Syntax Flashcards
syntax
the study of a sentence structure
phrases
a collection of words that have a grammatical relationship with each other
noun phrase
contains a noun and other related words that help describe the noun.
–> THE DANCING GOAT looked silly
–> I ate a SHINY RED APPLE
verb phrase
comprises a main verb in a sentence plus any related words (auxiliaries, modifiers and complements)
–> She WAS TICKLING the cat
–> The song WAS LOUDLY PLAYED TO THE AUDIENCE
prepositional phrases
contains a preposition and the object of the preposition and any other modifiers
–> I will see you IN THE MORNING
–>AFTER SCHOOL i have soccer practice
adjectival and adverbial phrase
phrases headed by an adjective or adverb and add additional information to a sentence. They are often omittable
e.g. The old man walked briskly to work
-we could leave out ‘old’ and ‘briskly’
sentence structure
simple, compound, complex, compound-complex, sentence fragments
simple sentence
those that consist of a single clause
e.g. I bought three potato cakes.
contains one object, verb and subject
sentence fragments
typically used in informal or casual written texts, and act as a sentence even though they aren’t a complete main clause.
e.g. Potato cakes 3 for $1.
does not contain a verb
Compound sentences
contain at least two main clauses, joined together by a coordinate conjunction. All clauses have equal prominence and meaning within the sentence.
e.g. I bought three potato cakes AND Theo bought a burger with the lot.
complex sentence
contain a single main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. subordinate clauses add
extra meaning to the main clause.
e.g. I bought three potato cakes BECAUSE I was hungry.
compound complex sentence
at least three clauses in total, with at least two
main clauses and at least one subordinate clause.
e.g. I bought three potato cakes and Theo bought a burger with the lot because we were both
hungry.
effect of sentence structures
Sentence structures play an important role in constructing cohesive texts. Variation in
sentence structure allows for different elements of a text to gain prominence when they
may not have otherwise.
-a complex sentence may present the subordinate clause before the main clause in order to pre-empt any potential arguments to a decision made. -becasue she did this that happened
Sentence structures can also work to create a melody within a text, such as where length and
complexity increases with each sentence until reaching a crescendo, only to stop on a short,
sharp sentence or sentence fragment. This is common in poetic and persuasive texts alike.
ellipses
removing words or phrases from an utterance
-They often serve to reduce unnecessary repetition and increase the cohesion, and thus coherence, of a text.
e.g. i too the first slice of cake she took the second (slice of cake)
ellipses in informal texts
Casual and informal texts often contain ellipsis to efficiently reduce the amount of information provided, in particular when that information is already known.
-the most frequent instance of ellipsis occurs in the second pair part of an adjacency pair, in particular within question-answer adjacency pair sequences
-those with a close social relationship may converse with highly elided discourse in order to
communicate efficiently, as prior knowledge and understanding through inference often fills
in the information that has been deleted.
A: Did you go?
No prepositional phrase is needed to indicate where ‘go’ refers to.
B: Homework.
The answer is indirect; the implication is that B did not go, and the answer provides
the reason. .
nominalisation
when a noun is created from a word from any other word class, particularly verbs.
-Participation is encouraged.
“To participate’ (verb phrase) becomes ‘participation’ (n). This makes the action an
abstract concept and the topic of the sentence. (Note, too, the use of passive voice here.)
coordination
uses coordinating conjunctions to combine clauses
into sentences.
‘stand on its own’
subordinate conjunctions
act to provide variation in sentences within a whole text. This not only provides necessary or
appropriate information, but also helps to create rhythm and tempo in a text, keeping the
audience interested. It can change the emphasis of a sentence, in particular if the subordinate
clause is placed in front focus.
Because you were so naughty, you can’t watch television.
The reason for the punishment is given first, to highlight the naughty act being the
cause of the punishment.
sentence types
declarative, interrogative, imperative and
exclamative.
-This information may be statements of fact, direct requests or orders, questions to
be answered or expressions of strong emotions or feelings.
Declaratives
function to provide information, observations or statements.
* It is raining outside.
* I like pies and cakes.
* Corrugated iron is groovy.
Imperatives
imperative sentence types give a direct order or instruction and omit the subject
- Go away, Henry.
- Pick up this mess, please.
- Tick all relevant boxes when completing.
Interrogatives
used when framing questions. They are designed to elicit responses and always end with a question mark.
* Would you like tea or coffee?
interrogative tags
turns an imperative or declarative into an interrogative by inverting the verb of the main clause to its negative form and attaching it to the end of the interrogative.
-Rhetorical interrogatives add persuasive force to statements, prompting agreement from the audience.
* You will go out tonight, won’t you?
* The homework is due today, isn’t it?
* She’s not very nice, is she?
Exclamative
indicate high levels of feeling or emotion and emphasise what is being said.
- What a catch!
complement
phrase or clause that provides extra information about an element, such as
a subject or object, which has already been mentioned within a sentence or clause.
Active and passive voice
who or what caused the change of state the verb is the agent of a clause or sentence and what has been changed or affected by that agent is called the patient.
active voice
have the agent as the subject
-Zack saw the ladie bug
passive voice
the patient is the subject.
-The ladybug was seen by Zack
Syntactic patterning
Parallelism
listing
antithesis
listing
Listing acts to increase the coherence of a text so that it is more clearly understood. As a cohesive
device , listing reduces unnecessary repetition.
-Listing in speech creates rhythmic utterances, enhancing memorability and serving as a persuasive device.
- I like pie, cake, cats, sports and reading, but not necessarily all at one time.
parallelism
Parallelism occurs when structurally similar phrases, clauses, or sentences appear closely together.
- Coach: We want to win by: being fair, playing hard and supporting our teammates.
The gerund phrases are in parallel.
lexical repetition
where the first portion of the structure also contains repeated lexis.
-I hate sport. Everything about it. I hate running; I hate jumping; I hate sweating; and I hate
competitions.
antithesis
application of parallelism where the elements in parallel are in direct
contrast with each other; often, they are antonyms.
-There’s a LONG version and a SHORT version; which one do you want?
