Syntax: Sentences and Clauses

Study Notes

Consist of two or more clauses
Examples:
- I am excited to hear the announcement of the winner
- Matt really enjoyed the breakfast you cooked for him
- Bring some coffee before it turns cold

A clause includes at least one subject and one verb
Example: Phillipa got married last week; Phillipa is the subject, and got married is the verb

A simple declarative sentence contains five elements; Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (Oi, Od), Complement (C) and Adverbial (A)

A simple sentence has five clause elements; subject, verb, object, complement, and adverbial
Clauses typically contain a verb and a subject, and any items needed to complete the meaning of the verb

In a declarative sentence, the subject is typically a noun phrase (noun or pronoun) that determines the person and number of the verb
A subject tells whom or what the sentece is about
Refers to the doer of the action expresed by the verb
A subject can be singular or plural
Every sentence must have an explicit subject, except for the imperative and sentences with the infinitive form of the verb
- Example: Go out! The 2nd person pronoun "you" is the understood subject
In questions, the order of the subject and the first auxiliary is reversed according to the subject-auxiliary inversion rule
- Example: Has John left?
In sentences with the infinitive form of the verb, the subject can be omitted
- Example: We learned to type. It is easy to fix this car.
The subject of a passive sentence corresponds to the object of a corresponding active sentence
- Active: John wrote two letters
- Passive: Two letters were written by John
Besides NPs, nominal clauses can function as subjects; that-clause, wh-clause, to-V clause, V-ing clause
A wh-clause example: Why he resigned is not clear to me
A to-V clause example: To travel by train costs $50
A V-ing clause example: Typing all these reports costs a lot of money