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МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ БЕЛАРУСЬ

МОГИЛЕВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

имени А.А.КУЛЕШОВА

И.Б. БИРЮК

РЕКОМЕНДАЦИИ

ПО СИНТАКСИСУ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

Учебно-методическое пособие

МОГИЛЕВ 1999

УДК 802.0-56

Б 64

Редактор Бабокина С.А.

Ответственный за выпуск Кухарева Н.М.

Бирюк И.Б.

Б64 Рекомендации по синтаксису английского языка. Изд-во Могилёвского гос. ун-та им. А.А. Кулешова, 1999.–37 с.

Методическое пособие предназначено для студентов факультета иностранных языков, а также может быть использовано студентами других факультетов в целях углубленного изучения синтаксического строя английского языка.

Брошюра включает в себя следующие темы:

• The Simple Sentence

• The Composite Sentence

• The Compound Sentence

• Parts of the Sentence

© Бирюк И.Б., 1999

© Издательство МГУ им. А.А.Кулешова, 1999

Syntax is the part of grammar which deals with sentences and combinability of words. 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

A sentence is a unit of speech, which serves as the chief means of conveying a thought. A sentence is not only a means of communicating something about reality but also a means of showing the speaker's attitude to it.

From the point of view of their structure, sentences can be.

Simple or composite. Composite sentences are divided into compound and complex.

The simple sentence

The simple sentence contains only one subject-predicate unit. The classification of simple sentences is based on two principles:

A According to the purpose of the utterance

B According to the structure

A. According to the purpose of the utterance we distinguish four kinds of sentences:

1. The declarative sentence

A declarative sentence states a fact in the affirmative or negative form, which gives the listener some information about various events, activities or attitudes, thoughts and feelings. In a declarative sentence the subject precedes the predicate.

I have just come back from a business trip.

I haven't seen my sister yet.

There is a difference between English and Russian negative sentences. Whereas in English the predicate of a sentence can have only one negation, in Russian it can have more than one.

He does not go anywhere. or

He never goes anywhere. or

He goes nowhere.

Он никуда не ходит.

Besides their main function as information-carriers, declarative sentences may be used with the force of questions, commands and exclamations.

I wonder why he is so late.

You mustn't talk back to your parents.

2. The interrogative sentence

Interrogative sentences contain questions. Their communicative function consists in asking for information. It is formed by means of inversion, i.e. by placing the predicate (or part of it) before the subject. There are four kinds of questions:

a) General questions requiring the answer yes or no. In general questions the speaker is interested to know whether some event or phenomenon asked about exists or does not exist. They are formed by placing part of the predicate, i.e. the auxiliary, link or modal verb before the subject of the sentence.

Does your sister go figure-skating?

Is that girl a friend of yours?

Can you speak French?

Sometimes such questions have a negative form and express astonishment or doubt.

Haven't you seen him yet?

Неужели вы его ещё не видели?

b) Special questions beginning with an interrogative word. The function of special questions is to get more detailed and exact information about some event or phenomenon known to the speaker and listener. The interrogative pronouns and adverbs which function as question words are as follows: what, which, who, whom, whose, where, why, how, how long, how often, how many, how much. Question words may have various syntactical functions in the sentence, depending upon the information the speaker wants to obtain:

1. Who came first (subject) –– I did.

2. What makes you think so? (subject) –– Your behaviour.

3. Whose team has won the match? (attribute) –– Ours

4. Which story did you like best? (attribute) –– The last one.

5. Who is that man? (predicative) –– He is my brother.

6. What are you doing in the room? (object) –– Tiding it up.

7. When are you going to come back (adverbial modifier of time) –– Tomorrow.

8. How can I get to your place? (adverbial modifier of manner) –– By bus.

Special questions are often used as short responses. They usually consist of a question word or a question word followed by a preposition.

I'm leaving for home. –– When?

I want to talk with you? –– What about?

Come again. –– What for?

c) Alternative questions indicating choice between two or more alternative answers. Like general questions, they begin with an auxiliary, link or modal verb, but the conjunction or makes the "yes - no" answer impossible.

Is he resting or working? –– He is resting.

Do you like tea or coffee? –– I like tea.

An alternative question may sometimes resemble a special question beginning with a question word.

Which do you prefer: tea or coffee?

Where shall we go, to the cinema or to the football match?

d) Disjunctive questions requiring the answer yes or no. They consist of an affirmative statement followed by a negative tag, or a negative statement followed by an affirmative tag.

You knew that before, didn't you? –– Yes, I did.

You didn't know that before, did you? –– No, I didn't.

There is one more sentence pattern with a tag question which is less frequently used.

Positive statement –– positive tag. or

Negative statement –– negative tag.

This sentence pattern is used when the speaker comes to a conclusion concerning some event. Such sentences may begin with the adverb so.

So you knew about it before, did you?

Both general and special questions may serve as rethorical questions.

A rethorical question contains a statement disguised as a question. No answer is expected.

Can anyone say what truth is? (No one can say what it is).

What else could I do? (I could do nothing).

3. The imperative sentence.

Imperative sentences express commands which convey the desire of the speaker to make someone, generally the listener, perform an action. Besides commands proper, imperative sentences may express prohibition, a request, an invitation, a warning, persuasion etc. Formally commands are marked by the predicate verb in the imperative mood (positive or negative), the reference to the second person, absence of subject and the use of the auxiliary do in negative or emphatic sentences with the verb to be.

Speak louder, please.

Don't worry.

Don't be late, please.

Requests can be expressed with the help of a tag question or a general question beginning with will or would.

Would you do me a favour?

Come here, will you?

In invitation or suggestion the imperative let may be used. Let is followed by a personal pronoun in the objective case.

Let him try again.

Let us have some tea.

4. The exclamatory sentence.

An exclamatory sentence expresses some kind of emotion or feeling. It often begins with the words what and how, it is always in the declarative form, i.e. no inversion takes place. An exclamation has a falling tone in speaking and an exclamation mark in writing.

What a funny story she told us!

How beautiful her voice is!

Exclamatory sentences can be reduced to the word or phrase.

What a situation!

What a terrible noise!

How kind of you to let me in!

2. According to their structure simple sentences are divided into two-member and one-member sentences.

A two-member sentence has two members –– a subject and a predicate.

John is a student

John learned French.

A two-member sentence may be complete or incomplete. It is complete when it has a subject and a predicate.

Where were you yesterday? –– We were at the cinema.

It is incomplete when one of the principal parts or both of them are missing, but can be easily understood from the context. Such sentences are called elliptical and are mostly used in colloquial speech.

Where were you yesterday? –– At the cinema.

One-member sentences have only one member, which is neither the subject nor the predicate. One-member sentences are of two types: nominal and verbal. Nominal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a noun. They state the existence of the things expressed in them. They are typical of descriptions.

Silence. Summer. Midnight.

English spring flowers!

Verbal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a non-finite form of the verb, either an infinitive or a gerund. These sentences are used to describe different emotional perceptions of reality.

To think of that!

Living at the mercy of a woman!

Simple sentences, both two-member and one-member, can be unextended and extended. A sentence consisting only of the principal parts is called unextended.

She is a doctor.

Mary laughed.

Winter!

An extended sentence consists of the subject, the predicate and one or more secondary parts.

She is an excellent doctor.

Mary laughed heartily at the joke

Frosty Russian Winter!