SYNTAX TREES ARE AN INTERESTING METHOD OF DESCRIBING THE LOGIC OF LANGUAGE. IN SYNTAX TREE notation, an English sentence (S) comprises two parts: a Noun Phrase (NP), and a Verb Phrase (VP).

The NP can be further broken down into a optional Determiner (written as Det), an Adjective (Adj) and a Noun (N) followed by a Prepositional Phrase (PP). The VP, on the other hand, can comprise not only a Verb (V) but also a Prepositional Phrase (PP), an Adverb (Adv) and even another NP. Meanwhile, PPs break down into a Preposition (P) plus a new NP.

For example:

S
NP + VP
Det + N + V + PP (P + NP (Det + N)) + Adv (Adv + NP (Det + N))
My family eats at this restaurant once a week

It is interesting that the Adv ("once a week") can also be broken down into an individual Adv ("once"), plus a Det ("a") and another N ("week")!

In an exclamatory sentence, pitch rises then falls quickly, and drops away. For example: "Stop here!", "Look out!", "Help yourself!"

You can tell from the pitch of the voice, clues about what is to follow in a sentence. Punctuation is indicated: a comma is signified when our voices rise slightly but do not fade out, indicating that more information is to come. For example, the sentence: "I like salad, potatoes, and meat."

A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement. An exclamatory sentence shows excitement or emotion, while an interrogative sentence asks a question.

Two independent clauses can be linked to form a compound sentence. To join the clauses, either use a comma with a conjunction ("and", "but", "for", "yet", etc), or a semi-colon with no connecting words.

Thus the clauses "I am going home" and "I intend to stay there" could be written either: "I am going home, and I intend to stay there" or "I am going home; I intend to stay there." It is possible to use a conjunctive adverb to link the clauses with a semi-colon: "I am going home; moreover, I intend to stay there."

A complex sentence comprises an independent clause ("I will eat dinner") and a dependent clause ("when I get home") which does not express a complete thought.