- •The Subject Matter of Grammar
- •The Evolution of English Grammars
- •The XX th Century Linguistic Schools
- •Prague Linguistic School (Functional Linguistics)
- •American Descriptive Linguistics
- •Transformational and Transformational Generative Grammar
- •Semantic Syntax
- •Methods of Linguistic Analysis
- •Parsing (Traditional Syntactic Analysis)
- •The Oppositional Method
- •The Distributional method
- •The ic Method (method of immediate constituents)
- •The Transformational Method
- •The Method of Deep and Surface Structures
- •The Functional Sentence Perspective Method (fsp)
- •The Componential Method
- •The Contextual Method
- •The Levels of Language
- •The Morphological Structure of me
- •The Classifications of Morphemes
- •Paradigmatics and Syntagmatics
- •The Asymmetry of a Linguistic Sign
- •Parts of Speech Classifications of Parts of Speech.
- •Notionals and Functionals
- •Heterogeneity
- •Field and Periphery
- •Subcategorization
- •Onomaseological approach
- •The Noun The General Properties of a Noun
- •The Category of Gender.
- •The Category of Number
- •The Category of Case
- •Debated Problems within the Category of Case
- •Genitive Constructions (n’s n)
- •The Article Debated Problems
- •The Functions of Articles in a Sentence
- •The Verb The General Properties of a Verb
- •The Category of Tense
- •Classifications of Tenses
- •The Future Tense
- •The Present Tense
- •The Past Tense
- •The Future-in-the-Past Tense
- •The Category of Aspect
- •The Category of Time Relation (or Correlation)
- •The Category of Voice
- •The Category of Mood
- •The Indicative Mood
- •The Imperative Mood
- •The Subjunctive Mood
- •Points of Similarities with the Finites
- •Points of Differences with the Finites
- •Debated Problems within The Verbals
- •The Functions of Non-Finites
- •Types of Syntax
- •The theory of the phrase
- •Devices of Connecting Words in a Phrase
- •Debated Problems within the Theory of the Phrase
- •Classifications of Phrases
- •The theory of the simple sentence
- •The Definition of a Sentence
- •Syntactic Modelling of the Sentence
- •Semantic Modelling of the Sentence
- •The Notion of a Syntactic Paradigm
- •Structural Classification of Simple Sentences
- •Predicative Constructions Within a simple sentence we distinguish primary and secondary (independent/ dependent) elements, the structural nucleus and its adjuncts.
- •Syntactic Processes
- •The Principal Parts of a Simple Sentence
- •The Secondary Parts of a Simple Sentence
- •An Object
- •An Adverbial Modifier
- •An Attribute
- •Debated Problems within a Simple Sentence
- •A composite sentence
- •A Compound Sentence
- •I. The General Notion of a Complex Sentence.
- •2. The Status of the Subordinate Clause.
- •3.1. Classifications of Subordinate Clauses.
- •3.2. Types of Subordinate Clauses.
- •4. Connections between the Principal and the Subordinate Clause.
- •5. Neutralization between Subordination and Coordination.
- •6. The Character of the Subordinating Conjunction
- •7. Levels of Subordination
- •Syntactic Processes in the Complex Sentence.
- •9. Communicative Dynamism within a Composite Sentence( Compound and Complex) and a Supra-phrasal Unit.
The Principal Parts of a Simple Sentence
The principal parts of a simple sentence are the subject and the predicate. They are indispensable.
The subject denotes something that is spoken about. It is subdivided into a group subject (expanded), a complex subject (expressed by a predicative construction)( For me to do it is dangerous; His having done that surprised me), a formal subject which introduces the genuine subject ( It is strange his doing that ), an impersonal subject ( It rains), a rrhematic subject( A woman entered the room), a thematic subject( The woman came up to the window).
The predicate denotes an action, state or property of the thing expressed by the subject. It agrees with the subject logically. A single subject denoting multitude agrees with a plural predicate ( The great majority are satisfied with the outcomes of the elections).
Predicates are classified into simple and compound ones.
A simple predicate can be simple verbal, simple nominal, infinitival and reflexive. A simple verbal predicate is expressed by a verb in any form representing any category (person, number, tense, aspect, correlation, voice and mood). A simple nominal predicate is expressed by a noun or an adjective ( He clever?! He a general?!). The nature of the nominal predicate can be interpreted transformationally or by means of the method of deep and surface structures( He is clever. I do not believe. He is a general. I do not believe). An infinitival predicate is usually found in exclamatory-interrogative sentences ( Mr Domby to divorce his wife?! => Mr. Domby divorces his wife. I do not believe). In a reflexive predicate the element self cannot be omitted ( I enjoyed myself in the park). To the simple verbal predicates some scholars refer a phraseological predicate ( He was probably losing his marbles) (going crazy).
Compound predicates are subdivided into compound nominal predicates, compound modal predicates, compound aspect predicates; double predicates and predicates of double orientation. A compound nominal predicate is built up on the model a link- verb + a predicative. The number of link- verbs is great and it is still growing larger( He is a poet. He turned pale. He was going mad). Predicatives are most frequently expressed by nouns and adjectives. A verbal aspect predicate consists of a verb denoting the beginning, development or the end of an action and a non-finite form of a verv (He came running. He got going. He began reading. He continued speaking). A compound verbal modal predicate consists of a modal verb (or a modal equivalent) and an infinive (indefinite, continuous or perfect (She could have danced all night). Among compound predicates we find mixed types (a compound modal nominal predicate, a compound modal aspectual predicate ( He must be a poet. He may begin to attend classes).
A double predicate consists of two parts, verbal and nominal, the former being an explicit predicate, the latter being an implicit predicate. It can be described transformationally (He married young=>He married. He was young). The predicate of double orientation consists of two parts, the latter oriented upon the subject of this sentence, the former oriented upon a subject beyond the limits of this sentence which can be proved transformationally ( He is said to have done it => They say that he has done it).