UNIVERSITY OF BASRAH

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FOR HUMAN SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

ENGLISH GRAMMAR 4
FOURTH YEAR
Asst. Prof. MAHDI ALASADI

2018-2019

BASRAH-IRAQ
 The Simple Sentence
A sentence is a very complicated thing to analyze, because it can be very,
very long, consisting of an enormous number of clauses, for example: ‘This is
the dog that chased the cat that caught the rat that ate the cheese that Jim bought
from the store that ... etc.’
Or it can be very short, consisting of only one little clause (e.g. ‘People
left’). Though the number of possible sentences in English is infinite (we can sit
here and continue making up sentences and more sentences until we die of old
age!), it can be seen that they fall into a relatively small number of patterns.
Understanding these patterns can help us to make grammatical sentences more
easily.
Since a sentence is made up of one or more clauses, let’s first analyze the
structure of the clause in English, and then the structure of the sentence will
become clearer. A sentence which consists of only one clause is called a ‘simple
sentence’. In this lecture, we’ll explore the structure of the clause (or simple
sentence), i.e. the parts that it is made up of and the realization type of each
element.

Sentence Elements
A sentence may alternatively be seen as comprising five units called
Elements of Sentence Structure: Subject (S), Verb (V), Complement (C),
Object (O), Adverbial (A).
Element Realization Types
Sentence elements can be realized by linguistic structures of very different
form. Here, we shall tackle them one by one:

1. The Verb
The verb element is always a verb phrase. This may be finite (showing
tense, mood, aspect and voice) or non-finite (not showing tense or mood
but still capable of showing aspect and voice). Whether finite or non-
finite, the verb phrase can consist of one word, or of more than one word,
in which case the verb phrase consists of a 'head verb' preceded by one or
more 'auxiliary verbs' as it is indicated by the Four Basic Verb
Combinations Rules below:
A. Modal + inf. as in: We can do nothing.
B. Perfect (have+p.p) as in: He had forgotten their wedding
anniversary.
C. Progressive (be+ v+ing) as in: The wind is growing stronger.
D. Passive (be+p.p) as in: He was challenged rudely.

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 These four basic verb combination rules may also combine with each other to
make up longer strings of verbs in one single verb phrase as illustrated below:
1. A+B= He must have typed the report himself.
2. A+C= He may be typing at the moment.
3. A+D= The report could be typed by Jane.
4. B+C= He has been typing all morning.
5. B+D= The report has been typed already.
6. C+D= The report is being sent to the FBI.
7. A+B+C= He must have been typing the report himself.
8. A+B+D= The reports must have been typed by the secretary.

Task one:
Put the verbs and adverbials in the correct order in the verb phrases below.
1. I do can nothing for you.
2. I have been could here before, but I don’t remember.
3. They never going are to tell him the truth about the accident. It’s too
terrible.
4. That house built must been have at the end of the nineteenth century.
5. The work completed is being as we speak.
6. He working been has on that project for two years now.
7. She already seen has the film.
8. Surely he be can’t going to waste all that money on a car he never uses.
9. They have might gone to the meeting. I just don’t know.
10. That made hasn’t things difficult for you, has it?

Task two:
In the story below, the verb phrases have been omitted. Complete the story,
by putting one of the verb phrases here as indicated by the alphabetical order
shown where the verbs should be. (couldn’t believe; couldn’t do; had been
intending; had been locked away; had been losing; had been made; had
lost; hadn’t arrived; hadn’t done; must have got up; should have
remembered; was only just getting; were still locked; would only be
opened).

I ………(1 – A+B)……………… very early that morning because the morning

newspaper ………(2 – B)…………, and, when I left the house, it ………(3 – C)
……………… light. I ………(4 – B+C)……………… to get to work early for
some time as I had a large backlog of work to catch up with. The night security
guard………(5 – A)…………… it when I arrived and the doors ………(6 – D)
……………… He let me into my office. I was ready for work. Now came the

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problem. I ………(7 – A+B)……………! The files I wanted ………(8 – B+D)
……………… for security reasons. The room where they were
………………(9 – A+D)……………… when the day-time security guard came
on duty at 8.30. Arrangements ………(10 – B+D)……………… beforehand. In
the past weeks, I………(11 – B+C)……………… sleep because I
………..…(12 – B)……………the work. Now I ………(13 – B)………………
sleep because I wanted to do the work, but ………(14 – A)………………

Transitive & Intransitive Verbs

Verbs such as agree, explode, sleep, which do not require any other words
after them, are called intransitive verbs. Intransitive verbs, however, can
(optionally) have adverbials after them, e.g.
1. I agree completely. (how)
2. I slept without any difficulty. (how)
3. The star exploded a million years ago. (when)
4. Sara is sleeping quietly in her bed, because she is tired. (how) (where)
(why)
Some verbs require an object after them. An object is a noun phrase
(pronoun, noun or noun clause) which follows a verb and which usually answers
the question ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ after the verb, e.g.
1. I like ice cream. (I like what?)
2. I asked Sam. (I asked who or whom?)
3. I asked a question. (I asked what?)
4. I know Sue is a very good gardener. (I know what?)
Verbs which have an object after them are called transitive verbs. Sentence 4
shows that a whole sentence (Sue is a very good gardener) can be an object.
Sometimes an object is followed by an optional adverbial, e.g. I bought some
cheese on Friday. All the objects included in Sentences 1–4 are usually called
direct objects. Some verbs require or permit two objects, e.g. Sue gave Max a
present. Both Max and a present are objects. Max is an indirect object, and a
present is a direct object.

Task One
In the following sentences, underline the subject and put brackets around
the object.
1. Mary owns a hotel.
2. They appreciated your hospitality.
3. The new book contains a very good index.

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 4. Some people have big feet.
5. This bag holds all my books.
6. That new tie suits him.
7. For some reason, she wants a box of matches.
8. I really enjoy Mozart’s piano sonatas.
9. You will like what I am going to tell you.
10.We need your help tomorrow morning.

Task Two
For each sentence below, decide whether the lexical verb is transitive (t)
or intransitive (i) in that sentence. Remember, a transitive verb is followed
by an object. Some of the sentences contain adverbials. Be careful to
distinguish these adverbs from objects.
1. I don’t watch TV very often.
2. These methods never fail.
3. I didn’t see you at the weekend.
4. Max arrived early.
5. Our team won again.
6. We have completed our review of the department.
7. The price includes fares and accommodation.
8. I can swim.
9. My friend has a headache.
10.Sue enjoyed the concert.

2. The Subject
The subject of the sentence is usually a Noun Phrase, at its simplest a
pronoun such as she, he, they…etc or a proper noun such as Tom,
Julia…etc. But a noun phrase may be an indeterminately long and
complex having a noun as a head, preceded by other words such as an
article, an adjective, or another noun, and followed by a prepositional
phrase or by a relative clause; it is by no means uncommon to find all
such items present in a noun phrase:
• The new gas stove in the kitchen which I bought yesterday has a
very efficient oven.
The subject of a sentence may be a 'Clause' as in:
• That the invading troops have been withdrawn has been welcomed
by the international community.
• How the book will sell depends on the reviewers.
• To be neutral in his conflict is out of question.
• Watching television keeps them out of mischief.

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 • Turn off the tap was all I did.

3. Subject complement, direct object, and object complement

These elements may be realized by the same range of structures as the
subject. But subject and object complements have the additional
possibility of being realized by adjectival phrases (having the adjective as
the head word), as in:
• She made him happy.
• She made him very much happier.

4. The Indirect Object

The indirect objects have fewer possibilities than subjects and their
realizations are chiefly noun phrases, as in:
• He had given the girl a book.
Unlike direct objects and subjects, they cannot be realized by that-
clauses.
5. Adverbials
Adverbials can be realized (a) by adverb phrases, having an adverb as a
head; (b) by noun phrases; (c) by prepositional phrase -that is, structure
consisting of a noun phrase dominated by a preposition as a head; and
(d) by clauses, finite or non-finite:
• John very carefully searched the room.
• They make him the chairman every year.
• She studied at a large university.
• He grew happier, when his friend arrived.

Basic Clause Patterns

The clause elements (e.g. verb, complement, object, etc.) combine to produce
‘patterns’ or ‘structures’. There are a number of different possible clause
patterns in English, including various sub-patterns of major patterns.
A traditional way of describing verb patterns is in terms of the grammatical
functions of the words that follow the verb in a clause. Seven major patterns can
be identified which occur with single word lexical verbs.

1. Subject + Verb (SV)

This pattern involves the use of intransitive verbs which have no object and is

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usually straightforward for language learners, e.g. Sue’s cat died. I have retired.
Sometimes, however, there is an optional adverbial after the verb, e.g. I waited
outside. They left an hour ago. This may make the pattern seem to be different.
Compare, for example:
• Our neighbors returned next day. (SV)
• Our neighbors returned our newspaper. (SVO)
There are very few verbs which are typically only intransitive. Examples are
come, go, wait, sleep. Even some of these can have transitive uses, e.g.This
bedroom can sleep three people.
2. Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)
Verbs which are used transitively with one direct object are said to be
monotransitive. They take the SVO pattern, e.g.
• I cooked lunch.
• Max described his new job.
• Sue didn’t mention her worries.
Many verbs (e.g. break) can be used both transitively and intransitively,
sometimes with changes of meaning, e.g.
• The glass broke. (SV) (intransitive)
• I broke the glass. (SVO) (transitive)

3. Subject + Verb + Complement (SVC)

The verb (be) is by far the most frequently used verb in English. In some
ways (be) is not like other verbs at all. It cannot be classified as either transitive
or intransitive. In many languages there is no equivalent of the English verb to
be. For example, in English we can say I am a pilot or Fred is happy, but in
some other languages like Arabic these sentences have the form I (a) pilot or
Fred happy.
The verb (be) is sometimes called a copular verb because it links elements.
The copula has almost no meaning of its own, but it functions as a link between
the subject and the adjective or noun in the predicate. That is, something is
needed after the copula to complete the predicate. Adjectives or nouns which
complete the predicate are called subject complements. In the sentences Fred is
busy or Sue is the director, the complements are busy and the director.
In most sentences which contain the SVC pattern, the verb is a form of be.
Other verbs which can occur in this pattern include seem, feel, get, become,
grow, smell, stay, taste, appear, sound, remain, look. These verbs also need a
complement, e.g. She seems pleased. He became ill. He remained a bachelor.

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Some of the verbs that occur in the SVC pattern can also occur in other patterns,
e.g.:
• Fred felt sick. (SVC) The customer felt the fabric. (SVO)
• The food tasted good. (SVC) Fred tasted the food. (SVO)

4. Subject + Verb + Adverbial (SVA)

In many sentences adverbials are optional. We can say I opened the door
quickly or I opened the door. However, when adverbials occur after the verb be,
they are usually obligatory, e.g. Sam is on the committee. Most adverbials
which occur anywhere else except after part of the verb be are optional and can
be moved to other positions in the sentence without changing the meaning, e.g.
The movie finished at 10.30 could be At 10.30 the movie finished.

5. Subject + Verb + Object + Object (SVOO)

The SVOO pattern has two object noun phrases, and is said to have ditransitive
or double transitive verbs.

S V O O
I gave them our address.
I bought Fred a ticket.
The first object (them, Fred ) is sometimes called an indirect object preceding
the direct object. The SVOO pattern can usually be changed into an SVOA
pattern (Pattern 7) in the following way:

S V O A
He gave our address to them.
He bought a ticket for Fred.

6. Subject + Verb + Object + Complement (SVOC)

The SVOC pattern is not common. The relationship between the two nouns that
come after the verb is like the relationship between the nouns that come before
and after the verb to be, e.g.

SVOC SVC
They elected Adams President = Adams was President.

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Sometimes the last item is an adjective instead of a noun, e.g.

SVOC SV C
The ride made me dizzy = I was dizzy.

7. Subject + Verb + Object + Adverbial (SVOA)

In this pattern some verbs have an obligatory adverbial. The most frequent
verb taking this pattern is put, e.g. I put the book on the shelf (cf. *I put the
book). For some verbs which take this pattern, however, the adverbial is not
obligatory, e.g. hold, leave, keep, send, bring, take. I sent a letter (to my aunt);
I left my phone number (with the receptionist).
Notes:
The direct object, complement, adverbial are obligatory elements of clause
structure in the sense that they are required for the complementation of the verb.
However, in some cases, a direct object or an object complement could be
considered grammatically optional*.
• They are hunting. (SV) ----- They are hunting ducks. (SVO)
• They crowned him. (SVO)---- They crowned him king. (SVOC)
• He is teaching. (SV) ----- He is teaching chemistry. (SVO)
He is teaching them chemistry. (SVOO)
This case is regarded to be a case of conversion, whereby a verb like (hunt)
is transferred from the transitive into the intransitive category. Thus, "They are
hunting." is an example of clause type (SV) rather than of (SVO) with optional
deletion of the direct object.
These clause patterns can also be expanded by having an optional adverbial
added in most cases.

Optional Adverbials
The seven sentence patterns are expandable. They can be expanded by the
addition of various optional adverbials:
SV: (A) S V (A). e.g. (Usually) the bell rings (in time).
SVA: (A) S V A (A). e.g. (In Iraq) all students are on vacation (in spring).
SVOO: S (A) V O O. e.g. They (kindly) found the displaced shelters.

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Transformational Relations
One can distinguish the various clause types by means of "transformational
relations", or relations of grammatical paraphrase.
Clauses which contain object noun phrases are distinguished by their
conversion capability into passive clauses, the object noun phrase assuming the
function of the subject, the subject of the active sentence may appear in an
optional by-phrase, symbolized as (A).
• Jake stole my keys. (SVO) --- My keys were stolen (by Jake). (SVpass(A))
Where the passive draws more attention to the result than to the action or
agency. The following examples illustrate the passive with other clause types:
• The parliament elected Adams President. (SVOC)
Adams was elected president (by the parliament). (SVpassC(A))
• We watch TV every Sunday evening. (SVOA)
TV is watched every Sunday evening. (SVpassA)
• My boss bought Fred a ticket. (SVOO)
Fred was bought a ticket (by my boss). (SVpassOd(A))
A ticket was bought for Fred (by my boss). (SVpassOI(A))
Although the syntactic or grammatical structures of the clause patterns are
different from one another. There is sometimes a semantic equivalence between
clause types SV, SVC and SVA as it is shown by the occasional equivalences in
the following examples:
• SV = SVCs
The house is blazing. = The house is ablaze.
The boat is floating. = The boat is adrift.
• SV = SVA
He hurried. = He went fast.
• SVCs = SVA
They were breathless. = They were out of breath.
He is healthy. = He is in good health.
He is a suspect. = He is under suspicion.

Intensive Relationship
Both subject and object complements are in a copular relationship with another
clause element. The subject complement relates to the subject, and the verb is
copular, i.e it is either a linking verb or a verb to be. The copular verb is one that
is capable of showing close relationship between two clause elements. In SVC

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clause type the relationship between the subject and the complement is a very
intensive one.
• My class is empty.
• Their daughter has become an accountant.
In SVOC clause type, the object complement relates to the direct object. This
kind of implied relationship between the object and the object complement can
be expressed by means of a corresponding SVC sentence with a copular verb, be
if the object complement is a current attribute and become if it is a resulting
attribute.
• We find them very pleasant. (They are very pleasant)
• Carol made Jim and Mark her assistants. (Jim and Mark became Carol's
assistants)
The concept of intensive relationship can be further extended to the relation of
subject to adverbial and object to adverbial in SVA and SVOA clause types
respectively.
• I put the kettle on the stove. (The kettle is on the stove)
• He wants the payment in dollars. (The payment is in dollars)
SVOO clauses can also be transferred into SVOA clauses by the substitution of
a prepositional phrase for the indirect object, with a change of order:
• He bought his wife a ring.(SVOO). He bought a ring for his wife.(SVOA)
• She sent me a text message. (SVOO). She sent a text message to me.
(SVOA)
To & For, in their recipient senses, are the prepositions chiefly involved. For is
used for "intended recipient", the wife in the above (SVOA) example may or
may not have actually received the ring). To is used for "actual recipient", me
in the above (SVOA) example entails that I actually received the text message.
Other prepositions, such as with & of, are occasionally found:
• I'll play you a game of tennis. (SVOO). I'll play a game of tennis
with/against you. (SVOA)
• She asked Jim a favor. (SVOO). She asked a favor of Jim. (SVOA)

Multiple Class Membership of Verbs

It must be borne in mind that some verbs can belong to a number of different
classes, and hence can occur in more than one clause pattern. When this happens
there is often a slight change of meaning. The verb get is the most versatile verb

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which can occur, in various senses, in six clause patterns. Other verbs range
between two to three clause patterns.
• Smith led the other runners. (SVO)
• The track led into the forest. (SVA)
• We have eaten. (SV)
• We have eaten very well. (SVA)
• We have eaten an apple pie. (SVO)
• She gave him a red rose. (SVOO)
• They gave several presents. (SVO)
• They gave generously. (SVA)
Ambiguities can arise because of the multiple class membership of verbs:
• I found him a good roommate.
• He called his wife a waitress.
The above two sentences could be interpreted either as SVOC or SVOO.

Semantic roles of clause elements

In terms of meaning, every clause describes a situation in which a number of
participants are involved. By PARTICIPANTS we understand entities realized
by noun phrases, whether such entities are concrete or abstract. Thus, we have
three participants in:
John found a good spot for the magnolia tree.
The sentence "Unfortunately, their child broke my window yesterday."
contains a verb describing the nature of the action, a subject denoting an
agentive participant (the agent or doer of the action), and a direct object
denoting an affected participant. In addition, it contains an adverbial evaluating
the situation (unfortunately) and an adverbial locating the situation in time
(yesterday).
Clause elements denote semantic roles in the situation apart from the
participants. Thus, the verb -or the copular verb in combination with a
complement - is the primary device for distinguishing situation types as stative
or dynamic and as subtypes of these two types. The subject complement and the
object complement denote attributes of the subject and direct object
respectively. Adverbials denote such circumstances of the situation as time,
place, and manner of action, express the speaker's evaluation of the situation, or
provide logical connections across clauses or sentences.

Semantic Roles of the Subject

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 The subject has a number of semantic roles. The most typical semantic role
of a subject in a clause that has a direct object is that of the AGENTIVE
participant: that is, the animate being instigating or causing, the happening
denoted by the verb:
• Margaret is mowing the grass.
The subject sometimes has the role of EXTERNAL CAUSER; that is, it
expresses the unwitting (generally inanimate) cause of an event:
• The electric shock killed him.
• The avalanche destroyed several houses.
It may also have the role of INSTRUMENT; that is, the entity (generally
inanimate) which an agent uses to perform an action or instigate a process:
• A stone broke his glasses.
• A car knocked them down.
• The computer has solved the problem.
With intransitive verbs, the subject also frequently has the AFFECTED role
elsewhere typical of the direct object:
• Jack fell down (accidentally).
• The pencil was lying on the table.
Some further distinctions can be made within the affected role for subjects
according to whether the subject complement as attribute identifies or
characterizes. Thus, the subject is IDENTIFIED in the first example below, and
CHARACTERIZED in the second example below:
• Kevin is my brother.
• Martha was a good student.
The assignment of the affected role to the subject of an intransitive verb
seems clearest when there is a corresponding transitive verb with which the
same noun phrase is a direct object in the affected role:
• I am frying the fish. [O, as affected]
• The fish is frying. [S as affected]
There is sometimes a regular relation, in terms of clause function, between
transitive verbs expressing CAUSATIVE meaning and corresponding
intransitive verbs or adjectives.
(i) SVO SV
Tom is cooking the dinner. The dinner is cooking.

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Geoffrey/The wind/My key opened The door opened.
the door.
(ii) SVO SV
Someone raised an arm. An arm rose.
The frost has killed the flowers. The flowers have died.
My axe has felled that tree. That tree has fallen.
(iii) SVO SVC
They have dimmed the lights. The lights became dim.
The sun (almost) blinded him. He (almost) went blind.
His manner angered me. I got angry.
(iv) SVO SV
The sergeant paraded the company. The company paraded.
I am exercising my dog. My dog is exercising.
The subject may have a RECIPIENT role with verbs such as have, own,
possess, and benefit from), as is indicated by the following relation:
• Mr Smith has given his son a radio. [So now his son has a radio.]
• I bought my daughter a tablet computer. [So now she has a tablet.]
The perceptual verbs see and hear require an experiencer subject, in contrast to
look at and listen to, which are agentive. The other perceptual verbs taste, smell,
and feel have both an agentive meaning corresponding to look at and an
experiencer meaning corresponding to see:
• I can taste the pepper in my soup.

Verbs indicating cognation or emotion may also require an experiencer:

• I thought you were mistaken. [It seemed to me you were mistaken.]
• I liked the play. [The play pleased me/gave me pleasure.]
Normally, recipient and experiencer subjects go with verbs used statively.

The subject may have the LOCATIVE role of designating the place of the state
or action, or the TEMPORAL role of designating its time:
• Los Angeles is foggy. ['It's foggy in Los Angeles.']
• Basrah is hot and humid. ['It's hot and humid in Basrah.']
• My tent sleeps four people. ['Four people can sleep in my tent.']

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 • Monday was a holiday. ['It was a holiday on Monday.']

Temporal subjects can usually be replaced by the empty it.

• The September of 2014 was exceptionally bloody in Iraq. ['It was
exceptionally bloody in the September of 2014 in Iraq.']

Verbs following locative subjects normally have no passive or progressive form:

• The bag holds seven pounds.
• -*Seven pounds are held by the bag.
• -*The bag is holding seven pounds.

An important role of the subject is EVENTIVE. The noun at the head of the
noun phrase is commonly deverbal or a nominalization:
• The Norman invasion took place in 1066.
• The explosion caused many casualties.

Prop (empty) it subject

There are clauses in which no participant is required. In such cases, the
subject function may be assumed by the 'prop' word it, which has little or no
semantic content.
Prop it mainly occurs in clauses signifying (a) time, (b) atmospheric
conditions, and (c) distance:
(a) Time
It's ten o'clock precisely. It's already midnight.
It's very late. It's Sunday tomorrow.
It's our wedding anniversary next month.
(b) Atmospheric conditions
It's too windy in Chicago. It's getting dark.
It's very hot in here. It was sunny yesterday.
Is it raining? It's freezing outside.
(c) Distance
It's not very far to York. It's a long way to Denver.

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It's just one more stop to Toronto.
It's only a hundred miles from here to Philadelphia.

Semantic Roles of the Direct Object

The most typical function of the direct object is that of the AFFECTED
participant; i.e. a participant (animate or inanimate) which does not cause the
happening denoted by the verb, but is directly involved in some other way:
• He sold his digital camera.
The direct object may have a LOCATIVE role with such verbs as walk,
swim, pass, jump, turn, leave, reach, surround, cross, climb:
• We walked the streets. ['We walked through the streets.']
• She swam the river. ['She swam across the river.']
• He passed a cyclist. ['He passed by a cyclist.']
• The horse jumped the fence. ['The horse jumped over the fence.']
Superficially, these objects may seem to be adverbials with an omitted
preposition. In most cases their status as objects is clear, however, from their
ability to assume subject role in a corresponding passive clause, e.g.: The fence
was jumped by the horse.

A RESULTANT/EFFECTED object is an object whose referent exists only

by virtue of the activity indicated by the verb:
• Baird invented television.
• They are designing a new car.
• John has painted a new picture.
• She made a fire.
• I'm writing a letter.
• I baked a cake.

With an agentive subject and an affected object, one may always capture
part of the meaning of a clause (e.g.: X destroyed Y) by saying 'X did something
to Y'; but this does not apply to a resultant/effected object: Baird invented
television does not imply 'Baird did something to television'. The affected object
simply refers to something that already exists whereas the resultant /effected
object refers to something that comes to existence by virtue of the activity

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indicated by the verb. Contrast the affected object in I'm digging the ground
with the resultant object in I'm digging a hole.

Cognate object
A COGNATE object is similar to a resultant object in that it refers to an
event indicated by the verb; in other words it repeats, partially or wholly, the
meaning of the verb:
Chris will sing a song for us. She lived a good life.
They fought a clean fight. He breathed his last breath.
He died a miserable death.

Phrases of Extent or Measure as Objects

When used as objects, phrases of extent or measure result in a kind of
difficulty in analyzing them. As the examples given below do not generally
permit the passive transformation there is a reason to analyze them as SVA
rather than SVO. However, the final element behaves at least marginally like a
direct object, as is shown by the question forms What alongside How much:
• He ran a mile.
• It costs ten dollars. How much does it cost?
• It weighs almost a ton. What does it weigh?

Eventive Object
An EVENTIVE object takes the form of a deverbal noun, that is,
a noun that is derived from a verb or verb phrase, but that behaves
grammatically purely as a noun, not as a verb, preceded by a common verb of
general meaning, such as do, give, make, have and take. This EVENTIVE
object is semantically an extension of the verb and bears the major part of the
meaning. Compare:
They are arguing. [V Only] -They are having an argument. [V + Eventive O]
They progressed well. - They made good progress.

Semantic Roles of the Indirect Object

The most typical role of the indirect object is that of the RECEPIENT; i.e.
an animate participant being passively implicated by the happening or state:
• I found you a place.

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• She sent me a bouquet of flowers.
The indirect object occasionally takes an AFFECTED role with a few of the
verbs that combine with an eventive object. The most common verb in the
latter construction is give:
• She gave me a push. ['She pushed me.']
• I gave Helen a nudge. ['I nudged Helen.']
• We gave the baby a bath. ['We bathed the baby.']
• I should give the car a wash. ['I should wash the car.']
• Give the car a push. ['Push the car.']
• Judith paid me a visit. ['Judith visited me.']
• Derek owes us a treat. ['It's Derek's turn to treat us.']
The indirect object has the same role as the affected direct object in the
paraphrases.

Concord
CONCORD (also termed 'agreement') can be defined as the relationship
between two grammatical units such that one of them displays a particular
feature (e.g. plurality) that accords with a displayed (or semantically implicit)
feature in the other.

Subject-verb concord
The most important type of concord in English is concord of 3rd person
number between subject and verb. The normally observed rule is very
simple:
 A singular subject requires a singular verb:
• My daughter watches television after supper. [singular subject +
singular verb]
 A plural subject requires a plural verb:
• My daughters watch television after supper. [plural subject + plural
verb]
 When the subject is realized by a noun phrase, the phrase counts as
singular if its head is singular:
• The change in the Iraqi economy is most obvious in investment.
 When the subject is realized by a noun phrase, the phrase counts as plural
if its head is plural:
• The changes in the Iraqi economy are most obvious in investment.

17
  When the subject is realized by a clause, finite or nonfinite, the clause
counts as singular:
• To treat them as slaves is inhuman.
• Smoking is dangerous to your health.
• That you answer all my questions pleases me.
 Prepositional phrases and adverbs functioning as subject count as
singular:
• In the evenings is best for me.
• After the storm comes the calm.
• Now is the time.
 Nominal relative clauses may have plural as well as singular concord:
• What ideas he has are his wife's.
• Whatever book a Times reviewer praises sells well.
• What counts most is quality.
Rule: A subject which is not clearly semantically plural requires a singular verb
This rule explains why clausal and adverbial subjects require singular verbs. It
also explains the tendency in informal speech for is/was to follow pseudo
subject, the non-referential subject, there in existential sentences:
• There is thousands of displaced people in Basrah.
• There is hundreds of car bomb casualties every day.
 Invariable singular nouns ending in –s take a singular verb. These nouns
fall into the following classes:
• News: The news is bad today.
• Some diseases: measles, German measles, mumps, rickets,
shingles.
 Mumps is a viral disease.
 Rickets is a condition that affects bone development in
children.
• Subject names ending in –ics: linguistics, mathematics, phonetics,
statistics.
• Some games: billiards, bowls, darts, dominoes, draughts, checkers,
fives, ninepins
• Some proper nouns: Algiers, Athens, Marseilles, Naples
 Plural nouns lacking the inflection take plural verbs:
• Our people are hopeless.
• Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated animals.
• Clergy are formal leaders in certain religions.
 Plural phrases (including coordinate phrases) count as singular if they are
used as names, titles, quotations:
• War and Peace is a fascinating novel.

18
 • The Three Bears is a well-known nursery story.

Principles of concord
The rule that the verb matches its subject in number may be called the
principle of GRAMMATICAL CONCORD. Difficulties over concord arise
through occasional conflict between this and two other principles: the principle
of NOTIONAL CONCORD and the principle of PROXIMITY.
Notional concord is agreement of verb with subject according to the notion
of number rather than with the actual presence of the grammatical marker for
that notion. In British English, for example, collective nouns such as
government are often treated as notionally plural:
• The government have broken all their promises.
In this example, the plural notion is signaled not only by the plural verb
have, but also by the pronoun their.
The principle of proximity, also termed 'attraction', denotes agreement of
the verb with a closely preceding noun phrase in preference to agreement with
the head of the noun phrase that functions as subject:
• Not only the director but also the teachers want one week less of classes.
The preceding plural noun teachers has influenced the choice of the plural
verb want, although the subject Not only the director is grammatically singular,
since the head the director is singular.

Collective nouns and notional concord

Collective nouns, notionally plural but grammatically singular, obey the
principle of notional concord. In BrE the verb may be either singular or plural:
• The audience were enjoying every minute of the match. [1]
• The public are tired of the government's empty promises. [2]
• Germany have won the world cup. [3]
• Our Planning Committee have considered your request. [4]
The choice between singular or plural verbs depends in BrE on whether
the group is being considered as a single undivided body, or as a collection of
individuals. Thus, in BrE plural is more likely in [l] than singular, because
attention is directed at the individual reactions of members of the audience.
On the other hand, the singular is more likely in these sentences:
• The audience was enormous.
• The public consists of you and me.

19
 • The crowd has been dispersed.

Coordinated subject
Coordination with and
When a subject consists of two or more noun phrases (or clauses)
coordinated by and, a distinction has to be made between appositional
coordination and non-appositional coordination. Non-appositional coordination
includes cases that can be treated as an implied reduction of two clauses. These
have a verb in the plural:
• What I say and what I think are my own affair. [what I say is my own
affair and what I think is my own affair]
• Jack and George are my roommates. [Jack is my roommate and George is
my roommate]
Conjoinings expressing a mutual relationship also take a plural verb:
• Your cell phone and mine are similar. [Your cell phone is similar to mine
and mine is similar to yours]
A singular verb form is used with conjoinings which represent a single entity:
• The Bat and Ball sells good juice.
• Broad bean and eggs makes a good Iraqi breakfast.
Arithmetical sums may be used with a singular or plural verb:
• Two and two [is/are/equals/equal] four
• Ten fives [makes/make] fifty.
Clause reduction isn't possible with appositional coordination because the
coordinated structures refer to the same thing. That's why a singular verb is
used:
• This temple of ugliness and memorial to Victorian bad taste was erected
in the main street of the city.
The two opening noun phrases here both refer to one entity (a statue). The
following example, however, could have either a singular or plural verb,
depending on the meaning:
• His aged servant and the subsequent editor of his collected paper
{was/were} with him in the conference.
Singular was is used if the servant and the editor are the same person, and
plural were if they are two different people.

20
 Some freedom is allowed in the interpretation of abstract nouns since it is not
always is easy to decide if they represent two qualities or one :
• Her calmness and confidence {is /are} astonishing.
• Law and order {has/have}been established

Coordination with or and nor

When two noun phrases are joined by or or either….or, both grammatical
concord and proximity concord can be used. Grammatical concord is clear when
each member of the coordination has the same number:
• Either the Mayor or her deputy is bound to come.
• What I say or what I think is none of your business.
Proximity principle is to be used when the coordinated noun phrases have
different numbers. The general rule, here, is that the number of the verb is
determined by the number of the last or closest noun phrase.
• Either the workers or the foreman is to blame for the disruption.
• Either the foreman or the workers are to blame for the disruption.

The rules for the negative correlatives neither. . . nor are the same as for
either. . . or in formal usage. In less formal usage, they are treated more like and
for concord. Thus, [the first example below] is more natural in speech than [the
second one]:
• Neither he nor his wife have arrived.
• Neither he nor his wife has arrived.

The coordinating correlatives not. . . but and not only. . . but also behave
like or with respect to number concord:
• Not only he but his wife has arrived.
• Not (only) one but all of us were invited.
• Not just the students but even their teacher is enjoying the film.

The mixed expressions one or two and between one and two follow the
principle of proximity in having plural concord:
• One or two reasons were suggested.
Similarly one and plus a fraction has plural concord, since the notion of
plural applies not to at least two but to more than one:
• One and a half years have passed since we last met.

Grammatical concord is usually obeyed for more than:

• More than a hundred terrorists were killed yesterday.
• More than five thousands have participated in the opening ceremony.
Although more than one person is notionally plural, a singular verb is preferred
(one) person operates as head of the noun phrase.

21
 • More than one person has protested against the proposal.

Indefinite expressions as subject

Another area of ambivalence for subject-verb number concord is that of
indefinite expressions of amount or quantity, especially with the determiners
and with the pronouns no, none, all, some, any, and fractions such as half.
They have both count and noncount uses.
With noncount nouns (present or implied), the verb is of course singular:
• So far no money has been spent on repairs.
• None (of the money) has been spent on repairs.
• Some cement has arrived.
• Some (of the cement) has arrived.
With plural count nouns (present or implied) the verb is plural:
• No people of that name live here.
• Some books have been placed on the shelves.
None with plural count nouns is in divided usage:
• None of the books {has/have} been placed on the shelves.
With either and neither the singular verb is generally used:
• The two candidates have arrived, {and either/but neither} is welcome.

But a plural verb sometimes occurs in informal usage when either or

(particularly) neither is followed by a prepositional phrase with a plural
complement, both because of notional concord and because of the proximity
rule:
• {Either/Neither} of them are welcome.
• None of the girls are coming.

The proximity principle may lead to plural concord even with indefinites
such as each, every, everybody, anybody, and nobody (or indefinite phrases
such as everyone, any one), which are otherwise unambivalently singular:
• Nobody, not even the teachers, were listening.
• Everyone of that audience were pleased with the show.
Many people consider the above sentences and similar ones as being
ungrammatical for they contradict rules of grammatical concord.
Concord of Person
In addition to 3rd person number concord with the subject, the verb in the
present tense may have person concord with the subject - 1st and 3rd person
concord with BE and only 3rd person concord with other verbs :
• I am your teacher. [1st Person singular concord]

22
 • He is your friend. [3rd Person singular concord]
• He knows you well. [3rd Person singular concord]

A coordinated subject with and as coordinator requires a plural verb.

Person concord does not apply, since there are no person distinctions in the
plural:
• You and I know the answer.
• She and I are in charge.
If the coordinator is or, either . . . or, or neither . . . nor, in accordance with
the principle of proximity the last noun phrase determines the person of the
verb:
• Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else knows the answer.
• Either my wife or I am going.

Because of the awkwardness of this choice, a speaker may avoid it by using

a modal auxiliary which is invariable for person (e.g.: Either my wife or I will
be going) or by postposing the last noun phrase (e.g.: Either my wife is going or
I am).

In relative clauses and cleft sentences, a relative pronoun subject is usually

followed by a verb in agreement with its antecedent:
• It is I who am to blame.
• It is Kay who is in command.
• It is they who are complaining.
But 3rd person concord prevails in informal English where the objective
case pronoun me is used:
• It's me who's to blame.
Similarly, 3rd person singular may be used in informal English in these
constructions when the pronoun you has singular reference:
• It's you who's to blame.

Cleft Sentence is special construction which gives both thematic and focal
prominence to a particular element of the clause. It is so called because it
divides a single clause into two separate sections, each with its own verb. Most
cleft sentences begin with the pronoun "It" followed by the verb "be", which in
turn is followed by the element on which the focus falls. From a single clause
such as "John wore his best suit to the dance last night", it is possible to derive
four cleft sentences, each highlighting a particular element of the clause:
S as Focus:
• It was JOHN who wore his best suit to the DANCE last night.
Od as Focus:
• It was his best SUIT (that) John wore to the DANCE last night.

23
Atime as Focus:
• It was last NIGHT (that) John wore his best suit to the DANCE.
Aplace as Focus:
• It was to the DANCE that John wore his best suit last night.

Other types of concord

Subject-complement and object complement concord

Between subject and subject complement and between direct object and
object complement, there is usually concord of number (but not of person):
• My child is an angel.
• I consider my child an angel.
• My children are angels.
• I consider my children angels.

This type of concord arises naturally from the semantic role of the two
complements or the denotative equivalence in the intensive relationship. There are,
however, exceptions:
• My only hope for the future is my children. [also are] [1]
• More nurses is the next item on the agenda. [also are] [2]
• Their principal crop is potatoes. [3]
• That man is nuts. (slang) ['insane'] [4]
• Good manners are a rarity these days. [also is] [5]
• The younger children are a problem. [6]
• Dogs are good company. [7]

The complement in [1] seems condensed, with perhaps an implied preposition:

My only hope for the future is in my children. The subject of [2] may similarly
be analyzed as condensed (something like 'the question of more nurses') or may
perhaps be treated as a title. In [3] the subject complement is a generic noun phrase,
which might equally be singular: Their principal crop is the potato. Sentences [4-7]
contain a subject complement which, although nominal in form, has a characterizing
function closer to that of an adjective. There is often no singular/plural contrast; for
example, we ' do not have *The houses are bricks, only The houses are brick.

The complements in [1], [2] and [3] are identifying as is shown by the subject-
complement reversal:
• My children are my only hope for the future.
• The next item on the agenda is more nurses.
• Potatoes are their principal crop.

Subject- Object Concord

24
 Concord of number, person, and gender is necessary between subject on the one
hand, and object or complement on the other hand, if the second element is a
reflexive pronoun.
• He injured himself in both legs.
• She bought herself a raincoat.
• I haven't been myself for weeks. ['I haven't felt well.']
• They found themselves a new apartment.

The same concord relation holds when the reflexive pronoun occurs in
other functions (e.g. as prepositional complement), or when the emphatic
genitive his own, etc is used:
• She's making a sweater for herself.
• I wrote to them about myself.
• They're ruining their own chances.

Pronoun Concord

The agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent should probably be

considered coreference rather than grammatical concord. Personal and
possessive pronouns in the 1st and 3rd persons agree with their antecedents in
number. Those in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it) also agree with their
antecedents in gender:
• Tom hurt his foot.
• Beatrice knows that she is late.
• The books were too heavy, so I left them.

The violation of concord in the case of nonreflexive pronouns does not lead
(as it does in the case of reflexive pronouns) to an unacceptable sentence, but
to a different interpretation. Compare the following pair of sentences:
• John searched his room.
• John searched her room.

The pronoun they is commonly used as a 3rd person singular pronoun that is
neutral between masculine and feminine. It is a convenient means of avoiding
the dilemma of whether to use the he or she form. At one time restricted to
informal usage, it is now increasingly accepted even in formal usage, especially
in AmE. Many prefer to seek gender impartiality by using a plural form where
possible in reference to the indefinite pronouns everyone, everybody, someone,
somebody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody:
• Everyone thinks they have the answer.
• Has anybody brought their camera?

25
 • No one could have blamed themselves for that.

The use of the plural pronouns they, their, themselves in the above
sentences is frowned upon in formal English, where the tendency to use the
masculine pronouns when the sex of the antecedent is not determined. The
formal equivalents of the above sentences are therefore:
• Everyone thinks he has the answer.
• Has anybody brought his camera?
• No one could have blamed himself for that.
A similar use of the plural occurs with coordinate subjects referring to both
sexes, as in: Either he or she is going to have to change their attitude, and with
a singular noun phrase subject having a personal noun of indeterminate gender
as head, as in: Every student has to hand in their paper today.

A more cumbersome alternative is the conjoining of both masculine and

feminine pronouns: Every student has to hand in his or her paper today.
This device is particularly clumsy if the pronouns have to be repeated: If a
student does not hand in his or her paper today, he or she will not be allowed to
continue the course.
One way of avoiding the dilemma is to make the subject plural: All
students have to hand in their paper today.
Similar methods can usually be employed for the indefinite pronouns too:
• All of them think they have the answer.
• Have any of you brought your camera?

Vocatives
A vocative is an optional element, usually a noun phrase, denoting the one or
more persons to whom the sentence is addressed. It is either a CALL, drawing
the attention of the person or persons addressed, singling them out from others
in hearing, as in [l], or an ADDRESS, expressing the speaker's relationship or
attitude to the person or persons addressed, as in [2] and [3]:
• John, George's ready. [voc S V C] ' [l]
• And that, my students, concludes my lecture. [voc S V Od] [2]
• My tooth is aching, doctor. [S V voc] [3]
The above sentences show that a vocative may take initial, medial, or final
position in the sentence; in its optionality and freedom of position, it is more like
an adverbial than any other element of clause structure.
Intonationally, the vocative is set off from the rest of the clause either by
constituting a separate tone unit or by forming the tail of a tone unit. The most
characteristic intonations are shown above: fall-rise for an initial vocative
functioning as a call, and otherwise rise; rise for a vocative functioning as an
address.

26
Forms of vocatives
Vocatives may be:
1. Names: first name, last name, full name, with or without a title, or a
nickname or pet name: David, Caldwell, Sarah Peterson, Mrs.
Johnson, Dr. Turner, Ginger.
2. Standard appellatives, usually without modification. These include:
• Kinship terms and terms for family relationships (sometimes
with initial capitals): mother, father, son, uncle, aunt,
grandfather, grandmother; or more familiar forms like
mom(my) (AmE), mum(my) (BrE), dad(dy), auntie, granny,
grandma, grandpa.
• Titles of respect (sometimes with initial capitals for your):
madam, ma'am (esp AmE), sir, my Lord, your Honour, your
Excellency, your Majesty, your Ladyship.
• Markers of status (sometimes with initial capitals even for
those not so marked here): Mr. President, Prime Minister,
Father [for priest], Sister [for a nun], Bishop, professor, doctor,
general, major, vicar.
3. Terms for occupations: waiter, driver, cabbie (informal), barmaid
(BrE), bartender (AmE), attendant, conductor, nurse, officer [for a
member of the police force].
4. Epithets (noun or adjective phrases) expressing an evaluation:
(i) Favorable (some also preceded by my): (my) darling, (my) dear,
(my) dearest, (my) love, honey (esp AmE), (my) friend,
handsome, beautiful, my) sweetie-pie (esp AmE).
(ii) Unfavorable (also preceded by you in noun phrases); bastard,
coward, fatty, idiot, imbecile, liar, pig, rotter (BrE), skinny,
slowcoach (BrE), slowpoke (ArnE), stupid, swine.
5. Nominal Clauses: Whoever's phone rang, go out of my class.

Negation
Non-assertive forms

There are four types of contexts that require the use of the non-assertive
forms:
1. The negatives: not, never, no, neither, nor.
• He is not a friend of mine.
• I have never been to England.
• No dogs are permitted here.

27
 • I am neither happy nor sad today.
2. The incomplete negatives (words that are negative in meaning but not
in form): seldom, rarely, scarcely, hardly, barely, little, few.
• I seldom get any sleep.
• He hardly searched for a job.
• I can barely speak to any of my colleagues.
• They scarcely seem to care.
• We expect little help from Peter.
• Few MPs only are honest.
3. The implied negatives: before, fail, prevent, reluctant, hard, difficult.
4. Questions and conditionals.

Negative Intensification
There are various ways of giving emotive intensification to a negative:
• by any means in any way
• in the slightest a bit (informal)
• in the least
Negative determiners and pronouns are given emphasis by at all, whatever,
and whatsoever:
• I found nothing at all the matter with him.
• You have no excuse whatever.

Never is repeated for emphasis, or else combined with an intensifying

phrase such as in (all) my life:
• I'II never, never go there again.
• I've never in all my life seen such a crowd.
Never itself may serve for some as an emphatic informal negative in denials:
• I never stayed there last night.
The combinations not one and not a (single) are emphatic alternatives to no
as a countable determiner:
• Not a word came from her lips.
• We left not a single bottle behind.
Alternative Negative Elements
Instead of the verb, another element may be negated:
• A wise person would not behave this way.
No wise person would behave this way.
• She is not a fool. She is no fool.
• I don't see any clouds. I see no clouds.
Where the negation with an operator is also possible, it has a different
meaning because the scope of negation is different. For example:
• Many people did not come to the party.
Implies the absence of many people, whereas:

28
 • Not many people come to the party.
Implies the presence of few people.

In formal style, the negative element may be moved out of its usual position
to the initial position to give it a focal or thematic prominence, in which case
subject-operator inversion is often required.
• Not a word would he say.
• Not a moment did she waste.
• Not one bottle did we leave behind.
• No longer are they staying with us.
• Never will I make that mistake again.

More than one nonassertive item

If a sentence contains a negative element, it is usually negative from that
point onward. Nonassertive items must normally be used after the negative
element in place of every assertive item that would have occurred in the
corresponding positive clause:
• I doubt he has ever owed anything to anyone.
• I've never travelled anywhere by sea yet.

Notice that negative items (normally only one) must always precede the
nonassertive items, as in this series of corresponding clauses:
• I haven't ever owed anything to anyone.
• I don't lend any book to any of my students at anytime.
• I lend no book to any of my students at anytime.

Occasionally two negatives occurring in the same clause mean positive:

• I can't not to talk to you. (I have to talk to you)
• I can't not to love you. (I have to love you)
• Not many people have nowhere to live. (Most people have somewhere to
live)

Words negative in meaning but not in form

There are several adverbs and determiners which are negative in meaning
but not in form. They include: seldom, rare(y scarcely, hardly, barely little, few
(in contrast to the positive a little and a few).

These can effect clause negation: for example they are followed by
nonassertive forms, and sentences in which they appear generally require a
positive tag question:
• Hardly anyone wants the job.
• Few changes have ever taken so many people by surprise.

29
 • They scarcely seem to care, do they?
• They hardly have any friends, do they?

As with other initial negative adverbials, the adverbs normally cause

subject-operator inversion when they are positioned initially as adverbials or as
modifiers within an adverbial in literary and oratorical style:
• Little did I expect such enthusiasm from so many.
• Scarcely ever has the Iraqi national team suffered so much humiliation.

In addition, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions with negative meaning

may be followed by nonassertive items, particularly any and its compounds:
• She avoided ever speaking to us.
• We are unaware of any hostility.
• They were unwilling ever to accept our help.
• I'm against going out anywhere tonight.
• They decided to leave without telling any of their friends.
• He denies I ever told him.
• I forgot to ask for any change.

Scope of negation
A negative item may be said to govern (or determine the occurrence of) a
nonassertive only if the latter is within the SCOPE of the negative, i.e. within
the stretch of language over which the negative item has a semantic influence.
The scope of the negation normally extends from the negative item itself to the
end of the clause, but it need not include an end-placed adverbial. In a clause
with the clause negator not or a negative word such as never or hardly in the
same position after the operator, adverbials occurring before the negative
normally lie outside the scope. There is thus a contrast between:
• She definitely didn't speak to him.
['It's definite that she didn't speak to him.']
• She didn't definitely speak to him.
['It's not definite that she spoke to him.']
When an adverbial is final, it may or may not lie outside the scope:
• I wasn't listening all the TIME. [1] (I listened none of the time)
• I wasn't listening All the time. [2] ( I listened some of the time only)

The difference of scope, which is here marked by intonation, reflects an

important difference of meaning: [l] means 'For the whole time, I wasn't
listening', whereas [2] means 'It is not true that I was listening all the time'.

If an assertive word is used, it must lie outside the scope of negation;

therefore [3] and [4] below are parallel to [1] and [2] above:

30
 • I didn’t listen to some of the speakers. [3]
['There were some of the speakers that I didn't listen to.']
• I didn’t listen to any of the speakers. [4]
['There were not any speakers that I listened to.']

The scope can sometimes extend into a subordinate clause:

• I wouldn't like you to disturb anyone.

Negation of modal auxiliaries

The scope of negation may or may not include the meaning of the modal
auxiliaries. We therefore distinguish between AUXILIARY NEGATION and
MAIN VERB NEGATION. The contrast is shown in the two following
sentences with may not, where the paraphrases indicate the scope of negation:

AUXILIARY NEGATION: (Permission)

• You may not smoke in here. ['You are not allowed to smoke in here.']

MAIN VERB NEGATION: (Possibility)

• They may not like the party. ['It is possible that they do not like the
party.']

Sentence types and discourse functions

Simple sentences may be divided into four major syntactic types

differentiated by their form. Their use correlates largely with different discourse
functions:
1. Declaratives are sentences in which the subject is present and generally
precedes the verb:
• Pauline gave Tom a digital watch for his birthday.
2. Interrogatives are sentences which are formally marked in one of three
ways:

31
 a) yes-no interrogatives: the operator is placed in front of the
subject:
• Did Pauline give Tom a digital watch for his birthday?
b) wh-interrogatives: the interrogative wh-element is positioned
initially:
• What did Pauline give Tom for his birthday?
c) Rising Intonation:
• You gave Tom a watch for his BIRTHDAY?
3. Imperatives are sentences which normally have no overt grammatical
subject, and whose verb has the base form:
• Give me a digital watch for my birthday.
4. Exclamatives are sentences which have an initial phrase introduced by
what or how, usually with subject-verb order:
• What a fine watch he received for his birthday!

Discourse functions
Associated with these four sentence types are four classes of discourse
functions:
1. Statements are primarily used to convey information.
2. Questions are primarily used to seek information on a specific point.
3. Directives are primarily used to instruct somebody to do something.
4. Exclamations are primarily used for expressing the extent to which the
speaker is impressed by something.

Questions
Questions can be divided into three major classes according to the type of
reply they expect:
1. Those that expect affirmation or negation, as in:
Have you finished the book? are YES-NO questions.
2. Those that typically expect a reply from an open range of replies, as in
What is your name? or How old are you? are WH- questions.
3. Those that expect as the reply one of two or more options presented in the
question, as in: Would you like to go for a WALK or stay at HOME? are
Alternative questions.

Yes-no questions
Yes-no questions are usually formed by placing the operator before the
subject and giving the sentence a rising intonation:
• Our team was BEATEN. Was our team BEATEN?
• She'll be waiting OUTSIDE. Will she be waiting OUTSIDE?

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 If there is no item in the verb phrase that can function as operator, DO is
introduced, as with negation:
• They live in Sydney. Do they live in Sydney?
• He likes driving. Does he like driving?

Again as with negation, main verb BE functions as operator; in BrE main

verb HAVE often acts as operator, but informally HAVE . . . got is more
common:
• She has a cold.
• Does she have a cold? (AmE)
• Has she (got) a cold? (BrE)

By placing the nuclear stress in a particular part of a yes-no question, we

are able to focus the interrogation on a particular item of information which,
unlike the rest of the sentence, is assumed to be unknown. Thus the focus falls in
different places in the following otherwise identical questions:
• Was he a famous actor in THOSE days? ['I know he was once a famous
actor - but was it then or later?']
• Was he a FAMOUS actor in those days? ['I know he was an actor in those
days - but was he a famous one?']

Positive Orientation
Like negative statements, yes-no questions may contain nonassertive forms
such as any and ever. The question containing such forms is generally neutral,
with no bias in expectation towards a positive or negative response.
• The boat has left already. Has the boat left yet?
• I live somewhere near London. Do you live anywhere near London?

But questions may be CONDUCIVE, i.e. they may indicate that the speaker
is predisposed to the kind of answer he has wanted or expected. Thus, a positive
question may be presented in a form which is biased towards a positive answer.
It has positive orientation, for example, if it uses assertive forms rather than the
usual nonassertive forms:
• Did someone call last night? ['Is it true that someone called last night?]
• Has the boat left already?
• Do you live somewhere near Dover?

These questions indicate that the speaker presupposes that the answer is yes:
he merely asks for confirmation of his presupposition or assumption.

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Negative Orientation
Negative orientation is found in questions which contain a negative form of
one kind or another:
• Don't you believe me?
• Have they never invited you home?
• Aren't you joining us this evening?
• Has nobody called?

Negative orientation is complicated by an element of surprise or disbelief.

The implication is that the speaker had originally hoped for a positive response,
but new evidence now suggests that the response will be negative. Thus, Hasn't
he told you what to do? Means: 'Surely he has told you what to do, hasn't he?
I would have thought that he had told you.' Here there is a combining of a
positive and a negative attitude, which one may distinguish as the OLD
EXPECTATION (positive) and NEW EXPECTATION (negative). Because the
old expectation tends to be identified with the speaker's hopes or wishes,
negatively orientated questions often express disappointment or annoyance:
• Can't you keep silent for some minutes? [I'd have thought you'd be able
to, but apparently you can't]
• Isn't he eligible for application? [I'd have thought he is eligible, but
apparently he is not]

Tag questions
The general rules for forming the most common types of tag question are:
(a) The tag question consists of operator and subject in that order, enclitic n't,
if present, is attached to the operator. In formal English the negative
particle is placed after the pronoun: did they not? is she not? That position
is usual in informal English in Northern BrE dialects.
(b) The operator is generally the same as the operator of the preceding
statement.
• I haven't seen you before, have I?
If the statement has no operator, the dummy auxiliary DO is used, as for
yes-no questions in general.
• She knows you, doesn't she?
(c) The subject of the tag must be a pronoun which either repeats, or is in
coreference with, the subject of the statement, agreeing with it in number,
person, and gender.
(d) If the statement is positive, the tag is generally negative, and vice versa.
(e) The nuclear tone of the tag occurs on the auxiliary, and is either rising or
falling.
Four main types of tag question emerge from the observance of these rules:
1. POSITIVE + NBGATIVE WITH A RISING TONE

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 • He likes football, doesn't he?
2. POSITIVE + NBGATIVE WITH A FALLING TONE
• He likes football, doesn't he?
3. NEGATIVE + POSITIVE WITH A RISING TONE
• He doesn’t like his job, does he?
4. NEGATIVE + POSITIVE WITH A FALLING TONE
• He doesn’t like his job, does he?
The meanings of these sentences, like their forms, involve a statement and a
question; each of them asserts something, and then invites the listener's response
to it. Sentence (1), for example, can be rendered 'I assume he likes football; am I
right?, (3) means the opposite: 'I assume he doesn't like his job; am I right?
Clearly these sentences have a positive and a negative orientation respectively.
A similar contrast exists between (2) and (4). But it is important, again, to
separate two factors: an ASSUMPTION (expressed by the statement) and an
EXPECTATION (expressed by the question). On this principle, we may
distinguish the four types as:
1. Positive Assumption + Neutral Expectation + S – T
2. Negative Assumption + Neutral Expectation – S + T
3. Positive Assumption + Positive Expectation + S – T
4. Negative Assumption + Negative Expectation – S – T
The tag with a rising tone invites verification, expecting the hearer to
decide the truth of the proposition in the statement. The tag with the falling tone,
on the other hand, invites confirmation of the statement, and has the force of an
exclamation rather than a genuine question. In this respect, types (3) and (4) are
like (though not as emphatic as) exclamatory yes-no questions with a falling
tone. Compare, for example:
• Isn't it wonderful weather! With It's wonderful weather, isn't it?
and
• Wasn't she Angry! With She was Angry, wasn't she?

Invariant tag questions

Several other tag questions inviting the listener's response may be appended
to statements and exclamations. They have the same form whether the statement
is positive or negative, and take a rising tone:
• They forgot to attend the lecture, am I right?
• They didn't forget to attend the lecture, don't they?

Declarative Questions
Not all yes-no questions have subject-operator inversion. The declarative
question is a type of question which is identical in form to a declarative, except
for the final rising question intonation. It is rather casual in tone:

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 • You realize what the Consequences are?
• You didn’t do your Assignment?

Declarative questions are conducive, and resemble tag questions with a

rising tone in that they invite the hearer's verification. Positive questions have
positive orientation, and can therefore accept only assertive forms:
• He wants something to eat?
• Somebody is with you?

Wh-questions
Wh-questions are formed with the aid of one of the following simple
interrogative words (or wh-words):
Who/whom/whose, what, which, when, where, how, why
Unlike yes/no questions, wh-questions generally have falling intonation.
As a rule:
1. The wh-element comes first in the sentence.
2. The wh-word itself takes first position in the wh-element.
The only exception to the second principle occurs when the wh-word is
within a prepositional complement. Here English provides a choice between two
constructions, one being formal. In formal style, the preposition precedes the
complement, whereas otherwise the complement comes first and the preposition
is deferred to the end of the sentence:
• To whom shall I tell my sorrow? Whom shall I tell my sorrow to?
• For which candidate did you vote? Which candidate did you vote for?

Functions of wh-element
The following sentences exemplify the various clause functions in which the
wh-element operates:
• Who is that woman? [subject]
• Which documents have you uploaded? [Od]
• Whose beautiful daughter is this? [Cs]
• How wide did they make the Bookcase?[C0]
• When will you be promoted? [A ]
• Where shall I put the glasses.[A ]
• Why are they always complaining?[A]
• How did you MEND it? [A ]
• How much does he CARE?[ A]
• How long have you been waiting?[A ]
• How often do you visit New YORK[A ]

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