GRAMMAR II
Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, M.A
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
I. Clause elements
1. Subject
2. Verb
3. Object
4. Complement
5. Adverbial
Clause elements
1. Subject
Is normally a N.P, or a nominal clause
E.g. A child needs care and love.
A young woman is waiting for you.
Telling lies is not always wrong.
What I have seen is unbelievable.
Why he left her is still a mystery.



Occurs before V.P in declarative clauses and immediately after the operator in questions
E.g. Is it getting hotter?
Does his girlfriend like music?
Has your son been learning English?
Will they be waiting for me?
Has number and person concord with V.P
E.g. A child needs care and love.
Children need care and love
Someone is calling your name.
Both of them are teachers.
One of those girls is from my class.
2. Verb
a. Stative verb
Intensive verb (be)
E.g. I am a teacher.
You are always in my heart.
- Extensive verb ( hear, believe, know, etc)
E.g. I have known her for 2 years.
b. Dynamic verbs
- Intensive verb (get, become, etc)
E.g. It is getting hotter and hotter.
She has become a pretty woman.
- Extensive verb
+ Intransive: die, smile, laugh, live, etc
E.g. He is running.
She smiled.

+ Transitive
- Monotransitive: make, write, read, etc.
E.g. I am making a cake.
She has written a letter.
- Ditransitive: give, send, post, offer, buy, etc
E.g. He gave her a nice gift for her birthday.
My mother will buy me a bike.
- Complex transitive: make, consider, call, elect, etc
E.g. They consider me their best friend.
Don’t call me Honey any more.
He made me disappointed.
3. Object (Direct object/ Indirect object)
Is a N.P or a nominal clause
E.g. She is writing a poem.
Do you believe me?
I don’t know what you mean.
They offered her a good job.
She gives whoever she meets a smile

Normally follows the Subject and V.P
E.g. She is writing a poem.
Do you believe me?
I don’t know what you mean.
They offered her a good job.
She gives whoever she meets a smile
Assumes the status of subject by passive
E.g. She is writing a poem.
A poem is being written by her.
They offered her a good job.
She was offered a good job by them.
A good job was offered to her by them.

4. Complement
Is a N.P, an Adj.P or a nominal clause
Follows the S, V.P and object (if any)
Does not become S through the passive
Subject complement
E.g. Both of her sons are doctors.
She is good looking.
You are what I am looking for.
They have became famous.
Object complement
E.g. They made their parents proud.
He calls his wife Honey.
We elected him President.
5. Adverbial
Is an adv. P, adverbial clause, N,P or Pre.P
Is generally mobile
Is generally optional

E.g. I will be here waiting for you.
When I was young, I used to go fishing
It is nice today.
You are in my mind.

2. Clause types
Depending upon the obligatory clause elements, we can usefully distinguish seven clause types.
Clause elements: S, V, O (direct object, indirect object), C (subject complement, object complement), A.

SVA
SVC
SVO
SVOO
SVOA
SVOC
SV
SVA
*Intensive verb (be)
*Adverbial of place
E.g. You are always in my heart.
She is on the top of the mountain.
We are in the classroom
2. SVC
*Intensive verb (be, get, become, turn, seem, sound, taste, smell, feel, etc)
*Subject complement (Noun Phrase or Adjectival Phrase)
Eg: The leaves have turned yellow.
You are a lucky girl.
3. SVO
* Monotransitive verb ( love, like, hate, enjoy, read, write, etc)
* Direct object
E.g. I love your smile
She is reading a book.
4. SVOO
* Ditransitive verb ( give, bring, buy, send, offer,etc)
* Indirect Object
* Direct Object
E.g. He bought me a bed of roses.
They send him a greeting card.
5. SVOA
* Complex transitive verb (put, lay, place, leave, stand, etc)
* Direct Object
* Adverbial of Place
E.g. I lay my love on you.
They stood the ladder against the wall.
6. SVOC
* Complex transitive (make, prove, consider, find, elect, call, drive, etc)
* Direct Object
* Object Complement (N.P or Adj. P)
E.g. I consider you my best friend.
You make me disappointed.
7. SV
* Intransitive verb ( run, cry, smile, laugh, etc)
E.g. The birds are singing.
The baby is crying.
The elements Od, C and A in the above patterns are obligatory elements of clause structure.
They are required for the complementation of the verb.
It means, given the use of a particular verb in a particular sense, the sentence is incomplete if one of these elements is omitted.