Lecture 1 Fundamentals of grammar

2. Classifications of simple sentences
Sentences can be classified according to their structural, semantic and
pragmatic properties. In this lecture we will deal with structural classifications.
One traditional scheme for classifying English sentences is by the number
and types of finite clauses: sentences are divided into simple and composite, the
latter consisting of two more clauses. Composite sentences will be the subject of
the next lecture, and here we will focus on classifications of simple sentences.
Simple sentences are usually classified into one-member and two-member.
This distinction is based on a difference in the main parts of a sentence. Onemember sentences do not contain two such separate parts; in these sentences there is only one main part (e.g. Silence! Come here!) Such sentences contain neither the subject nor the predicate. Instead there is only one main part. It is a disputed point whether the main part of such a sentence should, or should not, be termed subject in some cases, and predicate, in others. As it was pointed out by academician V.
Vinogradov, grammatical subject and grammatical predicate are correlative notions
and the terms are meaningless outside their relation to each other. He suggested
that for one-member sentences, the term "main part" should be used, without
giving it any more specific name.
Prof. Blokh, however, does not accept this approach because, in his view, it
is based on an inadequate presupposition that in the system of language there is a
strictly defined, "absolute" demarcation line between the two types of
constructions. Instead he suggests that all simple sentences of English be divided
into two-axis constructions and one-axis constructions. In a two-axis sentence, the
subject axis and the predicate axis are directly and explicitly expressed in the outer
structure. In a one-axis sentence only one axis or its part is explicitly expressed, the
other one being non-presented in the outer structure of the sentence.
However, this point of view is not widely accepted, so we shall adhere to the
traditional approach. One-member sentences are further divided into:
a) nominal or "naming" sentences;
b) infinitival sentences.