Ngu Thien Hung, Ph.D.

Vo Thao Ly, M.A.

2016
 COURSE OUTLINE
Course Name: Advanced English Grammar
No. of Credits: 4
Course Length: 60 periods/ 15 classes/ 15 weeks
Course Prerequisites: Basic Grammar 1; Basic Grammar 2
Course Objectives:
The Advanced Grammar course is designed for second-year students of the English
Language Program and is delivered in the third semester of the eight-semester
program. The course aims to provide students with knowledge of structures and
functions of the language units from morpheme to sentence levels in the English
language. Equipped with such knowledge, learners will be able to explain, identify
those language units, and then apply them to analyze and synthesize sentences in
English. These skills enable them to enhance their level of English, which particularly
helps improve their reading comprehension, academic writing, and translation.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completing this course, learners will be able to
- EXPLAIN different types of morphemes, word structure, word formation, kinds
of phrases, clauses and sentences;
- SOLVE the problem by disambiguating cases of ambiguous phrases, clauses,
and sentences containing syntactic errors in daily language use;
- CONSTRUCT different types of words, phrases, sentences from the learned
knowledge of morphemes, words, phrases, clauses and sentences;
- SYNTHESIZE/COMBINE sentences in reading, writing, and translating
English with the underlying forms and the surface form of a phrase, clause, and
sentence;
- ANALYZE the structure and functions of morphemes, words, phrases, clauses,
sentences.
Teaching and Learning modes
Teacher delivers lectures and facilitates learner group discussion. Learners are to
participate in group discussion, complete individual tasks in class, and conduct self-
study as required by their teacher.
Course Assessment
• On-going Assessment 50%
o Attendance and In-class participation 20%
o Mid-term test (Written Test) 30%
• End-of-term Assessment (Written Test) 50%
 INTRODUCTION
What is grammar?
We use the term “grammar’ with a systematic ambiguity. On the one
hand, the term refers to the explicit theory constructed by the linguist and
proposed as a description of the speaker’s competence. On the other hand, [it
refers] to this competence itself.
N. Chomsky and M. Halle. The sound pattern of English.
Teaching grammars
The grammar of language is different from a teaching grammar, which is
used to learn another language dialect. In countries where it is advantageous to
speak a ‘prestige’ dialect, people do not speak it natively may wish to learn it.
Teaching grammars states explicitly the rules of the language, lists the words
and their pronunciation, and aid in leaning a new language or dialect. As an
adult, it is difficult to learn a second language without being instructed.
Teaching grammars assume that the student already knows one language and
compares the grammar of the target language with the grammar of the native
language. The meaning of a word is given by providing a gloss. – the parallel
word in the student’s native language, such as maison ‘house’. It is assumed
that the student knows the meaning of the gloss ‘house’ and so the meaning of
the French word maison.
We are all intimately familiar with at least one language, our own; yet
few of us ever stop to consider what we know about it. There is no book that
contains the English or Russian or Zulu language. The words of a language can
be listed in a dictionary, but not all the sentences and a language consist of these
sentences as well as words. Speakers use a finite set of rules to produce and
understand an infinite set of possible sentences.
These rules comprise the grammar of a language, which is learned when
you acquire the language and includes the sound system (the Phonology), how
words may be combined into phrases and sentences (the syntax), ways in which
sounds and meanings are related (the semantics), and the words or lexicon. The

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sounds and meanings of these words are related in an arbitrary fashion. If you
had ever heard the word syntax you would not, by its sounds, know what it
meant. Language, then, is a system that relates sounds with meanings, and when
you know a language you know this system.
This knowledge (linguistic competence) is different from behaviour
(linguistic performance). If you woke up one morning and decided to stop
talking (as the Trappist monks do after they take a ‘vow of silence’), you would
still have knowledge of your language. This ability or competence underlies
linguistic behaviour. If you do not know the language, you cannot speak it; but
if you know the language, you may choose not to speak.
Grammars are the three kinds. The descriptive grammar of a language
represents the unconscious linguistic knowledge or capacity of its speakers.
Such a grammar is a model of the ‘mental grammar’ every speaker of the
language knows. It does not teach the rules of the language; it describes the
rules that are already known. A grammar that attempt to legislate what your
grammar should be is called a prescriptive grammar. It prescribes; it does not
describe, except incidentally. Teaching grammars are written to help people
learn a foreign language or a dialect of their own language.
Knowing a language means knowing what sounds are in that language
and what sounds are not. This unconscious knowledge is revealed by the way
speakers of one language pronounce words from another language. However,
knowing the sounds and patterns in our language constitutes only one part of
our linguistic knowledge. In addition, knowing a language is knowing that
certain sound sequences signify certain concepts or meanings. Speakers of
English know what boy means something different from toy or girl or
pterodactyl. Knowing a language is therefore knowing how to relate sounds and
meanings.
The range of constructions that is studied by grammar is very large, and
grammarians have often divided it into sub-fields. The oldest and most widely -
used division is that between morphology and syntax.

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Diagram 1 The division of subfields of linguistics

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 UNIT 1: MORPHOLOGY

As the diagram shows, morphology is the branch of grammar that studies

the structure of words and word formation. The word morphology itself comes
from the Greek word morpheme, which means “form’. Morphology is to words
what syntax is to sentences. That is, morphology is concerned with the structure
of words just as syntax is concerned with the structure of sentences. In the
following list, all the words except the last can be divided into parts, each of
which has some kind of independent meaning.
unhappiness un - happi - ness
horses horse - s
talking talk-ing
yes yes
Yes has no internal grammatical structure. We could analyse its
constituent sounds, / j /, / e /, / s /, but none of these has a meaning in isolation.
By contrast, horse, talk, and happy, plainly have a meaning, as do the elements
attached to them (the ‘affixes’): un- carries a negative meaning; -ness expresses
a state to convey a sense of duration. The smallest meaningful elements into
which words can be analysed are known as morphemes; and the way
morphemes operate in language provides the subject matter of morphology.

Further reading
Morphology is the field within linguistics that studies the internal structure of
words. (Words as units in the lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology.)
While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is
clear that in most (if not all) languages, words can be related to other words by
rules. For example, English speakers recognize that the words dog, dogs, and
dog-catcher are closely related. English speakers recognize these relations from
their tacit knowledge of the rules of word-formation in English. They intuit that
dog is to dogs as cat is to cats; similarly, dog is to dog-catcher as dish is to
dishwasher. The rules understood by the speaker reflect specific patterns (or
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regularities) in the way words are formed from smaller units and how those
smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of
linguistics that studies patterns of word-formation within and across languages,
and attempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of
those languages.
Models of morphology
There are three principal approaches to morphology, which each try to capture
the distinctions above in different ways. These are:
- Morpheme-based morphology, which makes use of an Item-and-Arrangement
approach.
- Lexeme-based morphology, which normally makes use of an Item-and-
Process approach.
- Lexeme-based morphology, which normally makes use of an Item-and-
Process approach. Word-based morphology, which normally makes use of a
Word-and-Paradigm approach.
Note that while the associations indicated between the concepts in each item in
that list is very strong, it is not absolute.
Morpheme-based morphology
In morpheme-based morphology, word-forms are analyzed as arrangements of
morphemes. A morpheme is defined as the minimal meaningful unit of a
language. In a word like independently, we say that the morphemes are in-,
depend, -ent, and ly; depend is the root and the other morphemes are, in this
case, derivational affixes. In a word like dogs, we say that dog is the root, and
that -s is an inflectional morpheme. This way of analyzing word-forms as if they
were made of morphemes put after each other like beads on a string, is called
Item-and-Arrangement.
The morpheme-based approach is the first one that beginners to morphology
usually think of, and which laymen tend to find the most obvious. This is so to
such an extent that very often beginners think that morphemes are an inevitable,
fundamental notion of morphology, and many five-minute explanations of

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morphology are, in fact, five-minute explanations of morpheme-based
morphology. This is, however, not so. The fundamental idea of morphology is
that the words of a language are related to each other by different kinds of rules.
Analyzing words as sequences of morphemes is a way of describing these
relations, but is not the only way. In actual academic linguistics, morpheme-
based morphology certainly has many adherents, but is by no means the
dominant approach.
Lexeme-based morphology
Lexeme-based morphology is (usually) an Item-and-Process approach. Instead
of analyzing a word-form as a set of morphemes arranged in sequence, a word-
form is said to be the result of applying rules that alter a word-form or stem in
order to produce a new one. An inflectional rule takes a stem, changes it as is
required by the rule, and outputs a word-form; a derivational rule takes a stem,
changes it as per its own requirements, and outputs a derived stem; a
compounding rule takes word-forms, and similarly outputs a compound stem.
Word-based morphology
Word-based morphology is a (usually) Word-and-paradigm approach. This
theory takes paradigms as a central notion. Instead of stating rules to combine
morphemes into word-forms, or to generate word-forms from stems, word-
based morphology states generalizations that hold between the forms of
inflectional paradigms. The major point behind this approach is that many such
generalizations are hard to state with either of the other approaches. The
examples are usually drawn from fusional languages, where a given "piece" of a
word, which a morpheme-based theory would call an inflectional morpheme,
corresponds to a combination of grammatical categories, for example, "third
person plural." Morpheme-based theories usually have no problems with this
situation, since one just says that a given morpheme has two categories. Item-
and-Process theories, on the other hand, often break down in cases like these,
because they all too often assume that there will be two separate rules here, one
for third person, and the other for plural, but the distinction between them turns

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out to be artificial. Word-and-Paradigm approaches treat these as whole words
that are related to each other by analogical rules. Words can be categorized
based on the pattern they fit into. This applies both to existing words and to new
ones. Application of a pattern different from the one that has been used
historically can give rise to a new word, such as older replacing elder (where
older follows the normal pattern of adjectival superlatives) and cows replacing
kine (where cows fits the regular pattern of plural formation). While a Word-
and-Paradigm approach can explain this easily, other approaches have difficulty
with phenomena such as this.

1. The word as the minimal free form of language

Most linguists believe that the word is best defined in terms of the way in
which it patterns syntactically. One widely accepted definition of this type is as
follows:
A word is a minimal free form because it is an element that can occur in
isolation and/or whose position with respect to neighboring elements is not
entirely fixed. For example, the sound sequence /h˄ntәz / hunters is a word and
can occur in different positions within the sentence, as shown below:
The hunters pursued the bear.
The bear was pursued by the hunters.
In contrast, the units -er and - s do not count as words here since they
cannot occur in isolation and their positioning with respect to adjacent elements
is completely fixed. Thus, we cannot say * erhunt or “serhunt, but only hunters.
Hunters is a minimal free form because a larger unit such as the hunters cannot
be identified as a single word but as a phrase or group of words. Although this
unit can function independently and can occur in different positions in a
sentence, it is not a minimal free form since it consists of two smaller free forms
- the and hunter.
So, while such units as hunters can be treated as a minimal free from we
should seek the answers for treating the meaningful units such as -er and -s in

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the sound sequence hunters in terms of their distinctive features and their roles
in the word. These linguistic units are called morphemes which will be defined
in the sections below.
Further reading
A word is a unit which is a constituent at the phrase level and above. It is
sometimes identifiable according to such criteria as:
- being the minimal possible unit in a reply
- having features such as:
+ a regular stress pattern
+ phonological changes conditioned by or blocked at word boundaries
+ being the largest unit resistant to insertion of new constituents within its
boundaries, or
+ being the smallest constituent that can be moved within a sentence
without making the sentence ungrammatical.
A word is sometimes placed, in a hierarchy of grammatical constituents,
above the morpheme level and below the phrase level.
Words sit uneasily at the boundary between morphology and syntax. In
some languages – ‘isolating’ languages, such as Vietnamese – they are plainly
low-level units, with little or no internal structure. In others – ‘polysynthetic’
languages, such as Eskimo – words-like units are highly complex forms,
equivalent to whole sentences. The concept of ‘word’ thus ranges from such
single sounds as English a topalyamunurringkujamunurtu (‘He/she definitely
did not become bad’) in the Western Desert language of Australia.
Words are usually the easiest units to identify, in the written language. In
most languages, they are the entities that have spaces on either side. (A few
languages use word dividers (e.g. Sanskrit). Because a literate society exposes
its members to these units from early childhood, we all know where to put the
spaces – apart from a small number of problems, mainly to do with
hyphenation. Should we write washing machine or should it be washing-
machine? well informed or well-informed? no one or no-one?
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 It is more difficult to decide what words are in the stream of speech,
especially in a language that has never been written down. But there are
problems, even in languages like English or French. Certainly, it is possible to
read a sentence aloud slowly, so that we can ‘hear’ the spaces between the
words; pauses do not occur between each word, as can be seen from any
acoustic record of the way people talk. Even in very hesitant speech, pauses
come at intervals, such as phrases or clauses (p.95). So if there are no audible
‘spaces’, how do we know what the words are? Linguists have spent a great
deal of time trying to devise satisfactory criteria – none of which is entirely
successful.
Five tests of word identification:
Potential pause
Say a sentence out loud, and ask someone to ‘repeat it very slowly, with
pauses’. The pauses will tend rod all between words, and not within words. For
example, the/three/little/pigs/went/to/market. But the criterion is not foolproof,
for some people will break up on syllable, e.g. mar/ket.
Indivisibility
Say a sentence out loud, and ask someone to ‘add extra words’ to it. The
extra items will be added between the words and not within them. For example,
the pig went to market might become the big pig once went straight to the
market, but we would not have such forms as pi-big-g or mar-the-ket. However,
this criterion is not perfect either, in the light of such forms as absoblooming-
lutely.
Minimal free form
The American linguist Leonard Bloomfield (1887-1949) thought of
words as ‘minimal free forms’ – that is, the smallest units of speech that can
meaningfully stand on their town. This definition does handle the majority of
words, but it cannot cope with several items which are treated as words in
writing, but which never stand on their own in natural speech, such as English
the and of, or French je (‘I’) and de (‘of’).

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Phonetic boundaries
It is sometimes possible to tell from the sound of a word where it begins
or ends. In Welsh, for example, long words generally have their stress on the
penultimate syllable, e.g ‘cartref ‘home’, car’trefi ‘homes’. In Turkish, the
vowels within a word harmonize in quality (p.161), so that if there is a marked
change in vowel quality in the stream of speech, a new word must have begun.
But there are many exceptions to such rules.
Semantic units
In the sentence Dog bites vicar, there are plainly three units of meaning,
and each unit corresponds to a word. But language is often not as neat as this. In
“I switched on the light”, the has little clear ‘meaning’, and the single action of
‘switching on’ involves two words.
We know nothing — or almost nothing — about the mechanism by
which a speaker's mental process is converted into sound groups called "words",
nor about the reverse process whereby a listener's brain converts the acoustic
phenomena into concepts and ideas, thus establishing a two-way process of
communication.
We know very little about the nature of relations between the word and
the referent (i. e. object, phenomenon, quality, action, etc. denoted by the word).
If we assume that there is a direct relation between the word and the referent —
which seems logical — it gives rise to another question: how should we explain
the fact that the same referent is designated by quite different sound groups in
different languages.
We do know by now — though with vague uncertainty — that there is
nothing accidental about the vocabulary of the language; 1 that each word is a
small unit within a vast, efficient and perfectly balanced system. But we do not
know why it possesses these qualities, nor do we know much about the
processes by which it has acquired them.

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 The list of unknowns could be extended, but it is probably high time to
look at the brighter side and register some of the things we do know about the
nature of the word.
First, we do know that the word is a unit of speech which, as such, serves
the purposes of human communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit
of communication.
Secondly, the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which
comprise it.
Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics.
The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between
the external and the internal structures of the word.
By the vocabulary of a language is understood the total sum of its words.
Another term for the same is the stock of words.
By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure.
For example, in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can be
distinguished: the prefixes post-, im-, the root press, the noun-forming suffixes -
ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality -s. All these morphemes
constitute the external structure of the word post-impressionists.
The external structure of words, and also typical word-formation patterns,
are studied in the section on word-building.
The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is nowadays commonly
referred to as the word's semantic structure. This is certainly the word's main
aspect. Words can serve the purposes of human communication solely due to
their meanings, and it is most unfortunate when this fact is ignored by some
contemporary scholars who, in their obsession with the fetish of structure tend
to condemn as irrelevant anything that eludes mathematical analysis. And this is
exactly what meaning, with its subtle variations and shifts, is apt to do.
Another structural aspect of the word is its unity. The word possesses
both external (or formal) unity and semantic unity. Formal unity of the word is
sometimes inaccurately interpreted as indivisibility. The example of post-

11
impressionists has already shown that the word is not, strictly speaking,
indivisible. Yet, its component morphemes are permanently linked together in
opposition to word-groups, both free and with fixed contexts, whose
components possess a certain structural freedom, e. g. bright light, to take for
granted.
The formal unity of the word can best be illustrated by comparing a word
and a word-group comprising identical constituents. The difference between a
blackbird and a black bird is best explained by their relationship with the
grammatical system of the language. The word blackbird, which is
characterised by unity, possesses a single grammatical framing: blackbird/s.
The first constituent black is not subject to any grammatical changes. In the
word-group a black bird each constituent can acquire grammatical forms of its
own: the blackest birds I've ever seen. Other words can be inserted between the
components which is impossible so far as the word is concerned as it would
violate its unity: a black night bird.
The same example may be used to illustrate what we mean by semantic
unity. In the word-group a black bird each of the meaningful words conveys a
separate concept: bird - a kind of living creature; black - a colour.
The word blackbird conveys only one concept: the type of bird. This is
one of the main features of any word: it always conveys one concept, no matter
how many component morphemes it may have in its external structure.
A further structural feature of the word is its susceptibility to grammatical
employment. In speech, most words can be used in different grammatical forms
in which their interrelations are realised.
So far we have only underlined the word's major peculiarities, but this
suffices to convey the general idea of the difficulties and questions faced by the
scholar attempting to give a detailed definition of the word. The difficulty does
not merely consist in the considerable number of aspects that are to be taken
into account, but, also, in the essential unanswered questions of word theory
which concern the nature of its meaning.

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 All that we have said about the word can be summed up as follows.
The word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human
communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a
meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterised by formal
and semantic unity.

2. Morpheme and allomorph

Words, though they may be definable as minimal free forms, are not the
minimal meaningful units of language we are looking for, since they can often
be broken down further. As we can see, the word hunters consists of three
meaningful parts: hunt, -er and –s. The traditional term for these minimal
meaningful units is sign. A more common term in linguistics is morpheme.
Morpheme can be defined as the smallest meaningful unit of language
(any part of a word that cannot be broken down further into smaller meaningful
parts, including the whole word itself). The word 'hunters' can be broken down
into three meaningful parts: 'hunt'; ‘-er’ and the plural suffix '-s'; neither of these
can be broken down into smaller parts that have a meaning. Therefore 'hunt'; -
‘er’ and '-s' are all morphemes.
In morpheme-based morphology, a morpheme is the smallest linguistic
unit that has a semantic meaning. In spoken language, morphemes are
composed of phonemes (the smallest linguistically distinctive units of sound),
and in written language morphemes are composed of graphemes (the smallest
units of written language).
E.g. the word ‘hunters’ is composed of 5 phonemes / h /; /˄/; /n/; /t/; /ә/ and /z/;
but this word is composed of 6 graphemes ‘h’, ‘u’, ‘n’, ‘t, ‘e’, ‘r’ and ‘s’.
The concept morpheme differs from the concept word, as many
morphemes cannot stand as words on their own. A morpheme is free if it can
stand alone, or bound if it is used exclusively alongside a free morpheme. Its
actual phonetic representation is the morph, with the morphs representing the
same morpheme being grouped as its allomorphs.
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English example:
The word "unbreakable" has three morphemes: "un-" (meaning not x), a
bound morpheme; "-break-", a free morpheme; and "-able", a bound morpheme.
"un-" is also a prefix, "-able" is a suffix. Both are affixes.
The morpheme plural-s has the morph "-s", IPA: [s], in cats ([kæts]), but "-es",
[-әz/ iz], in dishes ([disiz]), and even the voiced "-s", [z], in dogs ([dɒgz]).
These are the allomorphs of "-s". It might even change entirely into -ren in
children.
Thus, allomorphs are phonetic variants of a morpheme in a particular context,
e.g. the plural marker in English is sometimes realized as [-z], [-s ] or [-әz/Iz].
3. Types of morphemes
Morphemes can be classified according to a variety of ways.
3.1. Lexical and Grammatical morphemes
The distinction between lexical and grammatical morphemes is not well
defined although many linguists seem to agree that it is a useful division to
make. Lexical morphemes (also content morpheme) have a sense (i.e. meaning)
in and of themselves. A lexical morpheme has a relatively more specific
meaning than a grammatical or function morpheme. A lexical morpheme
names a concept/idea in our record of experience of the world (e.g. boy and big
are typical of lexical morphemes. Content morphemes fall into the classes of
noun, verb, adjective, adverb. Grammatical morphemes (function morphemes),
on the other hand, don’t really have a sense in and of themselves; instead, they
express some sort of relationship between lexical morphemes. Function
morphemes generally fall into classes such as articles ('a', 'the'), prepositions
('of', 'at'), auxiliary verbs ('was eating', 'have slept'), etc. Prepositions, articles
and conjunctions (e.g. of, the, and but…) are typical of grammatical
morphemes.
3.2. Free and Bound morphemes
In contrast to the division between lexical and grammatical morphemes,
the distinction between free and bound morphemes is straightforward. Free

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morphemes are morphemes that can stand alone as an independent word. They
may be lexical (e.g. 'item'). Free morphemes like town, dog can appear with
other lexical items (as in town hall or dog house).
Bound morphemes (or affixes), on the other hand, are morphemes that
cannot stand alone as an independent word, but must be attached to another
morpheme/word (affixes, such as plural '-s', are always bound). Roots are
sometimes bound, e.g. the 'kep-' of 'kept' or the '-ceive' of 'receive'. Bound
morphemes like "un-" appear only together with other morphemes to form a
lexeme. Bound morphemes in general tend to be prefixes and suffixes.
Unproductive, non-affix morphemes that exist only in bound form are known as
"cranberry" morphemes, from the "cran" in that very word.
3.3. Root and Affixes
Affixes are bound morphemes which attach to a base (root or stem).
Prefixes attach to the front of a base; suffixes to the end of a base; infixes are
inserted inside of a root. An example of a prefix is 're-' of 'rewrite'; of a suffix, '-
al' of 'critical'.
3.4. Base, Stem and Root morphemes
Another distinction between base, stem and root morphemes can be said
to be still controversial among linguists. Root morphemes are (usually free)
morphemes around which words can be built up through the addition of affixes.
The root usually has a more specific meaning than the affixes that attach to it.
For example, the root 'kind' can have affixes added to it to form 'kindly',
'kindness', 'kinder', 'kindest'. The root is the item you have left when you strip
all other morphemes off a complex word. In the word dehumanizing, for
example, if you strip off all the affixes -ing, -ize, and de-, human is what you
have left. It cannot be divided further into meaningful parts. It is the root of the
word.
Base can be defined as an element (free or bound, root morpheme or
complex word) to which additional morphemes are added. It is also called a
stem. A base can consist of a single root morpheme, as with 'kind' of 'kindness'.

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But a base can also be a word that itself contains more than one morpheme. For
example, we can use the word 'kindness' as a base to form the word 'kindnesses';
to make 'kindnesses', we add the plural morpheme, spelled '-es' in this case, to
the base 'kindness'.
3.5. Inflectional and Derivational morphemes
This distinction applies only to the class of bound, grammatical
morphemes. The more familiar term for the class of bound grammatical
morphemes is affix consisting of prefix and suffix as mentioned above.
Derivational morphemes are those that can be added to a word to create
(derive) another word with new meaning and/or new syntactic category. For
example, the addition of "-ness" to "happy," for example, to give "happiness."
Inflectional morphemes do not change the meaning or syntactic
category of a word. They just modify a word’s form to mark the sub-
grammatical classes to which this word belongs. An inflectional morpheme can
mark a word's grammar category such as tense, number, aspect, and so on (e.g.
plural marker -s as in the word dogs or possessive marker ‘s as in Tom’s car).
Besides these distinctions, morphemes can be defined in terms of their
position within the word as prefix (the ones that occur in front of a base form);
suffix (the one that is added to the end of the base form). The main classes of
bound morphemes are the prefixes and suffixes; but infixes are also possible -
an infix which is inserted within a stem. The nearest we get to this in English is
emphatic forms such as abso-blooming-lutely awful. Other instances of this kind
of affixes can be found with expletives, providing a kind of extra emphasis, as
in the following examples:
guaran-damn-tee
abso-bloody-lutely

3.6. The difference between Lexical and Grammatical Morphemes

Lexical morphemes can be distinguished from grammatical morphemes
according to the following criteria:

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 1) Morphemic status:
Lexical morphemes tend to come as free, independent words.
Grammatical morphemes tend to appear as bound morphemes or affixes
(prefixes or suffixes).
2) Word size:
Lexical morphemes tend to be large (long).
Grammatical morphemes tend to be small (short).
3) Stress:
A lexical morpheme in English carries one primary word-stress.
Grammatical morphemes tend to be unstressed.
4) Meaning:
Lexical morphemes tend to be semantically complex with a cluster of
highly specific semantic features. Grammatical morphemes tend to be
semantically simple to code a single general feature.
5) Class size:
Lexical morphemes come in a few large class. Grammatical morphemes
come in many small classes.
6) Membership:
The membership of a lexical class is relatively open; new members join
regularly and old members drop out. The membership of a grammatical
morpheme is relatively closed and
grammatical change is usually involved when members are added or subtracted.
7) Function:
Grammatical morphemes partake in making structure of clause. The
function of lexical morphemes is to create new words from existing ones.
morphemic word class
Criterion stress meaning membership function
status size size
Lexical
free large stressed complex large open knowledge
morpheme
Gram. grammar
bound small un- simple small closed
morpheme

17
3.7. Morpheme problems
Not all words can be analysed into morphemes so easily. In English, for
example, it is difficult to know how to analyse irregular nouns, and verbs: feet is
the plural of foot, but it is not obvious how to identify a plural morpheme in the
word, analogous to the -s ending of horses. Another example is that the extra - r
turns up in the plural of child in English - child-r-en. This extra -r in English
word form children does not seem belong to anywhere. Its use is automatic in
this word. Effects of this kind complicate morphological analysis - and add to
its fascination.

Morphemes

Lexical Grammatical

Free Bound Free Bound

Nouns Prepositions
Verbs Articles
Adjectives Conjunctions
Inflectional Derivational
E.g. compress E.g. subvert E.g. at E.g. girls E.g. teacher
depress invert the works unhappy
repress convert and worked happiness
suppress pervert but taller happily

Figure 1. Division of morphemes into various types

18
UNIT 2: WORD STRUCTURE

1. TYPES OF WORDS: SIMPLE VS COMPLEX WORDS

There are two basic types of words in human language - simple and
complex. Simple words are those that cannot be broken down into smaller
meaningful units while complex words can be analyzed into constituent parts.
The word houses, for example, is made up of the form house and the plural
marker –s, neither of which can be divided into smaller morphemes. While
many English words consist of only one morpheme, others can contain two,
three, or more (see Table 1).
Table 1: Words consisting of one or more morphemes
One morpheme Two Three More than three
And
Boy boy-s
Hunt hunt-er hunt-er-s
Hospital hospital-ize hospital-ize-ation hospital-ize-ation-s
Gentle gentle-man gentle-man-ly gentle-man-li-ness

Morphology deals with the internal structure of complex worlds. The

word of any language can be divided into two broad types of categories, closed
and open, of which the latter are most relevant to morphology. The closed
categories are the function words: pronouns like you and she; conjunctions like
and, if, and because; determiners like a and the; and a few others. Newly coined
or borrowed words cannot be added to these categories, which is why we say
that they are closed. The categories of words that open are the major lexical
categories: noun (N), verb (V), adjective (A), and adverb (Adv). It is to the
categories that new words may be added. Because the major problem of
morphology is now people make up and understand words that they have never
encountered before, morphology is concerned largely with major lexical
categories.
Each word that is a member of a major lexical category is called a lexical
item. A lexical item can best be thought of as an entry in a dictionary: A
19
lexicon. The entry for each lexical item will include, in addition to the
pronunciation (phonology), information about its meaning (semantics), what
lexical category it belongs, and in what syntactic environments it may occur
(subcategorization).
Thus, a simple word is a word consisting of a single morpheme; a word
that cannot be analyzed into smaller meaningful parts, e.g. 'item', 'five', 'chunk',
'the'. A complex word is a word consisting of a root plus one or more affixes
(e.g. 'items', 'walked', 'dirty'). Besides these two types of words, we can also
have compound words which can be defined as words that are formed from two
or more simple or complex words (e.g. landlord, red-hot, window cleaner).
The analysis of morphological structure is based on a number of
fundamental contrasts. The first involves the distinction between a free
morpheme, which can constitute a word by itself, and a bound morpheme,
which must be attached to another element. The morpheme house, for example,
is free since it can be used as a word on its own; plural – s, on the other hand, is
bound.
2. WORD STRUCTURE
Like sentences, complex words such as builder and gentlemanly have an
internal structure. At least, we can readily see that the word builder is composed
of two morphemes: build and –er, and the word gentlemanly is composed of 3
morphemes: gentle, -man and -ly. In this section, we will consider the categories
and representation that are relevant to the analysis of words structure.
What sort of structure do complex words have? The word denationalization
contains five morphemes: de nation al ize ation. It is an essential point that
these five parts have to put together in a particular way, with a particular
arrangement and order. For example, none of these possible orders of the same
five morphemes constitute an English word:
* ationizalnationde
* alizdeationnation
* nationdeizational

20
 In fact, of the 120 possible arrangements of these five morphemes, only
one denationalization, could be an English word. The order is so strict because
each of the bound morphemes is an affix, a morpheme which not only must be
bound, but must be bound in a particular position. Furthermore, reach affix
attaches only to a particular lexica; category (either N or V or A), called its
base, and results in a word of another particular lexical category. The negative
affix de-, for example, attaches to verbs and forms other verbs:
ionize deionize
segregate desegregate
Similarly, the affix –al forms adjectives from nouns, -ize forms verbs
from adjectives or nouns, and –ation forms nouns from verbs.
Given these restrictions, the structure of the word denationalization can
best be seen as the result of beginning with the simple form nation, which we
may call the roof of the word, and adding affixes successively, one at a time, as
follows:
nation
national
nationalize
denationalize
denationalization
The structure of an entire word may be represented by means of either a
set of labeled brackets or a tree diagram. The two types of notation are for the
most part interchangeable. Both are shown in the figure. The diagram reveals
how the word begins at its root.

21
2.1. The tree diagram and bracket diagram of the words with suffixes
Let’s consider the word ‘nationalization’ below
N

V Af

A Af

N Af

nation al ize ation

[[[[nation]Nal]Aize]Vation]N

Figure 2: The representation of the internal structure of ‘nationalization’

Figure 2 shows the building up levels of the word nationalization is

developed to the right side of the word where the affix ation is located at the
farthest end of the word.
To count the number of the morphemes that a word in question may
consist we can use a simpler system of representation that indicates the location
of the morphemes boundaries:
il-legal; hospital-ize; nation-al-ize-ation.
2.2. The tree diagram and bracket diagram of the words with both prefixes
and suffixes
In some cases, the internal structure of a complex word is not obvious.
The word unhappiness, for instances, could apparently be analyzed in either of
the ways indicated in Figure 3a-b. By considering the properties of the affixes
un- and –ness, however, it is possible to find an argument that favors Figure 3a
over Figure 3b. The key observation here is that the prefix un- combines quite
freely with adjectives, but not with nouns as shown in Table on page (The
advertiser’s uncola is an exception to this rule and therefore attracts the

22
attention of the reader or listener). This suggests that un-must combine with the
adjective.
N N

A Af
Af N

Af A A Af

un happy ness un happy ness

[[un [happy ]A]A ness]N [[un [ happy ]A ness ]N]N

Figure 3. The representation of the internal structure of ‘unhappiness’

With the argument mentioned above, the internal structure of the word
denationalization can be represented as in Figure 4 below.

V Af

Af V

A Af

N Af

de nation al ize ation

[[de[[[centre]N al]Aize]V]Vation]N

Figure 4: The representation of the internal structure of ‘decentralization’

23
UNIT 3: WORD FORMATION

A characteristic of all human being languages is the potential to create

new words. The categories of noun, verb, adjective, and adverb are open in the
sense that new members are constantly being added. The two most common
types of word formation are derivation and compounding, both of which create
new words from already existing morphemes. Derivation is the morphological
process by which a new word is built from a base, usually through the addition
of an affix. Compounding, on the other hand, is a process involving the
combination of two words (with or without accompanying affixes) to yield a
new word. The noun helper, for example, is related to the verb help via
derivation; the compound word mailbox, in contrast, is created from the words
mail and box.

1. INFLECTIONAL AND DERIVATIONAL

Two main fields are traditionally recognized within morphology.
Inflectional morphology studies the way in which words vary (or ‘inflect’) in
order to express grammatical contrasts in sentences, such as singular/plural or
past/present tense. In older grammar books, this branch of the subject was
referred to as ‘accidence’. Boy and boys, for example, are two forms of the
‘same’ word; the choice between them, singular vs plural, is a matter of
grammar, and thus the business of inflectional morphology. Derivational
morphology, however, studies the principles governing the construction of new
words, without references to the specific grammatical role of a word might play
in a sentence. In the formation of drinkable from drink, or disinfect from infect,
for example, we see the formation of different words, with their own
grammatical properties.
1.1. English inflectional morphology
A. Definition:
Inflection is a process by which affixes combine with roots to indicate
basic grammatical categories such as tense or plurality (e.g. in 'cat-s', 'talk-ed', '-

24
s' an d'-ed' are inflectional suffixes). Inflection is viewed as the process of
adding very general meanings to existing words, not as the creation of new
words.
English has only three categories of meaning which are expressed
inflectionally, known as inflectional categories. They are number in nouns,
tense/aspect in verbs, and comparison in adjectives. Within these categories,
English has a remarkably small inventory of affixes, by comparison with
languages such as Spanish or Russian. English does not always use affixes to
express these categories (see the discussion of irregular morphology).

B. Inflectional categories and affixes of English

Regular and irregular inflectional morphology

Word class to
Regular affix used to express
which inflection Inflectional category
category
applies
Nouns Number -s, -es: book/books, bush/bushes
Possessive -'s, -': the cat's tail, Charles' toe
Verbs 3rd person singular -s, -es: it rains, Karen writes, the
present water sloshes
past tense -ed: paint/painted
perfect aspect ed: paint/painted ('has painted)
(past participle)
progressive or -ing: fall/falling, write/writing
continuous aspect (present participle)
Adjectives comparative -er: tall/taller
(comparing two items)
superlative -est: tall/tallest
(comparing +2 items)

25
Here are some ways English inflectional morphology is irregular:
Type of Verbs: past
Noun plurals Verbs: past tense
irregularity participle
Unusual suffix oxen, syllabi, taken, seen,
antennae fallen, eaten
Change of stem foot/feet, run/ran, swim/swum,
vowel mouse/mice come/came, sing/sung
flee/fled,
meet/met,
fly/flew,
stick/stuck,
get/got,
break/broke
Change of stem brother/brethren/ feel/felt, write/written,
vowel with kneel/knelt do/done,
unusual suffix break/broken,
fly/flown
send/sent, send/sent,
Change in bend/bent, bend/bent,
base/stem form think/thought, think/thought,
(sometimes with teach/taught, teach/taught,
unusual suffix) buy/bought buy/bought
Zero-marking deer, sheep, hit, beat hit, beat, come
(no suffix, no moose, fish
stem change)

More ways inflection can be irregular:

Suppletion (instead of a suffix, the whole word changes):
be - am - are - is - was - were - been
go - went - gone
26
 good - better - best
bad - worse - worst
some - more - most
Syntactic marking (added meanings are indicated by a separate word rather
than marking with a suffix or change to the base):
Future of verbs: will go, will eat, will fight, etc.
Comparative/superlative of adjectives: more intelligent, more expensive, etc.;
most intelligent, most expensive, etc.
1.2. English derivational morphology
A. Definition:
Derivation is the process by which affixes combine with roots to create
new words (e.g. in 'modern-ize', 'read-er', '-ize' and '-er' are derivational
suffixes). Derivation is viewed as using existing words to make new words. The
inflection/derivation difference is increasingly viewed as shades of gray rather
than an absolute boundary. Derivation is much less regular, and therefore much
less predictable, than inflectional morphology. For example, we can predict that
most English words will form their plural by adding the affix <-s> or <-es>. But
how we derive nouns from verbs, for example, is less predictable. Why do we
add <-al> to 'refuse', making 'refusal', but '-ment' to 'pay' to make 'payment'?
'Payal' and 'refusement' are not possible English words. We have to do more
memorizing in learning derivational morphology than in learning inflectional
morphology.
B. Characteristics:
1) Category Change:
Derivation often changes the category (the part of speech) of the word or
base morpheme
e.g. sing (V) + er singer (N), especially when the affix is added to the end
of the base.
Derivation creates a new word by changing the category and/or the
meaning of the base which it applied
e.g. the derivational affix - er combines with a verb to create a noun with the
meaning “one who does X”
27
E.g. work V + er workerN
N

V Af
Work er

2) Derivational Rules:
Derivational rules can help predict how words may be formed in English,
E.g. From the rule: un + Adjective X unX meaning not X
we can predict un + harmonious (A) means “not harmonious”
Derivational rules can also help analyse words, e.g. those who may not
know the word trainer before can consider the use of –er in the sense of “one
who does X” with bases whose category can be determined as a verb. Thus,
trainee may mean an object of the act of training
3) Multiple derivations:
Derivation can create multiple levels of word structure consistent with
the word formation rules and in terms the feeding rule or bleeding rule, e.g. for
the structure of organizational, the outmost affix -al forms adjectives from
nouns, - ation forms nouns from verbs, and –ize forms verbs from nouns.
4) Phonological constraint:
Sometimes, a particular derivational affix is added to attach only to stems
with particular phonological properties.
E.g. the English suffix –en + adjectives verbs with a causative meaning
is restricted to only monosyllabic stems that end in an obstruent.
E.g. white + en whiten but *abstracten (-) or *greenen (-)
Below is a sample of some English derivational affixes. This is only a
sample; there are far more affixes than presented here.

28
Some derivational affixes of English

No AFFIX CHANGE SEMANTIC EFFECTS EXAMPLES

1 -able V→ A able to be X’ed/ can undergo X Understandable
2 -ation V→N the result of X’ing translation
process or state of X starvation,
exploration
3 -er V→N one who X’s Worker
4 -ing V→N + activity connected with X cricketing,
N→N + with reference to material of farming
which X is made matting,

V→N + result from action of X carpeting

V→N + the act of X’ing building, opening

+ in the process of X’ing the shooting
V→A
the sleeping man
5 -ful N→A full of/providing X delightful, pitiful
N→A amount contained in X spoonful, glassful
6 -ion V→N the result of act of X’ing Protection
7 -ive V→A having the property of doing X Predictive
8 -ment V→N the act or result of X’ing Achievement
9 -al N→A pertaining to X National
2 -ial N→A pertaining to X Managerial
10 -ian N→A pertaining to X Canadian
11 -ic N→A having the property of X Organic
12 -ize N→V put in X Materialize
13 -less N→A without X Penniless
14 -ous N→A the property of having or being X Advantageous
15 -ate A→V make X Activate
16 -ity A→N the result of being X stupidity, priority

29
17 -ize A→V make X Modernize
18 -ly A →Adv in an X manner Quietly
19 -ness A→N the state of being X happiness,
sadness
20 -age N →N measure of X/collection of X baggage, frontage
21 -ery N →N condition/behavior associated with slavery,
A→ N X bravery
22 -wise N →Adv in relation to dimension of X clockwise
so far as X is concerned education-wise,
money-wise
23 -ism A→N doctrine of X/practice of X idealism,
N →N impressionism
24 - N →N government by X democracy,
ocracy meritocracy
25 -eer N →N skilled/engaged in X auctioneer,
profiteer
26 -let N →N small, unimportant booklet, piglet,
starlet
27 -ster N →N involved in X Gangster
28 -ant V→ N agential/ one who X informant
29 -ee V→N object of X payee, trainee
30 -ment V→N result of X arrangement,
amazement
31 -ed N →A having X simple-minded,
wooded
32 -ish N→A somewhat like X childish, snobbish
N →N name of races/peoples/language of Swedish, Turkish
X

30
33 -ly N→A having qualities of X womanly,
cowardly
34 -y N→A characterized by/somewhat like X sandy, creamy,
hairy
35 re- V →V X again Rethink
36 a- N→N lacking/lack of X amoral, anarchy,
atheist
37 dis- V →V converse of X disobey, disloyal
reversing the action of X disconnect,
dispossess
38 in- A→A not/converse of X incompetent
39 non- N→N not X non-smoker
A→ A non-perishable

40 un- A→A not/converse of X unwise,

unforgettable
V→V reverse X untie, unfasten
41 de- N→V reversing the action of X defrost
V→V denationalize
42 mal- V →V bad manner of X maltreat
N→N malnutrition
43 mis- V →V wrong manner of X miscalculate
misconduct
44 ex- N→N former X ex-president
45 sur- A→A over and above X surcharge, surtax
46 under- V → V too little of X Underestimate
47 pro- N→N for/on the side of X pro-communist

31
1.3. Inflection vs Derivation
Inflection can be distinguished from derivation according to the
following criteria:
1) Category Change:
Inflectional affixes never change either the category (the part of speech)
or the type of meaning of the base morpheme, e.g. both eat and eats are verbs
with the same content or meaning. On the other hand, derivational affixes
characteristically change the category and/or the type of meaning of the form to
which they applied,
E.g. modern (A) + ize modernize (V)
(property X) + ize (action/ process of X)
2) Positioning within the word:
Inflectional affixes are the last member to be added to the base
morpheme, following derivational affixes, e.g. in modernize – modernizes, the
inflectional –s follows the derivational affix –ize. If an inflectional suffix is
added to a verb, as with modernizes, then no further derivational suffixes can be
added, e.g. [ [disDER [appear] V]V sINF]V
3) Productivity:
Inflectional affixes typically have very few exceptions, e.g. the suffix –s
can combine with any noun that allows a plural form. In contrast, derivational
affixes characteristically apply to restricted classes of stems,
e.g. terror (N) + ize terrorize (V)
but horror (N) + ize horrorize (V) (-)
Besides the principles mentioned above, it can be seen that inflection
makes use of only suffixes whereas derivation utilizes either prefixes or
suffixes.
E.g. Inflectional affixes: suffix Derivational affixes: both prefixes and suffixes
worked co-worker
inflectional derivational derivational

32
Further reading From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Derivation (linguistics)
In linguistics, derivation is a morphological process to create new words by
changing the category and/or the meaning of the base to which it applies. The
derivational affixes –er, for instances, combines with a verb to create a noun
with the meaning “one who does X or simply ‘one who Xs’ with X stands for
an action denoted by a verb. By another definition, derivation is "used to form
new words, as with happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination
from determine. A contrast is intended with the process of inflection, which
uses another kind of affix in order to form variants of the same word, as with
determine/determine-s/determin-ing/determin-ed." (Crystal, David (1999): The
Penguin Dictionary of Language. - Penguin Books - England.)
A derivational suffix usually applies to words of one syntactic category and
changes them into words of another syntactic category. For example, the
English derivational suffix-ly changes adjectives into adverbs (slow → slowly).
Some examples of English derivational suffixes:
adjective-to-noun: -ness (slow → slowness)
adjective-to-verb: -ise (modern → modernise)
noun-to-adjective: -al (recreation → recreational)
noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → glorify)
verb-to-adjective: -able (drink → drinkable)
verb-to-noun: -ance (deliver → deliverance)
Although derivational affixes do not necessarily modify the syntactic category,
they modify the meaning of the base. In many cases, derivational affixes change
both the syntactic category and the meaning: modern → modernize ("to make
modern"). The modification of meaning is sometimes predictable: Adjective +
ness → the state of being (Adjective); (stupid→ stupidness).
A prefix (write → re-write; lord → over-lord) will rarely change syntactic
category in English. The derivational prefixun- applies to adjectives (healthy →
unhealthy), some verbs (do → undo), but rarely nouns. A few exceptions are the
33
prefixes en- and be-. En- (em- before labials) is usually used as a transitive
marker on verbs, but can also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form
transitive verb: circle (verb) → encircle (verb); but rich (adj) → enrich (verb),
large (adj) → enlarge (verb), rapture (noun) → enrapture (verb), slave (noun)
→ enslave(verb). The prefix be-, though not as productive as it once was in
English, can function in a similar way to en- to mark transitivity, but can also be
attached to nouns, often in a causative or privative sense: siege (noun) →
besiege (verb), jewel (noun) → bejewel (verb), head (noun) → behead (verb).
Note that derivational affixes are bound morphemes. In that, derivation differs
from compounding, by which free morphemes are combined (lawsuit, Latin
professor). It also differs from inflection in that inflection does not change a
word's syntactic category and creates not new lexemes but new word forms
(table → tables; open → opened).
Another type of derivation may occur without any change of form, for example
telephone (noun) and to telephone. This is known as conversion. Some linguists
consider that when a word's syntactic category is changed without any change
of form, a null morpheme is being affixed.

2. Compounding
A. Definition:
Compounding is a morphological process to create new words by joining 2 or
more words (simple or complex).
Examples: skateboard, whitewash, cat lover, self-help, red-hot, etc.
B. Characteristics:
1) Productivity: Compounding is highly productive in English. Compounds
may be found in all lexical categories, e.g. compound noun: boyfriend;
compound verb: team-teach; compound adjective: easy-going
2) Structural status of constituent members:
Constituent members of a compound are not equal: the lexical category
of the last member of the compound is the same as that of the entire compound;
34
the first member (the dependent) is often a modifier of the second (the head) of
the compound, e.g. bookstore is a store that sells books.
V
hand-wash

N V
hand wash
Dependent Head
3) Grammatical status:
The Head undergoes inflection, e.g. hand-wash → hand-washed
4) Number of structural members: the basic compounding operation is always
binary, i.e. a compound never has more than two constituents though it may
contain more than 2 words.

A N

A V N N

N Af V Af V Af

ease y go ing lady kill er

5) Inter-relationships between compounding and derivation:

Compounding and derivation may feed each other, i.e. the members of a
compound are often themselves derivationally complex, and sometimes a
compound may serve as a base of a derivational affix, e.g.

35
 Derivation feeds Compounding Compounding feeds Derivation
A N

A V N N

N Af V Af V Af

ease y go ing brain washing ing

6) Stress Distribution:
The first component of a compound is pronounced more prominently
than the second whereas in non-compounds, the second element is stressed, e.g.
‘GREENhouse (compound)
green ‘HOUSE (non-compound)
C. Types:
Compounds can be classified according to a variety of ways:
1) According to meaning:
a. Non-idiomatic compounds: e.g. salesgirl, goalkeeper
b. Idiomatic compounds: e.g. lip-service, blackleg
2) According to componential relationship:
a. Coordinative compounds: e.g. actor-manager; Anglo-Saxon
b. Subordinative compounds: e.g. book-keeper; boyfriend
3) According to part of speech:
a. Compound Nouns: e.g. girlfriend
b. Compound Verbs: team-teach
c. Compound Adjectives: e.g. easy-going
d. Compound Adverbs: e.g. whole-heartedly
e. Compound Prepositions: e.g. into
4) According to Compositional types:
a. Compound formed by juxtaposition: e.g. backache, heart-broken
b. Compound formed by morphological means: e.g. handicraft
36
 c. Compound formed by syntactical means: e.g. cash-and-carry
d. Compound formed by both morphological and syntactical means:
e. e.g. long-legged

Further reading From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Compound (linguistics)
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (a word) that consists of more than one
other lexeme.
An endocentric compound consists of a head, i.e. the categorical part that
contains the basic meaning of the whole compound, and modifiers, which
restrict this meaning. For example, the English compound doghouse, where
house is the head and dog is the modifier, is understood as a house intended for
a dog. Endocentric compounds tend to be of the same part of speech (word
class) as their head, as in the case of doghouse. (Such compounds were called
karmadharaya in the Sanskrit tradition.)
Exocentric compounds do not have a head, and their meaning often cannot be
transparently guessed from its constituent parts. For example, the English
compound white-collar is neither a kind of collar nor a white thing. In an
exocentric compound, the word class is determined lexically, disregarding the
class of the constituents. For example, a must-have is not a verb but a noun.
In the Sanskrit tradition, the type of exocentric compound exemplified by white-
collar is called a bahuvrihi compound. The meaning of this type of compound
can be glossed as "(one) whose B is A", where B is the second element of the
compound and A the first. A bahuvrihi compound is one whose nature is
expressed by neither of the words: thus, a white-collar person is neither white
nor a collar (the collar's colour is a metaphor for socioeconomic status). Other
English examples include barefoot and Blackbeard.
Composition should not be confused with derivation, where bound morphemes
are added to free ones.

37
A special kind of composition is incorporation, of which noun incorporation
into a verbal root (as in English backstabbing, breastfeed, etc.) is most prevalent
(see below).
While the notion of compound has been very important, clear definitions that
work even within one language (much less across languages) have not been
articulated. The study of compounds in English, for example, often includes
expressions that are written as two words. This lack of precision and agreement
has hampered the cross-linguistic study of compounds and even a good study
within English.
Formation of compounds
Compound formation rules vary widely across language types.
In a perfectly analytic language, compounds are simply elements strung
together without any markers. In English, for example, science fiction is a
compound noun that consists of two nouns and no markers.
Compounds can be rather long when translating technical documents from
English to, for example, Swedish. "Motion estimation search range settings" can
be directly translated to rörelseuppskattningssökningsintervallsinställning; the
length of the word is theoretically unlimited.
Compound types
Compound nouns
Most natural languages have compound nouns and sometimes compound
adjectives. The positioning of the language, i. e. the most common order of
constituents in phrases where nouns are modified by adjectives, by possessors,
by other nouns, etc. While Germanic languages, for example, are left-branching
when it comes to noun phrases (the modifiers come before the head), the
Romance languages are usually right-branching.
Verb-noun compounds
A type of compound that is fairly common in the Indo-European languages is
formed of a verb and its object, and in effect transforms a simple verbal clause
into a noun.

38
This construction exists in English, generally with the verb and noun both in
uninflected form: examples are spoilsport, killjoy, breakfast, cutthroat,
pickpocket, dreadnought, and know-nothing.
Also common in English is another type of verb-noun (or noun-verb)
compound, in which an argument of the verb is incorporated into the verb,
which is then usually turned into a gerund, such as breastfeeding, finger-
pointing, etc. The noun is often an instrumental complement. From these
gerunds, new verbs can be made: (a mother) breastfeeds (a child) and from
them new compounds mother-child breastfeeding, etc.
Verb-verb compounds
Verb-verb compounds are sequences of more than one verb acting together to
determine clause structure. They are of two types:
Serial verb expressions in English may include What did you go and do that
for? or He just upped and left; this is however not quite a true compound since
they are connected by a conjunction and the second missing arguments may be
taken as a case of ellipsis.
In a compound verb (or complex predicate), one of the verbs is the primary,
and determines the primary semantics and also the argument structure. The
secondary verb, often called a vector verb or explicator, provides fine
distinctions, usually in temporality or aspect, and also carries the inflection
(tense and/or agreement markers). The main verb usually appears in conjunctive
participial (sometimes zero) form.
Compound verb equivalents in English (examples from the internet):
What did you go and do that for?
If you are not giving away free information on your web site then a huge
proportion of your business is just upping and leaving.
Big Pig, she took and built herself a house out of brush.
Compound prepositions
Compound prepositions formed by prepositions and nouns are common in
English and the Romance languages (consider English on top of, Spanish

39
encima de, etc.). Japanese shows the same pattern, except the word order is the
opposite (with postpositions): no naka (lit. "of inside on", i.e. "on the inside
of").
Bahuvrihi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A bahuvrīhí (बहुव्रीहह), or bahuvrihi compound, is a type of nominal

compound
that refers to something that is not specified by any of its parts by themselves
(i.e., it is headless or exocentric, its core semantic value being subsumed by an
elliptical or 'external' semantic value so that the compound is not a hyponym of
the head), especially a compound that refers to a possessor of an object
specified: a bahuvrihi compound XY tends to mean someone or something
which has a Y, and that Y has the characteristic X. For instance, a sabertooth
(smil-odon) is neither a saber nor a tooth: it is an extinct feline with saber-like
fangs. English bahuvrihis often describe people by referring to specific
properties: flatfoot, half-wit, highbrow, lowlife, redhead, tenderfoot, longlegs,
and white-collar. Many of these are colloquial, pejorative, or both.
The term bahuvrihi was first used by Sanskrit grammarians, and is a specific
Sanskrit example: a compound consisting of bahu (much) and vrihi (rice).
The last constituent in a Sanskrit bahuvrihi is a noun, more strictly: a nominal
stem. The whole compound is an adjective and agrees in gender and number
with the head. The accent is regularly on the first member (tatpurusharāja-pútra
"a king's son", but bahuvrihirājá-putra "having kings as sons" (vizrājá-putra-
(m.) "father of kings", rājá-putrā- (f.) "mother of kings"), with the exception of
a number of non-nominal prefixes such as the privative a; the word "bahuvrīhí"
is itself likewise an exception to this rule.
Recent trends
Although there is no universally agreed-upon guideline regarding the use of
compound words in the English language, in recent decades written English has
displayed a noticeable trend towards increased use of compounds. Moreover,
40
although English does not form compound nouns to the extent of Dutch or
German, such constructions as "Girl Scout troop", "city council member", and
"cellar door" are arguably compound nouns and used as such in speech. Writing
them as separate words is merely an orthographic convention.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_%28linguistics%29"

3. Other Ways of creating new words in English

Along with derivation and compounding, English makes use of some other
morphological processes to create new words.
3.1. Zero derivation: (also called conversion or functional shift):
In this process, there is no adding of affixes but it is simply using a word of one
category as a word of another category. It is a process by which a new word is
created without any affix but just by assigning a new syntactic category to the
already existing word.
Examples: Noun verb: comb, sand, knife, butter, referee, proposition.
3.2. Stress shift:
In this morphological process, no affix is added to the base, but the stress
is shifted from one syllable to the other. With the stress shift comes a change in
category.
Noun Verb
cómbine combíne
ímplant implánt
réwrite rewríte
tránsport transpórt
Noun Adjective
cóncrete concréte
ábstract abstráct

3.3. Clipping: A new word is created by shortening of a polysyllabic word.

Examples: bro (< brother)
pro (< professional)
41
 prof (< professor)
math (< mathematics)
veg (< 'vegetate', as in veg out in front of the TV)
sub (< substitute or submarine).

3.4. Acronym formation:

New words are formed from the initials of a group of words that
designate one concept. Usually, but not always, capitalized. An acronym is
pronounced as a word if the consonants and vowels line up in such a way as to
make this possible, otherwise it is pronounced as a string of letter names.
Examples: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)
radar (radio detecting and ranging), NFL (National Football League)
AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial
Organizations)

3.5. Blending: Parts (which are not morphemes) of two already-existing words
are put together to form a new word.
Examples: motel (motor hotel)
brunch (breakfast & lunch)
smog (smoke & fog)
telethon (television & marathon)
modem (modulator & demodulator)
Spanglish (Spanish & English).
3.6. Back formation:
A suffix identifiable from other words is cut off of a base which has
previously not been a word; that base then is used as a root, and becomes a
word through widespread use.
Examples: pronunciate (< pronunciation < pronounce)

42
 resurrect (< resurrection)
enthuse (< enthusiasm)
self-destruct (< self-destruction < destroy)
burgle (< burglar)
attrit (< attrition)
This differs from clipping in that, in clipping, some phonological part of
the word which is not interpretable as an affix or word is cut off (e.g. the '-essor'
of 'professor' is not a suffix or word; nor is the '-ther' of 'brother'. In
backformation, the bit chopped off is a recognizable affix or word ('ham ' in
'hamburger'), '-ion' in 'self-destruction'. Backformation is the result of a false but
plausible morphological analysis of the word; clipping is a strictly phonological
process that is used to make the word shorter. Clipping is based on syllable
structure, not morphological analysis. It is impossible for you to recognize
backformed words or come up with examples from your own knowledge of
English, unless you already know the history of the word. Most people do not
know the history of the words they know; this is normal.
3.7. Adoption of brand names as common words:
By this process, a brand name becomes the name for the item or process
associated with the brand name. The word ceases to be capitalized and acts as a
normal verb/noun (i.e. takes inflections such as plural or past tense). The
companies using the names usually have copyrighted them and object to their
use in public documents, so they should be avoided in formal writing (or a
lawsuit could follow!)
Examples: xerox, kleenex, band-aid, kitty litter.
3.8. Onomatopoeia/sound imitation (pronounced: 'onno-motto-pay-uh'):
This is a process based on the phonetic motivation by which new words
are invented which (to native speakers at least) sound like the sound they name
or the entity which produces the sound.
Examples: hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, cock-a-doodle-doo, buzz, beep, ding-dong.

43
3.9. Borrowing:
A word is taken from another language. It may be adapted to the
borrowing language's phonological system to varying degrees.
Examples: skunk, tomato (from indigenous languages of the Americas)
sushi, taboo, wok (from Pacific Rim languages)
chic, shmuck, macho, spaghetti, dirndl, psychology, telephone,
physician, education (from European languages)
hummus, chutzpah, cipher, artichoke (from Semitic languages)
yam, tote, banana (from African languages).

Further reading From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Suppletion
In linguistics and etymology, suppletion is the use of one word as the inflected
form of another word when the two words are not cognate. Suppletion in a
particular language, as demonstrated below, occurs overwhelmingly in lexical
items which arise particularly often. Many suppletive forms are known to
learners of languages simply as /irregular/.
Here are some examples: In English, the past tense of the verb /go/ is /went/,
which comes from the past tense of the verb /wend/, archaic in this sense. (The
modern past tense of /wend/ is /wended/.) There is also a suppletive use of the
perfect tense of /be/ to distinguish an experiential sense ("He has been to
France") from a resultative sense ("He has gone to France").
The English adverb form of "good" is the unrelated word "well," from Old
English /wel/, cognate to /wyllan/ "to wish." In English, the complicated
irregular verb /be / is / were/ has forms from several different roots: /be/
originally comes from the Proto-Indo-European language /bhu-/; /am/, /is/ and
/are/ from / es-/, and /was/ and /were/ from / wes-/. Click here to find out more!
This verb is suppletive in most IE languages. See Indo-European copula. An
incomplete suppletion in English exists with the plural of /person/ (from the
Latin /persona/). The regular plural /persons/ occurs mainly in legalistic use.

44
The singular of the unrelated noun /people/ (from Latin /populus/) is more
commonly used in place of the plural, e.g. "two people were living on a one-
person salary" (note the plural verb). In its original sense of "ethnic group",
/people/ is itself a singular noun with regular plural /peoples/
Conversion
Conversion, also called zero (linguistics) derivation, is a kind of word
formation; specifically, it is the creation of a word from an existing word
without any change in form. Conversion is more productive in some languages
than in others; in English it is a fairly productive process. Often a word of one
lexical category (part of speech) is converted from a word of another lexical
category; for example, the noun /green/ in golf <#> (referring to a putting-
green) is derived ultimately from the adjective /green/. Conversions from
adjectives to nouns and vice versa are both very common and unnotable in
English; much more remarked upon is /verbing /, the creation of a verb by a
converting a noun or other word. The boundary between conversion and
/functional shift / (the extension of an existing word to take on a new syntactic
function) is not well-defined
Back-formation
In etymology, back-formation refers to the process of creating a new lexeme
(less precisely, a new "word") by removing actual or supposed affixes. The
resulting neologism is called a back-formation. Back-formations are shortened
words created from longer words, thus back-formations may be viewed as a
sub-type of clipping.
For example, the noun resurrection was borrowed from Latin, and the verb
resurrect was then backformed hundreds of years later from it by removing the
-ion suffix. This segmentation of resurrection into resurrect + ion was possible
because English had many examples of Latinate words that had verb and verb+-
ion pairs — in these pairs the -ion suffix is added to verb forms in order to
create nouns (such as, insert/insertion, project/projection, etc.).
Back formation may be similar to the reanalyses of folk etymologies when it
rests on an erroneous understanding of the morphology of the longer word. For
example, the singular noun asset is a back-formation from the plural assets.
45
However, assets is originally not a plural; it is a loan-word from Anglo-
Normanasetz (modern Frenchassez). The -s was reanalyzed as a plural suffix.
Back-formation in the English language
Many words came into English by this route: Pease was once a mass noun but
was reinterpreted as a plural, leading to the back-formation pea. The noun
statistic was likewise a back-formation from the field of study statistics. In
Britain the verb burgle came into use in the 19th century as a back-formation
from burglar (which can be compared to the North America verb burglarize
formed by suffixation).
Even though many English words are formed this way, new coinages may
sound strange, and are often used for humorous effect. For example, gruntled or
pervious (from disgruntled and impervious) would be considered mistakes
today, and used only in humorous contexts. The comedian George Gobel
regularly used original back-formations in his humorous monologues. Bill
Bryson mused that the English language would be richer if we could call a tidy-
haired person shevelled - as an opposite to dishevelled.
Frequently back-formations begin in colloquial use and only gradually become
accepted. For example, enthuse (from enthusiasm) is gaining popularity, though
it is still considered substandard by some today.
The immense celebrations in Britain at the news of the relief of the Siege of
Mafeking briefly created the verb to maffick, meaning to celebrate both
extravagantly and publicly. "Maffick" was a back-formation from Mafeking, a
place-name that was treated humorously as a gerund or participle.
The mechanics of back-formation
Back-formations of borrowed terms generally do not follow the rules of the
original language. For example, Homo sapiensis Latin for thinking man. As
with all Linnaean species names, this is singular in Latin (plural would be
hominessapientes) but it is sometimes mistakenly treated as plural in English,
with the corresponding singular back-formation Homo sapien. Similarly,
antipodes, borrowed from Greek via Latin, has the apparent form of a plural
noun, and is sometimes treated as such, with antipode taken to mean "an
antipodal point". The final podes is indeed plural, meaning feet, and the

46
corresponding singular would be transliterated as pous (foot). However,
antipodes itself is a compound of anti (opposite) and podes (feet). As such, it is
not a plural noun at all, and the singular *antipous, if it existed at all, would
mean "a substitute foot." ("Opposite a foot" would be anti poda.)
Some regard such divergence as incorrect, or as a mark of ignorance. Others
assert that a language is determined by its usage and that strictly applying such a
principle of correctness would render English a highly irregular blend of Anglo-
Saxon, Latin, French and every other language from which it had ever
borrowed.

47
UNIT 4: MORPHOLOGY AND PHONOLOGY

Allomorphy or morphophonemic variation in English

1. Definition of allomorphy:
Allomorphy, or morphophonemic is the study of the processes by which
morphemes change their pronunciation in certain situations. This study accounts
for the alternation of the allomorphs of a morpheme in a particular context of
pronunciation.
The pronunciation variants of a morpheme are called allomorphs. The
phenomenon of variation in the pronunciation of a morpheme is called
allomorphic variation or morphophonemic variation (since it is the
phonemic makeup of a morpheme that is varying). The variations themselves
are sometimes called morphonological processes.
Allomorphs are the different forms (pronunciations) of a single
morpheme. E.g. the plural morpheme in English is {-z}. Its allomorphs are / s
/, / z /, /әz/. Also, the morpheme 'leaf' has two allomorphs: 'leaf' in words built
from it (e.g.'leafy') and 'leav-', found only in the plural: 'leaves'.
Many morphemes of English have more than one way of being
pronounced; this is often not reflected in the spelling of the morpheme. Such
variations affect both affixes and roots. Sometimes the pronunciation varies
because of nearby sounds; sometimes there is no logic to it - its motivation lies
in forgotten history.

48
2. The distribution of the allomorphs of the past tense form of the English
verb
The English plural Past tense '-d' / '-ed'
morpheme has
three allomorphs:
/әd /, / t /, and / d
/. (Remember, /ә/
is being used to
stand for schwa.)
Morpheme
Allomorphs /әd / /t/ /d/
Distribution after / t / and / d / after other voiceless after other voiced
consonants Cs and vowels
faded, stated, kissed, leaped, buzzed, played,
petted, sounded fluffed, stocked mooned, sued

2.1. Motivation:
Phonological / d / occurs after vowels and voiced consonants other than / d /; / t
/ occurs after voiceless consonants other than / t /; and /әd / occurs after the
alveolar stops / t / and / d /.
2.2. Unmotivated allomorphy:
A change in the pronunciation of a morpheme that is not based on the
phonological surroundings. Most of these simply must be memorized.
Examples:
• 'Electric' usually has final /k/; but has final /s/ in 'electricity'. The
morpheme 'electric' has two allomorphs: 'electri/k/' and 'electri/s/-'; the
second occurs only when the suffix -ity' is attached to the word.
• Words such as 'life', 'shelf', 'leaf' have a final /f/ in most forms, but when
they are pluralized, the base has a final /v/: 'lives', 'shelves', 'leaves'. Thus,
these words have two allomorphs: one final in /f/ in the singular ('life',
49
 'shelf', 'leaf') and one final in /v/, which occurs only when the plural
suffix is added: 'live-', 'shelv-', 'leav-'. Notice that not all words that end in
/f/ undergo this change: the plural of the noun 'proof' is not 'prooves'.
Dialects differ in how they pluralize words such as 'roof', 'hoof'; some
people say 'roofs' while others say 'rooves'; some say 'hoofs' and others
'hooves'. The plural of 'loaf' is 'loaves', but the plural of 'oaf' is not 'oaves'
but 'oafs'. A learner of English has to memorize which words change
from /f/ to /v/ and which don't.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Ex.1. Consider the following words and answer the questions below.
a) loneliness b) White House c) unreliable d) anti-aging pills
e) immobility f) sweeteners g) easiest h) hunger strikers
i) unhappiness j) lovelier k) optionality l) independently
Group the morphemes of these words into free morphemes and bound
morphemes and state whether the bound morphemes are derivational or
inflectional affixes.
The first two words (loneliness and White House) have been done for you
Bound morpheme
Word Free morpheme
Derivational affix Inflectional affix
lone ly, ness Ø
Loneliness
White House White, house Ø Ø

Ex.2.
Consider the following words and answer the questions below
a. honeymoon e. naked i. barriers m. optionality
b. impossibility f. unbearable j. fastest n. prettier
c. comfortable g. justice k. publicity o. communicate
d. examinees h. unexceptionally l. disobeys p. nationwide
50
1) For each word, determine whether it is simple or complex
2) Circle all the bound morphemes. Underline all of the roots
3) Cross out all inflectional morphemes

Ex.3.
Consider the following words
a. postmodifiers d. identifiable g. malnutrition
b. delightful e. mistreated h. illogically
c. disobeys f. spiteful i. derivational
1) Draw a tree structure to each word
2) Establish the base and the root for each word

Ex.4.
Fill in the blanks with suitable words or phrases suggested below in order to
make the passages meaningful (some words can be used twice) (3ms)

affixes, bases, bound, bound, derivational, free, independent, infixes,

inflectional, meaningful, morphemes, prefixes, single, suffixes, syllables, verb,
morphology

-----0 ------ is the arrangement and relationships of the smallest ------1------ units
in a language. These minimum units of meaning are called -----2-------. Note that
morphemes are not identical to ----3------: the form don't has one syllable but
two -----4--------, do and not. Conversely, the word Wisconsin has three syllables
but is a ------5-------- morpheme.
It is often useful to distinguish between -----6-----and ------7-------morphemes. --
-------8-------- morphemes can be used alone as ------9------- words - for example,
take, for, each, the, panda. ----10------- morphemes form words only when
attached to at least one other morpheme; re-, dis-, un-, -ing, -ful, and –tion are all
bound morphemes. The most familiar bound morphemes are -----11-------(that is,
prefixes and suffixes), but even -----12-------- (forms to which affixes are

51
attached) can be bound. An example of a bound base is the –cept of such words
as except, accept, deceptive, and reception.
Some languages also have ------13---------, which appear inside a word, but these
are not important for English. Another classification of affixes distinguishes -----
--14-----and -----15------affixes. For instance, the -s used to form plurals and the
–ed used to indicate past tense are -------16-------- affixes.
--------17--------- affixes may be either prefixes or suffixes. Most derivational ---
---18--------- simply change the meaning of the word to which they are attached
(uniform, transplant, microwave, unbelievable, desensitize). Derivational ------
19------ normally change the part-of-speech category and may also change the
meaning of the word to which they are attached. For example, -ify in codify
changes the noun code to a -----20-------.

Ex.5.
Represent the internal structure of the following words using tree structure
and bracket diagram
1. undifferentiated (Adj)
2. underdeveloped (Adj)

Ex.6.
Create a word for each of these definitions using the word formation process
suggested. Fill in the blanks with your new words.
1. Use derivation …. to mean having this property
Martin was very _________ of what he had done. SHAME
2. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The museum does not charge for__________on Sundays. ADMIT
3. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The secretary was very busy all day dealing with______________. ENQUIRE
4. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The teacher stressed the need for regular_______________ . ATTEND
5. Use derivation …to mean member of an occupation
There were over fifty_____________in the orchestra. MUSIC
52
6. Use derivation … to mean able to be X’ed
Jim always does what he says; he’s very______________. RELY
7. Use derivation … to mean make sth become X
They have agreed to __________ the road because of the heavy traffic WIDE
8. Use derivation …to mean one who X
We have decided to interview only the best six _________for the job. APPLY
9. Use derivation …to mean not having this property
That large dog is perfectly ___________and has never been known to attack
anyone. HARM
10.Use derivation …to mean make sth become X
They are going on to _______________ the bridge. STRONG
11. Use derivation …to mean give this property
My teacher_______________ me to take this examination. COURAGE
12. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The crowd showed its ____________ by shouting insults. APPROVE
13. Use derivation ….to mean one who receive this action
The company will not take any new ____________ this year. EMPLOY
14. Use derivation …to mean one practises X
Carl is studying to become a ___________. LAW
15. Use derivation …. to mean one who X
Dozens of________ are injured on the city’s roads each year. CYCLE

Ex.7.
Use Inflection for marking the category of each of the following words:
1. lovely + [comp]
2. teach + [present]
3. cry + [past]
4. go + [past part]
5. write + [pres part]
6. happy + [sup]
7. boss + [poss]
8. watch + [plu]
53
Ex.8.
Consider the following words in column 1 and column 2
Column 1 Column 2 Morphological process
State the morphological process that is responsible for the creation of the new
words in column 2
Back derivation
E.g. air-conditioner air-condition
1) cook cooker ....................................
2) breakfast and lunch brunch ....................................
3) house-keeping house-keep ....................................
4) water (N) water (V) ....................................
5) memorandum memo ....................................
6) 'subject sub’ject ....................................
7) scape, land landscape ....................................
8) Palestine Liberation Organization PLO ....................................
9) advertisement ad ....................................
10) lose loser ....................................

Ex.9. Consider the following words in column 1

From each of the words in column 1, create new words and write them in
column 2 as suggested in the morphological process.
Column 1 Column 2 Morphological process
re’cord
E.g. ‘record stress shift
1) refrigerator ......................... initial-medial clipping
2) editor ......................... back-formation
3) calm ......................... conversion
4) day, dream ......................... compounding
5) useful ......................... derivation
6) human immunodeficiency virus ......................... acronymy
7) binary, digit ......................... blending
8) intercommunication system ......................... clipping
9) compact disk, read-only-memory ......................... acronymy
10) courage ......................... derivation

54
 PHRASES – CLAUSES - SENTENCES

INTRODUCTION
Word and sentence are two basic units to grammar, though they are by no
mean the only units of grammatical structure, and there is no direct relation
between words and sentences. Neither are they the smallest and largest units of
grammar respectively: there are recognizable units smaller than words, and
units larger than sentences. However, sentences do exhibit a structure that a
larger unit, i.e. paragraph or discourse, does.
Words do not pattern directly into sentences. This implies that there are
some intervening levels of organization between word and sentence.
Consider the following sentence: the grand old man of letters stumbled
along the dimly lit road, but the pen which he had lost had been picked up by a
small boy. This sentence cannot be viewed simply as a concatenation of words:
the + grand + old + man+ etc. Some groups of words belong more closely
together than any of them do with any others, and these longer stretches of
group words in turn form larger units. In this sentence, we can recognize the
following word groupings: the grand old man of letters, along the dimly lit
road, the pen which he had lost, had been picked up, stumbled, by a small boy.
These are called phrases. They combine in turn into larger units: the grand old
man of letters stumbled along the dimly lit road, the pen which he had lost had
been picked up by a small boy. These are called clauses. And then they are
linked together by BUT to form a complete sentence.
Thus, words pattern into phrases, phrases into clauses and clauses into
sentences. Or from the alternative perspective, a sentence is composed of one or
more clauses, a clause is composed of one or more phrases and a phrase is
composed of one or more words. Our investigation of grammar will, then, be
concerned with the kinds of words, phrases, clauses and sentences that occur in
contemporary English, and with the rules for their structure and combination.
(Jackson, pp3-4)

55
 PHRASES

◆Classes of phrase:
We shall recognize five classes of phrase: NOUN PHRASE (NP),
ADJECTIVE PHRASE (ADJ.P), ADVERB PHRASE (ADV.P),
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (P.P) and VERB PHRASE (VP). Of these, noun
phrase (NP), adjective phrase (adj.p), adverb phrase (adv.p) all have the same
basic structure:
[Premodifier(s)] + HEAD + [Postmodifier(s)]

I. NOUN PHRASE (NP)

I.1- Structure: The structure of the NP is as follow:
Determiners + Adj Phrase + Noun modifier + HEAD + post modifiers
1 2 3 4 5

1. DETERMINERS may be:

◆All, both, half, twice, such (a), etc.
◆Articles: a, an, the.
◆Demonstratives: this, that, these, those.
◆ Possessives: my, your, our, John’s, etc.
◆Indefinite: some, any, another, each, every, no, enough, etc.
◆cardinal number: one, two, three, etc.
◆ordinal numbers: first, second, third, etc.
◆general ordinals: other, next, last,
2. ADJECTIVE PHRASE:
When there are more than one adjective in front of the head noun, they must be
aranged in the order OSASCO
O-S-A-S-C-O: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin
E.g. a handsome tall young American man
big blue eyes
a new black nylon shirt
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3. NOUN PREMODIFIER:
E.g. evening class; gold rings
4. The HEAD of an NP may be:
(i) a noun: the beauty, Linda, these cats, etc.
(ii) a pronoun: them, itself, everyone in the street, etc.
(iii) an adjective: the rich, the young, etc.
(iv) a genitive phrase: the teacher’s, Lan’s, etc.
(v) an enumerator: all fifteen, her twenties, etc.
Two of the less usual possibilities are illustrated in:
E.g. The greedy will take all three.
In such cases there is usually a noun which semantically is understood to
be the head: the greedy = the greedy people, all three = all three loaves.
5. The POSTMODIFIERS of an NP may be:
◆Prepositional phrases:
E.g. the best day of my life, his desire for fame, etc.
The occurrence of subordinate PPs as postmodifiers is very common, and
it is important to distinguish cases like:
E.g. (1) the girl by the table with the carved legs
(2) the girl by the tablewith the sunburnt legs
In (1) one PP postmodifies “girl”, and the other PP is subordinate to it,
postmodifying “table”. In (2), however, both PPs postmodify “girl”.
◆Adjective phrases:
E.g. something strange, people alive, etc.
◆ Adverb phrases:
E.g. the room upstairs, the house opposite, etc.
◆ Noun phrase as apposition:
E.g. the bandicoot a tiny marsupial
◆ Relative clauses:
E.g. a quality that I admire, the book which I bought at a book festival, the
man who leads the collection campaign, etc.

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 ◆ Non-finite clauses:
3 types of non-finite clause can occur as postmodifiers:
+ To infinitive:
E.g. the man to see
the energy to run away
+ Ing participle:
E.g. the man carrying the shotgun
three men digging for gold
+ Ed participle:
E.g. the techniques used
the film directed by Mel Gibson
I.2- Function:
* In the clause, NPs act as subject (S), as object (O), or as complement
(C) and as adverbial (A).
E.g. The house was empty. NP = S
The cost of living in London is high NP = S
We have bought a new house. NP = Od
They gave him some money. NP = Oi
This must be their house. NP = Cs
Her youngest daughter has become a very famous violist. NP = Cs
They elected him the monitor NP = Co
We called him a fool NP = Co
We moved to Ho Chi Minh City last year. NP = A
The couple is going to Dalat for their honeymoon next week. NP = A

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II. THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (PP)
II.1. Structure:
PP = Preposition + NP/-V-ing/finite clause

II.2. Function:
◆In the clause, PPs act as adverbials (A):
E.g. We have been living here for 10 years.
The children go to school every day.
The adverbial PPs have various meanings. In the following sentence the
three PPs are adverbials of time-when, means, and place, answering the
questions When? How? and Where?
E.g. By Monday we had arrived by train in New York.
◆In NPs, Adj.Ps, Adv.Ps and PPs, subordinate PPs act as postmodifiers.
E.g. the girl in the room
afraid of spiders
too quickly for comfort
on the top of the bookshelf

III. THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE AND THE ADVERB PHRASE

III.1. The adjective phrase (Adj.P)
III.1.1. Structure:

[Premodifier(s)] + HEAD + [Postmodifier(s)]

a) The head of an Adj.P must be an Adjective which may be simple,

comparative or superlative.
E.g. quite cheap, her elder brother, the most intelligent boy, etc.
b) Premodifiers are always adverbs: typically, adverbs of degree
(extremely, rather, too, very) or other adverbs (surprisingly, convincingly).
Some, especially very and too, can be reduplicated (very very very tall).

59
 c) Postmodifiers can be:
◆Adverbs (indeed, enough)
E.g. very tall indeed, nice enough
◆ PPs:
E.g. too hot for comfort
◆ Non-finite clauses:
E.g. too difficult for me to understand
◆ Finite clauses:
E.g. more interesting than I thought

III.1.2. Function:
◆ In the clause, Adj.Ps function as complement (C):
E.g. This coffee is hot.
Adolphus drinks his coffee hot.
◆In the phrase, Adj.Ps can function as premodifiers in NPs:
E.g. a very large slice of bread
the most boring book

III. 2. The adverb phrase (Adv.P)

III.2.1-Structure:

[Premodifier(s)] + HEAD + [Postmodifier(s)]

a) The head of an Adv.P must be an adverb

E.g. very successfully, quite quickly, etc.
b) Otherwise, the structure of Adv.Ps is the same as that of Adj.Ps:
E.g. too quickly for comfort
more slowly than we expected
clearly enough for me to understand
III.2.2-Function:
Adv.Ps function in the clause as adverbials (A).
E.g. She sang very well.
The passengers are talking extremely noisily in the outside the station.
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IV. THE VERB PHRASE (VP)
The VP always acts as predicator (P) in the clause.
IV.1. We need to distinguish between finite and non-finite verb phrases:
The verb forms operate in finite and non-finite verb phrase, which are
distinguished as follows:
Finite verb phrase:
(i)- Finite verb phrases have tense distinction:
E.g. He works as a builder.
He worked as a builder.
(ii)- Finite verb phrase occurs as the verb element of a clause. There is
person and number concord between the subject and the finite-verb. Concord is
particularly overt with BE.
E.g. I am/ she is/ we are...
With most lexical verbs, concord is restricted to a contrast between 3rd
and non-3rd person singular present:
E.g. He reads the paper every morning.
They read the paper every morning.
With modal auxiliaries there is, no concord:
E.g. I/ you / he / they/ we {could come.
{can play the guitar.
(iii)- Finite-verb phrases have mood. In contrast to the “unmarked”
indicative mood, we distinguish the “marked” moods and imperative and
subjunctive.
E.g. He spoke to me as if I were deaf.
It is necessary that every member inform himself of these rules.
Be reasonable!
Non-finite verb phrase:
The non-finite forms of the verb are the infinitive (with or without TO),
the -ing participle, and the -ed participle. Non-finite verb phrases consist of one
or more such items. Compare:

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 E.g. Finite - verb phrases Non - finite verb phrases
He smokes heavily To smoke like that must be dangerous
He is working I found him working.
IV.2. The structure of finite verb phrases:
The structure of the VP is mentioned in two kinds of elements: The main
verb (Mv) and auxiliaries (Aux). The auxiliaries are optional, and precede the
main verb.
At the most general level the structure of VP is:

{ Aux } {Aux } {Aux }Mv

In practice we can distinguish sixteen different kinds of VP, and

moreover, four different functions performed by the auxiliaries (see the table
below - Table 1). In this table, the general label Aux can be replaced by some
more specific function labels: Modality, perfect aspect, progressive and passive.
Table 1:
MODALITY PERFECT PROGRESSIVE PASSIVE MAIN
ASPECT ASPECT VOICE VERB
(Mod.) (Perf.) (Prog.) (Pass.) (Mv.)
modal have be be V

shook 1
might shake 2
had shaken 3
was shaking 4
was shaken 5
might have shaken 6
might be shaking 7
The might be shaken 8
branch
had been shaking 9
had been shaken 10
was being shaken 11
might have been shaking 12
might have been shaken 13
might be being shaken 14
had been being shaken 15
might have been being shaken 16
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V. SUMMARY
The following, then are the formal structures of the five types of phrase
A. Noun phrases (NP): {Mn} H {Mn}.
Where H (head) may be: N, pronoun, Adj., etc.; M before H (premodifiers) may
be: det., Adj., N, etc.; M after H (postmodifiers) may be: PP, NP, Adv.P, Adj.P,
relative clause, etc.
B. Prepositional phrases (PP): p{Mn } H {Mn }
Where P is a preposition, and M, H, and M are exactly as in noun phrases.
C. Adjective phrases (Adj.P): {Mn } H {Mn }
Where H (head) is an Adjective; M before H (premodifiers) are normally Adv.;
M after H (postmodifiers) are PP, Adv, and some clauses.
D. Adverb phrases (Adv.P): {Mn } H {Mn }
Where H (head) is an Adv, and M are Adv.Ps.
E. Verb phrases (VP):{Aux} {Aux} {Aux} {Aux} Mv
Where all Aux are v (operator - verbs), and Mv is either v (operator - verb) or V
(full - verb).
The functions of these phrase classes in the clause can be summarized as
shown in the following figure. The arrow X ----- Y is to be interpreted: X may
be a Y.

S V O C A
Subject verb Object Complement Adverbial

VP NP Adj.P Adv.P PP

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PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. Make an analysis of the following noun phrases in items of the word
classes that they comprise.
e.g.: Those delicious ice-creams

det. adj. head

1. that attractive young woman in the blue dress
2. Jim's fatal mistakes
3. all our many grievous sins
4. an ugly large yellow submarine
5. an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
6. her blue collapsible silk umbrella
7. our relations' dirty screaming offspring

2. The following are NPs in which the order of premodifiers is scrambled:

1. some, fresh, bread, brown, nice
2. green, a, small, leather, handbag
3. designs, Chinese, old, those, all
4. old, a few, friends, of mine
5. brilliant, that, first-year, student
6. Morgan’s, steam, revolution
7. a/an, tower, grey, ancient
8. first, tourists, the, foreign, all, almost
9. responsibilities, new, his, heavy
10. people, these, young, highly, educated
3. Find out noun phrases in the following sentences, analyze their constituents
and functions:
1. The woman wearing a plastic nose is our history professor.
2. Opinions expressed here are not those of the editors.
3. This is an experience you'll always remember.
4. She loves any dish involving cheese.
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5. Any article left by students in the office will be taken to the lost property office.
6. The bad weather compelled us to stay indoors.
7. The man behind the door is my old teacher.
8. The man to feed the kangaroo is my uncle.
9. His decision to use all female cast surprised all of us.
10. The next plane to arrive is from Bangkok.
11. The poor little boy who seems to be lost is my friend's daughter
12. The clearest instructions that anybody could have been given were already
made.
13. The fourth place behind Jim was reserved for Peter.
14. Several irate gentleman farmers waiting for the prime minister came from
the south.
15. This sudden disaster approaching us made us very worried.

4. What part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb….) might be put in

the blanks?
1. … intelligent boy is from class 10B2.
2. That ……….. apple pie smells delicious.
3. My ………food is fried chicken.
4. The…….. to feed the kangaroo is…….. uncle.
5. ………….made no move to greet me.
6. His …………to use an all-female cast surprised all of us.
7. The next ………….to arrive is from Bangkok.
8. The ………….. girl who seems to be lost is my friend's daughter.

5. State whether the bold prepositional phrases in each sentence are used as
an adverbial or a postmodifiers to nouns.
1. The people in the gallery could not hear.
2. We are going to meet the new comers in the gallery.
3. He punched the man in the face.
4. He punched the man in the black.

65
5. The men fled from the police.
6. Everybody stared at the man from the police station.
7. The ripe apples from the biggest tree might hit the people on the head.
8. The spectators were sitting in the grandstand.
9. The spectators in the grandstand were singing.
10. I take my car to the garage in the village.
11. In the village, there are several old cottages.
12. A house was destroyed near us.
13. The house next to ours was damaged.
14. Oranges in Spain are huge.

6. Find out adjective phrases and adverb phrases in the following sentences
and analyse their constituents:
1. That is a bit premature, isn't it?
2. I found it rather tight.
3. I'd be quite keen to try anything like that really.
4. What you have been doing then has been so wild.
5. I expect you are glad you're not a vegetarian.
6. I am sure it isn't much difficult than you say.
7. She was uncertain what to do.
8. He gave me a very earnest look.
9. He sounds very interested in our proposal.
10. Unfortunately, he is very busy now.
11. It was a quite ridiculously worded statement.
12. Is he certain of our support?
13. I am quite sure that he is certain to win.
14. He was rather concerned that no-one should know immediately.
15. He runs very fast.
16. It is a surprisingly high price.
17. He intentionally took the calculator.
18. They excitedly welcomed the music band.
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7. Underline verb phrases in the following sentences and decide whether they
are finite or non finite:
1. At the station, we were met by a man carrying a copy of the Times.
2. He was accompanied by a porter weighing at least 150 kilos.
3. A car, coming unexpectedly out of a side street, crashed into us.
4. We collided with a car driven by a young man without a license.
5. Any diver not having a license ought to be sent to jail right away.
6. The train standing at platform six is for Brussels and Ostend.
7. Any articles left in this bus were taken at once to the Lost property Office.
8. Any dutiable articles not declared to the custom will be liable to
confiscation.
9. Presents costing less than ten pounds in all may be imported duty free.
10. Anyone not hearing that noise must have been stone deaf.

8. Find out verb phrases in the following sentences and analyse them;
1. We were waiting for hours.
2. Yee Ling has never been to Scotland.
3. Those people are really lucky.
4. We will not give you that information.
5. They appointed him the chairman of the committee.
6. Ali must have spent a fortune last week.
7. They could help you.
8. They will arrive tomorrow morning.
9. The thieves may have left by now.
10. When did you see Mr. Lim?

9. A part of each of the sentences below is marked. Indicate by which of the

following linguistic structures the bold part is being realized:
a. finite verb phrase
b. non - finite verb phrase
c. prepositional phrase

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 d. noun phrase
e. adjective phrase
f. adverb phrase
g. non-finite clause
h. finite clause
1. Fire can cause great damage to any city.
2. The Great Fire of London started in a bakery.
3. It burnt furiously for four days.
4. Pepys has given us a vivid account of it.
5. Who has given a vivid account of it?
6. The man who has just spoken is Benjamin Hall.
7.They suddenly decided to christen the bell Big Ben.
8.The man who won the contract was Dent
9. The next day we were sitting in the car
10. Leaving us at the gate, they disappeared.
11. Leaving us at the gate like that was very thoughtless.
12. Hand the man at the gate your ticket.
13. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting June again.
14. Meeting her again has left me very happy.
15. We doubts whether peace will last.

10. Identify types of phrases in the following sentences and indicate their
functions.
1. They found her presentation on global warming quite persuasive.
2. What colour is she going to dye her hair?
3. Young people are now surprised at the belief that people should give the
company their unconditional loyalty.
4. The data used by the “green” groups were collected decades earlier.
5. Stocks of fish are declining at a much faster rate.
6. I considered him the best art critic to have emerged in London.
7. He is in a good mood.
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8. They are painted in a variety of methods.
9. She has written me a very nice letter.
10. I shall never forget the immense sensation of space the first moment we
entered that room.
11. A full moon was rising over Godrevy.
12. The surprisingly increasing price of petrol is one of the reasons for the city’s
economic crisis.

69
 CLAUSES & SENTENCES

SENTENCE ELEMENTS
Most sentences of more than one word consist of two nuclei: the subject
and the predicate.
As you can see, every statement (leaving aside the other sentence forms
for the moment) can be divided into two parts: the person or thing that is being
spoken about – the topic of the sentence – and the things that are said about
him/her/them/it, etc. In traditional terms, these are called subject and predicate.
These labels are useful, since they reflect the fact that one of the two defining
characteristics of the sentence is the message or information content. The
subject is the topic, or what is being spoken about; the predicate is what is
‘predicated’ (or said to be true) about the subject. Usually the subject and
predicate occur in that order in a statement.
SUBJECT PREDICATE
John loves Mary.
The cat chased a mouse.
James Smith plays the piano beautifully.
Captain Cook discovered Australia in 1776.
The people I like the best never forget my birthday.
I met her down the street yesterday.

I. The subject:
The subject can be expressed by a noun phrase, a non-finite clause or a
finite clause.
E.g.: Men do not know how to suffer; women do
The young girl with long hair walked confidently across the room.
English enables many people to make some social advancement
Learning English enables many people to make some social
advancement.
70
 What to do with the money drove him mad
That coffee grows in Brazil is famous to all.
Whether or not he gets the money doesn’t matter to me.
What we are learning seems to be difficult.
◆The subject of a sentence may be ‘It’ as empty or preparatory subject,
or There’ as introductory or anticipatory subject.
(a) Empty subject
We often use it in sentences referring to time, the weather, temperature or
distance. When used in this way, it is sometimes called an empty subject
because it carries no real information. It is present because every English
sentence has to contain a subject (and a verb):
Time: It’s 3 o’clock. It’s Thursday. It’s November 23rd.
It’s time for us to leave.
Weather: It’s hot. It’s raining.
Temperature: It’s 37oC.
Distance: It’s 5 km from here to the university.
The tides: It’s high tide at 11.44.
Environment: It’s noisy in here.
Present situation: Isn’t it awful!
With since: It’s three years since we last met.
With say: It says here there was a big fire in Dong Xuan.
With take: It takes 20 minutes to get to work.
(b) Preparatory subject: Sometimes sentences beginning with it continue with
an infinitive, a gerund or a noun clause. It is possible to begin such sentences
with an infinitive or gerund, but we generally prefer it. The true subject is the
infinitive, gerund or noun clause, and it is preparatory to the subject.
E.g. It’s pleasant to lie in the sun.
It’s pleasant lying in the sun.
It’s a shame that Tom isn’t here.
It doesn’t matter when we arrive.

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(c) Introductory ‘There’
Sentences with ‘There may serve to assert or deny the existence of
something or someone. In these sentences, the predicate verb is usually the
verb ‘to be’ or other verbs such as to live, to occur, to appear, to come etc.
which indicate existence.
E.g. There was a violent storm last night.
There came a loud knock at the front door.
There lived an old woman in that humble cottage.
There have occurred many great changes since we last met.
II. The object:
The object is very closely tied to the predicator in terms of meaning, and
typically denotes the person or thing most intimately affected by the action or
state denoted by the predicate. An object is normally a noun phrase; it usually
goes after the verb in the active. It can become the subject of the verb in the
passive. An object can be a clause _ finite or non-finite.
E.g. Mary bought some ice cream.
He loves girls with long hair and brown eyes.
Mary likes to eat ice cream.
We always enjoy listening to classical music.
Mary bought whatever we wanted.
Nobody understands why the minister committed suicide.
They didn’t know whether the crowd had been dismissed.
He suggested that we should dissolve the business.
Objects can be divided into two types: direct objects and indirect objects:
* A direct object refers to the person or thing affected by the action of the
verb. It comes immediately after a transitive verb:
E.g. He kicked the dog.
The dog bit him.
* An indirect object usually refers to the person who ‘benefits’ from the
action expressed in the verb.

72
E.g. Mary threw me the ball.
The man bought his wife some flowers.
Indirect object can stand either after the verb or after the direct object
with a preposition in between. In the latter case, another term which can be used
for the indirect object is prepositional object.
E.g. I brought him a cup of tea.
I brought a cup of tea to him.
She gave John some pocket money.
She gave some pocket money to John.
III. The complement:
The complement can be defined as a sentence element that gives further
information about the subject or the object; in other words, the complement
completes the meaning of subject or the object, and therefore, there are two
types of complement: subject complement (Cs) and object complement (Co).
◆ The subject complement can be expressed by a noun phrase, an
adjective phrase, a prepositional phrase, a non-finite clause or finite clause.
E.g. He is the chairman.
A pig is not a flying animal.
She seems an honest person.
The students always act dumb.
His brother grew happier gradually.
The machine is still in good condition.
The student is in a hurry.
His hobby is collecting stamps.
Your problem now is how to win your boss’s feeling.
Our duty is that we must finish the problem.
Their concern is whether they can help their students to pronounce
correctly.
◆ The object complement can be expressed by a noun phrase, an
adjective phrase, a prepositional phrase, a non-finite clause or a finite clause.

73
E.g. They made Sam the chairman.
We found him a good friend.
They have proved me wrong.
He likes his coffee strong.
We found her in tears.
The burglar left the house in a mess
She wants all of us to go.
I found what he said to mean nothing.
I saw her running down the hill.
They made him feed the kangaroo
I will get my nose pierced one day
I named my son what my father named me.
Our supporter’ enthusiasm has made the club what it is today.
Notes: Another term for the subject complement (Cs) that follows a link-verb
such as “to be” is predicative.
E.g. He is a doctor.
She got tired.
IV. The adverbial:
The adverb suggests the idea of adding to the meaning of a verb. They
tell us something about the action in a sentence by modifying a verb, i.e. by
telling how, when, where, etc. something happens or is done:
E.g.: Paganini must have played the violin beautifully.
The adverbial can be expressed by an adverb, a noun phrase, a
prepositional phrase, a non-finite clause or a finite clause.
E.g. She sang softly.
They badly need a more effective banking system.
She sang in a soft voice.
The cat ran under the bed.
They will not come here next month.
We handed in our assignments last week.

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 The students met to prepare for the Students’ Day ceremony.
Having finished the work, they went out for a drink.
Whenever she has a cold, she eats only fruit.
We didn’t come home until the rain started.
I couldn’t feel anger against her because I liked her too much.
Adverbials are generally much more mobile in the sentence than the other
elements. So mobile are certain adverbials that they can be placed in the middle
of the predicate.
E.g. Crabs are now being served.
Crabs are being served now.
Adverbials are also optional in most sentence types.
E.g. (Sometimes) she (kindly) sends us some photographs.
The girls are singing (loud) (in the room).
V. The verb:
There are 3 main types of verbs: transitive, intransitive, and linking.
Transitive:
- A transitive verb is a verb that must be followed by a direct object to
complete the meaning of the verb. Such a verb is called a mono-transitive verb.
- She’s bought a camera.
D.O
Some transitive verbs have 2 objects: a direct and or indirect object.
They are called di-transitive verbs.
- She has sent her son some money.
I.O D.O
-He bought the flowers for his girlfriend.
D.O I.O
Some transitive verbs require, beside the object, a complement or an
adverbial. They are complex-transitive verbs.
We elected him the monitor.
D.O CO

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 We put George in the first class.
D.O A
Intransitive:
Intransitive verbs do not transmit action and do not require objects. An
intransitive verb usually expresses a motion and is often followed by an
adverbial.
He arrived here yesterday (int – v).
The boys are playing noisily in the garden (int – v).
Linking verb: is a verb that must be followed by a complement or an adverbial
to complete its meaning.
She has become a good teacher.
The house is in good condition.
* Some verbs can be used as more than one kind of verb depending or the
sentences in which they are used.
He opened the door quickly. (tran - v)
The door opened. (int - v)
She is tasting the soup. (tran - v)
The soup tastes salty. (linking - v)
PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. Identify the constituent which realises Subject function in each of the
following clauses.
1. The use of caves for smuggling is as old as the hills.
2. The light of a torch flickered.
3. What the critics failed to understand is that his art was not sacrificed to
popularity.
4. The list of people who she says helped her is long.
5. The wind coming down form the snowfields above woke us every night as
we lay in our tent.
6. There’s no way of knowing what goes on in their minds.
7. It’s 5 km away from here.

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2. Write sentences as guided
1. S [V-ing P] makes us relaxed after a hard-working day.
2. S [ preparatory] seems to be a great challenge [real S].
3. S [finite clause] disappointed his parents.
4. S [non-finite clause] is my hobby.
5. S [complex noun phrase] surprised all of us.

3. Identify the constituent which functions as Direct Object in each of the

following clauses, and the class of unit which realises this function.
1. Shoppers are flouting the no-sales-on-Sunday trading laws.
2. He banged the door as he went out.
3. He pointed out that foreign doctors were not permitted to practise in that country.
4. The negotiations have achieved very little.
5. A team of divers have discovered what they believe to be sunken treasure.
6. One doubts that many will survive the long trek over the mountains.
7. You might ask what is the use of all this.
8. He shoveled a ton of gravel into the back garden.
9. Do you mind waiting a few minutes?

4. Identify subject complements, object complements in the following sentences

1. Spying on firms has become a multimillion - pound industry.
2. What will they call the baby?
3. Archie’s bar is where it’s at.
4. Life is a series of accidents. That’s what he thinks.
5. He makes his films accessible to a wide public.
6. He kept us laughing all evening with his jokes.
7. The weather has turned unexpectedly cold lately.
8. Make the coffee a bit stronger, would you?
9. I am an animal lover working in a department dedicated to cancer research.
10. I think you have mistaken the gentlemen’s lavatory for the stage door.
11. They found Winston’s sense of humour rather disconcerting.

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12. What colour is she going to dye her hair?
13. Any attempt to re-establish control over the liberated areas would prove
self-defeating.
14. They must prove themselves fit for the task.

5. Indicate, by Od, Oi, Cs or Co whether the parts underlined in the sentences

below are the direct object (Od), the indirect object (Oi), the subject
complement (Cs) or the object complement (Co).
1. Will someone get a doctor, quickly!
2. George and Paul both became famous doctors.
3. Do you call yourself a doctor?
4. May I call you Jenny?
5. May I call you a taxi or something?
6. It is so cold. I can’t get warm.
7. I can’t get my hands warm.
8. Keep quiet! Keep those children quiet.
9. The young man was slowly going mad.
10. His mother-in-law was driving him mad.
11. The driver turned the corner too quickly.
12. The weather is turning warmer.
13. The hot weather turned all the milk sour.
14. The young man grew very depressed.
15. He grew his hair long.
16. He had made a great mistake.
17. His in-laws had simply made him their servant.
18. His wife sometimes made him curry.

6. Divide each of the sentences below into its constituent parts and then label
each part S, O, C, or A
1. Full scale computers have a large number of programs.
2. We must change all the programs tomorrow.
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3. Tomorrow will be a holiday here.
4. These bookshelves are becoming very popular in Sweden.
5. We recently added an extra unit to them.
6. Will you give it a try?
7. On July, DDT was sprayed on the marsh from a helicopter.
8. We all read too many books too quickly.
9. The young man grew restless in his mother-in-law’s house.
10. They had made him their son-in-law despite his objection.
11. He found his mother-in-law greedy.
12. They had found him a very young wife.
13. Thinking about this led us to an interesting conclusion.
14. Then the sleeper sees dreams as a jumbled sequence of important detail.
15. The speaker is seriously comparing dreams with what happens in a computer.

CLAUSE TYPES
(SENTENCE STRUCTURES/ SENTENCE PATTERNS)
The various units that make up the structure of a clause or a simple
sentence are usually given functional labels, such as Subject (S), Verb (V),
Complement (C), Object (O), and Adverbial (A). A number of clause types can
be identified in this way, such as:
S+V The girl + is dancing.
S+V+O The girl + kissed + her dog.
S+V+C The girl + is + sick.
S+V+A The girl + lay + on the ground.
S+V+O+O The girl + gave + her dog + a bone.
S+V+O+C The girl + called + her dog + Honey.
S+V+O+A The girl + put + her dog + on the sofa.

Beside these seven basic sentence patterns for active sentences, there are
four patterns for passive sentences which in fact come from the patterns for
active sentences with O.
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 S + V pass The boy was hit by a car running at a very high speed.
S + V pass + O The girl was given a nice doll on her last birthday.
S + V pass + C His father has just been appointed Director.
S + V pass + A The wallet was laid under the blanket.
Notes: * Many verbs can be restricted to one clause type.
E.g. seem (type SVC), elect (type SVOC), sit (type SVA)
* Many other verbs may enter more than one clause type
E.g. find (types SVOC, SVO), put (type SVOA, SVOC), open (type SV, SVO)
* The verb get can belong to all types except SV
E.g. The manager is getting furious. (SVC)
The boy got through the window. (SVA)
He has just got a $1.000 reward. (SVO)
She got her shoes and socks wet. (SVOC)
The man got himself into trouble. (SVOA)
She got her mother a nice present. (SVOO)
* Some clause types can be transformed into some other types.
E.g. She sent him a card. (SVOO) She sent a card to him. (SVOA)
He is jobless. (SVC) He is without a job. (SVA)
The baby is sleeping. (SV) The baby is asleep. (AVC)
He hurried. (SV) He ran fast. (SVA)

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. Identify each clause type (sentence structure) in the following
sentences:
Example: He/ seems/ nice. (Answer = SVCs)
1. They arrived at the hotel and sat on the terrace.
2. What an extraordinary dancer she is!
3. I warn you that a villa in that area is not cheap.
4. Passing through the sound barrier doesn’t affect the passengers.
5. The precise number of heart attacks from using cocaine is not known.

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 6. The authorities claim that everything possible has been done.
7. The doctor gave the injured man treatment for shock.
8. The party will have to draw on whatever resources it can.
9. The government’s import policy has made the farmers furious.
10.Can you imagine yourself the owner of a luxury yacht?
11.Somebody snatched her bag in the park.
12.Sierra Leone is one of the world’s biggest producers of diamonds.
13.Save your brother a piece of your birthday cake.
14.She felt her face turn red.
15. He has become what he always wanted to be.

2. Identify each clause type (sentence structure) in the following sentences:

1. George’s father greeted the headmaster.
2. The headmaster put George into the second class.
3. That made Stanley angry.
4. His annoyance did not last.
5. He was really a lawyer.
6. He grew himself a great soldier.
7. The manager is not in.
8. May I offer you a cup of coffee?
9. After the war, M. gave him back his saddle-bag.
10. He threw himself from his horse.
11. I remember the reasonableness of my father’s argument.
12. The parson’s cat is an abominable animal.
13. We are in a bit of a mess.
14. I have always lived in the country.
15. Could you call me a porter, please!

3. Indicate the clause types of the following passive sentences:

1. People are killed on the roads every day.
2. We were each handed a leaflet.

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 3. The walls were painted bright pink.
4. He has often been looked upon as slightly mad.
5. All my cards have been laid on the table.
6. Has all this food been paid for?
7. The prisoner was found guilty.
8. His children were found a suitable school.
9. This house has been lived in for two hundred years.
10. Surely, I cannot be refused a proper hearing?

SENTENCES AND CLAUSES

I. Sentences
Traditional grammar defines a sentence in one of two ways:
By meaning, a sentence is a complete thought.
By function, a sentence consists of a subject and a predicate.
In this course, we follow a definition which includes both functional and
formal characteristics of a sentence: ‘a sentence is a full predication containing
a subject plus a predicate with a finite verb.’
Its arrangement may be symbolized by such formulas as S V O (subject +
verb + object) …
A sentence that cannot be subdivided into constituent sentences is known
as simple sentence. And a complicated sentence contains in it combined simple
sentences. A sentence within a sentence is sometime called in modern term an
embedded sentence. The traditional term is clause.

II. Clauses
Analyzing by structural type, we arrive at the three main clauses:
* Finite clause: a clause whose verb element is a finite verb phrase.
E.g. John has visited New York. (1sentence = 1finite clause)
Because John is working, he may not hear what you say. (1sentence= 2
finite clauses)

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 The finite clause always contains a subject and a predicate, except in the
case of commands and ellipsis. The finite clause can be used independently or
dependently.
** Non-finite clause: a clause whose verb element is a non-finite verb phrase.
A. Structure of non-finite clause:
Non-finite clauses can be constructed without a subject and usually are.
The four classes of non-finite verb phrase serve to distinguish four classes of
non-finite clause:
+ Infinitive without To
E.g. Without subject: The best thing would be tell everybody.
With subject: The best thing would be for you tell everybody.
+ Infinitive with To
E.g. Without subject: The best thing would be to tell everybody.
With subject: The best thing would be for you to tell everybody.
+ ING participle
E.g. Without subject: Leaving the room, he tripped over the mat.
With subject: Her aunt having left the room, I declared my passionate
love for Celia.
+ ED Participle
E.g. Without subject: Covered with confusion, I left the room.
With subject: We left the room and went home, the job finished.
B. Functions of non-finite clauses
a. Non-finite clauses functioning as Subject:
E.g. To go out late at night is very dangerous.
Sitting in front of the computer for 4 hours tires her eyes.
It is a very educational experience to travel alone in a foreign country.
(extraposed S/real S)
b. Non-finite clauses functioning as Object:
E.g. She refused to show me where she lived.
We are considering organizing a barbecue.

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Non-finite clauses as O can be infinite clauses (after verbs like want, expect,
hope, refuse, decide, attempt, intend, manage, fail,…) or ING clauses (after
verbs like admit, avoid, consider, deny, finish, imagine, mind, practice, risk,
can’t stand, …)
c. Non-finite clauses functioning as subject complement:
E.g. His only good point is helping other people sincerely.
The aim of this course is to improve the students’ pronunciation.
d. Non-finite clauses functioning as object complement:
E.g. They would not allow us to interview the Vice-chancellor.
The headmaster asked that naughty boy to leave school immediately.
Non-finite clauses used with this structure are infinitive clauses after O and
verbs like advise, command, enable, encourage, order, tell, permit, persuade,
allow urge,…
E.g. Don’t make him work too hard.
They never let their daughter go out alone at night.
Non-finite clauses used with this structure are bare infinitive clauses after O and
verbs like help, let, make, have,…
E.g. Did you see anyone crawl under the bed?
I overheard them gossiping about the Ambassador’s illness.
Non-finite clauses used with this structure are bare infinitive clauses or –ING
clauses after O and verbs like see, hear, watch, feel, notice,…
E.g. The young woman had her hair cut once a month.
We had the whole building repainted in pink.
Non-finite clauses used with this structure are –ED clauses after O and verbs
like have, get, like, get,…
e. Non-finite clauses functioning as adverbial:
* To infinitive clauses as Adverbial of purpose
E.g. The little girl got up early to catch the first train to Tokyo.
He did it to relieve his anger.
* -ING clauses as Adverbial of attendant circumstance

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E.g. The young couple strolled along the river bank, holding each other’s
hands.
Helped by favourable weather, the country produced a record harvest.
f. Non-finite clauses functioning as Post modifier in a Noun phrase
E.g. He is always the first person to come to work and the last one to leave the
office.
The new system suggested by the Prime Minister proves to be very
successful.
Any driver not having a license should be arrested right away.
g. Non-finite clauses functioning as Adjectival and Prepositional
complement
* Adjectival complement:
E.g. They are quite ready to take part in the election campaign.
The manager is eventually hesitant to agree on the staff training scheme.
* Prepositional complement:
E.g. Children are interested in throwing snow at each other.
They are talking about raising money to help people in the natural
disaster-struck areas.

*** Verbless clause: a clause containing no verb element.

E.g. Although always helpful, he can't help you now.
Too nervous to reply, he stared at the floor.
John, then in New York, was quite an ordinary man.

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. Underline all nonfinite subordinate clause. Identify their functions.
1. He's interested in learning Maths.
2. Flattering your boss doesn't ensure career advancement.
3. This is something for you to eat after your ballet lesson.
4. The old man stood silently, sipping his cappuccino.

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5. She loves any dish involving cheese.
6. He wore a suit to please his parents.
7. She had no desire to flatter his parents.
8. Ms. Jacobs will be the best person to oversee the project.
9. She uses her computer to do all her banking.
10. His decision to use an all-female cast surprised all of us.
11. Any article left by students in this office will be taken to the Lost Property
Office.
12. She stood in the middle of the shop, looking around with interest.
13. We didn't receive any instruction to open the gate.
14. He has been dieting these days to lose weight.
15. For a bridge to collapse like that is unbelievable.
16. She's very glad to help us with the housework.
17. His ambition, to become a famous writer, was never fulfilled.
18. The children were on the beach, busy building sand castles.
19. Discouraged by the failure, he became an alcoholic.
20. She opened the door for Gypsy to go out.
21. This will involve moving all the furniture.
22. He wrote Ms. Chew a friendly letter, thanking her for her help.
23. It won’t hurt you to eat more fruit.
24. I caught him reading your diary.
25. A test doesn’t always give you an opportunity to demonstrate your ability.
26. Older adults who are healthier and living longer than previous generations
are powerful societal forces shaping future employment practices.
27. We need the air-conditioner repaired in three hours.
28. She hopes to get a job within the next three weeks.
29. His advice has always been to consult an astrologer.
30. To put things off until the last minute is a mistake.

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 CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES
SIMPLE SENTENCES -COMPOUND SENTENCES -COMPLEX SENTENCES –
COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCES

The traditional definition of a simple sentence is: “A group of words that

contains a finite verb and makes a complete sense."
Sentences may be simple, compound, complex.
A. Simple Sentences
A simple sentence is the one that contains a finite verb (and only one
finite verb).
A simple sentence is composed, usually, of two parts, the subject and the
predicate.
The basic sentence patterns of simple sentences:
1. S + V
2. S + V + C
3. S + V + A
4. S + V + O
5. S + V + O + O
6. S + V + O + C
7. S + V + O + A
B. Compound sentences
A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses
usually connected by coordinating conjunctions (coordinators). In a compound
sentence, all the independent clauses are of equal rank.
E.g. John bought the tickets and Mary parked the car.
There was no moon that night and, as a result, they took the wrong
turning.
The picture is not an original: in other words, it’s a forgery.
Two simple sentences may be combined into one compound sentence
without any conjunction to link them together. In this case, they must be
separated by a colon, a comma or a semi-colon.

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E.g. He is rich but he’s unhappy.
He is rich; he’s unhappy.
He is rich: he’s unhappy.
Sometimes, in order to avoid repetition, some parts of the compound
sentence may be omitted.
E.g. Man is guided by reason, beast (are guided) by instinct.
My father wanted me to be a doctor and my mother (wanted me to be) a
teacher.
In a compound sentence, all the clauses are of equal importance and can
stand on their own.
The following coordinative conjunctions (and adverbs) connect the
clauses of a compound sentence.
a) Copulative: and, not only... but also..., neither... nor..., now, then and
others. Copulative conjunctions express that two ideas are connected.
E.g. She drew up the curtain and the room was flooded with bright golden
light.
Not only was he dissatisfied but also he was extremely indignant.
Neither the moon was visible in this dark night nor were the stars.
b) Disjunctive: or, otherwise, else, either... or, etc. Disjunctive
conjunctions indicate choices:
E.g. We must hurry or we will miss the train.
You must carry your raincoat along, otherwise you will get wet in the
rain.
Either you speak clearly or I do not understand what you say.
c) Adversative: but, yet, still, nevertheless, however, etc. Adversative
conjunctions denote that two ideas contradict each other.
E.g. You can cross the river here, but be careful of the swift flow.
I tried to persuade her to stay, still she would insist on leaving at such a
late hour.
She repeated it three times, yet I could not understand what it meant.

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 d) Causal: for
E.g. I could not buy it, for it is impossible for me to afford it.
We cannot see the moon, for dark clouds cover the sky.
e) Resultative: so, therefore, accordingly, then...
E.g. It is getting late, then we had better go home.
She did not feel well for some days, so she decided to go and see her
doctor.
C. Complex sentences
In traditional grammar, a complex sentence contains a main clause and
one or more subordinate clauses. The subordinate clause must be a finite clause
and can be the Noun clause, the Adjective clause or the Adverb clause.
E.g. He realises that he hasn't understood his father.
The man who knows no foreign language knows nothing about his
mother tongue. (Geothe)
When I was answering the telephone, he came back because he had
forgotten his hat.
D. Compound complex sentences:
A compound complex sentence consists of two or more independent
clauses and at least one dependent clause
E.g. You should leave early or you have to stay overnight because the gate
will be locked in ten minutes.

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
Classify the following sentences according to structure. If the sentence is a
complex or a compound complex, pick out the finite subordinate clause(s).
1. I'm glad that my mother made me take piano lessons when I was a child.
2. Joe jumped into the river to rescue the little girl who was drowning even
though he wasn't a good swimmer.
3. I knew that I should get some sleep, but I just couldn't put my book down
because I was really enjoying it.
4. Thomas was thirsty yet he refused to drink the water that I offered him.
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5. The Comedian made people laugh by telling jokes and making funny faces.
6. Most 15th century Europeans believed that the world was flat and that a ship
could conceivably sail off the end of the earth.
7. Please tell me soon whether you will go or not so that I can decide what I'm
going to do.
8. My sister can fall asleep under any conditions, but I can't get to sleep unless
the light is off and the room is perfectly quiet.
9. The cheapest way to get from an airport to a hotel is to take an airport bus,
but I'm not sure if River City has one.
10. I asked Angela to run the office while I 'm gone since I know I can depend
on her.
11. You'd better give me your answer quickly, or else I 'll withdraw the
invitation.
12. As long as you 're going to the fruit market, would you please pick up a few
apples for me?
13. Even though Jack hates going to the dentist, he should see his dentist soon
because he has a very bad toothache.
14. Robert is totally exhausted after playing tennis whereas Marge isn't even
tired despite the fact that she ran around a lot more during the game.
15. I'm sorry you 've decided not to go with us on the river trip, but if you
change your mind there will still be enough room on the boat for you.

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 NOUN CLAUSES
I. Noun clause markers:
Noun clause markers
“That" indicates a fact.
“What " focuses on a fact?
“When “indicates a time.
"Where" indicates a place.
“Why" indicates a reason
"How many" indicates a quantity?
"How much" indicates an amount
“How" indicates a manner.
"Which” indicates a choice?
"Whether" indicates two or more
alternatives.
“Whose" indicates possession.
"Whom" indicates a person.
"If" indicates alternatives.
II. Functions:
1. Subject:
E.g. That his people believe that after last night is doubtful.
2. Object
E.g. I don't know what I have to do.
Example:
I knew that he had to go
Everyone was surprised at what he
brought for the picnic.
He told us when the plane would arrive.
Where they are going on their
honeymoon is a secret.
She shouldn't say why he left so early.
I've lost count of how many times I've
broken my glasses.
He wasn't paying attention to how much
he ate.
He showed us how he was going to win
the race.
I didn't know which book I was supposed
to read.
I didn't know whether I should bring
my bike or leave it at home.
I never found whose car was parked
outside our house.
Sue didn't know to whom he was
engaged.
I didn't know if I should bring my bike.
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3. Complement
- of a Subject
E.g. Her proposal is what we have expected
- of an object
E.g. We call him what he’d like to.
-of an adjective
E.g. I’m not quite sure if that’s right actually.
- of a preposition:
E.g. At the time of the original meeting, nobody had any idea of what would
happen.
4. In apposition to a noun phrase:
E.g. The news that the price of petrol is going up makes a headline on the
front page of this morning’s newspaper.

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. Identify whether each of the following is (a) noun clause or (b)
independent clause or (c) both
1. that book was very interesting
2. that he is a good actor
3. whichever program you prefer
4. who he is
5. whose house is cross the street
6. where she lives
7. when are you going
8. that picture was in the library

2. Underline the noun clause. Write S in the space if the noun clause is the
subject, O if the clause is an object & C if the clause is a complement
1.______ How the buildings are constructed to keep their inhabitants cool is one
of the most striking aspects of the Bahraini architecture.

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2.______ What the doctor advised was a vacation away from the hustle and
bustle of the city.
3.______ When the city of Rome was founded is a matter of dispute among
historians.
4.______ Marie Curie showed that a woman can be as good a scientist as a man
can be.
5.______ The general decided which troop was to be moved.
6.______ It is easy to understand why fast food restaurants are so popular.
7.______ The president told the youths that their journey was a noteworthy
achievement
8.______ That the city has lost its charm in its zeal to modernize is a common
perception
9.______ One of the characteristics of leather is that it has a fibrous structure
10._____ I’m not sure whether he will come.

3. Identify the noun clauses in the following sentences and describe the
function of each
1. That it was done deliberately is quite clear.
2. We greatly regret that we were obliged to refuse your invitation.
3. Many people are wondering when inter-planetary travel will become
possible.
4. Can you explain to me where he lives?
5. Who will lead the collection campaign is what we have to decide this
morning.
6. What you are attempting is really too difficult for you.
7. We were greatly amused by what you tell us.
8. I am delighted that you have succeeded in getting the job.

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 ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

A subordinate clause that functions as an adverbial in the sentence/higher

clause is an adverbial clause.
According to their meaning, adverbial clauses are divided into the
following types:
1. Adverbial clause of time: before, after, just as, as soon as, as, when,
whenever, since, until, once...
E.g. Before you can bring the rib to your mouth, the meat will fall off the bone.
One must go along with the final decision once it has been made.
2. Adverbial clause of place: where, wherever
E.g. Where he worked, everybody wore a bullet-proof garment.
You can sit wherever you like.
3. Adverbial clause of manner: As, as if, as though, like. . ..
E.g. Mr. Dong treats me as if I were his hamster.
He was staring at her like he had never seen a woman before.
4. Adverbial clause of reason: because, since, as…
E.g. He got the job because he can type with all his fingers.
Some people avoid love as they fear its treachery.
5. Adverbial clause of purpose: so that, in order that, so as that . . .
E.g. The park closes on Mondays so that the monkeys can rest.
They advertised the book fair on TV in order that more people should
know about it.
6. Adverbial clause of result: so that, (so…) that. . .
E.g. I was so shocked that I dropped the rifle.
7. Adverbial clause of condition: if, unless, on condition that, provided (that),
as long as, supposing. . .
E.g. I will go if I get invited.
8. Adverbial clause of concession: though, although, even though, even if,
whatever, no matter how
E.g. Though we could see nothing, we distinctively heard the sound in the
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 distance.
Whatever you say, I would never change my mind.
While she loves her children, she is very strict with them.

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
Underline the adverbial clauses. Identify their functions in the higher
clauses:
1. Since you love seafood, you should go to Pummeling.
1. Before the Pan Island Expressway was constructed, we swam in the pond
here whenever it rained.
2. They will invite us when they are ready.
3. Provided no one objects, the library will be moved to Foot Street.
4. When we arrived at the football field, the game had started.
5. Richard left dirty footmarks whenever he went.
6. Kick the ball as Richard did.
7. Don't handle those cups as if they were made of iron.
8. I need a hammer and nails, because I am going to repair the shed.
9. We shall come and see you if we have a holiday.
10. Although it was rather foggy, we played the match.
11. They went swimming although the sea was very rough.
12. He told the secret so that I should help him.
13. He was so stupid that he couldn't pass the exam.
14. Providing you don’t have enough money, you can ask him for help.

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 ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

An adjective clause has a subject and a verb. It is used like an adjective to

describe, identify, or give more information about nouns and indefinite
pronouns such as “someone", "anyone", and “everything"
- The horse which I recently bought is an Arab.
- We saw some people whose car had broken down.
- Sam's uncle, who is very rich, came for a visit.
An adjective clause may begin with:
A. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
I. Who, which, that
* Who is used when the antecedent is a person
E.g. An architect is someone who designs buildings
Anyone who wants to do the exam must enter before next Friday
* Which is used when the antecedent is not a person
E.g. Barbara works for a company which makes washing machines
The machine which broke down has now been repaired
* That is a relative pronoun can replace either who or which, and it is preferred
especially after all, everything, nothing, the only, ... and superlatives.
E.g. Everything that happened was my fault
She is the only person that has succeeded in the interview
II. Notice that which can refer to the entire preceding clause
E.g. John didn’t pass the test, which disappointed his father
Liz often goes to work late, which annoys everyone.
III. Possessive of the relative pronouns
Possession can be expressed by whose, whether or not the antecedent is a
person. When the antecedent is not a person, of which may be also used.
E.g. The man whose car broke down is my uncle.
The car whose tyre is being repaired is my uncle’s.

B. RELATIVE ADVERBS
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* When: used after the day, the month, the time, the moment, etc.
E.g. I remember the day (when /that) we met
I haven’t seen them since the year (when /that) they got married
* Where (in which): used after the hotel, the park, the place, etc.
E.g. Is this the park (where /that) you two met?
I would like to live in a country (where /that) there is plenty of sunshine
* How: used after the way:
E.g. This is the way (how/that) he did it
* Why: used after the reason:
E.g. The reason (why/ that) I’m phoning you is to invite you to a party

REDUCED ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Adjective clauses can be reduced to phrases when the relative pronoun of
the adjective clause is the subject of the clause. Note that the clause marker and
the auxiliary words and/or “be” verbs are omitted. The main verb change
depends on the voice.
(A) Active voice
The man (who is) driving has a new car. The man driving has a new car
Christopher de Hamel has published a book (which) contains description of
illuminated manuscripts.
Christopher de Hamel has published a book containing description of
illuminated manuscripts.
(B) Passive voice
The magazine ad (which was) printed in Shopper’s Weekly showed the
city skyline.
The magazine ad printed in Shopper’s Weekly showed the city skyline.
The ideas (which had been) presented in the previous meeting were
discussed.
The ideas presented in the previous meeting were discussed.
(C) Subject + to be + adjective

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 The man who is responsible said the underground water had a high salt
content
The man responsible said the underground water had a high salt content
(D) Subject + to be + noun
Her name, (which is) Lou Ann, contains easy sounds for the deaf to
pronounce.
Her name, Lou Ann, contains easy sounds for the deaf to pronounce.

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. All the following sentences contain errors in adjective clause structures.
Correct the errors.
1. In our village, there were many people didn't have much money.
2. I enjoyed the book that you told me to read it.
3. Almost all the people appear on television wear make-up.
4. I showed my father a picture of the car I am going to buy it as soon as I save
enough money.
5. I sit next to a person who his name is Ahmed.
6. Last Saturday, I attended a party was given by one of my friends.
7. People can speak English can be understood in many countries.
8. Patrick who is my oldest brother. He married and has one child.
9. The road that we took it through the forest it was narrow and steep.
10.At the national park, there is a path leads to a beautiful waterfall.
11. If you need any information, see the librarian sits at the central desk on the
second floor.
12. I've met many people since I came here who some of them are from my
country.

2. Read all the passages and identify all reduced relative clauses
A. It is generally true that, as long as the top management maintains the
confidence of the board of directors, the directors will not actively intervene

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dictate specific policies. This is the first administrative procedure usually
followed by the board of trustees of a college or university, and is similar in
many respects to the parliamentary system of ministerial responsibility
practiced in Great Britain.

B. Traditionally, mental tests have been divided into two types. Achievement
tests are designed to measure acquired skills and knowledge, particular those
that have been explicitly taught. The proficiency exams required by some states
for high school graduation are achievement tests. Aptitude tests are designed to
measure a person’s ability to acquire new skills or knowledge. For example,
vocational aptitude tests can help you decide whether you would do better as a
mechanic or musician.

C. Today the population is more than five billion. Estimates based on research
by the United Nations indicate that it will double in the twenty-five years
between 1975 and the year 2000, reaching seven billion by the turn of the
century.

D. Alcohol is a major cause of traffic accidents. One in three of the drivers

killed in road accidents have levels of alcohol which are over the legal limit,
and the road accidents after drinking are the biggest cause of death among
young men. More than half of the people stopped by the police to take a
breathalyzer test have a blood alcohol concentration of more than twice the
legal limit. It is important to remember that driving after you’ve been drinking
doesn’t just affect you. If you’re involved in an accident it affects a lot of other
people as well, not least the person you might kill or injure.

Exercises on subordinate clauses

1. Isolate the subordinate clause in each of the sentences below and state
their functions
1. That you could do it, I always knew.
2. That you can do it is still uncertain.

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3. You can do it if you try.
4. If you can do it, I'll give you ten dollars.
5. Glancing up at my tired face, she asked, in a rather grating voice, how I was
feeling.
6. Steinweg had a large room where we always breakfasted together.
7. He was a delightful companion who is always cheerful and considerate.
8. She sang completely out of tune so that permission was seldom granted.
9. What he saw both surprised and frightened him.
10.Since I have been especially invited to speak, for you now to tell me I cannot
do so is quite unpardonable.

2. Underline the subordinate clauses. Identify their functions in the higher

clauses:
1. The president did not explain why he had ousted Benazir.
2. My feeling is that someone has been masterminding the anti-Bhutto protests.
3. As Clinton gained experience, he modified some of his earlier ideals.
4. How they reply will indicate whether they trust us.
5. Poor implementation of an idea does not necessarily mean it is a bad one.
6. One reassuring sign is more Australians speak an Asian language these days.
7. It is obvious that Clinton has elevated trade relations above security concerns.
8. I have not seen Martha since I came back.
9. I will support the policy, if I believe it is right.
10. If I think I should challenge anybody, I will do it.
11. What he saw frightened him.
12. Whenever I visit my in-laws, I feel an outsider.
13. Why she suddenly disappeared is a complete mystery.
14. I noticed that she had spilled a little tea.
15. I doubt if he is telling the truth.
16. Who knows what he is thinking?
17. Who you are is not my concern.

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18. My concern is why you drink.
19. The question remains how these children became computer addicts.
20. I told him that I would telephone him the next day.
21.That he didn't use real name showed that she was afraid.

3. Underline the subordinate clauses. Identify their functions in the higher

clauses:
1. Buying clothes is a very time-consuming practice because those clothes that
a person likes are rarely the ones that fit him or her.
2. At the moment husbands in all industrialized countries contribute very little
to domestic work and recent research shows that this contribution doesn’t
increase when the wife goes out to work.
3. When mother works economic advantages accrue, but children lose
something of great value if mother’s employment prevents her from being
home to greet them when they return from school.
4. In recent years, it has been observed that in those societies where women
work outside their home in the company of men, there exist many serious
social problems.
5. The man who does not see that the good of every living creature is his good
is a fool.
6. Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which I felt when I sank into
the water.
7. We who are fortune enough to live in this enlightened century hardly realize
how our ancestors suffered from their belief in the existence of mysterious
and malevolent beings.
8. I have no sympathy with a poor man I knew, who, when suicides abounded,
told me he dared not look at his razor.
9. As my eldest son was bred a scholar, I determined to send him to town,
where his abilities might contribute to our support and his own.

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4. Here are two texts. For each of them, do the following: underline all the
finite subordinate clause; identify their functions
Text one:
When President Marcos declared Martial Law in September 1972, our
fragile institutions of freedom collapsed. The writers who had been the most
fervent champions of freedom were quickly silenced. Literature, which is the
noblest of the arts, became the pauper of the arts in the President's scheme of
priorities. He claimed that literature was elitist. I think that he was simply
suspicious of writers. The first instrument of censorship in 1972 was the army
Office of Civil Relations which issued newspaper and magazine licenses. It also
imposed guidelines which were often arbitrary. Under these guidelines, the
President, his family and the Armed Forces could not be criticized. Before any
manuscript was published, it was examined by the Army censors. Works that
critiqued the authorities were the main victims of the censorship.
Text two:
It's hard to be a smoker in Singapore. Smoking all forms of tobaccos is
banned in public places and in most enclosed places except pubs and nightclubs.
That is why British-American Tobacco constantly seeks fresh ways to sell its
product. A recent innovation is brand of cigarette mild and slightly sweet. It is,
supposedly, less offensive to those non-smokers who consider the regular smell
unpleasant.

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 SYNTAX AND ITS ASPECTS

METHODS OF SENTENCE ANALYSIS

Analysis of sentences is the breaking up of a sentence into its parts, with

a view to show their mutual relations.
There are two conventional methods of sentence analysis:
1. Descriptive Linguistic Analysis: (Traditional Grammar)
I do not know whether the woman who was asking so many questions
was really interested in the subject, or whether she wanted to attract the
attention of the speaker towards herself, but whatever her motive was, she
succeeded in making him feel so much confused that he eventually sat down,
blushed and remained silent.
M1: ‘I do not know'
S1: 'Whether the woman was really interested in the subject':
Noun clause, object of 'know'.
S1.1: 'Who was asking so many questions': Adjective clause,
postmodifying 'woman'.
S2: 'Or whether she wanted to attract the attention of the speaker
towards herself: Noun clause, object of 'know'.
M2: 'But she succeeded in making him feel so much confused'
S3: 'Whatever her motive was': Adverb clause of concession,
modifying 'succeeded'.
S4: 'That he eventually sat down, blushed and remained silent':
Adverb clause of result, modifying 'confused'.
(M: main clause; S: subordinating/dependent clause)
2. Tree diagram
To build a tree, it is easy to work form the bottom- up and from right to
left. (A Grammar of Contemporary English).
The words of each sentence can be divided into two or more groups and
within each group the words can be divided into sub-groups, and so one, until
only simple words remain.
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 In tree-diagram method, the sentence is called a constituent structure. The
'tree' is upside down with the 'root' at the top and the 'leaves' at the bottom. At
each point where the tree ' branches', there is a group of words that form a part
or structural constituent of the sentence.
At the bottom of the tree are individual words or morphemes. In addition
to revealing linear order, a constituent structure tree has hierarchical structure.
Three aspects of the syntactic knowledge of sentence structure revealed
in the constituent structure tree are:
a. Linearity: the linear older of the word. E.g. the subject preceded the
verb while the object follows the verb.
b. Hierarchy: the grouping of the words into structure constituents. In
sentences, lesser elements are parts of larger whole, which are in turns parts of
larger wholes
c. Categoriality: the syntactic category of each structural constituents.
Words and the larger constituents they make up belong to a set of distinct
categories, each with its special characteristics (E.g. Noun, Adjective. Noun
phrase, Verb phrase etc.)
E.g.

S
The young boy has bought a new camera

NP VP

The young boy has bought a new camera

The young boy has bought a new camera

has bought a new camera

The tree diagram shows that sentence ‘the young boy has bought a
camera’ consists of two structural constituents: a noun phrase 'the young boy’

104
and a verb phrase ‘has bought a new camera’. The verb phrase ‘has bought a
new camera’ consists of two structural constituents: the verb “has bought’ and
the noun phrase ‘a new camera’ and so on. The article ‘a’, the adjective “new’
and the noun ‘camera’ are constituents in a large constituent noun phrase ‘a new
camera’. A constituent includes all the smaller constituents beneath it in the
tree. Each branching point in the tree is called a ‘node’, and sometimes the
syntactic category associated will the node is called its ‘label’.
The constituent structure of sentence also reveals which constituents can
be substituted for other constituents without affecting the grammaticality of the
sentence (although the meaning may change).
Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss of
grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category.

Below is another model example of tree diagram:

 Sentences

NP VP CP

S
Det N V C

NP VP

Det N Aux V

The psychic know that the contestant will win

105
PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
I. Analyse the following sentences according to descriptive analysis:

1. Investigators at first suggested that the blight was caused by static energy,
smoke from railroad trains, or vapors from underground volcanoes; however,
the root cause was later discovered as an airborne fungus that traveled from
Mexico.

2. Due to the apparent screaming that the plant made as it was pulled from the
ground, people in the Middle Ages believed that the person who removed the
mandrake from the earth would either die or go insane.

3. The tiger moth, in deed, is a clear example of a concept that many predators
intuitively understand that creatures with the brightest coloration are often the
least suitable to eat.

4. Video-conferencing has been disparaged for the lack of eye-contact that can
affect the efficacy of the medium and for the fact that participants can be
camera conscious.

5. The public needs experts to offer them specialized advice, but because this
advice is specialized they are not in a position to know what advice they need so
this has to be defined in conversation with the professional.

6. This is tough on those diligent professionals who produce excellent work; but
since –as everyone agrees- awful programs far outnumber the good, it is a relief
to know the former cannot do much harm.

7. We who are fortune enough to live in this enlightened century hardly realize
how our ancestors suffered from their belief in the existence of mysterious and
malevolent beings.

8. I have no sympathy with a poor man I knew, who, when suicides abounded,
told me he dared not look at his razor.

9. To study behaviours and emotion in the normal course of life, we have used
the Experience Sampling Method in which participants carried a beeper, and we
106
signaled them six to eight times a day, at random, over the period of a week,
whenever they heard the beep, they wrote down what they were doing and how
they were feeling.

10. The belief that merit is neglected forms the secret consolidation of almost
every human being from the mightiest to the meanest peasant.

11. Like individuals who give to charity, many countries feel it is their
religious, social, or moral duty to help people in other countries who are
suffering from famine, drought, war, or disease.

12. When the whale comes up to take a nice big breath of fresh air, it instead
gets a nice big breath of exhaust fume so it is hard to say how greatly it affects
the animals, but think how breathing polluted air affects us.

13. Those who are allergic to furry pets, pollen, and plants are prescribed mild
medication or taught how to control their reactions with simple lifestyle
changes, while those with food allergies learn to safely remove certain food
from their diets.

14. It is not known exactly how or when the potatoes were first introduced to
Europe, however, the general assumption is that it arrived on a Spanish ship
some time in the 1600s.

15. A few relief programs were eventually implemented, such as soup kitchens
and workhouses; however, these were poorly - run institutions that facilitated
the spread of disease and offered inadequate food supplies considering the
extent of Ireland’s shortages.

16. Although the surviving stocks have probably been sufficient to sustain the
resident pods, many of the runs that have been lost were undoubtedly traditional
resources favoured by the resident orcas.
17. But because of the fact that orcas are so popular, they may be the best
species to use as a focal point in bringing about the many changes that need to
be made in order to protect the marine environment as a whole from further
toxic poisoning.

107
18. Marine animals, busy hunting and feeding under the surface of the water,
may not be aware that there is a kayak above them and actually hit the bottom
of it as they surface to breathe.

19. With novels, the reader attends mainly to the meaning of words rather than
the way they are printed on the page, whereas the ‘reader’ of a painting must
attend just as closely to the material form of marks and shapes in the picture as
to any ideas they may signify.

20. Scientists are increasing to find out what’s going on because they consider
the Artic the ‘canary in the mine’ for global warming- a warning of what’s in
store for the rest of the world.

II. Draw tree diagram for the following noun phrases:

1. the girl with a smile
2. the pretty girl with a smile
3. a man like John
4. action in case of fire
5. the table which remained
6. the table which I saw
7. the man who is walking in the garden.
8. the small leather handbag given to me
9. an experience you’ll always remember
10. that distinguished man in a black suit

III. Draw trees for the following VPs:

1. cancelled the project
2. pointed out the man hidden in the crowd
3. banned the cat scratching furniture from the living room
4. put the car on the porch later
5. sent me a postcard on my birthday
6. give the first comer a gift
7. threw up a hairball on the carpet
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8. throw away money on gambling
9. will eat the rice in that saucepan
10.was quite sure about what his father had told him
11.will have the car serviced

IV. Draw tree diagrams for the following adjective phrases:

1. Kim is angry at Bill’s sister.
2. We are proud of the invention.
3. She was interested in what we have proposed.
4. Naomi is anxious about Jim’s health.
5. He is aware of what might happen as a result of too much air pollution.

V. Analyse the following sentence by PSRs (Phrase structure Rules)

1. The farmer was eating his lunch in the cornfield.
2. The 21st century may be known as the era of lifelong learning and lifelong
working.
3. A declining birthrate may result in a shortage of skilled and knowledgeable
employees.
4. The police caught the thief red-handed.
5. He punched the man in the face.
6. He punched the man in the blue shirt.
7. He put the book on the table in the living room on the shelf.
8. He went to school in Walton Street in his city.
9. He went to school in Walton Street in the evening.
10. Older workers in the work force would make sound economic and social
policy sense.
11.The police examined a photograph of the accident.
12. A wedding cake should be placed in front of them tomorrow morning.
13.Those people moved the desk into the hall because they needed more space.
14.The patient in bed was realizing with mild surprise that he was getting
weaker.

109
15.He told the secret so that I should help him
16.He went by car because it was raining
17.You can tell me whether the train has left.
18.He drove carefully because the road was slippery.
19.That Sharon’s car had broken down astonished the mechanic.
20.He went by car which had been bought
21.She gave him a look which betokened trouble.
22.I have forgotten who gave us the gift.
23.The young girl was fond of what had been said by him.
24.The ripe apples from the tree which is near the house might hit the people on
the head.
25. He will know the result when he returns.
26.Timothy sold his car when his mother was seriously ill.
27.They considered what he proposed unworkable.
28. Many people are wondering when inter-planetary travel will become
possible

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 STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY

I. Structural ambiguity is the different underlying meanings or different

implications of a sentence due to the fact that the sentence components can be
arranged into phrases in more than one way. An ambiguous sentence is a
sentence which may have two or more meanings
Some sentences are structurally ambiguous. They are surface. For example,
the sentence, “Annie whacked a man with an umbrella” is structurally ambiguous.
It has two distinct deep structures expressing, on the one hand, the fact
that “Annie had an umbrella and she whacked the man with it”; and on the other
hand that “Annie whacked a man and he happened to be carrying an umbrella”.
(Yule, G, 1985:82)
So this sentence has two different underlying interpretations which would
be represented differently in the deep structure.
Syntactic knowledge combined with semantic knowledge can help us see
which sentences are paraphrases of chosen original sentence and which are not.
When a string of words can be semantically associated with more than
one tree structures, it is said to be structurally ambiguous.
• The tree diagram:

111
II. Some Other Examples of Ambiguity
2.l. “Fast cars and motorcycles are dangerous”
Two underlying interpretation of this sentence is as follows:
a. “Fast cars and fast motorcycles are dangerous”.

b. “Fast cars and any type of motorcycle are dangerous”.

The tree diagram:

112
2.2. “The policeman killed the woman with a gun.”
Two underlying interpretations of this sentence are as follows:
a) The policeman shot the woman.

b) The policeman killed the woman who held a gun in her hand.

The tree diagram:

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2.3. “You can call her Mary”
Two underlying interpretations of this sentence are as follows:
a) You can address her as Mary

b) You can ask Mary to come to help her.

The tree diagram:

114
2.4. “George likes amusing girls”
Two underlying interpretations of this sentence are as follows:
a) George likes enjoyable girls.

b) George likes making girls laugh or smile.

The tree diagram:

115
2.5. “Smoking grass can be nauseating”
Two underlying interpretation of this sentence are as follows:
a) Putting grass in a pipe and smoking it can make you sick.

b) Fumes from smoldering.

• Grass can make you sick.

• Burning slowly without flame.
The tree diagram:

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PRACTICE EXERCISES:
1. The following sentence is structurally ambiguous, analyze the two
different sentence structures (SVOCA) to show both possible meanings.
1. The girl scratched the boy with the sharp fingernails.

2. We called him a porter.

3. They took her money.

4. He looked after dinner

5. We must ask the farmer who owns the fields where we can camp.

6. The police have trouble with the people who occupy these cottages all

the time.
7. I looked at the letter Max was reading with unfeigned astonishment.

2. Draw tree diagrams to illustrate the different meanings of the

following ambiguous sentences:
1. He couldn’t find the key to the jewel case which he had left on the table.

2. The mother of the girl and the boy will arrive.

3. I am looking for someone to teach French.

4. Max was ogling a girl with brazen audacity.

5. The girl scratched the boy with the sharp fingernails.

6. They have wounded men there.

7. I bought an old French dictionary.

8. He buried the knife he found in the garden.

9. Children who stay out all night sometimes should be punished.

10. The students complained to everyone that they couldn't understand.

117
 SYNTHESIS OF SENTENCES

Synthesis is the combination of a number of simple sentences into one

new sentence - simple, compound or complex.
A. Combination of two or more simple sentences into a single simple
sentence.
Chief ways of combination:
1. By choosing a non - finite clause.
A crow stole a piece of cheese. She flew to her nest to enjoy the tasty ' meal.
 Having stolen a piece of cheese, a crow flew to her nest to enjoy the tasty
meal.
2 By using a prepositional phrase.
He has failed many times. He still hopes to succeed.
 In spite of many failures, he hopes to succeed.
3. By using a noun phrase in apposition.
This town was once a prosperous sea – port. It is now a heap of ruins.
 This town, once prosperous sea - port, is now a heap of ruins.
4. By using an adverb phrase.
He deserved to success. He failed
 He failed undeservedly.

B. Combination of two or more simple sentences into a single compound

sentence.
Simple sentences may be combined to form compound sentences by the use
of coordinating conjunctions.
1. I was annoyed, I kept quiet.
 I was annoyed, still I kept quiet or I was annoyed, but I kept quiet.
2. The wind blew. The rain fell. The lighting flashed.
 The wind blew, the rain fell, and the lighting flashed.
3. We can travel by land. We can travel by water.
 We can travel either by land or by water.

118
4. He was obstinate. He was punished.
 He was obstinate; therefore he was punished.

C. Combination of two or more simple sentences into a single complex

sentence.
1. Subordinate clause - a noun clause.
a. He may be innocent, I do not know
 I do not know whether he is innocent.
b. She said something I did not hear it
 I did not hear what he said.
2. Subordinate clause - an adjective clause.
a. A farmer had a hen. The hen laid an egg every day. The egg was golden
 A farmer had a hen which laid a golden egg every day.
b. That is a school. I was taught there.
 That is a school where I was taught.
3. Subordinate clause - an adverb clause.
a. It was very stuffy last night. I could not sleep
 I could not sleep last night because it was very stuffy
b. He is superstitious. He is equally wicked.
 He is as superstitious as he wicked.

PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
I. Combine each set of sentences into simple sentence.
1. He devoted himself to public affairs, he never took a holiday. This continued
for thirty years.
2. The boy was drowning. He shouted for help. A workman heard the boy's
shouts. He plunged into the river, he risked his own life
3 The traveler was toiling slowly over the desert, he suddenly turned round. He
heard his companion's voice. His companion was crying for help.
4. He paid all of his father's debts. This was a very honest proceeding. It was
very creditable to him.
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5. The thieves poisoned the dog. He had brought it from England. He had
trained it carefully to protect his property.
II. Combine each set of simple sentences into one compound sentence.
1. He does well. He is nervous as the start.
2. Bruce was lying on his bed. He looked up to the roof. He saw the spider.
3. He was my school-fellow. He has become a great man. He has grown proud,
he forgets his old friends.
4. I did not see you. I should have spoken to you. I had important news. Delay
was dangerous.
5. I lost my way. I asked the policeman to direct me. He was new to his work.
He could not help me. He called the gentleman passing by to my assistance.
6. Generally your conduct is good. You have been guilty of an act of folly. You
will not be punished. I advise you to be more prudent in future.
III. Combine each set of simple sentences into one complex sentence.
1. The German army was no longer to be considered as invincible. This was
apparent to the entire world.
2. We wished to know. We were going somewhere.
3. Who wrote Shanuntala? Can you tell me that?
4. I am very sorry. I cannot adequately express my sorrow.
5. The theft was committed last night. The man has been caught.
6. The time was six o'clock. The accidents happened then.
7. He has many plans for earning money quickly. All of them have failed.
8. You put it somewhere. Show me the place.
9. I wound my watch this morning. It has stopped.
10. He spoke in a very low voice. Nobody could hear him.
11. He saw me coming. He immediately took his heels.
12. It is very simple. Even the child can understand it.
13. I may help you. I may not help you. You are sure to lose the game.
14. You must hurry. You will miss the train otherwise.
15. He finished the work. Just then the clock struck five.

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16. He is a rich man. No other man in our community is equally rich.
17. It doesn't matter what I say. He always does something different.
18. I will leave the message for yon with my secretary. It is possible that I will
be out when yon telephone.
19. In view of the drought, there is only enough water for two days. That is our
conclusion.
20. You could have the best binoculars in the world. But still you wouldn’t be
able to see anything.
21. He has very bad health. He lives very carefully. It is inexplicable to the
doctor. The doctor has attended him for years. He told me this.
22. He wrote a letter. He wrote it for a certain reason to his superior. He told me
about this.
23. He played exceedingly well in the match. His team won in consequence.
The match was played yesterday.
24. He forsook his dishonest ways. No one would give him work. His dishonest
ways had brought him to the depths of poverty.

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 REFERENCES
[1] Alexander, L.G. (1992), Longman English Grammar, Essex, England:
Longman Group Limited.
[2] Alexander, L.G. (1992), Longman Advanced Grammar: Reference and
practice, Essex, England: Longman Group Limited.
[3] Azar, Betty Schrampfer (1989), Understanding and Using English
Grammar (Second Edition), Englewood Cliffs, Newjersey: Prentice Hall
Regents.
[4] Collins Cobuild (1994), Collins Cobuild English Grammar, London:
William Collins Sons & Co Ltd. Collins Publishers.
[6] Fromkin, Victoria & Robert Rodman, Peter Collins, David Blair (1990) An
Introduction to Language, Holt, Rineart& Winston
[7] Howard Jackson (1999), Analysing English, Pergamon Institute of English.
[8] Huddleston, Rodney (1993), An introduction to the grammar, Oxford,
England: Oxford University Press.
[9] Leech, G. &Svartvik, J. (1975), A communicative grammar of English,
Essex, England: Longman Group Limited.
[10] O’Grady, Wiliiam& Michael Dobrovolsky (1993) Contemporary
Linguistics - An Introduction, St. Martin Press, New York
[11] Quirk, Randolph &Grenbaum, Sydney (1993), A university Grammar of
English, Longman Group Limited.
[12] Roberts, Noel Burton (1997), Analysing sentences, Longman
[13] Schmidt, Hemlen Hoyt (1995), Advance English Grammar, Upper Saddle
River, Newjersey: Prentice Hall Regents.
[14] Swan, Michael (1994), Basic English Usage, Walton Strreet, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

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