One member and two member sentences

Contents

1. Sentences and its components
2. Classification of the sentences
3. Types of simple sentences. Main parts of a sentence
4. One-member sentences
5. Two-member sentences

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Sentences and its components

      A sentence is a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, command, or suggestion.

     A sentence can also be defined in orthographic terms alone, i.e., as anything which is contained between a capital letter and a full stop. For instance, the opening of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House begins with the following three sentences:

London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Inn Hall. Implacable November weather.

      The first sentence involves one word, a proper noun. The second sentence has only a non-finite verb. The third is a single nominal group. Only an orthographic definition encompasses this variation.

     As with all language expressions, sentences may contain both function and content words, and contain properties distinct to natural language, such as characteristic intonation and timing patterns.

    Sentences are generally characterized in most languages by the presence of a finite verb, e.g. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog".

    The components of a sentence are clauses. A clause typically contains at least a subject noun phrase and a finite verb. While the subject is usually a noun phrase, other kinds of phrases (such as gerund phrases) work as well, and some languages allow subjects to be omitted. There are two types of clauses: independent and subordinate (dependent). An independent clause demonstrates a complete thought; it is a complete sentence: for example, I am sad. A subordinate clause is not a complete sentence: for example, because I have no friends. See also copula for the consequences of the verb to be on the theory of sentence structure.

    A simple complete sentence consists of a single clause. Other complete sentences consist of two or more clauses.

 

 

 

2. Classification of the sentences

By structure

      One traditional scheme for classifying English sentences is by the number and types of finite clauses:

• A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause with no dependent clauses.
• A compound sentence consists of multiple independent clauses with no dependent clauses. These clauses are joined together using conjunctions, punctuation, or both.
• A complex sentence consists of at least one independent clause and one dependent clause.
• A complex-compound sentence (or compound-complex sentence) consists of multiple independent clauses, at least one of which has at least one dependent clause.

By purpose

     Sentences can also be classified based on their purpose:

• A declarative sentence or declaration, the most common type, commonly makes a statement: "I have to go to work."
• An interrogative sentence or question is commonly used to request information — "Do I have to go to work?" — but sometimes not.
• An exclamatory sentence or exclamation is generally a more emphatic form of statement expressing emotion: "I have to go to work!"
• An imperative sentence or command tells someone to do something (and if done strongly may be considered both imperative and exclamatory): "Go to work." or "Go to work!"

Major and minor sentences

     A major sentence is a regular sentence; it has a subject and a predicate. For example: "I have a ball." In this sentence one can change the persons: "We have a ball." However, a minor sentence is an irregular type of sentence. It does not contain a finite verb. For example, "Mary!" "Yes." "Coffee." etc. Other examples of minor sentences are headings (e.g. the heading of this entry), stereotyped expressions ("Hello!"), emotional expressions ("Wow!"), proverbs, etc. This can also include nominal sentences like "The more, the merrier". These do not contain verbs in order to intensify the meaning around the nouns and are normally found in poetry and catchphrases.

 

Sentences that comprise a single word are called word sentences, and the words themselves sentence words.

3. Types of simple sentences. Main parts of a sentence

     It has been usual for some time now to classify sentences into two-member and one-member sentences.

    This distinction is based on a difference in the so called main parts of a sentence. We shall therefore have to consider the two problems, that of two-member and one-member sentences and that of main parts of the sentences, simultaneously.

    In a sentence like Helen sighed (R. Macaulay) there obviously are two main parts: Helen, which denotes the doer of the action and is called (grammatical) subject, and sighed, which denotes the action performed by the subject and is called (grammatical) predicate. Sentences having this basic structure, viz. a word (a phrase) to denote the doer of the action and another word (or phrase) to denote the action, are termed two-member sentences. However, there are sentences which do not contain two such separate parts, in these sentences there is only one main part: the other main part is not there and it could not even be supplied, at least not without a violent change in the structure of the sentence. Examples of such sentences, which are accordingly termed one-member sentences, are the following: Fire! Come on! or the opening sentence of  “An American tragedy”: Dusk – of a summer night. (Dreiser)

     There is no separate main part of the sentences, the grammatical subject, and no other separate main pert, the grammatical predicate. Instead there is only one main part (fire, come on, and dusk, respectively). These, then, are one-member sentences.

     It is a disputed point whether the main part of such a sentence should, or should not, be termed subject in some cases, and predicate, in others. This questions has been raised with reference to the Russian language. Academician A. Shakhmatov held that the chief part of a one-member sentence was either the subject, or the predicate, as the case might be (for examples, if that part was a finite verb, he termed it predicate). Academician                    V. Vinogradov, on the other hand, started on the assumption that grammatical subject and grammatical predicate were correlative notions and that the terms were meaningless outside their relation to each other. Accordingly, he suggested that for one-member sentences, the term “main part” should be used, without giving it any more specific name. maybe this is rather a point of terminology than of actual grammatical theory. We will not investigate it any further, but content ourselves with naming the part in question the main part of one-member sentence, as proposed by V. Vinogradov.

     One-member sentences should be kept apart from two-member sentences with either the subject or the predicate omitted, i.e. from elliptical sentences. There are many difficulties in this field. As we have done more than once, we will carefully distinguish what has been proved and what remains a matter of opinion, depending to a great extent on the subjective views or inclinations of one scholar or another. Matters belonging to this latter category are numerous enough in the sphere of sentence study.

4. One-member sentences

     We have agreed, to term one-member sentences those sentences which have no separate subject and predicate but one main part only instead.

     Among these there is the type of sentence whose main part is a noun (or a substantives part of speech), the meaning of the sentence being that the thing denoted by the noun exists in a certain place or at a certain time. Such sentences are frequent, for example, in stage directions of plays. A few examples from modern authors will suffice: Night. A lady's bed-chamber In Bulgaria, in a small town near the Dragoman Pass, late in November in the year 1885. (SHAW) The sixth of March, 1886. (Idem) The landing dock of the Cunard Line. (FITCH) Living room in the house of Philip Phillimore.                    (L. MITCHELL)

     One-member sentences in English are of two types: nominal sentences and verbal sentences.

    Nominal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a noun. They state the existence of the things expressed by them. They are typical of descriptions.

Nominal sentences may be:

a) unextended.

Silence. Summer. Midnight.

b) extended.

Dusk – of a summer night.

The grass, this good, soft, lush grass.

English spring flowers!

     Verbal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a non-finite form of the verb, either an infinitive or a gerund. Infinitive and gerundial one-member sentences are mostly used to describe different emotional perceptions of reality.

To think of that!

To think that he should have met her again in this way!

Living at the mercy of a woman!

       A special semantic type of one-member clauses is characterized by the following structure: «predicative + adjective expressing emotional assessment + noun or clause expressing what is assessed by the adjective», for instance, Strange how different she had become – a strange new quiescence. (LAWRENCE)

    Imperative sentences with no subject of the action mentioned are also to be classed among one-member sentences, e.g. Get away from me! (M. MITCHELL) Fear not, fair lady! (Idem) «Don't tell him anything» she cried rapidly. (Idem)

5. Two-member sentences

      The basic pattern of a simple sentence in English is one subject-predicate unit, that is, it has two main (principal) positions: those of the subject and of the predicate. It is the pattern of a two-member sentence. There are several variations of this basic pattern, depending mainly on the kind of verb occupying the predicate position. The verb in the predicate position may be intransitive, transitive, ditransitive or a link verb.

Here are the main variants of the fundamental (basic) pattern:

1. John ran.

2. John is a student.

3. John is clever.

4. John learned French.

5. John gives Mary his books.

6. We found John guilty.

7. We found John a bore.

The basic pattern may be unextended or extended.

An unextended sentence contains two main positions of the basic pattern, that of the subject and tlie predicate.

Mary laughed.

Mary is a doctor.

Mary is happy.

An extended sentence may contain various optional elements (including attributes, certain kinds of prepositional objects and adverbial modifiers).

John ran quickly to me.

My friend John is a very kind student.

Mary laughed heartily at the joke.

       Obligatory extending elements are those which complete the meaning of other words, usually verbs, or pronouns, which without them make no or little sense. Therefore obligatory elements are called complements.

John learned French. (the meaning of “learned” is incomplete without the object “French”)

John gives Mary his books. (the meaning of “gives Mary” conveys different meaning without the object  “his books”)

John lives in London. (The meaning of “lives”  is incomplete without an adverbial of place)

      A two-member sentence may be either complete or incomplete (elliptical). An elliptical sentence is a sentence in which one or more word-forms in the principal positions are omitted. Ellipsis here refers only to the structural elements of the sentence, not the informational ones. This means that those words can be omitted, because they have only grammatical, structural relevance, and do not carry any new relevant information.

     In English elliptical sentences are only those having no word-forms in the subject and predicate positions, i. e., in the positions which constitute the structural core of the sentence.

There are several types of elliptical sentences.

1. Sentences without a word-form in the subject position.

Looks like rain.

Seems difficult.

Don’t know anything about it.

2. Sentences without word-forms in the subject position and part of the predicate position. In such cases the omitted part of the predicate may be either a) an auxiliary verb or b) a link verb.

a) Going home soon?

See what I mean?

Heard nothing about him lately.

b) Not bad.

Free this evening?

Nice of you to come.

Susan’s father?

3. Sentences without a word-form only in part of the predicate position, which may be an auxiliary or a link verb.

You seen them?

Everything fixed?

You sure?

All settled.

4. Sentences without word-forms both in the subject and the predicate position. Such ellipses occur in various responses.

What time does Dave come for lunch? - One o’clock.

What were you thinking about? - You.

What do you want of us? Miracles?

Where’re you going? - Home.

5. Sentences without a word-form in the predicate position. Such ellipses occur only in replies to questions.

Who lives there? - Jack.

What’s happened? - Nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

1.  Ильиш Б. А. Строй современного англ. языка: Учебник по курсу теор. грамматики для студ. пед. ин-тов. – 2-е изд. Л: Просвещение, Ленингр. отд., 1971. – 366 с.

2. www.wikipedia.org/ Sentences (linguistics)

3. www. robotlibrary. com

4. www. grammar.about.com

5. www. englishschool 12.ru