English grammar 49610 224366284 2008-07-08T15:15:38Z 60.242.42.187 /* Topicalization */ {{Grammar series}} '''English grammar''' is a body of rules specifying how meanings are created in [[English language|English]]. So-called [[Standard English]] is often what is meant when the term "English grammar" is used, but it is actually much broader than that. Accounts of English grammar tend to fall into two groups: the ''descriptivist'', which describe the patterns through which meanings are typically created in functional speech and writing; and the ''prescriptivist'', which set out pre-existing rules as to how meanings are created (see [[Linguistic prescription|prescription]] and [[Descriptive linguistics|description]]). The remainder of this article deals with English grammar as viewed from a [[linguistics|linguistic]] perspective. Therefore, the issues addressed deal mainly with the grammars of natural dialects of everyday speech rather than those of formal writing. Issues common to all languages are not stressed here. ==Lexical categories and phrasal syntax== ===Nominals=== [[Noun phrase]]s and [[pronoun]]s both can have a [[referential]] function where they "point" (i.e. ''refer'') to some person or object in the real world (or a possible world). Additionally, they share many of the same [[grammatical function]]s in that they can both act as [[Subject (grammar)|subjects]], [[Object (grammar)|objects]], and [[Complement (linguistics)|complements]] within [[clause]]s. Noun phrases may consist of only a single [[noun]], or they may be complex consisting of a noun (which functions as the [[Head (linguistics)|head]] of the noun phrase) that is [[Grammatical modifier|modified]] by different types of elements (such as adjectives, prepositional phrases, etc.).<ref>Other more recent analyses of noun phrases posit that they are instead [[determiner phrase]]s with a determiner acting as the phrasal head and the noun (and its modifiers) acting as a complement to the determiner. This article will follow the older, traditional view of noun phrases being headed by nouns and determiners acting as modifiers of the noun head.</ref> Pronouns are words that can act as substitutions for noun phrases. For instance, in the following sentence : ''Professor Plum kicked <u>'''the very large ball with red spots'''</u> over the fence.'' the noun phrase ''the very large ball with red spots'' can be substituted with the pronoun ''it'' as in : ''Professor Plum kicked <u>'''it'''</u> over the fence.'' In spite of the name ''pronoun'', pronouns cannot substitute for nouns — they only substitute for noun phrases. This can be shown with the same sentence above: the noun ''ball'' cannot be substituted with the pronoun ''it'' (or any other pronoun) as in the [[Grammaticality|ungrammatical]]<ref>Ungrammatical example sentences are generally indicated with a preceding [[Asterisk#Linguistics|asterisk]] '''''*''''' in linguistic literature. This convention will be used in this article.</ref> sentence : ''*Professor Plum kicked the very large <u>'''it'''</u> with red spots over the fence.'' The sections below describe English nouns (their morphology and syntax), the structure of noun phrases, and pronouns. ====Nouns==== Nouns are defined notionally (i.e. [[semantically]]) as generally describing persons, places, and things. This notional definition does account for what are the central members of the noun lexical category. However, the notional definition fails to account for several nouns, such as [[deverbal]] nouns like ''jump'' or ''destruction'' (which are notionally more like actions). For this reason, many grammatical descriptions of English define nouns in terms of grammar (i.e. according to their [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] and [[syntactic]] behavior). Nonetheless, traditional English grammars and some pedagogical grammars define nouns with a notional definition. Non-proper nouns, in general, are not marked for [[noun case|case]] or gender, but are marked for number and [[definiteness]] (when referential). =====Non-inflectional morphology===== {{Seealso|English compound}} {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} English nouns may be of a few morphological types: * simple nouns * nouns with [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] [[affix]]es * [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] nouns * compound nouns with derivational affixes Simple nouns consist of a single [[Root (linguistics)|root]] which also acts as the [[word stem|stem]] which may be [[Inflection|inflected]]. For example, the [[word]] (or, more precisely, the [[lexeme]]) ''boy'' is a simple noun consisting of a single root (also ''boy''). The root ''boy'' also acts as the stem ''boy'', which can have the inflectional [[plural]] [[suffix]] ''-s'' added to it producing the inflectional [[Morphology (linguistics)#Lexemes and word forms|word-form]] ''boys''. More complex nouns can have derivational [[prefix]]es or suffixes in addition to a noun stem. For example, the noun ''archenemy'' consists of a derivational prefix ''arch-'' and a root ''enemy''. Here the derived form ''archenemy'' acts as the stem which can be used to form the inflected word-form ''archenemies''. An example with a derivational suffix is ''kingdom'' which is composed of root ''king'' and suffix ''-dom''. Some English nouns can be complex with several derivational prefixes and suffixes. A considerably complex example is ''antidisestablishmentarianism'' which has the root ''establish'' and the affixes ''anti-'', ''dis-'', ''-ment'', ''-ary'', ''-an'', and ''-ism''. English compound nouns are nouns that consist of more than one stem. For example, the compound ''paperclip'' is composed of the stem ''paper'' and the stem ''clip''. Compounds in English can be usefully subdivided (following Bauer 1983) into different classes according to the lexical category of the individual stems and according to a semantic classification into endocentric, exocentric, copulative, and appositional subtypes. =====Number===== {{main|English plural}} English nouns are typically inflected for [[grammatical number|number]], having distinct ''singular'' and ''[[plural]]'' forms. The plural form usually consists of the singular form plus ''-s'' or ''-es'', but there are many irregular nouns. Ordinarily, the singular form is used when discussing one instance of the noun's referent, and the plural form is used when discussing any other number of instances, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Here are some examples: {| class="prettytable" |- !Number !Example |- !rowspan="3"|Singular |''The '''girl''' talks.'' |- |''Every '''girl''' talks.'' |- |''No '''girl''' talks.'' |- !rowspan="3"|Plural |''The '''girls''' talk.'' |- |''All '''girls''' talk.'' |- |''No '''girls''' talk.'' |- |} =====Membership===== Words that belong to the noun [[lexical category]] (or part of speech) can be simple words that belong primarily to the noun category. These include words like ''man'', ''dog'', ''rice'', etc. Other nouns can be '''derived''' from words belonging to other lexical categories with the addition of ''class-changing'' '''derivational''' suffixes. For example, the suffixes ''-ation'', ''-ee'', ''-ure'', ''-al'', ''-er'', ''-ment'' are attached to verb bases to create [[deverbal]] nouns. :{| cellspacing="4" | ''vex'' <small>(verb)</small> || > || ''vexation'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''appoint'' <small>(verb)</small> || > || ''appointee'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''fail'' <small>(verb)</small> || > || ''failure'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''acquit'' <small>(verb)</small> || > || ''acquittal'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''run'' <small>(verb)</small> || > || ''runner'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''adjust'' <small>(verb)</small> || > || ''adjustment'' <small>(noun)</small> |} Still other suffixes (''-dom'', ''-hood'', ''-ist'', ''-th'', ''-ness'') form derived deadjectival nouns from adjectives: :{| cellspacing="4" | ''free'' <small>(adjective)</small> || > || ''freedom'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''lively'' <small>(adjective)</small> || > || ''livelihood'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''moral'' <small>(adjective)</small> || > || ''moralist'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''warm'' <small>(adjective)</small> || > || ''warmth'' <small>(noun)</small> |- | ''happy'' <small>(adjective)</small> || > || ''happiness'' <small>(noun)</small> |} These derivational suffixes can also be added to (compound) [[phrasal]] bases like in the noun ''stick-it-to-itiveness'', which is derived from the phrase [ ''stick it to it'' ] + ''-ive'' + ''-ness''. Besides derivational suffixation, words from other lexical categories can be converted straight to nouns (without any overt morphological indication) by a [[conversion (linguistics)|'''conversion''']] process (also known as ''zero derivation''). For example, the word ''run'' is a verb but it can be converted to a noun ''run'' "point scored in a baseball game (by running around the bases)" as in the sentence: : ''The team won with five '''runs''' in the ninth.'' Here it is evident that ''run'' is a noun because it is pluralized with the inflectional plural suffix ''-s'', it is modified by the preceding [[quantifier]] ''five'', and it occurs as the [[Head (linguistics)|head]] of the noun phrase ''five runs'' which acts as the [[Complement (linguistics)|complement]] of the [[preposition]] ''with'' in the [[prepositional phrase]] ''with five runs''. Other lexical categories can also be converted: : ''if'' <small>(subordinator)</small> > ''if'' <small>(noun)</small> as in ''no '''ifs''', ands, or buts about it'' [idiomatic] : ''daily'' <small>(adjective)</small> > ''daily'' <small>(noun)</small> [= "newspaper"] as in ''did you buy a '''daily''' for me?'' : ''down'' <small>(preposition)</small> > ''down'' <small>(noun)</small> [in American football] as in ''they made a new first '''down''''' Additionally, there are phrases which can be converted into nouns, such as ''jack-in-the-box'', ''[[Amaranthus caudatus|love-lies-bleeding]]'' (type of flower). These may be viewed as compounds (see [[#Morphology|noun morphology section]]). There are also conversion processes that convert from one noun subclass to another subclass (see [[#Dual membership, conversion|the noun subclass conversion section]]). =====Subclasses===== Three basic noun classes in English can be distinguished according to syntactic criteria: * [[proper noun]]s ([[proper name]]) * [[countable noun]]s (count nouns) * [[uncountable noun]]s (noncount nouns) These syntactic subclasses also correspond fairly well to semantic categories (as indicated by their names and explained below). Countable and uncountable nouns — such as ''dog'' (countable), ''rice'' (uncountable) — show [[Article (grammar)|article]] contrast: ''a dog'', ''the dog'', ''dogs'', ''the dogs'' are all possible just as ''rice'', ''the rice'' are both possible. Countable nouns differ from uncountable nouns in that they cannot stand alone<ref>"Standing alone" (or "bare") refers to a syntactic context like the following: # ''I want '''*book'''.'' (''book'' = countable) # ''I want '''rice'''.'' (''rice'' = uncountable) Sentence (2) with uncountable ''rice'' without a preceding article is grammatical, but sentence (1) is ungrammatical because ''book'' in the singular cannot occur without a preceding article. In other words, ''rice'' can standalone in sentence (2) without an article but ''book'' cannot standalone.</ref>, cannot be modified by ''some'' unless they are in plural forms, can be modified by ''a'', and can be pluralized. Semantically, they generally refer to easily individuated objects. Examples of countable nouns include the following: ''remark'', ''book'', ''bottle'', ''chair'', ''forest'', ''idea'', ''bun'', ''pig'', ''toy'', ''difficulty'', ''bracelet'', ''mountain'', etc. Uncountable nouns, in contrast, can stand alone, can be modified by ''some'', cannot be modified by ''a'', and cannot be pluralized. Semantically, uncountable nouns refer to an undifferentiated mass. Examples of uncountable nouns include: ''rice'', ''furniture'', ''jewelry'', ''scenery'', ''gold'', ''bread'', ''grass'', ''warmth'', ''music'', ''butter'', ''homework'', ''baggage'', ''sugar'', ''coffee'', ''luck'', ''sunshine'', ''water'', ''air'', ''Chinese'' (language), ''soccer'', ''literature'', ''rain'', ''walking'', etc. The morphosyntactic differences between countable and uncountable nouns are displayed in the table below. :{| class="wikitable" ! !! Countable Noun !! Uncountable Noun |- ! standalone | ''*remark'' || ''rice'' |- ! ''some'' + <small>NOUN</small> | ''*some remark'' || ''some rice'' |- ! ''a'' + <small>NOUN</small> | ''a remark'' || ''*a rice'' |- ! plural | ''remarks'' || ''*rices'' |- ! ''some'' + plural <small>NOUN</small> | ''some remarks'' || ''*some rices'' |} On the other hand, proper nouns, which include [[personal name]]s — such as ''Peter'', ''Smith'' and [[placenames]] like ''Paris'', ''Tokyo'' — do not show article contrast. Typically, they cannot be preceded by an article. Thus, ''*a Peter'', ''*the Peter'', ''*a Tokyo'', ''*the Tokyo'' are all ungrammatical (only ''Peter'' and ''Tokyo'' without articles are possible). Although several proper nouns (e.g. ''Peter'', ''Smith'', ''Paris'', ''Tokyo'') cannot be preceded by an article, some proper nouns must obligatorily be preceded by an article. These include proper nouns like ''The Hague'', ''The Dalles'', ''the Netherlands'', ''the West Indies'', ''the Andes''. However, like proper nouns without article modification, these proper nouns with preceding articles also lack article contrast. Thus, while ''The Hague'' is grammatical, ''*a Hague'' and ''*Hague'' are ungrammatical. Semantically, proper nouns have unique [[reference]]. As seen above, the different subclasses affect [[grammatical number]] and [[Quantification#Natural_language|quantification]]. ======Dual membership, conversion====== Complicating the membership of the basic subclasses described above is the existence of some nouns which have dual membership in more than one subcategory and the [[conversion (linguistics)|conversion]] of a noun from its basic subcategory to a different subcategory. (See the [[#Membership|noun membership section]].) Nouns like ''brick'' and ''cake'' have dual membership. For example, observe the following sentences with ''brick'': :{| | ''The house was made of '''brick'''.'' || || ''brick'' = uncountable |- | ''The house was made of '''bricks'''.'' || || ''bricks'' = countable |} In the first sentence, ''brick'' is an uncountable noun. This can be determined by the lack of an article preceding ''brick'', which is a characteristic of uncountable nouns (and, thus, this sentence is parallel to a sentence like ''The ball was made of rice''). In the second sentence, ''bricks'' is a countable noun because it is plural, which is a characteristic of only countable nouns (and, thus, this sentence is parallel to a sentence like ''The toy house was made of matches''). Other nouns that have dual membership in both countable and uncountable subclasses are ''stone'', ''paper'', ''beauty'', ''difficulty'', ''experience'', ''light'', ''sound'', ''talk'', and ''lamb''. As mentioned above, several nouns can undergo a conversion from one subclass to another. One type of conversion is from a proper noun to a countable noun. A proper name like ''Picasso'' may become a countable noun through [[metonymic]] extension, as in the sentence: : ''Did you see the '''Picassos''' hanging on the wall?'' Although ''Picasso'' usually has a unique referent (which is the person [[Pablo Picasso]]), it can be used metonymically to mean "a painting created by Picasso". This converted noun can be seen as belonging to the countable subclass by the fact that it is plural and that it is preceded by the article ''the''. There are also two idiomatic constructions which involve the conversion of a proper noun to a countable noun: : ''Excuse me ma'am, a '''Mr. Smith''' is on the phone.'' : ''You don't mean THE '''Margaret Thatcher''', do you?'' Here the article ''a'' before ''Mr. Smith'' indicates a meaning of "a certain person called Mr. Smith that is otherwise unknown to you" in the first sentence while in the second sentence the article ''the'' with [[intonational]] [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]] (here indicated in caps) gives a reading of "the well-known person called Margaret Thatcher". ====Noun phrases==== =====Pre-modification===== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ======Determiners====== Determiners<ref>The term ''determiner'' has different meanings in works by different authors. One usage uses the term ''determiner'' as the name of a syntactic lexical category (i.e. part of speech) while the term ''determinative'' is used to refer to words that have a "determining" function. Other authors reverse the definitions with ''determiner'' referring to function and ''determinative'' referring to the lexical category. A third usage uses the term ''determiner'' to refer to both the lexical category and the function (and thus does not distinguish between the two). In this article, the first usage will be followed where ''determiner'' = lexical category, ''determinative'' = function.</ref><ref>Many traditional grammars refer to determiners with the term ''adjective''. However, determiners clearly have different syntactic behavior and are usually distinguished from adjectives in more linguistically-oriented grammatical descriptions.</ref> include articles (like ''the, a/an''), demonstratives (like ''this'', ''these'', ''that'', ''those''), quantifiers (like ''all'', ''many'', ''some'', ''any'', ''each''), numerals (like ''one'', ''two'', ''first'', ''second''), genitives<ref>Note that the genitive pronouns ''mine'', ''yours'', ''hers'', ''ours'', ''theirs'' are not determiners but are rather syntactically pronouns. (The genitive pronoun ''his'' has the same form as the genitive determiner ''his'', i.e. they are syncretic.)</ref> (like ''my'', ''your'', ''his'', ''her'', ''its'', ''our'', ''their''), interrogatives (like ''which'', ''what''), and exclamatives (like ''such'', ''what'') that modify noun heads in noun phrases. Determiners function as words that "determine" other nouns, where "determine" is generally conceived of as indicating information about quantification, grammatical (and/or semantic) number, issues involving reference, and noun subclass membership (i.e. count, noncount, and proper noun subclasses). These "determining" functions make determiners quite distinct from adjectival modifiers which generally provide qualitative information about nouns and cannot provide determining functions. Within the noun phrase, determiners occur at the far left edge of the noun phrase before the noun head and before any optional adjective modifiers (if present): :{| cellspacing="5" |- style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: larger;" ! Determiner || + || Adjective(s) || + || Noun |} Examples follow: {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} :{| cellspacing="4" style="line-height: 1.1em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | the || balloon |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | det || noun |} :{| cellspacing="4" style="line-height: 1.1em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | many || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | det || noun |} :{| cellspacing="4" style="line-height: 1.1em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | all || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | det || noun |} {{col-2}} :{| cellspacing="4" style="line-height: 1.1em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | the || big || red || balloon |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | det || adj || adj || noun |} :{| cellspacing="4" style="line-height: 1.1em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | many || big || red || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | det || adj || adj || noun |} :{| cellspacing="4" style="line-height: 1.1em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | all || big || red || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | det || adj || adj || noun |} {{col-end}} The distinctness of the determiner and adjective positions relative to each other and the noun head is demonstrable in that adjectives may never precede determiners. Thus, the following are ungrammatical English nouns phrases: ''*big the red balloon'', ''*big red the balloon'' (as well as ''*big many red balloons'', ''*big red many balloons'', ''*big all red balloons'', ''*big red all balloons''). Determiners can be divided into three subclasses according to their position with respect to each other: * predeteminers * central determiners * postdeterminers Predeterminers may precede central determiners but may not follow central determiners. Postdeterminers follow central determiners but may not precede them. Central determiners must occur after predeterminers and before postdeterminers. Thus, a central determiner like ''the'' as in :{| cellpadding="3" style="line-height: 1.2em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | the || red || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center; background-color: LightGrey;" || det || adj || noun |} can be preceded by a predeterminer like ''all'' as in :{| cellpadding="3" style="line-height: 1.2em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | all || the || red || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | style="font-size: small;" | predet | style="font-size: small;" | cent.det || || |- style="font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center; background-color: LightGrey;" | colspan="2" | det | adj || noun |} or the central determiner ''the'' can be followed by a postdeterminer like ''many'' as in :{| cellpadding="3" style="line-height: 1.2em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | the || many || red || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | style="font-size: small;" | cent.det | style="font-size: small;" | postdet || || |- style="font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center; background-color: LightGrey;" | colspan="2" | det | adj || noun |} A sequence of predeterminer + central determiner + postdeterminer is also possible as in :{| cellpadding="3" style="line-height: 1.2em;" |- style="font-style: italic;" | all || the || many || red || balloons |- style="font-variant: small-caps;" | style="font-size: small;" | predet | style="font-size: small;" | cent.det | style="font-size: small;" | postdet || || |- style="font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center; background-color: LightGrey;" | colspan="3" | det | adj || noun |} However, there are several restrictions on combinatory possibilities. One general restriction is that only one determiner can occur in each of the three determiner positions. For example, the postdeterminers ''many'' and ''two'' can occur in the following : '''''many''' smart children'' : '''''seven''' smart children'' : ''the '''many''' smart children'' : ''the '''seven''' smart children'' but both ''many'' and ''two'' cannot occur in postdeterminer position rendering the following noun phrases ungrammatical: ''*many seven smart children'', ''*seven many smart children'', ''*the many seven smart children'', ''*the seven many smart children''. Additionally, there are often other lexical restrictions. For example, the predeterminer ''all'' can occur alone (as the sole determiner) or before a central determiner (e.g. ''all children'', ''all the children'', ''all these children'', ''all my children''); however, the predeterminer ''such'' can only occur alone or before central determiner ''a'' (e.g., ''such nuisance!'', ''such a nuisance!''). Predeterminers include words like ''all'', ''both'', ''half'', ''double'', ''twice'', ''three times'', ''one-third'', ''one-fifth'', ''three-quarters'', ''such'', exclamative ''what''. Examples with predeterminers preceding a central determiner: : '''''all''' the big balloons'' : '''''both''' his nice parents'' : '''''half''' a minute'' : '''''double''' the risk'' : '''''twice''' my age'' : '''''three times''' my salary'' : '''''one-third''' the cost'' : '''''one-fifth''' the rate'' : '''''three-quarters''' the diameter'' : '''''such''' a big boy'' : '''''what''' a clever suggestion'' Central determiners include words like ''the'', ''a/an'', ''this'', ''that'', ''these'', ''those'', ''every'', ''each'', ''enough'', ''much'', ''more'', ''most'' ''less'', ''no'', ''some'', ''either'', ''neither'', ''which'', ''what''. Examples of central determiners preceding adjectival modified noun heads: : '''''the''' big balloon'' : '''''a''' big balloon'' : '''''this''' big balloon'' : '''''that''' big balloon'' : '''''these''' big balloons'' : '''''those''' big balloons'' : '''''every''' big balloon'' : '''''each''' big balloon'' : '''''no''' big balloon'' : '''''some''' big balloons'' : '''''either''' big balloon'' While ''the'', ''a/an'', ''no'', and ''every'' only function as determiners<ref>The word ''no'', however, can also function as an interjection, when used to give a negative answer to a yes-no question as in : Speaker A: ''Do you want a pelican?'' : Speaker B: '''''No''', I don't like em.''</ref>, the other central determiners can also function as members of other lexical categories, especially as pronouns. For example, ''that'' functions as a determiner in : '''''That''' item is our belonging.'' but as pronoun in : '''''That''' is our belonging.'' In additional to the above determiners, noun phrases with a genitive enclitic ''-’s''<ref>The genitive enclitic is spelled simply ''-’'' in certain situations...</ref> can have a determinative function like genitive determiners ''his'', ''her'', ''its'', ''their''. These genitive determinative noun phrases occur in the central determiner position: : '''['' my stepmother’s '']''''' friendly children'' : ''both '''''['' my stepmother’s '']''''' friendly children'' : '''['' my stepmother’s '']''''' many friendly children'' : ''all '''''['' my stepmother’s '']''''' many friendly children'' ======Number agreement, selectional restrictions====== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ======Articles====== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} Articles are words like ''a/an'', and ''the'' that modify nouns. They occur in the central determiner position. Articles have several functions including marking [[definiteness]], [[specific]]/[[generic]] reference, given/new information in discourse, and noun subclass membership (i.e. count, noncount, and proper noun subclasses). The [[definite article]] "the" is used to refer to a specific instance of the noun, often already mentioned in the context or easy to identify. Definite articles are slightly different from demonstratives, which often indicate the location of nouns with respect to the speaker and audience. *"Let us look for a good restaurant." *"What about the restaurant we ate at last week?" *"That restaurant was terrible. What about this one on the corner here?" <!-- An [[indefinite article]], "a" or "an," is used to refer to a generic instance of the noun. Note that "a" is used when preceding a noun beginning with a [[consonant]] sound, whereas "an" is used when preceding a noun beginning with a [[vowel]] sound. *You should have a drink. *That building is a university. *They are being an annoyance. *He is an heir to the throne. --> ======Adjectival modification====== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} =====Post-modification===== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} * adjectival modification (''jokes galore'') * prepositional phrase modification (''men in tights'') * clausal modification (''planes flying overhead'', ''jokes that I love'', etc.) ====Pronouns==== {{Seealso|English relative clauses}} =====Gender===== {{main|Gender in English}} A remnant of grammatical gender is also preserved in the [[grammatical person|third person]] pronouns. Gender is assigned to animate objects based on biological gender (where known), and to personified objects based on social conventions (ships, for example, are often regarded as feminine in English). ''He'' is used for masculine nouns; ''she'' is used for feminine nouns; and ''it'' is used for nouns of indeterminate gender and inanimate objects. The use of ''it'' to refer to humans is generally considered ungrammatical and impolite, but is sometimes used deliberately as a term of offence or insult as it implies the person is of indeterminate gender or, worse, sub-human - a thing. (See for example: [[A Child Called "It"]]) Traditionally, the masculine ''he'' was used to refer to a person in the third person whose gender was unknown or irrelevant to the context; recently, this usage has come under criticism for supporting gender-based stereotypes and is increasingly considered inappropriate (see [[Gender-neutral language]]). There is no consensus on a replacement. Some English speakers prefer to use the slightly cumbersome "he or she" or "s/he"; others prefer the use of ''they'' (third plural) (see [[singular they]]). This situation rarely leads to confusion, since the intended meaning can be inferred from context, e.g. "This person has written me a letter but they have not signed it." However, it still is considered by some to be incorrect grammar. [[Spivak pronouns]] have also been proposed which are essentially formed by dropping the leading &lt;th&gt; from the plural counterpart, but their use is relatively rare compared to other solutions. For comparison, speakers of [[German language|German]] distinguish between the homophonous ''sie'' ("she"), ''sie'' ("they"), and ''Sie'' ("you", polite) with little difficulty. The categorization of nouns is typically expressed by one or more of the elements called ''[[deictic]]'', ''[[numerical prefix|numerative]]'', ''[[epithet#Linguistics|epithet]]'', and ''[[classifier (linguistics)|classifier]]''. We shall consider each of these in turn. =====Case===== {{further|[[English personal pronouns]]}} Historically, English used to mark nouns for [[grammatical case|case]], and the two remnants of this case marking are the [[pronoun|pronominal]] system and the genitive [[clitic]] (which used to be called the ''[[Saxon genitive]]''). The genitive is marked by a clitic at the end of the modifying [[noun phrase]]. This can be illustrated in the following manner: : ''The president from the company’s daughter was married yesterday.'' The ''’s'' clitic attached to ''company'' does not modify ''company'' but rather modifies the entire noun phrase ''president from the company''. This can be shown more clearly using brackets: : '''['''''The president from the company''''']'''''’s daughter was married yesterday.'' English pronoun forms vary with [[grammatical number|number]], [[grammatical person|person]], [[grammatical case|case]], and notional gender (only in 3rd person singular). Number and case distinctions have collapsed in the 2nd person singular in the standard formal language, although informal dialectal forms have number distinctions (for example singular ''you'' vs. plural ''y'all'', ''youse'', etc.). :{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" ! colspan="2" rowspan="3" | Case ! colspan="2" | 1st ! rowspan="3" | 2nd ! colspan="5" | 3rd |- ! rowspan="2" | sg. ! rowspan="2" | pl. ! colspan="3" | sg. ! rowspan="2" | pl. ! rowspan="2" | interrogative |- style="font-size: x-small;" ! male !! female !! neuter |- ! colspan="2" | [[Subjective case|Subjective]] | I || we | rowspan="2" | you || he || she | rowspan="2" | it | they || who |- ! colspan="2" | [[Objective case|Objective]] | me || us || him | rowspan="2" | her | them || who(m) |- ! rowspan="2" | [[Genitive case|Genitive]] ! style="font-size: x-small;" | determiner | my || our || your | rowspan="2" | his | rowspan="2" | its | their | rowspan="2" | whose |- ! style="font-size: x-small;" | nominal | mine || ours || yours || hers || theirs |} ;Notes #Some dialects use different forms for the second person plural pronoun: they include ''you-all'' or ''[[y'all]]'' <ref>''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth Edition. See [http://www.bartleby.com/61/66/Y0026600.html http://www.bartleby.com/61/66/Y0026600.html].</ref>, ''you guys'', ''yu'uns'' <ref>''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth Edition. See [http://www.bartleby.com/61/94/Y0029450.html http://www.bartleby.com/61/94/Y0029450.html].</ref>, ''youse'' <ref>''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth Edition. See [http://www.bartleby.com/61/91/Y0029150.html http://www.bartleby.com/61/91/Y0029150.html].</ref>, or ''ye'' <ref>''Dictionary of Newfoundland English''. See [http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/azindex/pages/5505.html http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/azindex/pages/5505.html].</ref>. These forms are generally regarded as colloquial and non-standard. #The pronoun ''[[thou]]'' was the former second person singular pronoun; it is considered an [[archaism]] in most contexts, although it is still used in some [[dialect]]s in the north of England. ''[[Thou]]'' was originally the informal form to the formal ''you'', is very rare, and is confined to [[dialect]]s and religious and poetic functions. In modern Standard English, the second person plural ''you'' is used instead. #''Mine'' (and ''thine'') were also previously used before vowel sounds to avoid a [[glottal stop]]. e.g., "Do mine eyes deceive me?” "Know thine enemy." This usage is now archaic. # The objective form ''whom'' is most often found in formal English (as in writing) while the more common objective ''who'' is found in less formal writing and most speech. Prescriptivists state that ''who'' when used in objective context is "incorrect". The reflexive pronouns are compounds consisting an genitive determiner pronoun and a following ''-self'', with exception of the 3rd person singular male form which consists of the objective form ''him'' + ''-self'' and the 3rd person plural form with consists objective ''them'' + ''-self'' + ''-(e)s''. In the plural, these reflexives take the regular plural suffix ''-s'' (with voicing of the ''f'' > ''v'' as with the free form of ''self'' > ''selves'') along with the plural inflected pronoun form. :{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" ! colspan="2" rowspan="3" | Case ! colspan="2" | 1st ! colspan="2" | 2nd ! colspan="4" | 3rd |- ! rowspan="2" | sg. ! rowspan="2" | pl. ! rowspan="2" | sg. ! rowspan="2" | pl. ! colspan="3" | sg. ! rowspan="2" | pl. |- style="font-size: x-small;" ! male !! female !! neuter |- ! colspan="2" | [[Reflexive pronoun|Reflexive]] | myself || ourselves || yourself || yourselves || himself || herself || itself | themselves |} ''Ourself'' is used instead of ''ourselves'' for any semantically singular version of ''we'', such as [[pluralis majestatis|the royal ''we'']]. In some dialects, the 3rd person male and 3rd person plural reflexives are formed with the genitive determiner ''his'' > ''hisself'' and ''their'' > ''theirself''. Thus, these dialects have regularized the entire paradigm to genitive forms. ===Verbs=== {{main|English verbs}} ====Verb classes==== English verbs fall into two main types: * '''main verbs''' (also ''full verbs'') * '''auxiliaries''' (also ''auxiliary verbs'', ''helping verbs'') Main verbs are verbs like ''jump'', ''take'', ''catch'', and ''hit''. They are lexical in nature, carry the main semantic information within the verb complex, and are an [[Open class (linguistics)|open class]] (i.e. main verbs can be freely and [[Productivity (linguistics)|productively]] created anew via [[word-formation]] processes). In the sentence : ''Halil is '''helping''' his brother.'' the verb ''helping'' is the main verb. Auxiliaries are verbs that typically precede the main verb in sentences. They are of limited number, contribute grammatical information to the verb complex, and are a [[closed class]]. In the sentence : ''Halil '''is''' helping his brother.'' the verb ''is'' is the auxiliary. Three verbs in English — ''be'', ''have'', and ''do'' — may function as both main verbs and as auxiliaries.<ref>As an auxiliary, ''do'' has a mostly empty semantic component. However, it is required in certain syntactic constructions that are referred to as ''do-support''.</ref> Quirk et al. (1985) refer to these verbs as ''primary'' verbs. The following examples demonstrate their dual functionality: : ''Halil will '''be''' a student.'' &nbsp; (''be'' as a main verb) : ''Halil '''is''' helping a student.'' &nbsp; (''be'' as an auxiliary) : ''The girls '''have''' many books.'' &nbsp; (''have'' as a main verb) : ''The girls '''have''' helped many students.'' &nbsp; (''have'' as an auxiliary) : ''The girls may '''do''' their homework.'' &nbsp; (''do'' as a main verb) : ''The girls '''do''' not help many students.'' &nbsp; (''do'' as an auxiliary) Besides the three primary verbs, the other auxiliaries are '''modals''' which include ''can'', ''could'', ''may'', ''might'', ''must'', ''shall'', ''will'', and ''would''. In addition to their restriction to functioning only as auxiliaries, modals can only occur in finite clauses and cannot be inflected for tense, number, or person. More marginal to the class of modals are verbs like ''ought'' and in British varieties also ''need'' and ''dare''. These display many but not all properties of modals and are thus termed '''marginal modals''' by Quirk et al. (1985). Finally, the verb ''used'' (as in ''She used to called me everyday'') is considered to be marginal modal by Quirk et al. (1985), but Huddleston & Pullum (2002) find several differences between it and the other modals and marginal modals, concluding that it is an auxiliary of the most marginal type. Semantically, ''used'' has reference to time, which distinguishes it from modals, which have modality as their main semantic component. ====Inflectional morphology==== English verbs only have eight possible inflectional forms: * [[non-finite]]<ref>Strictly speaking, the term ''non-finite'' refers to verbs (and their associated clauses) that are limited in their inflection according to person, number, and tense. Since the ''base'' form of the verb is used in imperative sentences, the base form is not strictly non-finite as imperative sentences have a second person subject (usually not present in the surface sentence). Thus, the terminology of ''non-tensed'' and ''tensed'' is more appropriate to a characterization of Modern English. However, this article will use the traditional terminology ''non-finite'' with the caveat that base form is finite in imperative sentences and truly non-finite in other constructions.</ref> (or non-tensed) forms: : (1) '''base''' form (also called plain form) <ref>In traditional grammar terminology, the base form is often split into three forms: ''infinitive'', ''imperative'', ''present subjunctive''. However, these forms are always identical morphologically in Modern English.</ref> : (2) '''''-ing''''' <ref>The ''-ing'' form is called by two terms in traditional grammar: ''present participle'' or ''gerund''. However, since these forms are never distinct morphologically, they have been referred to with the term ''participle-gerund''. Despite its name ''present participle'' in traditional grammar, the ''-ing'' does not express tense and, in fact, is used in verbal constructions that indicate present, future, and past time frames. In finite clauses, its main function is aspectual.</ref> form : (3) '''''-en''''' form <ref>Despite the name ''past participle'' from traditional grammar, the ''-en'' form does not express tense or a past time frame. In finite clauses, it indicates either aspect or passive voice. The ''-en'' form is named after the ''-en~-n'' suffix that appears on several irregular verbs like ''beat : beaten (beat + -en)'', ''sew : sewn (sew + -n)'', ''give : given (give + -n)''.</ref> * finite (or tensed) forms: : nonpast forms: :: (4) '''general nonpast''' form :: (5) '''1st person singular nonpast''' form :: (6) '''3rd person singular nonpast''' form : past forms: :: (7) '''general past''' form :: (8) '''1st/3rd person singular past''' form The [[copula]] ''be'' has eight distinct inflectional forms as seen in the example sentences below: :{| cellpadding="2" | ''The girl wants to '''be''' in school'' || (base form: ''be'') |- | ''The girl is '''being''' a nuisance'' || (''-ing'' form: ''being'') |- | ''The girl has '''been''' a great help'' || (''-en'' form: ''been'') |- | ''The girls '''are''' students'' || (general nonpast form: ''are'') |- | ''I '''am''' a student'' || (1st sg. nonpast form: ''am'') |- | ''The girl '''is''' a student'' || (3rd sg. nonpast form: ''is'') |- | ''The girls '''were''' students'' || (general past form: ''were'') |- | ''The girl '''was''' a student'' || (1st/3rd sg. past form: ''was'') |} However, most verbs (which include all "regular" verbs and some "irregular" verbs) have only four distinct inflectional forms: :{| cellpadding="2" |- | ''The girl wants to '''jump''' in the lake'' || (base form: ''jump'') |- | ''The girl is '''jumping''' in the lake'' || (''-ing'' form: ''jumping'') |- | ''The girl has already '''jumped''' in the lake'' || (''-en'' form: ''jumped'') |- | ''The girls '''jump''' in the lake everyday'' || (general nonpast form: ''jump'') |- | ''I '''jump''' in the lake everyday'' || (1st sg. nonpast form: ''jump'') |- | ''The girl '''jumps''' in the lake everyday'' || (3rd sg. nonpast form: ''jumps'') |- | ''The girls '''jumped''' in the lake yesterday'' || (general past form: ''jumped'') |- | ''The girl '''jumped''' in the lake yesterday'' || (1st/3rd sg. past form: ''jumped'') |} Unlike copula ''be'', the verb ''jump'' has the same [[Syncretism (linguistics)|syncretic]] word-form ''jump'' for the base, general nonpast, and 1st. sg. nonpast forms (where the copula has ''be'', ''are'', ''am'', respectively) and the same syncretic word-form ''jumped'' for the ''-en'', general past, and the 1st/3rd sg. past forms (where the copula has ''been'', ''were'', ''was'', respectively). Upon comparing other verbs with the copula, one finds that only the copula has a 1st/3rd sg. past form that is distinct from the general past form, a 1st sg. nonpast form that is distinct from the general nonpast, and a base form that is distinct from the general nonpast form — all other verbs display syncretism in these forms.<ref>Note that if the copula is excluded from the analysis, the verb paradigm can be charted as :{| class="wikitable" |+ English Verb Inflectional Paradigm (excluding copula) ! !! Regular verb !! Irregular verb with 5 inflections !! Irregular verb with 4 inflections !! Irregular verb with 3 inflections |- ! ''-ing'' form | ''jump'''ing''''' || ''tak'''ing''''' || ''build'''ing''''' || ''hitt'''ing''''' |- ! 3rd Sg. Nonpast | ''jump'''s''''' || ''take'''s''''' || ''build'''s''''' || ''hit'''s''''' |- ! Base | ''jump'' | ''take'' | ''build'' | rowspan="3" | ''hit'' |- ! Past | rowspan="2" | ''jump'''ed''''' | ''took'' | rowspan="2" | ''buil'''t''''' |- ! ''-en'' form | ''take'''n''''' |} </ref> The copula and a regular ''jump'' can be compared with each other and three types of irregular verbs in the table below. :{| class="wikitable" |+ English Verb Inflectional Paradigm ! !! Copula ''be'' !! Regular verb !! Irregular verb with 5 inflections !! Irregular verb with 4 inflections !! Irregular verb with 3 inflections |- ! ''-ing'' form | ''be'''ing''''' || ''jump'''ing''''' || ''tak'''ing''''' || ''build'''ing''''' || ''hitt'''ing''''' |- ! 3rd Sg. Nonpast | ''is'' || ''jump'''s''''' || ''take'''s''''' || ''build'''s''''' || ''hit'''s''''' |- ! 1st Sg. Nonpast | ''am'' | rowspan="3" | ''jump'' | rowspan="3" | ''take'' | rowspan="3" | ''build'' | rowspan="6" | ''hit'' |- ! General Nonpast | ''are'' |- ! Base | ''be'' |- ! General Past | ''were'' | rowspan="3" | ''jump'''ed''''' | rowspan="2" | ''took'' | rowspan="3" | ''buil'''t''''' |- ! 1st/3rd Sg. Past | ''was'' |- ! ''-en'' form | ''been'' || ''take'''n''''' |} All verbs (including the copula) form the ''-ing'' form with the addition of the ''-ing'' suffix to the base form: : <small>BASE FORM</small> &nbsp; + &nbsp; ''-ing'' All regular verbs and most irregular verbs form the 3rd singular form with the addition of the ''-e(s)'' suffix to the base form: : <small>BASE FORM</small> &nbsp; + &nbsp; ''-(e)s'' The parenthetical ''(e)'' above indicates that this suffix is spelled as either ''-es'' or ''-s''. The ''-es'' form (pronounced {{IPA|[ɪz]}}) occurs after [[sibilant]] consonants. The ''-s'' spelling occurs after all other sounds.<ref>Actually, the ''-s'' spelling represents two different pronunciations: one as {{IPA|[s]}} (after voiceless nonsibilants), the other as {{IPA|[z]}} after voiced nonsibilants.</ref> Examples: * ''push-es'' {{IPA|[pʊʃ-ɪz]}} &nbsp; (''sh'' represents sibilant consonant {{IPA|[ʃ]}}) * ''catch-es'' {{IPA|[kætʃ-ɪz]}} &nbsp; (''ch'', ''dge'' represents sibilant consonant {{IPA|[tʃ]}}) * (''judge-es'') > ''judges'' {{IPA|[dʒʌdʒ-ɪz]}} &nbsp; (''dge'' represents sibilant consonant {{IPA|[dʒ]}}) * ''fit-s'', ''dig-s'', ''bathe-s'', ''pan-s'', ''pay-s'' &nbsp; (''t'', ''g'', ''the'', ''n'', ''ay'' represent non-sibilant sounds {{IPA|[t, ɡ, ð, n, eɪ]}}) All regular verbs form the past/''-en'' form (as well as the syncretic 1st/3rd past) with the addition of the ''-ed'' suffix to the base form: : <small>BASE FORM</small> &nbsp; + &nbsp; ''-ed'' =====Irregular verb morphology===== Irregular verbs<ref>There are approximately between 250 and 300 irregular verbs in Modern English. However, there is considerable dialectal variation in the number of irregular verbs in the language of an individual native speaker (i.e. [[idiolect]]). Even within so-called "standard" varieties of English there is variation. For example, some speakers say/write ''has been mowed'' with ''mow'' having the ''-en'' form of regular verbs while other speakers say/write ''has been mown'' with ''mow'' having an irregular ''-en'' form — here both the regular and irregular forms are considered acceptable by prescriptivists. Another example is ''drag'' where some speakers say/write ''She dragged it yesterday'' (regular past) while others say/write ''She drug it yesterday'' (irregular past) — in this example the irregular ''drug'' is rejected by some prescriptivists. Several irregular verbs are archaic and obsolete (such as ''smite~smote~smitten''). Others have become converted to regular verb inflectional paradigms (such the irregular past form ''glode'' has become ''glided'' in most modern varieties).</ref> may have the same syncretism as regular verbs (like ''catch'') or may show less syncretism with five distinct forms (like ''take'') or more syncretism with only three distinct forms (like ''hit''). (See also: [[English irregular verbs]].) Examples of the three types differing in the number of distinct inflectional forms: * irregular verbs with 5 forms: ''take'', ''break'', ''swim'', ''grow'', ''drive'', ''do'' * irregular verbs with 4 forms: ''catch'', ''build'', ''have'', ''feel'', ''tell'', ''say'' * irregular verbs with 3 forms: ''hit'', ''put'', ''hurt'', ''bet'', ''cut'', ''cast'' Irregular verbs with five distinct inflectional forms do not syncretize the general past and the ''-en'' forms. Irregular verbs with only three forms have the syncretism involving all forms except for the ''-ing'' form and the 3rd sg. nonpast form.<ref>The irregular ''beat'' exceptionally distinguishes the general past (''beat'') from the ''-en'' form (''beaten'') but has a syncretism involving the base, general nonpast, and 1st. sg. nonpast forms as well as the general past and 1st/3rd sg. past.</ref> Irregular verbs with five and four inflectional forms have different patterns of past formation and ''-en'' formation. Many of the patterns involve vowel ablaut (i.e. internal vowel changes) and/or the addition of suffixes.<ref>There are two categories of irregular verbs based upon historical development: # [[Germanic strong verb|strong verbs]] (the "transparently irregular" of two historical types) # "true" irregular verbs. The term "transparently irregular" is sometimes used to describe [[Jacob Grimm]]'s "strong" verbs that appear irregular at first, but actually follow a common paradigm. This group of verbs is a relic of the older Germanic [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]] system for conjugation. This is generally confined to atypical simple past verb forms, e.g.: : swim ~ swam ~ swum : sing ~ sang ~ sung : steal ~ stole ~ stolen Another category of "transparently irregular" verbs dates back to Middle English. Some verbs, especially those with a stem ending in an alveolar consonant (/t/, /d/, or /s/), formed a [[geminate consonant]] or consonant cluster with the -d suffix. In Middle English, vowels before a consonant cluster often became shorter. As the [[Great Vowel Shift]] obscured the connection between long vowels and the corresponding short vowels, transparent irregularities such as the following arose: : meet ~ met : lead ~ led : read ~ read : lose ~ lost : keep ~ kept Irregular verbs include ''eat'', ''sit'', ''lend'', and ''keep'', among many others. Some paradigms are based on obsolete root words, or roots that have changed meaning. Others are derived from old umlaut patterns that changes in [[phoneme|phonemic structure]] and grammar have distorted (''keep ~ kept'' is one such example). Some are unclear in origin, and may date back to [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] times.</ref> Some of the more common patterns are briefly mentioned below. Note that the spelling does not always reflect pronunciation changes in the internal vowel, so the pronunciation is transcribed phonetically: * Voicing change in last consonant between base and past/''-en'' forms (''d'' is voiced, ''t'' is voiceless): :{| | ''bend'' || ~ || ''bent'' |- | ''build'' || ~ || ''built'' |} * Vowel change and suffixation of ''t'' between base and past/''-en'' forms: :{| | ''sleep'' || {{IPA|[sliːp]}} || ~ || ''slept'' || {{IPA|[slɛpt]}} (''slep'' + ''-t'') |- | ''deal'' || {{IPA|[diːl]}} || ~ || ''dealt'' || {{IPA|[dɛlt]}} (''deal'' + ''-t'') |} * Replacing of vowel and final consonant(s) in base form with {{IPA|[ɔːt]}} in past/''-en'' form:\ :{| | ''think'' || {{IPA|[θɪŋk]}} || ~ || ''thought'' || {{IPA|[θɔːt]}} |- | ''catch'' || {{IPA|[kætʃ]}} || ~ || ''caught'' || {{IPA|[kɔːt]}} |} * Vowel change between base and past/''-en'' forms and ''-(e)n'' suffixation: :{| | ''break'' || {{IPA|[breɪk]}} || ~ || ''broke'' || {{IPA|[broʊk]}} || ~ || ''broken'' || {{IPA|[broʊkən]}} (''broke'' + ''-(e)n'') |- | ''steal'' || {{IPA|[stiːl]}} || ~ || ''stole'' || {{IPA|[stoʊl]}} || ~ || ''stolen'' || {{IPA|[stoʊlən]}} (''stole'' + ''-en'') |- | ''tear'' || {{IPA|[tɛər]}} || ~ || ''tore'' || {{IPA|[tɔər]}} || ~ || ''torn'' || {{IPA|[tɔːrn]}} (''tor(e)'' + ''-n'') |} * Vowel change between base/''-en'' and past forms and ''-(e)n'' suffixation: :{| | ''draw'' || {{IPA|[drɔː]}} || ~ || ''drew'' || {{IPA|[druː]}} || ~ || ''drawn'' || {{IPA|[drɔːn]}} (''draw'' + ''-n'') |- | ''fall'' || {{IPA|[fɔːl]}} || ~ || ''fell'' || {{IPA|[fɛl]}} || ~ || ''fallen'' || {{IPA|[fɔːlən]}} (''fall'' + ''-en'') |- | ''take'' || {{IPA|[teɪk]}} || ~ || ''took'' || {{IPA|[tʊk]}} || ~ || ''taken'' || {{IPA|[teɪkən]}} (''take'' + ''-(e)n'') |} * Vowel changes in base, past, & ''-en'' forms: :{| | ''swim'' || {{IPA|[swɪm]}} || ~ || ''swam'' || {{IPA|[swæm]}} || ~ || ''swum'' || {{IPA|[swʌm]}} |} * Vowel changes in base, past, & ''-en'' forms with ''-(e)n'' suffixation: :{| |- | ''drive'' || {{IPA|[drаɪv]}} || ~ || ''drove'' || {{IPA|[droʊv]}} || ~ || ''driven'' || {{IPA|[drɪvən]}} (''drive'' + ''-(e)n'') |- | ''fly'' || {{IPA|[flаɪ]}} || ~ || ''flew'' || {{IPA|[fluː]}} || ~ || ''flown'' || {{IPA|[floʊn]}} (''flow'' + ''-n'') |} A few verbs also have irregular changes between the general present and the 3rd sg. present forms: :{| | ''have'' || {{IPA|[hæv]}} || ~ || ''has'' || {{IPA|[hæz]}} || (and not the expected 3rd sg. ''*haves'' {{IPA|[hævz]}}) |- | ''do'' || {{IPA|[duː]}} || ~ || ''does'' || {{IPA|[dʌz]}} || (and not the expected 3rd sg. ''*dos'' {{IPA|[duːz]}}) |- | ''say'' || {{IPA|[seɪ]}} || ~ || ''says'' || {{IPA|[sɛz]}} || (and not the expected 3rd sg. {{IPA|[seɪz]}}) |} The copula paradigm also has suffixation and vowel ablaut, but it is additionally marked by [[suppletion]].<ref>The reason for the suppletion is due to the historical development of the copula, which is a merging of the inflectional paradigms of three different verbs: ''am'', ''are'', ''is'' (and archaic ''art'') are from one verb; ''be'', ''been'', ''being'' are from a second verb; ''was'', ''were'' are from a third Old English verb.</ref> (See the table above for its eight inflected forms.) =====Defective verbs===== A final thing to mention is that a few verbs are ''defective'' in that they are not inflected or are missing some inflectional forms. The verb ''beware'' has only the base form ''beware''. It is usually found in imperative sentences: : '''''Beware''' of the dog.'' The forms ''bewaring'', ''bewares'', ''bewared'' are not present in Modern English. The verb ''used'' only occurs in past form, as in : ''We '''used''' to go to the beach every day when I was young.'' or in the base form only following ''do'', as in : ''We didn't '''use''' to go the beach every day.'' This ''used'' verb indicates habitual action or states in the past and should not be confused with the other verb ''use'' which is a regular verb. The verb ''stride'' is missing a past participle form in its inflectional paradigm for many speakers (for some speakers who do have a past participle form, the form may variously be ''stridden'', ''strid'', or ''strode''). The verbs ''rumored'' and ''reputed'' only occur in the ''-en'' form in passive sentences: : ''Halil is '''rumored''' to have participated in the scandal.'' : ''Halil is '''reputed''' to have connections with the scandal.'' All modals (''can'', ''could'', ''should'', ''might'', etc.) are defective. =====Auxiliary inflection===== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} Of the auxiliaries, only ''be'', ''have'', and ''do'' are inflected for tense, number, and person. The auxiliary ''be'' has the same eight inflectional forms as a main verb (the copula) and ''have'' and ''do'' likewise have the same five inflectional forms as when functioning as main verbs. In contrast, modals are uninflected auxiliaries with respect to these grammatical parameters (and are thus defective). However, most auxiliaries share the additional inflection of negation. Negative inflection consists of a ''-n't'' suffix that is attached to the auxiliary. Thus, there are the following inflected auxiliary forms: {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} : '''be'''<ref>There is also the dialectal form ''amn't'' (''am'' + ''n't'') which is uncommon in standard varieties.</ref> : ''aren't'' &nbsp; (''are'' + ''-n't'') : ''isn't'' &nbsp; (''is'' + ''-n't'') : ''weren't'' &nbsp; (''were'' + ''-n't'') : ''wasn't'' &nbsp; (''was'' + ''-n't'') : ''ain't'' &nbsp; <small>[dialectal, prescriptively "incorrect"]</small> : '''have''' : ''haven't'' &nbsp; (''have'' + ''-n't'') : ''hasn't'' &nbsp; (''has'' + ''-n't'') : ''hadn't'' &nbsp; (''had'' + ''-n't'') : '''do''' : ''don't'' &nbsp; (''do'' + ''-n't'') : ''doesn't'' &nbsp; (''does'' + ''-n't'') : ''didn't'' &nbsp; (''did'' + ''-n't'') {{col-2}} '''modals'''<br /> ''can't'' &nbsp; (''can'' + ''-n't'')<br /> ''couldn't'' &nbsp; (''could'' + ''-n't'')<br /> ''mayn't'' &nbsp; (''may'' + ''-n't'') &nbsp; <small>[very rare]</small><br /> ''mightn't'' &nbsp; (''might'' + ''-n't'')<br /> ''mustn't'' &nbsp; (''must'' + ''-n't'')<br /> ''shan't'' &nbsp; (''shall'' + ''-n't'')<br /> ''won't'' &nbsp; (''will'' + ''-n't'')<br /> ''wouldn't'' &nbsp; (''would'' + ''-n't'') '''marginal auxiliaries'''<br /> ''daren't'' &nbsp; (''dare'' + ''-n't'') &nbsp; <small>[rare, mostly British]</small><br /> ''needn't'' &nbsp; (''need'' + ''-n't'') &nbsp; <small>[rare, mostly British]</small><br /> ''oughtn't'' &nbsp; (''ought'' + ''-n't'') &nbsp; <small>[ungrammatical in some varieties]</small><br /> ''usedn't'' &nbsp; (''used'' + ''-n't'') &nbsp; <small>[ungrammatical in some dialects, mostly British]</small><br /> {{col-end}} The negative forms ''don't'' {{IPA|[doʊnt]}} (and not the expected {{IPA|[dunt]}}) and ''won't'' {{IPA|[woʊnt]}} (and not the expected {{IPA|[wɪlnt]}}) are irregular in their changes in internal vowel, and ''shan't'' {{IPA|[ʃænt, ʃɑːnt]}} is irregular in its deletion of the final consonant (and in RP its vowel has shifted from {{IPA|[æ]}} to {{IPA|[ɑː]}}). The forms ''mayn't'' and ''shan't'' are now rare (particularly so with ''mayn't'') and are virtually absent in standard varieties of American English. Traditional grammar views ''-n't'' not as an inflectional suffix but as simply a phonologically reduced form (in traditional terms ''contracted'') of the grammatical word ''not''. According to this view, ''haven't'' is equivalent to non-contracted ''have + not'', ''doesn't'' = ''does + not'', etc. These contracted negative forms are, thus, equated with the reduced (contracted) forms of some of the other auxiliaries, namely ''are'' > ''’re'', ''is'' > ''’s'', ''am'' > ''’m'', ''have'' > ''’ve'', ''has'' > ''’s'', ''had'' > ''’d'', ''does'' > ''’s'', ''will'' > ''’ll'', ''would'' > ''’d''. Although this is the historical origin of the negative forms, clearly in the modern language the ''-n't'' in these words are suffixes forming a single indivisible word as the negative auxiliaries display different syntactic behavior compared with constructions consising of auxiliary + ''not'': : ''Did'''n't''' Halil bring the coffee?'' : ''*Did '''not''' Halil bring the coffee?'' : ''*Did Halil'''n't''' bring the coffee?'' : ''Did Halil '''not''' bring the coffee?'' : ''Sadaf brought the coffee, did'''n't''' she?'' : ''*Sadaf brought the coffee, did '''not''' she?'' : ''*Sadaf brought the coffee, did she'''n't'''?'' : ''Sadaf brought the coffee, did she '''not'''?'' Additionally, it can also be shown that the reduced forms of the other auxiliaries do not behave similarly to the negative auxiliaries: : ''Should'''n’t''' Halil go to the store?'' &nbsp; (cf. ''Halil should'''n’t''' go to the store.'') : ''*Should'''’ve''' Halil gone to the store?'' &nbsp; (cf. ''Halil should'''’ve''' gone to the store.'') : ''*He’d'''n’t''' go to the store if she asked him.'' : ''He’d'''’ve''' gone to the store if she had asked him.''<ref>Note that sequences of reduced forms like ''’d’ve'' (= ''would have'') are often not found in written language. Nevertheless, they are frequently attested in the spoken language.</ref> Finally, the negative inflection property applies generally to auxiliaries but not to main verbs. There are two exceptions to this, however, involving the "primary" verbs. The verb ''be'' as a main verb may also be inflected in the negative as the following examples show: : ''The student '''wasn't''' being considered fairly.'' &nbsp; (negative inflection as auxiliary) : ''The student '''wasn't''' a sophomore.'' &nbsp; (negative inflection as main verb) In British varieties, ''have'' may also have negative forms as a main verb while are ungrammatical for most American varieties: : ''The student '''hasn't''' been treated fairly.'' &nbsp; (negative inflection as auxiliary) : ''The student '''hasn't''' enough time.'' &nbsp; (negative inflection as main verb — British) The other "primary" verb, however, cannot have negative forms when acting as a main verb. This case of properties of auxiliaries applying to ''be'' and ''have'' is also seen in other syntactic behavior, such as in the inversion of subject and auxiliary operator. (See the [[#Operator|operator section]].) Thus, ''’ve'', ''’m'', ''’s'', etc. are phonologically reduced (i.e. contracted) forms of separate words whereas the negative ''-n’t'' is not a contracted separate word but rather a (inflectional) suffix. =====Agreement===== Most English verbs mark number (in [[Agreement (grammar)|agreement]] with their subjects) only in the non-past tense, indicative mood. In this context, there is a contrast between the 3rd person and all other persons (i.e., 1st and 2nd): the 3rd person is marked with a ''-(e)s'' suffix while all other persons are unmarked (i.e. without overt marking). Furthermore, the inflectional suffix ''-(e)s'' also indicates singular number, i.e. ''-(e)s'' indicates a 3rd person singular subject. Similarly, singular number is only indicated in the 3rd person — number in the other persons are unmarked. The plural in the 3rd person is unmarked. The 3rd person singular suffix is added to the general present tense form while the unmarked form is general present tense form. There is, thus, only a distinction between a general present form and 3rd person singular form. :{| class="wikitable" ! General !! 3rd Singular |- | ''listen'' || ''listen-s'' |- | ''push'' || ''push-es'' |} Combined with personal pronoun subjects, the following are the possible subject-verb combinations:<ref>The archaic version second person singular has a ''-est'' suffix as in ''thou listenest''. The archaic third person singular has a ''-eth'' suffix as in ''he/she/it listeneth''.</ref> :{| class="wikitable" ! General !! 3rd Singular |- | ''I/we/you/they '''push''''' || ''he/she/it '''pushes''''' |} The copula ''be'', however, makes additional distinctions of the 1st person singular in the non-past and the 1st or 3rd person singular in the past. Unlike other verbs, these inflected forms of ''be'' lie in a suppletive relationship. :{| class="wikitable" ! colspan="3" | Non-past | rowspan="3" | ! colspan="2" | Past |- ! General !! 1st Singular !! 3rd Singular !! General !! 1st/3rd Singular |- | ''are'' || ''am'' || ''is'' || ''were'' || ''was'' |} Pronoun subject-verb combinations: :{| class="wikitable" ! colspan="3" | Non-past | rowspan="3" | ! colspan="2" | Past |- ! General !! 1st Singular !! 3rd Singular !! General !! 1st/3rd Singular |- | ''we/you/they '''are''''' || ''I '''am''''' || ''he/she/it '''is''''' || ''we/you/they '''were''''' || ''I/he/she/it '''was''''' |} In the subjunctive mood, all person and number distinctions are neutralized (see below). ====Structure of the verb "complex"==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} =====Operator===== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} The first auxiliary in the verb complex is termed the '''operator'''. It is displays a number of distinct syntactic and morphological characteristics. * subject-operator inversion : [ ''The large man with a cane'' ] '''''has''' been coming your way.'' : '''''Has''''' [ ''the large man with a cane'' ] ''been coming your way?'' : [ ''The woman'' ] '''''has''' been flying a kite, and'' [ ''her son'' ] '''''has''' been flying a kite, too.'' : [ ''The woman'' ] '''''has''' been flying a kite, and so '''has''''' [ ''her son'' ] ''.'' &nbsp; (with coordination ellipsis) ====Time, tense and aspect==== {{expert}} {{main|English_verb#Tenses}} Changes in tense in English are achieved by the changes in ending and the use of [[auxiliary verb]]s "to be" and "to have" and the use of the auxiliaries "will", "shall" and "would". (These auxiliaries cannot co-occur with other modals like ''can'', ''may'', and ''must''.) The examples below use the regular verb '''to listen''': *'''Present tenses''' **'''Simple present''' (or simply "present"): "I listen." This tense typically expresses habitual actions. Rarely, it is used to refer to present time in reportative style speech. **'''Present continuous''' (or "present progressive"): "I am listening." This tense expresses actions in the present taking place as the speaker is speaking or in the future. **'''Present perfect''': "I have listened." This tense expresses actions that began in the past but are still true in the present: "I have known her for six years" (and I still know her). This is also used to express a '''completed''' action that took place at a '''non-specific''' moment in the past. This tense often expresses actions that happen in the past, yet cannot be considered a past tense because it always has a connection to the present. **'''Present perfect continuous''': "I have been listening." This is used to express that an event started at some time in the past and continuing to the present. **All forms of the present tense are often used in place of their future-tense counterparts. In particular, various kinds of [[subordinate clause]]s — especially ''if'' and ''when'' clauses — cannot generally use the future tense, so the present tense is used instead. *'''Past tenses''' **'''Simple past''': "I listened." This is used to express a '''completed''' action that took place at a '''specific''' moment in the past. (Confusingly, in US English, the simple past may sometimes be used for a '''non-specific''' moment in the past). **'''Past continuous''' (otherwise known as the '''imperfect''' or '''past progressive'''): "I was listening." This is used to express an '''incomplete''' action in the past. (Thus an "imperfect" action, as opposed to a completed and therefore "perfect" action.) **'''Past perfect''' or '''pluperfect''': "I had listened." This expresses an action completed before some other action in the past (often expressed by the simple past). The pluperfect is thus expressing an action ''even more'' in the past e.g. "He realised ''he had lost'' his way", "I was going to town because ''he had spoken'' to me". **'''Past perfect continuous''' or simply "perfect continuous": "I had been listening." Usually used with an explicit duration, this indicates that an event was ongoing for a specific time, e.g. "When Peter entered my room, I had been listening to music for half an hour." *'''Future tenses''' **'''Simple future''': "I shall/will listen." This is used to express that an event will occur in the future, or that the speaker intends to perform some action. **'''Future continuous''': "I shall/will be listening." This is used to express an ongoing event that has not yet been initiated. **'''Future perfect''': "I shall/will have listened." This indicates an action which will occur before some other action in the future: Normally two actions are expressed, and the future perfect indicates an action which will occur in the future but will, at the time of the main future action expressed, be in the past (e.g. "I will know the tune next week because I will have listened to it"). **'''Future perfect continuous''' or '''future imperfect''': "I shall/will have been listening." Expresses an ongoing action that occurs in the future, before some other event expressed in the future. **"I am going to listen" is a construction using "to go" as an auxiliary. It is referred to as '''[[going to future]]''', '''futur proche''' or '''immediate future''', and has the same sense as the simple future, sometimes with an implication of immediacy. It is not strictly a tense, and "to go" is not strictly a tense auxiliary verb, but this construction often is presented as a tense for simplicity. By varying the tense of the auxiliary "to go", various other meanings can be achieved, e.g. "I am going to be listening" (future continuous), and "I was going to listen" (conditional perfect continuous). *'''Conditional tenses''' **'''Present conditional''' or simply '''conditional''': "I would listen." This is used to express an event that occurred multiple times or was ongoing in the past (i.e. When I was younger, I would listen. [multiple times]), or something that would be done now or in the future when predicated upon another condition (i.e. “If I had the time, I would listen to you.” [This condition could be known from context and omitted from the conditional statement.]) **'''Present continuous conditional''': "I would be listening." This is used to express an ongoing event that had not yet been initiated. **'''Conditional perfect''': "I would have listened." Indicates that an action would occur after some other event. **'''Conditional perfect continuous''': "I would have been listening": Expresses an ongoing action that would occur in the future in the past, after some other event. Auxiliary verbs may be used to define tense, aspect, or mood of a verb phrase. As mentioned above "[[going to future|going to]]" is used for some future pseudo-tenses: Forms of "do" are used for some negatives, questions and emphasis of the simple present and simple past: #"Do I listen?" "I do not listen." "I do listen!" #"Did I listen?" "I did not listen." "I did listen!" =====Verb tense chart===== {{main|Grammatical aspect}} English verb tenses can be better visualized in the following chart, which shows the times of the English language and its three aspects, namely Prior, Complete and Incomplete. Note that this chart only represents actions truly happening, be it present, past or future. Since unreal conditionals are obviously assumptions, conditional structures with 'would' are not included here. {| class="wikitable" |- ! ! PAST ! PRESENT ! FUTURE |- | '''PRIOR ASPECT''' | Past Perfect | Present Perfect | Future Perfect |- | '''COMPLETE ASPECT''' | Simple Past | Simple Present | Simple Future |- | '''INCOMPLETE ASPECT''' | Past Continuous | Present Continuous | Future Continuous |} ====Voice==== {{main|English passive voice}} English has two voices for verbs: the active and the passive. The basic form is the active verb, and follows the SVO pattern discussed above. The passive voice is derived from the active by using the auxiliary verb "to be" and the ''-en'' form of the main verb. Examples of the passive: {|class="wikitable" |- !Passive voice||''Active voice'' |- |I am seen by John||''John sees me'' |- |You will be struck by John||''John will strike you'' |- |It was stolen by John||''John stole it'' |- |We were carried by John||''John carried us'' |- |They have been chosen by John||''John has chosen them'' |} Furthermore, the [[Agent (grammar)|agent]] and [[Patient (grammar)|patient]] switch grammatical roles between active and passive voices so that in passive the patient is the subject, and the agent is noted in an optional prepositional phrase using ''by'', for example: #active: ''I heard the music.'' #passive: ''The music was heard (by me).'' (Note: ''me'', not ''I'') The passive form of the verb is formed by replacing the verb with ''to be'' in the same tense and aspect, and appending the ''-en'' form of the original verb. Thus: {|class="wikitable" |- !Tense||Active voice||The same sense, expressed with the passive voice |- |Simple present ||I ''hear'' the music.||The music ''is heard'' by me. |- |Present progressive||I ''am hearing'' the music.||The music ''is being heard'' by me. |- |Past progressive||I ''was hearing'' the music.||The music ''was being heard'' by me. |- |Past perfect||I ''had heard'' the music.||The music ''had been heard'' by me. |- |Simple future||I ''will hear'' the music.||The music ''will be heard'' by me. |} This pattern continues through all the composite tenses as well. The semantic effect of the change from active to passive is the depersonalisation of an action. It is also occasionally used to topicalize the direct object of a sentence, or when the agent is either unknown or unimportant even when included, thus: #The plane was shot down. #Dozens were killed. #Bill was run over by a bus. Many writing style guides including [[Strunk and White]] recommend minimizing use of the passive voice in English; however, many others do not. There is a third 'voice' in English, related to the classic "middle" voice. In this, the patient becomes the subject, as in passive, but the verb remains in apparently active voice, no agent can plausibly be supplied, and generally, an adverbial modifies the entire construction. Thus: #She does not frighten easily. #This bread slices poorly. #His novels sell well. ====Modals and modality==== English has "moods" of verb. These always include the declarative/indicative and the subjunctive moods, and normally the imperative is included as a mood. Some people include conditional or interrogative forms as verbal moods. =====Indicative, or declarative, mood===== *The ''[[declarative mood]]'' or ''[[indicative mood]]'' is the simplest and most basic mood. The overwhelming majority of verb use is in the indicative, which may be considered the "normal" form of verbs, with the subjunctive as an "exceptional" form of verbs. (If any other forms are considered a mood (e.g. imperative), they may also be considered other "exceptional" verb forms.) Examples are most commonly used verb forms, e.g.: :* I think :* I thought :* He was seen :* I am walking home. :* They are singing. :* He is not a dancer. :* We are very happy. =====Subjunctive mood===== *The ''[[subjunctive mood]]'' is used to express counterfactual (or conditional) statements, and is often found in if-then statements, and certain formulaic expressions. It is typically marked in the present tense by the auxiliary "were" plus the ''-ing'' form of the verb. *#Were I eating, I would sit. *#If they were eating, they would sit. *#Truth be told... *#If I were you... I would do that. The conjugation of these moods becomes a significantly more complex matter when they are used with different tenses. However, casual spoken English rarely uses the subjunctive, and generally restricts the conditional mood to the simple present and simple past. A notable exception to this is the use of the present subjunctive in clauses of wish or command which is marked in one or two ways: (1) if third person singular, the "-s" conjugation called for by the declarative mood is absent, and (2) past tense is not used. For example, "They insisted that he go to chapel every morning" means that they were requiring or demanding him to go to chapel. However, "They insisted that he went to chapel every morning" means they are reasserting the statement that, in the past, he did attend chapel every morning. The underlying grammar of this distinction has been called the "American subjunctive". On the other hand, other constructions for expressing wishes and commands, which do not use the subjunctive, are equally common, such as "They required him to go..." =====Imperative mood===== *The ''[[imperative mood]]'' is used for commands or instructions. It is not always considered a verbal mood ''per se''. Using the verb in its simplest, unconjugated form forms it: "Listen! Sit! Eat!" The imperative mood in English occurs only in the second person, and the subject ("you") is generally not expressly stated, because it is implied. When the speaker gives a command regarding anyone else, it is still directed at the second person as though it were a request for permission, although it may be a rhetorical statement. *# Let me do the talking. *# Come here. *# Give him an allowance. *# Let sleeping dogs lie. =====Modal forms===== {{main|English modal auxiliary verb}} Conditional forms of verb are used to express if-then statements, or in response to counterfactual propositions (see subjunctive mood, above), denoting or implying an indeterminate future action. Conditionals may be considered tense forms but are sometimes considered a verbal mood, the ''[[conditional mood]]''. Conditionals are expressed through the use of the [[verbal auxiliaries]] ''could'', ''would'', ''should'', ''may'' and ''might'' in combination with the stem form of the verb. #He could go to the store. #You should be more careful. #I may try something else. #He might be heading north. Note that for many speakers "may" and "might" have merged into a single meaning (that of "might") that implies the outcome of the statement is contingent. The implication of permission in "may" seems to remain only in certain uses with the second person, e.g. "You may leave the dinner table." Two main conditional tenses can be identified in English: :''I would think'' = Present Conditional :''I would have thought'' = Conditional Perfect ====Notes==== #In English, a long-standing prescriptive rule holds that ''shall'' denotes simple futurity in the first person, and ''will'' denotes simple futurity in the second and third persons. In American English, this distinction has largely vanished; ''will'' is normally used for both cases, and ''shall'' is rare. In British English, adherence to the rule has declined during the 20th century (''see [[Shall and will]] for a more detailed discussion''), although use of ''shall'' remains for expressing the simple future in the first person. #The distinction between tense, aspect, and mood is not clear-cut or universally agreed-upon. For example, many analysts would not accept that English has twelve tenses. The six "continuous" (also called "progressive") forms in the list above are often treated under the heading of "[[Grammatical aspect|aspect]]" rather than tense: the simple past and the past continuous are examples of the same tense, under this view. In addition, many modern grammars of English agree that English does not have a future tense (or a future perfect). These include two large recent grammars: :#Biber, D., S. Johansson, G. Leech, S. Conrad & E. Finegan. 1999. ''Longman grammar of spoken and written English''. Harlow, Longman. :#[[Rodney Huddleston|Huddleston, R.]] & [[Geoffrey Pullum|G. Pullum]]. 2002. ''The Cambridge grammar of the English language''. Cambridge, CUP. The main argument given by Huddleston and Pullum (pp 209-10) that English does not have a future tense is that "[[Will (verb)|will]]" is a [[Modal auxiliary verb|modal verb]], both in its grammar and in its meaning. Biber et al. go further and say that English has only two tenses, past and present: they treat the perfect forms with "have" under "[[Grammatical aspect|aspect]]". Huddleston & Pullum, on the other hand, regard the forms with "have" as "secondary tenses". ====Verb phrases==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ===Adjectives=== Adjectives are words that can be used attributively within noun phrases where they (pre-)modify noun heads and predicatively within verb phrase where they are the [[subject complement|complement]] of [[copular verb]]s. For example, in the sentence below the adjective ''tall'' occurs within the noun phrase ''the tall man'' modifying the noun head ''man''. The adjective ''nice'' occurs within the verb phrase ''is nice'' as the complement of the (copular) verb head ''is''. : [ ''The '''tall''' man'' ] [ ''is '''nice''''' ] The adjectives also act as the head of adjective phrases as in the following: : ''The'' [ ''very '''tall''''' ] ''man is'' [ ''rather '''nice''''' ] Here the adjectives ''tall'' and ''nice'' are the heads of the adjective phrases ''very tall'' and ''rather nice''. Semantically, adjectives provide more information about them. Adjectives are used to describe and identify their associated nouns. A further morphological characteristic of adjectives, which is also shared with adverbs, is their ability to be inflected in comparison: ''tall-er'', ''tall-est''. See also the [[#Comparison|comparison section]]. {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} <!-- Adjectives are modifiers for nouns and adverbs are modifiers for verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Not all languages distinguish them, but English does in both grammar and word formation. Grammatically, adjectives ''precede'' the noun they modify, whereas adverbs might precede or follow the verb they modify, depending upon the specific adverb (although there are a small number of exceptions). English also has a means of converting adjectives into adverbs: the addition of the suffix <-ly> changes an adjective to an adverb (in addition to moving it to the appropriate place in a sentence). Occasionally, people use adverbs with verbs that require an adjective. #"I feel badly" - the speaker has an impaired sense of touch (likewise: "I hear badly") #"I feel bad" - the speaker is ill or upset (likewise: "I feel happy") The latter is, of course, the meaning most people try to convey. It is unclear whether this example shows the misuse of adjectives/adverbs or the common use of "feel" as a [[copula verb]] (whose complement refers to its subject). That is, "feel" is often used with a meaning very close to "be." "I feel sick" is the equivalent of "I am sick" and using "I feel sickly" would be odd, for most native speakers. A better example might be something like: "I drive decent", with a meaning of "I drive decently" or "I drive well." As well, confusion often occurs between ''good'', ''well'' (adj.), and ''well'' (adv.). #"I feel good" - a good mood #"I feel well (adj.)" - good health (though this is often replaced by "I feel good" in everyday speech with little ambiguity in meaning) #"I did well (adv.)" - success There are other ways of changing words from one [[lexical class]] to another. Nouns are easily transformed into verbs by moving them to the appropriate position in a sentence, and then conjugating them according to the default paradigm. Nouns can also be changed to other kinds of nouns (&lt;-er&gt;, &lt;-ist&gt;), into adverbs of state/condition (&lt;-ness&gt;), and into adjectives (&lt;-ish&gt;, as in "bullish"). Verbs can be turned into adjectives with &lt;-ing&gt; ("dancing school"), into adverbs with &lt;-ly&gt;, and sometimes even into nouns with &lt;-er&gt; ("dancer", "listener"). These processes provide the English language with greater flexibility in choosing words, expanding vocabulary, and re-shuffling words to add subtlety of meaning that might otherwise not be available in an analytic language. --> ====Adjective phrases==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ====Semantic ordering==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ===Adverbs=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} The term ''adverb'' originating from traditional grammar refers to a wide range of words that have different functions and different syntactic behaviors. Therefore, it is best to separate adverbs into different subclasses and discuss the grammar of each subclass separately. See also the [[#Comparison|comparison section]]. ====Degree adverbs==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} '''Adverbs of degree''' (or '''intensifiers''') roughly qualify a point on a gradable semantic property. Below are some degree adverbs: * ''very'' <ref>Note that the degree adverb ''very'' is to be distinguished from the adjective ''very'' meaning "actual, precise" as in the sentence ''That is the '''very''' woman I was speaking of''.</ref> * ''extremely'' * etc. Syntactically, degree adverbs pre-modify either adjectives or adverbs: : ''The '''very''' fast car is running smoothly.'' &nbsp; (''very'' modifying adjective ''fast'') : ''The '''very''' kindly gent fixed my car.'' &nbsp; (''very'' modifying adjective ''kindly'') : ''The fast car is running '''very''' smoothly.'' &nbsp; (''very'' modifying adverb ''smoothly'') : ''The kindly gent is driving my car '''very''' fast.'' &nbsp; (''very'' modifying adverb ''fast'') ===Prepositions=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ====Prepositional phrases==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} : PP = (Modifier + ) P + NP : ''(right) on'' [ ''the bus'' ] ==Clausal syntax== === Word order=== English is a [[subject verb object]] (SVO) language: it prefers a sequence of subject–verb–object in its simplest, unmarked [[declarative mood|declarative]] statements. Thus, "Tom [subject] eats [verb] cheese [object]" and "Mary sees the cat." However, beyond these simple examples, word order is a complicated matter in English. In particular, the speaker or writer's point of departure in each [[clause]] is a key factor in the organization of the message. Thus, the elements in a message can be ordered in a way that signals to the reader or listener what the message concerns. *''The duke'' has given my aunt that teapot. (i.e., I am going to tell you about the duke). *''My aunt'' has been given that teapot by the duke. (i.e., I am going to tell you about my aunt). *''That teapot'' has been given to my aunt by the duke. (i.e., I am going to tell you about that teapot). The point of departure can also be set up as an equation, known as a thematic equative. In this way, virtually any element in a clause can be put first. *"''What the duke gave my aunt'' was a teapot" (i.e., I am going to tell you what the duke gave my aunt). *"''What happened'' was that the duke gave my aunt a teapot" (i.e., I am going to tell you what happened). Usually, the point of departure is the subject of a declarative [[clause]]; this is the ''unmarked'' form. A point of departure is ''marked'' when it is not the subject — thus, occasionally it is the object ("''You'' I blame for this dilemma") and more often an adverbial [[phrase]] ("''This morning'' I got up late"). In questions, point of departure is treated slightly differently. English questions come in two types: [[wh-movement|wh-questions]] and yes-no questions. Ordinary (unmarked) questions of either type start with the word that indicates what the speaker wants to know. *"''Where'' is my little dog?" (I want you to tell me where.) [wh-question] *"''Is'' John Smith inside?" (I want you to tell me whether he is or is not). [yes-no question] Special (marked) questions displace this key "what I want to know" word with some other element. *"After tea, ''will you'' tell me a story?" (Still "will you or will not you?") *"In your house, ''who'' does the cooking?" (Still "who?") Either imperative clauses are of the type "I want you to do something" or "I want you and me to do something." The second type usually starts with ''let us''; in the unmarked form of the first type, ''you'' is implied and not made explicit ("Improve your grammar!"), and included in the marked form ("You improve your grammar!"); another marked form is "Do improve your grammar." In the negative, "Do not argue with me" is unmarked, and "Do not you argue with me" is marked. In spoken English, the point of departure is frequently marked off by intonation. Generally, English is a ''head-initial'' language, meaning that the "anchor" of a phrase (segment of a [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]) occurs at the beginning of the phrase. *Ran quickly (verb phrase) *To the store ([[prepositional phrase]]) The main exception is that simple modifiers precede the [[noun phrase]]s: *A dog (article + noun) *Blue house (adjective + noun) *Fred's cat (possessive + noun) ''but'' man of the house (noun + prepositional phrase) This leads to a sentence like: "Fred's sister ran quickly to the store." As can be inferred from this example, the sequence of a basic sentence (ignoring [[Article (grammar)|article]]s and other [[determiner]]s as well as prepositional phrases) is: Adjective1 - Subject - Verb - Adverb - Adjective2 - Indirect Object - Adjective3 - Direct Object. Interrogative sentences invert word order ("Did you go to the store?"). Changing a given sentence from active to passive [[grammatical voice]] changes the word order, moving the new subject to the front ("John bought the car" becomes "The car was bought by John"), and lexical or grammatical emphasis (topicalization) changes it in many cases as well (see duke-aunt-teapot examples above). English also sees some use of the OSV (object-subject-verb) word order, especially when making comparisons using [[pronoun]]s that are marked for case. For example, "I hate oranges, but apples I will eat." Far more rare, but still sometimes used is OVS, "If it is apples you like, then apples like I," although this last usage can sound contrived and anachronistic to a native speaker. ===Interrogative sentences=== Interrogative word order is used to pose [[question]]s, with or without an expected answer. Most of the time, it is formed by switching the order of the subject and the auxiliary (or "helping") verb in a declarative sentence, as in the following: #Are you going to the party? #Is he supposed to do that? #How much do I owe you? #Where is the parking lot? However, when the information being requested would be the subject of the answer, the word order is not inverted, and the [[interrogative pronoun]] takes the place of the subject, as in the following: #Who helped you with your homework? #What happened here? When spoken, an [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] change is often used to emphasize this switch, or can entirely reflect interrogation in some cases (e.g. "John ran?"). The interrogative phrase can further be formed in this manner by moving the predicate of a declarative sentence in front of the helping verb and changing it to a demonstrative, relative pronoun, quantifier, etc. Ending the sentence with a question mark denotes the interrogative phrase <?>. Rhetorical questions can be formed by moving the helping verb-subject pair to the end of the question, e.g. "You would not really do that, would you?" ====Types of Interrogative Sentences==== There are three types of interrogative sentences (questions) in English: # Yes/no questions require “Yes/No” answers. For example: Do you like modern music? Is he a driver? #*Alternative questions express opposition and can be asked to any part of the sentence (like special questions). For example: Do you prefer tea or coffee? Did you or your mum tell him the truth? # Information questions (or ''Wh''-questions) require special information while answering them. They are characterized by the presence of an [[interrogative pronoun]] in the first place (Why? When? How much? etc.) and can be asked to any part of the sentence. For example: Where did you spend last summer? Why have you done it? #* Questions to the subject require mentioning the doer of the action in the answer. For example: Who has broken the window? Who was talking to you when I saw you? # Tag questions (disjunctive questions) represent statements with tags separated by a comma. For example: You were at home yesterday, weren’t you? He won’t come tomorrow, will he? ====Yes/No questions==== '''Yes/No questions''' require an answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If there is a [[modal]] verb (''can, must, should, may''), an [[auxiliary verb]] (''will, shall, have'') or a form of the verb ‘to be’ in the sentence, put it in front of the [[subject]]. *''Mary is drinking tea. – Is Mary drinking tea? *''The friends have come. – Have the friends come? *''The houses were built last year. – Were the houses built last year? *''You must do it. – Must you do it? *''She’ll come in ten minutes. – Will she come in ten minutes? *''They are from Canada. - Are they from Canada? If there is no [[modal]] verb, [[auxiliary verb]] or the verb ‘to be’ in the sentence, yes/no questions are formed with the help of the [[auxiliary verb]] ‘do’. The [[auxiliary verb]] ‘do’ has no meaning. It just takes the form according to the main verb in the sentence. ‘do’ – in the [[present tense]]: if the [[subject]] of the sentence is the noun in the 1st person singular or plural (''I or we''), the 2nd person singular or plural (''you''), and the 3rd person plural (''they''). *''We go to the country every weekend. – Do we go the country every weekend? *''You like swimming. – Do you like swimming? *''They play football. – Do they play football? ‘does’ – in the [[present tense]]: if the [[subject]] of the sentence is the noun in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it). *''She cooks well. – Does she cook well? ‘did’ - in the past tense *''They arrived yesterday. – Did they arrive yesterday? '''Note''': the main verb in yes/no questions comes without any endings (''-es, -s, ed'') or in case of the [[past tense]] – in its first form (''arrived – arrive, came – come''). To form negative yes/no questions you have to put the negative [[modal]] verb, negative [[auxiliary verb]] or negative form of the verb ‘to be’ in front of the [[subject]]. *''Can’t you help him? *''Aren’t you waiting for me? If you need to form the negative yes/no question with the help of the [[auxiliary verb]] ‘do’, you have to use ‘don’t’ (doesn’t, didn’t) instead of ‘do’ (does, did). *''Don’t you know him? *''Didn’t you tell him the truth? The peraphrastic negative is used in more formal English: *''Can you not help him? *''Are you not waiting for me? *''Do you not know him? *''Did you not tell him the truth? ====Information questions==== Information or ''Wh''- questions require additional information for the answer (as opposed to simply ''yes'' or ''no'' as with yes/no-questions). To form such questions you have to put the question word (why? when? where? what? how?) together with all the words in the same phrase at the front of the sentence. If the question word is part of the subject you don’t have to change the [[word order]]. The word order remains as in the statement. *''Who is playing the piano in the room now? *''Which car is hers? If the question word is not part of the subject you have to use a [[modal]] verb (''can, must, should, may''), an [[auxiliary verb]] (''will, shall, have'') or a form of the verb ‘to be’ after the question word and in front of the [[subject]]. *''Where is Tommy? *''Where will you be waiting for me tomorrow? If there is no [[modal]] verb, [[auxiliary verb]] or the verb ‘to be’ in the sentence, you have to use the [[auxiliary verb]] ‘do’ after the question word and in front of the [[subject]]. *''Where do your parents live? *''Why did he do it? '''Note''': the main verb in information questions comes without any endings (''goes – go, plays – play, talked - talk'') or in case of the [[past tense]] – in its first form (''arrived – arrive, came – come''). ====Tags==== see also: [[#Negation, negative polarity, and assertion]]. =====Reversed polarity tags===== Disjunctive questions (tag questions) Tag questions are statements with tags at the end. The tag consists of two or three parts. '''1st part''': a [[modal]] verb, an [[auxiliary verb]], or a form of the verb ‘to be’ (if they are in the sentence) in the form required by the pronoun in the 3rd part. '''2nd part''': the [[particle]] ‘not’ if the statement is positive. If the statement is negative, the particle is omitted. '''3rd part''': the [[subject]] of the statement expressed by a noun. *''She is having a shower now, isn’t she? *''You can’t swim, can you? If there is no [[modal]] verb, [[auxiliary verb]] or the verb ‘to be’ in the statement, you have to use the [[auxiliary verb]] ‘do’ in the tag. *''Henry played tennis well, didn’t he? *''We go to work by bus, don’t we? '''Notes''' (a) In BrE the main verb ‘to have’ behaves as an [[auxiliary]]. *''You have a brother and a sister, haven’t you? (BrE) *''You have a brother and a sister, don’t you? (AmE) (b) If the [[subject]] of the statement is the indefinite [[pronoun]] ‘somebody’ in the tag it is replaced by the [[pronoun]] ‘they’. *''Someone’s knocking at the door, aren’t they? (c) Such words like ‘nothing’, ‘never’, ‘hardly’ make the statements negative, so the tag should be positive. *''You never listen to me, do you? (d) If the statement starts with ‘there’, this word counts as a [[pronoun]], so it is placed on the 3rd place in the tag. *''There’s nothing here, is there? (e) If the statement is an [[imperative]], the tag will be ‘will you’ or ‘won’t you’. *''Be attentive, won’t you? *''Don’t be lazy, will you? (f) If the statement contains ‘Let’s’, the tag will be ‘shall we’. *''Let’s go to the cinema, shall we? (g) More formal English uses peraphrastic negation in the tags to positive sentences: *''She is having a shower now, is she not? *''Henry played tennis well, did he not? *''We go to work by bus, do we not? *''You have a brother and a sister, have you not? (BrE) *''You have a brother and a sister, do you not? (AmE) *''Someone is knocking at the door, are they not? *''Be attentive, will you not? '''Meaning of tags''' The tag question requires the person to respond to the statement. Negative tags require a ‘Yes’ answer. Positive tags require a ‘No’ answer. *''We’ve done the project, haven’t we? – Yes, we have. *''We haven’t done the project, have we? – No, we haven’t. =====Constant polarity tags===== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} : ''So, they read my article, did they?'' ===Topicalization=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} * [[Topicalization]] : ''The book, I like. The movie, I don't.'' (cf. ''I like the book. I don't like the movie.'') : ''To John, I gave the book.'' (cf. ''I gave the book to John.'') * left dislocation : ''The book, I like it.'' (cf. ''I like the book.'') : ''Jim, he is here.'' (cf. ''Jim is here.'') * cleft : ''It is the book (that) I like.'' (cf. ''I like the book.'') * pseudo-cleft : ''The book is what I like.'' (cf. ''I like the book.'') ===Negation, negative polarity, and assertion=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} * [[Grammatical polarity]] * [[Polarity item]] : ''Halil '''is''' going with them.'' : ''Halil '''isn't''' going with them.'' &nbsp; (inflectional "contraction" negation) : ''Halil '''is not''' going with them.'' &nbsp; (periphrastic negation) : ''Halil '''went''' with them'' : ''Halil '''didn't go''' with them.'' &nbsp; (''do''-support, inflectional "contraction" negation) : ''Halil '''did not go''' with them.'' &nbsp; (''do''-support, periphrastic negation) : ''Halil '''was''' receiving '''some''' help from his friends.'' : ''*Halil '''was''' receving '''any''' help from his friends.'' : ''Halil '''was''' receiving '''no''' help from his friends.'' : ''*Halil '''wasn't''' receiving '''some''' help from his friends.'' : ''Halil '''wasn't''' receving '''any''' help from his friends.'' : ''Halil '''wasn't''' receiving '''no''' help from his friends.'' &nbsp; (dialectal, prescriptively "incorrect") : ''Halil '''can''' drive a motorcycle and '''so''' can Cherif.'' : ''*Halil '''can''' drive a motorcycle and '''neither''' can Cherif.'' : ''*Halil '''can't''' drive a motorcyle and '''so''' can Cherif.'' : ''Halil '''can't''' drive a motorcycle and '''neither''' can Cherif.'' : ''Halil '''almost''' touched the bomb and '''so''' did Cherif.'' : ''*Halil '''almost''' touched the bomb and '''neither''' did Cherif.'' : ''*Halil '''hardly''' touched the bomb and '''so''' did Cherif.'' : ''Halil '''hardly''' touched the bomb and '''neither''' did Cherif.'' * syntactic negation vs. lexical negation (clausal vs. subclausal) : ''Halil '''was unable''' to go and '''so''' was Cherif.'' : ''*Halil '''was unable''' to go and '''neither''' was Cherif.'' : ''*Halil '''wasn't able''' to go and '''so''' was Cherif.'' : ''Halil '''wasn't able''' to go and '''neither''' was Cherif.'' * VP negation vs. non-VP negation : ''Do '''not''' ever accept this job position!'' (negation inside of VP) : '''''Never''' ever accept this job position!'' (negation outside of VP) restrictions on ''not'': : ''He did '''not''' accept the position.'' (negation inside of VP) : '''*'''''He '''not''' accepted the position.'' (negation outside of VP) : ''It is imperative'' [ ''that he '''not''' accept the position'' ]''.'' (negation outside of VP in subjunctive) * scope of negation and ambiguity : ''The streets are not'' [ ''safe because of the flood'' ] : interpretation #1 = the flood is not the reason for the unsafe streets (there is another cause) : ''The streets are not'' [ ''safe'' ] ''because of the flood'' : interpretation #2 = the flood is causing the unsafe streets : ''All of the streets are not flooded'' : interpretation #1 = ''None of the streets are flooded'' : interpretation #2 = ''Not all of the streets are flooded'' ---- <ref>The word ''anymore'' is similar to ''any'' in being grammatical only in sentences suggesting doubt, or questions. However, in some United States dialects it can be heard used with the approximate meaning ''nowadays''. However, in such contexts there is often still an implication of negation or cessation. For example, in the utterance, : Anymore, people just wear jeans and t-shirts when they travel on a plane it may be implicit that : People no longer dress up to fly. </ref> ===Comparison=== ====Semantic gradability==== Adjectives and adverbs typically have the semantic feature of being gradable, that is the quality or state that they describe exists on a gradual scale between two opposite poles. For example, there is a gradable scale between the [[Opposite (semantics)#Antonyms|antonym]]s ''cold'' and ''hot''. Gradable words of this type can have several modifiers that qualify where on the scale a particular quality or state rests as in the following <math>\left ( intensifier \right ) + \begin{Bmatrix} adjective \\ adverb \end{Bmatrix}</math> combinations: {{col-begin}} {{col-3}} : ''very quick'' : ''rather quick'' : ''quite quick'' : ''too quick'' : ''quick'' {{col-3}} ''very quickly''<br /> ''rather quickly''<br /> ''quite quickly''<br /> ''too quickly''<br /> ''quickly''<br /> {{col-3}} {{col-end}} Most adjectives<ref>All dynamic and most stative adjectives are gradable. However, many nongradable adjectives can be used in a gradable sense often with an accompanying change in meaning. For instance, the stative adjective ''dead'' is usually not gradable since generally ''dead'' and its [[Opposite (semantics)#Complementaries|complementary]] ''alive'' are considered to be mutually exclusive states. But, in sentences like ''I felt very dead today'' the adjective being used as a gradable adjective.</ref> are gradable but some adjectives are not. For example, the adjective ''infinite'' is not gradable making the adjective phrases ''very infinite'', ''rather infinite'' and ''more infinite'' semantically odd. ====Types of comparison==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} Gradable adjective and adverbs can also be involved in comparison where to the positions of two or more entities on a gradable scale are compared with each other. Semantically, three types of comparison can be distinguished: * higher degree (superior) * same degree * lower degree (inferior) Comparisons of the same degree use only the general base adjective form. In higher degree comparisons, the comparison is indicated either by inflectional suffixation, using ''-er'', ''-est'' (morphological marking) or by periphrastic constructions involving ''more'', ''most'' modifiers preceding the adjective (syntactic marking). The [[Degree of comparison|three inflectional forms]] are known as * ''absolute'' (or ''positive'') * ''[[comparative]]'' * ''[[superlative]]'' Lower degree comparisons only use periphrastic constructions involving ''less'' and ''least'' adjectival modifiers. Examples: :{| class="wikitable" ! colspan="2" | ! Inflectional !! Periphrastic |- ! colspan="2" | Same degree <small>(Absolute)</small> | ''tall'' || ''beautiful'' |- ! rowspan="2" | Higher degree ! <small>Comparative</small> | ''taller'' || ''more beautiful'' |- ! <small>Superlative</small> | ''tallest'' || ''most beautiful'' |- ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Lower degree | style="text-align: center;" | – | ''less tall, less beautiful'' |- | style="text-align: center;" | – | ''least tall, least beautiful'' |} <!-- One-syllable adjectives or adverbs consisting of one syllable and consisting of two syllables ending in –y form the comparative degree by adding the suffix – er (cold – colder) and the superlative degree by adding the suffix –est (cold – coldest). The superlative degree is always used with the definite article (the coldest). Most two syllable adjectives and all polysyllable adjectives form the degrees of comparison according to the second way by adding more (in the comparative degree) and the most (in the superlative degree). For example, difficult – more difficult – the most difficult.--> ====Comparative constructions==== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} : She is taller than Halil. : She is more tall than short. &nbsp; (note: ''*She is taller than short'' is ungrammatical) : She is as tall as Halil. : etc. ===Ellipsis=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} The phenomenon of ellipsis refers to omission of parts of sentences when those parts are readily recoverable in the context of an utterance. Some types of ellipsis are obligatory while other types of ellipsis are optional. Still other types are optional in certain grammatical environment but obligatory in other grammatical environments. For example, in the following sentences the underlined words can optionally be omitted: : ''The red sock and <u>red</u> shoe are in the hamper.'' : ''The red sock and shoe are in the hamper.'' &nbsp; (''red'' is omitted) : ''Halil can drink coffee and John can <u>drink coffee</u> too.'' : ''Halil can drink coffee and John can too.'' &nbsp; (''drink coffee'' is omitted) : ''Halil borrowed one of my CDs but I can't remember which <u>CD</u>.'' : ''Halil borrowed one of my CDs but I can't remember which.'' &nbsp; (''CD'' is omitted) : ''This boy always has <u>done bad things</u> and always will do bad things.'' : ''This boy always has and always will do bad things.'' &nbsp; (''done bad things'' is omitted) : ''Halil is drinking coffee at the table and John <u>is drinking coffee</u> at the bar.'' : ''Halil is drinking coffee at the table and John at the bar.'' &nbsp; (''is drinking coffee'' is omitted) The above examples involve ellipsis in the second component of a coordinated constituent. This type of ellipsis is very common. Other types of non-coordinated optional ellipsis are the following: : ''<u>Do you</u> want a drink?'' : ''Want a drink?'' &nbsp; (''do you'' omitted) : ''<u>Do</u> you want a drink?'' : ''You want a drink?'' &nbsp; (''do'' omitted) : ''<u>It</u> looks fine to me.'' : ''Looks fine to me.'' &nbsp; (''it'' omitted) : ''<u>Is the</u> machine still broken?'' : ''Machine still broken?'' &nbsp; (''is the'' omitted) : ''We meet <u>on</u> Wednesday mornings.'' : ''We meet Wednesday mornings.'' &nbsp; (''on'' omitted) Certain kinds of ellipsis indicate a more informal or familiar style of language while other types are neutral in the aspect. A type of ellipsis that is always obligatory involves [[Control verb|control]] constructions.<ref>Control structures are also referred to as ''equi-NP-deletion'' in earlier transformational grammar.</ref> These sentences are usually analyzed as consisting of a main clause with the verb of the main clause taking a non-finite clause as a complement. : ''Halil tried'' [ ''to paint his house'' ] ''.'' In the sentence above ''Halil tried'' [ ''X'' ] is the main clause and the embedded (i.e. subordinate) non-finite clause is ''to paint his house''. The non-finite clause is analyzed as having a subject which is obligatorily omitted in the surface sentence. In this case, the omitted subject is ''Halil'' (since it is Halil who making the painting attempt). Thus, the underlying structure is : ''Halil tried'' [ ''<u>Halil</u> paint his house'' ] ''.'' &nbsp; (underlying ''Halil'' in the embedded clause is ungrammatical) which has a subject that must be omitted (along with an infinitive marker ''to'' that must be added) to give: : ''Halil tried to paint his house.'' &nbsp; (''Halil'' is omitted) Types of ellipsis that are obligatory in certain constructions but optional in others include the ''that'' [[complementizer]]: : Post-nominal modification: : ''The man <u>that</u> I love will be there.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is optionally present) : ''The man I love will be there.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is optionally omitted) : Object: : ''He knows <u>that</u> I love him.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is optionally present) : ''He knows I love him.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is optionally present) : Extraposition: : ''It is obvious <u>that</u> I love him.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is optionally present) : ''It is obvious I love him.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is optionally omitted) : Subject: : ''That I love him is obvious.'' &nbsp; (''that'' is obligatorily present) : ''*I love him is obvious.'' &nbsp; (omitting ''that'' is ungrammatical when the clause is in subject position) ==See also== * [[Disputes in English grammar]] * [[Capitalization]] * [[English prefixes]] * [[nominal group (language)|Nominal group]] * [[Thematic equative]] * [[Grammar checker]] ==Notes and references== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== * Adams, Valerie. (1973). ''An introduction to modern English word-formation''. London: Longman. * Bauer, Laurie. (1983). ''English word-formation''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Biber, Douglas; Johansson, Stig; Leech, Geoffrey; Conrad, Susan; & Finegan, Edward. (1999). ''Longman grammar of spoken and written English''. Pearson Education Limited. * Celce-Murcia, M.; & Larsen-Freeman, D. ''The grammar book: An ESL/EFL teacher's course'' (2nd ed.). ISBN 0838447252 * Curme, George O. (1931). ''Syntax''. Boston: Heath. * Curme, George O. (1935). ''Parts of speech and accidence''. Boston: Heath. * Halliday, M. A. K. (2004). ''Introduction to functional grammar'' (3rd. ed.). London: Hodder Arnold. * Halliday, M. A. K. (1985/94). ''Spoken and written language''. Deakin University Press. * Huddleston, Rodney D. (1976). ''An introduction to English transformational syntax''. Longman. * Huddleston, Rodney D. (1984). ''Introduction to the grammar of English''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Huddleston, Rodney D. (1988). ''English grammar: An outline''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Huddleston, Rodney D.; & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). ''A student's introduction to English grammar''. Cambridge University Press. * Huddleston, Rodney D.; & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). ''The Cambridge grammar of the English language''. Cambridge University Press. * Jespersen, Otto. (1909-1949). ''A modern English grammar on historical principles'' (Vols. 1-7). Heidelberg: C. Winter. * Kruisinga, E. (1925). ''A handbook of present-day English''. Utrecht: Kemink en Zoon. * Leech, Geoffrey N. (1971). ''Meaning and the English verb''. London: Longman. * Marchand, Hans. (1969). ''The categories and types of present-day English word-formation'' (2nd ed.). München: C. H. Beck. * McCawley, James D. (1998). ''The syntactic phenomena of English'' (2nd ed.). ''Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. * Palmer, F. R. (1974). ''The English verb''. London: Longman. * Palmer, F. R. (1979). ''Modality and the English modals''. London: Longman. * Plag, Ingo. (2003). ''Word-formation in English''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; & Svartvik, Jan. (1972). ''A grammar of contemporary English''. Harlow: Longman. * Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; & Svartvik, Jan. (1985). ''A comprehensive grammar of the English language''. Harlow: Longman. * Scheurweghs, Gustave. (1959). ''Present-day English syntax: A survey of sentence patterns''. London: Longmans. * Strang, Barbara M. H. (1968). ''Modern English structure'' (2nd ed.). London: Arnold. * Zandvoort, R. W. (1972). ''A handbook of English grammar'' (2nd ed.). London: Longmans. ==External links== * [[b:English|English Grammar]], [[wikibooks|wikibook]] in [[English (language)|English]] * [http://www.beaugrande.com/UPLOADGRAMMARHEADER.htm A Friendly Grammar of English] by Robert de Beaugrande * [http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/grammar/ Modern English Grammar] by Daniel Kies * [http://www.bartleby.com/64/ The American Heritage Book of English Usage.] Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. [Date of Printout]. * [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/home.htm The Internet Grammar of English]. * [http://lanzbom.org An easy to understand guide to grammar and writing with active community college classroom site and links to other writing, grammar sites.] by Word Rouges, Leon Lanzbom. * [http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/laurie-bauer/Bauer-adj-compound.pdf Adjectives, Compounds and Words] (Laurie Bauer) [[Category:English grammar|*]] [[Category:Grammars of specific languages]] [[ang:Englisc grammaticcræft]] [[cs:Anglická gramatika]] [[de:Englische Grammatik]] [[fr:Grammaire anglaise]] [[it:Grammatica inglese]] [[he:הווה פשוט (אנגלית)]] [[hu:Angol nyelvtan]] [[sv:Engelsk grammatik]] [[zh:英語語法]]