Clause, phrase and sentence

The basic unit of English grammar is the clause:

[An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000]

[when he left it in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother]

[and had just had it valued by a London dealer at £180,000.]

Clauses are made up of phrases:

[An unlucky student] + [almost lost] + [a 17th century violin worth almost
£200,000]

[when] + [he] + [left] + [it] + [in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown] + [inherited] + [the 1698 Stradivarius violin] + [from his mother]

[and] [had just had it valued] + [by a London dealer] + [at £180,000.]

We can join two or more clauses together to make sentences.

An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000 when
he left it in the waiting room of a London station.

William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother and had just
had it valued by a London dealer at £180,000.

 clause structure
 verb patterns
 noun phrase
 verb phrase
 adverbial phrases
 prepositional phrases
 sentence structure
 adjective phrases
clause structure
All clauses in English have at least two parts: a noun phrase and a verb phrase: 

Noun phrase (subject) Verb phrase

The children
laughed
All the people in the
were watching
bus

But most clauses have more than two parts:

Noun phrase
Verb phrase    
(subject)
The children laughed
John wanted a new bicycle
All of the girls are learning English
This soup tastes awful
Mary and the family were driving to Madrid  
She put the flowers in a vase

The first noun phrase is the subject of the sentence:

The children laughed.
John wanted a new bicycle.
All the girls are learning English.
She put the flowers in the vase.

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. He was a teacher.

I’m waiting for my wife. Is late. She is late.
… except for the imperative which is used to give orders:

Stop!
Go away.

… and for "soft imperatives" like invitations and requests:

Please come to dinner tomorrow.

Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use "there" or "it" as subject. We call this a ‘dummy
subject’:

There were twenty people at the meeting..

There will be an eclipse of the moon tonight.
 It’s a lovely day.
It’s nearly one o’clock.
I have toothache. It hurts a lot.

verb patterns
The structure of the clause depends on the verb. For example:

 An intransitive verb has the structure: N(=noun) + V(=verb): (John) + (smiled).

 A transitive verb has the structure: N + V + N: (We) + (had been playing) +

(football)
 A link verb has the structure: N + V + Adj : (She) + (looked) + (happy)

 A phrasal verb has the structure: N + V + pa(=particle) + N (She) + (gave) +

(back) + (the money)
or N + V + N + pa (She) + (gave) + (the money) + (back)

Particles can be either adverbs or prepositions. For a more detailed explanation of

phrasal verbs, see our two- and three-part word and Multi-word verbs pages.

 intransitive verbs
 transitive verbs
 link verbs
 double object verbs
 verbs with -ing forms
 verbs with to + infinitive
 reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses
 two- and three-part verbs
 verb patterns - adverbials
 clauses: short forms
 relative clauses
 reporting: reports and summaries
 verbs - questions and negatives
 wh- clauses

intransitive verbs
Intransitive verbs have the pattern N + V (noun + verb). The clause is complete without
anything else:

Noun Phrase
Verb Phrase
(Subject)
 John smiled
Nothing happened
The baby was sleeping

(John) (smiled).
(Nothing) (has happened).
(The baby) (was sleeping).

transitive verbs
Transitive verbs have a noun phrase as object:

Noun phrase
Verb phrase Noun phrase (Object)
(Subject)
wanted
John a new bicycle.
had been
We football.
playing
Some of the children English.
are learning

This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

link verbs
Some verbs are followed by an adjective phrase. The adjective phrase is called the
complement:

Noun phrase
Verb phrase Adjective phrase (complement)
(Subject)
I am feeling hungry
Everyone looked very happy
This soup tastes awful
The milk has gone sour

This pattern is N + V + Adj (noun + verb + adjective phrase).

These verbs are called link verbs.

Some link verbs (for example be; become; seem) can have a noun phrase as a
complement:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Noun phrase (complement)

Our neighbour was a strange man
He became a geologist
She seems a nice girl
This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

double object verbs

Some verbs, like give and bring can have two different patterns after them:

Noun Phrase Noun Phrase Prepositional

Verb Phrase
(Subject) (Direct object) phrase
She gave some money to the old man
They brought a lot of food for the animals
     >>>>  <<<<
Noun Phrase
Noun Phrase Noun Phrase
Verb Phrase (Indirect
(Subject) (Direct object)
object)
She gave the old man some money
They brought the animals a lot of food

These verbs are called double object verbs. When we have two noun phrases after the
verb the first noun phrase is the indirect object and the second noun phrase is the direct
object.

verbs with -ing forms

Some transitive verbs can have a noun phrase as an object:

Everybody likes good food.

George considered the problem.

or the –ing form of the verb:

Everybody likes eating.
George considered starting again.
Note: we suggest that you read about Verbs with to + infinitive before doing this
activity.

verbs with to + infinitive

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + to+infinitive:

They agreed to help.

We decided to go.

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + N + to+infinitive:

She told him to go home.

They advised us to wait.
Note: we suggest that you read about Verbs with -ing forms before doing this activity.
reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses

Reporting verbs with that clauses:

Some verbs introduce a report, an idea or a summary. These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + (that) + clause

When we want to say what someone says or thinks we can use a clause with that;

He said that I had to see a doctor.

I thought that he was being silly.

We can leave out the word that:

He said I had to see a doctor.

I thought he was being silly.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She reminded him that it was time to go.

He told me he was a friend of yours.

These verbs have the pattern;

N + V + N + (that) + clause.

Reporting verbs with wh- and if clauses

Some verbs introduce summaries, reports, questions or problems:

She explained what we had to do.

He asked if I was ready
I didn’t know what to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + wh- + clause:
She wondered where she was.

or

N + V + if + clause:
Ken asked if we wanted to go.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She asked me if I was ready.

He told me what I had to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + N + wh- + clause:
I told them what he was doing.
or

N + V + N + if + clause:
Ken asked us if we wanted to go.

two- and three-part verbs

Two part verbs

Some verbs consist of two words – a verb and a particle (p). These verbs have a number
of patterns:

Peter came in. (N + V + p)
He took out his diary. (N + V + p + N)
He gave the money back. (N + V + N + p)

Phrasal verbs

Some transitive two part verbs are phrasal verbs. They have two different patterns.

N+V+N+p

She gave the money back
He knocked the vase over
We will be leaving our friends behind

or

N+V+p+N

She gave back the money

He knocked over the vase
We will be leaving behind our friends.

When the object is a pronoun these verbs always have the first pattern N + V +N + p:

She gave it back
He knocked it over
We will be leaving them behind

Three part verbs

Some verbs are made up of three parts – a verb and two particles. They have the
pattern:

N + V + p + p + N:

His girl friend walked out on him.

She soon caught up with the other runners
Children should look up to their parents.
 verb patterns - adverbials
A clause often has one or more adverbial phrases:

 The children laughed happily.

(N + V + Adv)
 All the girls are learning English at school in the second year.
(N + V + N + Adv + Adv)
 Last year Mary and the family were driving to Madrid in an old bus.
(Adv + N + V + Adv + Adv)
 She put the flowers carefully in a vase.
(N + V + N + Adv + Adv)

clauses: short forms

A: Short forms as answers
1. We often use short forms to answer questions. Usually we repeat the first word of
the verb phrase:

A: Can you come round tomorrow?

B: Yes, I can/ No I can’t.

A: Have you seen Jack lately?

B: Yes, I have/No I haven’t.

A: Do you like living here?

B: Yes, I do/ No I don’t.

Sometimes we change the modal verb: (see Verb Phrase)

A: Will you come?
B: Yes, we might.

A: Do you think they might come?

B: Yes, I think they will.

2. We often use verbs like think, suppose, expect  and hope, to answer questions.

 when the answer is yes we add so  (I expect so, I hope so, etc.).

 if the answer is no we say I don’t  think so, I don’t  suppose so, etc..

 but with hope  we say I hope not.

A: Can you come tomorrow?

B: I hope so.
 A: Will they be at home?
B: I expect so.

A: Is Amsterdam the capital of the Netherlands?

B: I don’t think so.

A: Do you think it’s going to rain?

B: I hope not.

3. We often use adverbials of

probability like perhaps, probably, possibly, maybe, definitely  and certainly  as
short answers:

A: Do you think it’s going to rain?

B: Yes, possibly.

A: Can you come round tomorrow?

B: Definitely!

When the answer is negative we put not  after the adverbial:

A: Do you think it’s going to rain?

B: Probably not.

A: Can you come round tomorrow?

B: Maybe not.

4. We can use short forms to agree or disagree with what someone says. Usually we
use the first word in the verb phrase:

A: It’s a lovely day.

B: Yes, it is.

A: I think they might have missed their train.

B: Yes, I think they might.

A: The children will be coming to see us next week.

B: No they won’t. They are going to their grandparents.

Sometimes we change the modal:

A: The children will be coming to see us next week.

B: Yes, they might.

A: The children might be coming to see us next week.

B: No they won’t. They are going to their grandparents.

We use do/does//don’t/doesn’t to agree or disagree with a statement in the

present simple form:

A: Your grandmother looks very well.

B: Yes, she does.

A: I think Jack lives here.
B: No he doesn’t
…and we use did/didn’t  for past simple:

A: Everybody really enjoyed the trip.

B: Yes, they did.

A: The children went to Malaysia last year.

B: No they didn’t. They went to Singapore.

5. We sometimes put a short tag at the end of a comment. We use a Yes/No question
form for the tag. If the comment is affirmative we normally use a negative tag:

A: It’s a lovely day.

B: Yes, it is, isn’t it.

A: Your grandmother looks very well.

B: Yes, she does, doesn’t she.

A: Everybody really enjoyed the trip.

B: Yes, they did, didn’t they.

If the comment is negative we normally use an affirmative tag:

A: They didn’t seem to enjoy the trip very much.

B: They didn’t, did they.

A: It’s not a very nice day.

B: No, it isn’t, is it.

A: They haven’t done much.

B: No, they haven’t, have they.

6. Sometimes we put a tag on the end of a statement:

It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?

Your grandmother looks very well, doesn’t she?
They haven’t done much, have they?
They all seemed to enjoy the trip, didn’t they?

7 We use affirmative tags with so and neither  or nor  to add to what someone has

said.

We use so  to add to an affirmative:

A: John is working in Barcelona.

B: And so is Maria [= Maria is working in Barcelona, too.]

A: I love Indian food.

B: So do I = [I love Indian food, too.]

A: They’ve just bought a new computer.

B: Really? So have we. [= We have also bought a new computer.]

We use neither  or nor  to add to a negative:

 A: I don’t smoke any more.
B: Neither do I. [= I also don’t smoke]

A: They haven’t written to us for ages.

B: Nor has Peter. [= Peter hasn’t written to us for ages, too.]

A: We won’t be taking a holiday this year.

B: Neither will we. [= We also won’t be taking a holiday this year.]

A: I never have time for breakfast.

B: Nor have I. [= I am as busy as you]

B: Short forms for questions

1. We often use short forms to ask questions when we want some more information;
A: I’ll see you on Monday.
B: What time?
A: We are going on holiday next week.
B: Where?
A: You can get a new computer very cheaply.
B: How?
If we want to be more polite we can use a longer question:
A: I’m going to London on Monday.
B: What time are you going?
A: We are going on holiday next week.
B: Where are you going?
A: You can get a new computer very cheaply.
B: How can I do that?
2. We often use questions with What about… or How about … to refer back to what
someone has said:
A: I love the Beatles. What about you?
B: Yes, I love their music too.
A: Your father seems to be working hard. What about your mother?
B: Yes, she’s working hard too.
A: I’m exhausted. How about you?
B: No, I’m fine.
A: I really enjoyed the film. How about you?
B: No, I didn’t like it very much.
3. We use short questions to check what someone has said:
A: George phoned last week.
B: Did he?
 A: They’ve just had a baby.
B: Have they?
A: He’ll be here soon.
B: Will he?

 C. Leaving words out

1. When we are speaking we sometimes leave words out if our meaning is still clear:
We could use any of these to offer someone a cup of coffee:
Would you like a cup of coffee?
You like a cup of coffee?
Like a cup of coffee?
A cup of coffee?
Cup of coffee?
Coffee?
And someone could reply:
Yes, please. I would like a cup.
Yes, please. I would.
Yes please.
Please.
2. We often leave words out if we think they are just repeating things that don't need
repeating:
I asked him to come but he wouldn’t. = ... he wouldn’t come.
Jack wanted to come but Jill didn’t. = ... Jill didn’t want to come.
Jack can come but Jill can’t. = ... Jill can’t come.
I asked him to come but he didn’t want to. = ... he didn’t want to come.
He didn’t come even though she asked him to. = ... she asked him to come.
3. We leave words out in compound sentences if we think people will still understand
the idea:

 He opened the door and went in

= He opened the door and he went in.
 They play billiards, but not snooker
= They play billiards but they do not play snooker.
 I know George, but not his brother
= I know George, but I do not know his brother.
 She likes Indian food, but not Chinese
= She likes Indian food, but she does not like Chinese food.
 

relative clauses
 1. The relative pronouns:

The relative pronouns are:
 

Subjec
 Object  Possessive
t

who whom, who whose

which which whose

that that  

We use who  and whom  for people, and which  for things.

We use that  for people or things.

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about people and
things.

2. Relative clauses to postmodify a noun 

We use relative clauses to postmodify a noun - to make clear which person or thing we

are talking about. In these clauses we can have the relative
pronoun who, which, whose  or that

 as subject (see Clauses Sentences and Phrases)

Isn’t that the woman who lives across the road from you?

The police said the accident that happened last night was unavoidable
The newspaper reported that the tiger which killed its keeper has been put
down.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
We do not repeat the subject:

*The woman who [she] lives across the road…

*The tiger which [it] killed its keeper …

 as object of a clause (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

 Have you seen those people who we met on holiday?
You shouldn’t believe everything that you read in the newspaper.
The house that we rented in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing which I enjoyed most about our holiday.

- Sometimes we use whom  instead of who  when the relative pronoun is

the object:

Have you seen those people whom we met on holiday?

- When the relative pronoun is object of its clause we sometimes leave it out:

Have you seen those people we met on holiday?

You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspaper.
The house we rented in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed most about our holiday.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:

Have you seen those people who we met [them] on holiday?

The house that we rented [it] in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed [it] most about our holiday.

 as object of a preposition. When the relative pronoun is the object of a

preposition we usually put the preposition after the verb.:

You were talking to a woman >>> Who was the woman who you were talking
to?
My parents live in that house >>> That’s the house that my parents live in.
You were talking about a book. I haven’t read it. >>> I haven’t read the
book which you were talking about.

- When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition we usually leave it out:

Who was the woman you were talking to?

That’s the house my parents live in.

- Sometimes we use whom  instead of who:

Who was that woman whom you were talking about.

- When we use whom, which  or whose the preposition sometimes comes at the

beginning of the clause:

I haven’t read the book about which you were talking.

- We can use the possessive form, whose, in a relative clause:

I always forget that woman’s name >>> That’s the woman whose name I always
forget.
I met a man whose brother works in Moscow.
 3. Times and places

We also use when  with times and where  with places to make it clear which time or

place we are talking about:

England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year when we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day when the tsunami happened.
Do you remember the place where we caught the train?
Stratford-upon-Avon is the town where Shakespeare was born.

... but we can leave out the word when:

England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day the tsunami happened.

4. Giving additional information

 We use who, whom, whose, and which  (but not that) in relative clauses to tell us

more about a person or thing.

 as subject (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

My uncle, who was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.
I have just read Orwell’s 1984, which is one of the most frightening books
ever written.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
We do not repeat the subject:

My uncle, who [he] was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.
I have just read Orwell’s 1984, which [it] is one of the most frightening books ever
written.

 as object (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really enjoyed.

My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw in “On the Waterfront”.

- we can use whom  instead of who  as object:

My favourite actor was Marlon Brando, whom I saw in “On the Waterfront”.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really enjoyed [it].

My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw [him] in “On the Waterfront”.

 as object of a clause :
 He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired.
We are going back to Venice, which we first visited thirty years ago.

We can also use who  as the object.

He finally met Paul McCartney, who he had always admired.

WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:

He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired [him].

We are going back to Venice, which we first visited [it] thirty years ago.

 as object of a preposition:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, who he had read about in the newspaper.

That’s the programme which we listened to last night.

- We sometimes use whom  instead of who:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, whom he had read about in the newspaper.

- The preposition sometimes comes in front of the relative

pronoun whom  or which:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, about whom he had read in the newspaper.

That’s the programme to which we listened last night.

5.  Quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns

 We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns:

many of whom - most of whom - one of which - none of whom

some of which - lots of whom - two of which - etc.

We can use them as subject, object or object of a preposition.

She has three brothers, two of whom are in the army.

I read three books last week, one of which I really enjoyed.
There were some good programmes on the radio, none of which I listened to.

6. Using  "which" to give more information

We often use the relative pronoun which  to say something about a clause:

He was usually late, which always annoyed his father.

We’ve missed our train, which means we may be late.

reporting: reports and summaries

Many teachers and learners think that tense forms in reported speech are complex.

In fact, "reported speech" follows exactly the same rules as the rest of the language.
 1. When we report what people say or think we use:

 clauses with that:

Everybody knew that it was Henry’s birthday tomorrow.

She explained that she would do as much as she could to help.

but we can leave out the word that:

Everybody knew it was Henry’s birthday tomorrow.

She explained she would do as much as she could to help.

 wh-clauses (see Wh-clauses) and clauses with if (see note in Wh-clauses)

He was asked what he had been doing the previous night.

She explained why she went by train rather than by car.

 to-infinitives:

We all agreed to do as much as we could.

Who told you to come?

2. We very rarely try to report exactly what someone has said. We usually give

a summary:

Mary: Oh dear, we’ve been walking for hours. I am exhausted. I don’t think I can
go any further. I really need to stop for a rest.
Peter: Don’t worry. I’m not surprised that you’re tired. I’m tired too. I’ll tell you
what. I’ll see if I can find a place to sit down, and then we can stop and have our
picnic.
>>>
When Mary complained that she was tired out after walking so far, Peter said they
could stop for a picnic.

3. Tense forms in reports and summaries.

When we are reporting what people say or think in English we need to remember:

 that the tense forms in reports and summaries are the same as in the rest of the
language:

This is a letter that Andrew Brown wrote ten years ago:

I am  twenty-two years old and I am  at University studying engineering. I take  my
final exams next month and I will finish  university in July.
I want  to take a year off and travel round the world. I will need  to make some money
while I am travelling so I would like  to learn to teach English as a second language so
that I can make  some money while I am abroad. A friend of mine has
 recommended your course very highly. She also gave  me some details, but I would
like  to ask a few more questions.
What courses do you have  in the summer and when do they start? How much do
the courses cost? Is there  an examination at the end?
I look forward  to hearing from you.
Regards,
Andrew Brown.

 If you were telling a story about Andrew then you might write something like this:
When Andrew was  22 he was  an engineering student in his last month at the
university. He wanted  to travel abroad after he had finished  his course at the
university, but he would need  to earn some money while he was  abroad so he
wanted to learn to teach English as a foreign language. A friend had recommended  a
course but Andrew needed  more information. So he wrote  to the school
and asked  them when their courses started  and how much they were. He also
wanted to know if there was  an examination at the end of the course.

You would use past tense forms to talk about something that happened ten years ago.
If you were reporting or summarising what Andrew wrote you might start off by saying:

Andrew told  me that when he was  22 he was  an engineering student in his last

month…

... and you could go on in the same way. You would use past tense forms to talk about
something which happened ten years ago. So tense forms in reports and summaries in
English are the same as in the rest of the language.

 Sometimes you have to choose between a past tense form and a present

tense form.

If you are talking about the past but you mention something that is still true you could
use a present tense form to show you agree that it is true:

John said he had stayed at the Shangri-la because it is the most comfortable
hotel in town.
Mary said she enjoyed the film because Robert de Niro is her favourite actor.
Helen said she loves visiting New York.

... or a past tense form:

John said he had stayed at the Shangri-la because it was the most comfortable
hotel in town.
 Mary said she enjoyed the film because Robert de Niro was her favourite actor.
Helen said she loved visiting New York,

 If we are talking about something that everybody knows is true we normally

use a present tense:

Michael said he had always wanted to climb Everest because it is the highest
mountain in the world.
Mary said she loved visiting New York because it is such an exciting city.

4.  to-infinitives in reports and summaries:

We often use the to-infinitive after verbs of thinking and feeling to report or

summarise actions:

decide - hope - intend

 “I think I will start all over again” >>>

He decided to start all over again.
 “I am going to write to the newspaper about it” >>>
She intended to write to the newspaper about it.

… and verbs of saying:

agree - promise - refuse

 “I can do the shopping for you if you like” >>>

He agreed to do the shopping for me.
 I’m sorry. I would love to help you but I’m afraid I can’t >>>
She refused to help me.

After some verbs we use a direct object and the infinitive (see verbs followed by

infinitive):

advise - ask - encourage - invite - order - remind - tell - warn -

expect - intend - want -  would like - would prefer

 “I think you should turn the lights out now” >>>

She reminded me to turn the lights out.
 “Be very careful, children. The sea can be very dangerous so please don’t go in the
water.” >>>
She warned the children not to go in the water.

verbs - questions and negatives

1. Yes/No questions
Yes/No questions are questions to which the answer is Yes or No

Look at these statements:

They are working hard.
They will be working hard.
They had worked hard.
They have been working hard.
They might have been working hard.

We make Yes/No questions by putting the subject, they, after the first part of the

verb:

Are they working hard?

Will they be working hard?
Had they worked hard?
Have they been working hard?
Might they have been working hard?

2. Negatives

We make negatives by putting not  after the first part of the verb:

They are not working hard
They will not be working hard
They had not worked hard
They have not been working hard
They might not have been working hard

In spoken English we often reduce not to n’t:

They aren’t working hard.
They won’t be working hard
They hadn’t been working hard
etc.

3. Questions and negatives with present simple and past simple forms:

For all verbs except be  and have we use do/does and did with the base form of the

verb to make Yes/No questions for the present simple and past simple forms:
They work hard >>> Do they work hard?
He works hard >>> Does he work hard?
They worked hard >>> Did they work hard?
For all verbs except be  and have we make negatives by
putting not after do/does and did  for the present simple and past simple forms:
They work hard >>> They do not (don’t) work hard
He works hard >>> He does not (doesn’t) work hard
They worked hard >>> They did not (didn’t) work hard.
 Here are the question forms and negative forms for the verb be in the present simple
and past simple:

I am (I’m) Am I? I am not (I’m not)

He is (he’s) Is he? He is not (He’s not/He isn’t)

She is (she’s) Is she She is not (She’s not/She isn’t)

It is (it’s) Is it It is not (It’s not/It isn’t)

You are (you’re) Are you You are not (You’re not/You aren’t)

They (they’re
Are they They are not (They’re not/They aren’t)
are )

 
The verb have:
We make questions and negatives with have  in two ways:

 normally we use do/does or did for questions :

Do you have plenty of time?
Does she have enough money?
Did they have any useful advice?

 and negatives:
I don’t have much time.
She doesn’t have any money.
They didn’t have any advice to offer.

  … but we can make questions by putting have, has  or had  in front of

the subject:
Have you plenty of time?
Had they any useful advice?
 … and we can make negatives by putting not  or n’t  after have, has  or had:
We haven’t much time.
She hadn’t any money.
He hasn’t a sister called Liz, has he?

4.  Wh-questions

Wh-questions are questions which start with a question-asking word, either a Wh-

word (what, when, where, which, who, whose, why) or questions with the
word how.
Questions with: when, where, why:
We form wh-questions with these words by putting the question word in front of
a Yes/No question:
Where are they working?
Why have they been working hard?
Where does he work?
Where will you go?
When did they arrive?
etc.
Questions with who, which  and what  (see Pronouns):

 Sometimes who  or what  takes the place of the subject (see Clauses, Sentences

and Phrases) of the clause:
Who gave you the chocolates? >>> Barbara gave me the chocolates.
Who is looking after the children? >>> My mother is looking after the children
Who mended the window? >>> My brother mended the window
Who could have done this? >>> Anybody could have done this.

 We use what  in the same way:

What will happen?
What caused the accident?
What frightened the children?
When we ask who, which  and what  about the object of the verb (see Clauses,
Sentences and Phrases), we make questions in the way described
in 1 and 3 above with who, which  or what  at the beginning of the clause:
He is seeing Joe tomorrow >>> Who is he seeing tomorrow?
I want a computer for my birthday >>> What do you want for your birthday?
She has brought some fruit for the picnic >>> What has she brought for the
picnic?
They need a new car >>> What do they need?
We sometimes use which  or what  with a noun:
 What subjects did you study at school?
What newspaper do you read?
Which newspaper do you read – the Times or the Guardian?
Which book do you want?
Questions with how:
We use how for many different questions:
How are you?
How do you make questions in English?
How long have you lived here?
How often do you go to the cinema?
How much is this dress?
How old are you?
How many people came to the meeting?

5. Questions with verbs and prepositions:

When we have a question with a verb and a preposition the preposition usually comes

at the end of the clause:
I gave the money to my brother >>> Who did you give the money to?
She comes from Madrid >>> Where does she come from?
They were waiting for more than an hour >>> How long were they
waiting for?

6. Other ways of asking questions:

We use phrases like these in front of a statement to ask questions:

Do you know…? I wonder... Can you tell me …?

 We use these phrases with if for Yes/No questions:

This is the right house >>> Do you know if this is the right house?
Mr. Brown lives here >>> Do you know if Mr. Brown lives here?
Everyone will have read the book >>> I wonder if everyone will have read the
book.

… or with wh-words:
I wonder how much this dress is.
Can you tell me where she comes from?
Do you know who lives here?

 We often use do you think…? after wh-words:

How much do you think this dress is?
Where do you think she comes from?
Who do you think lives here?
 7. Negatives with the to-infinitive:

When we make a negative with the to-infinitive we put not in front of the to-

infinitive:
He told us not to make so much noise.
They were asked not to park in front of the house.

wh- clauses
Wh-words are what, when, where, who, which, why  and how.

We use clauses with a wh- word:

 In wh-questions (see Questions and Negatives):

What are you doing?

Who ate all the pies?
Why did you do that?

 after verbs of thinking:

know - understand - suppose - remember - forget - wonder

I know where you live.
She couldn’t remember who he was.
John wondered what was going to happen next.

NOTE: We also use clauses with if

I wonder if we’ll see Peter.

She couldn’t remember if she had posted the letter.
 

  after verbs of saying:

ask - say - admit - argue - reply - agree - mention - explain - suggest

I asked what she wanted.
He tried to explain how the accident had happened.
She wouldn’t admit what she had done.
Did he say when he would come?

tell  and some other verbs of saying must always have a direct object (see
clauses, sentences and phrases):

tell - remind

We tried to tell them what they should do.

She reminded me where I had left the car.

 after some verbs of thinking and saying we use wh-words and the to-infinitive:

 We didn’t know what to do.
We will ask when to set off.
Nobody told me what to do.
Can anyone suggest where to go for lunch?

NOTE: We use the to-infinitive:

-- When the subject of the to-infinitive is the same as the subject of the main verb:

He didn’t know what to do >>> He didn’t know what he should do

We will ask when to set off >>> We will ask when we should set off

-- When the subject of the to-infinitive is the same as the person spoken to:

Nobody told me what to do. >>> Nobody told me what I should do.

Can anyone suggest where to go for lunch? >>> Can anyone suggest [to us]
where we should go for lunch.

 after some nouns to say more about the noun:

Is there any reason why I should stay?.

Do you remember the day when we went to Edinburgh.
That was the town where I grew up.

We often use a wh-clause after is:

I missed my bus. That’s why I was late.

This is where I live.
That’s what I thought.
Paris – that’s where we are going for our holidays.

noun phrase
Noun Phrases
Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:

People like to have money.

I am tired.
It is getting late.

or a determiner and a noun …:

Our friends have bought a house in the village.

Those houses are very expensive.

… perhaps with an adjective:

Our closest friends have just bought a new house in the village.

Sometimes the noun phrase begins with a quantifier:

 All those children go to school here.
Both of my younger brothers are married
Some people spend a lot of money.

Numbers:

Quantifiers come before determiners, but numbers come after determiners:

My four children go to school here. (All my children go to school here.)

Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases are mine)

So the noun phrase is built up in this way:

Noun: people; money 
Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses
Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money
Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house.
Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children;
Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers

The noun phrase can be quite complicated:

a loaf of nice fresh brown bread

the eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop with a pistol
that attractive young woman in the blue dress sitting over there in the corner
Some words and phrases come after the noun. These are called postmodifiers. A noun
phrase can be postmodified in several ways. Here are some examples:
• with a prepositional phrase:
a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner
• with an –ing phrase:
the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela
• with a relative clause:
the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
• with a that clause.
This is very common with reporting or summarising nouns like idea, fact, belief,
suggestion:
He’s still very fit, in spite of the fact that he’s over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn’t like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.
• with a to-infinitive.
This is very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:
You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.
I’ve got no decent shoes to wear.
  
There may be more than one postmodifier:
an eight-year old boy with a gun who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a coke
 

There are four complex noun phrases in this section:

The accident happened at around 3pm on Wednesday. A man climbing nearby who saw
the accident said “It was the most amazing rescue I have ever seen.” 42-year-old Joe
Candler saw Miss Johnson’s fall along with his partner Fay Hamilton.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two
men walking on the peak were killed in a fall when high winds blew them off the
mountain.

prepositional phrases
A prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition and a noun phrase. We use
prepositional phrases for many purposes, for example:

- as adverbials of time and place:

We will be back in a few days.

They drove to Glasgow

.- as a postmodifier in a noun phrase:

Helen is the girl in the red dress

We’ve got a new television with a thirty one inch screen.

- to show who did something:

The lion was killed by the hunter

I saw a wonderful painting by Van Gogh

- with double object verbs like give and get:

We gave five pounds to the woman on the corner.

They got a drink for me.
- after certain verbs, nouns and adjectives:

The book belongs to me.

I had an argument with my brother.
I feel sorry for you.

sentence structure

Simple sentences:

A simple sentence has only one clause:

The children were laughing.

John wanted a new bicycle.
All the girls are learning English.

Compound sentences:

A compound sentence has two or more clauses:

(We stayed behind) and (finished the job)

(We stayed behind) and (finished the job), then (we went home)

The clauses in a compound sentence are joined by co-ordinating conjunctions:

John shouted and everybody waved.

We looked everywhere but we couldn’t find him.
They are coming by car so they should be here soon.

The common coordinating conjunctions are:

and – but – or – nor – so – then – yet

Complex sentences:

A complex sentence has a main clause and one or more adverbial clauses.

Adverbial clauses usually come after the main clause:

Her father died when she was very young

>>>
Her father died (main clause)
when (subordinating conjunction)
she was very young (adverbial clause)

She had a difficult childhood because her father died when she was very young.
>>>
She had a difficult childhood (main clause)
because (subordinating conjunction)
her father died (adverbial clause)
when (subordinating conjunction)
she was very young (adverbial clause).
Some subordinate clauses can come in front of the main clause:

Although a few snakes are dangerous most of them are quite harmless
>>>
Although (subordinating conjunction)
some snakes are dangerous (adverbial clause)
most of them are harmless (main clause).

A sentence can contain both subordinate and coordinate clauses:

Although she has always lived in France, she speaks fluent English because her
mother was American and her father was Nigerian
>>>
Although (subordinating conjunction)
she has always lived in France (adverbial clause),
she speaks fluent English (main clause)
because (subordinating conjunction)
her mother was American (adverbial clause)
and (coordinating conjunction)
her father was Nigerian (adverbial clause).

There are seven types of adverbial clauses:

  Common conjunctions

Contrast clauses  although; though; even though; while;

Reason clauses because; since; as

Place clauses where; wherever; everywhere

Purpose clauses so that; so; because + want

Result clauses so that; so … that; such … that

   Common conjunctions

Time clauses when; before; after; since; while; as; as soon as; by the time; until

Conditional clauses  if; unless; provided (that); as long as