english useage

1. HOW TO ANALYSE SENTENCES
Finding the sentence elements in a sentence
THE VERB(AL)
We usually start a syntactic analysis by finding the verb(s) in a sentence. There may be one
verb:
He goes to school. I like doing homework
Or there may be several verbs (a verb phrase):
He does not go to school
I am doing homework
We will be writing letters
You shouldn’t have done it
There may be a phrasal verb in the sentence:
He woke up at seven
You must never give up
And several verbs may be coordinated:
She was laughing and crying at the same time
THE SUBJECT
The subject may be:
A proper noun: John loves his wife
A noun: The man loves his wife
A pronoun: He loves his wife
A noun + a relative clause: The man who is sitting between aunt Sarha and your mother loves
his wife
A noun + complementation: The man on the corner loves his wife
An infinitive clause: To roll stones can be dangerous
An –ing clause: Riding two horses at the same time is difficult
A sentence may have two subjects joined by coordination: The man on the corner and his son
want to speak with you
THE OBJECT
There are three types of objects: direct object, indirect object and oblique object.
Direct object:
Proper noun: I know John
Noun: I know the man
Pronoun: I know him
Noun + relative clause: I know the man who is sitting between Sarah and your mother
Noun + complementation: I know the man on the corner
Infinitive clause: I hate to get up early
-ing clause: I don’t like being responsible
Several objects coordinated: I hate ice-cream, chocolate and chewing gum
Indirect objects resemble direct objects in form:
Proper noun, noun, pronoun: She gave John / the man / him money
Noun + relative clause: She gave the boy who fell off his bike a helping hand

2. Oblique object:
Sometimes the indirect object in a sentence with both direct and indirect objects (e.g.: she
gave the man money) is realised as a prepositional phrase:
She gave money to the man
And sometimes the oblique object cannot be rephrased as direct object:
Can you post this letter for me?
(you cannot say: can you post me this letter?)
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT (PREDICATIVE)
In form the subject predicative may look like a direct object, but whereas the direct object and
the subject denote two different entities, the subject predicative describes the subject, i.e. there
is identity between the subject and the subject predicative.
Proper noun: His name is Max
Noun: John is a boy (an extremely nice boy)
Adjective: She became famous
OBJECT COMPLEMENT (PREDICATIVE)
The object predicative has the same relationship to the object as the subject predicative has to
the subject:
They call him Max
They made her famous
ADVERBIAL
There are many types of adverbial, but the three most common are:
Adverbial of time: He woke up at seven
She plays the piano every day
He came after the show had started
I’m leaving now
He left before anyone could stop him
Adverbial of place: They live in London
The bus stop is just around the corner
Mary was at home last week
I want to go there
Adverbial of manner: He searched the room carefully
She sings beautifully
He went slowly up the stairs
We gradually go used to it

3. To sum up; this is how you analyse – step by step:
Example sentences:
1. John has a good friend
2. John is a good friend
3. John gave his friend money
4. John gave money to his friend
5. John is at home
6. John made his friend happy
- Find the verb
- Ask who / what + the verb (and the rest of the sentence): who has (a good friend) / who
made his friend happy to find the subject
- Ask the subject + the verb + who / what: John has what / John gave what to find the direct
object. But! This is also how you find subject complement (predicative): John is what So
you need to know the difference between object and subject complement (predicative)
(subject predicatives describe or identify the subject)
- Ask subject + verb + direct object + to whom: John gave money to whom to find the
indirect object (his friend)
- If the object begins with a preposition (to his friend) it is called oblique object. There is no
semantic difference between (3) and (4), but sentences with oblique objects may not
always have a counterpart with an indirect object: John stole money from his friend (i.e.
you can’t say John stole his friend money
- The relationship between object and object complement (predicative) is the same as the
one between subject and subject complement (predicative): John made his friend happy S
+ V + O + OP His friend is happy S + V + SP
- Ask when / where / why / how / how often, much, far … to find the adverbials: John is
where
John has a good friend
S V DO
John is a good friend
S V SC
John gave his friend money
S V IO DO
John gave money to his friend
S V DO OO
John is at home
S V A
John made his friend happy
S V O OC