English Grammar: Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and More
Adverbs
Inflexible in Gender and Number
Modification
Verbs
Vendrá enseguida a verlo. (adverb positioned after the verb)
She smiled happily. (adverb positioned after the verb)
Enseguida vendrá a verlo. (adverb positioned before the verb)
He really died. (adverb positioned before the verb)
Adjectives
Ese shampoo es muy bueno. (adverb positioned before the adjective)
María es codiciosa indudablemente. (adverb positioned after the adjective)
Other Adverbs
He almost always uses repellent. (adverb positioned before the adverb)
Es temprano todavía. (adverb positioned after the adverb)
Nouns
El entonces ministro. (adverb positioned before the noun)
It came as quite a surprise. (adverb positioned before the noun)
Prepositions
He is well into his seventies. (adverb positioned before the preposition)
I’m seeing all this from above. (adverb positioned after the preposition)
Meaning
- Manner: bien, mal, mejor, peor, deprisa, despacio. well, wrong, slowly, quickly
- Place: allí, allá, adelante, atrás. here, there, upwards
- Time: ayer, hoy, mañana, ahora. today, yesterday, then, now
- Negation: no, nunca, tampoco, jamás. no, neither, (either), never
- Affirmation: sí, claro, seguro, ciertamente. yes, too, also, certainly
- Doubt or Possibility: tal vez, acaso, probablemente. maybe, probably, perhaps
Adverbials
An adverb can modify any of the components already mentioned in a proposition, or it can even act more peripherally and modify the content of the statement as a whole, without specifically adhering to another element of the sentence = adverbials.
Types of Adverbials
- Circumstance adverbials
- Stance adverbials
- Linking adverbials
Circumstance Adverbials
Add information about the action or state that is described in the clause (time, manner, place).
- A man was left homeless after a fire.
- He took it in slowly but uncomprehendingly.
Stance Adverbials
Convey the speaker’s assessment of the proposition in the cause.
They include comments about:
- The level of doubt/certainty (maybe, probably): His book undoubtedly fills a need.
- The speaker’s attitude towards the proposition (unfortunately, surprisingly): Then, amazingly, he would turn over the microphone to his daughter and give her equal time to speak on behalf of the amendment.
- The style in which the proposition is being conveyed (honestly, frankly): And he sounded a bit low, quite frankly, to me yesterday on the phone.
Linking Adverbials
Establish connections between two or more clauses in the text, thus functioning as cohesive elements.
- Cox suggests that support in the South is at best lukewarm. Nonetheless, the characterization of catholic-nationalist ideology I have just documented would seem to fly in the face of this sort of evidence.
Prepositions
We commonly use prepositions to show a relationship in space or time or a logical relationship between two or more people, places or things. Prepositions are most commonly followed by a noun, noun phrase or pronoun:
- The last time I saw him he was walking down the road.
- It was difficult to sleep during the flight.
Common Prepositions: A – ANTE – BAJO – CON – CONTRA – DE – DESDE – DURANTE – EN – ENTRE – HACIA – AT – BY – FOR – FROM – IN – OF – ON – TO – WITH – ABOVE – ACROSS – AFTER – AGAINST
Adverbs are used to add more information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a clause or a whole sentence.
Example:
A: Where’s your cat?
B: She’s outside. (adverb)
Prepositions are used to show a relationship in space or time or a logical relationship between two or more people, places or things and they are followed by a noun or a noun structure (complement to the preposition).
Example:
There were lots of people waiting for a taxi outside the club. (preposition + complement to preposition)
Some words which are prepositions also function as conjunctions. When we use a preposition that is followed by a clause, it is functioning as a conjunction; when we use a preposition that is followed by a noun phrase, it stays as a preposition.
Example:
Among the most common are after, as, before, since, until:
- After I’d met him last night, I texted his sister at once. (conjunction + clause)
- After the meeting last night, I texted his sister at once. (preposition + noun phrase)
Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions
Used to link grammatical elements of the same level, such as words, phrases, or independent clauses
Example: John plays basketball BUT Mary says he plays tennis
Subordinating Conjunctions
They introduce subordinate clauses that depend on the main clause
Example: He asked if I was happy.
Uses in Spanish
- Conjunctive: y, e, ni, que, no solo… sino también…
- Adversative: pero, aunque, al contrario, en cambio, sin embargo, a pesar de
- Disjunctive and Distributive: o, o bien, bien… bien…, o… o….
- Explanatory: o sea, es decir, esto es
Causatives and Resultatives
Causatives
Verbs like dejar and hacer —when used as causatives— combine with another verb to form a single predicate as can be demonstrated from clitic climbing phenomena.
Examples:
- They had me repeat the message (have+repeat)
- Me hicieron repetir el mensaje (hacer+repetir)
- She made me think (made+think)
- Me hizo pensar (hacer+pensar)
Resultatives
A resultative phrase describes the state achieved by the referent of the noun phrase it is predicated of as a result of the action named by the verb. They can be predicated of objects of transitive verbs, subjects of intransitive unaccusative verbs, objects of intransitive unergative verbs and subjects of passive verbs.
Examples:
- The silversmith hammered the metal flat
- The guests drank the pot dry
- The potatoes have burnt black
- The maid beat the carpet clean (beat+clean)
- The politicians bled the country white (bleed+white)
Equational Pattern
- NP+to be+PC(NP)
- SN+SER+PSO(SN)
Types: IDENTIFICATIONAL, SPECIFICATIONAL, PREDICATIONAL