English Syntax: A Structured Guide

1. What Is Syntax?

Syntax is the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in English, especially how words combine to form phrases and sentences.

2. Basic Sentence Structure in English

Canonical English Sentence Order:

Subject – Verb – Object
(SVO)

Example:

The cat (S) chased (V) the mouse (O).

3. Parts of Speech (Word Classes)

Part of Speech	Function	Example
Noun	Person/place/thing	student, London
Verb	Action/state	jump, is, seem
Adjective	Describes a noun	happy, blue
Adverb	Modifies verb/adj	quickly, very
Preposition	Shows relationship	in, on, under
Determiner	Introduces noun	the, a, this
Pronoun	Replaces noun	he, she, it
Conjunction	Connects clauses	and, but, because
Interjection	Emotion/exclamation	oh!, wow!

 

4. Phrase Structure in English

4.1 Noun Phrase (NP)

[The big brown dog] barked.
Structure: Det + Adj(s) + Noun (+PP)

4.2 Verb Phrase (VP)

The dog [barked loudly].
Structure: Verb + (NP) + (AdvP/PP)

4.3 Prepositional Phrase (PP)

The dog barked [at the stranger].
Structure: Preposition + NP

4.4 Adjective Phrase (AdjP)

The dog is [very angry].
Structure: (Adv) + Adjective

5. Sentence Types in English

Type	Example
Declarative	The dog barked.
Interrogative	Did the dog bark?
Imperative	Bark!
Exclamative	What a loud bark that was!

 

6. Clauses in English

6.1 Independent Clause

Can stand alone as a sentence.

She smiled.

6.2 Dependent (Subordinate) Clause

Cannot stand alone. Needs a main clause.

Although she smiled...

7. Common Sentence Patterns

Pattern	Example
S + V	He sleeps.
S + V + O	She reads books.
S + V + IO + DO	He gave me a gift.
S + V + C	They are happy.
S + V + A	She lives in Paris.

• S = Subject
• V = Verb
• O = Object (DO = Direct, IO = Indirect)
• C = Complement
• A = Adverbial

8. Transformations in English Syntax

8.1 Passive Voice

Active: The chef cooked the meal.
Passive: The meal was cooked by the chef.

8.2 Wh-Questions

Statement: She bought a car.
Question: What did she buy?

8.3 Yes-No Questions

Statement: He is coming.
Question: Is he coming?

8.4 Negation

Positive: They like pizza.
Negative: They do not like pizza.

9. English Syntax Rules

9.1 Subject-Verb Agreement

She works. / They work.

9.2 Use of Auxiliaries

He is eating. / They have eaten.

9.3 Tense and Aspect

• Simple Present: She sings.
• Present Continuous: She is singing.
• Present Perfect: She has sung.

9.4 Modifier Placement

• Adjectives come before nouns: a big house
• Adverbs are more flexible: He quickly ran / He ran quickly

10. Tree Diagrams (Constituency Trees)

For example:

The dog chased the cat.

mathematica

CopyEdit

        S

      /   \

    NP     VP

   / \     / \

Det  N   V   NP

 |   |   |   / \

The dog chased Det N

                |  |

               the cat

 

11. Syntactic Ambiguity in English

Example:

I saw the man with the telescope.

Two interpretations:

• I used a telescope to see.
• The man had a telescope.

Use tree structures to disambiguate.

12. Exercises

A. Identify Sentence Pattern:

The girl gave her brother a gift.
→ S + V + IO + DO

B. Transform:

• Active: The boy ate the cake.
  → Passive: The cake was eaten by the boy.

C. Identify Phrase Types:

The girl with the red scarf danced gracefully.

• NP: The girl with the red scarf
• VP: danced gracefully
• PP: with the red scarf
• AdvP: gracefully

 

 

 

Categories: Education, Grammar, Learn English, Lingustics, Sentences, Structure, Syntax