SYNTAX OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE – 2014/2 Profª. Flávia Cunha

SENTENCE AND CLAUSE Most people recognize a sentence as a unit which begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (period), a question mark, or an exclamation mark. Of course, this applies only to written sentences. Sentences have also been defined notionally as units which express a "complete thought", though it is not at all clear what a "complete thought" is.

SENTENCE AND CLAUSE Syntactically speaking, sentences are traditionally classified as simple (consisting of one main clause without subordination), compound (consisting of two or more main clauses that are coordinated), and complex (consisting of a main clause with one or more subordinate clauses).

SENTENCE AND CLAUSE Clauses may be linked through coordination or subordination. Coordinated clauses are at the same grammatical level, signaled by the actual or potential presence of coordinators between clauses. Subordinate clauses are dependent on other clauses, either embedded in them or attached to them. They are signaled by subordinators or wh-words.

SENTENCE AND CLAUSE There are many types of meaning relationships that can exist between two ideas. Words or phrases that express these relationships are called connectors. The three main types of connectors are: coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and sentences connectors (also, conjunctive adverbs).

Sentence Fragments All sentences are made up of two parts: the subject and the predicate. If both parts aren’t present, then it’s not a whole sentence; it’s a fragment. Fragments don’t express a complete thought, but they’re punctuated as if they were a sentence. Examples: Felt happy and relaxed. No subject The sign on the door. No predicate When she first came to school. Sub. clause

Sentence Fragments How to correct a fragment: Add a subject: I felt happy and relaxed. Add a predicate: The sign on the door was spelled wrong. Connect to another sentence: When she first came to school, she was tired.

Run-on Sentences If there are more than two parts not joined by a conjunction, then it’s not a sentence; it’s a run-on. Examples: I watch TV a lot my favorite show is The Simpsons. I ran to my locker I forgot my homework. The cat was angry, he scratched my brother’s arm, he bit him.

Run-on Sentences How to fix a run-on sentence: Add punctuation: I watch T.V. a lot. My favorite show is The Simpsons. Add conjunctions: I ran to my locker because I forgot my homework. Combine the two methods: The cat was angry; he scratched my brother’s arm, and he bit him.