Kernels are simple, active, declarative sentence structures without modifiers, providing the basic structure for complex forms. Transforms involve alterations from this basic form, whether through adding passives, negations, or clauses, indicating higher complexity. For example, 'She writes' is a kernel, while 'Is she writing?' and 'She does not write' are transforms, showcasing additional syntactic processes .

Complete sentences include a clear subject and predicate, expressing an independent thought, such as 'Students normally spend four or more years in college.' Incomplete sentences may miss essential components, leading them to depend on context for interpretation, like 'Although there is no sure way to prevent jet lag,' which requires additional information to form a complete statement .

English is considered a structured language because it follows specific syntactic rules and patterns. For example, in 'The students are happy,' the structure follows a typical noun phrase followed by a verb phrase pattern. Similar patterns are found in 'He bought a flower from the shop,' where the structure involves subject-verb-object-adverbial, illustrating how each element consistently follows a grammatical pattern .

An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence and expresses a complete thought, such as 'The college campus is located in the center of the city.' Dependent clauses cannot stand alone and do not express a complete thought; for example, 'Because I can’t wait for the bus' is a dependent clause as it requires additional information to form a complete sentence .

The subject is the entity performing the action or being described, such as 'Students' in 'Students normally spend four or more years in college.' The object receives the action of the verb, such as 'a flower' in 'He bought a flower from the shop.' Complements provide additional information about the subject or object, as in 'Mary is my name,' where 'my name' complements the subject .

Constituency tests are tools to identify phrase structures in sentences. Substitution can be used, such as replacing 'the students' with 'they.' Movement involves moving elements within the sentence to see if the sentence remains grammatical, as in 'In the shop, he bought a flower.' The answer to questions test involves forming questions; 'What did he buy?' can be answered with 'a flower.' Coordination is tested by joining similar phrases using conjunctions .

Complex sentences contain one independent clause and at least one dependent clause, providing depth, as in 'I will declare my major now, but I may change it later.' Compound sentences join two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction to form a relationship between two equal parts, like 'The college campus is located in the center of the city, so it is very easy to do my shopping' .

If/whether clauses are used for condition or uncertainty in complex sentences, serving as subordinate clauses that rely on a main clause. For example, 'If you study hard, you will pass the exam,' presents a condition for the action in the main clause. 'I wonder whether she will come' expresses uncertainty. These clauses add conditions, hypotheses, or indirect questions to sentences .

Mark Halliday suggests that meaning is encoded in clauses through linguistic choices like thematic structure, information focus, and cohesion. Thematic structure organizes information according to known (theme) and new (rheme) information, enhancing clarity. Information focus emphasizes elements of significance within clauses, while cohesion links sentences together with connectors and repeated elements for coherent discourse .

Major sentences have a complete structure with at least a subject and a predicate, such as 'He bought a flower from the shop.' Minor sentences lack one or more sentence elements but still convey meaning, such as 'Nice day!' or 'Running late!' Major sentences are more often used in formal texts while minor sentences are common in informal contexts or dialogue .