Лекции по теоретической грамматике английского языка для студентов

participant of the situation being the source of the corresponding action.

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Lecture 12 
Constituent Structure of the Sentence. Syntactic Processes 
1.
The traditional scheme of sentence parsing.
2.
The main sentence parts: the subject and the predicate, their types.
3.
The secondary sentence parts: attribute, object, adverbial modifier.
4.
The structural scheme of the sentence. The elementary sentence. 
5.
Syntactic processes. 
1. The traditional scheme of sentence parsing 
The study of the constituent structure of the sentence presupposes analysis 
of its parts. The established classification of sentence parts reflects their important 
property – whether or not they are involved in forming the predicative center of the 
sentence. Traditionally the main and the secondary parts have been singled out. 
Besides these two types there is one more — elements which are said to stand 
outside the sentence structure. The two generally recognized main parts are the 
subject and the predicate. The secondary parts include the object, the adverbial 
modifier, and the attribute. Other secondary parts are also sometimes mentioned — 
the apposition (its relation to the attribute is variously interpreted), the objective 
predicative, and occasionally some other parts, too. However, everything is 
relative, thus if we approach the problem of sentence parts from the point of view 
of the structural-semantic minimum of the sentence, then many objects and some 
adverbial modifiers will turn out to be as important and needed as the subject and 
the predicate.
e.g. 
She opened the door. The book is on the table. 
 
2. The main sentence parts: the subject and the predicate, their types 
The subject and the predicate have a unique standing in the system of 
sentence parts. They form the backbone of the sentence. They are interdependent 
and independent of any other sentence member while all other members can be 

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dependent either on the subject or on the predicate. The subject and the predicate 
can form a sentence on their own.
e.g. 
She smiles. He is running. 
The Subject 
The subject is one of the two main parts of the sentence. It denotes the thing 
whose action or characteristic is expressed by the predicate. It may be expressed by 
different parts of speech, the most frequent ones being: a noun in the common 
case, a personal pronoun in the nominative case, a demonstrative pronoun, a 
substantivised adjective, a numeral, an infinitive, and a gerund. It may also be 
expressed by a phrase.
The subject performs two main functions: categorial and relative. The