Syntax


Teacher: PhDr. Renata Povolná, Ph.D.


Written exam:

1. translation (20 sentences into English)

2. test (80 sentences, mainly transformations)

Literature:

for transformations use mainly: Hugh Gethin: Grammar in Context. Proficiency Level English. Nelson
1992 (Chapters 3 - 11) and Sidney Greenbaum, Randolph Quirk: A Student’s Grammar of the English
Language. Longman 1990

for translation use mainly: A. J. Thomson, A. V. Martinet: A Practical English Grammar. Oxford
University Press 1986 and Renata Povolná: Grammar I. Padagogická fakulta Masarykovy univerzity 2002


Oral exam:

1. text analysis (sentence and clause types, sentence elements, word classes)

2. three topics (A, B, C)

Topics for the oral exam:

Part A

1. Modality - (ability, permission).

2. Modality - (possibility).

3. Modality - (past activity, habit, refusal).

4. Modality - (expectation, assumption, conclusion).

5. Modality - (obligation).

6. Semi-modal verbs (dare, used to, need).

7. The infinitive (types and constructions).

8. The -ing forms (gerunds and participles and their constructions).

9. Direct and indirect speech (including sequence of tenses, etc.).

10.The subjunctive (3 types - mandative s., were-subjunctive, formulaic s.).

11.Clauses of result and cause (reason).

12.Clauses of purpose.

13.Clauses of concession.

14.Clauses of time.

15.Relative clauses (links and clause types).

Literature:

Hugh Gethin: Grammar in Context. Proficiency Level English. Nelson 1992. (Chapters 3 - 11)

Sidney Greenbaum, Randolph Quirk: A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman 1990.
(Chapter 4, pp. 60ff, Ch 3, pp. 43-44, Ch 14, pp. 294-302)

any grammar you like, e.g. A. J. Thomson, A. V. Martinet: A Practical English Grammar. Oxford
University Press 1986 or L. G. Alexander: Longman English Grammar. Longman 1988.


Part B

1. The simple sentence (syntactic characterization and semantic roles of clause elements).

2. The simple sentence (concord, vocatives, negation).

3. Sentence types and discourse functions.

4. Recoverability and substitution (pro-forms).

5. Recoverability and ellipsis (nature and types).

6. Syndetic, asyndetic, and polysyndetic coordination (coordinators, correlatives).

7. Simple and complex coordination (gapping). Appended coordination. Pseudo-coordination.
Quasi-coordination.

8. The complex sentence (subordination and its indicators, matrix clause, superordinate and
subordinate clauses).

9. The complex sentence (three main structural classes). Transferred negation.

10.Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses (nominal clauses).

11.Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses (adverbial clauses - time, place,
condition, concession, contrast).

12.Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses (adverbial clauses - exception,
similarity, proportion, preference; comment clauses).

13.Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses (comparative clauses, sentential
relative clauses).

14.Multi-word verbs (3 groups). Adjective complementation.

15.Verb complementation (intransitive, copular, and especially transitive verbs: monotransitive,
ditransitive and complex-transitive verbs).

Literature:

Sidney Greenbaum, Randolph Quirk: A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman 1990.
(Chapters 10 - 16)


Part C

1. The semantics and grammar of adverbials (adjuncts, subjuncts).

2. The semantics and grammar of adverbials (disjuncts, conjuncts).

3. Restrictive and nonrestrictive modification (relative clauses and other types of
postmodification).

4. Apposition. Premodification. Discontinuous modification.

5. Information processing. Communicative dynamism. Theme and focus (both marked and unmarked).

6. Information processing (fronting, cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences).

7. Information processing (postponement, extraposition, discontinuities, existential sentences).

8. Words - phrases - clauses - sentences. Two conventional methods of representing the structure of
sentences.

9. Word classes (open and closed).

10.Noun and verb phrases.

11.Adjective, adverb, prepositional phrases.

12.Functions of phrases (relation between sentence elements and types of phrases).

13.Types of clauses (seven basic types, obligatory and optional sentence elements)

14.Dependent clauses (four types of nominal clauses).

15.Text syntax (end-focus, end-weight, passive transformations).

Literature:

Sidney Greenbaum, Randolph Quirk: A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman 1990.
(Chapters 8, 17, 18)

Howard Jackson: Analyzing English. An Introductin to Descriptive Linguistics. Part Two: Structures.
(Chapters 8 - 16)