Syntax. Syntax is a set of principles, rules and indications governing the best arrangement of elements in the structure of communication. (Bantas 1996: 77)

Syntactic subunits:

• main/principal parts of the sentence:

• the subject
• the predicate

• secondary parts of the sentence:

• the attribute
• the object (direct, indirect, prepositional)
• the predicative
• the adverbial modifier

The parts of the sentence take the form of words or combinations of words, which may be also accompanied by prepositions. They are called phrases. If we look at the sentence in terms of structure (internal organisation), then phrases represent the structural constituents of a sentence (e.g. the noun phrase, the verb phrase, the adverbial phrase, the adjectival phrase).

Examples of noun phrases:         the Queen of the Netherlands

                                        a beautiful baby girl

THE CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES

Criteria:

1. The purpose of communication (modality/manner or the speaker’s attitude) – related to content;
2. Structure – related to form;
3. Status or grammatical dependence.

(Bantas 1996: 81)

1) The purpose of communication:

        Declarative sentences (also known as statements):

•         “affirm, declare, or state something (positive or negative) usually without emotional implication” (Bantas 1996: 82);

• are defined by a certain word order, following the pattern Subject^Predicate^Object:

        They bought a new flat.

• the verb is usually in the indicative mood.

Interrogative sentences:

• “are expressions of the speaker’s/writer’s curiosity”;
• word order generally involves partial inversion, following the pattern Auxiliary^Subject:

        Does he practise the piano every day?

        or full inversion, e.g. in the case of the verb to be:

        Is she at home? (Predicate^Subject)

•         they can be further classified into several types, for example general questions – “yes” or “no” questions or special/particular questions – Wh- questions etc.

(Bantas 1996: 85-86)

Imperative sentences:

•         include commands, requests, invitations:

                Come here!

                Have a seat!

                This way, please!

•         take the verb is in the imperative mood, but there are also imperative sentences that do not contain a verb.

(Bantas 1996: 86)

Exclamatory sentences:

• are connected with our emotions and feelings – positive or negative:

        What a terrible thing to say!

• typically begin with adverbs or pronouns and word order  frequently involves inversion:

        How nice of you to come!

        What a beautiful day this is!

(Bantas 1996: 86)

(2) Structure/composition/form:

The simple sentence is “the sentence which expresses just one thought at a time, by means of one predicate (or main focus/nucleus) between two punctuation marks that are destined for separating thoughts – or between two conclusive pauses in the speech chain, indicating the beginning of a new utterance and its end” (Bantas 1996: 87)

        She is our new neighbour. Isn’t she a peach?

        Come here!

The compound sentence “is a thought which includes more units than one, placed on an equal footing” (Bantas 1996: 87)

• the term compound is employed here in the sense of coordination;

• the compound sentence typically contains two or more clauses which have the same function and are connected by coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or,  etc.):

        Life here is expensive and we have found no work yet.

The complex sentence “is a unit of thinking made up of one or more main/principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses” (Bantas 1996: 87).

• the term complex is employed here in the sense of subordination/embedding (different levels):

        Mary said that she hadn’t been there.

        If she had come, I would have seen her.

        My brother, who is in Austria, is coming home for Easter.

(3) Status/dependence:

• independent sentences (isolated);
• independent clauses (as parts of a compound sentence);
• main/principal/head clauses (in complex sentences);
• subordinate/secondary clauses (in complex sentences).

Sentences may also be classified as:

• Finite or non-finite (according to the form of the verb):

        They are laughing.

        The girl was walking down the street, singing a song.

• Personal or impersonal (according to the nature of the subject):

        The professor is a specialist in applied linguistics.

        It is cold

References:

Bantas, A. 1996. Descriptive English Syntax. Iasi: Institutul European.

Van Valin Jr., R.D. 2001. An Introduction to Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.