BASIC GRAMMATICAL TERMS



BASIC GRAMMATICAL TERMS IN ENGLISH

Chinese and English grammar are very different! Nevertheless, some English terms are useful as a starting point for describing Chinese grammar. Following are some of these terms.

1. NOUN

(a) Simple definition: a person, place, or thing. (This includes abstract nouns, such as "honor.")

Examples: teacher; city; desk; honor.

(b) Proper nouns vs. common nouns.

Proper noun: the actual name of a specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are easy to discern in writing, because they are always capitalized. Examples: Susan; New York City; Congress.

Common noun: noun that are not official names. These are never capitalized in writing.

Examples: teacher; city; desk.

(c) Definite versus indefinite nouns

Definite noun: any specific or uniquely identifiable person, place, or thing that the speaker is referring to. (This would include proper nouns and any noun introduced by the, this, that, etc.)

Examples: the book over there; my book; this school; those students

Indefinite noun: an item that is identified only by its category; not a uniquely identifiable object.

Examples: a book; some pencils; people

(d) Pronoun: a word that substitutes for a noun. Many types. Examples:

he, she, it, etc.

someone, anywhere, etc. (indefinite pronouns; specific identity is unknown or not given)

(e) Noun phrases: These function in the same way a single noun or pronoun. Examples: plural nouns such as Xiao Wang and his friends; you and I; etc. For simplicity, when reference is made to "noun" in this document, it is understood to include "noun phrases" as well.

2. PHRASE

Any group of words that function together as a grammatical unit, e,g., noun phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases, adverbial phrases, etc. More than just a random cluster of words, but not as complete as a clause or sentence.

3. OBJECT (OF A VERB)

(a) Three aspects of the definition:

1. An object is a noun or pronoun. The term "object" is used instead of "noun" when the focus is on the relationship to other words in a sentence – specifically, the verb.

2. Specifically, it is a noun or pronoun that is affected in some way by a verb. Some definitions say that it "receives" the action of the verb. This is generally true, but a little narrow as a definition, as there are many cases where "receive" doesn't quite apply. "Affected by" is a more general term that covers all cases.

3. The object occurs after the verb, in sentences that follow "normal" word order, that is:

Subject-Verb-Object, abbreviated as S-V-O.

Example: I read a book. (subject = I; verb = read; object = a book).

(b) Direct versus indirect objects.

Direct object: an object that is directly affected by the verb.

Test for a direct object: It answers the question: "verb + what?"

Example: I read a book. Test: read what? Answer: a book. (= direct object)

Indirect object: an object that is indirectly affected by the verb, e.g., a person to whom or on behalf of whom the verb action is directed.

Test for an indirect object: Question must include a preposition (e.g., to; for).

Examples: I gave him a book. Test: gave to whom? Answer: him. (= indirect object)

I bought him a book. Test: bought for whom? Answer: same as above.

(c) Transitive versus intransitive verbs.

Transitive verb: a verb that can be followed by (or "takes") a direct object.

Examples: buy, gave, read, etc.

Note: In Chinese grammar, these "verb + object" combinations are referred to as:

verb-object compounds (abbreviated as V-O compounds)

Intransitive verb: a verb that cannot be followed by (or "does not take") a direct object.

Examples: walk, run, sleep, etc.

4. SUBJECT

(a) Two definitions, which sometimes conflict with each other:

1. Subject of the verb: the "doer" or "agent" of the verb action. This can be stated or implied.

Test for the subject of a verb: It answers the question: "who does the verb?"

Example: I read a book. Test: Who read? Answer: I (= subject of the verb)

2. Subject of the sentence. In English grammar, a sentence can be divided into two parts: the subject (what the sentence is about), and the predicate (everything else, constituting a statement about the subject). That is:

Sentence = subject + predicate.

(b) Active versus passive voice sentences.

In "active voice" sentences, which are the format "S-V-O" (subject – verb – object), the subject of the verb and the subject of the sentence are the same.

Example: The car hit a tree.

In "passive voice" sentences, the subject of the verb is not the subject of the sentence.

Example: The tree was hit by a car.

5. PREPOSITION

(a) Definition.

A connecting word that indicates the relationship between a noun (or pronoun or noun phrase) and other words in a sentence. Basically, these refer to phrases outside of the S-V-O skeletal structure. Many have to do with locations. Prepositions link such phrases onto the sentence.

Examples: to, from, with, toward, in, beyond, for, at, on, etc.

On Saturday, I bought a book for her from a bookstore in the shopping mall.

(b) Related definitions.

1. PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT: the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that follows a preposition. This is also called the object of the preposition.

Examples: on Saturday; for + her; from + a bookstore

2. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE: preposition + object.

6. MODIFIER (OF NOUNS)

(a) Definition.

1. "Modify" in a grammatical sense does not mean "to change." It really means "to describe," or "to add information about."

2. A modifier is any word or phrase that describes a noun. Examples:

a red book; an expensive car

(b) ADJECTIVES versus Modifiers

Why isn't the word "adjective" used instead of "modifier," since we already know that adjectives describe nouns? The reason is that there are many other kinds of modifiers, besides nouns, that can describe nouns. "Modifier" is an umbrella term that encompasses all of these other cases.

Examples: verb phrases that modify (i.e., describe) a noun

the red book that I saw on the table

an expensive car that was recently for sale

In English, verb phrases that function as modifiers tend to go after the noun; and only adjectives and other short words or phrases go before the noun. In Chinese, all modifiers go before the noun.

7. ADVERB

(a) English definitions

1. a word that modifies (that is, describes) a verb – e.g., to tell in what manner the verb action was done.

Examples: walk quickly; sleep well

2. Expanded definition: a word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Examples:

very happy; extremely quickly;

(b) Chinese definitions

All of the same apply to Chinese as well. However, there is an added category of adverbs, which has less to do with meaning than with word order (they must occur before the verb.)

8. VERBS

(a) Definition: a word that expresses existence, action, or occurrence. Examples: is, go, happen.

(b) Main verb of a sentence. All sentences are organized around a verb that expresses existence, action, or occurrence.

Examples: I took a walk; he studied the book; I have a dictionary.

However, there may be more verbs in the sentence. If this is so, one can still be distinguished as the main verb.

Examples: I can walk to the store; he is studying the book; I will buy that dictionary.

These other verbs, which precede the main verb, fall into two categories in English: auxiliary verbs and modal verbs.

(c) English auxiliary verbs. These help indicate the tense of a main verb, or to turn a statement into a question.

Examples: He is taking a walk; I had already read the book; Do you eat meat?

These verb usages do not occur in Chinese at all, so we are not really concerned with them. However, in explanations of Chinese grammar, the term "auxiliary verb" has often been used to refer to modal verbs, which we are concerned with in Chinese; these are described below.

(d) Modal verbs. These "qualify" the main verb, by adding such information as the speaker's attitude toward the verb action (e.g., in terms of its enjoyability, necessity, possibility, etc.); or the degree of certainty that it will happen. Examples:

Degree of possibility or certainty: might, can; may; will Example: It will rain.

Obligation or necessity: should; ought to; need; must Example: I must go.

Attitudes: like; enjoy; willing to; hope to; want to; etc. Example: I need to buy this.

9. SENTENCES AND CLAUSES

A sentence represents a complete thought, minimally containing a subject and verb. Everything other than the subject is actually called the "predicate" – it includes the verb, objects, prepositional phrases, etc.

A sentence can consist of one or more clauses. In a simple sentence, there is only one clause, and in this case, "clause" and "sentence" are equivalent. However, there are also dependent clauses. These are also organized around a verb, and have a stated or implied subject -- but they don't stand alone as a complete sentence. In writing, they are often separated by a comma, from the main clause of the sentence. Example:

After eating dinner, Mark did his homework.

One sentence, consisting of a dependent clause plus main clause)

PRACTICE ON ENGLISH DEFINITIONS:

Answer the questions about each of the sentences below:

1. How many clauses do the following sentences have?

(a) Chinese is a very interesting language. ________

(b) Chinese is interesting, but very difficult for some to learn. ________

(c) I like to sing and dance. ________

2. Identify the underlined parts of each sentence as: subject, verb, object,

preposition, modifier, or adverb.

................
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