Introduction

Syntax is the part of grammar which deals with sentences and combinability of words. The core of syntax is the study of the sentence. Syntax embraces on the one hand the structure of the sentence, that is, its components, their structure and the relations between these components, and on the other hand structural and communicative types of sentences.

The sentence

Anything that is said in the act of communication is called an utterance. Most utterance are sentences, although there are some which are not sentences and are called non-sentence utterances. Thus utterances fall into two groups: sentences and non-sentence utterances.

Sentences may be regarded from the point of view of their structure in the following way:

Simple or composite (compound and complex)
Complete or incomplete (elliptical)
Two-member or one-member

The difference between the simple sentence and the composite sentence lies in the fact that the former contains only one subject-predicate unit and the latter more than one. Subject-predicate units that form composite sentences are called clauses.

E.g. Honesty is the best policy. (one subject-predicate unit)

You can take a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. (two subject-predicate unit, or two clauses)

The difference between the compound and complex sentence lies in the relations between the clauses that constitute them.

Complete and incomplete (or elliptical) sentences are distinguished by the presence or absence of word-forms in the principal positions of two-member sentences.

In a complete sentence both the principal positions are filled with word-forms.

E.g. When did you arrive?

I came straight here.

In an incomplete (elliptical) sentence one or both of the main positions are not filled, but can be easily supplied as it is clear from the context what is missing.

E.g. Ready?

Wrong again.

Elliptical sentences are typical of conversational English.

One-member and two-member sentences are distinguished by the number of principal parts they contain: two-member sentences have two main parts – the subject and the predicate, while one-member sentences have only one principal part, which is neither the subject nor the predicate.

E.g. The magpie flew off. (two-member sentence)

An old park. (one-member sentence)

There are utterances which do not constitute sentences (non-sentence utterances). They are: