120 hr. TEFL Course Module 2-Linguistics (Pt.10)

Module 2: Linguistics

2.4 Syntax

Now that we have learned about how sounds and words are created, it is time to discuss how sentences are formed. Syntax is the set of rules that govern the grammatical construction of sentences in a language. For English, these rules are fairly complicated, but let’s take a close look at some of the basic ideas behind English grammar and syntax.

2.4.1 Basics of syntax

To understand syntax, we have to look more closely at all of the parts that make up a sentence. The first step is to understand how sentences are classified:

Clausal sentence (simple sentence): A clausal sentence is a simple sentence that contains only one clause or one complete proposition (subject and predicate). For example, the sentence “Gloria is going to the store” contains only one clause, which includes a subject (“Gloria), a verb (“is going”), and an object (“the store”).

Compound sentence: A compound sentence is a sentence that consists of more than one clause (known in this case as coordinating clauses because they work together to complete an idea). For example, the sentence “Maryann went to the mall and got a new shirt” is a compound sentence containing the clauses “Maryann went to the mall” and “got a new shirt.” In the second clause, the subject (“Maryann) is implicit.