Connecting utterances to the background
In linguistics, syntax is the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a given language, usually including word order.
CLEFTS SENTENCES
A compound sentence is a sentence that has at least two independent clauses joined by a comma, semicolon or conjunction. An independent clause is a clause that has a subject and verb and forms a complete thought.
www.really-learn-english.com
https://youtu.be/09fBALUoA6c
Pseudo-Cleft
This is the basic structure of a WH (pseudo) cleft sentence
What clause + be verb + emphasized word or phrase
The emphasis (focus) is usually at the end of the sentence.
e.g. – What do you need?
– What I need is something to drink.
This is the basic pattern of an IT cleft sentence
It + be verb + subject, object, etc
+ that/who relative clause
e.g. – Joe ate the cake.
– It was Joe who ate the cake.
It help us focus on a certain part of a sentence to add emphasis to what we want to say.
Create your own compound sentences, using the coordinators above.
A sentence that emphasizes an idea by focusing on a certain part af the sentence.
It is a sentence in which some part is moved from its normal position into a different place to give it more emphasis.
When independent clauses are joined with coordinators (also called coordinating conjunctions), commas and semicolons, they do more than just join the clauses. They add meaning and flow to your writing.
Specially usefull in writing
To separate into two
DEFINITENESS
A complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, but a dependent clause even though it has a subject and a verb cannot stand alone.
https://www.passeidireto.com/arquivo/27132540/semantics-a-coursebook
There are three main ways to mark definiteness
Complex marking, in this case, two different grammatical functions are used to indicate a third (definiteness).
Non-explicit marking, usually resorting to syntactic procedures such as the order of constituents, or the appearance within the theme.
Explicit marking, usually by means of a definite article that is usually a clitic or an affix.
Definiteness or grammatical definition is a semantic characteristics.
The subject clause is a dependent clause that acts as a subject.
The grammar definition has two possible values [+ definite] and [- definite].
That refers to whether the word that expresses the referent defines it univocally or not.
That occurs in many languages in the noun, the adjective, and the pronoun.
The definition of a reference expression, tells us nothing about the referent itself but relates to the question of whether the referent has been mentioned (or taken for granted) in the previous speech.
A predicative clause may be introduced by conjunctions - that, whether, whether... or, as, as if, as though, because, lest, the way - or connectives.
The latter may be conjunctive pronouns - who, whoever, what, whatever, which - or conjunctive adverbs - where, wherever, when, whenever, how, why.
PASSIVE
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/passive-voice/
• The passive voice isn’t a grammatical error; it’s a matter of style
• Use the active voice if it makes your sentence sound clearer and more natural
• Forming passive voice requires the verb “to be” and a past participle
• The passive voice is your friend when the thing receiving an action is the important part of the sentence—especially in scientific and legal contexts, times when the performer of an action is unknown, or cases where the subject is distracting or irrelevant
• When it comes to good writing, don’t be passive—even if your sentences sometimes need to be
With the passive voice, the subject is acted upon by some other performer of the verb.
The formula: [subject]+[some form of the verb to be]+[past participle of a transitive verb]+[optional prepositional phrase]
e.g. The ball was kicked by Chester.
Whit the active voice, the subject is something, or it does the action of the verb in the sentence.
The formula for the active voice: [subject]+[verb (performed by the subject)]+[optional object]
e.g. hester kicked the ball.
While tense is all about time references, voice describes whether the grammatical subject of a clause performs or receives the action of the verb.
A passive voice construction can even drop him from the sentence entirely.
e.g. The ball was kicked.
It becomes a prepositional phrase that tells you who the performer of the action is, but it’s no longer the grammatical subject.
In a passive voice construction, the grammatical subject of the clause receives the action of the verb.
Focal stress
https://youtu.be/Vu6UVwkUgzc
Contrast and vowel reductions
See the example below and try to create your own simple sentences.
Tim is driving the car with his mother.
When you pronounce the word stress, it's not just about the stressed syllable, but about the phonetic part in a word.
Stress in long words
See the example below and try to create your own simple sentences.
Tim is the driver.
The stress can move when you make a longer word from a root word.
If a longer word is made from a shorter root's word, then the stress is always in the same place that the root word.
If a word ends in 'y' and it has three syllables, so the stress is almost always on the first syllable.
If a word ends in 'y' and it has three or more syllables, so the stress is on two syllables before the last one.
When the words end in 'tion'', 'son, 'cian', or 'ic' the stress always is on the second-last syllable.
In words with four or more syllables, the stress is always in the middle, no on the first, or last syllable.
The stressed syllable can be anywhere (at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end)
Stress in two-syllable words
See the example below and try to create your own simple sentences.
Tim drives the car.
There are many common exceptions as hotel, exam, in nouns, and happen, finish in verbs
Most verbs have stress on the second syllable.
Most nouns and adjectives with two syllables have stress on the first syllable.
How to pronounce stress
See the example below and try to create your own simple sentences.
Tim drives.
The stressed syllable should be louder, a little higher, and a little longer in time.
An apostrophe shows you where the stress is, and the next syllable is the stress syllable.
