Grammar Theory Minor thesis : Clauses in English

This paper focuses on a brief contrast of English clauses among different grammar theories. The author wishes to concentrate on the differences among three grammar schools about English clauses. The thesis is divided into five sections; the main content is presented in section two. The different viewpoints among some grammar theories about clauses have been analyzed and pointed out with an ambition to help learners have clear understanding about English clauses. The author also gives classifications and comparisons of English clauses so that learners will have a wide overview of clauses and improve their grammar knowledge. Practically, the author hopes that the lessons drawn from the study of this work could effectively assist learners in improving their English grammar, and becoming excellent English users.

This paper focuses on a brief contrast of English clauses among differentgrammar theories The author wishes to concentrate on the differences amongthree grammar schools about English clauses The thesis is divided into fivesections; the main content is presented in section two The different viewpointsamong some grammar theories about clauses have been analyzed and pointedout with an ambition to help learners have clear understanding about Englishclauses The author also gives classifications and comparisons of Englishclauses so that learners will have a wide overview of clauses and improve theirgrammar knowledge Practically, the author hopes that the lessons drawn fromthe study of this work could effectively assist learners in improving their Englishgrammar, and becoming excellent English users

First of all, I (the author) would like to express my hearty gratitude to Dr.Hoàng Tuyết Minh, who has given us many interesting and useful lectures Thiswork would never have been possible without the encouragement and supportfrom her I feel extremely fortunate as my knowledge has been highly widenedthrough her lectures, which have inspired me to do this minor thesis

I am also indebted to all my lecturers at Hanoi Open University for theirprecious knowledge, useful lectures in linguistics, which lay the foundation forthis study

Next, my thanks also go to my friends, who gave me documents andencouraged me much while the work was in process

Last but not least, I would like to express how thankful I am to my belovedfamilies, who always stand by me and help me overcome all the difficulties instudying and completing this thesis

3.2.2 Structure of the Residue element 15

3.3.1 Process 16

3.3.1.1 Material clauses 16 3.3.1.2 Mental clauses 16 3.3.1.3 Relational clauses 17 3.3.1.4 Behavioral clauses 17 3.3.1.5 Verbal clauses 17 3.3.1.6 Existential clauses 17

2 The Importance of Clauses 19

3 Some suggestions in learning clauses 20

Section I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Over the last decades since English became the first language of manycountries, there have been many works on English grammar The more widelyEnglish is used, the more researches on English grammar are done So far, therehave been six grammar schools: Prescriptive and Descriptive Grammar,Traditional Grammar, Phrase-Structure Grammar, Transformational-GenerativeGrammar, Functional-Systematic Grammar, and Cognitive Grammar Each ofthe schools, in some ways, gives a different viewpoint on different grammarpoints However, no matter how different they are, all of them help learners have

a better understanding about the language in various perspectives It is verynecessary, therefore, to study English grammar in different grammar theories iflearners want to master it

As a teacher of English, I always try my best to help my students masterEnglish grammar Never would this aim be achieved if I did not master Englishfirst Therefore, I have chosen to study English grammar on different grammartheories for this thesis In such a short minor thesis, I can not work on many

grammar points The only point I have chosen for this study is Clauses in

English, which is a very important language point that students often get

difficulties when learning English I present my work in terms of three differenttypes of grammar theories: Traditional Grammar, Phrase – Structure Grammar and Functional – Systematic Grammar

2 Aims of the study.

2.1 Objectives

- To help learners avoid mistakes when they make English sentences

- To help learners have a wider knowledge about clauses according to threedifferent grammar schools

2.2 Significance

The author hopes that this study is useful for both English and Vietnameselearners, who want to consolidate their knowledge of English grammar ingeneral, and of English clauses in particular, which can help them significantly

improve their sentence grammar The result of this study should be meaningfulfor helping English students to pay more attention to the study of Englishclauses and eventually enrich their skills in using English language.

3 Scope of the study.

This is only a minor thesis, so the author can only deal with: Literaturereview, definition of clauses, classification and features, comparisons amongthe different viewpoints and some exercises to consolidate the knowledge

4 Methods of the study.

To accomplish this study, some following methods have been used:

+ Library research: The author collected the documents from curriculums, theInternet and some valuable grammar books of foreign scholars The authorthinks these are valuable sources to support the study effectively

+ Description: based on the collected knowledge, the author has withdrawnsome helpful applications of using English clauses

+ Analysis: by giving examples, the author analyzed the characteristics of eachkind of clauses according to the three grammar schools

+ Comparison and contrast: from the examples, analysis and descriptions, Theauthor compares and contrasts clauses among the different viewpoints of thethree grammar schools

6 Design of the study

The study consists of five sections:

- Section I: Introduction

- Section II: Literature review

- Section III: Development

- Section IV: Findings and discussion

- Section V: Conclusion

- References

Section II: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Definition and characteristic features.

To research clauses, first of all, we must understand what a clause is Itreally is a complicated question There are various versions of clause’sdefinition In this research the author will provide some definitions which arethe most useful and easiest to identify.

According to Traditional Grammar, “A clause is a group of words that

contains a subject and a verb There are two major types: independent clauses and dependent clauses An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence,

beginning with a capital letter and ending with terminal punctuation such as a period A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence; instead it must be attached to an independent clause." (G Lutz and D Stevenson, The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference, 2005).

According to Phrase-Structure Grammar, “a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition A typical clause consists of a subject and a predicate, where the predicate is typically a verb phrase.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause)

According to functional grammar, “the clause is the central processing unit in the lexical grammar – in the specific sense that it is in the clause that meanings of different kinds are mapped into an integrated grammar structure.” (M.A.K Halliday: An Introduction To Functional Grammar, P.10).

Clauses are thus our basic vehicle for talking about the world and relating occurrences to our own circumstances (Ronald W Langacker (2008): Cognitive grammar New York: Oxford University Press)

From the definitions above, it can be defined that a clause is a grammarunit at a level between a phrase and a sentence A clause is a part of a sentencethat has its own subject and verb Also a clause is a significant semantic unit Asentence may/can consist of one clause or more than one clause To illustratethis, the author will show some examples:

He is a good man (one clause)

He is the man who always work very hard (2 clauses)

I didn’t know that you won the prize, which made me surprised (3 clauses)

Section III: DEVELOPMENTClassification of clauses

1 In terms of Traditional Grammar

According to Traditional Grammar, there are two major types of clauses:

independent clauses (main clauses) and dependent clauses (subordinate

clauses)

1.1 Independent clauses

An independent clause can stand in a simple sentence, a compoundsentence, a complex sentence or a compound complex sentence For examples:

- "We cannot walk alone."

"We cannot walk alone" is an independent clause- also known as a main clause.

This construction is a simple sentence

- "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

This sentence contains two independent clauses joined by the conjunction "but."

This combination is called a compound sentence

- "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."

This sentence begins with an independent clause- "A woman must have money

and a room of her own"- and ends with an adverb clause of condition This

combination is called a complex sentence

- "Life moves pretty fast If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

"Life moves pretty fast" and "you could miss it" are independent clauses "If you don't stop and look around once in a while" is an adverb clause Therefore, the first

sentence is simple; the second sentence is complex

- "I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to

a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment."

This sentence contains two independent clauses joined by the conjunction "for";

the second independent clause is interrupted by an adjective clause- "which is a very crooked one." This combination is called a compound-complex sentence.

1.2 Dependent clauses

A dependent clause (also called a subordinate clause) is a clause that cannot

stand alone as a sentence Instead it must be attached to an independent clause,because something about it implies that there is more to come On its own, adependent clause is left hanging, its meaning is incomplete It must be combinedwith an independent clause in order to form a complete sentence

Ex: When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I

admire kind people."

When I was young can not make a meaningful sentence without I used to admire intelligent people Similarly, as I grow older can not be a complete sentence without I admire kind people.

More examples:

"Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I lie down until the urge passes."

"I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught."

2 In terms of Phrase-Structure Grammar

According to Phrase – structure Grammar, Clauses are divided into three kinds:

Finite clauses, Non-finite clauses, and Verbless clauses

In the 2002 revision of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, finiteverbs were renamed primary verbs, non-finite verbs were renamed secondaryverbs The words finite and nonfinite were reinterpreted as a syntactic category

of the clause In this thesis, the author would like to use the traditional

names-Finite & Non-finite, as they seem still more popular for most English learners nowadays

2.1 Finite and non-finite clauses

Verbs, words that belong to the verb word class, have five syntacticforms: the base form, the -s form, the -ing participle, the past form and the -ed

participle (often called the “past participle”) The -s form and the past form arefinite The -ing participle and the past participle are non-finite The base form issometimes finite and sometimes non-finite

A verb phrase containing just one word is finite if that word is a finiteverb and non-finite if that word is a non-finite verb Verb phrases containingmore than one word are finite if their first word is a finite verb and non-finite iftheir first word is a non-finite verb

When the base form is the first word in a verb phrase, i.e when itoccupies the position that determines whether the phrase is finite or non-finite, it

is finite It appears in its non-finite form when it is preceded by an auxiliary (in a

finite phrase) For example, “Harry does not love Jill.”

A clause is finite if its verb phrase is finite and non-finite if its verb phrase

is non-finite (The clause that constitutes a simple sentence always has a finiteverb phrase; the main clause of a complex sentence always has a finite verbphrase; all the independent clauses of a compound sentence always have finiteverb phrases.)

2.1.1 Finite clauses:

In finite clauses, primary (finite) verbs can be inflected for tense, person andnumber That is to say, they are marked by tense (usually -ed in past) andnumber (usually -s in present simple for the 3rd person)

Some examples:

Dick lives with Jane.

While going to university, Dick had been living with Jane

Dick found a job for Jane in Harry’s company.

Dick and Jane work for Harry

From the examples above, we can see that:

(i) the verb phrases in the four finite clauses - lives, had been living, found, and work - all begin with a finite verb.

(ii) in each of these cases “tense contrast” is possible — i.e the first and fourthexamples could be put into the past tense, and the second and third could be putinto the present

(iii) in the first and fourth examples, singular/plural contrast is possible, i.e in

the first example if a plural subject such as Tom and Dick were substituted, there would be a resulting change in the verb (from lives to live) and likewise if, in the fourth example, a singular subject such as Dick were substituted, there would be

a comparable change in the verb (from work to works);

2.1.2 Non-finite clauses:

Independent clauses are always finite Therefore, nonfinite clauses can be only

in subordinate clauses Secondary or nonfinite verbs are not marked for tense,aspect, mood, number or person Subordinate clauses may be either finite ornonfinite Within this broad classification, we can make many furtherdistinctions We will begin by looking at subordinate clauses which are

distinguished by their formal characteristics

Examples:

Harry had always wanted to raise a big family

They made the professor forget his notes

His hobby is collecting old photographs

Although raised on a farm, Harry had no interest in animals.

In the case of these four examples of non-finite clauses, we can see typicallythat: no “tense” or “number” contrasts are possible in the verb phrases And wecan conclude that non-finite clauses appear in four forms:

- To-infinitive clauses

- Bare-infinitive clauses

- Present(-ing) participle clauses

- Past(-ed) participle clauses

2.2 Verbless clauses

"Verbless clauses are clauses which contain no verb element, and often

also no subject They are regarded as clauses because they function in ways which make them equivalent to finite and non-finite clauses, and because they can be analyzed in terms of one or more clause elements." (Geoffroy Leech and Jan Svartvik, A Communicative Grammar of English, 1975)

Verbless clauses are clauses in which the verb (usually a form of to be)

and sometimes other elements have been deleted For examples:

“Generic drugs must be chosen when available or an additional expense will be

incurred.”

“Although not unfriendly toward strangers, this dog will protect its family in

times of danger.”

“He considered the girl a good student.”

“Whenever in trouble, Bill rang his girl-friend.”

“As a child, I used to sell lottery to earn money.”

"A verbless clause is considered a clause because it is dealing with a

separate piece of information in relation to the main clause For example, in the

sentence, In the interests of the local children, the council should reconsider its decision, there are two separate pieces of information: the main clause-the council should reconsider its decision; and a dependent clause that deals with issues that interest local children In this clause, however, the verb has been

nominallized resulting in a verbless clause Verbless clauses are different fromadverbial phrases The latter provide some information to do with the time,place, or manner in which something happens within an existing clause.Verbless clauses, on the other hand, provide a separate piece of informationoutside of an existing clause