Guide for English Syntax

Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases in a language. It includes word order and grammar rules. The order of words in a sentence conveys meaning and reordering the placement of these words can change the meaning.

SYNTAX RULES

There are many syntax rules, but knowing the basic rules is a good start to writing and speaking English fluently.

1. SUBJECT + VERB. A sentence must have a subject and a verb. An imperative sentence has an understood subject of 'you'.

  • Declarative: The American black bear lives throughout North America. 
  • Imperative: (you) Please put the food on the table.
  • Interrogative: What is the problem? 
  • Exclamatory: That was great!

2. COMPLETE THOUGHT. Every sentence must express a complete thought. If it is an incomplete thought, it is not a sentence. Usually one idea is expressed per sentence.

  • Sentence: (you) Put the books in the cupboard.
  • Incomplete: (you) Put the books.

3. WORD ORDER = SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT.   Many other languages follow this word order. However, Some languages follow the sequence Verb + Subject + Object. A few languages place the object before the subject and verb.

  • The deer(S) ran(V) through the woods. (no Object)
  • The cat(S) caught(V) the mouse(O).
  • They(S) gave(V) Sally(O) the award(O).

4. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT. The subject and verb must agree in number. Single subjects need a single verb and plural subjects need a plural verb.

  • Single: He wants a new computer.
  • Plural: They want a new T.V.

5. ADJECTIVES come before the the word they modify.

  • The beautiful young girl sang a solo.

Basic Syntax Terms

1. SUBJECT.  All of the words before the verb in a sentence are considered part of the subject.

A. Simple Subject. In an active voice sentence the simple subject performs the action. A simple subject is usually a noun or pronoun. Imperative sentences (commands) often have a subject that is implied and understood. The subject is before a verb in a sentence. 

  • Declarative Sentence:  I ate a sandwich yesterday.
  • Imperative Sentence: (You) Eat your sandwich.
  • Exclamatory Sentence: That was a tasty sandwich!
  • Interrogative Sentence: Did you eat a sandwich?

B. Compound Subject. A sentence may have more than one subject.

  • The sofa and chairs are very comfortable.
  • John, Todd, and Mike are on the same team.
  • Did Sue and Jane come to the party?

C. Subject of a Question. The placement of the subject in a interrogative sentence (question) depends on combination of a helping verb, main verb, and question word.

  • Be verb: After a single be verb. 
    • Is this correct?
    • Are you tired?
  • Be verbs with helping (auxiliary) verbs: After the first helping verb.
    • Have you been working?
    • Will you be working tomorrow?
  • Action Verb: Between do / does / did and  the main verb.
    • Do you play soccer?
    • Does Harry play soccer?
    • Did Harry play soccer this morning?
  • Question Word + Be Verb: After the question word and BE verb. 
    • What is your name? 
    • Where are the students?
  • Question Word + Action Verb: After the question word and first helping verb.
    • How long have you been playing soccer?

D. Passive Voice Subject. In a  sentence using the passive voice, the subject receives the action.

  • Active: The volunteers washed the dishes.
  • Passive: The dishes were washed by volunteers.

2. PREDICATE. The verb and everything that describes the action. Every sentence has two parts, the subject and predicate. The subject describes who is doing the action. The predicate describes the action.

A. Simple Predicate. The main verb and helping (auxiliary) verbs.

  • The cat is running up the tree.
  • I have eaten sushi before.
  • It will rain tonight.

B. Complete Predicate. This includes the verb, helping verbs and all of the words the describe the action.

  • The cat is running up the tree.
  • I have eaten sushi before.
  • It will rain tonight.

C. Compound Predicate. Two or more verbs that share the same subject.

  • He shaved and showered   before breakfast.
  • They ran and played outdoors all afternoon.
  • The birds sang and chirped with delight.

 D. Two or more clauses. When a sentence has two or more clauses, it will have two or more predicates. Each clause will have its own predicate.

  • He shaved and showered, but did not eat breakfast.
  • They ran and played outdoors, then ate a hardy supper.

3. DIRECT OBJECT. A direct object is a noun or pronoun after a transitive verb and receives the action of the verb. It answers the questions What? of Who?

  • Bill threw the ball. (What was thrown? ball)
  • We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. (What was eaten? rolls)
  • I called you. (Who was called? you)
  • My mom drove us to the store. (Who was driven? us)

4. INDIRECT OBJECT. An indirect object is a noun or pronoun after a transitive verb and before a direct object. It answers the questions To whom? or To what?

  • She gave her friend a gift. (Gave the gift to whom? friend)
  • The library loaned me a book. (Loaned the book to whom? me)
  • He gave his dog a toy. (Gave the toy to what? dog)

5. SUBJECT COMPLEMENT. (Predicate Adjective or Predicate  Nominative) A subject complement follows a linking verb and describes or renames the subject. It can be an adjective or noun.

  • Adjective: She seems tired.
  • Adjective: He is smart.
  • Noun: She is a wonderful singer.
  • Noun: He was an excellent student.

6. OBJECT COMPLEMENT. An object complement is an adjective (also called a Predicate Adjective) or noun (also called a Predicate Nominative) that follows a direct object and describes or renames it.

  • Adjective: I find science fascinating.
  • Adjective: The comment made me angry.
  • Noun: They consider Einstein a genius.
  • Noun: We elected Jane president of the class. 

7. ADVERBIAL COMPLEMENT. An adverbial complement is an adverbial that is required to make sense of a sentence. Removing an adverbial complement will change the meaning of a sentence. They answer the questions Where? or When? An adverbial may be an adverb, prepositional phrase of noun phrase of time.  Adverbs are often used with verbs of placement such as 'put' or 'place'.

  • Adverb: Put the books there.
  • Adverb: Place the box here.
  • Prepositional Phrase: Put the books on the desk. 
  • Prepositional Phrase: Place the box on the scale.
  • Noun Phrase of Time: The books came last month.
  • Noun Phrase of Time: The box will arrive next week. 

PHRASE

A small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a clause.

1. PREPOSITIONAL Phrase. Begins with a preposition.

  • to the store
  • with my friends
  • at 3 pm
  • in a library

2. NOUN Phrase. A group of two or more words that functions like a noun (subject, object, complement)

A noun phrase can consist of,

  • A noun, a conjunction and a noun: Phil and Tom
  • A gerund and a noun: running and soccer
  • An article, an adjective and a noun: the blue house
  • An article, a noun and a prepositional phrase: the book on the floor
  • A determiner and a noun: This year

Functions as a noun.

  • Subject: Beth and Paul are friends.
  • Object of Preposition: I am interested in science and math.
  • Direct Object: We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
  • Indirect Object: They gave Nick and Gloria the reward.
  • Subject Complement: They are good students and athletes.

A. APPOSITIVE Phrase. An appositive is a noun that is used immediately after another noun, having no other part of speech. An appositive phrase, therefore, is a noun phrase placed adjacent to the noun it modifies.

  • Nathan, my son, studies chemistry at university. 
  • We met Dr Jones, our cardiologist.
  • Michigan, the Great Lake State, has many beautiful lakes.

3. ADJECTIVE Phrase. A group of words that are put together in order to qualify the noun or pronoun. It is also referred to as an adjectival phrase.

An adjective phrase can consist of

  • Adjectives
  • Adverb
  • Prepositions / Prepositional phrase
  • Articles
  • Modifiers/Determiners

Examples:

  • The three young girls played quietly.
  • He enjoyed the British mystery series.
  • Vera is shorter than her twin sister, Valerie.
  • This party is the most exciting event of the summer.

4. ADVERBIAL Phrase. Two or more words that perform the role of an adverb. Like an adverb, an adverbial phrase will also answer questions  When? Where? Why? How? and How often?

An adverbial phrase can be formed using the following combinations:

  • A preposition, an article and a noun
  • A preposition, a pronoun and a noun
  • An adjective and an adverb
  • An adverb, a preposition and a noun or a pronoun
  • A preposition, an article, an adjective and a noun
  • Multiple adverbs and an adjective
  • Multiple adverbs – one adverb describing another

Examples:

  • How? He spoke in anger.
  • When? They awoke before sunrise.
  • Where? Next to the desk is the trash can.
  • Why? It flooded because of the heavy rains.
  • How often? Every Friday we have a spelling test.

CLAUSES

1. INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. A group of words with a subject and verb that expresses a complete thought,

  • Norah is drawing a picture of a frog.
  • The storm caused damage to homes and land.
  • The game will be at the high school at 8:00 p.m.

B. DEPENDENT CLAUSE. A group of words with a subject and verb that doe not express a complete thought, These are also called fragments.

  • When we ate dinner.
  • Because she did not go.
  • After the storm hit.

SENTENCE STRUCTURES 

1. SIMPLE SENTENCE. One independent clause.

  • I like flowers.
  • They swam in the pool.
  • She will make cookies. 

2. COMPOUND SENTENCE. Two independent Clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon.

  • I like art class, and I like music class.
  • I have a cat; I don't have a dog.

3. COMPLEX SENTENCE. One independent clause and one dependent clause.The dependent clause is always preceded by a coordinating conjunction.

  • She made a call before she visited her friend.
  • Independent Clause: She made a call
  • Dependent Clause: before she visited her friend.
  • Before she visited her friend, she made a call.
  • Independent Clause: she made a call
  • Dependent Clause: Before she visited her friend.

4. COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCE. Two independent clauses and one or more dependent clause/s.

  • Sentence: We go to the lake in summer, but my dog stays at home because he gets carsick when travelling. 
    • Independent Clause: We go to the lake in summer
    • Independent Clause: but my dog stays at home.
    • Dependent Clause: because he gets carsick when travelling.
  • Although he had a lot of work to do, he took a break, and he returned feeling refreshed and ready to work again.
    • Independent Clause: he took a break.
    • Independent Clause: and he returned feeling refreshed and ready to work again.
    • Dependent Clause: Although he had a lot of work to do.

    SYNTACTIC PATTERNS 

    1. Subject + Be Verb + Noun.

    • I am a student.
    • It is a pencil.
    • They are my friends. 

    2. Subject + Be Verb + Adjective. 

    • My neighbor is Chinese.
    • The sky is blue.
    • The game was great!

    3. There + BE + Subject. 

    • There was a storm last night.
    • There are two pencils on the table.
    • There will be a beautiful sunset tonight.

    4. Subject + Verb + Adverb. 

    • I arrived late.
    • My birthday is today.
    • She is studying inside.

    5. Subject + Linking Verb + Adjective. 

    • The teacher looks sad today.
    • I feel tired.
    • The pie tastes terrible
    • It smells dusty in the attic.

    6. Subject + Intransitive Verb.

    • The sun is shining!
    • The boat sank.
    • They will come soon.

    7. Subject + Transitive Verb + Direct Object

    • I bought new shoes.
    • He threw a stick for his dog.
    • We will eat spaghetti tonight.

    8. Subject + Transitive Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object.

    • I can give you a pen.
    • We have built them a new garage.
    • He will make them breakfast.

    9. Subject + Transitive Verb + Direct Object + Adjective (Object Complement).

    • The dog licked his bowl clean.
    • The tinsel made the Christmas tree sparkling.

    10. Subject + Transitive Verb + Direct Object + Noun (Object Complement).

    • We elected her Homecoming Queen.
    • We consider him a wonderful student.