Syntax

Syntax

• Syntax is a branch of linguistics that deals with the rules

governing the structure of sentences in a language.
• It involves the arrangement of words and phrases to
create well-formed and meaningful sentences.
 Sentence Structure
• Subject-Verb-Object (SVO): Many languages follow a basic word order
where the subject precedes the verb, and the object follows the verb

Example
"The cat chased the mouse“

Word Order Variations: Some languages have different word orders, such as
Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) or Verb-Subject-Object (VSO).
 Constituency

• Sentences can be broken down into smaller units called

constituents (phrases or clauses). These constituents have
specific syntactic roles.
• For example, in the sentence "The cat chased the mouse,"
"The cat" and "the mouse" are noun phrases (NPs), and
"chased the mouse" is a verb phrase (VP).
 Ambiguity:

• Syntax deals with resolving ambiguity in sentences.

Ambiguity arises when a sentence can have multiple
interpretations or meanings.
 Syntax Trees

• Sentences can be represented using syntax trees,

hierarchical structures that show the syntactic
relationships between words and phrases.
Grammatical Categories and Word Classes
 What are word classes in English grammar?

• word classes are the categories of words that determine how words are
used in grammar.
• Word classes are divided into two main groups: form and function.
 Word classes
Form word classes: Form word classes, also
known as lexical words, are the most common
Function word classes: also
types of words that make up the important parts known as structure words, assist
of a sentence.
the form word classes in a
sentence.
• Auxiliary
• Noun • Preposition
• Verb • Pronoun
• Adjective • Determiner
• Adverb • Conjunction
• Interjection
 Form word classes

• Nouns
Nouns represent people, places, things, or concepts.
• Proper nouns are a type of noun that represents something specific.
• A common noun is the generic name for a person, place, or thing in a
class or group.
• Verbs • Adjectives

Verbs represent actions and are the only word Adjectives are words that modify or describe a
class that is absolutely necessary to make a noun. They add more details to the noun, such
complete sentence as color, size, or age.
Examples: Examples:
be (is, are, was, were) big
swim green
get ancient
play gorgeous
analyze difficult
 Adverbs
• Similar to adjectives, adverbs modify or describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. When describing
verbs, they give details about how an action is performed, such as where, when, why, or how often.
They usually—but not always—end in -ly.
Examples:
carefully
slowly
often
really
very
 Function word classes
examples:

Auxiliaries • Will
• Could
• Also known as helper verbs or helping verbs, auxiliary verbs are • Might
a type of verb that assists the sentence’s main verb to create • would
• Must
advanced tenses.
• For example, in the sentence “They have arrived,” the main
verb is arrived, but the auxiliary verb have is necessary to make
the present perfect tense.
• Auxiliary verbs also include modal verbs like can or should,
which slightly modify the meaning of the main verb. Some
verbs like have, be, or do can be either regular verbs or auxiliary
verbs.
 Prepositions & pronouns

• Prepositions are a special type of word class • Pronouns

that indicates relationships between other Pronouns are a type of noun used as a substitute
words. for other nouns.
• examples: • examples:
• in • I
• at • they
• behind • who
• to • yourself
• from • nobody
 Determiners & Conjunctions

• Determiners are words that come before a noun to • Conjunctions like the word and are words that
explain which noun you’re referring to, the noun’s connect other words.
quantity, or whether the noun is general or specific.
examples:
examples:
• but
• the
• my
• or

• all • because

• those • if

• few • so
 Interjections

• Only used in informal

communication, interjections show a sudden
emotion.
examples:
• gee
• hey
• ouch
• yikes
• oof
 Word class examples
Wow, he has quickly grown into a beautiful cat!
Wow, he has quickly grown into a beautiful Cat!
interjection pronoun auxiliary adverb verb Prepositio determi adjective noun
n ner

We will leave early and visit that new museum.

we will leave early and visit that new museum

pronoun auxiliary adverb conjunctio determine adjective noun

verb n verb r
 Topic For Reporting:
• Word Classes/ Lexical Categories
• Phrasal Categories
• Syntactic Forms. Grammatical Functions, and Semantic Roles
• Heads and Modifiers
• Constituent Structure
• Clauses
• Sentence structure
Thank you 