This article describes the basic concepts that operate with English grammar. Terms are given with a priority original designation. First of all, these are the sentence members and the general structure described with respect to the standard word order. Also, keep in mind that non-narrative constructions ('irrealis moods'), such as interrogative moods, requests and commands ('Imperative mood'), conditional sentences ('conditional sentences'), often change the structure of sentences . In inversion, the predicate (or part of the predicate) becomes ahead of the subject. Also, some minor members may come out on top for assuming a rheumatic role. This does not apply to definitions, as they depend not on any members of the sentence, but directly on nouns.
Clause, simple and composite (grammar, simple and complex sentence)
The current syntax of the English language is not equivalent to Russian, although it has common points. What is denoted by similar concepts in a traditional system can behave differently in a practical situation. Thus, we briefly outline the grammatical terms of the English language without a rigid reference to the Russian classification system.
'Sentence' is a sentence, a set of words containing a relatively complete idea.
'Rhema' is a rema, an accented part, designed to express unique or fundamentally important information, which is why the message was voiced (or written).
'Theme' is the passive part, which serves as a frame for the bump and contains well-known or not affecting the essence of what is happening.
'Clause' is the part of a sentence containing a verb, usually translated as a grammatical basis.
'Composite sentence' - a complex sentence containing several 'clauses' ("grammatical bases"), according to hierarchical distribution, is divided into:
- sentences with equivalent parts - 'Compound sentences' (compound);
- sentences with dependent and subordinate parts - 'Complex sentences' (compound).
In addition, depending on the presence of minor members, there is such a grammatical term as 'non-extended sentence' (non-distributed sentence) and 'extended sentence' (common).
Members of non-extended sentences
'Non-extended sentence' - an unallocated sentence, contains only the main members of the sentence: subject and / or predicate.
'Predicate' is a predicate, grammatical term for the verb proper with all its auxiliary units - 'simple predicate' (simple), for a multi-component predicate - 'complex predicate' (complex).
'Verbal predicate' is a compound predicate consisting of several verbs.
'Predicative expression' is the nominal part of a nominal predicate, usually expressed by a noun or pronoun.
'Subject' - subject - a grammatical term used to indicate the main argument ('argument') of a predicate, can be expressed in almost any part of speech or phrase. Even 'clause' can play this role. Theoretically, in English, it should be present in the sentence, at least in the form of the formal 'It', but in practice it is often omitted.
Members of extended sentences
'Extended sentence' - a common sentence that contains, in addition to the subject and / or predicate, secondary members, such as, for example, addition, circumstance and definition.
'Object' is a complement. The direct object ('direct object') refers directly to the verb and says who / what or by what action is being taken.
'Adverbial' ('adjunct') - circumstance. In a broader sense, it characterizes the details of the situation of the events described, such as time, place, reason, previous points, conditions of probability and consequences.
'Attribute' - a definition that finds its position in the text regardless of the general structure, that is, its place is dictated by the main word, and not by the standards of the order of members in the sentence.
'Wh-words' are interrogative words or words used to compose special questions and similar constructions.
Modal words and Wh-words
'Modal words' - modal (introductory) words (not to be confused with modal verbs).
'Wh-words' and 'Modal words' are usually counted separately, not defined as members of a sentence.
The grammar in the tables is briefly presented below. One part (upper) unites the members of the sentence, the other (lower) - parts of speech.
Parts of speach
The grammar of a word implies a set of rules on morpheme formation operations and consideration of the criteria by which words are defined in a particular class. Parts of speach - categories of words that tend to express a certain range of concepts. For example, adjectives denote the sign of objects and phenomena, and pronouns are intended to indirectly denote other parts of speech. Separate open ('open') and closed ('closed') groups of parts of speech.
Open groups
'Open groups' is a grammatical term for constantly growing groups. New words appear by adding prefixes and suffixes, by adding roots, forming from other parts of speech, borrowing from other languages, the emergence of new terms and names, and also as a result of linguistic evolution from existing obsolete words.
'Nouns' are nouns that express an object or phenomenon and vary in degree of independence from general to proper names, which, with the exception of the peculiarities of using articles and compatibility rules, does not affect their syntax.
'Verbs' - verbs. Referring to the verb as a key component of the predicate, we can distinguish the grammatical term 'main verb' (meaning verb), the rest of the verbs are official and belong more to the closed group: 'modal verb' (meaningless verb with a transitive meaning) and 'auxuliary verb' ( auxiliary verb), used for the formation of temporal-aspect, pledge and subordinate constructions, as well as a type of 'auxiliary verbs' - 'link verb' (link-verb), used to ensure the verb of the nominal (nominal) predicate. In the case where 'link verb' is the only verb in a grammatical basis, it is considered the main one, 'main verb'.
Verb forms:
- 'basic form', basic form (or “infinitive without 'to'”, 'bare infinitive'), or just a verb in an indefinite present tense;
- 'infinitive' (infinitive);
- '-s'-form, which is used in the present indefinite time in the third person singular;
- Past Indefinite Active - a form that a verb takes in the past indefinite tense (regular verbs form it, getting the ending 'ed', and incorrect ones can be seen in the second column of the table of irregular verbs);
- 'participle I' or 'present participle' - a present participle in the form of a verb with the addition of the ending 'ing';
- 'participle II' or 'past participle' - past participle , which for regular verbs looks like adding the ending 'ed', and for irregular ones it looks like the third column of the table of irregular verbs;
- 'gerund' - gerund, which combines the properties of a noun and action.
'Adjectives' - adjectives, express the sign of a noun, may be part of the subject and predicate or definition.
'Adverbs' - adverbs, more often reveal the details of the action, but may apply to the proposal as a whole, often form the core of the circumstances.
Closed groups
'Closed groups' - groups of parts of speech, the number of units in which, as a rule, always remains unchanged. As rare exceptions, new morphemes are formed as in open groups due to the modernization of existing words when the grammar of the language is updated and modernized.
'Pronouns' - pronouns.
'Prepositions' - prepositions.
'Conjunctives' - unions.
'Determiners' are pointing words. They are divided into 'particles' - particles, and 'articles' - articles.
'Interjections' - interjection.