Sentence Formation

Formation of Sentence

Published in: relt.me

We have already learnt how to make a simple sentence with an Intransitive Verb.  Now we can discuss how to form a sentence with a Transitive Verb. We have already known that aTransitive verb must have an object at least. Some verbs take two objects too.
If a verb takes no object, it is called Intransitive Verb.

So we can classify verbs into two main classes: 1) Transitive Verb and 2) Intransitive Verb.

Transitive Verb means verb with object and Intransitive Verb means verb without object.

And the Transitive Verbs that take two Objects are called Double Object Verbs. And it’s also notable that no verb can take ever more than two Objects. When a Transitive verb takes two Objects, the Objects are named a) Direct Objectand b) Indirect Object.

Let us illustrate:

In the sentence She dances well --- There’s  no Object. Because we get no answer asking What does she dance? orWhom does she dances?

Remember, We can get Objects only by asking the questions with What? and Whom?

But in this sentence, we get answer by asking Who dances? --- She. Here ‘She’ is the Subject. And How does she dance? --- well. Here ‘well’ is Adverb. So the verb ‘dances’ has no Object and it’s an Intransitive Verb.

But in the sentence, I like you…. Whom do I like? --- you. Here ‘you’ is the Object and the verb ‘like’ is a Transitive Verb.

In I see a bird… What do I see? --- a bird. Here ‘a bird’ is the Object and the verb ‘see’ is a Transitive Verb too.

In I gave him a pen… What did I give? ---a pen. Here ‘a pen’ is an Object and it’s Direct Object (D.O.) Again, Whom did I give? --- him. Here ‘him’ is also an Object and it’s an Indirect Object (I.O.) So the Verb ‘gave’ has two Objects and it is a Double Object Verb.

A Direct Object answers the question What? And an Indirect Object answers the question Whom?

He gave me a pen at school. --- Here ‘a pen’ answers the question What? So ‘a pen’ Direct Object (D.O.). And ‘me’ answers the question Whom? So ‘me’ is Indirect Object (I.O.). And the verb ‘gave’ is a Double Object Verb.

But where did he give? --- at school. Here ‘school’ is not an object of the verb ‘gave’. It’s an Object of the Preposition ‘at’. So we may call it Prepositional Object (P.O.)  

As we have already learnt  that the structure of a Sentence is:
S (subject) + Vi (verb intransitive) + P.O. (prepositional object) + Adverbials. 
But now we can say that the structure of a complete sentence : S+Vt+I.O.+D.O.+P.O.+Adverbials. 
Of course, if the Verb is intransitive, there shall be no I.O. and D.O.

Now if we can detect or recognize the Subject, Verbs, Objects( both Direct and Indirect), Prepositional Object and Adverbials, we are very much able to arrange them well according to the above structure to make a complete simple sentence.

In the above structure we can see that there are 3 types of objects i. e, Indirect Object (I.O.), Direct Object (D.O.) and Prepositional Objects (P.O.). 
One must mind that I.O. must be arranged immediate before the D.O. and P.O.’s (may be many in number) must go after the D.O. 
Another thing is to be remembered that I.O. & D.O. are always single, never more than one, but P.O.’s may be many in number.

Again, P.O.’s never comes before D.O. and I.O. never goes after D.O.  But if you want to arrange I.O. after D.O.  it must be turned into a P.O. providing it with a Preposition. Follow the example: He gave me a pen at school yesterday.

In the sentence,  He(S) + gave(Vt) + me (I.O.) + a pen (D.O.) + at school (P.O.)  yesterday (Adverbials)

But we can rearrange the Sentence as: He gave a pen to me at school yesterday  where the I.O. is transferred after the D.O. taking a Preposition ‘to’.
There may be more than one Prepositional Objects in a Sentence. But P.O.’s have no restriction to be arranged among themselves if they are many in number. But they can never come before the D.O.

Adverbials (when it modifies the whole sentence) may come at the beginning of the sentence like Yesterday he gave me a pen at school or Yesterday he gave a pen to me at school.

I think, we now know the basic construction of an English sentence. I mean we can now arrange the words properly to make a correct simple sentence.

Now we will examine another sentence:  I wrote to him. Here, Who wrote? .. I (subject)
Whom did I write? --- him (object). And ‘him’ should be an Indirect Object but here we see it’s a Prepositional Object. 
We have already known An I.O. may be turned into a P.O.,  only when it goes after the D.O. But we see no D.O.before 'to him'.

So we have to know now that there must be a D.O. before ‘to him’ and the D.O. is silent or understood here.
That means the sentence is, in fact, I wrote a letter to him , where, 'a letter'=D.O., is silent. And this structure is also possible in some cases where the D.O. might be silent or understood.

Another sentence we will examine now:  There was a kind king in that country. 
Here, the Subject ‘king’ goes after the Verb ‘ was’ and the word ‘There’,  sitting before the Verb, just represents the subject and it bears no meaning. 
i)There was a pond  here in 1980.

ii)There was a pond there.
In each of the sentences, the beginning ‘There’ has no meaning and it’s called Introductory ‘There’.

In some sentences, the word ‘It’ may also be used as an Introductory ‘It’. For example: It rains cats and dogs. Here ‘rains’ is the verb but it has no doer. We know, formally a verb can’t be used without a subject. So the verb ‘rains’ needs a subject. ‘It’ here just acts for a subject having no meaning expressed.

Thus in some sentences ‘There’ and ‘It’ are used as subjects known as ‘Introductory There’ and ‘Introductory It’.
But in the sentence: It has four legs. where ‘It’ is not an ‘Introductory It’ because it has a meaning as a pronoun representing a Noun else.

Besides, there is another type of sentence, in which the P.O. may come before D.O. leaving its Preposition.
For example, He bought a pen for me. 
Here, ‘for me’ is  P.O. But we can also write: He bought me a pen. 
Here ‘me’ looks like an I.O. But it’s not an Indirect Object (I.O.). Because it does not answer ‘Whom?’ It answers ‘for Whom?

It’s called Dative of Interest.
Dative means Object. So it it’s an Object of interest and never Indirect Object (I.O.)
If something is done for the interest of any person, the person is to be the Object of a Preposition ‘for’. So it’s an P.O.
But when it comes before the D.O.  it must leave its Preposition. Because no Preposition is allowed before D.O.
Then, though it appears or seems to be an I.O., it’s never an I.O. It’s called Dative of Interest.

In sentences: He bought me a pen or He plucked me a flower, ‘me’ is Dative of Interest. In fact, originally the sentences are: He bought a pen for me and He plucked a flower for me, respectively.

I may hope now that we are very much able to make a simple sentence arranging all the words in a proper order. But now we have to learn Parts of Speech to know the character of words well. Because Words are the only requisite elements to form a Sentence. With a view to knowing the character of words we have to learn Parts of Speech well. To know Parts of Speech well is to know 50% of EnglishGrammar.

Abbreviations Used

S = Subject
O = Object
Vi = Intransitive Verb
Vt = Transitive Verb
I.O. =Indirect Object
D.O. =Direct Object
P.O. =Prepositional Object

Thank you.

Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech

Published in : relt.me

In  English Grammar, Parts of Speech is a very important factor.

Without learning Parts of Speech none can use or arrange words correctly or properly to form a correct Sentence. Even none can use the words in right forms.

1. He walks slow.            Correct. He walks slowly.
2. She dances good.        Correct. She dances well.
3. He is a well boy.          Correct. He is a good boy.
4. I go to home.               Correct. I go home.

Each of the above 4 sentences is incorrect. In Sentence no. 1. ‘slow’ is  in Adjective form. As it modifies the Verb ‘walk’, it should be in Adverb form ‘slowly’.

In no. 2. ‘good’ is in Adjective form. As it modifies the Verb ‘dances’, it should be in Adverb form ‘well’.

In no. 3. ‘well’ is in Adverb form. As it qualifies the Noun ‘boy’, it should be in Adjective form ‘good’.

In 4. ‘home’ is Adverb and adverb never takes a Preposition to be connected with any other word in a sentence. So the Preposition must be omitted. 

 So to use the right form of words in sentences, we must know or learn Parts of Speech well.

Words are the founding elements of a sentence. If we do not know the character of words we cannot be able to use the right form of words to form a correct sentence.

 Words, being used in a sentence, play a role in the sentence. Part of Speech deals with the role and character of words in sentences. So, to understand English Grammar well it is very much necessary to understand Parts of Speech well.

Follow the sentences:

 i) It is fine (adj.).              ‘ fine’ is an Adjective.

 ii) It is your fine (n.).        ‘fine’ is Noun

And also their meanings are not same. The same word used as different Parts of Speech gives different meaning.

 Again, a) I am well (adj.).      Here, ‘well’ is Adjective. Its meaning = not ill

b) She dances well (adv.).       Here, ‘well’ is the Adverb form of the Adjective good.

c) We have a well (n.).             Here, ‘well’ is the Object of the Verb ‘have’. So it is Noun. Like tube-well.

So, we can say when a word changes its Part of Speech --- that means changes its role, may also change it meaning.

If you do not know the Parts of Speech well, sometimes you will not be able to make the meaning of a sentence. So it is most essential to have a clear concept of Parts of Speech to learn English well.

Part of Speech means ‘a part of a speech or a sentence’. Each and every word used in a sentence is a part of the speech.

So long a word is not used in a Sentence it cannot be a Part of Speech. Let us take the word ‘water’. What Part of Speech does it belong? Maybe the common answer is ‘Noun’.

But if we use it in a sentence: I water the plant. According to the structure of a sentence, ‘water’ takes the position of verb here. So we cannot call it Noun. Here it is Verb.

Again, in another sentence: I drink water. Here, ‘water’ is the Object of the verb ‘drink’. So water is Noun.

Again, in another sentence: I like water color. Here ‘color’ is the Object and Noun and ‘water’ qualifies ‘color (N)’. So in the sentence ‘water’ is Adjective.

So ‘water’, without being used in a sentence, cannot be called a Noun. What Part of Speech does a word belong depends on its role in a sentence. We must keenly observe how a word behaves in a sentence. Then we will know what Part of Speech it belongs.

Words play 8 kinds of roles in sentences. So there are 8 kinds of Parts of Speech. Some Grammarians opined ‘All words are classified into 8 classes, so there are 8 kinds of Parts of Speech. If so, what class does the isolated single word ‘water’ belong?

Again, I read a book.              Here, ‘book’ is Noun.

In I shall book a ticket.            Here, ‘book’ is Verb.

In He is a book worm.            Here, ‘book’ is Adjective.

So, what class does the word ‘book’ belong? So many examples can be cited in this way.

In fact, it depends on what role the word ‘book’ plays in a particular sentence or in what manner or how ‘book’ behaves in a particular sentence.

So no word can be entitled with any particular Part of Speech only by judging its face. Rather a word should be entitled with a particular Part of Speech by judging its role played in a sentence.

A word can play different roles in different sentences. So a word can be entitled with different Parts of Speech in different sentences.

There are different opinions of different Grammarians about Parts of Speech. They necessarily not coincide with any logical argument.

So I like to say that all words are not classified into 8 classes, rather the roles of words in sentences are classified into 8 classes and a same word playing different roles in different sentences can be entitled with different Parts of Speech.

I am a teacher when I deliver my lecture for the learners in a class.

But I am a passenger when I travel in a public bus.

And I am a customer when I go into a shop to buy something.

What I am depends on the role I play.

Likewise, what Part of Speech a word belong, depends on the role it plays in a Sentence.

Noun is defined as ‘A Noun is the name of any thing’. A word merely bearing a name cannot be called a Noun.

Suppose, Bangladesh. Is ‘Bangladesh’ a Noun?

In the sentence: ‘A Bangladesh delegate went to talk to the British Prime –minister.’ Here, the word ‘Bangladesh’, even being a Proper Name, qualifies the Noun ‘delegate’ and that is why the word ‘Bangladesh’ is obviously an Adjective. So it is not proper to say ‘A Noun is the name of any thing’.

Actually to identify a Noun we have to know the functions of a Noun in a sentence, i.e., what role a Noun plays in a sentence and only knowing that, we can identify a Noun properly.

When we say, ‘Please come in’, here ‘in’ apparently seems to be a Preposition.

So the learners may make a gross mistake by identifying it as a Preposition.

We know well that a Preposition always connects either a Noun or a Pronoun. So there must be a Noun or Pronoun after any Preposition. But that Noun or Pronoun must be neither a Subject nor an Object of any verb in a sentence.

In the above sentence, after the word ‘in’ there is no word. That means it does not connect any word let alone a Noun or a Pronoun. On the other hand, I like to say, ‘in the above sentence the word ‘in’ itself is related to the verb ‘come’. That means it modifies the verb. So it must be an Adverb.’

Suppose, in an MCQ test, a question is set as: Identify the Part of Speech of the underlined word.

1. Please, come in.

a. Noun   b. Adjective   c. Adverb   d. Preposition   e. None

Most examinees will choose (d) with a great confidence as the correct answer. But what will be the result for them!

There are so many wrong concepts in our learners about Parts of Speech. They learn it from most of the traditional books available in the market. And also the teachers of their respective institutions teach them the same. Because most of the teachers are not innovative and do not think every thing logically. They also just follow the available books. 

Again, ‘A word used instead of a name is called Pronoun.’ It is not also a perfect definition of Pronoun. Let us examine the Sentence:

I know John’s   father. Here, the word John’s qualifies the Noun ‘father’ which is the object of the verb ‘know’. So‘John’s is an Adjective.

Again, I know his brother too. Here, the word ‘his’ is used in stead of the name ‘John’. But it is never a Pronoun. Because, it qualifies the Noun ‘brother’ which is the Object of the verb ‘know’.

Most books and teachers also identify the word ‘my’ as a Pronoun. But ‘my’ is never a Pronoun. The very single word ‘my’ is even not a Part of Speech.

Because a word cannot be a part of any speech or sentence so long it is not used in a sentence and it does not play any role in a sentence.

But when we use it in a sentence, it becomes a Part of Speech like, I love my country. Here, ‘my’ is related to ‘country’. That means ‘my’ qualifies the noun ‘country’ which is the Object of the Verb ‘love’. So ‘my’ is an Adjective. ‘My’ can never be used as a Pronoun. Rather it can be used as Noun. Notice the sentence:

‘My’ is never a Pronoun. Here, ‘My’ is the subject of the Verb ‘is’. So it is a Noun here.

All the possessive forms of Noun and Pronoun, when they are used in a sentence, always come with a Noun and always qualify the Noun. So, all the possessive forms of Noun as well as Pronoun, whenever they are used in a sentence, are always Adjectives. So they are called Possessive Adjective.

But so long they are not used in a sentence, they are never Parts of Speech at all.

We can conclude, “All the Parts of Speech are words but all the words are not Parts of Speech.”

So the face or appearance of a word is not important to identify Part of Speech. Rather it is important to know in what way the word is used in a sentence, how it behaves in a sentence and what role it plays in a sentence.

A learner must have a clear concept of Parts of Speech. If he knows Parts of Speech well, it may be said that he has already learnt 50% of English Grammar, as I think.

I think I am very much clear to the readers. Now they can understand or realize well what I want to say.

Maybe they also now realize that Part of Speech is not a negligible item in English Grammar. Rather it is the first and foremost item of English Grammar.

I will discuss about Parts of Speech details in my next post. I hope you all will keep your eyes on the page.

Thank you.

Tenses:English Grammar

Tense in English Grammar

In English Grammar Tense is considered to be the most vital factor or element. I like to torch upon illogical thinking of Tense in English Grammar.

From the very beginning of learning English, a learner had to know that Tense is the main factor of English Grammar and if any one knows the twelve forms of Tense, he is good at English. For this reason, it is often found that all the learners of English try to memorize the twelve forms of Tense. They never learn Tenses logically. So often they dose different kinds of mistakes in using Tense in a Sentence. We should remember that Tense is a Tool of English Grammar. I like to call it one of the Language Tools.

But, practically, Tense is nothing but the pragmatic use of different forms of Verb to indicate the time of an action and the condition of the action simultaneously. In different Tenses we use different forms of verb. With the variation of Tenses, the verb always varies and all other elements like Subject and Object remain the same. With the variation of Tenses, always the form of Verb is changed but the Subject and Object or any other Elements of the Sentence are never changed. So Tenses and Forms of Verb are inter-related.

We can say that before learning Tenses it is obligatory to have a good knowledge about different forms of Verb. In my observation I found that most learners do not learn the forms of Verb well and properly. As a result they cannot earn skill in using Tense. They only memorize the form of Tenses and use them illogically.

Most learners know that in Future Indefinite Tense the Present form of Verb is used with an Auxiliary Verb like ‘shall’ or ‘will’. Or, they learn the structure of the Future Indefinite Tense as: Subject + Shall/Will + Present form or (1st form or base form) of the Verb.

(Maybe 1st form or base form a ridiculous form. There are six forms of verb but among them none of them is 1st form or base form)

We know Present form is used in Present Tense because Present form always indicates the present time of the action. How can we indicate futurity with the Present form of the Verb? On asking such types of questions they probably have the answer that ‘shall’ or ‘will’ here indicates futurity of the action.

‘Shall’ and ‘Will’ are Modal Auxiliaries. We know modals always take the infinitive form of a Verb. So the Verb after ‘shall or will’ must be an Infinitive. How can we call the Verb after ‘shall or will’ a Present form? It’s not logical at all.

On the other hand, we know that what is not definite is Indefinite. And we can say if there is an Indefinite Tense, consequently there should be a Definite Tense. Learners are not aware of Definite Tenses. So there must be a big gap in learning Tense.

Of course,  some grammarians, now-a-days, prefer to call it Simple Future instead of Future Indefinite. In that case, there shall rise another controversy like what they will explain abut Complex Future and Compound Future. If there is a Simple Tense, there must, also, be Complex Tense as well as Compound Tense and that is logical consequence.

So if a learner, so long, does not know or understand the logic of using any grammatical tool, he can’t be able to use that tool properly and confidently. English will be difficult to learn well for him. But if he knows every thing logically, English will be very much easy to him to learn and also will be very much interesting.

Most learners can’t distinguish the Present Perfect Tense and the Past Indefinite Tense properly. To do that they, often, become very much confused because they can’t recognize even the Present Tense well. They don’t have the clear and logical concept about Present Time or Present Tense.

In fact, Present time is too little to count. Maybe it is a fraction of a moment. In respect of vast span of time present moment is quite negligible. Practically there’s no existence of Present Tense. Despite, in Grammar, Tense has a class of Present Tense. Tense is divided into three classes according to the time of an action, e.g. 1. Present Tense, 2. Past Tense and 3. Future Tense.

We can experience the Past and The Future well and vividly because they exist in vast spans but what about the Present?

We can define the Past as the time already passed across the Present time and the Future can be defined as the time that is yet to be Present. Which is now Present was Future few minutes ago and will be Past after few moments because time is not still rather a constantly changing procedure.

We detect Past and Future in respect to or in comparison to Present but we are often confused of Present. Time is a relative factor, never constant or still. So we must be confused of Past and Future too.

In Grammar when we study Tense, we see that Present Tense also include past time too. In the Sentence: ‘He has been reading for three hours’ the action of the verb ‘to read’ happened to start in a past time that means three hours ago. But still the Sentence is in Present Perfect Continuous Tense. So Present Tense does not always indicate present time but also includes past time. So Present Tense is confusing to the learners and very much difficult to define for them.

But in reality, we can define Present time as the moment when Futurity ends and Past gets started, a junction between the Past and Future.

But still there is a class of Present Tense and it includes Past time as well as Future time. However past it may be but if it is linked to the present moment with no break, or however future it may be but it is linked to the present moment without happening any break, the wide span of time is treated as Present Tense. In fact, it is imaginary.

That is why we consider the above mentioned Sentence is in Present Tense. A portion of the action is already finished and that’s why the condition of the action is perfect and the rest of the action is still continuing and that’s why the condition of the action is Continuous. As a result the Sentence is in Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

So the Tense of a Verb mainly depends upon two factors. Firstly, the time when the action is performed and secondly, the state or phase condition of the action. Condition of an action may be either Perfect or Continuous, or may be both or may be none. It seems to be funny but it’s very much logical.

 In the Sentence: ‘I drink tea’ the time of the action is Present but the condition of the action is not definite. So it is in Present Indefinite Tense.

In the Sentence: ‘I’m drinking tea’ the time of the action is Present and the condition of the action is still continuing. So it is in the form of Present Continuous Tense.

In the Sentence: ‘I’ve drunk tea’ the time of action is Present because Present includes past time too without any break and the condition of the action is perfect because the action is already finished. So it is in the form of Present Perfect Tense.

On the other hand, in the sentence: ‘I drank tea’ the time of action is past and not linked to present time. So it is in the Past Tense.

So Tense must be decided judging two factors such as the time of an action and the other is the condition of the action.

Thanks all.

Reference : 

Future Indefinite Tense: 

http://ocelot.nnz-home.net/english/index.php/grammar/sts/ind/4-the-future-indefinite-tense

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