- •§ 2. From the point of view of their structure, sentences can be:
- •The simple sentence
- •Elliptical (incomplete) sentences
- •The Structural Types of Sentence
- •Communicative types of sentences
- •Declarative sentences
- •Interrogative sentences
- •§ 14. Pronominal questions are often used as short responses. They usually consist of (a) a question word or (b) a question word followed by a preposition.
- •Imperative sentences
- •§ 19 In the case of first person plural and third person singular and plural subjects, the imperative let is followed by a personal pronoun in the objective case.
- •§ 20. The imperative of some verbs may acquire interjectional force. Thus the forms listen, look (here), see (here) (Am.) - are used to attract attention.
- •Verbless Commands
- •§ 21. Commands are sometimes expressed without an imperative verb as in:
- •Exclamatory sentences
- •§ 22. The main distinctive feature of this communicative type of sentence is a specific intonation; structurally it is variable.
- •§ 23. There are utterances which do not constitute sentences (non-sentence utterances). They are:
- •The subject
- •§ 41. The subject is expressed by:
- •§ 42. From the point of view of its grammatical value the subject may be either notional or formal.
- •§ 43. The notional subject denotes or points out a person or non-person, that is, various kinds of concrete things, substances, abstract notions or happening.
- •§ 44. The formal subject expressed by it is found in two patterns of sentences: those with impersonal it and those with introductory it.
- •Grammatical types of subject
- •The predicate
- •§ 46. The predicate is the second main part of the sentence and its organizing centre, as the object and nearly all adverbial modifiers are connected with, and dependent on, it.
- •Structural classification of the predicate
- •The simple predicate The simple verbal predicate
- •§ 48. The simple verbal predicate is expressed by:
- •The simple nominal predicate
- •The compound predicate
- •§ 50. The compound predicate consists of two parts: the notional and the structural. The structural part comes first and is followed by the notional part.
- •The compound verbal predicate
- •The compound nominal predicate
- •§ 55. Among the class of link verbs we may distinguish:
- •§ 56. The predicative can be expressed by:
- •§ 57. The three most typical semantic characteristics of a predicative are: identification, classification and characterization.
- •Mixed types of compound predicate
- •§ 59. Compound predicates can combine elements of different types. Thus we have:
- •The composite sentence
- •The scheme of the above compound-complex sentence
- •The scheme of a complex sentence with homogeneous clauses
- •The compound sentence
- •§ 140. Copulative coordination implies that the information conveyed by coordinate clauses is in some way similar.
- •§ 142. Disjunctive coordination implies a choice between two mutually exclusive alternatives. The disjunctive conjunctions are or, either... Or, the conjunctive adverbs are else (or else), otherwise.
- •The complex sentence
- •Formal indicators of subordination (connectors)
- •Functional classification of subordinate clauses
- •§ 151. Complex sentences with subject clauses may be of two patterns:
- •§ 153. Predicative clauses may occur as parts of two structurally different kinds of sentences:
- •It seems that there is no cure. (a predicative clause) It seems evident that there is no cure. (a subject clause, the predicate 'seem evident' is complete)
- •§ 155. Like objects in a simple sentence, object clauses may vary in their relation to the principal clause and in the way they are attached to, the word they refer to or depend on.
- •§ 158. Attributive clauses fall into two types, depending on the degree of connection and the relation they bear to the antecedent:
- •§ 160. Attributive clauses may be joined to the main clause without a relative word, that is, asyndetically. They are called contact clauses.
- •§ 164. According to their semantics we distinguish adverbial clauses of place, time, manner, comparison, condition, concession, purpose, cause, result.
- •§ 166. An adverbial clause of time characterizes the action expressed in the main clause from the temporal point of view. The action may be expressed by a finite or non-finite form of the verb.
- •I. Adverbial clauses of manner may modify the predicate of the main clause by attributing some quality to it.
- •II. They may refer to attributes or predicatives characterizing a state or quality of a person or non-person.
- •III. They may refer to an adverbial modifier, giving additional information or explanation concerning it.
- •§ 168. Adverbial clauses of comparison characterize the action expressed by the predicate in the main clause by comparing it with some real or hypothetical circumstance or action.
- •§ 169. Adverbial clauses of this type contain some condition (cither real or unreal) which makes the action in the main clause possible.
- •§ 170. Depending on the relation between the subordinate and the main clauses and on the use of tense and mood forms, complex sentences with conditional clauses may be subdivided into three types:
- •In the main clause In the subordinate clause
- •In the main clause In the subordinate clause
- •§ 171. A complex sentence with a conditional clause may be built on clauses of both type II and III, thus forming a mixed type of conditional relationship. For instance:
- •§ 174. Adverbial clauses of cause (or causative clauses) express the reason, cause, or motivation of the action expressed in the main clause or of its content as a whole.
- •§ 175. An adverbial clause of result denotes some consequence or result of the action expressed in the main clause. It may be introduced by the conjunction so that, or simply that.
- •§ 176. In complex sentences of this type it is impossible to differentiate which of the clauses is the main one and which is subordinate. We shall consider two patterns of such sentences.
- •Pseudo-complex sentences
- •§ 180. These sentences in their turn fall into three patterns, in all of which the form of the complex sentence is used to emphasize some part of the sentence.
- •Appended clauses (повторы с уточнением)
- •Absolute (or indendent) subordinate clauses
- •§ 182. Subordinate clauses may be used absolutely as independent exclamatory sentences. They may have the form of a conditional or comparative clause.
- •Parenthetical clauses (parentheses)
- •§ 183. A parenthetical clause (parenthesis) interrupts another sentence with which it is either not connected syntactically or is only loosely connected with separate parts of the sentence.
§ 175. An adverbial clause of result denotes some consequence or result of the action expressed in the main clause. It may be introduced by the conjunction so that, or simply that.
Light fell on her there, so that Soames could see her face, eyes, hair, strangely as he remembered them, strangely beautiful.
Clauses with the correlatives so and such (so... that, such... that) may express manner with a shade of resultative meaning and are treated as such. However one should bear in mind that the line of demarcation between cases of so... that and so that is rather difficult to draw when the two words follow one another.
The complex sentence with mutually subordinated clauses
§ 176. In complex sentences of this type it is impossible to differentiate which of the clauses is the main one and which is subordinate. We shall consider two patterns of such sentences.
§ 177. Clauses of proportionate agreement (or comparison). They express a proportional relationship - proportionality or equivalence; the more intensive is the action or quality described in one clause, the more intensive becomes the other, described in the following clause. Although sentences containing such clauses are undoubtedly complex, it is nevertheless impossible to state which of the clauses is the main one and which is subordinate, since they are of the same pattern -two twin clauses, looking like one another.
Clauses of proportionate agreement are joined by the conjunction as (con-elated with the adverb of degree so in the other clause); or by means of the correlative adverbs so... so in both clauses. Proportionate agreement between the clauses may also be expressed by the correlative particles the... the, followed by the comparative degree of adverbs (or adjectives),
As time went on, so their hopes began to wane.
The more he reflected on the idea, the more he liked it.
The further I penetrated into London, the profounder grew the stillness.
Proportionate agreement occurs in such aphoristic sentences as the more the better, the sooner the better, which may refer to various situations.
§ 178. The second pattern of mutually subordinated clauses expresses temporal relations - a quick succession of actions or events, often overlapping with one another for a short period of time. These clauses form an indivisible whole owing to correlative elements and sometimes partial inversion in the first clause. The order in which the elements follow one another is fixed. As partial inversion is possible when the predicate consists of the operator and the notional part, only analytical forms or compound predicates are used.
There are several variants of the pattern:
1. No sooner... than.
No sooner had Tom seen us than he Jumped into a bus.
No sooner could the chairman finish his speech than a great noise started.
2. Scarcely... when, scarcely... before.
Scarcely had lie seen us when he jumped into a bus. The door had scarcely closed behind her before it opened again.
3. Hardly... when.
Hardly could he finish his last sentence when a great noise started. 7 had hardly finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was putting in the horse.
4 .Negation... when.
He had not closed the door when he heard somebody knock at it.
5. Just... when.
He had fust cut a mighty slice of bread when he heard somebody's footsteps.
The role of the past perfect tense in the first clause is also of importance as it does not manifest in this case real precedence but peculiar temporal relation, that of a quick succession of events or actions, often overlapping.