The PPT serves as an outline for the syntax, phrases, clauses and sentence of English language.

1. S. Mohan Raj
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rajmohan251@gmail.com

2. What is Syntax?
1. The property of human language is known as ‘Syntax’.
2. Syntax refers to ‘sentence construction’, how words grouped to form phrases and
sentences.
3. The syntax is a part of grammar, it tends to study the syntactic properties of a language.
Basic Properties of English Syntax
The well-known property of language emphasized by Saussure is there is no
motivated relationship between sounds and meanings.
Ex. House, home, maison.
Language makes use of a finite set of rules or principles.
Ex. Man, picked, a, the, fruit – 5 words has 120 possible combinations but only 6 form
grammatical sentences.
a. The man picked a fruit.
b. A man picked the fruit.
c. A fruit picked the man.
d. The fruit picked a man.
e. The man, a fruit picked.
f. The ball, a man picked.

3. Why do we study Syntax?
There are many reasons for studying syntax, from general humanistic or behavioural
motivations to much more specific goals such as those in the following:
1. To help us to illustrate the patterns of English more effectively and clearly.
2. To enable us to analyze the structure of English sentences systematically and
explicitly.
Sentence
Clause
Phrase
Word

4. Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences
Phrase
A phrase is a group of related words that does not have a subject doing the action
of a verb.
1. Leaving behind the dog.
2. Smashing into a fence.
3. Before the first test.
4. After the devastation.
5. Between ignorance and intelligence.
There are several different types of phrases.
Noun phrase:
A phrase built around a single noun:
1. A vase of roses stood on the table.
2. She was reading a book about the problems of women.
Verb phrase:
A phrase that is the verbal part of a clause:
1. She had been living in London.
2. I will be going to college next year.

5. Adverbial phrase:
A phrase built around an adverb by adding words before and/or after it:
1. The economy recovered very slowly.
2. They wanted to leave the country as fast as possible.
Prepositional phrase:
A phrase where a preposition comes at the beginning:
1. She got a prize for the best story.
2. The dog was hiding under the kitchen table.
Clause
A clause is a collection of words with a subject that is doing the action of a verb.
1. Since she laughs at diffident men.
2. I despise individuals of low character.
3. When the saints go marching in.
4. Because she smiled at him.
Adjective phrase:
A phrase built around an adjective:
1. He had a very interesting life.
2. A lot of the kids really enjoy football.

6. An independent clause can stand by itself and be a complete sentence:
1. I like young people.
2. The lunch was too big for me.
A dependent clause has a subject doing the action of a verb, but it can't make a complete
sentence by itself. It begins with conjunction and needs another clause to complete its
meaning.
Dependent clauses often begin with words such as before, after, while, during, when,
because, or if:
1. because she smiled at him.
2. when everybody left the room.
3. after he went to school.
1. after
2. because
3. who, whose, whom
4. what, whatever
5. before
6. since
7. until
8. when
9. that
10. if
11. while
12. whether...or not
13. unless
14. as
15. although
16. even though
17. as if
18. which
19. so that
Common Subordinating Conjunctions/Dependant Words

7. A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction
such as “and” or “but”, or joined by a semicolon (“;”):
Ex. He likes playing games all afternoon and evening, but his mother wants him to study.
He likes eating at McDonald’s; his favourites foods are French fries and chicken.
Coordinating conjunction – FANBOYS - for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
; moreover, ; thus, ; for example,
; consequently, ; also, ; as a result,
; however, ; for instance, ; besides,
; furthermore, ; nevertheless, ; then,
Sentence
Every sentence must have at least one independent clause.
A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period (“.”)
A simple sentence has one independent clause:
Ex. He likes playing games all afternoon and evening.
A Complex Sentence has one Independent Clause connected to at least one Dependent
Clause:
Ex. Although I was invited to the party, I didn’t want to go.
We invited the neighbour to the party even though we don’t like him.

8. General Grammar topics
in English
Sentences
Verb forms
Phrases
Parts of Speech
Tenses
Direct – indirect
Active Passive voice
Punctuation
Subject Verb agreement
Modals