2/18/2025

GRAMÁTICA INGLESA II
GRADO ESTUDIOS INGLESES

GRAMÁTICA INGLESA II
GRADO ESTUDIOS INGLESES

UNIT I: INTRODUCTION: CLAUSE & SENTENCE

UNIT I: INTRODUCTION: CLAUSE & SENTENCE
1.1. Sentence and Clause. The basic clause
1.1. Sentence and Clause

1.2. Clause constituents - Set Readings: Quirk et al. 2.11

1.3. Syntactico-semantic relations: events, participants,
- Practice: Exercises 1.1
circumstances

Is SENTENCE a grammatical unit?

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(Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/15/cancel-culture-we-should-stop-it-end-of-story-
chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-on-backlash-writers-block-and-her-two-new-
babies?utm_term=67b04ab7a3a695e0af2ca8f227eef072&utm_campaign=SaturdayEdition&utm_sour
(SENTENCE???)
ce=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=saturdayedition_email)

I’d read a lot about Adichie’s life in the last few years. It’s
PRAGMATICS CLAUSE GRAMMAR
been 11 years since she published a novel. In that time, |
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SYNTAX
the author has lost both parents, seen Trump become UTTERANCE PHRASE
|
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president twice – and finally returned to fiction after a WORD
| MORPHOLOGY
bruising reaction to her comments on gender. |
MORPHEME
Adichie speaks with a swinging, almost tidal rhythm to her
sentences. Her disapproval, she registers with a vibrating
“hmm”. Elsewhere, her voice surrenders wholly to emotion: The hierarchy of grammatical units
deepening and broadening when sombre; silky 3
in 5

persuasion; erupting when amused.

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SENTENCE:
We use recyclable wrapping but that doesn't help if CLAUSE We use recyclable wrapping
consumers are not aware of it. Fuctions (‘Constituents’) S P OD
Forms (‘Realisations’) NP VP NP
Although we use recyclable wrapping, that doesn't help
if consumers are not aware of it. PHRASE recyclable wrapping
We use recyclable wrapping Fuctions (‘Constituents’) Premod. H
Forms (‘Realisations’) Adj. N
CLAUSE We use recyclable wrapping
WORD wrapp ing
PHRASE recyclable wrapping Fuctions (‘Constituents’) Root Affix
Forms (‘Realisations’) Lex.M Der.M.
WORD wrapping
MORPHEME wrap -ing
MORPHEME wrap -ing
The hierarchy of grammatical units 6
The hierarchy of grammatical units
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CLAUSE
The building collapsed
• A grammatical unit consisting, in the central cases, She was pale
of a Subject and a Predicate, both typically realized He faced the truth
by units of the immediately lower rank, ie, phrases.
She’s leaving home
• As such, the clause is the largest unit of They called off the party
grammatical analysis, ie, the largest unit to which a He wrote the book in Paris
grammatical structure can be assigned.
Run!

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What about SENTENCE?

• For some linguists: the largest grammatical unit (even above the clause).
Obviously, to use recyclable
• Difficult to define. Some definitions:
– vague notional definitions of traditional grammars: the sentence as the
wrapping is fine but that doesn't
‘expression of a complete thought’),
help if consumers are not aware of
– formal characterizations: the largest grammatical unit, ie a unit not
included by virtue of any grammatical construction in any larger linguistic
it, so we are starting to label all our
unit)
packaging to let people know if they
– ‘orthographic’ definitions: is any stretch of language delimited by an initial
capital letter and a final full-stop.
can recycle or compost.
None of these definitions is particularly satisfactory or useful from a
grammatical point of view.

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Simple vs Multiple Sentences Simple vs Multiple Sentences

Simple: consisting of a single independent clause Multiple: consisting of more than one clause

Simple Sentence – Compound: 2 or more clauses related by coordination

Clause
– Complex: 2 or more clauses relatbe by subordination
Functions S P OD A

Forms NP VP NP AdvP

You can borrow my car tomorrow

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B. Basic vs Derived Clauses

Compound Basic (canonical, kernel) clauses are:

a. Structurally simple (simple and no outer elements)
b. Structurally complete (no ellipsis)
c. Syntactically independent
Multiple
Sentences
d. Finite
e. Declarative (not interrogative, exclamative,
imperative)
f. Unmarked for polarity (i.e. positive)
Complex
g. Unmarked with respect to word-order

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Properties of Basic Clauses Properties of Basic Clauses

a. Structurally simple (simple and no outer elements): b. Structurally complete (no ellipsis)
– they do not contain other (subordinate) clauses realizing – they are not reduced by ellipsis
any of its immediate constituents: I have read that novel
I like your T-shirt (cf.: … but John hasn’t)
(cf.: I like dancing in the dark)
– they contain, at least, a Subject and a Predicate.
– basic clauses do not contain any external constituents He drank two beers
depending on the clause as a whole (cf. Don’t drink and drive)
The Prime Minister has resigned
(Cf.:Curiously enough, the Prime Minister has resigned )

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Properties of Basic Clauses Properties of Basic Clauses

d. Finite (‘Tensed’)
c. Syntactically independent: He drank two beers

– they stand by themselves and are not subordinated to other Non-basice clauses are ‘Non-Finite’ (‘Non-tensed’)
clauses or phrases. - to-infinitive: To be or not to be…
- -ing: Drinking and driving is not a good idea.
She lives in Berlin - -ed: Kept in the refrigerator, the drug should
remain effective for at least three monts.
(cf.: I think that she lives in Berlin)

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Properties of Basic Clauses Properties of Basic Clauses

e. Declarative (not interrogative, exclamative, imperative) g. Unmarked with respect to word-order:
John is a brave man
(cf. Is John a brave man?, – they are neutral with respect to information presentation
Be a brave man (thematic or information systems of the clause)
My father bought the newspaper
What a brave man John is!)
(cf. Non-basic: marked word-order:
f. Unmarked for polarity (i.e. positive)
I like your shoes The newspaper was bought by father (Passive)
(cf. I don’t like your shoes) It was my father who bought the newspaper (Cleft)
The newspaper, my father bought (Fronting),

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Summary: Basic (‘Canonical’) and Non-basic (‘Non-

canonical’, ‘Derived)’ Clauses
Basic Non-basic Dimension of Contrast

This war is not illegal Polarity: Positive vs Negative

This war is illegal
Is this war illegal? Clause Type: Declarative vs Interrogative

I think that History will judge this President Grammatical status: Simple/Main vs
Complex/Subordinate
History will judge this President
This President will be judged by History Word-order: Voice: Active vs Passive

It is innocent people that they are killing Theme/Information structure: Non-cleft vs

cleft
They are killing innocent people
Innocent people they are killing Non-extraposed vs extraposed

That is the question To have or not to have Finiteness: Finite vs non-finite

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