In standard English, sentences are composed of five clause patterns:[citation needed]
Subject + Verb (intransitive) Example: She runs.
Subject + Verb (transitive) + Object Example: She runs the meeting.
Subject + Verb (linking) + Subject Complement (adjective, noun, pronoun) Example: Abdul is happy. Jeanne is a person. I am she.
Subject + Verb (transitive) + Indirect Object + Direct Object Example: She made me a pie. This clause pattern is a derivative of S+V+O, transforming the object of a preposition into an indirect object of the verb, as the example sentence in transformational grammar is actually "She made a pie for me".
Subject + Verb (transitive) + Object + Object Complement Example: They made him happy. They did not make "him", and they did not make "happy"; they made "him happy"—the object and its complement form a syntactical unit.
Sentences – which are composed of these clauses, in either "dependent" or "independent" form – also have patterns, as explained below.
Typology of sentences
A simple sentence consists of only one clause. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. A complex sentence has at least one independent clause plus at least one dependent clause.[1] A set of words with no independent clause may be an incomplete sentence, also called a sentence fragment.
A sentence consisting of at least one dependent clause and at least two independent clauses may be called a complex-compound sentence or compound-complex sentence.
Sentence 1 is an example of a simple sentence. Sentence 2 is compound because "so" is considered a coordinating conjunction in English, and sentence 3 is complex. Sentence 4 is compound-complex (also known as complex-compound). Example 5 is a sentence fragment.
I like trains.
I don't know how to bake, so I buy my bread already made.
I enjoyed the apple pie that you bought for me.
The dog lived in the garden, but the cat, who was smarter, lived inside the house.
What an idiot!
The simple sentence in example 1 contains one clause. Example 2 has two clauses (I don't know how to bake and I buy my bread already made), combined into a single sentence with the coordinating conjunctionso. In example 3, I enjoyed the apple pie is an independent clause, and that you bought for me is a dependent clause; the sentence is thus complex. In sentence 4, The dog lived in the garden and the cat lived inside the house are both independent clauses; who was smarter is a dependent clause. Example 5 is an exclamatory sentence of an exclamative and a noun phrase but no verb. It is not a grammatically complete clause.
This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, I, and one verb, run.
The girl ran into her bedroom.
This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, girl, and one predicate, ran into her bedroom. The predicate is a verb phrase that consists of more than one word.
In the backyard, the dog barked and howled at the cat.
This simple sentence has one independent clause which contains one subject, dog, and one predicate, barked and howled at the cat. This predicate has two verbs, known as a compound predicate: barked and howled. (This should not be confused with a compound sentence.) In the backyard and at the cat are prepositional phrases.
In the English language, a compound sentence is composed of at least two independent clauses. It does not require a dependent clause. The clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon that functions as a conjunction, a colon instead of a semicolon between two sentences when the second sentence explains or illustrates the first sentence and no coordinating conjunction is being used to connect the sentences, or a conjunctive adverb preceded by a semicolon. A conjunction can be used to make a compound sentence. Conjunctions are words such as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. Examples:
I started on time, but I arrived late.
I will accept your offer or decline it; these are the two options.
The law was passed: from April 1, all cars would have to be tested.
The war was lost; consequently, the whole country was occupied.
The use of a comma to separate two independent clauses without the addition of an appropriate conjunction is called a comma splice and is generally considered an error (when used in the English language).[2] Example:
The sun was shining, everyone appeared happy.
If a sentence contains homogenous members referring to another common member of the sentence, the sentence may be considered either simple[3] or compound.[4] If the homogenous members are removed, then the sentence is called contracted. In some languages, like Russian, a comma is not always required in a sentence with homogenous members.[5]
Alex likes to fish, and he is going fishing on Friday – Alex likes to fish, and is going fishing on Friday.
A complex sentence has one or more dependent clauses (also called subordinate clauses). Since a dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence, complex sentences must also have at least one independent clause. In short, a sentence with one or more dependent clauses and at least one independent clause is a complex sentence. A sentence with two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses is called compound-complex or complex-compound.
In addition to a subject and a verb, dependent clauses contain a subordinating conjunction or similar word. There are a large number of subordinating conjunctions in English. Some of these give the clause an adverbial function, specifying time, place, or manner. Such clauses are called adverbial clauses.
When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things in my mind. (S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders)
This complex sentence contains an adverbial clause, When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house. The adverbial clause describes when and where the action of the main clause, I had only two things on my mind, took place.
A relative clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun or noun phrase in the independent clause. In other words, the relative clause functions similar to an adjective.
In the first example, the restrictive relative clausewho has been deceived specifies or defines the meaning of him in the independent clause, Let him complain. In the second example, the non-restrictive relative clause who have never known your family describes you in the independent clause, You see them standing around you.
A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions like a noun. A noun clause may function as the subject of a clause, a predicate nominative or an object.
In this sentence the independent clause contains two noun clauses. The noun clause What she had realized serves as the subject of the verb was, and that love was that moment serves as complement. The sentence also contains a relative clause, when your heart was about to burst.
Incomplete sentences
"Note that the level of gap", a sentence fragment in Chinglish caused by an incorrect translation of the phrase "mind the gap" from English to Chinese and back to English
An incomplete sentence, or sentence fragment, is a set of words that does not form a complete sentence, either because it does not express a complete thought or because it lacks some grammatical element, such as a subject or a verb.[6][7] A dependent clause without an independent clause is an example of an incomplete sentence.
An -ing fragment is a type of incomplete sentence containing a word ending in -ing that is a gerund or noun, not a verb, because it lacks a helping verb. An example is, "Swimming in the ocean".[7]
Some prescriptive grammars[8] consider sentences starting with a conjunction such as but or and to be incomplete sentences, but this style prescription has "no historical or grammatical foundation".[9] Computer grammar checkers often highlight incomplete sentences.
Run-on sentences
A run-on sentence is a sentence that consists of two or more independent clauses (i.e. clauses that have not been made dependent through the use of a relative pronoun or a subordinating conjunction) that are joined without appropriate punctuation: the clauses "run on" into confusion. The independent clauses can be "fused", as in "It is nearly half past five we cannot reach town before dark", in which case the two independent clauses might be separated (between "five" and "we") with a period [...five. We...], a comma and conjunction (...five, and we...), or a semicolon (...five; we...). The independent clauses can be joined inadequately with only a comma (the comma splice).
In general, run-on sentences occur when two or more independent clauses are joined without using a coordinating conjunction (i.e. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or correct punctuation (i.e. semicolon, dash, or period).[10][11][12] A run-on sentence can be as short as four words – for instance, I drive she walks, or even I drive, she walks, – because in these short cases there are two subjects paired with two intransitive verbs. An imperative sentence like "Run walk" can be a run-on even if it only has two words.
While some sources view comma splices as a form of run-on sentences,[11] others limit the term to independent clauses that are joined without punctuation.[10][13]
English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and whole texts.
A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently occurring phrase type.
In language, a clause is a constituent or phrase that comprises a semantic predicand and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with or without any objects and other modifiers. However, the subject is sometimes unexpressed if it is easily deductable from the context, especially in null-subject language but also in other languages, including instances of the imperative mood in English.
In linguistics, a gerund is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, it is one that functions as a noun. The name is derived from Late Latin gerundium, meaning "which is to be carried out". In English, the gerund has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiable by an adverb and being able to take a direct object. The term "-ing form" is often used in English to refer to the gerund specifically. Traditional grammar makes a distinction within -ing forms between present participles and gerunds, a distinction that is not observed in such modern grammars as A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.
In grammar, a conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses, which are called its conjuncts. That description is vague enough to overlap with those of other parts of speech because what constitutes a "conjunction" must be defined for each language. In English, a given word may have several senses and in some contexts be a preposition but a conjunction in others, depending on the syntax. For example, after is a preposition in "he left after the fight" but a conjunction in "he left after they fought".
A subject is one of the two main parts of a sentence.
In linguistics and grammar, a sentence is a linguistic expression, such as the English example "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." In traditional grammar, it is typically defined as a string of words that expresses a complete thought, or as a unit consisting of a subject and predicate. In non-functional linguistics it is typically defined as a maximal unit of syntactic structure such as a constituent. In functional linguistics, it is defined as a unit of written texts delimited by graphological features such as upper-case letters and markers such as periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. This notion contrasts with a curve, which is delimited by phonologic features such as pitch and loudness and markers such as pauses; and with a clause, which is a sequence of words that represents some process going on throughout time. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, command, or suggestion.
A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, subclause or embedded clause, is a certain type of clause that juxtaposes an independent clause within a complex sentence. For instance, in the sentence "I know Bette is a dolphin", the clause "Bette is a dolphin" occurs as the complement of the verb "know" rather than as a freestanding sentence. Subtypes of dependent clauses include content clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and clauses that complement an independent clause in the subjunctive mood.
In traditional grammar, an independent clause is a clause that can stand by itself as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and makes sense by itself.
Mbula is an Austronesian language spoken by around 2,500 people on Umboi Island and Sakar Island in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. Its basic word order is subject–verb–object; it has a nominative–accusative case-marking strategy.
A sentence diagram is a pictorial representation of the grammatical structure of a sentence. The term "sentence diagram" is used more when teaching written language, where sentences are diagrammed. The model shows the relations between words and the nature of sentence structure and can be used as a tool to help recognize which potential sentences are actual sentences.
The Tunica or Luhchi Yoroni language is a language isolate that was spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no native speakers of the Tunica language, but there were 32 second-language speakers in 2017, and as of 2023, there are 60 second-language speakers.
In grammar, a complement is a word, phrase, or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a given expression. Complements are often also arguments.
An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb. That is, the entire clause modifies a separate element within a sentence or the sentence itself. As with all clauses, it contains a subject and predicate, though the subject as well as the (predicate) verb are omitted and implied if the clause is reduced to an adverbial phrase as discussed below.
Traditional grammar is a framework for the description of the structure of a language. The roots of traditional grammar are in the work of classical Greek and Latin philologists. The formal study of grammar based on these models became popular during the Renaissance.
A conjunctive adverb, adverbial conjunction, or subordinating adverb is an adverb that connects two clauses by converting the clause it introduces into an adverbial modifier of the verb in the main clause. For example, in "I told him; thus, he knows" and "I told him. Thus, he knows", thus is a conjunctive adverb.
In linguistics, a non-finite clause is a dependent or embedded clause that represents a state or event in the same way no matter whether it takes place before, during, or after text production. In this sense, a non-finite dependent clause represents one process as a circumstance for another without specifying the time when it takes place as in the following examples:
Standard Kannada grammar is primarily based on Keshiraja's Shabdamanidarpana which provides the fullest systematic exposition of Kannada language. The earlier grammatical works include portions of Kavirajamarga of 9th century, Kavyavalokana and Karnatakabhashabhushana both authored by Nagavarma II in first half of the 12th century.
Colognian grammar describes the formal systems of the modern Colognian language or dialect cluster used in Cologne currently and during at least the past 150 years. It does not cover the Historic Colognian grammar, although similarities exist.
This article describes the syntax of clauses in the English language, chiefly in Modern English. A clause is often said to be the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. But this semantic idea of a clause leaves out much of English clause syntax. For example, clauses can be questions, but questions are not propositions. A syntactic description of an English clause is that it is a subject and a verb. But this too fails, as a clause need not have a subject, as with the imperative, and, in many theories, an English clause may be verbless. The idea of what qualifies varies between theories and has changed over time.
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