Unit- 9: Sentence
Structure
9.0 Objective
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1
Subject
9. 2 Kinds of Simple Sentences
9.3 Formation of Simple Sentences
9.3.1 Relative statements
9.3.3 Form of Interrogatives
9.3.5 Imperative sentences
9.3.7 Exclamatory sentences
9.4.2 Alternative question
9.4.3
Question-word questions
9.5 Conclusion
9.6 Unit End Questions
9.0 Objective
Now after a detailed
study of the various important parts of speech
we move on to
the
study of sentence
formation in English.
9.1
Introduction
A sentence is the largest
grammatical unit. It usually consists
of a subject, a verb and
an object or a complement. Essentially, a sentence
consists of a subject and
a verb. A simple sentence is made up of two parts, a subject and a predicate.
9.1.1
Subject
The subject of a sentence is a word or a group of words that
says who or what does something. One may loosely
characterise the subject as 'that which is being discussed', or the 'theme' of the sentence.
The subject may have:
a) headword noun/noun-equivalent only,
i.e. without an adjunct
b)
headword
+ adjunct (modifier like adjective/determiner) The structure of such sentences is:
Subject (without an adjunct) Predicate Horses run
She laughed
What he says is right
Subject (with an adjunct) Predicate
A few eggs are rotten.
The sun rises in the east.
The headword is an essential ingredient but a modifier is just an adjunct.
So a sentence is not possible without a
head word (noun). We can't say:
A good runs fast.
The predicate is that part
of the sentence
that says something about the action
of the subject.
The predicate may have:
a) headword (finite verb)
only
b)
headword
+ adjunct (complement object adverb/prepositions) The structure of such sentences is:
a)
Subject Predicate (finite verb only,
without adjunct) He died.
Lions roar.
b)
Subject Predicate (with
adjunct) He loves
her very much.
She plays the violin
in the evening.
The headword (finite
verb) is an essential ingredient but complement/object etc. is
only an adjunct. If mayor
may not be present, depending on the nature
of the verb
.
9.
2 Kinds of Simple Sentences
Sentences are offour kinds:
i) Declarative (statements)
ii) Interrogative (questions)
iii)
Imperative (commands)
iv) Exclamatory (exclamations)
9.3 Formation of Simple Sentences
9.3.1
Relative statements
Declarative sentences
i) Declarative sentences are
statements:
The
structure of a statement is: subject + verb + other words
1.
He plays football.
2. They are learning grammar. Kinds of statements
There are three kinds of statements:
1. Affirmative 2. Negative 3. Emphatic
9.3.3 Form . n of Interrogatives
I A statement with an auxiliary verb is made interrogative by the inversion of the subject and verb,
i.e., by changing of the position
of the subject
and verb:
Statements Questions
1.
He is tall. Is he tall?
2.
They are teachers. Are they teachers?
3.
She can do this
sum. Can she do this sum?
4.
He should work hard. Should he work hard?
5.
They will
go home. Will they go home?
ii) A statement with a main verb in simple present/simple past
tense is made interrogative by introducing a dummy 'do'
and placing it at the
beginning of a question:
Statements Questions
1.
They play
cricket on Sundays. Do they play
cricket on Sundays?
2.
He helps her always. Does he help her always?
3.
She lives in Ranchi. Does she live in Ranchi?
4.
They won the match. Did they win the match?
9.3.5 Imperative
sentences
Ab
imperative sentence expresses a command/order/requestladvicelsuggestion etc.
In an imperative sentence, the subject is invariably the second person
pronoun you, which is generally
unexpressed.
Come in. (You come in.) Sit down. (You sit down.)
Words like please, kindly are to be appended to an
imperative indicating request: Please
open the door. Open the door, please.
If please is at the
end, it has
to be separated from the main part
of the sentence by a comma.
Note: a) don't (contracted form) is always used when
you is expressed: Note a) 1. Don't you
come in. (not, Do not you come in.)
2. Don't you worry. (not, Do not you worry.)
b) Do is used to make an imperative emphatic, as in the following:
See a doctor at once.
Do
see a doctor at once.
9.3.7 Exclamatory sentences
Exclamatory sentences express
a wide variety
of emotions like sudden surprise, delight, pain, anger,
disgust etc. Some
of the exclamations are:
i)
What + noun + other words What a place it is!
What a dirty place it is!
ii)
How + Adjective/Adverb + other word How tall she is!
How sweetly she sings!
iii)
0 that + clause
o
that I were a prince!
iv)
Alas that
+ clause Alas,
she died so young!
v)
Would
that + clause Would
that I had known him!
vi) If only + clause
If only I could get a
first in English!
vii)
Word + and + word
My husband and a coward!
viii) Short cries/incomplete sentences
What a friend! What an idea!
How nice of you! How absurd!
Good! Excellent! Marvellous!
Beautiful! Wonderful! Fantastic!
Fire! Murder! Oh/Alas!
9.4.2
Alternative question
In alternative questions there is more than one question joined by or:
1.
Are they doctors or nurses?
2.
Do you like Maths or Science?
Each
of the questions requires a full answer:
Questions Answers
1.
Do you play cricket
or tennis? I play cricket. I don't play
tennis.
2.
Have you got a car or a scooter? I have got a car.
I don't have a scooter.
1
Will you watch TV or go to the cinema? I will watch
TV. I won't go to the
cinema.
Note:
An alternative question is different from
the ordinary question
in that it asks
one to choose one of the alternatives, so one of the answers
is positive and the
other
negative:
1.
Do you like curds
or milk? I like curds.
I don't like
milk.
2.
Will you go for a walk
or a swim? I won't
go for a swim. I'll
go for a walk.
9.4.3
Ques tion-word questions
Question-word
questions begin with wh-words or how:
who,
whose, which, what, when, where, why, and how
Question-word
questions require full answers, they seek fresh information, and therefore a short yeslno answer is inappropriate.
Questions Answers
1.
Who are you? I am Megha.
2.
What are you? I am a teacher.
3.
Where do you come from? I come from Dhanbad.
4.
When did
you come? I came only yesterday.
5.
How are you feeling
now? I am feeling fine.
Note:
The structure of a question-word question is:
Question-word + verb + subject
Notice that the inversion of subject and verb is obligatory as in yeslno
questions:
1.
Who are you?
2.
What do you want?
3.
Where are you going?
9.4.6 Question
tags
Question tag is a short question tagged (added) to a sentence
asking for agreement or confirmation. A sentence expresses an assumption and a question
tag expects confirmation:
He can't help us. Can he?
9.5 Conclusion
In this Unit we have studied various kinds of
sentences in English.
9.6
Unit end Questions
1
Name different types of sentences in English giving
examples.
2
What do you understand by ‘Head word’.
Give an analysis of predicate.
