Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Language

Prepared by: Nur Jalilah Binti Ismail Nurhidayah Binti Ishak Syukriah Binti Sabirin

What is Syntax?
Syntax : The study of the structures of sentences which attempts to uncover the underlying principles (rules) for constructing well-informed sentences of a particular language.

Rules in Syntax
There are 2 rules in syntax: 1. Phrase structure rules 2. Transformational rules

Phrase: Any groups of two or more words that together form a thought or express one meaning. A phrase has no subject or verb.

Clauses: Groups of two or more words that have a subject & a predicate. Two types of clauses: Independent Clause (Main Clause) & Dependent Clause (Subordinate Clause)

Clause Types
Most sentence can be analyzed into one of only seven basic clause types consisting of two, three or four elements. S + V : I / yawned S + V + O : I / opened / the door S + V + C : I / am / ready S + V + A : I / went / to London S + V + O + O : I / gave / him / a pen S + V + O + C : I / got / my shoes / wet S + V + O + A : I / put / the box / on the floor

What is a subject?
The subject usually appears before the verb in statements, and after the first verb in questions. Examples: 1. The boy yawned. 2. Are you going?

What is a verb?
The verb plays a central role in clause structure. We can omit other clause elements except the verb.
E.g: That farmer drinks beer by the bucketful. S V O A

What is an object?

Object elements usually follow the subject and verb in a clause. There two type of object: Direct object & Indirect object.

Direct & Indirect Object

Direct object typically referring to some person or thing directly affected by the action expressed by the verb. E.g: The child lost her ball. I remember the occasion. Indirect object typically refers to an animate which is the recipients of the action. E.g: I gave my paper to the boy.

Sentence Types
Sentences are constructed in three main ways: 1. Simple Sentence 2. Compound Sentence 3. Complex Sentence

Simple Sentence
Simple sentences contain one complete verb and are made up of one main clause. E.g: Did the boys arrive before breakfast? Verb: Arrive Main clause: Before breakfast

Compound Sentence
Compound sentence is made up of two or more main clause. The main clauses are joined by a conjunction, semicolon, or sentence connector. E.g: We heard the news; we couldnt believe our ears. The two clauses are joined by a semicolon.

Complex Sentence
Complex sentence is made up of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. E.g: We had to go because the children were tired. Main clause: We had to go Subordinate clause: because the children were tired.

Phrase Structure Rules (PS Rules)

Phrase Structure Rules govern the structure of sentence in a language. One example is the rule that English sentence must consist of a Noun Phrase(NP) and a Verb Phrase(VP)

Phrase Structure Phrase (VP)

S NP VP Art N V

NP art V the man saw

VP N NP a horse

Tree Diagrams
A phrase structure tree is a form of representation of sentence in which nodes or element are labelled by syntactic category (noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP), preposition phrase (PP), etc)

Example of Tree Diagram

S NP N He VP V ate

S NP N he V saw VP NP her

S NP VP

NP
NP N art the N book

He

gave

her

NP
N V

VP
PP P N sea

She

went

to

S NP VP

N
det adj adj the old man N

V
P

PP
N

PP/AP
P det NP N boat

went to

sea in