A Grammatical Look at Syntax

Clause

• Definition: A grammatical unit that contains a subject and a verb/predicate

Examples:“I followed, reluctantly”“Donna was a senior and the best twirler on the team”“when she announced”“I began to like her”“Although Mom applied crushed aspirin directly to the puncture”“We paused on the crest”

Independent Clause

• Expresses a complete thought and can stand on its own as a sentence.

Examples:“I followed, reluctantly.”“Donna was a senior and the best twirler on the team.”“I began to like her.”“We paused on the crest.”

Dependent/Subordinate Clause

Definition: A clause that cannot stand on its own as a sentence and must be accompanied by an independent clause.Examples:“When she announced”“Although Mom applied crushed aspirin directly to the puncture”“When I stumbled into the kitchen”“If you don’t panic”

Coordinating Conjunctions

• When identifying clauses, ignore coordinating conjunctions: AND, BUT, OR, NOR, YET, EITHER-OR, NEITHER-NOR

Example:“Mom dropped me off at the edge of the field and I limped to the bleachers to watch.”What are the two independent clauses in this sentence?

Subordinating Conjunctions

• When identifying subordinate/dependent clauses do look for and include SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: Before, after, although, as, if, because, how, since, than, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, while.

Examples: Tears shot into my eyes when we maneuvered the boot on.You don’t know pain until you do the hill.

Relative Pronouns

• When identifying subordinate/dependent clauses do look for and include RELATIVE PRONOUNS: THAT, WHICH, WHO, WHAT, WHOEVER, WHICHEVER.

• Examples: Mr. Lavezzo, who teaches at Tamalpais High School, has four children.

• The bike that Shane left in the rain began to rust.

Sentences Classified by Grammatical Structure

• A simple sentence contains one independent clause.

• A compound sentence contains more than one independent clause.

• A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least subordinate clause.

• A compound-complex sentence contains more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Simple SentencesA simple sentence contains one independent clause.

• It was a perfect lesson.• It was the flavor of Puerto Rico.• My father’s uncle is last in line.• All family meals were eaten in the nook.• We went to the new high school.

Compound SentencesA compound sentence contains more than one independent clause.

• “Mom dropped me off at the edge of the field and I limped to the bleachers to watch.”

• “You can always get warm, but it’s hard to stay cool.”

• “Perspiration trickled down my temples and collected under my jaw, but I held still.”

Complex SentencesA complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least

subordinate clause

• “You don’t know pain until you do the hill.”• “If she could suffer, so could I.”• “When I stumbled into the kitchen, Mom lit

into action, popping ice cubes into a pail of water.”

Compound-Complex SentencesA compound-complex sentence contains more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

• “The neighborhood buzzed, my mother beamed, the president of the local NAACP chapter came up after church to shake my hand; even my father, usually dismissive of nonintellectual pursuits, pulled out his camera as I struck a few poses in the driveway.”

Loose Sentence

Begins with main idea/Main independent clause •We would be tired at night and lie down in the accumulated heat of the little bedrooms after the long hot day and the breeze would stir almost imperceptibly outside and the smell of the swamp drift in through the rusty screens.

Periodic Sentence

•Main idea is at the end, near the period.•As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.

Sentences According to Function

• Four sentence types according to function:1) Declarative2) Interrogative3) Imperative4) Exclamatory

Declarative Sentence

Function: Makes a statement.

Example: There had been no years.

Interrogative Sentence

Function: Asks a question.Examples: Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of it actually happened? Did any of it? Why keep a notebook at all?

Imperative Sentence

Function: Gives advice. Makes a suggestion. Issues an order, command, or request.Example: My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Exclamatory Sentence

Function: Expresses strong feeling.Example: If only I had a girlfriend!