Sentence structure
1. The
nature of the information in a sentence
(a) Types of sentences
A sentence can be an independent clause, or can be formed
by combining clauses, usually with the addition of a
linking word or phrase. A clause is a grammatical structure
in which several components of meaning are brought together
to form a message. The verb is the essential element
of any clause.
Simple sentences:
A simple sentence contains a single clause:
We knew each other well.
Have you got the time?
They drove to Hastings.
I spoke to her mother.
However, many sentences have more than one clause, so
are not simple sentences:
Sam found his teddy bear
and climbed back into bed
where he pulled the blankets up around his ears,
closed his heavy eyes,
and fell asleep.
Clauses can be combined in different ways to make different
kinds of sentences: compound, complex, and compound-complex.
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences consist of two or more independent
clauses i.e., each is capable of standing on its own
and conveying a message. Each has equal status and provides
equally important information. These clauses may be
linked with connective words or phrases such as: "and",
"but", "or", "yet", "so",
"and so", "and then", "either...or",
"neither...nor", "not only...but also".
| |
She
ran to school
and
threw her bag down in the corridor.
|
|
Independent
clause
Independent
clause
|
| |
Karl
went on camp
but
the others stayed at home.
|
|
Independent
clause
Independent
clause
|
| |
You
could ring her at the office
or
try her on her cell phone. |
|
Independent
clause
Independent
clause |
Complex sentences
In complex sentences, there is a clause expressing the
main message and another clause (or clauses) which elaborates
on the main message in some way. While the main message
is independent, the other clause cannot stand on its
own: it is dependent.
| |
They
smiled
as
if they meant it.
|
|
Independent
clause
Dependent
clause
|
| |
The
plant died
because
it wasn't watered.
|
|
Independent clause
Dependent
clause
|
| |
If
the container has a hole in it
the
raspberries will leak all over the bench. |
|
Dependent
clause
Independent
clause |
Compound-complex sentences
Compound-complex sentences contain a combination of
independent and dependent clauses.
| |
The girls walked out of the shop
and laughed loudly*
as they headed for the car. |
|
Independent clause
Independent clause
Dependent clause |
* "they" has been omitted due to ellipsis.
See
ellipsis.
| |
An elderly man was admitted to hospital
after suffering a heart attack
and falling down his stairs. |
|
Independent clause
Dependent clause
Dependent clause |
Compound, complex, and compound-complex
sentences as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Students need to know the meaning of the conjunctions
and other linking words if they are to appreciate the
relationship between the ideas.
Research indicates that many students
don’t fully recognize these relationships and
therefore have difficulty in following the meaning
of a text. It has been found for example the conditional
"if" is understood by only fifty percent
of children at age six; that the meaning of "unless"
is often not understood well until after the age of
nine; and it is generally not until around twelve
years of age that many children comprehend the concessive
use of "although". (Deriwianka, 2005, p.95)
(b)
Adding information to a sentence
Embedded
clauses, e.g., adjectival clauses
Adjectival clauses provide extra information about the
noun.
|
noun
Rodents |
extra information
introduced by settlers |
killed the native birds. |
The following is an alternative to using an adjectival
clause:
Settlers introduced rodents.
These rodents killed the native birds.
|
noun
Native trees |
extra information
that block people’s views
or get in the way of property development |
are sometimes poisoned. |
The following is an alternative to using an adjectival
clause:
Native trees can block people’s views.
Native trees can get in the way of property development.
Trees like these are sometimes poisoned.
These types of constructions are often found in simplified
text, but students need to gradually develop understanding
of how to comprehend and produce sentences with embedded
clauses.
Adjectival clauses as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Students need to be able to identify what the adjectival
clause is referring to. To do this, they need know:
| • |
How pronouns function (adjectival clauses often
begin with a pronoun, e.g., "who", "whose",
"which", "that", "where").
These identify what is being referred to.
|
| • |
Which pronoun is omitted, e.g., "the coat [that]
I'm wearing".
|
| • |
That words other than pronouns are sometimes used,
e.g., "introduced by settlers".
|
| • |
How commas function e.g., in "New Zealanders
who don't eat fruit and vegetables will have
poor health", the adjectival clause defines
which particular New Zealanders are being referred
to. But in "New Zealanders, who don't
eat fruit and vegetables, will have poor health",
the adjectival clause is referring to New Zealanders
in general. |
Modal
verbs convey a range of judgments about the likelihood
of events. There are nine modal verbs: "can",
"could", "may", "might",
"will", "would", "shall",
"should", and "must".
She might be there.
You could get there by lunchtime if you hurry.
You'll hit the roof.
That must have hurt.
To
show a high degree of certainty about the likelihood
of events, modal verbs of high modality are used. If
we feel tentative about something, we use low modality.
|
High
modality |
Medium
modality |
Low
modality |
must
ought to
has to |
will
should
can
need to |
may
might
could
would |
(Derewianka,
2005, p.66)
As
well as modal verbs, modality can be expressed through
choices of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
| • |
Modal nouns:
"possibility",
"probability", "obligation",
"necessity", "requirement"
|
| • |
Modal adjectives: "possible", "probable",
"obligatory", "necessary", "required",
"determined"
|
| • |
Modal adverbs: "possibly", "probably",
"perhaps", "maybe", "sometimes’,
"always’ "definitely", "never",
"certainly"
|
Modals
as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Students
will need to understand modals in order to use the appropriate
degree of probability or obligation, especially when
using text types that involve making judgments, e.g.,
narrative texts, and persuading people, e.g., arguments,
advertisements.
2.
The focus of information
in a sentence
(a)
Grammatical theme (within a sentence)
The
sentence theme, which is the information before the
main verb in a sentence, usually tells us what the sentence
is about, or what the writer wants the reader to focus
on. It is a signpost saying to the reader, "This
is what I want you to pay attention to".
Themes
can be:
| • |
The
subject,
e.g., Mat usually does Rob's car on a Saturday
afternoon...
|
| • |
Conjunctions, e.g.,
Until the two years is up....
|
| • |
Elements of an interpersonal nature,
e.g., Amazingly, the back wall of the garage
is OK....
|
| • |
Experiential elements such as prepositions,
e.g., By the end, he’s sweating
and puffing....
|
| • |
Adverbial
elements of circumstance, e.g., By 1840, many
missionaries had settled.... |
Theme
(within a sentence) as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Students
need to understand that a variety of linguistic elements
can serve as sentence themes. They also need to understand
that a writer will move an element to the front of the
clause to give it emphasis, e.g.,
The waters around
New Zealand are abundant in delicious seafood such as
squid.
Although
not easy to prepare, squid are...
(b)
New and "given" information
There
are usually two types of information in a sentence.
One part tells us something new. The other part
tells us something that we are aware of already (either
from a previous sentence or from our general knowledge),
in other words, its information is given.
A: Where did you put your bike?
B: I left it / at my friend's house.
The
first part of B’s sentence is "given"
(by A); the second part is new.
"Given"
information tells us what a sentence is about; it usually
provides the sentence theme which appears first
in a sentence. New information, however, provides
the point where we expect people to pay extra attention.
New
and given information as sources of difficulty in comprehension
Students
will need to understand that, although given information
is usually in the theme position, new information
is sometimes the theme.
Electricity makes light by....
Candles make light by....
The sun makes light by....
When
this is the case, as it sometimes is in texts written
for young children, tracking the development of the
text is made more difficult.
Difficulty
in comprehension can also occur when texts are written
in ways that inadvertently draw the reader's attention
away from new information. In the following example, the theme contains new information, vital to
the completion of a task, but the word 'After' draws
attention away from the new information.
After reading the text,
complete the chart.
Instead,
the instruction should read:
Read the text,
then complete the chart.
3.
The way language condenses and generalises
text
Nominalisation
changes verbs and other words into nouns. It makes a
text more compact and "written", e.g., instead
of saying "When your body reaches an abnormally
low temperature, you will need to be taken to hospital",
we can use nominalisations: "Hypothermia
requires hospitalisation."
Instead
of saying "How farmers protected their livestock
from the storm was the topic of the article", we
can use nominalisation: "Livestock protection
was the topic of the article."
Changing
a verb into a noun requires adding a suffix to the verb:
|
Verb |
+
suffix |
Noun
(these examples are all abstract) |
break
explore
supervise
farm
star
refuse
amaze |
-age
-(a)tion
-ion
-ing
-dom
-al
-ment |
breakage
exploration
supervision
farming
stardom
refusal
amazement |
Nominalisation
as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Because
nominalisation packs more information into the theme
position, students need to process more ideas per clause.
It also often makes concrete processes more abstract,
or generalises experience, e.g., "Water and wind
erode rock" is nominalised as "Erosion occurs
when rocks are ground down by water and wind."
Students will need to learn how to unpack this kind
of condensed language.
Ellipsis
occurs when part of a sentence is left out because it
would otherwise repeat what is said elsewhere. The understanding
and use of ellipsis increases with maturity and language
use.
In,
"I'd like to eat that biscuit, but I won’t",
the second clause is elliptical, with "eat that
biscuit" being omitted. In "Read the first
paragraph, then the questions", the second clause
is elliptical, with "read" being omitted.
People usually find the full form of such sentences
unnecessary or irritating, and use ellipsis to achieve
a more acceptable economy of statement.
Ellipsis
is particularly common in conversation:
A: Where are you going?
B: To the shops. (i.e., I’m going to the shops)
A: Why? (i.e., Why are you going to the shops?)
B: To get some bread. (i.e., I’m going to the
shops to get some bread)
A: Is John going with you? (i.e., Is John going with
you to the shops to get some bread?)
(Crystal,
2003, p.228)
Ellipsis
as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Students
will need to know that they will be able to find out
what has been omitted by referring back to the words
in the first clause. However, successfully doing this
is dependent on the student having at least an intuitive
understanding of English grammar.
Connecting
and tracking ideas in text
1.
The
words used to link ideas within a sentence
Conjunctions
are the words used to link clauses, in this case, independent
and dependent. Conjunctions only operate within a sentence,
not between sentences and other longer pieces of text.
Conjunctions are placed at the beginning of a clause.
Different
types of conjunctions are used to express different
types of relationships between ideas.
| |
Conjunctions
(not a complete list) |
Example |
|
Place |
Where,
wherever |
Wherever
I go, I
bump into my relatives.
She
left it where she found it. |
|
Time |
After,
before, when, just as, as, while |
He
realized he had lost it when he arrived home.
Before
I decide, I
want to talk to you. |
|
Manner |
The
way that, as, by |
The
way that she spends money,
you'd think she'd won lotto.
By
working overtime, she
managed to finish the project. |
|
Cause |
As,
because, since
|
I
came because he saw me.
Since
you obviously aren't interested, let's
leave it. |
|
Condition |
As
long as, if, unless |
If
she wants to come, she'll
have to hurry up.
Never
sit on an ants' nest unless you're wearing
cast-iron pants. |
|
Concession |
Although,
while, even though |
Even
though they weren't hungry,
they ate a full meal.
While
recognizing his skill,
I don't think he's right for the job.
|
(Derewianka,
2005, p.96)
Conjunctions
as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Sometimes
the conjunction is omitted, and the relationship between
the clauses has to be inferred, e.g., Andrew felt tremendous
relief. He had got the marks he needed for uni. He slumped
down into the chair, and breathed a long, slow sigh.
In
this case, students will have to infer the relationship
i.e., Andrew felt tremendous relief because he
had got the marks he needed for uni, so he slumped
down into the chair, and breathed a long, slow sigh.
Also
see "Compound,
complex, and compound-complex sentences as a source
of difficulty in comprehension".
2.
The
words used to link ideas within and between sentences
(a) Cohesion
Cohesive
devices (grammatical and lexical) make links between
various items in the text so that the reader is able
to track how meaning is being developed.
Referring
words (grammatical cohesion)
Referring
words set up links by referring to something that has
already been mentioned. The most commonly used referring
words are pronouns. Others are the definite article
(the), pointing words, and words that replace verb and
noun groups and even whole clauses
Pronouns
In
the following example the pronouns keep referring back
to the main characters:
Hansel
and Gretel
lived in a small thatched cottage at the edge of a large
forest. Their father had recently married
a greedy and selfish woman...they...them....
In
the following example, the pronoun makes a reference
link to Hansel's pockets:
Hansel stuffed his pockets with as much bread
as they would hold.
The
definite article (the)
In
the following example, "the" is used to refer
back to something which has been introduced previously
and which we can now take for granted:
A small house at the edge of the forest... the
house....
Pointing
words ("this", "that", "these",
"those")
In
the following example "This" refers back to
the verb group "Yoghurt can be strained through
muslin."
Yoghurt can be strained through muslin. This
produces thicker yoghurt and a by-product called whey.
In
the following example "These" refers back
to the noun group "three stigmas".
The saffron crocus produces three stigmas. These
are used in cooking.
In
the following example "These" refers to the
noun group "hard outer shells".
The nuts are encased in hard outer shells. These
are inedible.
Words
which replace verb and noun groups, and even whole clauses
In
the following example "did" refers to the
verb group "to stick a chicken bone through the
bars of the cage."
Gretel told Hansel to stick a chicken bone through
the bars of the cage. And he did.
In
the following example "one" replaces the noun
group "pieces of bread."
I've got two pieces of bread. Do you want one?
In
the following example "so" replaces the clause,
"She was sick of feeding them."
She was sick of feeding them. They heard her
say so.
Referring
words as a source of difficulty in comprehension
In
order to appreciate how ideas are linked between sentences,
students will need to:
| • |
Know
which words are being referred to, i.e., a verb
group, a noun group, or a whole clause, e.g., |
Gretel told Hansel to stick a chicken bone through
the bars of the cage. And he did.
(verb group)
I've got two pieces of bread. Do you want one?
(noun group)
She was sick of feeding them. They heard her
say so. (whole clause)
| • |
Know
that pronouns and definite articles always refer
to the noun group, and that pointing words usually
do but can also refer to the verb group.
|
| • |
Know
which word the pointing word refers to when there
are two possible plural referents, e.g., "nuts"
and "hard outer shells". |
The nuts are encased in hard outer shells. These
are inedible.
Text connectives (grammatical
cohesion)
Text
connectives provide signposts indicating how the text
is developing. Unlike conjunctions, they can be placed
at various positions in the sentence. Also unlike conjunctions,
which form links within a sentence, they form links
between sentences and other longer pieces of text.
(Not a complete list)
|
Clarifying |
Showing
cause/result |
Indicating
time |
in
other words
for example
that is
namely
in fact |
so
therefore
consequently
due to..., owing to
because of this |
then
next
finally
meanwhile
previously |
|
Sequencing
ideas |
Adding
information |
Condition/concession |
firstly,
first, second, third...
at this point
to conclude
given the above points
to get back to the point |
too
in addition
also
again
similarly |
in
that case
however
despite this
even so
if not |
(Derewianka,
2005, p.110–111)
Text
connectives as a source of difficulty in comprehension
In
order to appreciate how ideas are linked between sentences,
students will need to:
| • |
Know
the meaning of the connective.
|
| • |
Know
that while connectives and conjunctions often form
very similar functions, unlike conjunctions, connectives
operate across sentences, and can be placed at various
positions within the sentence. |
Word
associations (lexical cohesion)
Like
cohesive devices, word associations form links within
texts.
Repetition
This
is the most simple kind of lexical cohesion. Text participants
can easily be tracked because they are referred to using
the same words throughout the text.
Synonyms;
antonyms; hyponyms; hypernyms
Using
synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, and hypernyms forms less
direct links in the text than repetition, but adds interest
and subtlety to the text.
In
the sentence "My dad bought a new car",
"bought" can be replaced by "purchased"
(synonym—similar meaning)
"bought" can be replaced by "sold"
(antonym—contrasting meaning)
"car" can be replaced by "Ford"
(hyponym—more specific meaning)
"car" can be replaced by "vehicle"
(hypernym—more general meaning)
Collocation
Collocation
is a term used for words which typically occur together,
making a text predictable. In fairy tales the words
"Once upon a time", "wicked stepmother",
"wicked witch", and "lived happily ever
after" collocate.
Collocations
cannot be predicted from a knowledge of the world. For
example, "heavy" collocates with "loss",
"wear’, "traffic", ‘burden",
"defeat" etc. but not with "war",
"win", "stress", or "mistake".
All that is required for a sequence of words to be described
as a collocation, is for one word to "call up"
another, to some extent, in the mind of a native or
fluent speaker of English.
Collocational
norms are intentionally broken when the writer wants
to be inventive. Poets in particular, are likely to
break collocational conventions, sometimes to a point
where coherent meaning is difficult to find. The following
gives examples where a poet has deliberately broken
collocational norms. The examples range in difficulty
from reasonably easy to very difficult to understand.
Examples
where collocational norms are broken
(Metaphors taken from Dylan Thomas’s After
the Funeral).
|
Some
degree of expectancy |
Unusual |
Well
beyond expectations. We are forced to search for
meanings |
Humble
hands
Mourning house |
Skyward
statue |
Crooked
year
threadbare whisper
damp word
round pain |
(Crystal,
2003, p.163)
Word
associations as a source of difficulty in comprehension
| • |
Students
will need to work particularly hard to comprehend
when words do not seem to collocate. |
| • |
Word
associations add interest and subtlety to the text,
but can make tracking meaning difficult. |
(b) Theme (between sentences)
The
clause theme tells us what the clause is about. It is
a signpost saying to the reader: "this is what
I want you to pay attention to."
Because
the theme appears first in a clause, and so first in
a sentence, it focuses our attention on how the topic
is being developed. The theme helps to make the text
coherent and enables the reader to predict how the text
is unfolding. The following is an example of student
writing from School Journal Part 4, Number 3, 2005 p.30,
To Spray or Not to Spray? The highlighted sections
show the themes.
Our
school
was in the spray zone, and
the first spray day
was pretty scary. Our
principal told us that if they saw the spray
plane, there would be a special bell. When
we heard the bell, we
were to go inside, or
if we heard a plane, we
were to tell everybody and get inside quickly and shut
the windows and doors. The
big kids were to help the little kids.
We
didn't hear the big plane until it flew over. Then
the bell went. The
plane flew over heaps. It
was really low and really loud. The
smell was pretty yuck - sort of like cat wee.
The plane sprayed
at playtime. Some
of us were playing in the bush away from the
classrooms, so
it
was pretty scary. We
had to go running inside.
That
was the only spray day like that. The
four others so far have been different. After
that, MAF stopped spraying between 8 and 9 a.m.
so that we
could get to school. They
also stopped spraying between 12.15 and 1.00 p.m. and
between 3 and 4 p.m., which
was good.
Theme
(between sentences) as a source of difficulty in comprehension
Students
need to understand how to track the development of the
text through identifying themes. To do this, they will
need to know that:
| • |
Paragraphs
begin with a general thematic point, with later
sentences elaborating from it. |
| • |
New
information at the end of a sentence is often picked
up as the theme for the next. (The above example
is typical of children's writing in that the sentences
tend to jump from one to the next without building
on previous information). |
| • |
The
relationship between sentences is made explicit
through the use of connectives e.g., "Then"
and "After that".
|
| • |
Various
items in the text are linked by referring words.
(The above example is again typical of children's
writing in that it is not entirely clear what “That”
and “After that” in paragraph three
are referring to.) |
References
Crystal,
D. (2003). The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English
language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Derewianka,
B. (2005). A grammar companion. Newtown, NSW:
PETA.
ARB
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