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CHAPTER 6
English Syntax: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter provides students with a new way of thinking about the
structure of phrases and clauses. Some students will find phrase structure
trees challenging in a fun, puzzle-like way; other students will find phrase
structure trees simply challenging. It helps to emphasize for students that
the material in this chapter gives them a way to describe and analyze the
grammar they already know: as speakers of English, they know how to
combine words systematically into phrases and clauses, but most of them
have never had to articulate the underlying system.
While the chapter does not delve into the details of complex phrase
structure trees, it does address them and shows students how complex
trees are related to the more basic tree structures covered in more detail in
the chapter. In our experience, students can leave this unit frustrated if
they cannot see how their knowledge of basic phrase structure trees relates
to the real, complex sentences they encounter every day. Toward this end,
we also provide students with the five basic clause types as a way to
categorize even the most complex sentence into a recognizable pattern.
The chapter is information-heavy; we recommend splitting the reading
over a couple of classes with exercises to reinforce the material covered in
each subsection of the reading.
The chapter also explicitly frames this approach to phrases, clauses, and
sentences with a discussion of generative grammar. It is important for
students to know that this material represents only one approach to
representing syntax at the level of the phrase and clause.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
• Outline how generative grammar attempts to explain the infinite
creativity of human grammar and children’s acquisition of grammar.
• Distinguish between a phrase, clause, and sentence.
• Identify constituents within a sentence and justify how a given
grouping of words functions as a constituent using constituency tests.
• Identify full clauses and noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and pre-
positional phrases
• Distinguish between: an independent and dependent/subordinate
clause; a compound and complex sentence; an adverbial, relative, and
complementizer clause; a restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clause.
• Provide example phrases for given phrase structure rules.
• Create basic phrase structure trees for new sentences that involve only
a main clause or two coordinated clauses, and test trees against phrase
structure rules to ensure that all the branches are allowable.
• Name the five clause types and categorize any sentence into one of
these clause types.
• Explain how complex sentences involve the embedding of clauses and
how this fact is captured in complex phrase structure trees.
• Explain how infinitive phrases and gerund and participial phrases can
be described as reduced subordinate clauses.
• Describe how transformations complement phrase structure rules to
explain speakers’ grammatical knowledge.
• Provide a detailed account of at least three transformations.
• Defend a position on whether or not one of the prescriptive rules
covered in the chapter should be enforced in a classroom.
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NEW VOCABULARY TERMS
adjectival
adverbial
adverbial clause
clause
comma splice
complementizer clause
complex sentence
compound (coordinated)
sentence
constituent
dangling (or misplaced)
participle
dependent (subordinate) clause
generative grammar
gerund phrase
independent clause
infinitive phrase
node
nominal
participial phrase
passive construction
phrase
phrase structure rule
relative clause
(restrictive/nonrestrictive)
run-on sentence
sentence
sentence fragment
tag question
transformation
Universal Grammar
WHERE STUDENTS ARE
• Almost all students will need the instructor to review phrase structure
trees with them before they try creating them on their own (see below
for ideas on how to do this review in class).
• Students often struggle with the many types of subordinate clauses and
how complex sentences relate to the five basic clause types.
• Students can find it confusing that both relative clauses and
complementizer clauses can be introduced by that, and they may need
help distinguishing between these types of clauses.
• By the time students reach the section on reduced subordinate clauses,
they may be hitting “information overload.” We have included this
material because students need to see how complex sentences are
related to the information covered in this chapter and how they can, in
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fact, break down even the most complex sentence into more familiar
clause types.
• As with Chapter 5, most students are interested to learn more about the
origins of prescriptive rules and how they do or do not correspond with
actual usage. You may want to discuss more rules in class as well as
how to negotiate these rules as a teacher and as a student.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
We recommend relying fairly heavily on the exercises at the end of the
chapter as a way for students to apply the material, for you to gauge their
understanding, and for all of you to review the material together once the
students have tried applying it.
Constituent Structure
We recommend spending some time on constituent structure before
turning to phrase structure trees to ensure that students can reliably
identify phrases. In addition to Exercise 6.1, you can create a linguistic
treasure hunt that asks students to find examples in printed material of
particular kinds of phrases: for example, a verb phrase with one modal, the
verb read, and a prepositional phrase; a prepositional phrase with two
adjectives; a prepositional phrase inside a prepositional phrase, etc.
Creating Basic Phrase Structure Trees
Almost all students will benefit from a review of a few basic phrase
structure trees in class before you ask them to complete Exercise 6.2.
Some advice that students find useful:
(1) First identify the lexical category of each word in the sentence;
(2) Remember that each clause is composed of NP + VP, so as you
draw a tree from the bottom up, you know the goal at the top;
(3) Any of the branches can be tested against phrase structure rules
and your knowledge of constituents.
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Complex Phrase Structure Trees
Emphasize for students the point that their knowledge of the structure of
basic clauses can allow them to analyze the structure of complex sentences.
Show them how to start by identifying the clauses within the sentence and
then move on to determining the relationships between those clauses: for
example, what does the dependent clause modify?
Sentence Tree Bee
One way to get smaller classes (30 students or fewer) enthused about
phrase structure trees is a Sentence Tree Bee (see also the Morphology
Tree Bee in Chapter 4). Build up student confidence and ability in creating
phrase structure trees through homework and quizzes. When it’s
comfortable (when a good number of students have a good chance of
success), give a sentence tree quiz—something at the level of compound
sentences, nothing with embedded clauses. For a 10-point quiz, where
each error of hierarchy or labeling costs the student .5 points, set a
standard of 8 or 8.5 points to move on to the bee. Grade the quizzes
quickly in class and announce participants in the public competition.
In the next class, present the high scorers on the quiz with more
complicated sentences to diagram on the board. In each round, advance
those who successfully tree their assigned sentences. Continue with
increasingly difficult sentences until only one or two participants are left
standing. While the rest of the class watches the bee, they are welcome to
try their hand at the sentences advancing students tackle on the board, and
experience confirms that many will. Students in the audience can also be
responsible for determining whether a tree on the board is correct.
Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses
Ask students to find five additional examples in printed material of
restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. For each example, they should
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identify the clause as restrictive or nonrestrictive and explain their answer.
Then ask them to check each other’s answers in class.
Phrase and Clause Functions
You can use Table 6.1 as a way to review much of the material about the
forms and functions of phrases and clauses in the material. Using a
linguistic treasure hunt model, ask students to find two examples in
printed material of each type of phrase and clause in each function. Should
you choose to, you can offer rewards for categories such as the shortest
sentence, the longest sentence, the sentence with the oddest word, etc.
Transformations
As a way to review particular kinds of transformations, you can do a
version of the “make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich” instructions
exercise. Ask students to describe in written prose how to carry out a
particular transformation, without referring to the chapter. Then provide
an example sentence, ask students to swap prose instructions, and see if
the instructions work when they are followed exactly.
Descriptive Syntax vs. Prescriptive Rules
Particularly if you are teaching many future teachers, ask students to
prepare a lesson plan that effectively covers a prescriptive rule and how it
relates spoken or descriptive usage. Then ask students to try the lesson
plan in class with their peers.
This chapter can be an opportune time to talk with students about the well-
known prescription against passive voice in formal writing. When is
passive voice helpful? When can it create needless confusion or ambiguity?
Have students collect examples of what they consider to be effective and
ineffective uses of the passive voice in academic writing, and then you can
discuss as a class what makes these examples effective or ineffective.
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Who Can Find the Funniest?
Dangling or misplaced modifier in printed material.
INTEGRATING THE HOMEWORK
Homework Progression
We recommend following the progression of exercises as they are laid out
in the chapter, as they systematically build on one another. Instructors
interested in reinforcing the idea that all dialects are rule-governed should
be sure to include Exercise 6.7.
In-Class Activities Based on Homework
We strongly recommend leaving time to review exercises in class as you
progress through the chapter, so that you can gauge students’
understanding, clear up confusion, and build toward the more complex
material later in the chapter. With Exercise 6.2, we recommend going over
a couple of trees as a full class the day that students come with the
exercise completed; then you can provide the answer key, ask students to
swap trees with peers, and have them correct each other’s trees. Exercise
6.7 can generate productive in-class discussion about the rule-governed
nature of all dialects.
EXTRA RESOURCES
For more information about usage questions and prescriptive rules, consult
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (1994), The American
Heritage Book of English Usage (1996), and Bryan Garner’s A Dictionary
of Modern American Usage (1998).
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On February 18, 2008, the New York Times ran a story celebrating the
semi-colon, entitled “Celebrating the Semi-Colon in a Most Unlikely
Location.” This article can serve as a useful follow-up reading to the
discussion or the semi-colon in the Special Focus section of the chapter.
