150 Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) Grammar Note S V IO DO I told the man sitting at the bus stop that I would be right back. If we are speaking to people, use the following patterns with tell/told and say/said: Tell/Told: S–tell/told–IO–DO (Do not use the word to.) Say /Said: S–say/said + to + IO + DO. Say/Said: S–say/said + DO + to + IO. S V DO IO. I handed the big case of beautiful Afghan flowers to the little boy. S V DO IO The big man pushed the handful of money toward the lady in the box. S V DO IO The fat, old, lazy homeless man who was at the station gave a letter to me. Recall that we said the best way to learn grammar and to learn to write is to look at the position of something in the text. By finding the subject and the verb of the sentence, you enable yourself to notice constructions in the structure that are not really necessary. Earlier we learned that tran- sitions take us from one idea to the next, from sentence to sentence, and from paragraph to paragraph; there are always words in a sentence that do the same thing. For example, to see two nouns next to each other may mean that one is the start of a phrase or clause that renames the phrase or clause before it. Also, we know that most sentences have a subject and a verb, so to see two sets of verb phrases in a sentence means that there are probably two clauses, because most clauses have a subject and a verb. THE : RE N OTE : TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 150 151 Syntax and Grammar Complements Subject S V SC The man, the one who was being chief officer for the day, is always a r eal headache. S V SC I am the man writing the letters for all the students . S V SC She seems to be the one who started all of the problems . S V SC She appeared tired, worn-out, and ready to go home. Direct Object S aux V DO O comp. He was crowned Mr. Olympia, the possessor of the most symmetrical bod y in the world. S V DO O comp (OC) They made him the most feared leader in the whole Western world. S V DO OC I slugged the man, the one being the most obnoxious pest at the party . S V DO OC I made her my wife , the partner who would share my life forever. S V DO OC I killed the dog that was eating the chickens in the pasture. TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 151 152 Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) S V DO OC She saw the man that had plundered her cookie jar. Indirect Object S V DO IO IO comp. I gave the thing to the man wearing the big overcoat, the one coughing . S V DO IO IO comp. I gave the coat to the boy, the one w aving at us. S V DO IO IO comp. The man wrote the letter for the boy who w as sick in the hospital. S V DO IO IO comp. The professor said hello to the man who had wr ecked the bus. S V DO IO IO comp. I shovel the snow for the lady who attends my c hurch. The IOs in these sentences are technically the objects of the prepositions to and for, but we will view them according to the function in the sentence. Therefore, we will call them IOs. The IO can usually be moved to the final position in the sentence and be preceded by the word to or for, depending on the construction. See grammar note above. Further, the complement can be realized by a noun phrase with a noun as headword or by a relative pronoun. We will explore complements and clauses shortly. Complements can be realized by other constructions, as well. THE : RE N OTE : TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 152 153 Syntax and Grammar Embedding Construction: Who (Whom), Whose, What, Why, Where, When, How Three definite patterns emerge in this construction, each taking different syntactic functions. Numbers 1 and 2 are statements, and number 3 is an interrogative: 1. S–V–Question Word–S–V 2. S–V–Q. Word–( to)–V 3. Operator (auxiliary verb)–S–V–Q. Word–(S)–(V) The words in parentheses are optional; therefore, we may have several patterns in number 3. Category 1 1. He knows who(m) the boy likes. 2. He knows whose cat this is. Note: We have an extra noun after whose. 3. I saw what you did. 4. I understand why she left. 5. He saw where the cow went. 6. I told you when the man arrived. 7. I do not understand how the train operates. Category 2 1. I can’t think of whom to call. I know who is here. 2. I saw the girl whose mother won the race. S–V–Whose–S–V: Exception. 3. I couldn’t see what jumped. I felt what moved. 4. He said why to come early. 5. I know where to go. 6. I learned when to shut up 7. I know how to ski. THE : RE N OTE : TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 153 154 Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) Category 3 1. Did you see who(m)? 2. Did you see who was here? 3. Do you know it was? 4. Do you know whose scarf it was? 5. Can they see what it hit? 6. Could you tell me why you went there? 7. Does he know where we went? 8. Can you tell me when the plane arrives? 9. Do you know how to solve the problem? As with the pods, we can add to these constructions, and, of course, we can take away from them. To understand the basic elements of grammar, look at the constructions. Patterns emerge. By now, you are beginning to understand the structures within the structures. There may be several sub- jects in a sentence, each within a clause of its own, all fitting together to fit into its own syntactic slot in the superstructure. Understanding this enables one to look over his own papers and catch those costly mistakes that previously he would not have recognized. We have now completed a general overview of syntactic constructions, referring to subjects, objects, and complements. We must now look fur- ther into the specific types of phrases and clauses and see how they can function in these syntactic positions. Noun Phrases A noun phrase consists of the headword, which is usually a noun or a word that is functioning like a noun, and the article that is situated before it, plus all of its modifiers (adjectives). As Subject The big bully ate the candy. Det. Adj. S/N It can consist of the possessive, hereafter referred to as the genitive. TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 154 155 Syntax and Grammar S/N = the word that is the subject of the sentence; N = the part of speech that the subject is realized by. The big bully’s brother ate the candy. Det. Adj. Adj./N S/N The big brother of the bully ate the candy. Det. Adj. S/N prep + Obj = PP: This is the inverted genitive realized by a prepositional phrase. The big brother ’s running was excellent. Det. Adj. Adj/N S/gerund The running of the big brother was excellent. Det. S/gerund + PP—————-. Noun Phrase as an Adjective Describing the Subject A beer mug is thick Det. Adj/N S/n An e xam day is hectic. Det. Adj/N S/n Noun Phrase Realized by an Adjective as Headword of the Phrase The decrepit fall often. Det. S/adj. The old and decrepit need help. Det. S/adj S/adj The sic kly old and decrepit need guidance. Det. adj/adj S/adj S/adj TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 155 156 Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) The sentence above has two adjectives that act as nouns in order to function as the subjects of the sentence. The word sickly is an adverb and an adjective. Here, it is in the form of an adverb, because usually an adverb describes an adjective. Definitions: Verbal—A form of a verb that does not function as a verb: The boiling milk is best. Here, the word boiling functions as an adjective to describe the word milk. The verbal is also referred to as a participle. Boiling is the present participle, boiled is the past participle, and so forth. Adjectival—A word, clause, or phrase functioning as an adjective: The bric k house is solid. Brick is a noun, but it acts like an adjective in this sen- tence. Adverbial—A word, clause, or phrase that functions as an adverb: broad- ly, it tells where, when, why, how, and to what degree. These definitions above apply to words, phrases, and clauses. Noun Phrase Realized by Verb as Headword Running har d is good for the young man. S/V Adv Har dly running is not a good training practice. ( hardly = little in amount [adverb]) Adv/adv S/V Cr ashing violently against the wall is not an option. S/V Adv PP = adverbial (tells) therefore describes. THE : RE N OTE : TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 156 157 Syntax and Grammar Noun Phrase Realized by Adverb as Headword Violently is the way he handled it. S/adv Thr ashingly was the method by which they were controlled. S/adv Noun Phrase Realized by a Preposition Under the table is no place to be. S/prep + obj = PP Below is not the position to have. S/prep Noun Phrase as Direct Object I hate the cloudy weather. Adj DO/N I picked the luscious berries . Det. Adj DO/N Noun Phrase Realized by Verb I would rather have the beating . Det. DO/V/gerund He saw the ship’ s sinking. Det. Adj/N DO/gerund He saw the sinking of the ship . Det. DO prep + N = PP (adjectival) TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 157 158 Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) Noun Phrase Realized by an Adjective I hate the filthy and the putrid. Det. DO/adj DO/adj We learned the unlear nable and the impossible. Det. DO/adj DO/adj Noun Phrase Realized by an Adverb = Needs Linking Verb for the Common Usage Noun Phrase Realized by a Prepositional Phrase = Needs Linking Verb for Common Usage It is obvious how the patterns begin to form. Most words step out of their grammatical function when repositioned syntactically. Therefore, to quickly recapitulate, we have discussed the following structures: In the subject position, a noun phrase is usually realized by: Noun Verb Adjective Adverb Preposition In the DO position, a noun phrase is usually realized by: Noun Verb Adjective Noun Phrase as IO Noun Phrase Realized by Noun I gave the little red balloon to the boy. Prep + obj = PP See note above; PP also serves as the IO. TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 158 159 Syntax and Grammar I forfeited my band to my friend. Prep + obj = PP I handed the professor my paper. IO (no prep) There is rarely a preposition inside the syntactic structure when dealing with an IO, except for certain verbs. However, when placed at the end of the clause, the IO almost always is preceded by to or for. Noun Phrase Realized by Verbal I turned him to judging. Note: Unable to invert the syntax. Prep + obj = PP = O/gerund I warned Tom against gambling . Note: Unable to invert the IO and DO. Prep + obj = PP = O/gerund Noun Phrase Realized by Adjective I give the young my advice. Det. IO/Adj I gave my time to the sad . Prep + IO/adj These are easily inverted, especially with the verb give. We have begun to examine structures that exercise worlds of different functions as they move around in the superstructure. Therefore, I must make some distinctions. More than one phrase can act simultaneously in a syntactic position. For example: THE : RE N OTE : TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 159 . the dog that was eating the chickens in the pasture. TOEFL Internals flowed 7/13/07 3:36 PM Page 151 152 Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) S V DO OC She saw the. Grammar S/N = the word that is the subject of the sentence; N = the part of speech that the subject is realized by. The big bully’s brother ate the candy.