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Syntax
Syntax is the form of arrangement of words in phrases and sentences. Syntax is
the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in languages.
Syntax is also used to refer directly to the rules and principles that govern the
sentence structure of any individual language. While morphology looks at how
the smallest linguistic unit (called morphemes) is formed into complete words,
syntax looks at how those words are formed into complete sentences.
Morphology is the grammar of words and Syntax is the grammar of sentences.
Noun and Verb Phrases
Noun Phrases
A Noun Phrase consists of a noun and all the words and word groups that belong
with the noun and cluster around it. The noun itself is called the headword or
head, and the other words and word groups are modifiers of the noun.
Ex:- The yellow tulips
The yellow tulips
The yellow tulips in the garden which were blooming
In these sentences tulips is the head.
Some syntactic categories of nouns are:
1. Count and Mass Nouns
2. Proper Nouns
The Count –Noun class includes everything that is readily countable. Count
nouns have both singular and plural forms. In the singular they must always
proceeded by a determiner.
Ex:- A car, The car.
In the plural they may occur either with or without a determiner.
Ex:- Those cars are dangerous on slippery roads.
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Cars are dangerous on slippery roads.
The mass nouns include everything that is not readily countable.
Ex:- music, advice
Mass nouns have no plural.
Proper Nouns
The Proper Noun class consists of the names of particular persons, places and
things.
Ex:- Charlotte Brook, Mount Washington.
Verb Phrases
A verb phrase consists of a verb and all the words and word groups that
belong with the verb and cluster around it. The verb itself is called the head .
Ex:- soon arrived
Soon arrived at the station
In these sentences arrived is the head.
Some syntactic categories of verbs are:
1. Transitive verbs
2. Intransitive verbs
3. Linking verbs
Transitive verbs:
Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action.
Ex:- I moved the chair.
Jack bought the car.

Transitive verbs are action verbs that require a direct object. The verb's
action is transferred directly to the object, which can be a noun, pronoun,
phrase, or clause.

Find the direct object by asking Subject + Verb + What/Whom?
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Transitive verbs 
need an object after them.

can take direct or indirect objects.
Intransitive verbs
Intransitive verbs are action verbs but unlike transitive verbs, the do not have an
object receiving the action.
Ex:- The book fell.
Intransitive verbs 
do not need an object.

can be followed by a complement, usually an adjective or adverb.
Ex:- The food smells good. Subject + Verb + Complement
Many verbs can be either transitive or intransitive, depending on context.
1. After we eat at my house, we can go outside. (intransitive)
After we eat our sandwiches, we can go outside. (transitive)
2. The truck runs on diesel gasoline. (intransitive)
My uncle runs a restaurant. (transitive)
3. I'm reading. (intransitive)
I'm reading an article in TIME magazine about sharks. (transitive)
Linking verbs:
Linking verbs includes verbs such as be, become, seem and look. Verbs
that introduce such structures are called Linking verbs.
Ex:-Emily is a doctor.
Maha looked angry.
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Basic Sentence Patterns
Meaning in an English sentence is conveyed not only by the words, but also by
the arrangement, or pattern, of the words.
The basic sentence patterns in English are:
Pattern 1: SV (Subject + Verb)
In this pattern the grammatical meaning of the subject is "that which performs
the action". The verb in this pattern is intransitive.
Ex:- The audience clapped.
Birds fly.
Pattern 2: SVC ( Subject+ Verb+ Subjective complement)
In this pattern, the grammatical meaning of the subject is "that which is described
or which may be identified as ". SVC pattern means that it consists of a subject,
verb and complement.
The term complement is broadly used for referring to an element that is
necessary to complete a phrase.
Ex:-The program became elaborate.
This pattern has two main sub patterns.
Sub pattern 2A: NP+ Linking Verb+ Adjective
 In this sub pattern 2A, the third term must be an adjective or adjectival.
 The verb in this sub pattern must be a linking word. In addition to 'be' verb
form, there is a set of linking verbs They are : seem, appear, become, grow, remain, taste, look, feel, smell,
sound, get, continue, or go.
Ex:- The manager seems upset.
You can expand this sub pattern when it involves the linking verb 'be'
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Ex:- The box is large.
The large box is very large.
Sub pattern 2B:- NP1+ Linking Verb + NP1
Ex:- My friend is a Doctor.
 The superscript after the second NP indicates that this noun phrase has the
same referent as the first noun phrase, that is, in the example, both my
friend and a doctor refers to the same person.
 The linking verb in this pattern mean “be identified" or “classified as”
 The first NP(subject) has the grammatical meaning of "that which is
identified.
 The second NP means grammatically "that which identifies the subject".
 The linking verbs are be, remain, become, appear, seem, continue, stay, and
make.
Pattern3:- SVA (Subject+ Verb+ Adverbial)
 This pattern consists of a subject followed by a form of be and an adverb or
adverbial.
Ex:- The girl is here
The game was yesterday
 The verb be in this pattern usually has the meaning of be located or occur.
 The adverbials include here, there, up, down, in out, outside, inside,
upstairs, downstairs, off, on, now, then, tomorrow etc.
Pattern 4:- SVO ( Subject+ Verb+ Direct Object)
The girl bought a dress.
The salesman sold the car.
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In this pattern, the verb is transitive and completed by a noun phrase. This noun
phrase is called the direct object of the verb and the grammatical meaning is
"undergoer of the action" or "that affected by the verb".
Pattern 5 :-SVOO (Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object)
Ex:- The mother bought the girl a dress.
He sold the student a ticket.
 The verb in this pattern is transitive.
 There are two grammatical objects after the verb. These two objects are
called the indirect and direct object.
 The verb that can be used in this pattern are restricted group- some of
them are give, make, find, tell, buy, write, send, ask, play, build, teach,
assign, offer etc.
 The grammatical meaning of the individual object is " the beneficiary of the
action of the verb+ direct object".
Pattern 6 :-SVOC (Subject + Verb +Direct Object + Objective
Complement)
In this pattern the complement describes or completes the direct object rather
than the subject of the sentence.
The verb is transitive verb.
Ex:- The voters elected him President.
We considered his offer a fine gesture.
Pattern 7:- SVOA (Subject + Verb + Object + Adverbial)
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This pattern contains the adverbial element. The verb in this pattern is transitive
verb.
Ex:- Mr.Jenson set the cup on the table.
Her brother laid the camera on the park bench
Parts of speech
Positional classes:
Positional classes are based on the positions occupied by the form classes. The
members of these classes are both words and word groups. The positional classes
are four in number, namely nominals, verbals, adjectivals, and adverbials.
Nominal
Any word ,whatever its form class (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) will be tabbed
as nominal if it occupies one of the six positions listed below.
1. Subj
Subject of the verb
2. SC
Subjective Complement
3. DO
Direct object of the verb
4. IO
Indirect object of the verb
5. OC
Objective Complement
6. OP
Object of Preposition
Ex;- They heard what we said. (DO)
Any word, regardless of its form-class, is labeled a nominal if it occupies any one
of the seven noun positions mentioned above.
Verbals
Verbals are those forms that occupy verb positions. The verb by form is a verbal
by position. This position comes after the initial noun slot.
Ex:- They have been roaming near the bank.
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The thief must have been shot from the back.
The football team will play tomorrow.
In the sentences above, the words play, roaming, and shot are verbs by form
(stem, present participle, and past participle, respectively), and verbals by
position.
There are three nonfinite verb forms: (not inflected for person, number, or tense)
a. The Present Participle
Ex:-Nodding his head
b. The Past Participle
Ex:-Having defeated the enemy
c. The Infinitive to plus a Verb Stem
Ex:- To stop this habit
Adjectivals
Like nominals and verbals, adjectivals occupy certain sentence positions.
1. Between the Determiner and the Noun
Ex:- the beautiful rose
2. The Third Slot in Pattern 2
Ex:- These girls are young.
3. The Position after the Noun. This position accepts adjectives, adverbs, verbs
(in the participle forms), and word groups.
Ex:- The player, old and weary, could not finish the match.
4. A Position Occurring in Written English. It is the slot at the beginning of a
sentence before the subject.
Ex:- Angry and upset, the child left the playground
5."Something" Adjectival. This adjectival position is the one that follows words
composed of any-, every-, no-, or some- plus -body, -one, -place, or –thing.
Ex:- Nothing fresh was on the table.
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Adverbials
English has three adverbial classes of time, place, and manner. Adverbials of time,
in turn, are divided into three subclasses. These are:
1. Adverbials of time, which answer the question "when?" These include:
yesterday, last week, at three o'clock, tomorrow, early, late, soon, then, and now.
2. Adverbials of frequency, which answer the question "how often?" These
include: always, never, seldom, rarely, frequently, often, sometimes, and generally.
3. Adverbials of duration, which answer the question "how long?" These include:
hours, for hours, a week, the whole night, until dawn, and since yesterday.
There are five common adverbial positions in English.
1. Before the Pattern, with or without Juncture
Ex:-Really, you should study better.
2. After the Subject and before the Auxiliary or Verb
Ex:-She often would forget her keys. (before aux.)
He actually plans to marry her. (before v.)
3. After the Auxiliary or the First Auxiliary
Ex:-Eman would seldom watch television.
4. After the Verb in Pattern 1 and after be in Patterns 2, and 3
Ex:-My son is always a gentleman. (Pattern 3)
5. After the Complement of the Verb
Ex:-Salim will be goalkeeper tomorrow. (after SC)
There are many non-suffixing words that are often used in adverbial positions.
They include:
1. Non-suffixing Words Used as Adverbials and Prepositions
Ex:- above, about, after, around, before, behind, below, down, in, inside, on,
out, outside, since, under, and up.
2. "-ward" Words, with an Optional –s
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Ex:- afterward, backward, downward, forward, inward, outward, and
upward.
3."Here" Words
Ex:- here, herein, hereby, heretofore, and hereafter.
4. "There" Words
Ex:- there, therein, thereby, therefore, and thereafter.
5. "-where" Words
Ex:- anywhere, everywhere, somewhere, and nowhere.
6. "-way(s) Words
Ex:- crossways, sideways, and anyway.
7. "-time(s) Words
Ex:- meantime, sometime, sometimes, and anytime.
8. Miscellaneous
These include a rather long list, e.g. today, tonight, tomorrow, yesterday (which
has a noun homophone), now, then, seldom, still, yet, already, meanwhile, also,
too, never, forth, thus, sidelong, headlong, maybe, perhaps, instead, indeed,
henceforth, piecemeal, nevertheless, downstairs, indoors, outdoors, offhand,
overseas, unawares, besides, furthermore, and always.
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