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Sentence structure from A1 to C2

word order · questions · negation · tags · agreement

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# 11 Sentence structure ## A1 - Word order: Subject + Verb + Object - Every sentence needs a subject (It's raining) - Place before time (I go to work at 8) - Questions with be (Are you…? Is she…?) - Short answers (Yes, I am. / No, she isn't.) - Question words: what, where, who, when, why, how - how old, how much, how many, how far - Question word + be / do + subject - there is / there are - Is there…? / There isn't… / There aren't… - there is a… / there are some… - Imperatives (Sit down. Don't worry.) - let's / let's not - Always… / Never… + imperative - it for time, weather, distance and dates (It's 5 o'clock. It's cold.) ## A2 - what vs which - How long…? How often…? How far…? - What … like? (What's she like? vs What does she like?) - Prepositions at the end of questions (Who are you talking to?) - no, not, never, nothing, nobody, nowhere - Only one negative per clause (I didn't see anybody / I saw nobody) - Answering negative questions (Didn't you go? No, I didn't.) - Negative questions (Don't you like it?) - Exclamations: What a…! What + plural / uncountable! How + adjective! - so and such for emphasis (It's so cold! She's such a kind person!) - What kind / sort of …? (What kind of music do you like?) - Alternative questions (Do you want tea or coffee?) ## B1 - Subject questions (Who called you?) - Object questions (Who did you call?) - Question tags (It's cold, isn't it?) - Special tags (I'm…, aren't I? Let's…, shall we? Open the door, will you?) - Tags to check (falling) vs to ask (rising) - Indirect questions (Do you know where…? Can you tell me if…?) - Question word + to-infinitive (I don't know what to do) - it vs there - there + any tense (there will be, there has been, there used to be) - there seems / appears to be - it takes + time + to - It's + adjective + to (It's easy to learn) - Singular verb after everyone, nobody, each - one of + plural noun + singular verb - there is + singular / there are + plural - Agreement with long subjects (The price of the shoes is…) - Declarative questions (You're leaving? That's the boss?) ## B2 - How come…? (no inversion) - What … for? / Who else…? - Echo and reply questions (You did what? Oh, did you?) - Negative questions for surprise or criticism (Haven't you finished yet?) - Rhetorical questions - Collective nouns: the team is / are (US vs UK) - a number of + plural vs the number of + singular - either…or / neither…nor: the verb agrees with the nearer subject - Amounts as singular (Ten miles is a long way) - Questions with that-clauses (Who did you say you saw?) - Agreement with subjects joined by and (Ali and Sara are…; Bread and butter is…) - Distributive plural (They took off their coats) ## C1 - the majority / a lot / the rest + singular or plural - one of those who are… - more than one + singular - Notional vs grammatical agreement - Agreement with names, titles and quotations (The Netherlands is…; Gulliver's Travels was…) ## C2 - Parallel structure - Balance and multiple embedding - Garden-path sentences and how to avoid them - Scope of negation (All that glitters is not gold) - Transferred negation (I don't think he's coming) - Negative polarity items (ever, yet, any, at all, budge an inch) - barely, scarcely, hardly + any / ever - not … any vs no; not a single - Misplaced modifiers - Dangling modifiers - Structural ambiguity (I saw the man with the telescope) - Discontinuous noun phrases (A man arrived who wanted to see you)

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