This is a reformatted copy of a document by Elizabeth Dobbs. The original may be found on the Web at http://www.grinnell.edu/individuals/dobbs/DrSyntax/syntax.html. The reformatting was done by Sam Rebelsky.
The definitions and examples below work fairly well as rough descriptions of English. We'll undoubtedly come across examples of English sentences in which these descriptions won't quite fit. Not to worry. What we have here is at least a starting place.
Before we start, however, you should know that in addition to single words, you can have "strings" of words in the form of either phrases or clauses. Phrases and clauses are both groups of words that cohere in some way, but a clause must also contain a verb. Clauses are subdivided into independent and dependent, or subordinate; the first can stand alone, while the second can't.
Nouns name persons, places, things, abstract ideas, etc.; they function as
Pronouns replace nouns or other pronouns (He snores.) and come in a variety of kinds. For example, pronouns are
Verbs express action or states of being (She goes. She is. She becomes.) and are the hearts of clauses, because they predicate something about the subject. To name them more precisely, we call them finite verbs, because they are limited by person (first, second, third), number (singular, plural), and time (past, present, future). Another way to put the matter is to say that a verb agrees with its subject in person and number. We go. (first person, plural, present tense)
They also have voice; that is, they show whether the subject is the performer (active voice) or the receiver (passive voice) of the action of the verb. I hit the ball. vs. I was hit by the ball.
They have mood or mode; that is, they indicate the status of assertions by indicating the writer's attitude toward the factuality or likelihood of the actions or conditions expressed. In a word, they indicate the writer's state of mind.
The three modes are
Examples of the subjunctive are
Finally, English verbs can be progressive. That is, they can emphasize the unfolding of the action.
The three kinds of finite verbs are
Adjectives describe or modify nouns or pronouns. In relation to nouns and pronouns, adjectives answer the question "which?". An adjective found in the predicate of a sentence and modifying the subject is known as a predicate adjective.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and in relation to these words, they answer the questions "where?" "when?" "why?" or "how?".
Prepositions link nouns or pronouns (objects of the prepositions) to some other word in the clause or phrase. The entire unit, or prepositional phrase, functions as an adverb or an adjective. (Prepositions and conjunctions are like one another in that they both have conjunctive force. You can see the reason, therefore, that a few words [after, before] show up on both lists of prepositions and lists of conjunctions.)
Verbals are non-finite, with regard to person and number, forms of a verb; they function as nouns or modifiers. They may express time; they can take objects. But because they do not make assertions, as do finite verbs, they cannot be used with a subject to make a clause. Along with their complements, verbals can form phrases (e.g., a participial phrase). The kinds and functions of verbals and verbal phrases are
Nota Bene Two very common mistakes in the use of participial phrases are the misplaced modifier and the dangling modifier. In the first, the phrase has been "misplaced" next to a noun it is not meant to modify. For example, I lost my hat running down the street or "I shot an elephant in my pajamas" (Groucho Marx; see the end of this section for more howlers.). The writer can set up the proper syntax or relation between the words in these assertions by moving the phrases.
Dangling modification, on the other hand, is a more egregious error; properly speaking, there is no modification in this case.
This sentence cannot be corrected simply by moving the phrase; as the statement is currently written, the participial phrase "dangles" or modifies absolutely nothing. Dangling modifiers require the restructuring of the sentence.
Most often--and you really must pay attention to this--dangling modifiers show up at the ends of sentences.
One way this sentence could be restructured is
This form of dangling modification is no small potatoes, because it destroys a number of structures important in argumentation. These are structures such as premise and conclusion, data and conclusion, or, generally, any inference. I will indicate both misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers with the abbreviations "mm" (misplaced modifier) or "syn" (error in syntax).
There is also something known as the absolute construction which should not be mistaken for an error in modification.
To say the least, this is a very interesting sentence. The phrase here is a condensed expression for something like "because his mother was in the tub" or "when his mother was in the tub." Both of these have an adverbial relation to the verb in the main clause. This absolute construction, however, does introduce a problem of clarity (is his mother's being in the tub, the explanation or cause for his going etc. or simply the temporal context in which his going etc. takes place?). All of these distinctions will become clearer to you as you go further in this set of exercises.
Conjunctions join words, phrases, or clauses and establish relations between them. Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so) are the most versatile, because some of them can join all three; a subordinating conjunction (when, while, since, after, because, if, etc.) connects a dependent clause to another clause. Given the specific connection, the dependent clause may be (1) an adverb, (2) an adjective, or (3) a noun. Below you will find examples of each kind.
(1) Subordinating conjunctions that connect adverb clauses to another clause
| after* although as* because if |
in order that since* so that than though |
unless until* when whether while |
* This word may also function as a preposition.
(2) Subordinating conjunctions that connect adjective clauses to another clause.
(a) Relative pronouns
| who whom |
whose which |
that |
(b) Relative adverbs
| when | where |
(3) Subordinating conjunctions that connect noun clauses to another clause.
| who whom |
what that |
how |
You should also know about conjunctive adverbs; although they can connect independent clauses, these are not sufficient to hold the clauses together and require the support of a semi-colon. Examples of conjunctive adverbs are
| therefore hence consequently thus accordingly |
however nevertheless otherwise on the other hand furthermore |
likewise moreover indeed in fact in other words similarly |
Interjections are words syntactically unrelated to the rest of the sentence (Good heavens, are you going?)
Appositives are words or phrases that rename, explain, or identify other words or phrases (antecedents). They have the same function as the antecedents.
Example:
"At this juncture, we are moving to investigate the accident which killed x and y to some degree." (from Wendy Munyon)
"We ate our hot dogs, as we sunbathed on the beach, dripping with ketchup and mustard." (from Marc Chamberland's 9th grade teacher, Gregory Banting)
"Democratic presidential hopeful x hugs y, 17, after she told him of trying to escape drugs and violence throughout her life at a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H. . . .." (The Washington Post, 1/26/99)