The immediate constituents of the sentence

     Introduction

     The diploma paper outlines the theme “The primary parts of the English sentence”.

     The novelty of the present research work lies in the attempt to carry out the analysis of different ways of expressing primary parts of the sentence. The aim of the diploma paper is to…The object of investigation is …

     The tasks of the diploma paper are:

• to discover the functions of the primary parts
• to provide the structural and grammatical classification of the predicate
• to provide the structural and grammatical classification of the subject.
• to find out all the ways of expressing primary parts
• to provide the examples from the literature .

   The course paper consists of Introduction, 2 Chapters, Conclusions, Summary and Bibliography.

In Chapter 1

In Chapter 2

Practical value:

       
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

     MAIN PART

     The immediate constituents of the sentence

     Though the sentence contains words, it is not merely collection of words, but sometimes integral, a structural unity built in accordance with one of the syntactic patterns existing in a given language. It is constructed according to the system of rules, known by all the mother – tongue speakers of the language. A sentence formed in this way is said to be grammatical.

     A basic sentence pattern consists first of all of a subject and a predicate. These are called the immediate constituents of the sentence. They are constituents in the sense that they constitute, or make up, the sentence. They are immediate in the sense that they act immediately on one another: the whole meaning of the one applies to the whole meaning of the other [Rayevska 187].

     The function of the main parts of the sentence – the subject and the predicate, is to make the predication, to contain the meanings of predicativity (relation of the sentence to the situation of the speech). It includes relations to the act of speech, to the speaker, and to reality.

     Predicativity is as essential a part of the content of the sentence as intonation is of its form. The sentence as a predicative unit of language verbalizes human thought and represents lingually the main predicative form of thought, proposition. [Suhorolska; 245]

     The subject and the predicate are considered to be interdependent. They constitute the backbone of the sentence: without them the sentence would not exist at all, whereas all other parts may or may not be there, and if they are there, they serve to define or modify either the subject or the predicate, or each other [Illiw].

     Every English sentence but the one – member and the imperative one must have a subject. The subject is one of the two main parts of the sentence.

     The subject denotes the thing whose action or characteristic is expressed by the predicate. Subject can refer to something that is identified, described, classified, or located; they may imply something that performs an action or is affected by action, or something involved in an occurrence of some sort. [Rayevska, 1970, 94]

     The most important feature of the subject in English is that in declarative sentences it normally comes immediately after an operator. It means that in English sentences any word or words which occur in these positions are to be treated as the Subject of the sentences. The subject determines the form of the verbal part of the predicate as regards its number and person. Also it is not dependent on any other part of the sentence.

     The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence and its organizing centre, as the object and nearly all adverbial modifiers are connected with and dependent on it. It denotes the action, state or property of the thing expressed by the subject. Traditional grammar identified predicate by looking for the verb. However, the verb itself is seldom the entire predicate. The predicate is usually more or less complex structure with the verb at its core. It is not dependent on any other part of the sentence. The different meanings find their expression in the structure of the predicate and the lexical meaning of its constituents.

     The predicate may be considered from the semantic or from the structural point of view. But whatever the meaning or the structure may be, the predicate in English always contains a finite verb form, which agrees with subject in number and person. The only exception to this rules the simple nominal predicate, which has no verb at all.

     It is sometimes claimed that the predicate agrees in number with the subject: when the subject is in the singular, the predicate is bound to be in the singular, and vice versa. However this statement is very doubtful. E.g. My family are early risers. The question of concord refers to the level of phrases, not sentences.

     The subject-group and the predicate-group of the sentence are its two constitutive "members", or, to choose a somewhat more specific term, its "axes" (in the Russian grammatical tradition — «составы предложения») [Bloh, 25].

     Subject

     From the point of view of its grammatical value the subject may be rather notional or formal.

     1. Notional subject.

     2. Formal subject (impersonal and introductory: It – subject, There - subject).

     Notional subject

     It may be expressed by different parts of speech, the most frequent ones being:

     1. A noun in the common case or a nominal phrase with a noun. Also a noun in the genitive case.

     Time should follow the ideology of that publication. [, 6]

     Bret calmly tells Jemaine his gal pal has robbed them [5, 56].

     Finally a crew member calls a break [5, 56].

     Artists in unstable and troubled countries always find a way to speak [23,56].

     Military working dogs had been used aginst Khatani [173,11]

     2. A pronoun :

     a) a personal pronoun in the nominative case:

     I fail to see any contradiction. [ , 6].

     We finally elected the smartest guy in the room [,6].

     They are supported by incompetent manager Murray- by day a bureaucrat in the New Zealand consulate – and obsessed fan Mel.

     Can we relieve Bret’s arms for a bit? [5,56].

     b) a demonstrative pronoun (this and that, those, such, the same) occasionally:

     This will fund up to children’s studies next year [ ,6].

     That will require more than speedy spending [ ,18].

     That was a real gig that we did [5,56].

     These are the issues that Israel and the world must reckon [173,2] 

     c) a defining (all, each, every used only as attribute, everybody, everyone, everything, either, both, other, another):

     All of this takes place in setting of high-8os kitsch, through which Brosnan strides with not a hair out of place nor a crease in his fastidiously tailored attire [5,58].

     All didn’t end well for the pirates, however: reports said several of them drowned when their boat capsized as they returned to shore [,11].

     d) an indefinite (some, any, somebody, anybody, someone, anyone, something, anything, one):

           Some of the most difficult subjects in entertainment are people who have been in show business for a very long time [2,4].  

     e) negative:

      After seeing his film, nobody is going to forget it [23,55]. 

     f) possessive:

     g) interrogative:

     3.  A gerund, a gerundial phrase or construction:

     Perhaps hoping to turn attention away from their financial woes, carmakers unveiled a slew of new hybrid and electric vehicles at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

     Choosing Obama as Time’s person of the Year was so predictable [5,6].

     Weaving’s a man’s game [5,56].

     Adjusting to a sudden power outage can be a remarkable challenge [5,60].

     Rollin’s timing is perfect while prices for Chinese works dropped in the fall auctions, Southeast Asian art broke records. 

     4. A substantivized adjective or participle:

     The offensive, which had claimed the lives of more than 950 Palestinians and 13 Israelis so far, has hardened attitudes on both sides [,11].

     Little is known about Jong Un, who is in his mid – 20s and has lived a life of secrecy – much as his father [5,7].  

     5.  A numeral (cardinal or ordinal) or a nominal phrase with a numeral:

     Two or three generations ago we had nothing at all, and then all of sudden we had everything [23,56].

     And when one burns out, You can’t toss it in the trash [5,6].

     6. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase or construction:

     8. Any part of speech used as quotation.

     9. A clause.

      We’ve run out , and now what we’re doing is, we’re making up. [23,4]. 

     10. Subjective predicative construction.

     ………..

     Formal subject

     We have two formal subjects – there and it.

     The formal subject it may be impersonal and introductory.

     The first one is used in sentences to describe various states of nature, or things in general, or characteristics of the environment, or denoting time, distances, or other measurement.

     It ’s late afternoon on the set of Flight of the Concords, and McKenzie is hanging, duct – taped, on the back of the door. [5,56]

     It’s terrific [5,58]

     At 60ft. tall, it will be one of the world’s largest all-bambo buildings when completed in March [5,56].  

     For me, it was a 20-minute helicopter ride and I was back in Haifa, where the war didn’t exist [23,55].  

     It was just another example of his uncompromising, unforgettable zeal [, 13]. 

     There are some peculiarities that distinguish impersonal it from introductory.

     - In the sentences describing a certain state of affairs, where the predicate expressed by the verbs to seem, to appear, to happen, to turn out followed by a clause, it is impersonal. The clause will be object.

     ………… 

     - Impersonal it is used in the sentences describing time, where the predicative adjectives preceded by too and followed by an infinitive. Here the infinitive is an adverbial of consequences , not the subject.

     ……………

     - It is also used in the sentences with the predicative expressed by the noun time followed by the infinitive. Here the infinitive is an attribute to the noun time.

     ……………..

     The introductory/anticipatory it introduces the notional subject, that can be expressed by:

1. an infinitive
2. a gerund
3. an infinitive /gerundial phrase
4. a predicative complex
5. a clause.

It’s just that her audience wasn’t ready [23,4].

I think that if there was any mistake made, it’s probably that she shouldn’t have posed for Vanity Fair [23,4]. 

     The formal subject There

     Used in the sentences expressing the existence or coming into existence of the person or non-person expressed by the subject.

     There introduces the subject expressed by:

1. noun or noun phrase (denoting an inseparable unit or an indefinite amount of something)

     Thehe’s a strong dose of social realism in the novels, in keeping with Scandinavian tradition [23,56].              

     There are no car chases or explosions. 

2. by some noun – pronoun

indefinite

negative

universal

                  detaching

                  demonstrative

3. by a gerund or gerundial phrase.

The predicate in such sentences can be:

1. Simple verbal predicate (expressed by the verbs to be, to appear, to live, to come, to go etc)

………….

1. compound verbal predicate. 

……….

2. predicate of double orientation (it’s second part expressed by the verb to be or other verbs mentioned above)

………….. 

     Predicate

     Ways of expressing of the predicate are varied and their structure will better be considered under the heading of types of predicate.

     Types of predicate

     From the structural point of view there are two main types of predicate: the simple predicate and the compound predicate. Both have its sub-groups: simple verbal, simple nominal, compound verbal, compound nominal.  Compound verbal predicates may be further classified into phasal, modal and of double orientation. Compound nominal predicates may be classified into nominal proper and double nominal.

     Simple Verbal Predicate

     The simple verbal predicate is expressed by:

     1. A finite verb in a simple or a compound tense form. (kauwanska)

     Our sun recharges the batteries of millions of tourists [, 1].

     More people survive than die [5,6].

     But the most definitive official account was released by the Senate Armed Services Committee just before Christmas [173,11].

     (Past simple),(Past perf cont),(Pres perf cont)

      I was raised in a very traditional home [, 4].

     An appellate court has revived charges against him of corruption,fraud and racketeering [,11]. 

     2. A verbal phrase (a phraseological equivalent of a verb denoting one action). Here belong:

     a) phrases denoting momentaneous actions: to have a look, to have a smoke, to have a talk, to give a look, to give a laugh, to give a cry, to make a look, to make a move, to make a remark, to pay a visit.

     Vice President had a hand in the process [173,11].

     b) phrases denoting various kinds of actions. In most cases they comprise an abstract noun used with no article: to change one’s mind, to get rid of, to get hold of, to loose sight of, to make fun of, to make up one’s mind, to make use of, to take care of, to take leave of, to take part in.

            ....................

     A simple nominal predicate

     The simple nominal predicate is expressed by a noun, or an adjective, or a verbal. It does not contain a link verb, as it shows the incompatibility of the idea expressed by the subject and that expressed by the predicate; thus in the meaning of the simple nominal predicate there is an implied negation:

     ………..

     Sentences are always exclamatory. The simple nominal predicate can be expressed by:

1. A noun.
2. An adjective.
3. An infinitive or an infinitive phrase.
4. Participle I or a participial phrase.

     The simple nominal predicate, that is, a predicate consisting merely of a noun or an adjective, without a link verb, is rare in English, but it is nevertheless a living type and must be recognised as such. (Ilyish) 201

…………

Compound predicate

     It consists of two parts: the notional and the structural. The notional part may be expressed by a noun, an adjective, stative, an adverb, a verbal, a phrase, a predicative complex and a clause. From point of view of the meaning it contains the information of the subject.39

     The structural part is expressed by a finite verb – a phasal verb, a modal verb, or a link verb. It carries the grammatical information about the person, number, tense, voice, modal and aspective (phasal) meaning of the whole predicate. 39