Download Birds fly.

English for Academic Skills
Independence
[EASI]
Session 4
Grammar
Quiz
Quick question from Session 3
Turn to your neighbour and name the most
important unit of grammar …
By the end of this session you will be able to…
 identify simple, compound, complete and
incomplete sentences
 label process, participant and circumstance in a
clause
Simple sentence = 1 clause
Here is a clause with no punctuation and no context:
birds fly
If we punctuate it correctly, it can be interpreted as a
sentence:
Birds fly.
A sentence with just one clause is called a simple
sentence.
Remember the form of the clause
In statements the subject typically goes before the verb
Subject VERB
birds fly
Birds fly
.
 A clause will typically have these two parts: subject +
verb
 Most clauses in English typically have more than two
parts …
Grammar: Joining clauses
Clauses can be joined to make longer sentences:
Birds fly and dolphins swim.
This sentence contains two clauses
This type of sentence is called a compound sentence
Compound sentence
In this example: two clauses > one sentence
clause
Birds fly
clause
and
dolphins swim
.
Compound sentence
In order to make a compound sentence we need to join
two clauses. We do this with a coordinating conjunction.
Coordinating
conjunction
Birds fly
and
dolphins swim
.
The conjunction ‘and’ is the most widely used conjunction
in English.
How many other coordinating conjunctions do you know?
Coordinating conjunctions
There are seven coordinating conjunctions (or
coordinators) in English:
for
and
nor
but
or
yet
so
Remember the mnemonic: FANBOYS
Coordinating conjunctions
Note: In addition to joining clauses, the conjunction ‘and’
can also join two nouns …
Subject VERB
birds and bats fly
Compound sentence: 2 independent clauses
An important function of a coordinating conjunction is
to link two (or more) independent clauses
Independent
clause
Independent
clause
Birds fly and dolphins swim
.
Grammar: 2 sentence types
So far we have learned that sentences can be classified
as follows:
 Simple sentence = one independent clause
 Compound sentence = two (or more) independent
clauses (joined by coordinating conjunctions)
 A clause will typically have at least these two parts:
subject + verb
Activity 1
Decide if these sentences are simple [S] or compound [C]:
Remember, find the subject and the verb …
S/C
Facebook has become enormously popular.
Facebook is fun and it can also be helpful for study
purposes.
Students and lecturers appreciate the importance of
Facebook.
Learners and teachers need to critically evaluate their
practices.
Activity 1
Decide if these sentences are simple [S] or compound [C]:
Here, the subject is highlighted for each clause …
S/C
Facebook has become enormously popular.
Facebook is fun and it can also be helpful for study
purposes.
Students and lecturers appreciate the importance of
Facebook.
Learners and teachers need to critically evaluate their
practices.
Activity 1
Decide if these sentences are simple [S] or compound [C]:
S/C
S
Facebook has become enormously popular.
C
Facebook is fun and it can also be helpful for study
purposes.
S
Students and lecturers appreciate the importance of
Facebook.
S
Learners and teachers need to critically evaluate their
practices.
Grammar: two sentence types
Summary: Sentences can be classified as follows:
– Simple sentence = one clause
– Compound sentence = at least two clauses which are
joined by a coordinating conjunction
 Important rule: a sentence must have at least one
clause
 An incomplete sentence is called a fragment
Complete sentences
Each sentence must provide a complete thought.
Facebook has become enormously popular.
Incomplete sentence = a fragment
If you only provide part of the sentence this is known
as a fragment.
Facebook, enormously popular.
The reader is left with a number of questions: a popular
what? why?, so what?
Activity 2
Decide if it is a complete sentence [CS] or merely a fragment [F]:
CS/F
Facebook has become enormously popular.
Facebook, a fun activity and very helpful for study
purposes.
A consideration of the importance of Facebook and its
role in supporting students.
Learners and teachers through regular evaluation of
their practices.
Activity 2
A complete sentence must have a verb …
CS/F
CS
Facebook has become enormously popular.
F
Facebook, a fun activity and very helpful for study
purposes.
F
A consideration of the importance of Facebook and its
role in supporting students.
F
Learners and teachers through regular evaluation of
their practices.
Activity 2
If we want to make each fragment into a complete sentence
then we must add a verb …
CS/F
CS
Facebook has become enormously popular.
CS
Facebook is a fun activity and very helpful for study
purposes.
CS
This essay will consider the importance of Facebook
and its role in supporting students.
CS
Learners and teachers should regularly evaluate their
practices.
Functional elements in the clause
participant
process
• Who
• What
• doing, sensing,
thinking, saying,
being, having
The process is always at the heart of the clause …
The process = verb
participant
process
•Subject
•Verb
Grammatical elements of the clause: Subject +
verb
 A clause must have at least these two parts: subject +
verb
Subject VERB
birds fly
bats fly
 However, most clauses in English typically have more
than two parts …
Grammatical elements of the clause: Subject +
verb + object
•Subject
participant
•Object
process
•Verb
Grammatical elements of the clause: Subject +
verb + object
This clause has just a subject and a verb:
bats fly
But if we change the verb to ‘eat’ (a transitive verb), then
we need an object:
bats eat insects
Grammatical elements of the clause: Subject +
verb + object
Transitive verbs in English need an object
Subject
bats
VERB
Object
eat
insects
Sometimes we want to add information about the
circumstances - where or when or how …
Functional elements in the clause:
Circumstance
circumstance
participant
process
• Where
• When
• How etc
Prepositional phrase
In addition to the object we can add details of where and
when, etc; we can do this with a prepositional phrase:
bats eat insects at night
bats eat insects in caves
Using the clause to represent experience
Circumstance
Participants
bats
eat
Process
insects
at night
Functional elements in the clause:
Circumstance
circumstance
participant
process
• Prepositional phrase
• Adverbial group
• Noun group
3 ways to add details of circumstance
There are 3 ways to add details of where, when, how,
etc:
 with a prepositional phrase: bats eat insects at night
 with an adverbial group: dolphins swim playfully
 with a noun group: the ice melted last night
Position of the ‘circumstances’ element
Note that the typical structure of the clause is as follows:
participant
Bats
Dolphins
Ice
process
fly
swim
melts
circumstance
at night
playfully
slowly
The position of each element depends on your
emphasis or focus
.
.
.
Position of the ‘circumstances’ element
Note the different positions of the circumstance element:
circumstance
At night
Most of the time
Sometimes
participant
bats
dolphins
ice
process
fly
circumstance
from their caves.
swim playfully.
melts quite quickly.
Meanings of the ‘circumstances’ element
extent
location
cause
other
manner
How long?
How far?
How often?
Where?
When?
Why?
What for?
What else?
With
whom?
Who with?
Says who?
How?
What with?
What like?
Consider also, the meanings conveyed by the
‘participant’ element and the ‘process’ element
Summary: Meanings of the functional elements
Symbol
Element
Type of meaning
Pa
Participant
who or what
Pr
Process
doing/happening/thinking/sensing/
wanting/feeling/saying/behaving/
being/having
C
Circumstance
How long?/How far?/How
often?/Where?/When?/Why?/What
for?/What else?/With whom?/Who
with?/Says who?/How?/What with?/What
like?
Activity 3
Label this sentence with the element labels: C/Pa/Pr
At night the bats fly slowly from their caves.
At night the bats
fly slowly from their caves.
Activity 3
Label this sentence with the element labels: C/Pa/Pr
At night the bats fly slowly from their caves.
C
Pa
At night the bats
Pr
C
C
fly slowly from their caves.
To summarise
You will communicate more effectively if you
become sensitised to the following:




Complete sentences
Sentence fragments
Grammatical elements of the clause
Functional elements of the clause
Homework task
Familiarise yourself with the functional and
grammatical elements of the clause
Functional and grammatical elements of the
clause
circumstance
• Prepositional phrase
• Adverbial group
• Noun group
participant
• Noun group
process
• Verb group
Bonus homework activity
Getting started with Functional Grammar
Work your way through these five videos which were
prepared by Annabelle Lukin
http://www.annabellelukin.com/getting-started-with-functional-grammar.html
Activity 4
Label these sentences with the element labels: C/Pa/Pr
• One key benefit of using Facebook in teaching and
learning is its obvious capacity as a space for
students to socialise.
• Social integration also enhances the likelihood that
students will be engaged in their study programmes.
Activity 4
Label these sentences with the element labels: C/Pa/Pr
• One key benefit of using Facebook in teaching and
learning is its obvious capacity as a space for
students to socialise.
• Social integration also enhances the likelihood that
students will be engaged in their study programmes.
• Another advantage of Facebook for learning and
teaching is that it can increase student engagement.