Basic Sentence Structure :
English is an SVO language. John (subject) eats (Verb) pizza (object) Japanese SOV language John san wa (subject) pizza wo (object) taberu (verb) Every sentence can be broken down to the subject and the predicate. The dog runs quickly through the garden. (Subject: The dog, Predicate: runs quickly through the garden) The dog runs quickly. The dog runs. At its simplest form the sentence would be Dog runs. This aspect exists in all languages Basic Sentence Structure
Form Words Vs. Structure Words:
Form Words Vs. Structure Words Form words are the words which give us meaning. Types of words that fall into this category ar e: Verbs: i.e. Run, Jump, Eat Adjectives: i.e. Blue, Happy, Tired Adverbs: i.e. Quietly, Quickly Nouns: i.e. Car, Boat, Plane Form class words carry meaning. In English we use these words to convey ideas and specific details. i.e. The boy ran through the field. (where the underlined words are the Form words) Structure words are the words which give us context and grammatical meaning. Types of words that fall into this category are: Determiners: i.e. The, An, This Auxiliaries: i.e. Have, Be, Do Qualifiers: i.e. Very, Quite, Rather Prepositions: i.e. By, Near, In Conjunctions: i.e. And, But, However Pronouns: i.e. He, She, It Relatives: i.e. Who, Which, That Interrogatives: i.e. Where, Why, When Structure words allow us the ability to make sense out of a sentence.
Form Words Vs. Structure words Cont.:
A few ways to think about the differences between form class words and structure class words are: F orm class words are open and virtually limitless. For example words like computer, internet, nuclear However there is difficulty in classifying form words as Noun, Adjective, Adverb, Verbs. Exampe video Structure class words are not limitless and contain a set amount of words whose meanings change based on their context. For example the car is by the tree. or the car is by the house. Also I see through the window. or the window sees through me. A helpful document on structure class words Form Words Vs. Structure words Cont.
Form And Structure In Action:
Example sentence: When children get bored, they usually like to play with their friends. To show how form words give us meaning we will delete all of the structure words in this sentence When children get bored, they usually like to play with their friends . As we can see if we only read the form class words in a sentence we can still get the basic meaning of the sentence, however if the opposite is done and all of the form words are deleted the sentence will make no sense whatsoever. When children get bored, they usually like to play with their friends . In this sense if form words are the “bread” of the English Language then structure words are the “butter”. Form And Structure In Action If we can understand this concept of form and structure words, it will be easier for us to break down sentences and understand them in a grammatical sense.