25.Structural classification of sentences

1. Simple or composite (compound and complex).

2. Complete or incomplete (elliptical).

3. Two-member (double-nucleus) or one-member (single-nucleus). Simple sentence contains only one subject-predicate unit (clause). Composite sentence contains more than one subject-predicate unit (clause).

One-member sentence has only one principal part, which is neither the subject nor the predicate. One-member sentences are always complete. One-member sentences in English are of two types: nominal sentences and verbal sentences.

Two-member sentence has two main (principal) positions: those of the subject and of the predicate. Two-member sentences may be unextended or extended. An unextended sentence contains only the subject and the predicate.An e x t e n d e d sentence may contain various optional elements (including attributes, certain kinds of prepositional objects and adverbial modifiers).

26. Communicative types of sentences:

1) Declarative(повествовательное)-sentences form the bulk of monological speech and the greater part of conversation. They may be positive or negative: e.g. I have just come from a business trip. I haven’t seen my sister yet.

2) Interrogative(вопросительное)-sentences ask for information. All questions may be structurally of two main types:1. General 2. Special A general questions starts with an auxiliary or a link verb followed by subject.

e.g. Are you happy? Can you speak French? Dou you like…?

A disjunctive question is a shot yes-no question added to a statement. This is usually done when you expect the listener to agree with you or to confirm your statement.

e.g. You like poems, don’t you?

An alternative question implies a choice between two or more alternative answers.

e.g. Do you like your coffee white or black?- Black, please.

A special question starts with a question word, the function of which is to get more detailed information

27. “It” as subject of sentence

The notional subject “it” has two meanings:

1) The personal it, which stands for a definite thing or an abstract idea: The elephant is intelligent. It never forgets.

2) The demonstrative “it” points out some person or a thing expressed by predicative or refers to the thought contained in a preceding statement: Who is that?- It is me/ It is Jane.

The formal subject “it” is used to complete the structure of the sentence grammatically. There are three kinds of the formal subject “it”:

1) The impersonal “it”: It is bitterly cold.

2) The introductory “it” introduces the notional subject expressed by an infinitive, a gerund, infinitive/gerundial phrase, a predicative complex or a clause. The sentence thus contains two subject: the formal “it” and the notional subject, which follows the predicate: It is a pity that you forgot. It is funny watching myself on TV.

3) The emphatic “it” is used in cleft sentences, which are a device for focusing attention on a particular piece of information. The structure it is/was…that(who)…can be used to emphasize any part of the sentence expect the predicate: It was Jane, who cooked dinner. It was yesterday ,that Jane cooked dinner.

Phrases: 1. It is no surprise that 2. It is no wonder

Existential there

We use “there + to be” to introduce new information. The word “there” has no real meaning in this structure – it functions as a gram matical subject: There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.