GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS

ENGL 341

GRAM FUNCTIONS• Study the ff structures:

• Jane saw the thief 1• Jane is friendly 2• Jane has paid her dues 3• They made Jane their spokesperson 4• Jane gave the students useful tips 5

• What is the gram role/function of Jane in sentence 1?• Why is it called the subject?• What relationship does it share with the rest of the words• Is the relationship between friendly and Jane in sent. 2 the same as the

relationship between the thief and Jane in 1?• Explain the relationships• Is the relationship between Jane and their spokesperson in 4 the same as that

between students and useful tips in 5 • Watch closely the types of verbs used in all 5 structures

List of gram functions• Another type of grammatical analysis has to do with the role/function of

the gram categories – lexemes, phrases• These functions are the relative positions of the gram items in a

sentences • Categories may perform:

• The Subject functions:• The verbal functions• Object functions:• Complement functions• Adverbial/adjunct functions

• These function types are also referred to as the elements of the clause/sentence (Wiredu, Organised Structure pg 91 – 111)

• In English, the sentence is deemed to have the ff structure:• S V C O A

THE SUBJECT• The actor/performer/ the object about whom/which

something is said, always preceding the verb; Examples:• The tall tree fell unto our house• Kofi and Ama came here• Unfortunately, it was not the man.

• The subject may be realised by:• NPs• Nominal clauses• The empty/dummy ‘it’• Anticipatory it• Adverbial phrase• Adjectival head• Existential ‘there’

Subjects • NPs: you brought yourself up.

• The game is over• Your friend is fighting outside• Obviously, their preparation was enough

• The Nominal clause as subject– A clause that performs the function of a noun; examples:

• That you could say that to him shows you are very tough.• To overcome teenage financial insufficiency is a major burden for.• Chewing the finger nails is a bad habit• Studying in groups is a good thing to consider.• What you said yesterday shocked all of us.

• The empty/dummy ‘it’ as a subject:– This type of it is semantically empty and does not refer to any object;

examples:

SUBJECT• Empty ‘it’ as subject

• It rains heavily in October in Ghana • It is too cold here• It is too late to go out • It is a long journey

• anticipatory ‘it’• It surprised everybody that he failed.• It is easy to forget your keys• It’s a pity we can not buy you a common drink

• Existential ‘There’ as a subject; examples:• There is someone in your room.• There is a man in my life.• There are too many people in his class

The subject

• Adverbial Ph as subject:• Now is the time for action• Here is better

• Adjectival head:• The poor need support.• The handicapped are left out in most national policies.

The verb

• The verb describes the action in the sentence.• It plays very important roles in the sentences:

• It helps identify the subject of the sentence• The nature of the verb determines whether what

comes after it is an object or a complement

• By its nature a verb may be intensive, intransitive, monotransitive, complex transitive, or ditransitive (to be explored later under complementation)

The Object

• Always placed after the verb and indicates the entity that feels the impact of the action of the verb

• They follow a transitive verb• 2 types of objects:

• Direct object• Indirect object; examples:

– They sent us gifts– Kwame showed his friends his house– You gave me your work

Object

– They sent us giftsWhat action did they do?Who benefited from the action?– Kwame showed his friends his houseWhat action did Kwame perform?Who benefitted from the action?– You gave me your workWhat action did you performWho benefitted

Object • The direct object feels the immediate action of the verb:

• they sent gifts,• He showed his house

• The indirect object is the beneficiary of the action:• Us, his friends, me

• The direct object can be used without the indirect object, but the indirect object can hardly be used without a direct object

• You must drink something• I like mangoes

• Indirect objects are always animates• You gave the table your book?

• The indirect object can have an optional prepositional paraphrase, which functions as a prepositional object

Objects

• Indirect objects/prepositional object– They sent us gifts• They sent gifts to us.

– Kwame showed his friends his house• Kwame showed his house to his friends

– You gave me your work• You gave your work to me

– You bought us gifts• You bought gifts for us

Objects

• Following can function as objects:• Mostly NPs: we gave you our names• A nominal clause: they like what you said; I knew that

you were coming

• Identify the type of object in the following:• They said something• We bought them water as well.• They gave everybody a variety of items• You showed him the room

Compare • Observe the relationship between the subject and the

item that follows the verb and explain your observation• They make enough money• We share the same ideas• It sounds interesting• They sounded the alarm• You have grown tall• They grow tomatoes• They kept quiet• I kept the money.

• What do you think accounts for the change in the relationship

Complements • The ff verbs are the English copula/ linking verb

– Be; Look; Feel; Taste; Smell; Sound; Seem; Appear; Get; Become; Grow; Stay; Keep; Turn; Prove; Go; Remain; appear, find,

• Categories put after these verbs usually perform complement functions; they refer back to items that precede them

• Complements refer back to other items already mentioned to complete them; example:

• He is handsome• You are my king• She became a lecturer• He got crazy • They smell nice• They made him their leader• We consider you our friend

• one difference between complements and objects is that, whereas objects are found after transitive verbs, complements are placed after copula verbs

Complements • 2 types of complement:

• Subject complements; and• Object complements

• Subj comps refer back to the subject to qualify it• The prototypical/archetypal complement that follows the

copula verb• He is kind• My mother sounds interesting• Your friend looks funny• He appears weird• They became committed• We remained speechless

Complements • Some complements, however, make comments about the object;

example:• We made you our friend.• We found it useful• We will appoint him our leader

• These are called object complements• Object complements refer back to objects to give additional

qualities. • Objects that are complemented usually follow following special

verbs: find, elect, appoint, make, consider; examples:• I find him interesting• We elected him our leader• We made you somebody

Complements • Items that can function as complements include

– NPs; examples • We made him our leader• You are my king• He turned a traitor

– An Adjectival phrase; examples:• We are innocent• I find your friend very boring• He doesn’t sound convincing

– Nominal clauses; examples:• The point is that you are lying• The crucial question is why he did it• The truth is that we lost him• The fact is we are leaving now

Adjuncts (adverbials)• Adjunct/adverbials are optional elements in the clause that

add extra info (frequency, place, time, reason, etc)• Unlike other elements, there can be more than 1 adjunct in

a clause:• On the other hand, we actually meant to give you freely all the support

you need in this circumstance

• Adjuncts are mobile elements in the structure of the clause• Use the adjuncts ‘unfortunately’ ‘immediately’ in a sentence• They can be initially placed, medially placed and finally

placed

Types of Adjunct • Adjuncts are grouped into 3 main classes depending on their

functions in the clause:• Circumstantial adjuncts• Stance adjuncts; and • Connective adjuncts

• Circumstantials: provide details about the action or state described by the verb (time, place, manner, degree, frequency, direction)

• Examples of circumstantial adjuncts:• They came early we have met already• We visit very often they spoke gently• They went into the room• We are in Liman Hostel

Types of Adjuncts • Stance adjuncts: express a speaker’s evaluation or

comment about the message. They are often set apart from the clause:

• Coincidentally, we met at the entrance of the hotel• Interestingly, we had earlier agreed to meet in the garden• They bumped into the meeting accidentally• Certainly we will not allow them to take us for granted.• Someone is definitely going to be punished

• Other examples • obviously, undoubtedly, incidentally, apparently, initially, honestly,

frankly speaking, unfortunately, surely, broadly speaking, supposedly, in fact, in reality, by any chance, to be frank with you, strictly speaking,

Types of Adjuncts

• Connective adjuncts: connectors which signal a speaker’s indication of transitions or logical connections

• Meanings they express may be additive, contrast, causal, temporal

• He is a motivational speaker and furthermore a great evangelist.• Students are on strike; nevertheless, examinations will not be

cancelled• He has been wrongly accused by his friends. Consequently, he has

decided to have nothing to do with them again.• However, we will conduct a test.• Besides, they did not give us enough notification. • Finally, English is foundational to many professions

Adjuncts • Items that can function as adjuncts

– An Adverbial phrase• However, we patiently waited for you• He shouted quite loudly• Alternatively, we can postpone the meeting• We are almost late• It is enough for everybody

– A prepositional phrase• We saw him in his car• In fact, we don’t want to see your face• The man in the room is my husband

– A noun phrase• The next day, we met with him• Last night, we saw light in his office• We will be here next year

– A clause• Frankly speaking, I am no longer interested• Be that as it may, we are determined to get an A• To be frank with you, you disappoint us

• To read for next week: clauses – classification, verbal types – finite/ non-finite