Sentence Types and Vocabulary

Phrase, Clause and Sentence

Objectives After going through this lesson, you shall be able to understand the following concepts  Understand the value of grammar in learning the language effectively. Know the difference between phrase, clause, and sentence. Knowledge of types of clauses. Different parts of a sentence. Types of sentences on the basis of its functionality and structure. Difference between active and passive voice. The concept of reported speech   Introduction In linguistics, grammar refers to the system of structural rules which governs the formation and the composition of phrases, clauses, and sentences. Lingusitics mainly refer to the scientific study of language and it includes the following: 1. Phonology: It refers to the science of speech sounds that constitute the fundamental components of a language. 2. Morphology: It refers to the study of words, their formation, and their relationship to other words in the same language. 3. Syntax.: It refers to the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. 4. Semantics: It is the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. The two main areas are logical semantics, concerned with matters such as sense and reference and presupposition and implication, and lexical semantics, concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them. 5. Pragmatics: It is the branch of linguistics dealing with language in use and the contexts in which it is used. Grammar refers to a system of a language which is governed by rules. It is simply a set of rules that are used for effective oral and written communication. Grammar helps us in accomplishing competency in the language in an efficacious manner. Hence, a close acquaintance with grammatical rules is an important factor in establishing a good knowledge of the language. Let's understand the concept of grammar in detail.   Phrase, Clause and Sentence There are the three structural units in language which are as follows: Phrase, clause, and sentence. These units consist of groups of words with a certain meaning. Therefore, understanding of these basic units is essential for learning English grammar. Phrase: A phrase is a group of words acting as one word. It doesn't have a subject and a predicate. A phrase doesn't make complete sense when it stands by itself. For example: full of books, in the room, very quickly, at nine o'clock, etc. Clause: A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate. There are broadly two types of clauses: Those that can stand alone and make their meaning clear, and Those that cannot stand alone and make complete sense The first category of clauses is called Independent Clause or Main Clause. For example: ⚬ She lives in Canada. ⚬ Anjali was watching Television ;while the second category of clauses is known as Dependent Clause or Subordinate Clause. For example: ⚬ Anjali was watching television while her brother was sleeping. ⚬ I will go for a vacation when my exams get over.   Sentence: A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense. It does not depend upon anything else to make its meaning clear. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. A definite verb is one of the essential components of a sentence. For example: Raju hit the ball. Here, the individual words ‘Raju’ ‘hit’ ‘the’ ‘ball’ combine to form a group that has a particular meaning—someone named Raju has hit the ball.   The basic parts of a sentence are as follows: • Subject • Predicate • Direct object • Indirect object • The object of the preposition • Verbs • Phrases • Complements   1. Subject: The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing or idea being talked about. 2.Predicate: The predicate consists of a word or words which show what is being talked about the person, place, thing or idea. For example: Raju hit the ball. Here, ‘Raju’ is the subject. He is the topic of the sentence. The remaining part of the sentence forms the predicate as it contains all the information regarding the topic (i.e., Raju). 3. Direct object: A direct object is a person or thing that is acted upon by the action(verb) of the subject, that is, it is an object which “receives the action of the verb” and always follows the verb and gives the answer to the question ‘what’. For examples: ⚬ Shyam kicked the football. ⚬ The football hit Radhika. ⚬ Sharad repaired the refrigerator on Tuesday. In the examples given above, the football, Radhika and refrigerator receive the action from the subject. In such a case, the structure of the sentence is as follows: Subject, verb, object. 4. Indirect Object: An indirect object is a person or a thing that the action is done to or for. It usually comes just before the direct object and can be referred to as the receiver of the direct object. It directly follows the verb and gives the answer to the question ‘whom’. In such a case, the structure of the sentence is as follows: Subject, Verb, Indirect Object, and Direct Object. For example: ⚬ My mother made dad a sandwich. ⚬ Krishna bought Radha a flower.  In the examples given above, dad and Radha are the ones for ‘whom’ something is done and hence are the indirect objects. 5.The object of the Preposition: The object of the proposition is usually a noun or a pronoun which is present immediately to the right of a preposition that completes its meaning. For example: ⚬ The child is looking at …. ⚬ We are going to... The given sentences are incomplete as in the first sentence it is not known that what the child is looking at and in the second sentence it is not known that where we are going. But, look at the full sentences which are given below: ⚬ The child is looking at the puppy. ⚬ We are going to London.  Now, the provided sentences are complete as it is clear that what the child is looking at, that is, “the puppy” which is the object of the preposition “at” and in the second sentence it is clear that where we are going, that is, “London”, which is the object of the preposition “to”. In such a case, the structure of the sentence is as follows: Subject, verb, object.  

Difference between Indirect object and the object of the preposition

Indirect object

The object of the preposition

The indirect object does not come immediately after a preposition.

 

The indirect object is usually followed by the direct object.

The object of the preposition comes immediately after the preposition.

 

The object of the preposition does not follow the same principle as is as is followed by the indirect object.

 

Look at the given examples for avoiding the confusion between an indirect object and the object of preposition: ⚬ Sharad gave Harsha the bag. ⚬ Sharad gave the pen to Harsha. In the first sentence, Harsha is the indirect object while in the second sentence Harsha is the object of the preposition ‘to’. Hence, we find that the two sentences have the same meaning but are structurally different.   6. Verbs: These are the words which describe an action, event or state of being in a sentence. It is derived from the Latin ‘verbum’ which means ‘a word’. If it is proper to compare different parts of speech according to their relative importance, then verbs can be considered as the most important part of speech. You can form a sentence without any of the other parts of speech, but you cannot make a sentence without a verb. There are different types of verbs, according to their function, in the structure of the sentence. a. Finite verbs: It is a form of a verb which is expressed or implied, that is, it has a subject. It makes an agreement with its subject in person or number and also changes the tense of the sentence accordingly. It forms the independent clause. For examples: ⚬ He is a good dancer. ⚬ Monica is a bad singer. ⚬ They go to the gym daily. ⚬ She learns her lessons in the evening. b. Non-Finite verbs: It is a form of a verb that cannot function as the root of an independent clause/main clause. It doesn't change according to the person, number or tense of the sentence. There are three kinds of non-infinitive form of the verbs: (i) Gerunds: In this form, the root form of a verb is joined with ‘−ing’. However, unlike the present participle, a gerund acts as a noun. Hence, like a noun, it can be the subject or the object of a sentence. For example: Playing cricket is not allowed here. (Here, the gerund ‘playing’ is working as a noun. Ask the question ‘what is not allowed?’ and you get the answer ‘playing cricket’.) You can see here that ‘playing’ (like a noun) is the subject of the sentence, but at the same time it also has an object (like a verb), and this object is ‘cricket’. This is why a gerund is called a verbal noun, or a noun that has the qualities of a verb. (ii) Infinitive: In this form, the root form of a verb is preceded by the preposition ‘to’. Like a gerund, it acts as a noun. Hence, like a noun, it can be the subject or the object of a sentence. For example: Yash likes to play cricket. (Here, the infinitive ‘to play’ is working as a noun. Ask the question ‘likes what?’ and you get the answer ‘to play cricket’.) You can see here that ‘to play’ (like a noun) is the object of the sentence, but at the same time it also has an object (like a verb