IM_For EL 102 (Structure of English)

Table of Content
Topic Page Number

I. Review of Syntax

Constituents

Tree Diagram

Practice Activity (Grammatical Func-

tions)
Graded Activity

II. Fundamentals #1 Grammatical Cate-

gories and Rules
Determiner

Pronoun

Noun

Verb

Adjective

Adverb

Preposition

Practice Activity

Graded Activity

III. Fundamentals #2 (Sentence Order)

Sentence Structure Rules

Subject Complement

Compound Complement

Sentence Tree Diagram

Practice Activity

Graded Activity

IV. Fundamentals #3 (Phrase Structure

Rules)
Phrase (Kinds & Structure Rules)

Structure of Predication, Modifier, Coor-

dination, Complementation
Noun Phrase (NP)

Verb Phrase (VP)

Adjective Phrase (AdjP)

Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

Prepositional Phrase (PP)

Phrase Structure Tree Diagramming

Practice Activity

Graded Activity

V. Fundamentals #4 (Clause Structure

Rules)
Clause (Kinds & Structure Rules)

Independent Clauses

Subordinate Clauses

Sentences Classified by Structure

Clause Structure Tree Diagramming

Practice Activity

Graded Activity
I. Review of Syntax, Constituents, and Tree Diagram

Syntax - part of linguistics that studies sentence structures. It operates on a level higher than the word
since it is concerned with the rules by which words are combined into larger units.

• Word order

She drinks beer.

*Drinks beer she.

• Agreement

I borrowed this book.

*I borrowed these books

Many protesters rally along the streets.

*Many protesters rallies along the streets.

• Hierarchical (which modifies what)

We need more (intelligent leaders). (more of intelligent leaders)

We need (more intelligent) leaders. (leaders that are more intelligent)

• Complements (which preposition and form)

I give Mary a book.
*I see Mary a book.
I see her.
*I see she.

II. Phrase structure tree or a constituent structure tree – a tree diagram with syntactic category.

Terms to Remember (for Tree Diagramming)

• Constituents- the natural grouping or parts of a sentence.

• Syntactic category - a family of expressions that can substitute for one another without loss of grammat-
icality.

• Phrase structure tree (PS tree) – shows that a sentence is both a linear string of words ad a hierarchical
structure with phrases nested in phrases. PS trees are explicit graphic representation of a speaker’s
knowledge of the structure of the sentences of his language. PS trees represent three aspects of a
speaker’s syntactic knowledge:

a. linear order of words in the sentence

b. identification of the syntactic categories of words and group of words.
 c. hierarchical structure of the syntactic categories (e.g., an S is composed of an NP fol-
lowed by a VP, a VP is composed of a V that may be followed by an NP and so on.)

A tree diagram represents the order of the words

in a sentence.

Practice Activity. (Exercise 1 and 2)

Graded Activity. Exercise 3. Draw a tree diagram for the following phrases.

1. his purse
2. above the ground
3. Mrs. Mallard's story
4. every bit of my heart
5. delightful evening
6. A multimodal task
7. exciting party
8. congested streets
9. quite refreshing
10. few times
II. A. Fundamentals #1 (Grammatical Categories and Rules)

Determiner (DET)

1. Determiners (DET) are only found in NP (Noun Phrase) and are not obligator

Examples:

(NP) the man, man, A meeting, Meeting, followers, my followers, our group, group, an
understanding, understanding

The man walked out of the room.

Man, are you crazy?
A meeting was held.

2. Are only found in NP (Noun Phrase) and are not obligatory

Examples:

Meeting was held.

Followers went berserk.
My followers spiked to a thousand.
Our group fell behind quota.
Group A could reach the target.
An understanding came into fore.
Understanding is key to success.

4. Some DET can be qualified by an intensifier.

Examples:

All these gifts came from Santa.

Many of these gifts came from Santa

5. Adjectives (and other nouns) can also occur before the head noun but they come after any determiners.

Examples:

All these (determiners) large sugary(adjective) doughnuts(head noun) filled with jam and cream
(post modifiers) are his choice.
My (determiner) big glassy(adjective) house(head noun)
A (determiner) solid diamond-based (adjective) ring (head noun)
Many (determiner) Korean-inspired (adjective) face (head noun)

6.a There is NO restriction on the number of adjectives

Examples:
 crazy old filthy person
expensive light and classy lamp shade

7. There is NO co-occurrence of these DET types

Examples:

*the both several

*all several many

8. The exclamatives WHAT and SUCH normally ONLY occur before the central DET
a/an

Examples:

What a tall building!

Such a wondrous feeling!
*What the news!
*Such my worry!

9. Indefinite pre-determiners can occur with wide range of central determiners.

Examples:

All of my love
Both your hearts
All of these (all of those, all of that)

10. Fraction and multipliers are also pre-determiners.

Examples:

half of the apples (NP)

half of the properties (NP)
A third of the class (NP)
A third of money (NP)
Quarter of the contribution (NP)

11. The determiner every can be a central determiner preceding a post determiner such as a numeral

Examples:

Every third day

Every last breath
Every first quarter

11.a every can also be used as a post determiner when its function is emphatic.

Examples:
 He ignored my every wish.
She needs your every breath.

12. It is possible to have a pre-determiner, a central determiner and a post determiner in one NP (although
there are many restrictions.

Examples:
all your many ideas.
both my last two friends
half of your several vices

13. Many determiners are also pronouns (i.e. relative, nominal relative, indefinite, demonstrative).

Examples:

(Indefinite pronouns) some, any, neither, nor

(Relative pronouns) which, whose, what which ever…
(Demonstrative pronouns) this, these, that, those

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Determiner). Give

examples (sentence) for each rule governing
the structure of the Determiner.

13a. A determiner will always be followed by a head noun.

A pronoun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they,
each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone,
everybody, etc.) is a word that takes the place of a
noun.

Examples:

Which dress did she wear? (Determiner)

Which is the dress for auction? (Pronoun)
I really have had enough greasy chips. (Determiner)
I really have had enough. (Pronoun)

II.B. Fundamentals #1 (Grammatical Categories and Rules)

Pronoun (PRN)

1. Pronouns act as nouns

Examples: I run
He runs
 They run

2. Possessives modify nouns

Examples: John likes my bike.
She broke her promise.
We invited their boss.

3. Subject pronouns are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence.
Examples: He made a scandalous scene.
The party was awesome. It surely is the best!
We made it to the finish line.

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Pronouns). Give ex-

amples (sentence) for each rule governing the
structure of the Determiner.

4. Subject pronouns are also used if they rename the subject. They will follow to be verbs, such as is, are,
was, were, am, will be, had been, etc.
Examples: If it were us, it surely is a success.
It was them who took the prize.

5. Object pronouns are known more specifically as direct object, indirect object, and object of a prepo-
sition. Object pronouns include me, him, herself, us, them, themselves.
Examples: Mother gave me a gift. (indirect object)
Gina believed in him. (direct object)

II. C. Fundamentals (Noun)

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Noun). Give exam-

ples (sentence) for each rule governing the
structure of the noun.

Noun

Morphology. Most nouns form their plural

Syntax. Usually has a DET (except Proper Name, example John) DET N
Can be modified by an adjective (Adj) N
Semantics. Name of a person, place or thing
Including abstract nouns love, beauty, hope, faith, etc
We need more (intelligent leaders).
(more of intelligent leaders)
We need (more intelligent) leaders. (leaders that are more intelligent)
II.D. Fundamentals (Verb)
Verb (V)

Morphology. Form third person, past tense, present participle, past participle

walk walks walked walked

go goes went gone
buy buys bought bought

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Verb). Give exam-

ples (sentence) for each rule governing the
structure of the verb.

run runs ran run

walking going buying running

Syntax. Can combine with AUX (can buy, should care, would negotiate, )

Can be modified by an adverb (gratefully smiled, well treated, carefully read, usually sleep)
Adverb____ or _____ Adverb

Semantics. An action word

There are also perception verbs (sense, seem, appear, look, feel)
And state copula verbs (lie, remain, rest, stand)
II. E. Fundamentals (Adjective)

Adjective (Adj) (A)

Morphology. 1. Forms comparative and superlative
cool – cooler – coolest, successful – more successful – most successful,
good – better – best
2. many can be changed into adverbs by the -ly suffix:

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Adjective). Give ex-

amples (sentence) for each rule governing the
structure of the adjective.

sad – sadly, funny – funnily, nice – nicely, beautiful – beautifully

Syntax. Can modify a noun (DET) (Adj) Noun (a cold night, the black panther, quiet
audience)
 Can be modified by an adverb (very clever, extremely careful, unusually hot)
Adverb____ or _____ Adverb

Semantics. Usually describes a quality or attribute

II. F. Fundamentals (Adverb)

Adverb (Adv) provides context in a sentence by describing how, when, where, and to what extent some-
thing occurs.

adverbs of frequency (always, never, often)

adverbs of degree ( very, extremely, quite)
adverbs of manner (quickly, slowly, carefully)
adverbs of place (here, there, everywhere)
adverbs of time (now, then, soon)

1. If the verb has an object, the adverb comes after the object.
Examples: We made a decision quickly then left.
Jane played volleyball occasionally.
The members voted unanimously.
2. When there is more than one of the three types of adverb together, they usually go in the order
of manner, place, time:

Examples: You start off slowly in the beginning.

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Adverb). Give ex-

amples (sentence) for each rule governing the
structure of the adverb.

James played brilliantly on Saturday in the match.

3. Adverbs indicating the attitude and point of view of the speaker or writer usually go at the be-
ginning. These adverbs are called sentence adverbs because they refer to the whole sentence or
utterance:

Examples: Actually, I thing the meeting is on Wednesday not Thursday.

Obviously, we can't tell you the result but we can give you an indication.

4. If the subject is a pronoun, it comes directly after the adverbs here, there. If the subject is a
noun, it comes directly after the verb.

Examples: Here she is.

There it goes.

II. G. Fundamentals (Preposition)

 Prepositions (P)
In, out, under, above,

Syntax. Stands before a noun phrase (P NP) in the room, under an observation

Spatial, temporal relationship (over the fence, around 9 am)

1. Prepositions must have an object

Examples: She took the case by the bay.

My meditation everyday came to a breakthrough.
Dancing over the sounds from the radio appeals me.

2. The pronoun following the preposition should be an object form.

Examples: The secret is between you and me.
 Best wishes were extended to him and me.
The plans were against Riza and me.

A. PRACTICE ACTIVITY (Preposition). Give

examples (sentence) for each rule governing
the structure of the preposition.

Graded Activity. https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-

quiz.php#google_vignette
III. Fundamentals #2 (Sentence Structure Rules)

1. I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.

preposition
adjective
noun
2. What did she ask you to do?
verb
preposition
pronoun
3. I left my shoes under the kitchen table.
adjective
preposition
pronoun
4. If we finish our work quickly we can go to the movies.
adverb
conjunction
verb
5. On Saturdays I work from nine to five.
verb
preposition
adverb
6. I want to go to a university in the United States.
adjective
preposition
determiner
7. I'm sure I've met your girlfriend before.
verb
preposition
pronoun
8. Well, I don't think I'll be home before 6.
interjection
preposition
pronoun
9. Andy knocked on the door but nobody answered.
adverb
adjective
pronoun
10. After lunch let's go out for a coffee.
pronoun
preposition
A. Basic rules of syntax in English

1. Sentences need to have a subject and a verb in order to be complete.

2. A single sentence should have a main idea.

3. In English grammar, the subject comes before the verb.

4. Subordinate clauses (also called dependent clauses) need to have a subject and verb but does not make
them complete sentences unless connected to an independent clause.

5. Adjectives and adverbs must be positioned before or in front of the words they describe.

B. Seven (7) types of syntactic patterns

Syntactic Patterns are the acceptable word orders within sentences and clauses.

1. Subject - Verb
Examples The man runs.
My classmates cry.
People shout.

2. Subject- Verb -Direct Object

Examples Myra passed the salt.
Her friend baked a cake.
The speaker delivers her speech.

3. Subject - Verb - Subject Complement

Examples She is pretty.
The shoes were hers.
The movie was a blockbuster.

4. Subject Verb - Adverbial Complement

Examples Her friends celebrated merrily.
Netizens broke the news heartbreakingly.
Summer should start eventually.

5. Subject - Verb - Indirect Object - Direct Object

Examples The wife gave the courier a tip.
He bought Mary a bouquet of flowers.
The president awarded Mr. Castro a certificate.

6. Subject - Verb - Direct Object - Object Complement

Examples The dog made the bone wet.
Mother cooked asado spicy

7. Subject - Verb - Direct Object - Adverbial Complement

Examples The cat curled its tail upward.
Women paid attention seriously.
 PRACTICE ACTIVITY:

Write an example for each syntactic pattern.

C. Types of Syntax: Four Sentence Structures

1. Simple sentence requires a single independent clause.

Examples:
Baguio is a favorite tourists’ spot.
Xanadu is an 80’s enjoyable song.
Stephen is one of my EL 102 students

2. Complex sentence combines an independent clause with one or more subordinate clause.
Examples:

Baguio is a favorite tourists’ spot which provides income to many locals.

Xanadu is an 80’s enjoyable song because it touches life and behavior of most teenagers.
Stephen is one of my EL 102 students who happens to enjoy English.

3. Compound sentence joins two independent clauses by using a coordinating conjunction or a semi-
colon.
Examples:

Baguio is a favorite tourists’ spot and the climate is mostly awed by vacationers.
Xanadu is an 80’s enjoyable song; music lovers find the song appealing.
Stephen is one of my EL 102 students and he gets high scores every time.

4. Compound-complex sentence combines two independent clauses with one or more subordinate
clauses.
Examples:

Baguio is a favorite tourists’ spot and the climate is mostly awed by vacationers but
dreaded by most senior citizens.
Xanadu is an 80’s enjoyable song that music lovers find appealing and the beat will
certainly bring back memories of disco and slow rock.
Stephen is one of my EL 102 students who gets high scores every time and he surely
meets all the deadlines of my requirements.