Leon

This is a learning note from an English Rabbit video, which focuses on verbs to construct a simple and clear system of English grammar. While watching and taking notes, I found it immensely beneficial and didn't want to keep it to myself, so I organized the video notes to share with everyone. I strongly recommend everyone to watch the original video.

• Original video link: YouTube | Bilibili
• My outline notes on WorkFlowy: Video Notes

The Question Raised: Why Learn Grammar#

First, we need to clarify why we should learn English grammar.

Generally, we divide English learning into three parts: vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Compared to the other two parts, grammar is essential for connecting words into sentences according to norms, thus the most important function of English grammar is sentence construction.

Simple Sentences#

English sentences can be long or short, but we can explore the smallest unit of a sentence. We break down long sentences until they are indivisible, which we call simple sentences. Therefore, all long sentences can be viewed as combinations of simple sentences. Next, we study simple sentences.

All simple sentences can actually be summarized as:

? What + How

Here, "What" is referred to as the subject, and "How" (which is everything other than the subject) is called the predicate.

Do not confuse "predicate" with "predicate verb"; later we will discuss why the summary of simple sentence components differs from the commonly thought "subject-verb-object" structure.

Basic Sentence Patterns, Classification of Predicate Verbs, and Some Sentence Components#

As mentioned above, the components of a simple sentence are subject and predicate.

The subject generally refers to a person or thing; the predicate usually refers to an "action." Note that this action does not refer to a specific, physical action, but rather a broad, generalized concept.

This "action" can be divided into five categories, which can summarize five different predicate verbs, five basic sentence patterns, and some sentence components:

Actions That Can Stand Alone#

Andy sleeps.

Here, sleep does not have an object to receive the action, thus it conveys a complete meaning. This type of verb is called an intransitive verb.

The basic sentence pattern is: Subject + Intransitive Verb

Actions With One Object#

Andy likes you.

Here, the action of like has an object; without an object, the meaning would be incomplete. This type of verb is called a transitive verb. To distinguish it from the next example, we refer to this type of verb with only one object as a monotransitive verb.

The object of the action you is called the object.

The basic sentence pattern is: Subject + (Monotransitive) Verb + Object

Actions With Two Objects#

Andy teaches you English.

In this sentence, the action of teach has two objects. Since there are objects, it belongs to transitive verbs, and to differentiate it from verbs with a single object, it is called a ditransitive verb.

In the sentence, you is one object of the action, representing the recipient of the action, which we call the indirect object. If you is omitted, the sentence becomes "Andy teaches English," and the meaning remains complete, so the indirect object can be omitted without affecting the completeness of the meaning.

In the sentence, English is the content of the action, belonging to the direct object. If this part is omitted, the sentence becomes "Andy teaches you," and without context, the meaning of the sentence would be incomplete, so the direct object is generally not considered optional.

The basic sentence pattern for this type of sentence is: Subject + (Ditransitive) Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object

Actions With One Object, But Different From the Second Type#

Andy considers you smart.

Here, the action also has an object you, but this is different from the second type; besides you, there is also smart, and here smart does not describe the action but rather describes you as smart. Removing smart clearly makes the meaning incomplete, so this type of verb is called a complex-transitive verb.

Here, smart is not an object of the action, but rather describes the object, which we call the object complement.

The basic sentence pattern for this type of sentence is: Subject + (Complex Transitive) Verb + Object + (Object) Complement

Actions That Are Not Narrowly Defined as "Actions"#

Andy is tall.

In this type of sentence, there is no narrowly defined action; it states "Andy is tall," simply attributing the quality of tall to Andy. The verb here expresses a connection between the subject and the attribute, and we refer to such attributive verbs as linking verbs.

Here, tall is not an object of the linking verb but rather a modification of the subject Andy, fitting the definition of a complement, which we call the subject complement, also known as the predicative.

This sentence structure is commonly referred to as the "subject-linking verb-predicative" structure, i.e., Subject + (Linking) Verb + Predicative (Subject Complement).

Interim Summary#

To summarize, we study grammar to construct sentences, starting from simple sentences (indivisible sentences). Each simple sentence represents the meaning of What and How, i.e., subject and predicate.

Next, we classified simple sentences, and after classification, we have five types of basic sentence patterns, which correspond to five different predicate verbs, and also correspond to the other sentence components needed to complete the sentences.

It is important to note that the predicate and predicate verb are different; the predicate discussed here refers to all content other than the subject, while the predicate verb is only a part of the predicate. In daily life, we sometimes refer to the predicate verb simply as the predicate, and there is a notion of "subject-verb-object." From the analysis above, it can be seen that the "subject-verb-object" structure is just one of the five basic sentence patterns in English (specifically the second type).

Other Sentence Components#

In addition to the five basic sentence patterns mentioned above, the components of a sentence also include attributes, adverbials, and appositives.

Attribute#

The little white rabbit ate a large carrot.

Attributes modify the subject or object. In the above sentence, the little white is the attribute of the subject rabbit; a large is the attribute of the object carrot.

Adverbial#

The rabbit ate quickly.

Adverbials modify the predicate verb. Quickly is the adverbial of ate.

Appositive#

Papa Rabbit, an English teacher, eats a carrot.

An appositive refers to something of equal status; appositives can be simply understood as restating the subject or object. In the above sentence, an English teacher is equivalent to the subject and is the appositive of the subject.

Summary of Sentence Components#

1. Subject
2. Predicate Verb (Predicate)
3. Object
4. Object Complement
5. Subject Complement (Predicative)
6. Attribute
7. Adverbial
8. Appositive

Compound and Complex Sentences: Parallel and Nested Simple Sentences#

With simple sentences, we can combine them to create longer sentences. There are two ways to combine simple sentences to form compound sentences and complex sentences.

Compound Sentences#

simple sentence + simple sentence

This is the parallel stacking of several simple sentences, hence sometimes referred to as compound sentences.

Complex Sentences#

[simple (simple sentence) sentence]

This is the nesting of simple sentences, where one simple sentence, through some transformation, serves as a component of another sentence. This nesting can occur indefinitely.

With nesting, we have main and subordinate clauses; the outer sentence is called the main clause, while the inner sentence that serves as a sentence component is called the subordinate clause.

A subordinate clause can serve different sentence components, and we have different names for them, including:

• Subject Clause
• Object Clause
• Predicative Clause
• Appositive Clause

The above subordinate clauses are mostly nominal, thus collectively referred to as nominal clauses. In addition, there are also:

• Attributive Clauses
• Adverbial Clauses

Parts of Speech#

It was just mentioned that some subordinate clauses are "nominal," and here "nominal" refers to a part of speech. Even within the same sentence component, there can be different parts of speech.

• Elena is a girl.
• I am tall.
• That is me.
• Loving you is red.

These three sentences all follow the so-called "subject-linking verb-predicative" structure, corresponding to the fifth type of basic sentence pattern, where the sentence components are subject, linking verb, and predicative. However, we can clearly see that girl and tall are not of the same part of speech.

We categorize English vocabulary into ten parts, which are:

1. Nouns: Represent people and things
2. Articles: Specify people and things
3. Pronouns: Substitute for people and things
4. Adjectives: Describe people and things
5. Numerals: Indicate quantity
6. Adverbs: Modify verbs or adjectives
7. Prepositions: Indicate relationships with other words
8. Interjections: Express exclamations
9. Conjunctions: Connect words and sentences
10. Verbs
    1. Intransitive Verbs
    2. Monotransitive Verbs
    3. Ditransitive Verbs
    4. Complex-Transitive Verbs
    5. Linking Verbs

It is important to note that sentence components and parts of speech are entirely different concepts. Sentence components examine the structure of a sentence, and within a sentence component, there can be different parts of speech, and even more than one word (as in the third example above with the subject loving you). In contrast, parts of speech refer more to the nature of individual words and are generally unrelated to sentence components.

Here, apart from the predicate verb, which must be a verb, other sentence components may contain various parts of speech.

Tense and Mood: Functions of Predicate Verbs#

Returning to predicate verbs, they possess three functions that verbs in Chinese do not have, namely expressing the time, state, and mood of the action.

Tense#

First, predicate verbs can indicate the time of an action. English divides the time of predicate verbs into four categories:

• Present
• Past
• Future
• Future in the Past (from a certain point in the past to the future)

At the same time, predicate verbs can also indicate the state (aspect) of the action, which English also divides into four categories:

• Simple (not specified)
• Perfect
• Progressive
• Perfect Progressive (not only completed but also ongoing)

The combination of these two aspects is what we commonly refer to as tense. Therefore, tense does not merely refer to the time of the action but also includes the state of the action. The various tenses are not linearly distributed but are the result of the combination of four times and four states.

[notice]
This section can also refer to a GitHub project: anzhehong/English-Tense
[/notice]

Mood#

In addition to tense, predicate verbs can also express the mood of the action. Here, "mood" does not refer to the tone of speech but is a grammatical term that refers to the hypothesis, emotion, etc. of the action, such as indicative mood, subjunctive mood, imperative mood, etc.

• I am a boy.
• If I were a boy.
• Be a boy.

In summary, the three important functions of predicate verbs are referred to as "TAM," which stands for Tense, Aspect, and Mood in English.

Auxiliary Verbs: Implementation of Predicate Verb Functions#

However, predicate verbs cannot independently fulfill the above functions; they require the assistance of some additional verbs, which are called auxiliary verbs. For example, see the diagram below:

It is worth noting that although auxiliary verbs do not have intrinsic meaning and only assist predicate verbs, some auxiliary verbs can have actual meanings themselves (such as have, be, can), and one must distinguish whether they serve as main verbs or auxiliary verbs based on the context of the sentence.

Non-finite Verbs: Verbs Not Serving as Predicates#

As mentioned earlier, while discussing sentence components and parts of speech, it was noted that predicate verbs must be verbs, but predicate verbs and verbs are not directly equivalent because verbs do not necessarily serve as predicates. Those verbs that do not serve as predicate verbs are called non-finite verbs.

Non-finite verbs must undergo some modifications, such as infinitives, present participles, gerunds, past participles, etc.

• Infinitive to eat
  • Like the base form, it must be connected to context
• Present participle eating
  • Cannot determine if it is a predicate verb in progress, present participle, or gerund
  • Must be connected to context
• Gerund eating
  • Cannot determine if it is a predicate verb in progress, present participle, or gerund
  • Must be connected to context
• Past participle eaten
  • Like the perfect state, it must also be connected to context

Non-finite verbs can serve as components of sentences and can also replace clauses when necessary, simplifying sentences. It should be noted that non-finite verbs no longer possess the functions of predicate verbs in expressing the action's tense, aspect, and mood, which is easy to understand because these actions are not predicates, thus they are not the core of the sentence and cannot represent the tense, aspect, and mood of the action in the entire sentence.

Conclusion: Verbs as the Core#

It was just mentioned that verbs are the core of sentences; in fact, verbs can be seen as the core of the entire English grammar system. By organizing all the above content around verbs as the core, we obtain a rough framework of English grammar:

First, verbs are divided into predicate verbs and non-finite verbs.

Predicate verbs are divided into five types: determining the five basic sentence patterns; encompassing the five sentence components: subject, predicate verb, object, complement, and predicative. In addition, sentence components also include attributes, adverbials, and appositives.

• Here, we have addressed the classification of predicate verbs, five basic sentence patterns, and sentence components.

Simple sentences can be combined into longer sentences, specifically including compound sentences with parallel relationships and complex sentences with subordinate relationships. Within complex sentences, there are main clauses and subordinate clauses that serve as sentence components. Subordinate clauses can also be classified based on the sentence components they serve.

• Here, we have addressed compound sentences, complex sentences, main clauses, subordinate clauses, and the classification of subordinate clauses.

At the same time, sentence components can be filled by different parts of speech. The parts of speech specifically include: verbs, nouns, pronouns, articles, adjectives, numerals, adverbs, prepositions, interjections, conjunctions.

• Here, we have addressed parts of speech.

Returning to predicate verbs, they can express the time, state, and mood of actions.

• Here, we have addressed the tense and mood of sentences.

To achieve the functions of tense and mood, predicate verbs require the use of auxiliary verbs. In addition to tense and mood, auxiliary verbs can also express negation, passivity, possibility, and obligation of predicate verbs.

• Here, we have addressed auxiliary verbs.

The remaining verbs that do not serve as predicates are non-finite verbs. Non-finite verbs can be viewed as modified verbs that can serve as all sentence components other than predicate verbs, replacing almost all clauses and simplifying sentences.

• Here, we have addressed non-finite verbs.

Epilogue#

The above framework can be said to be the core of the English grammar system. Other rules and exceptions are merely enrichments and supplements to this framework. However, it is worth noting that English grammar is not entirely rule-based; the above system is a global, contextual, and highly abstract summary of English grammar, sacrificing some accuracy in detail. Therefore, mastering English grammar proficiently has no shortcuts; the method is simply—repetition and accumulation.

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