarative

Question 2

What are Interrogative sentences

Answer 2

Sentences which ask questions
WM - usually used for direct address to the reader/audience
SM - can be a way of making a command more polite (“could you open the window?”)

Question 3

What are Exclamatory sentences

Answer 3

Sentences which display emphatic stress.
Can be used with an addition of an exclamation mark!
“I’ve got to read HAMLET by next week!”

Question 4

What are Imperative sentences

Answer 4

Sentences which give some sort of instruction, such as: orders, warnings, advice, invitation, commands etc…
They usually begin with a verb and omit the subject
“Read Hamel by Next week.”
“Have a drink and go to bed.”

Question 5

What are Declarative sentences

Answer 5

Sentences used to make statements.
Have a usual syntax order of: subject-verb-object
Information, narrative and descriptive texts rely heavily on these.
“I have read all of Hamlet”

Question 6

Simple sentences

Answer 6

Contains only one (main) clause.

e.g. “animals are all equal”

Question 7

Compound sentences

Answer 7

Contain two or more main clauses (simple sentences).
These are usually joined together by a conjunction, such as:
“and”, “but”, or “or”
e.g. “He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl”

Question 8

Qualities of compound sentences

Answer 8

Each clause could function on it’s own as an independent simple sentence

Question 9

Co-ordinating conjunctions

Answer 9

“and”, “but” or “or” - the words used to link together the different clauses within a compound sentence.

Question 10

Complex sentences

Answer 10

Contain one main clause and one or more subordinating clauses (dependant clause).
e.g. “What happens when you come to the beginning?”

Question 11

Qualities of complex sentences

Answer 11

The subordinating clause has less importance to the sentence than the main clause.
The subordinating clause could not exist or make sense on its own.

Question 12

How to identify a complex sentence and its subordinate clause

Answer 12

Look for the subordinating conjunctions

Question 13

What are subordinating conjunctions

Answer 13

Words such as:
because, when, after, although, as, except
Expressions such as:
in order to, so that, as though, rather than

Question 14

What can subordinate clauses sometimes occur as?

Answer 14

A minor sentence (which are quite common in SM)

Question 15

What is a minor sentence

Answer 15

A sentence which does not conform to regular pattern of subject + verb.
They are not made up of clauses or they use them in abnormal ways

Question 16

Examples of minor sentences

Answer 16

-Exclamations and Interjections
"oh my! what a day!"
-Headings and signs
"The Science Museum" "Where to eat in York"
-Abbreviated forms
"Wish you were here"
-Greetings, replies and social formulas
"Good morning" "Fine, thanks"
-Proverbial sayings
"like father, like son"

Question 17

Common types of subordinating clauses

Answer 17

• introduced by “that”
• introduced by a “wh-“ word
• Adverbial clauses
• Relative clauses

Question 18

Subordinating clause introduced by “that”

Answer 18

the clause acts as the object of the sentence

“I thought that the journey was slow”

Question 19

Subordinating clause introduced by a “wh-“ word

Answer 19

Words such as ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘who’, ‘whether’

“he told me what he wanted”

Question 20

Adverbial clauses

Answer 20

Modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs
Act as adverbials and usually explain why, where or when something happened. They are introduced by conjunctions such as:
before, until, while, because, since
“she left before I arrived”

Question 21

Relative clauses

Answer 21

They modify the noun in the sentence, this also usually follows the nouns that they modify.
Usually include relative pronouns, such as: who, whose, which, that
“The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
Sometimes they don’t have an introductory pronoun
“this is the house that jack built”

Question 22

Types of relative clauses

Answer 22

restrictive

non-restrictive

Question 23

Restrictive relative clauses

Answer 23

Restrictive - narrow down the range of possibilities

“The man who lives next door gets up early” (‘the man’ is being distinguished between other possible men)

Question 24

Types of adverbial clause

Answer 24

• adverbial clause of time: when, whenever, since, as, until
  “as dad came in I jumped from behind the door”
  -adverbial clause of manner: as if, as
  “He stared at me, as if there was something on my face”
  -adverbial clause of place: where, wherever
  “she’ll find it wherever it may be”
  -adverbial clause of condition: if, unless
  “I’ll call if I get the job”
  -adverbial clause of concession: although, though, however
  “although the evidence is against you, i’ll accept the story”

Question 25

Combinations of different Clauses (7)

Answer 25

S+V
S+V+O
S+V+O+O
S+V+C
S+V+O+C
S+V+A
S+V+O+A
(s=subject, v=verb, o=object, c=complement, a=adverbial)

Question 26

What elements make up a clause

Answer 26

usually contains a verb phrase as well as other types of phrases.
Has 5 different elements:
subject, verb, object, complement, adverbial

Question 27

What is the subject of a clause

Answer 27

The main subject or thing that the clause is about.
The subject performs the action which is described in the clause.
Usually comes before the verb

Question 28

What is the verb of a clause

Answer 28

The second element of the clause, usually follows the subject.
This is the action which is taking place in the clause

Question 29

What is the object of a clause

Answer 29

Usually follows the verb and is the thing in the clause which the action has been done to.

Question 30

What is the complement of a clause

Answer 30

Provides more information about either the subject or the object within the clause.

Question 31

What is the adverbial of a clause

Answer 31

Provides extra information (usually added in optionally for extra)
Most often found at the end of the clause but can be placed at any point in the clause.
Takes form in the following kinds:
1. time (when or how often something happened)
2. place (where something happened)
3. manner (how something happened)

Question 32

What is a finite clause

Answer 32

A clause that contains a finite verb, which indicates tense, person and number
“she went”

Question 33

What is a non-finite clause

Answer 33

A clause that contains a non-finite verb - such as a participle
“walking down the road”

Question 34

A single clause can form a….

Answer 34

simple sentence

Question 35

What does the subject of the sentence tell us

Answer 35

What the sentence is about.

it can take form of: a noun, pronoun, noun phrase or clause

Question 36

What does the verb of the sentence tell us

Answer 36

What the action of the sentence is.

Can take form of: a verb, verb phrase. and can either be a finite or infinite verb.

Question 37

What does the object of the sentence tell us

Answer 37

Usually comes after the verb and is usually the receiver of the action.
can be: a noun, pronoun, noun phrase or clause

Question 38

Which elements of a clause are essential

Answer 38

subject, verb, object - (with a transitive verb)

Question 39

Which elements of a clause are optional

Answer 39

adverbials

the subject can be omitted in passive voice

Question 40

Non-restrictive relative clauses

Answer 40

add information

“The postman, who lives next door, gets up early” (‘who lives next door’ provides more information about the postman)