UNIT_ONE.pdf
- 1. UNIT ONE 1.1 General concepts Grammar is the study of words and their function. In its wider sense it may include phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Since grammar is a science, it must describe and analyze the basic facts of speech, and explain and interpret the laws governing the behaviour of language. Phonology studies the pronunciation of words. Morphology studies the form of the words. Syntax is the part of the grammar that studies the relation of words in sentences. Semantics studies the meaning of sentences. Word is the maximal unit of morphology and the minimal unit in syntax. Morpheme is a word or part of a word that has meaning. It is the minimal unit with meaning. Examples: Dogs (the plural s) comes (s for third person singular) es and s (plural and third person singular), Past tense (ed). Sentence is the basic unit of discourse. It is a group of words that makes a complete statement of some kind. Clause is a subdivision of a sentence containing a subject and a predicate. It can be of types, dependent and independent clause. E.g. Susan will come when the principal says. Independent dependent
- 2. Note: The independent clause can stand alone. The dependent clause needs the independent clause in order to have sense; it depends on the main clause (the independent cause). 1.2 Sentence Sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought. It contains a subject and a predicate. The subject is a word or group of words denoting that of which something is said. The subject of a sentence must be a noun (sometimes preceded by a word like the, that, his) or a noun-equivalent (pronoun). ------noun Subject ------any word -------group of words The predicate is the word or group of words denoting that which is said of the subject. The predicate must be or must contain a finite verb (one that is capable of having limits of person and number. Person= 1st , 2nd person, etc. Number= singular or plural). Subject predicate Snakes crawl. The bird sang. His mother washed the car. He preferred to go away. A noun is a word like birds, snake, building, John, mother, as used in the sentences above. Other examples of words commonly used are man, child, lawyer, house, fire, Angela, etc. Some of the nouns in the sentence above are preceded by the word the or his. This word belongs to the word class called determiners. Other common determiners are
- 3. A their no all An this both most My these some more Our those many either Your every much neither Her each few Its any several Personal pronouns: They are often used as substitutes for nouns. They are: I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they Object pronouns: Object pronouns are used instead of object nouns, usually because we already know what the object is. They are: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, and them Possessive forms: - Pronouns: They indicate ownership of something. The possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours and theirs - Determiners: They modify a noun by attributing ownership to someone or something. They are: My, your, his, her, its, our, your and their Demonstrative Pronouns: Demonstrative pronouns are used when one wants to show something. They are: This, that, these, those Indefinite pronouns: They refer to things or people without mentioning what or who they are. The most common are: neither, either, each, both, all, some, many, few, something, somebody, anything, anybody, anyone, nothing, nobody, no one, one, none, such, etc. - Note: More pronoun types will be studied in unit two However, the pronouns me, him, her, and them never occur as subject in Standard English. You may perhaps have noticed that all of the demonstrative pronouns, many of the indefinite pronouns, and some of the personal pronouns appear also on the list of the determiners. These words are determiners when they modify nouns; they are pronouns when they replace nouns in a sentence. Compare these: Determiner: That building is crumbling.
- 4. Pronoun: That is crumbling. (That must refer to something mentioned or otherwise indicated elsewhere.) Determiner: His birds sing. Pronoun: His sing. Note: Not all words used as pronouns occur as determiners: For example, he, mine and somebody never do. Examples of sentences Charles is in the navy S P For a man to speak of himself is a difficult and delicate matter. S P That the earth is round has been proved. S P He will say nothing concerning his part in the affair. S P After the dance we thanked our hosts and returned home. P S P Exercises Identify the elements of the sentences below. 1. My scarf is green. 2. Manuel is a remarkable student. 3. Peter, Teresa and Claude are siblings.
- 5. 4. Looking down from the top of the pass we saw the barren land spread magnificently before us. 5. Another month of hot weather gradually wore away. 6. For seven years Anthony clerked in a small grocery store. 7. The brilliant and fascinating studies of Mr. Green have been followed by all kinds of biographical efforts. 8. The new car slid down into a broad. 9. Your ability to decide depends upon your working knowledge of the metric system 10. The White house and the Pentagon called a new press conference Decide if the underlined word is working as a pronoun or as a determiner. 1. This car is blue 2. Those are my children. 3. That is the person I talked about. 4. Many students did the activity. 5. Several are in class. References: http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/pronounindefinite.htm http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/pronouns.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronoun