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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:18 pm Post subject: 5 types of English sentences??? Huh??? |
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During the course of my Korean class, my tutor asked me a question that I have absolutely no clue about. She said that when she was in middle school, she was taught that all English sentences could be classified into 5 basic types.
At first, I thought she meant, affirmative, negative, interrogative etc., but then she started writing out patterns (subject) (verb)(object) etc.
(subject - verb prep indirect object)
etc.
She wrote the sentence: There is blah blah blah blah blah blah.
and then asked me to classify it according to one of the 5 basic types.
I am not a grammarian. I can explain the differences between verb tenses, or between adjectives and adverbs, subject and predicate.
This kind of stuff is just beyond me. My question is, does anyone out there know what she was refering to? Are these real classifications, or just something that Koreans dreamt up to confuse students?
I think understanding the meaning of a sentence should be far more important than being able to classify it into some grammatical category.
Can anyone out there shed some light on this?
Thanks
some waygug-in |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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I think know what you are talking about. (Geek alert ) I did a (required) course in grammar in university as part of my B.A. and I dimly remember the five types of sentences that you were refering to. This link may help. For the average JunHo, a very quick intro to word order in the English language, and maybe a quick outline of word order in a Korean sentence (if you can) should be more than sufficient.
I often think that Korean people focus on the English grammar so much that comprehension becomes secondary, if not utterly beside the point. Hell, anything to avoid speaking, I guess.
some waygug-in wrote:
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| Are these real classifications, or just something that Koreans dreamt up to confuse students? |
I thought it was something my professor had thought up to torture the class.  |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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She couldn't really elaborate on the 5 types. (but they were all supposed to be existant in the English language)
1 subject verb object
2 subject verb prep object
3 She never got past number 3 and I can't remember what she had written.
The sentence she wrote was a typical, "There is a man with a big dog" kind of sentence.
She just automatically assumed that I would "know".
She said that all Korean middle school students have to study this and know it.
Does anyone out there have an idea about this?
Thanks
some |
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whatthefunk
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Location: Dont have a clue
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Why the hell is there two of these posts!!!!! |
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Captain Zoom
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| some waygug-in wrote: |
She couldn't really elaborate on the 5 types. (but they were all supposed to be existant in the English language)
1 subject verb object
2 subject verb prep object
3 She never got past number 3 and I can't remember what she had written.
The sentence she wrote was a typical, "There is a man with a big dog" kind of sentence.
She just automatically assumed that I would "know".
She said that all Korean middle school students have to study this and know it.
Does anyone out there have an idea about this?
Thanks
some |
Hmmmm, don't know. My background is linguistics, not traditional grammar, so I get a bit stumped by these things. It's interesting though, I think I'll try and find out and report back unless someone already knows and can answer.
I'd imagine that these five types don't really represent anything fundamental about how English works, they're just categories somebody came up with.
I'd guess, then, that one other type is a sentence like "I gave the book to the man." -- Subject - Verb - Direct Object - Preposition - Indirect Object
Perhaps sentences with relative clauses constitute another category.
For example, some verbs require prepositions. That doesn't really make it a different category of sentence. Anyway, hopefully we'll get an answer.
Everybody in Korea learns this, eh? |
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Captain Zoom
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 12:29 am Post subject: |
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'Kay, well I found two different classification systems, though they both are geared towards writing. Perhaps someone who teaches in a Korean public school would know the 5 types that they are taught.
System 1 with 4 types:
http://ceds.vu.edu.au/webbja/sentences_simple_and_compound.htm
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In English there are four basic sentence 'types'. The four types of English sentences are simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.
Example 1
Fossil fuels are non-renewable. (simple sentence)
We need to find alternative energy sources. (simple sentence)
A simple sentence is a single independent clause. An independent clause is a group of words that together express one complete thought. It includes a subject or subject group and a verb or verb group.
Example 2
Fossil fuels are non-renewable, so we need to find alternative energy sources. (compound sentence)
A compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences, which may be linked in three different ways (with a semicolon, a co-ordinating conjunction or an independent marker).
Example 3
Since fossil fuels are non-renewable, we need to find alternative energy sources. (complex)
A complex sentence includes two or more clauses. A clause is a group of words that contains (at least) a subject or subject group and a verb or verb group.
Example 4
Fossil fuels are non-renewable; therefore, we need to find alternative energy sources which will not be depleted. (compound-complex )
A compound-complex sentence combines two (or more) independent clauses and one (or more) dependent clauses. |
Whew, alright. Here's system 2 with 5 types:
http://www.csun.edu/~sk36711/WWW2/engl302/sentencetypes.pdf
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The predicates of sentences can be structured in 5 different ways:
1) Predicates with intransitive verbs.
2) Predicates with Linking or Copular/Copulative verbs.
3) Preciates with transitive verbs.
4) Object complements
5) This one's a little unclear. It seems to be interrupted sentences of some kind. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you for your responses. I think that the second classification system you wrote about is probably what she meant. I suspected that they were something arbitrary and not very useful.
I posted this twice to get different veiwpoints. Sorry if this is an annoyance.
Thanks |
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Anda
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: South Korea
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