Chapter 6, Syntax

Session 3: How Sentences Hang

Together

Clauses (independent, dependent) types; hierarchical sentence

trees; conjunctions; how sentences hang together;
transformations; assessment and instructional strategies.
Reading: STP Chapter 6
Workbook: Exercises 82–87
Chapter Quiz

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What Is a Clause?
• A clause has a subject and a predicate; a simple sentence is a single clause.
• A phrase does not have a subject and a predicate!
• An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.
• A dependent clause cannot stand alone; it must be attached to an
independent clause to make sense.
• A dependent clause is subordinate to the independent clause to which it is
attached; its ideas or information are secondary to the information or ideas in
the main, independent clause.

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Simple Sentences
S = NP + VP
• The noun phrase may have a compound subject.
Harry and Sally met on a date.
• The verb phrase may have a compound predicate with more than one verb.
Harry and Sally met on a date and danced the tango.
• The object in the verb phrase may also be a compound object.
Harry and Sally danced the tango and the rumba.

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Compound Sentences
• Two independent clauses of equal weight or importance; one is not
subordinate to the other.
• The two independent clauses can be joined by a conjunction or a semicolon.
• FANBOYS is the acronym for the conjunctions in compound sentences.
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Examples:
Harry molded the dough, and Hanna baked the bread.
Jeff drove off the road, for he was in a blinding snowstorm.
Beatrice sold the clunker, but she still had to pay off the loan.
Linda wrote well, yet she was unable to publish her book.
We were unable to get seats behind home plate, so we sat in the
bleachers.
They were not wearing parkas, nor were they sporting warm hats.
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Complex Sentences
• Complex sentences have a dependent clause attached to an independent
clause. They can be connected in several different ways:
1) by a subordinating conjunction (although, because, since, until)
2) by a relative pronoun (who, which, that)
3) by a correlative conjunction (either-or; if-then; not only, but also)
4) by a conjunctive adverb (moreover, unfortunately, nevertheless)
• To identify compound and complex sentences, look for clauses with subjects
and predicates. Then, look for conjunctions that may indicate whether the
clauses are dependent (subordinate) or independent (coordinate).

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Three Ways that Sentences Hang
Together
• The hierarchical “tree” of underlying syntactic structure

S
NP VP

Art Adj N V NP

Art Adj N

The inebriated driver totaled the new

car.

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Agreement
• The heads of noun and verb phrases must agree in tense, number, and
person.
• When the main noun and main verb are separated, agreement must still hold.

The author, who has won many accolades and prizes over her career,
offers an uncommon perspective.
The line of voters stretches around the block.

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Connectives
• Connectives make the logical relationships between clauses more explicit.
She had her doubts about the venture, yet she kept on investing in it.
• Conjunctive adverbs introduce clauses that refine and extend the meaning of
the main, independent clause.
She was the designated representative; moreover, she led on policy issues.
• Connectives can also signal that reversal or contradictory information is
being introduced.
The show was not a flop; on the contrary, it was a big hit.
The meanings of connecting words and the relationships they signal should be
explicitly defined and practiced in the context of reading and writing.

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Sentence Types and Transformations
Four types of sentences, marked by punctuation:
Statements (.)
Questions or interrogatives (?)
Exclamations (!)
Imperatives (commands) (!)
A transformation is an operation that moves phrases around within a given
sentence structure to create a different surface structure.
Certain rules must be followed to change a simple sentence from a positive
statement to a negative statement, a passive voice statement, or an
interrogative, or our meaning will not be understood by the listener.

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Teaching Sentence Sense: Big Ideas
• Focus on the function of words, phrases, and clauses by identifying the
questions that they answer.
• What word(s) tells us who/what did/is doing something?
• What word(s) tells us what they are doing/feeling/thinking?
• What word(s) tells us what they did it to?
• What words tell where? when? In what way?
• Teach these important concepts, when students are able to grasp them:
• Parts of speech
• Phrase and head of a phrase
• Subject, predicate, clause
• Dependent, independent clause
• Simple, compound, complex sentences

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Parts of Speech
• Gradually develop these concepts by the words’ functions or jobs in a
sentence
• Use a chart like this:
Did/Felt/Was
What Kind Who/What What To What Where When How
What
dogs run
with
after
hungry dogs chew bones their
dinner
teeth
from the with a
ripe apples fall
tree thud
on my
my older brother gave a present to me
birthday
(direct (indirect (prep. (prep. (prep.
(adjective) (noun) (verb)
object) object) phrase) phrase) phrase)

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Identify and Read Phrases
• Read aloud and have students mark the natural groups of words; then ask
students to read by phrases.
• Take passages from text readings and break a few sentences into component
phrases for students to read aloud:
Dinah, my dear,
I wish
you were down here with me!
There are
no mice in the air,
I'm afraid,
but you
might catch a bat,
and that’s
very like a mouse,
you know.
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Basic Sentence Structure
• As much as possible, use sentences that are about a topic being studied or
that are taken from text readings.
• Underline the subject with one line and the predicate with two.
• Match subjects and predicates that will make sense as complete sentences.
• Complete sentences that have only a subject or a predicate.
• Sort dependent and independent clauses: Which ones can stand alone? If a
clause is dependent complete the sentence by writing the missing
independent clause.

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Compound and Complex Sentences
• Sort clauses and phrases.
• Sort dependent and independent clauses.
• Complete sentences using different connectives:

Our trip ended because . . . we had to return to work.

but . . . we were determined to travel again.
so . . . the bus could leave us at the station.

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Sentence Parsing
• Identify the head noun and main verb in longer, complex sentences.
• Identify the main agent of the action; is it the same as the subject noun?
• Take a paragraph and track pronoun references and word substitutions by
drawing arrows between words that refer to one another.
• Identify what roles the main verb requires to be satisfied.
• Peel away the nonessential information and identify the questions that are
answered by each phrase or clause.

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Sentence Elaboration
Whales migrate.
[What kind of whales?]
Humpback whales, traveling with their young,
[Where do they migrate?]
to northern feeding grounds
[When do they migrate?]
in summer
[Why do they migrate?]
in order to fatten up for the winter.

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Systematic Sentence Combining
• Saddler suggests a possible sequence for practice: 1) inserting adjective and
adverbs in a simple sentence; 2) producing compound subjects and objects;
3) producing compound sentences with and and but; 4) producing possessive
nouns; 5) producing sentences with adverbial clauses, using connecting
words; and 6) producing sentences with relative clauses.
• Example: Combine the two sentences by creating a relative clause.
The basketball player grabbed the ball.
The basketball player was the tallest.
The basketball player who was the tallest grabbed the ball.

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Summary
• Students need explicit instruction in how sentences work.
• Syntactic awareness is essential for comprehending academic language in
reading, for expressing ideas in writing, and for managing verbal expression
generally.
• Familiarity with complex syntax begins with reading aloud from well-written
literature, so that students’ “ears” are attuned to language.
• During instruction, speaking and listening to the sentence forms must
complement reading and writing them.
• Proceed with a scope and sequence that gradually builds facility with
phrases, clauses (independent and dependent), and various sentence forms,
using the topics that are being read about or studied in class.

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