Syntax : Chapter VII: Clauses 2 - Part 2 : Dependent Clauses

This chapter deals with other functions of clauses, that is, with clauses at used. In other words, we will now take a look at dependent or subordinate clauses. There are three categories: Nominal clauses, Relative clauses and Adverbial clauses.

First of all, Nominal clauses. They function in the same places as Noun phrases, i.e. subject, object and complement. However, it does not take the adjunct function as a Noun phrase does. Nominal phrases have four types: two finite types (wh-clauses and that clauses) and two non-finite types (infinitive clauses and participle clauses).

About That clauses. They are clauses introduced by 'that' and may function as subject, object or complement. When a 'that' clause functions as subject, a "dummy" 'it' may stay in the subject position and the that clause is extraposed (moved outside of the constituent that contains it). It's English way to put long and 'weighty' elements at the end of a clause.

Wh-clauses are clauses introduced by who, what, when, where, how, whether, if. They may either indirect question or a nominal relative clause. They may function as subject, object, or complement. e.g.

- What I did did not interest her.

- They didn't understand what I said.

- The problem is where all the money has gone.

PS: As that clauses do, wh-clauses also have the case of extraposition when wh-clauses function as subject, e.g. It did not interest her what I did.

The third type of this group, the Infinitive clauses. As usual, it begins with a verb in infinitive form. The verb here may be a to-infinitive or a bare infinitive. The functions an infinitive clause can take are subject, complement and, most common of all, object or part of the object. e.g.

- To live (-> Subject) is to devote (-> object)

- He asked me to bring the book (-> object) (a)

- I want you to do that (-> part of object) (b)

* In example (a), the verb 'ask' can take two objects 'me' and 'to bring the book' as we can question both of them :

'Who did he ask to bring the book ?' (me)

'What did he ask me ?' (to bring the book)

But in example (b), the verb 'want' does not normally take two objects. This can be proven when we question the two "objects":

'Who do I want to do it?' (It's alright)

'What do I want you ?' (This's impossible)

Thus, the clause should be analysed as subject - verb - object. The object here is a complex made up of a Noun phrase and an infinitive clause.

Finally, Participle clauses. They, mainly present participle, may function as both subject and complement. And as infinitive clauses do, they are commonly found in object position, Indeed, without a preposition participle clauses never function as a second object, e.g. :

- Seeing (-> Subject) is believing (-> Object)

- We enjoy going out for lunch ( -> Object)

- I saw him going out with another girl (-> Part of object)

- They accused Tom (object 1) of stealing the bike (Object 2)

The way of analyzing these examples is the same as that of infinitive clauses' examples.

The second type of dependent clauses is Relative clauses. Relative clauses function as post-modifiers in Noun phrases. A Relative pronoun is used to link them to the head of the noun phrase. There are two factors that determine the form of the Relative pronoun.

The first one is whether the head noun is personal or non-personal, which decides the choice between 'who' and 'which'.

The second factor is the syntactic function of the relative pronoun within the Relatice clause. e.g. - Whom has the function object

- Whose has the function genetive

- to/at which has the function prepositional object

'That' is a special case since it can be used with both personal and non-personal antecedents. It's also the only relative pronoun that may be used after 'all, anything, everything' and superlative forms of adjectives.

Whom, where, why, etc. are also used as relative pronouns but only after the appropriate head nouns. And those noun phrases are often reduced by omitting the head noun, thus making them nominal relative clause.

Finally, we come to Adverbial clauses. Adverbial clauses give circumstantial information about an action or event. They are introduced by conjunctions which 'join' the adverbial clause to the main clause.

- Conditional clauses are introduced by 'if' or 'unless'

- 'Than' or 'as' introduces Comparison clauses.

- Reason clauses take 'because' or 'since'

- Contrast clauses use 'though' or 'although'

- Purpose clauses are introduced by 'so that'

- Result clauses take 'so ... that'

Adverbial clauses may be regarded as functioning as adjunct in clause structure. However, if this were always true, the clause would be the highest or largest unit in clause structure, since we could regard one clause as functioning as an element within the other clause if two of them occurred together. Here we have conditional clause as a proof that the theory is not exactly right as it does not give circumstantial information about an action or even but set two actions or events in relationship to each other: one is conditional on the other, and each is represented by a separate clause.

Well, according those in the upper grade, this chapter ends the Syntax subject of Semophore's first semester. Hah, as we finish this chapter, it is recommended that we take a revision for all. The exercises will be tough unless we learn by heart and understand all the units, items, and categories. Good luck !

(The beginning of the Second year is coming , hope to see my classmates soon, I miss you much ^^)

Syntax : Chapter VI: Clauses - Part 1: Structure and Types

I have to admit it that although writing journals about Syntax always makes me exhausted, I love this subject. Today I've just finished one more chapter of the coursebook: Chapter VI.

Syntactic units are usually composed of units directly below them and they function in units directly above them. Thus a phrase is composed of words and functions in a clause. Just as the description of phrases was in term of words and their function in various types of phrase, the description of clauses is in term of phrases and their function in various types of clause.

That's the introduction of the structure of clauses, we now discuss the functions of phrases in a clause.

There are five functions that phrases may fulfil in English clause structure. They are Subject, Verb, Object, Complement and Adjunct.

First of all, about Subject. The subject function is usually filled by a Noun phrase and the noun or pronoun that is head here 'agrees' with the verb in number. In practice, except for 'be', this applies only to the third person singular of the simple present tense. For 'be', there are three forms in the present tense and two in the past tense. In statement clauses in English, the subject usually precedes the verb. Basically English is a subject-verb-object language.

Secondly, Verb. The verb function is always filled by a verb phrase. It is nearly a defining characteristic of a clause that it contains a verb. Clauses without verb do occasionally occur but they may usually be regarded as derivation in some way form further clauses with verb

For example : Dinner over, they went to bed <= When dinner was over, they went to bed.

Most clause contain at least a subject and a verb. Imperative clauses can be considered as an exception but this type of clause is sometimes thought to have a 'you' subject. Non-finite clause is another exception here. e.g. Seeing his girlfriend kiss another man, he ...

Thirdly, Object. The object function may be filled either by a noun phrase or by a prepositional phrase. In the case of prepositional phrases, we have two ways of analyzing this:

+ We may see the clause is composed of a subject (Noun Phrase), verb (verb phrase) and object (Prepositional phrase).

+ Alternatively, the preposition may be regarded as belonging to the verb. Thus, the verb phrase now contains a prepositional verb and the object is now a noun phrase.

However, in case the preposition does not occur next to the verb, it is useful to assign the preposition to the object rather than the verb.
Some clauses often have two objects, here we got the terms 'direct object' and 'indirect object'. The indirect object normally refers to a person, more particularly the person who is recipient or beneficiary.
Ex: Tom gave Jerry a toy => Tom gave a toy to Jerry
Sometimes, it is difficult to draw this distinction. Here the terms 'object 1' and 'object 2' should be used.
Ex: Tom sprayed blue paint on the gate => Tom sprayed the gate with blue paint

Fourthly, Complement. This function may be filled either by a noun phrase or by an adjective phrase. So what is the difference between a compliment and an object? A complement has the same reference as the subject or as the object.
Ex: He has become a distinguished leader.
I found the book quite interesting.
=> A compliment may be either a subject compliment or an object compliment.
Furthermore, a complement may refer either to a state or to a result.
Ex: She seems unhealthy. He has become ill.
There is a limited subclass of verbs that may be associated with complements.
Fifthly, Adjunct. The adjunct function is filled by an adverb phrase, a prepositional phrase, or a noun phrase. It is an optional element in clause structure and gives circumstantial information about the action or event that the clause refers to.
Finally, we'll talk a little bit about the obligation and option of elements. When a subject, verb, object or complement occur in a clause, their presence is necessary to render the clause grammatical or sensible. Thus, subject, verb and complement are mostly obligatory. Objects may sometimes omitted and adjuncts are usually optional.

OK, above is about the functions of a phrase may take in a clause. Now we'll take a look at types of clause.
The recognition of basic clause types may be based on the basis of the functions of phrases occurring in clause structure. In English, there are seven such basic clause types:
1. Subject verb (SV)
2. Subject verb adjunct (SVA)
3. Subject verb complement (SVC)
4. Subject verb object (SVO)
5. Subject verb object adjunct (SVOA)
6. Subject verb object object (SVOO)
7. Subject verb object complement (SVOC)
Type 1 is an intransitive clause type. The action referred by the verb here is carried out by the subject and does not affect anybody or anything else. This group also includes 'impersonal verbs', i.e. the subjects refers to a total environment rather than to some parts of it. Ex: It's raining
Type 2 may be regarded as intransitive, though it is also considered to be similar to Type 3. Here the adjunct is obligatory for the verb, mainly adjuncts of place, either of position or of direction. Sometimes, we find a few verb take adjuncts of time or of manner. e.g. An old man lived in the tent / He weighs seventy kilos.
Type 3 is the intensive clause type. Here the complement and subject are not distinct entities but refer to the same 'thing'. Intensive relation also occurs when two noun phrases are in apposition (the use of a noun phrase immediately after another noun phrase which refers to the same person or thing) e.g Your boots smells badly.
Type 4 is a transitive clause type, 'mono-transitive' is its exact name in order to distinguish it from its 'relative', type 6. This clause type has only one object. It's probably the commonest clause type, both in terms of the number of verbs entering it and in terms of the frequency of occurrence in spoken and written language. e.g. We've found him.
Type 5 is a transitive clause type but here an adjunct is obligatory for the object. Like type 2, the majority of adjuncts are of place, though other kinds are possible. e.g. You must put the shoes on the shelf.
Type 6 is the 'di-transitive' clause type. i.e. having two objects. Sometimes we can distinguish between indirect object and direct object (of course in terms of these kinds of object). The indirect object may come before the direct object and usually refers to an animate 'thing'. We have three kinds of structure here:
+ Subject-verb-indirect object-direct object : I gave him a chance
+ Subject-verb-direct object-to-indirect object: Tom gave the ring to Ann
+ Subject-verb-direct object-for-indirect object: They saved the money for me.
Type 7 is the complex-transitive clause type where only one element will follow the verb, but it is a complex of an object and a complement. Here exists an intensive relation between the object and the complement. e.g We found Jane talented.

...

In conclusion, the elements that are constant in all the clause types are the subject and the verb. What follows the verb is called 'complementation' of the verb and it varies. Not every verb may enter every clause type. Some verbs are restricted to just one clause type, some may enter more. Thus, it is possible to specify verbs for the clause types they may enter, and in more detail still for the categories of phrase that may be associated with them in each clause type.

That's all for chapter VI, one more chapter and we'll finish English Syntax for Somophores hehe. See you next time.

Reading strategies (part 1)

Phew, after nearly 2 weeks busy with the Green Summer Campaign, I finally find a time to write this journal. [Haizz, this Campaign took me a lot of time but the results were not satisfactory. I'm glad it's over]

As good jobs need skills, effective reading also needs strategies. You might have learnt these strategies in Study skills, but as far as I know, we all feel bored with that subject, right ? However, as learning to use strategies is one of the aims of the book ReadSmart3, I think I'll make an outline of those.

Can you guess what kind of strategy will be introduced first ? The answer is SCANNING
In the book, scanning has the definition as a strategy used to 'pick specific information out of the text. Now, how will you 'scan' a text? Here are some suggestions
+ Search for exact terms used in the question being asked.
+ You may also need to look for alternate terms. Alternate terms include signals (indicate a certain kind of information is coming), synonyms (for key terms in the question) and symbols (represent these terms).
So where and when should you scan ? Here is the list of the most commonly 'scanning-used' items :
- a telephone book
- a dictionary
- long and complex readings ( to find key facts)
- supermarket sale flyer
- newspaper editorial
- a complicated recipe
- a class schedule
- an airport departure board
- the list of performer in a play
- a math word problem

That's for scanning, now we'll move to SKIMMING. Skimming is the technique for finding main ideas. Like scanning, you should always look for alternate terms that express the ideas you think you might find. Hah, I now will give you the progress of skimming:
- Move eyes quickly over the text
- Read the titles and the subtitles
- Notice the name and qualifications of the writer
- Read any headings and subheadings
- Read the first and last paragraph of the article
- For more information, read the first and last sentence of each paragraph
- Notice signals indicating main ideas and organizations
- Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs and read the captions
- Notice any italicized or bold words or phrases.
You should use skimming technique in the following situations:
- When you have to memorize a poem
- When you are researching and need to decide if an article contains important information
- When you are reading instructions on how to use your new computer
- When you are going to have a test in 30 minutes and still have 20 pages to read (hey hey, I don't mean that I encourage leaving what you should study until when you take a test)

OK, that's for today +__+ haiz, I'll try to wirte longer next time (T___T poor my writing skill +___T)