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Dr. D. Douglas
Grammar Notes
Spring 2003
I. Major or Primitive categories of syntax (N, V, A, P)
A. Category of N (Noun)
Simply, N is the name of a person, place, or thing.
Another way to look at the N category is that it may be pluralized:
boy
boy-s
Noun types:
Concrete things in the physical world that we can see, touch, feel
boy, tree, book, desk, dog, man, shop, girls, children, oxen, geese, fish, sheep
Abstract
ideas or concepts in the mind; we can usually not see, touch, or feel them
beauty, intelligence, idea, war, speed, happiness, research, evidence, safety,
anger, love, respect, none
Common
nouns which refer to common things in the physical world
(a) boy, (a) tree, (this) desk, (my) teacher, (the) neighbour, (a)university, (the) union
Proper
nouns which refer to a specific thing in the physical world, by stating its designation (its name)
John, John’s boy, Mr. Tibbits, Valdosta State University, Student’s Union
Pro-Noun
nouns which refer to a noun in the physical world by using a pro-form (‘pro’ =for s.th. else)
I, you, she, he, we, you (pl.),it, they; my, your, her, his, our, your (pl), their, its;
mine, yours, hers, his, ours, yours (pl.), their, its
e.g., she is coming
it belongs to me
his book
it is mine
this is yours (pl.)
that is ours
your book came from him
it is their problem
I guess it is its
Note: which of the above pro-nouns are used as determiners??
Countable
nouns which may be counted, or pluralized
boy, tree, desk, teacher, child, shop, dog, neighbour, fox, machine, university,
temperature, stool, control, face, union
Uncountable nouns which express bulk quantities that are usually not counted
milk, water, gold, liquid, coal, sugar, ice, rice, luggage, news, coffee, chocolate
weight, sand, stone
but: note the different nouns weight (as in body weight) and weight-s
(as in hand weights); stone is a hard substance, she threw some stones in the pond
Gerund
a verb form which is functioning in a noun capacity. Gerund nouns take an -ing suffix:
skiing is great fun
do you like boxing?
racketeering is a crime
The test for a gerund noun is to see if you can place ‘the act of’ in front of it. If you can,
it is a gerund:
(the act of) skiing is great fun
do you like (the act of) boxing?
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B. Category of V (Verb)
A V denotes an action, state, or event
go, kick, run, take, make
be, become, seem, appear
happen, take place, occur
actions
states
events
Verbs in English have two TENSES:
PRESENT
Jack kicked Jill, (e) take it with you
he is a teacher, she seems ill
the convocation occurs at noon
and PAST:
walk-s
walk-ed
The FUTURE is an artificial tense in English:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
he visits the doctor tomorrow (event in the future)
he is visiting the doctor tomorrow (process in the future)
he is going to visit the doctor tomorrow (plan or intention or probability for the future)
he will visit the doctor tomorrow (prediction for the future)
he will be visiting the doctor tomorrow (prediction of a process in the future)
he is to visit the doctor tomorrow (formal arrangement for the future)
Note: the first element of the verb unit carries the tense. In all of the above,
the underlined elements are in present tense form. (the auxiliary will is
in present tense form; its past tense form is would. Auxiliaries have only
present or past forms).
Although present in form, all of the above examples express a time in the FUTURE.
Therefore, we say that English has an ‘artificial’ future. (cf. French parlera,
‘he speaks’, where the verb form inflects (changes) to indicate the future by
adding the suffix -ra).
Verbs in English have three ASPECTS:
SIMPLE, PROGRESSIVE,
and PERFECT:
ASPECT is how we view the action of the verb: whether it is general in meaning
(SIMPLE aspect); whether the action is something in-process; (CONTINUOUS or PROGRESSIVE
aspect) or whether the action occurred before another action in time (PERFECT aspect)
SIMPLE:
an action or state in the general sense
V + -s
he walks the dog every day
she walked the dog every day
PROGRESSIVE: an action or state in-process at a point in time
BE + V -ing
he is walking the dog now
she was walking the dog yesterday afternoon
PERFECT: an action or state which is ‘perfect’ or complete in relation to another point in time
HAVE + V -ed/-en
she has walked the dog (before the point of now)
he had walked the dog by the time we arrived (before the point of arrived)
I have taken the medicine (before the point of now)
they had taken the medicine by 9:00 a.m. (before the point of 9:00 a.m.)
Verbs in English have two VOICES:
- (to be completed) -
ACTIVE
and PASSIVE
Verbs in English have MODALITY: auxiliary words which indicate MOOD:
may/might
shall/should
will/would
can/could
must/had to
- (to be completed) -
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C. Category of A (Adjective or Adverb)
Adjectives (A) modify or provide information about a NOUN or PRONOUN.
They assign some quality to Ns:
short, fat boy tall, heavyset man
excellent violinist
hot-tempered lady
she felt sick
hers is not secure
they are assorted
Adjectives do not normally inflect (take suffixes) in English, except for the
comparative and superlative forms:
ABSOLUTE form of adjective
COMPARATIVE form of adjective
SUPERLATIVE form of adjective:
young
younger
youngest
young boy
younger boy
youngest boy
Adverbs (Advs) are modifiers of VERBS, other ADVERBS, and ADJECTIVES
run quickly
run very quickly
very stupid, really stupid, really very stupid, slightly stupid, rather quick;
quite quick, really rather terribly quick, actually
nb: Adverb is considered to be a subclass of Adjective becaue of the generic
similarity of: quick-quickly, angry-angrily, ponderous-ponderously, etc.
However, note that many adverbs in English are irregular, and so do not
take the -ly suffix: very, rather, quite, fast, well, most, now
very good
looks well
runs fast
most stupid
go now
look, quick
D. Category of P (Prepositions)
Prepositions are words that assign time, place, manner, cause, etc. to NOUNS:
TIME
LOCATION
DIRECTION/DESTINATION
SOURCE
MANNER
CAUSE
PURPOSE
INSTRUMENT
POSSESSION
in 3 hours, for 3 hours, at 3:00, by 3:00
in, on, at, over, under, behind, beneath
to Quitman, towards Atlanta, around Valdosta
from the library, a man of the South
in a hurry, with help, by your leave
due to illness, for reasons of…
for the meeting, with intent to kill
by hand/by train, with a hammer, in a bus
leg of the table, persons of integrity, five out of ten
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II. Minor or Functional categories of syntax (D, C, I)
These are small, minor categories that act as functors in clauses - they function as satellites
of the the major categories of N, V, A, P in order to refine and link these major categories.
A. Category of D (Determiners)
determines which, whose, how many Ns
Articles
a, an, the
Demonstratives this/that, these/those
Possessives
my, your, his/her, our, their, its, Mary's
Quantifiers
some/any, each/every, many/much, few/little, most, all, several, another, enough
Numerics
three, five, a hundred,
Interrogatives
what, which, whose, how many, whatever, whichever
Enumerators
one, five, twenty, one hundred, two thousand
Negators
no, neither
(no man, neither girl)
Emphatics
such..., what... (such nonsense, what style)
Restrictives
only, just
(only John, just she)
Titles
Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., King (King John), Prince (Prince William), Lady (Lady Jane)
B. Category of C (Conjunction)
linking conjunctions
subordinating conjunctions
negating conjunctions
C. Category of I (Inflection)
plurality inflection
tense inflection
progressive inflection
perfective inflection
passive inflection
infinitival inflection
possessive inflection
adjectival inflection
adverbial inflection
conjoins or links words or clauses
and, but, or
that, so that, which, for, because
neither, nor
inflects (changes form) of words in order to indicate:
boy-s
kick-s (PRES) kick-ed (PAST)
kick-ing
had tak-en
was tak-en
to go
John-s the cat-’s
assort-ed interest-ing
quick-ly
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EXERCISE: Category-Identification
D
N
V D A
N
Those earrings cost a hefty price
D
D D D
N
I-pl
Only/just/all those earring -s
V D
cost a
A
N
hefty price
Pro-N V D
A N
Those cost a hefty price
D A
This fat
N
boy
D
D Adv A N
I-pl
These few very fat boy -s
D D A I-adv A
Such a gross -ly
fat
D
A I-adv
My slight -ly
A
fat
N V I-tns
boy need -s
I-inf
to
V N
lose weight
N Aux V I-prog N
Adv
boy is
los -ing weight now
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