English Grammar
English grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.
There are historical, social, and regional variations of English. Divergences from the grammar described here occur in some dialects of English. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English,
the form of speech found in types of public discourse including
broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news reporting,
including both formal and informal speech. There are certain differences
in grammar between the standard forms of British English, American English, and Australian English, although these are inconspicuous compared with the lexical and pronunciation differences.
Word classes and phrases
Eight word classes (parts of speech) are distinguished in English: noun, determiner, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, and conjunction.
(Determiners, traditionally classified along with adjectives, have not
always been regarded as a separate part of speech.) Another word class
is interjection, but this is not described here as it does not form part of the clause and sentence structure of the language.[1]
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs form open classes – word classes that readily accept new members, such as the noun celebutante (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles), the adverb 24/7 (as in I am working on it 24/7), and similar relatively new words.[1] The others are regarded as closed classes; it is rare for a new pronoun, for example, to be admitted to the language.
English words are not generally marked for word class. It is not
usually possible to tell from the form of a word which class it belongs
to (except, to some extent, in the case of words with inflectional
endings or derivational suffixes). Some words belong to more than one
word class; for example run can serve as either a verb or a noun (these are regarded as two different lexemes).[2] Lexemes may be inflected to express different grammatical categories; the lexeme run has the forms runs, ran, and running.[2] Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another; this can give rise to new words, for example the noun aerobics has recently given rise to the adjective aerobicized.[2]
Words combine to form phrases. A phrase typically serves the same function as a word from some particular word class.[2] For example, my very good friend Peter is a phrase that can be used in a sentence as if it were a noun, and is therefore called a noun phrase. Similarly, adjective phrases and adverb phrases
function as if they were adjectives or adverbs; but with other types of
phrase the terminology has different implications. For example, a verb phrase consists of a verb together with any objects and other dependents; a prepositional phrase consists of a preposition together with its complement (and is therefore usually a type of adverb phrase); and a determiner phrase is a type of noun phrase containing a determiner.
Nouns
Nouns form the largest English word class. There are many common suffixes used to form nouns from other nouns or from other types of words, such as -age (as in shrinkage), -hood (as in sisterhood), and so on,[2] although many nouns are base forms not containing any such suffix (such as cat, grass, France). Nouns are also often created by conversion of verbs or adjectives, as with the words talk and gay (a boring talk, a group of gays).
Unlike in many related languages, English nouns do not have grammatical gender (although many nouns refer specifically to male or female persons or animals, like mother, father, bull, tigress; see Gender in English). Nouns are sometimes classified semantically (by their meanings): as proper nouns and common nouns (Cyrus, China vs. frog, milk), or as concrete nouns and abstract nouns (book, laptop vs. heat, prejudice).[3] A grammatical distinction is often made between count (countable) nouns such as clock and city, and non-count (uncountable) nouns such as milk and decor.[4] A given noun can function in more than one class; for example, wine can be either countable or uncountable (this is a good wine, I prefer red wine).
Countable nouns generally have singular and plural forms.[3] In most cases the plural is formed from the singular by adding -[e]s (as in dogs, bushes), although there are also irregular forms (woman/women, medium/media, etc.), including cases where the two forms are identical (sheep, series). For details, see English plural.
Certain nouns can take plural verbs even though they are singular in form, as in The government were ... (where the government is considered to refer to the people constituting the government). This is more common in British than American English. See Synesis.
English nouns are not marked for case as they are in some languages, but they have possessive forms, formed by the addition of -'s (as in John's, children's), or just an apostrophe (with no change in pronunciation) in the case of -[e]s plurals and sometimes other words ending with -s (the dogs' owners, Jesus' love). This is sometimes called the Saxon genitive. More generally, the ending can be applied to noun phrases (as in the man you saw yesterday's sister); see below. The possessive form can be used either as a determiner (John's cat) or as a noun phrase (John's is the one next to Jane's).
Noun phrases
Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences, for example as the subject or object of a verb. Most noun phrases have a noun as their head.[4]
A noun phrase typically takes the following form (not all elements need be present):
Determiner + Other pre-modifiers + NOUN + Post-modifiers/Complement
In this structure:
- the determiner may be an article (the, a[n]) or other equivalent word, as described in the following section. In many contexts some determiner is required to complete the noun phrase.
- other pre-modifiers include adjectives and some adjective phrases (such as red, really lovely), and noun adjuncts (such as college in college student). Adjectival modifiers usually come before modifiers that are nouns.
- the complement or post-modifier,[4] if present, may be a prepositional phrase (... of London), a relative clause (like ...which we saw yesterday), certain adjective or participial phrases (... sitting on the beach), or certain clauses appropriate to the noun (like ... that the world is round after a noun such as fact or statement).
An example of a noun phrase that includes all of the above-mentioned elements is that rather attractive young college student that you were talking to. Here that is the determiner, rather attractive and young are adjectival pre-modifiers, college is a noun used as a pre-modifier, student is the noun serving as the head of the phrase, and that you were talking to is a post-modifier (a relative clause in this case). Notice the order of the pre-modifiers; the determiner that must come first, and the noun modifier college must come after the adjectival modifiers.
Conjunctions such as and, or, and but can be used at various levels in noun phrases, as in John, Paul, and Mary; the matching green coat and hat; a dangerous but exciting ride; a person sitting down or standing up.
Noun phrases can also be placed in apposition (where two consecutive phrases refer to the same thing), as in that president, Abraham Lincoln, ... (where that president and Abraham Lincoln are in apposition). In some contexts the same can be expressed by a prepositional phrase, as in the twin curses of famine and pestilence (meaning "the twin curses" that are "famine and pestilence").
Particular forms of noun phrases include:
- phrases formed by the determiner the with an adjective, as in the homeless, the English (these are plural phrases referring to homeless people or English people in general);
- phrases with a pronoun rather than a noun as the head (see below);
- phrases consisting just of a possessive (see the paragraph above on Saxon genitives);
- infinitive and gerund phrases, in certain positions;
- certain clauses, such as that clauses and relative clauses like what he said, in certain positions.
Determiners
Main articles: English determiners and English articles
English determiners constitute a relatively small class of words; they include the articles the, a[n] (and in some contexts some), certain demonstrative and interrogative adjectives words such as this, that, and which, possessives such as my and whose (the role can also be played by Saxon genitive forms such as John's and the girl's), and various quantifying words like all, many, various, as well as numerals (one, two, etc.). There also exist many phrases (such as a couple of) that can play the role of determiners.
Determiners are used in the formation of noun phrases (see above).
Many words that serve as determiners can also be used as pronouns (this, that, many, etc.)
Determiners can be used in certain combinations, such as all the water, the many problems, etc.
In many contexts it is required for a noun phrase to be completed
with an article or some other determiner. It is not grammatical to say
just cat sat on table; one must say (for example) my cat sat on the table.
The most common situations in which a complete noun phrase can be
formed without a determiner are when it refers generally to a whole
class or concept (as in dogs are dangerous and beauty is subjective), and when it is a name (Jane, Spain, etc.) This is discussed in more detail at English articles.
Pronouns
Pronouns are a small class of words that function as noun phrases. They include personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and others.
Personal pronouns
Main article: English personal pronouns
The personal pronouns of modern standard English, and the corresponding possessive forms, are as follows:
| Nominative | Oblique | Reflexive | Possessive determiner | Possessive pronoun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st pers. sing. | I | me | myself | my | mine |
| 2nd pers. sing./pl. | you | you | yourself/yourselves | your | yours |
| 3rd pers. sing. | she, he, it | her, him, it | herself, himself, itself | her, his, its | hers, his, (rare: its) |
| 1st pers. pl. | we | us | ourselves | our | ours |
| 3rd pers. pl. | they | them | themselves | their | theirs |
The second-person forms you etc. are used with both singular and plural reference. (An archaic set of pronouns used for singular reference is thou, thee, thyself, thy, thine.) You can also be used as an indefinite pronoun, referring to a person in general; a more formal alternative is one (reflexive oneself, possessive one's).
The third-person singular forms are differentiated according to the sex of the referent: she
etc. are used to refer to a female person, sometimes a female animal,
and sometimes an object to which female characteristics are attributed,
such as a ship or a country. A male person, and sometimes a male animal,
is referred to using he etc. In other cases it etc. are used. The word it can also be used as a dummy subject, in sentences like it is wrong to avoid tax.
The third-person plural forms they etc. are sometimes used with singular reference, as a gender-neutral pronoun, as in each employee should ensure they tidy their desk. This usage is sometimes considered ungrammatical.
The possessive deteminers (my etc.) are used as determiners to form noun phrases, as in my old man, some of his friends. The second possessive forms (mine etc.) are used when they do not qualify a noun: as pronouns, as in mine is bigger than yours, and as predicates, as in this one is mine. Note also the construction a friend of mine (meaning "someone who is my friend").
Demonstrative and interrogative pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns of English are this (plural these), and that (plural those), as in these are good, I like that. Note that all four words can also be used as determiners (followed by a noun), as in those cars.
The interrogative pronouns are who, what, and which (all of them can take the suffix -ever for emphasis). The pronoun who refers to a person or people; it has an oblique form whom (though in informal contexts this is usually replaced by who), and a possessive form (pronoun or determiner) whose. The pronoun what refers to things or abstracts. The word which is used to ask about alternatives from what is seen as a closed set: which (of the books) do you like best? (It can also be an interrogative determiner: which book?; this can form the alternative pronominal expressions which one and which ones.) Which, who, and what can be either singular or plural. (Examples: Which is the highest hill? Which are the highest hills? Who was born in 1920? Who were king and queen in 1920?). But who and what often take a singular verb regardless of any supposed number; the questions Who wants some cake? and What's in the bag? do not presuppose anything about number in possible responses: I want some cake, or All of us want some; and A rabbit is in the bag, or Five coins and a bus ticket.[5]
All the interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns; see below.
Relative pronouns
The main relative pronouns in English are that, which, who, whom, and whose.
The first of these, that, can refer to either persons or things, is normally restricted to restrictive relative clauses, and cannot follow a preposition. For example, the song that I listened to yesterday, but the song to which (not *to that) I listened yesterday. The relative pronoun that is usually pronounced with a reduced vowel (schwa), and hence differently from the demonstrative that (see Weak and strong forms in English). If that is not the subject of the relative clause, it can be omitted (the song I listened to yesterday).
The relative pronoun which refers to things rather than persons, as in the shirt, which used to be red, is faded. For persons, who is used (the man who saw me was tall). The oblique case form of who is whom, as in the man whom I saw was tall, although in less formal registers who is commonly used in place of whom.
The possessive form of who is whose (the man whose car is missing ...); however the use of whose is not restricted to persons (one can say an idea whose time has come).
The word what can be used to form a relative clause that has no antecedent and that serves as a complete noun phrase in itself, as in I like what he likes. The words whatever and whichever can be used similarly, in the role of either pronouns (whatever he likes) or determiners (whatever book he likes).
For more detail on the use of these pronouns, see English relative clauses.
There as pronoun
The word there is used as a pronoun in some sentences, most commonly with forms of the verb be in existential clauses, to indicate the presence or existence of something (analogous to existential quantification in predicate logic). The pronoun serves as a "dummy subject" taking the place of the logical subject, which usually appears after the verb. For example: There is a heaven; There are two cups on the table; There have been a lot of problems lately; There occurred a very strange incident.
The dummy subject can undergo inversion, as in Is there a God? and Never has there been a man such as this. It can also appear without a corresponding logical subject, in short sentences and question tags: There wasn't a discussion, was there? There was.
The word there can also function as a deictic adverb (meaning "at/to that place") particle. Consequently a sentence like There is a river could have either of two meanings: "a river exists" (with there as a pronoun), and "a river is in that place" (with there as an adverb). In speech, the adverbial there would be given stress, while the pronoun would not – in fact the pronoun is often pronounced as a weak form, /ðə(r)/.
Other pronouns
Other pronouns in English are often identical in form to determiners (especially quantifiers), such as many, a little, etc. Sometimes the pronoun form is different, as with none (corresponding to the determiner no), nothing, everyone, somebody, etc. Many examples are listed at Indefinite pronoun.
Verbs
Main article: English verbs
Verbs
form the second largest word class after nouns. The basic form of an
English verb is not generally marked by any ending, although there are
certain suffixes that are frequently used to form verbs, such as -ate (formulate), -fy (electrify), and -ise/ize (realise/realize).[6] Many verbs also contain prefixes, such un- (unmask), out- (outlast), over- (overtake), and under- (undervalue).[6] Verbs can also be formed from nouns and adjectives by conversion, as with the verbs snare, nose, dry, and calm.
Most verbs have three or four inflected forms: a third-person singular present tense form in -s (writes), a present participle and gerund form in -ing (writing), a past tense (wrote), and – though often identical to the past tense form – a past participle (written). Regular verbs have identical past tense and past participle forms in -ed, but there are 100 or so irregular English verbs with different forms (see list). The verbs have and do also have irregular third-person present tense forms (has, does [dʌz]). The verb be has the largest number of irregular forms (am, is, are in the present tense, was, were in the past tense, been for the past participle).
Most of what are generally referred to as verb tenses (or sometimes aspects) in English are formed using auxiliaries. Apart from what are called the simple present (write, writes) and simple past (wrote), there are also continuous (progressive) forms (am/is/are/was/were writing), perfect forms (have/has/had written, and the perfect continuous have/has/had been writing), future forms (will write, will be writing, will have written, will have been writing), and conditionals (also called "future in the past") with would in place of will. The auxiliaries shall and should sometimes replace will and would in the first person. For the uses of these tenses and other verb forms, see English verbs.
The infinitive is the basic form of the verb (be, write, play), although there is also a "to-infinitive" (to be, to write, to play) used in many syntactical constructions. There are also infinitives corresponding to other aspects: (to) have written, (to) be writing, (to) have been writing. The second-person imperative is identical to the (basic) infinitive; other imperative forms may be made with let (let us go, or let's go; let them eat cake).
A form identical to the infinitive can be used as a present subjunctive in certain contexts: It is important that he follow them or ... that he be committed to the cause. There is also a past subjunctive (distinct from the simple past only in the possible use of were instead of was), used in some conditional sentences and similar: if I were (or was) rich ...; were he to arrive now ...; I wish she were (or was) here. For a full description, see English subjunctive.
The auxiliary do (does, did), used with the basic infinitive, makes an emphatic form of a verb (I do like you; he does speak English; we did close the fridge). It is this form that is used to make interrogatives and negatives of most verbs (do I like you?; he doesn't speak English). For verbs that do not take the auxiliary do ("special verbs"), see below.
The passive voice is formed using the verb be (in the appropriate tense, aspect or form) with the past participle of the verb in question: cars are driven, he was killed, I am being tickled, it is nice to be pampered, etc. The "logical subject" may be introduced in a prepositional phrase with by (as in they were killed by the invaders).
English has a set of modal verbs: the core modals can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, as well as ought (to), had better, and in some uses dare and need.[7] These do not inflect for person or number,[7] and do not have infinitive or participle forms (except synonyms, as with be/being/been able (to) for the modals can/could). The modals are used with the basic infinitive form of a verb (I can swim, he may be killed, we dare not move, need they go?), except for ought, which takes to (you ought to go).
The verb be along with the auxiliary and modal verbs form a
class sometimes called "special verbs". These have different syntax from
ordinary lexical verbs, especially in that they make their interrogative forms by plain inversion and their negative forms simply by adding not (could I ...? I could not ...). Apart from those already mentioned, this class may also include used to (although the forms did he use to? and he didn't use to are also found), and sometimes have even when not an auxiliary (forms like have you a sister? and he hadn't a clue are possible, though less common in modern English than the alternatives do you have ...?, he didn't have, etc.).
Some of these special verbs can combine with their subject in a contracted form, such as I'm for I am, you'd for you would or you had, John's for John is. For negative forms, see Negation below.
Verb phrases
In some theories of grammar, a verb phrase consists of a verb together with its dependents, which may be objects, complements, and modifiers (adverbs or adverbial phrases). Objects and complements nearly always come after the verb; a direct object precedes other complements such as prepositional phrases, but if there is an indirect object as well, expressed without a preposition, then that precedes the direct object: give me the book, but give the book to me. Adverbial modifiers generally follow objects, although other positions are possible (see under Adverbs below).
Dependency grammars reject the concept of finite verb phrases as clause constituents. See the verb phrase article for more information.
Particular types of non-finite verb phrases in English are infinitive phrases, such as (to) buy a present for Dad (see also the article on split infinitive), and participial phrases, such as playing cricket on the green.
Adjectives
English adjectives, as with other word classes, cannot in general be identified as such by their form,[8] although many of them are formed from nouns or other words by the addition of a suffix, such as -al (habitual), -ful (blissful), -ic (atomic), -ish (impish, youngish), -ous (hazardous), etc.; or from other adjectives using a prefix: disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen, overtired.
Adjectives may be used attributively, as part of a noun phrase (nearly always preceding the noun they modify), as in the big house, or predicatively, as in the house is big. Certain adjectives are restricted to one or other use; for example, drunken is attributive (a drunken sailor), while drunk is usually predicative (the sailor was drunk).
Many adjectives have comparative and superlative forms in -er and -est,[9] such as hot, hotter, hottest. Common irregular forms include good, better, best and bad, worse, worst.
Many others, however (particularly longer and less common adjectives)
do not have such forms; instead they can be qualified with more and most, as in beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.
Certain adjectives are classed as ungradable.[9] These represent properties that cannot be compared on a scale; they simply apply or do not, as with pregnant, dead, unique.
Consequently, comparative and superlative forms of such adjectives are
not normally used, except in a figurative, humorous or imprecise
context. Similarly, such adjectives are not normally qualified with
modifiers of degree such as very and fairly, although with some of them it is idiomatic to use adverbs such as completely.
Another type of adjectives sometimes considered ungradable is those
that represent an extreme degree of some property, such as delicious and terrified; the same point about modifiers applies to these, although it is not rare to find them in comparative or superlative form.
Adjective phrases
An adjective phrase is a group of words that plays the role of an adjective in a sentence. It usually has a single adjective as its head, to which modifiers and complements may be added.[10]
Adjectives can be modified by a preceding adverb or adverb phrase, as in very hot, truly imposing, more than a little excited. Some can also be preceded by a noun or quantitative phrase, as in fat-free, two-metre-long.
Complements following the adjective may include:
- prepositional phrases: proud of him, angry at the screen, keen on breeding toads;
- infinitive phrases: anxious to solve the problem, easy to pick up;
- that clauses and certain other clauses: certain that he was right, unsure where they are;
- after comparatives, phrases or clauses with than: better than you, smaller than I had imagined.
An adjective phrase may include both modifiers before the adjective and a complement after it, as in very difficult to put away.
Adjective phrases containing complements after the adjective cannot normally be used as attributive adjectives before a noun. Sometimes they are used attributively after the noun, as in a woman proud of being a midwife (where they may be converted into relative clauses: a woman who is proud of being a midwife), but it is wrong to say *a proud of being a midwife woman. Exceptions include very brief and often established phrases such as easy-to-use. (Certain complements can be moved to after the noun, leaving the adjective before the noun, as in a better man than you, a hard nut to crack.)
Certain attributive adjective phrases are formed from other parts of speech, without any adjective as their head, as in a two-bedroom house, a no-jeans policy.
Adverbs
Adverbs
perform a wide range of functions, typically modifying verbs (or verb
phrases), adjectives (or adjective phrases), or other adverbs (or adverb
phrases),[11] although they also sometimes qualify noun phrases (only the boss, quite the loveliest place), pronouns and determiners (almost all) and prepositional phrases (halfway through the movie), indicate an attitude or comment on a whole sentence (frankly, I don't believe you),[12] or indicate the relation between clauses or sentences (he died, and consequently I inherited the estate).[12]
Many English adverbs are formed from adjectives, by adding the ending -ly,[13] as in hopefully, widely, theoretically (but the adjective good corresponds to the adverb well). Certain words can be used as both adjectives and adverbs, such as fast, straight, and hard.
There are also a large number of adverbs that are not derived from adjectives,[11] including adverbs of time (today, soon, then), of place (here, there, everywhere), of degree (very, much, quite, so, too), and with other meanings (only, just, however, therefore). Some suffixes that are fairly commonly used to form adverbs from nouns are -ward[s] (as in homeward[s]) and -wise (as in lengthwise).
A few adverbs inflect for comparative and superlative forms:[11] much, more, most; a little, less, least; soon, sooner, soonest; well, better, best; badly, worse, worst; far, further (farther), furthest (farthest); fast, faster, fastest, etc. However most form comparatives and superlatives by modification with more and most: often, more often, most often; smoothly, more smoothly, most smoothly (see also comparison of adjectives, above).
Adverbs indicating the manner of an action are most usually placed after the verb and its objects (We considered the proposal carefully), although other positions are often possible. Many adverbs of frequency, degree, certainty, etc. (such as often, always, almost, probably, and various others such as just) tend to be placed before the verb (they usually have chips), although if there is an auxiliary or other "special verb" (see Verbs
above), then the normal position for such adverbs is after the special
verb (or after the first of them, if there is more than one): I have just finished the crossword, she can usually manage a pint, we are never late, you might possibly have been unconscious. Adverbs that provide a connection with previous information (such as next, then, however), and those that provide a context (such as time or place) for the sentence, often come at the start of the sentence: Yesterday we went on a shopping expedition.[14]
A special type of adverb is the adverbial particle used to form phrasal verbs (such as up in pick up, on in get on,
etc.) If such a verb also has an object, then the particle may precede
or follow the object, although it will normally follow the object if the
object is a pronoun (pick the pen up or pick up the pen, but pick it up).
Adverb phrases
An adverb phrase is a phrase that acts as an adverb within a sentence.[15] An adverb phrase may have an adverb as its head, together with any modifiers (other adverbs or adverb phrases) and complements, analogously to the adjective phrases described above. For example: very sleepily, all too suddenly, oddly enough, perhaps shockingly for us.
Another very common type of adverb phrase is the prepositional phrase, which consists of a preposition and its object: in the pool, after two years, for the sake of harmony.
Prepositions
Prepositions form a closed word class,[12] although there are also certain phrases that serve as prepositions, such as in front of.
A single preposition may have a variety of meanings, often including
temporal, spatial and abstract. Many words that are prepositions can
also serve as adverbs. Examples of common English prepositions
(including phrasal instances) are of, in, on, over, under, to, from, with, in front of, behind, opposite, by, before, after, during, through, in spite of or despite, between, among, etc.
A preposition is usually used with a noun phrase as its complement. A preposition together with its complement is called a prepositional phrase.[16] Examples are in England, under the table, after six pleasant weeks, between the land and the sea. A prepositional phrase can be used as a complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun phrase, as in the man in the car, the start of the fight; as a complement of a verb or adjective, as in deal with the problem, proud of oneself; or generally as an adverb phrase (see above).
English allows the use of "stranded" prepositions.
This can occur in interrogative and relative clauses, where the
interrogative or relative pronoun that is the preposition's complement
is moved to the start, leaving the preposition in place. This kind of
structure is avoided in some kinds of formal English. For example:
- What are you talking about? (Possible alternative version: About what are you talking?)
- The song that you were listening to ... (more formal: The song to which you were listening ...)
Notice that in the second example the relative pronoun that could be omitted.
Stranded prepositions can also arise in passive voice constructions
and other uses of past participial phrases, where the complement in a
prepositional phrase can become zero in the same way that a verb's
direct object would: it was looked at; I will be operated on; get your teeth seen to. The same can happen in certain uses of infinitive phrases: he is nice to talk to; this is the page to make copies of.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between items, phrases, clauses and sentences.[17] The principal coordinating conjunctions in English are and, or, and but, as well as nor. These can be used in many grammatical contexts to link two or more items of equal grammatical status,[17] for example:
- Noun phrases combined into a longer noun phrase, such as John, Eric, and Jill, the red coat or the blue one. When and is used, the resulting noun phrase is plural. A determiner does not need to be repeated with the individual elements: the cat, the dog, and the mouse or the cat, dog, and mouse are both correct. The same applies to other modifiers. (The word but can be used here in the sense of "except": nobody but you.)
- Adjective or adverb phrases combined into a longer adjective or adverb phrase: tired but happy, over the fields and far away.
- Verbs or verb phrases combined as in he washed, peeled, and diced the turnips (verbs conjoined, object shared); he washed the turnips, peeled them, and diced them (full verb phrases, including objects, conjoined).
- Other equivalent items linked, such as prefixes linked in pre- and post-test counselling.,[18] numerals as in two or three buildings, etc.
- Clauses or sentences linked, as in We came but they wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't let us in, nor would they explain what we had done wrong.
There are also correlative conjunctions, where as well as the basic conjunction, an additional element appears before the first of the items being linked.[17] The common correlatives in English are:
- either ... or (either a man or a woman);
- neither ... nor (neither clever nor funny);
- both ... and (they both punished and rewarded them);
- not ... but, particularly in not only ... but also (not exhausted but exhilarated, not only football but also many other sports).
Subordinating conjunctions make relations between clauses, making the clause in which they appear into a subordinate clause.[19] Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are:
- conjunctions of time, including after, before, since, until, when, while;
- conjunctions of cause and effect, including because, since, now that, as, in order that, so;
- conjunctions of opposition or concession, such as although, though, even though, whereas, while;
- conjunctions of condition: such as if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, in case (that);
- the conjunction that, which produces content clauses, as well as words that produce interrogative content clauses: whether, where, when, how, etc.
A subordinating conjunction generally comes at the very start of its
clause, although many of them can be preceded by qualifying adverbs, as
in probably because ..., especially if .... The conjunction that can be omitted after certain verbs, as in she told us (that) she was ready.
Negation
As noted above under Verbs, a finite verb (or its clause) is negated by placing the word not after an auxiliary, modal or other "special" verb such as do, can or be. For example, the clause I go is negated with the addition of the auxiliary do, as I do not go. When the affirmative already uses auxiliary verbs (I am going), no other auxiliary verbs are added to negate the clause (I am not going). (Until the period of early Modern English, negation without the use of any auxiliary verbs was used: I go not.)
Most combinations of auxiliary verbs etc. with not have contracted forms: don't, can't, isn't, etc. (Also the uncontracted negated form of can is written as a single word cannot.)
On inversion of subject and verb (such as in questions; see below), the
subject may be placed after a contracted negated form: Should he not pay? or Shouldn't he pay?
Other elements, such as noun phrases, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive
and participial phrases, etc., can be negated by placing the word not before them: not the right answer, not interesting, not to enter, not noticing the train, etc.
When other negating words such as never, nobody, etc. appear in a sentence, the negating not is omitted (unlike its equivalents in many languages): I saw nothing or I didn't see anything, but not (except in non-standard speech) *I didn't see nothing.
Clause and sentence structure
Main article: English clause syntax
A typical sentence contains one independent clause and possibly one or more dependent clauses,
although it is also possible to link together sentences of this form
into longer sentences, using coordinating conjunctions (see above).
A clause typically contains a subject (a noun phrase) and a predicate
(a verb phrase in the terminology used above; that is, a verb together
with its objects and complements). A dependent clause also normally
contains a subordinating conjunction (or in the case of relative
clauses, a relative pronoun or phrase containing one). English syntax is
essentially of SVO (subject–verb–object) type; the verb precedes its object in the verb phrase, and the subject of the clause precedes the verb.
Questions
Like many other Western European languages, English historically
allowed questions to be asked by inverting the positions of verb and
subject. Modern English requires the use of the auxiliary verb do, along with inversion of the word order, to form a question from a simple (one-word) affirmative (I go → Do I go?, Where do I go?), apart from when the main verb is "be" (I am here → Am I here?, Why am I here?). When the affirmative verb is compound, a question is formed by inverting the auxiliary verb with the subject (John is going → Is John going?).
Combining the formation of a question with negation involves both insertion of do, if the verb is not already compound, and inversion of the auxiliary verb with the subject: John is going → Is John not going?; John goes → Does John not go?. However, the word not can optionally (especially in informal English) be contracted with the auxiliary verb, in which case the word order is further changed: Isn't John going?, Doesn't John go?.
Dependent clauses
The syntax of a dependent clause is generally the same as that of an
independent clause, except that the dependent clause usually begins with
a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun (or phrase containing
such). In some situations (as already described) the conjunction or
relative pronoun that can be omitted. Another type of dependent
clause with no subordinating conjunction is the conditional clause
formed by inversion (see below).
Other uses of inversion
The clause structure with inverted subject and verb, used to form
questions as described above, is also used in certain types of
declarative sentence. This occurs mainly when the sentence begins with
an adverbial or other phrase that is essentially negative or contains
words such as only, hardly, etc.: Never have I known someone so stupid; Only in France can such food be tasted.
In elliptical sentences (see below), inversion takes place after so (meaning "also") as well as after the negative neither: so do I, neither does she.
Inversion can also be used to form conditional clauses, beginning with should, were (subjunctive), or had, in the following ways:
- should I win the race (equivalent to if I win the race);
- were he a soldier (equivalent to if he were a soldier);
- were he to win the race (equivalent to if he were to win the race, i.e. if he won the race);
- had he won the race (equivalent to if he had won the race).
Other similar forms sometimes appear, but are less common. There is also a construction with subjunctive be, as in be he alive or dead (meaning "no matter whether he is alive or dead").
Use of inversion to express a third-person imperative is now mostly confined to the expression long live X, meaning "let X live long".
Imperatives
In an imperative sentence (one giving an order), there is usually no subject in the independent clause: Go away until I call you. It is possible, however, to include you as the subject for emphasis: You stay away from me.
Elliptical constructions
Many types of elliptical construction are possible in English,
resulting in sentences that omit certain redundant elements. Various
examples are given in the article on Ellipsis.
Some notable elliptical forms found in English include:
- Short statements of the form I can, he isn't, we mustn't. Here the verb phrase (understood from the context) is reduced to a single auxiliary or other "special" verb, negated if appropriate. If there is no special verb in the original verb phrase, it is replaced by do/does/did: he does, they didn't.
- Clauses that omit the verb, in particular those like me too, nor me, me neither. The latter forms are used after negative statements. (Equivalents including the verb: I do too or so do I; I don't either or neither do I.)
- Tag questions, formed with a special verb and pronoun subject: isn't it?; were there?; am I not?
History of English grammars
Main article: History of English grammars
The first published English grammar was a Pamphlet for Grammar
of 1586, written by William Bullokar with the stated goal of
demonstrating that English was just as rule-based as Latin. Bullokar's
grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily's Latin grammar, Rudimenta Grammatices
(1534), used in English schools at that time, having been "prescribed"
for them in 1542 by Henry VIII. Bullokar wrote his grammar in English
and used a "reformed spelling system" of his own invention; but many
English grammars, for much of the century after Bullokar's effort, were
written in Latin, especially by authors who were aiming to be scholarly.
John Wallis's Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae (1685) was the last English grammar written in Latin.
Even as late as the early 19th century, Lindley Murray, the author of
one of the most widely used grammars of the day, was having to cite
"grammatical authorities" to bolster the claim that grammatical cases in
English are different from those in Ancient Greek or Latin.
