- English grammar
- The simple sentence
- Statements, questions, imperatives and exclamations
- Questions and answers
- Leaving out and replacing words
- Information and emphasis
- Spoken English and written English
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Agreement
- The articles: a/an and the
- Possessives and demonstratives
- Quantifiers
- Pronouns
- Numbers and measurements
- Sentences with more than one clause
- And, or, but, so etc
- Adverbial clauses
- Conditional clauses
- Noun clauses
- Direct and indirect speech
- Relative clauses
Word, phase, clause and sentence.
verb, noun, adjectives, adverb, preposition, determiner, pronoun and conjunction.
Verb phrase, noun phrase, adjective phrase adverb phrase and prepositional phrase.
Subject, verb, object, complement and adverbial.
English words do nor have a lot of different endings for number and gender. Word order is very important in English. The verb phrase can have a complex structure. There are many idioms with prepositions.
A FLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of British Island Airways, Captain Massey and his crew welcome you on board the Start Herald Flight to Southampton. Our flight time will be approximately forty-five minutes, and we shall be climbing to an altitude of eight thousand feet and cruising at a speed of two hundred and fifty miles per hour.'
The grammatical units of English are words, phrases, clauses and sentences.
The words in the announcement are good, evening, ladies, and, gentlemen, on etc.
For word-building, e.g. air + ways= airways, • 282.
We use phrases to build a clause. Here is an example.
| Subject | Verb | Complement |
|---|---|---|
| (noun phrase) | (verb phrase) | (noun phrase) |
| Our flight time | will be | approximately forty-five minutes. |
- Here the noun phrase our flight time is the subject of the clause.
- A clause has a subject and a verb.
- There can be other phrases, too.
In this next example we use a prepositional phrase as an adverbial.
| Adverbial | Subject | Verb | Object | Object |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (prepositional phrase) | (noun phrase) | (verb phrase) | (noun phrase) | (noun phrase) |
| On behalf of the airline | we | wish | you | a pleasant flight. |
For more about the different kinds of phrases, • 4. For subject, object, complement and adverbial, • 5. For finite and non-finite clauses, • 239 (3).
A sentence can be a single clause.
On behalf of British Island Airways, Captain Massey and his crew welcome you on board the Start Herald flight to Southampton.
A written sentence begins with a capital letter (On) and ends with a mark such as a full stop.
We can also combine two or more clauses in one sentence. For example, we can use and to link the clauses.
Our flight time will be approximately forty-five minutes, and we shall be climbing to an altitude of eight thousand feet and cruising at a speed of two hundred and fifty miles an hour.
- There are different classes of word, sometimes called 'parts of speech'. The word come is a verb, letter is a noun and great is an adjective.
Some words belong to more than one word class. For example, test can be a noun or a verb. He passed the test (noun). He had to test the machine. (verb)
- There are eight main word classes in English.
- Verb: climb, eat, welcome, be
- Noun: aircraft, country, lady, hour
- Adjective: good, British, cold, quick
- Adverb: quickly, always, approximately
- Preposition: to, of, at, on
- Determiner: the, his, some, forty-five
- Pronoun: we, you, them, myself
- Conjunction: and, but, so
NOTE There is also a small class of words called 'interjections'. They include oh, ah and mhm.
-
Verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs are 'vocabulary words'. Learning vocabulary means learning verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs. Prepositions, determiners, pronouns and conjunctions belong to much smaller classes. These words are sometimes called 'grammatical words'.
-
Most word classes can be divided into sub-classes. For example:
| Word Classes | |
|---|---|
| Verb | Ordinary verb: go, like, think, apply; Auxiliary verb: is, had, can, must. |
| Adverb | Adverb of manner:suddenly, quickly. Adverb of frequency: always, often. Adverb of place: there, nearby. Linking adverb: too, also. |
| Determiner | Linking adverb: too, also. Possessive: my, his. Demonstrative: this, that. Quantifier: all, three. |
There are five kinds of phrase.
- Verb phrase: come, had thought, was left, will be climbing
A verb phrase has an ordinary verb (come, thought, left, climbing) and may also have an auxiliary (had, was, will).
- Noun phrase: a goodflight, his crew, we
A noun phrase has a noun (flight), which usually has a determiner (a) and/or adjective (good) in front of it. A noun phrase can also be a pronoun (we).
- Adjective phrase: pleasant, very late
An adjective phrase has an adjective, sometimes with an adverb of degree (very).
- Adverb phrase: quickly, almost certainly
An adverb phrase has an adverb, sometimes with an adverb of degree (almost).
- Prepositional phrase: after lunch, on the aircraft
A prepositional phrase is a preposition + noun phrase.
- Each phrase plays a part in the clause or sentence. Here are some examples:
| Subject | Verb | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|
| The flight | is leaving | shortly |
| Subject | Verb | Complement |
|---|---|---|
| The weather | is | very good |
| My father | was | a pilot |
| Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|
| I | was reading | a newspaper |
| Two stewards | served | lunch |
| Subject | verb | object | adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| The aircraft | left | London | at three o'clock |
| We | must book | the tickets | next week. |
- These are the elements of an English sentence and the kinds of phrase that we can use for each element.
| Subject | Noun phrase: the flight, two stewards |
| Verb | Verb phrase: is, served, must book |
| Object | Noun phrase: a newspaper, lunch. |
| Complement | Adjective phrase: very good. Noun phrase: a pilot |
| Adverbial | Adverb phrase: shortly Prepositional phrase: at three o'clock Noun phrase: next week. |
a: The verb is central to the sentence and we use the word 'verb' for both senetence element - The verb follows the subject' - and for the word class -
leave is a verbe. b: The word there can be the subject * 50. There was a letter for you.
- Endings
Unlike words in some other languages, English words do not have a lot of different endings. Nouns take s in the plural (miles), but they do not have endings to show whether they are subject or object.
Verbs take a few endings such as ed for the past (started), but they do not take endings for person, except in the third person singular of the present tense (it starts).
Articles (e.g. the), Possessives (e.g. my) and adjectives (e.g. good) do not have endings for number or gender. Pronouns (e.g. lime) have fewer forms than in many languages.
- Word order
Word order is very important in English. As nouns do not have endings for subject or object, it is the word order that shows which is which.
| Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The woman | loved | the man | (she loved him) |
| The man | loved | the woman | (he loved her) |
The subject-verb order is fixed, and we can change it only if there is a special reason.
- Verb phrases
A verb phrase can have a complex structure. There can be auxiliary verbs as well as the ordinary verb.
I climbed up the ladder I was climbing the mountain We shall be climbing to an altitude of eight thousand feet.
The use of tense and auxiliary verbs can be difficult for speakers of other languages.
- Prepositions
The use of prepositions in English can be a problem.
We flew here on Friday. We left at two o'clock.
Both prepositions and adverbs combine with verbs in an idiomatic way.
There were waiting for the flight. The plane took off.
There are many expressions involving prepositions that you need to learn as items of vocabulary.
This story contains examples of different clause patterns.
AN UNLUCKY THIEF A man walked into a hotel, saw a nice coat, put it over his arm and walked out again. Then he tried to hitch a lift out of town. While he was waiting, he put the coat on. At last a coach stopped and gave him a lift. It was carrying forty detectives on their way home from a conference on crime. One of them had recently become a detective inspector. He recognized the coat. It was his. He had left it in the hotel, and it had gone missing. The thief gave the inspector his coat. The inspector arrested him. 'It seemed a good idea at the time,' the man said. He thought himself rather unlucky.
There are five elements that can be part of a clause. They are subject, verb, object, complement and adverbial.
Basic clause patterns
Intransitive and transitive verbs • 8
| Subject | Intransitive Verb |
|---|---|
| A couch | stopped |
| Subject | Intransitive Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|
| The detective | arrested | the thief |
Linking verbs • 9
| Subject | Verb | Complement |
|---|---|---|
| The thief | was | rather unlucky |
| The detective | became | an inspector |
| Subject | Verb | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|
| The coat | was | over his arm |
| The conference | is | every year. |
Give, send etc • 10
| Subject | Verb | Object | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| The thief | gave | the inspector | his coat |
Call, put etc •11
| Subject | Verb | Object | Complement |
|---|---|---|---|
| They | called | the inspector | sir. |
| The thief | thought | himself | rather unlucky |
| Subject | Verb | Object | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| He | put | the coat | over his arm. |
ll these seven clause patterns contain a subject and verb in that order. The elements that come after the verb depend on the type of verb: for example, whether it is transitive or not. Some verbs belong to more than one type. For example, think can come in these three patterns.
Intransitive (without an object): I'm thinking. Transitive (with an object): Yes, I thought the same. With object and complement: People will think me stupid.
Extra adverbials • 12
We can always add an extra adverbial to a clause. A man walked into a hotel. One day a man walked casually into a hotel.
And and or • 13
We can join two phrases with and or or. The inspector and the thief got out of the coach.
Phrases in apposition • 14 We can put one noun phrase after another. Our neighbour Mr Bradshaw is a policeman.
- An intransitive verb cannot take an object, although there can be a prepositional phrase after it.
The man was waiting at the side of the road. Something unfortunate happened. The man runs along the beach every morning.
A verb can be intransitive in one meaning and transitive in another. For example, run is transitive when it means 'manage.
He runs his own business.
- A transitive verb takes an object.
The man stole a coat. Everyone enjoyed the conference. The driver saw the hitch-hiker at the side of the road. The man had no money.
Transitive verbs can express not only actions (stole) but also feelings (enjoyed), perception (saw) and possession (had).
After some transitive verbs we can leave out the object when it would add little or nothing to the meaning.
The man opposite was reading (a book). We're going to eat (a meal). A woman was driving (the coach).
We can also leave out the object after these verbs:
ask/answer (a question), draw/paint (a picture), enter/leave (a room/building), pass/fail (a test/exam), play/win/lose (a game), practise (a skill), sing (a song), speak (a few words), study (a subject).
The following verbs can also be without an object if the context is clear: begin, choose, decide, hear, help, know, notice, see, start.
NOTE There must be an object after discuss and deny. The committee discussed the problem. He denied the accusation.
- Many verbs can be either transitive or intransitive.
Transitive
The driver stopped the coach. He opened the door. I broke a cup. Someone rang the bell.
Intransitive
The coach stopped. The door opened. The cup broke. The bell rang.
The two sentences can describe the same event. The transitive sentence has as its subject the agent, the person who made the event happen (the driver). The intransitive sentence describes the event but does not mention the agent.
Here are some common verbs that can be transitive or intransitive:
| alter | develop | increase | shine | tear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| begin | divide | join | shut | turn |
| bend | drive | melt | slide | weaken |
| boil | dry | mix | smash | unite |
| break | end | move | soften | |
| burn | finish | open | sound | |
| change | fly | pour | spread | |
| close | freeze | ring | stand | |
| cook | hang | roll | start | |
| combine | harden | sail | stop | |
| continue | hurt | separate | strengthen | |
| crash | improve | shake | swing |
NOTE Raise is transitive, and rise is intransitive. The oil companies will raise their prices. The price of oil will rise. For lay and lie, •11(2) Note b.
- Linking verb + complement
A complement is an adjective phrase or a noun phrase. A complement relates to the subject: it describes the subject or identifies it (says who or what it is). Between the subject and complement is a linking verb, e.g. be.
The hotel was quiet. The thief seemed depressed. The book has become a best-seller. It's getting dark. A week in the Lake District would make a nice break.
These are the most common verbs in this pattern.
- adjective or noun phrase: appear, be, become, look, prove, remain, seem, sound, stay
- adjective: feel, get, go, grow, smell, taste, turn
- noun phrase: make
There are also some idiomatic expressions which are a linking verb + complement, e.g. burn low, come good, come true, fall asleep, fall ill, fall silent, ring true, run dry, run wild, wear thin.
We can use some linking verbs in other patterns.
Linking: Your garden looks nice. Intransitive: We looked at the exhibition.
NOTE a After seem, appear, look and sound, we use to be when the complement is a noun phrase identifying the subject.
The woman seemed to be Lord Melbury's secretary. NOT The woman seemed Lord Melbury's secretary. But we can leave out to be when the noun phrase gives other kinds of information. The woman seemed (to be) a real expert. (For American usage, • 303(1).) b There is a special pattern where a complement occurs with an action verb, not a linking verb. We arrived exhaustedi. **He walked away a free man. I came home really tired one evening. We use this pattern in a very small number of contexts. We can express the same meaning in two clauses: We were exhausted when we arrived.
- We use this pattern in a very small number of contexts. We can express the same meaning in two clauses: We were exhausted when we arrived.
An adverbial can be an adverb phrase, prepositional phrase or noun phrase. An adverbial after a linking verb relates to the subject. It often expresses place or time, but it can have other meanings.
The coat ** was here**. The conference is every year. The drawings lay on the table. I'm on a diet. Joan Collins lives in style. The parcel went by air.
Verbs like give and send can have two objects, or they can have an object and an adverbial. There are some examples in this conversation, which takes place in a department store.
CLAIMING BACK TAX
Customer: I've bought these sweaters, and I'm taking them home to Brazil. I understand I can claim back the tax I pay. Clerk: That's right.Have you filled in a form? Customer: Yes, and I've got the receipts here. Clerk: Right.Now,when you go through British Customs, you give the customs officer the form with the receipts. Customer: I give the form to the Customs when I leave Britain? Clerk: That's right. They'll give you one copy back and keep one themselves. Customer: Uh-huh. Clerk: Now I'll give you this envelope. You send the copy back to us in the envelope. Customer: I post it to you. Clerk: That's right. Customer: And how do I get the money? Clerk: Oh, we send you a cheque. We'll send it off to you straight away.
- Two objects
When the verb has two objects, the first is the indirect object and the second is the direct object.
| Indirect object | Direct object | |
|---|---|---|
| You give | the customs officer | the form |
| We send | you | a cheque. |
| The man bought | the woman | a diamond ring. |
| I can reserve | you | a seat. |
Here the indirect object refers to the person receiving something, and the direct object refers to the thing that is given.
- Object + adverbial
Instead of an indirect object, we can use a prepositional phrase with to or for.
| Indirect object | Prepositional phrase | |
|---|---|---|
| You give | the form | to the Customs. |
| We send | the copy | to us. |
| The man bought | a diamond ring | for the woman. |
| I can reserve | a seat | for you. |
- Which pattern?
In a clause with give, send etc, there is a choice of pattern between give the customs officer theform and give theform to the customs officer. The choice depends on what information is new. The new information goes at the end of the clause. I'll give you this envelope.
In the conversation Claiming back tax, this envelope is the point of interest, the new information, so it comes at the end.
Compare the patterns in these sentences.
He left his children five million pounds. (The amount of money is the point of interest.)
He left all his money to a dog's home. (Who receives the money is the point of interest.)
Note: a The adverbial or indirect object is often necessary to complete the meaning. He handed the receipt to the customer. But sometimes it is not necessary to mention the person receiving something. You'll have to show your ticket on the train. (It is obvious that you show it to the ticket inspector.) I'm writing a letter. (You don't want to say who you are writing to.) b Most verbs of speech cannot take an indirect object, but we can use a phrase with to. The man said nothing (to the police). But tell almost always has an indirect object. • 266 The man told the police nothing.
- Pronouns after give, send etc
When there is a pronoun, it usually comes before a phrase with a noun.
We send you a cheque. He had lots of money, but he left it to a dogs' home.
When there are two pronouns after the verb, we normally use to or for.
We'll send it off to you straight away. I've got a ticket for Wimbledon. Norman bought it for me.
- To or for ?
Some verbs go with to and some with for.
He handed the receipt to the customer. Tom got drinks for everyone.
With to: award, bring, feed, give, grant, hand, leave (in a will), lend, offer, owe, pass, pay, post, promise, read, sell, send, show, take, teach, tell, throw, write.
With for: bring, buy, cook, fetch, find, get, keep, leave, make, order, pick, reserve, save, spare.
Note: a Bring goes with either to or for. b For meaning 'to help someone' can go with very many verbs.
I'm writing a letter for my sister. (She can't write.)
- Verb + object + complement
Compare these two kinds of complement.
| Subject | Subject Complement | Subject | Object | Object Complement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The driver was | tired | The journey made | the driver | tired |
| He become | president | They electec | him | president |
The subject complement relates to the subject of the clause; • 9. The object complement relates to the object of the clause. In both patterns tired relates to the driver, and president relates to he/him.
Here are some more sentences with an object complement.
The thief thought himself rather unlucky. They called the dog Sasha. The court found him guilty of robbery. We painted the walls bright yellow. Here are some more sentences with an object complement.
The thief thought himself rather unlucky. They called the dog Sasha. The subject complement relates to the subject of the clause; • 9. The object complement relates to the object of the clause. In both patterns tired relates to the driver, and president relates to he/him. I prefer my soup hot.t
Here are some verbs in this pattern.
With adjective or noun phrase: believe, call, consider, declare, find, keep, leave, like, make, paint, prefer, prove, think, want.
With adjective: drive, get, hold, pull, push, send, turn With adjective or noun phrase: appoint, elect, name, vote
- Verb + object + adverbial
The adverbial in this pattern typically expresses place.
The man put the coat over his arm. We keep the car in the garage. He got the screw into the hole. The path led us through trees.
NOTE a Leave can come in this pattern, but forget cannot. I left my umbrella at home. But NOT I forgot my umbrella at home. b Lay (past: laid) comes in the same pattern as put. The woman laid a blanket on the ground. Lie (past: lay) is a linking verb which takes an adverbial. • 9(2) The woman lay in the sunshine.
- Look at these clause patterns.
| Subject | Verb | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|
| The conference | is | every year |
| Subject | Verb | object | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| He | put | the coat | over his arm |
These adverbials cannot be left out. They are necessary to complete the sentence.
- We can add extra adverbials to any of the clause patterns.
At last a coach stopped. The coach was carrying detectives on their way home from a conference on crime. He had recently become a detective inspector. The conference is every year, presumably. At once the thief gave the inspector his coat. He probably considered himself rather unlucky. He casually put the coat over his arm.
These extra adverbials can be left out. They are not necessary to complete the sentence.
For details about the position of adverbials, • 208. An extra adverbial does not affect the word order in the rest of the sentence, and the subject-verb order stays the same.
At last a coach stopped.
Note Another extra element is the name or description of the person spoken to. As well as in statements, it can come in questions and imperatives. You're in trouble, my friend. Sarah, what are you doing? Come on everybody, let's go!
- We can link two or more phrases with and or or. Here are some examples with noun phrases.
The man and the woman were waiting. The man, the woman and the child were waiting. Wednesday or Thursday would be all right. Wednesday, Thursday or Friday would be all right.
And or or usually comes only once, before the last item.
- We can use and and or with other kinds of words and phrases.
It was a cold and windy day. (adjective) He waited fifteen or twenty minutes. (number) The work went smoothly, quietly and very efficiently. (adverb phrase)
Note a We can use two adjectives together without a linking word, e.g. a cold, windy day. • 202 b We can use two complements or two adverbials with and or or even if they are different kinds of phrase, such as an adjective and noun phrase. The book has become famous and a best-seller. We can meet here or in town. The hotel was quiet and well back from the road.
- Compare these two sentences.
He stole a hat and a coat. He stole a hat and coat.
In the first sentence and links two noun phrases (a hat, a coat); in the second it links two nouns (hat, coat). The second sentence suggests that there is a link between the two items, that they belong together. He stole a hat and a typewriter. (not linked) He stole a cup and saucer. (belonging together)
Note a And, or (and but) can link verb phrases and also whole clauses. • 243 b For or in questions, • 31.
Two noun phrases are in apposition when one comes after the other and both refer to the same thing.
Everyone visits the White House, the home of the President. Joseph Conrad, the famous English novelist, couldn't speak English until he was 47.
When the second phrase adds extra information, we use a comma.
When the second phrase identifies the first one, we do not use a comma.
The novelist Joseph Conrad couldn't speak English until he was 47. Pretty 25-year-old secretary Linda Pilkington has shocked her friends and neighbours. The sentence about Linda is typical of newspaper style.
We can also use apposition to add emphasis. This happens in speech, too. The man is a fool, a complete idiot.
Other kinds of phrases can be in apposition.
The place is miles away, much toofar to walk. The experts say the painting is quite valuable, worth a lot ofmoney.