Unit 1: Functional Grammar

I. Orientation — Grammar as Form, Function, and Meaning

Functional grammar studies how grammatical structures communicate meaning in particular contexts. Instead of examining form alone, it asks what work a group of words performs: naming a participant, describing an action, adding information, making a statement, or connecting ideas. Phrase, clause, and sentence are related grammatical units arranged broadly from smaller to larger.

• Governing principle: A grammatical unit is understood through both its internal structure and its function within a larger unit; for example, after lunch is a phrase in form but functions as an adverbial in We rested after lunch.
• Hierarchy of units: Words combine into phrases, phrases usually form parts of clauses, and one or more clauses form sentences.
  • Word: children
  • Phrase: the young children
  • Clause: the young children laughed
  • Sentence: The young children laughed.
• Form and function: Form identifies what a unit is, whereas function identifies what it does. In The old bridge collapsed, the old bridge is a noun phrase in form and the subject in function.
• Constituency: Words that behave as a single grammatical unit form a constituent. In She opened the heavy door, the words the heavy door can be replaced by it, showing that they form one constituent.
• Predication: A clause normally establishes a relationship between a subject and a predicate, as in Rain stopped, where rain is the subject and stopped is the predicate.
• Completeness: A sentence is conventionally treated as a complete unit of communication, while phrases and dependent clauses generally require a larger context.
• Context: The same form can perform different functions. In Morning exercise helps, morning modifies exercise; in Morning arrived, morning functions as the subject.
• Conventions: In writing, a sentence begins with a capital letter and normally ends with a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark.

II. Phrase — A Group Functioning as One Unit

A. Phrase

A phrase is a word or group of related words organized around a head and functioning as a single constituent within a clause.

• Head: The head determines the grammatical type and central meaning of the phrase. In those extremely bright students, students is the noun head.
• Dependents: Other elements modify or complete the head. In very proud of her work, very modifies proud, while of her work complements it.
• Clause distinction: A phrase does not itself make a complete finite predication. Across the river is a phrase, whereas the river flooded is a clause because it contains a finite verb.
• Single-word phrases: A phrase may consist only of its head. In Birds fly, Birds can be analysed as a one-word noun phrase and fly as a one-word verb phrase.
• Embedding: A phrase may contain another phrase. In the roof of the house, the noun phrase contains the prepositional phrase of the house.
• Substitution test: A suspected phrase can often be replaced by one word. In The girl in the blue coat waved, the girl in the blue coat can be replaced by she.
• Movement test: Some phrases can move together without losing their unity. After the meeting, they left derives from They left after the meeting; after the meeting moves as one unit.
• Structural pattern: A phrase commonly consists of a head with optional modifiers or complements.

Phrase = Modifier(s) + Head + Complement(s)

Here, the head is the central word, modifiers describe or limit it, and complements complete its meaning.

B. Forms, Functions, and Analysis

Phrase types are named after their heads, but their functions depend on their positions within clauses.

• Noun phrase: A noun or pronoun acts as the head. In the three large windows, windows is the head, while the, three, and large are modifiers.
  • Subject: The three large windows were open.
  • Object: We repaired the three large windows.
  • Complement: Maya is an architect.
• Verb phrase: A lexical verb combines with optional auxiliary verbs. In has been working, working carries the lexical meaning, while has and been mark perfect and progressive aspects.
• Adjective phrase: An adjective forms the head. In remarkably calm, calm is modified by remarkably; the phrase functions as a subject complement in She remained remarkably calm.
• Adverb phrase: An adverb forms the head. In quite unexpectedly, unexpectedly is the head, and the phrase modifies arrived in The guests arrived quite unexpectedly.
• Prepositional phrase: A preposition is followed by its complement, usually a noun phrase. In under the wooden table, under expresses a spatial relation and the wooden table is its complement.
• Functional flexibility: The same phrase type can serve different functions. A prepositional phrase is an adverbial in We met after class but a postmodifier in the discussion after class.
• Boundary identification: Brackets make phrase structure visible:

[The energetic players] [have completed] [the difficult training session].

The bracketed units are respectively a noun phrase, verb phrase, and noun phrase.

III. Clause — The Central Unit of Predication

A. Clause

A clause is a grammatical unit built around a verb phrase and typically containing a subject and a predicate.

• Subject: The subject identifies the participant or topic about which something is predicated. In The engine stopped, the engine is the subject.
• Predicate: The predicate contains the verb and what follows it. In The engine stopped suddenly, stopped suddenly is the predicate.
• Finite verb: A finite clause contains a verb marked for tense or modality. In She writes daily, writes is present-tense; in She may write, may is a finite modal.
• Implied subject: Imperative clauses normally omit the understood subject you. In Close the window, the subject is understood rather than expressed.
• Clause elements: A clause may contain subject, verb, object, complement, and adverbial.

S + V + O + A
The students | completed | the project | yesterday.

Here, S means subject, V verb, O object, and A adverbial.

• Object and complement: An object receives or is affected by the action, whereas a complement identifies or describes another element. Compare They elected Mira with They elected Mira captain, where captain is an object complement.
• Phrase relationship: Clause elements are commonly realized by phrases. In The careful driver avoided the pothole, both the subject and object are noun phrases.

B. Types and Functions of Clauses

Clauses are classified by whether they can stand independently, by the form of their verbs, and by the functions they perform.

1. Independent clause: An independent or main clause can stand as a complete sentence because it expresses a complete proposition. The lights went out is both an independent clause and a simple sentence.
2. Dependent clause: A dependent or subordinate clause cannot normally stand alone. In We waited until the lights returned, until the lights returned depends on the main clause.

• Coordination: Clauses of equal status are linked by coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, or or. In The rain stopped, but the roads remained wet, both clauses are independent.
• Subordination: One clause is grammatically placed within or below another. In Because the road was flooded, the bus turned back, the because-clause supplies the reason.
• Noun clause: A dependent clause performs a noun-like function. In What she decided surprised us, What she decided functions as the subject.
• Relative clause: A relative clause modifies a noun phrase. In The book that you lent me is useful, that you lent me identifies the book.
• Adverbial clause: An adverbial clause expresses circumstances such as time, reason, condition, purpose, or concession. If the weather improves, we will leave contains a condition clause.
• Finite and non-finite clauses: Because she was tired is finite because was carries tense; to finish the work is non-finite because to finish carries no tense.
• Restrictive meaning: In Students who submitted the form entered, the relative clause restricts the reference to a particular group of students.
• Non-restrictive meaning: In Rina, who submitted the form, entered, the comma-marked clause adds supplementary information rather than identifying Rina.

IV. Sentence — A Complete Communicative Unit

A. Sentence

A sentence is the largest conventional grammatical unit, consisting of at least one independent clause and expressing a statement, question, command, wish, or exclamation.

• Grammatical completeness: A standard sentence contains an independent clause. The audience applauded has an expressed subject and a finite predicate.
• Communicative completeness: A sentence performs a recognizable speech function. Please sit down is grammatically imperative and functions as a polite request.
• Written boundaries: Capitalization and terminal punctuation mark sentence boundaries: Did the train arrive?
• Simple sentence: A simple sentence has one independent clause, though it may contain several phrases. The experienced guide led the visitors through the ancient fort remains simple because it has one finite clause.
• Compound sentence: A compound sentence contains two or more coordinated independent clauses. The guide spoke, and the visitors listened.
• Complex sentence: A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. The visitors listened because the guide spoke clearly.
• Compound-complex sentence: This structure contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. The guide spoke clearly, and the visitors listened while they walked.
• Clause count: Sentence type depends on clauses, not length. Birds fly and fish swim has two coordinated clauses, whereas a long sentence containing only one finite verb may still be simple.

B. Functions, Patterns, and Grammatical Boundaries

Sentence form organizes information, while sentence function expresses the speaker’s purpose.

• Declarative: A declarative sentence normally uses subject–verb order and makes a statement: The library closes at six.
• Interrogative: An interrogative asks a question, often through subject–auxiliary inversion: Does the library close at six?
• Imperative: An imperative gives a command, instruction, request, or invitation: Return the books by Friday. The understood subject is you.
• Exclamative: An exclamative expresses strong feeling or emphasis: What a remarkable performance that was!
• Basic patterns: English sentences commonly follow recurring clause structures.
  • S–V: The baby slept.
  • S–V–O: Leena opened the parcel.
  • S–V–C: The parcel was heavy.
  • S–V–O–O: Leena gave Ravi the parcel.
  • S–V–O–C: They found the parcel damaged.
• Fragment: A fragment is punctuated as a sentence but lacks an independent clause. Because the shop was closed leaves the subordinate idea incomplete.
• Run-on sentence: A run-on incorrectly joins independent clauses without suitable punctuation or coordination: The shop was closed we returned home.
• Comma splice: A comma splice joins independent clauses with only a comma: The shop was closed, we returned home. A full stop, semicolon, or coordinator is required.
• Cohesion: Pronouns, conjunctions, repetition, and reference connect sentence elements. In Anita bought a laptop because she needed it, she refers to Anita and it to a laptop.
• Information focus: Word order can place familiar information first and new information later. The committee approved the proposal presents the committee as the starting point; the passive The proposal was approved by the committee makes the proposal the starting point.