GRAMMAR POINT

IDENTIFYING GRAMMATICAL NAMES AND FUNCTIONS 1

In response to a question from one of our users, we shall centre our discussion on how to identify grammatical names and grammatical functions. The first way to tackle it is to have an understanding of the definition of a phrase and a clause.

We take the definition of a clause first. That of the phrase will be given when we discuss phrases.

A clause is a group of words that has a finite verb. The next question is: what is a finite verb? A finite verb is that verb that indicates or shows person, tense or number. Confused? Not too worry! Let go further.

Any verb that can be used with any of the following pronouns is a finite verb:

I
We
You
He
She
It
They

Examples are shown below:

I like her.
I can be late.
We play football.
We killed a big snake.
You read a lot.
He was at the party.
She is washing the dishes.
She goes to school.
It is cute.
They are my friends.
They were defeated by the visiting team.

Don't forget, any verb you can use with any of the pronouns above is a finite verb. Is that understood?

Quickly, underline the finite verbs in the following sentences:

1. The church is preparing for her 10th year anniversary.

2. The environment of the school looks attractive.

We now move on to the grammatical names. For the purpose of examination, the grammatical names are: noun phrase, noun clause, adverbial phrase, adverbial clause and adjectival clause.

Let's take the adjectival clause first.

The Adjectival clause

The adjectival clause performs the same function as an adjective in a sentence. It qualifies a noun, pronoun and noun phrase.

For the purpose of exams, how do you identify an adjectival clause in a sentence? It is simple!

There are markers one can use to identify it. For example: WHO, WHOM, THAT, WHICH, WHERE, WHOSE. That takes us to the rule that will guide us in identifying an adjectival clause.

THE RULE
If the underlined expression begins with any of the markers—WHO, WHOM, THAT, WHICH, WHERE, WHOSE—and it comes after a noun, pronoun or noun phrase, it is an adjectival clause. Confused? Don't worry. The examples below will further clarify this.

The man who wrote the letter is my teacher.

From the example above, did you notice the maker WHO? That's the first thing to do. Look out for the marker(s). Then what comes before the maker? Isn't it a noun? It is! So, what is the grammatical name? It is adjectival clause! That is it! So in your answer script, you write it out thus:

Grammatical name: Adjectival clause
Grammatical function: It qualifies the noun 'man'.

However, it were NECO, the grammatical name will remain the same but the function will be slightly different.

Grammatical name: Adjectival clause
Grammatical function: It qualifies the noun phrase 'the man'.

Let's take a second example.

The new student that you showed me is unhappy.

Don't forget that the first thing to look out for is what? The marker. Good! The marker is THAT and if you check carefully, you will notice that the word before the marker is a noun. Isn't it? So you write out your answer clearly:

Grammatical name: Adjectival clause
Grammatical function: It qualifies the noun 'student'.

And if you want to answer it the NECO way,
Grammatical name: Adjectival clause
Grammatical function: It qualifies the noun phrase 'the new student'.

Let's take one more example.

An hangar is a place where aircrafts are kept.

Don't forget that the first thing to look out for is the marker. The marker in this case is WHERE. And what's the word coming after it? A noun. So our answer is:

Grammatical name: Adjectival clause
Grammatical function: It qualifies the noun 'place'. 

But if you choose to do it the NECO way,
Grammatical name: Adjectival clause
Grammatical function: It qualifies the noun phrase 'a place'.

Wow! What an interesting class.

Now you can answer the following questions.

1. The unusual energy that goes into achievement in any art or sport.

2. He directed a burning look at the poor boy, who had no answer to this new battle.

3. I stood up and moved towards the principal whose outstretched hand held a flat book.

4. Father brought out an old envelope which had probably been lying forgotten for months on his cupboard.

5. Why, then, is his father, who is a staunch opponent of drugs, calling for drugs to be legalised?

Find below suggested posts on grammatical names and grammatical functions

The Adjectival clause

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2017/10/grammar-point.html?m=1

The Adjectival phrase 

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-adjectival-phrase-english-titles.html?m=1

The Adverbial phrase/clause

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/adverbial-phrases-and-clauses-english.html?m=1

The noun clause/noun phrase as subject http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/english-titles-functions-of-noun.html?m=1

The noun clause/noun phrase as object 1

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/english-titles-two-noun-phrasenoun.html?m=1

The noun clause/noun phrase as indirect object 2

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-noun-phrasenoun-clause-as-indirect.html?m=1

The noun clause/noun phrase as apposition

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-noun-phraseclause-as-apposition.html?m=1

The noun clause/noun phrase as complement

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-noun-phraseclause-as-complement.html?m=1

The blogger, Olabanji O. Odurombi, can be contacted on 08037699294. Thank you.