UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL

DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS

INTEGRATING A FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

ON GRAMMAR INTO THE TEACHING OF BASIC
SENTENCE PATTERNS

Prof. Adscripta: M. Candelaria Luque C

Trabajo Final de Adscripción

Práctica Gramatical del Inglés

Prof. Patricia Meehan

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
INTRODUCTION 4

CHAPTER 1
TRADITIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR 6

CHAPTER 2
TRADITIONAL SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS 8
BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS 8
Linking Verbs 10
Intransitive Verbs 11
Intransitive Verbs of Complete Predication 11
Intransitive Verbs of Incomplete Predication (+ Adverbial Complement) 12
Transitive Verbs 14
Monotransitive Verbs (+ Direct Object) 14
Ditransitive Verbs (+ Indirect Object + Direct Object) 15
Complex Transitive Verbs 18
Complex Transitive Verbs (+ Direct Object + Object Complement) 18
Complex Transitive Verbs (+ Direct Object + Adverbial Complement) 21

CHAPTER 3
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS 22
METAFUNCTIONS 22
TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM 23
TYPES OF PROCESSES 24
Material Processes 24
Mental Processes 28
Relational Processes 32
Behavioural Processes 35
Verbal Processes 36

2
 Existential Processes 37
SUMMARY OF MAIN SEMANTIC ROLES OF CLAUSE ELEMENTS 38

CHAPTER 4
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 41

CONCLUSION 44

REFERENCES 45

3
 INTRODUCTION

The need to resort to a traditional approach in English Grammar Practice is

unquestionable for many reasons. First, students are generally familiar with a structuralist
view on language, with which they studied their native language during their school years.
They can transfer what they already know and apply this knowledge to the study of English
grammar. Second, beginning students may feel more confident when given a prescriptive
grammar that helps them to tell a correct sentence from an incorrect one. Rules are crucial
when they are building their knowledge on the English language. Then, the metalanguage
used in traditional grammar has become widely applied in any other theory or approach.
The terminology learnt is certainly the „language‟ in which they will be writing, researching
and teaching as professionals of the language.

Learning the different verb patterns in English may prove a difficult challenge. Most
of the topics to be covered in the syllabus of English Grammar Practice are likely to have
been learned at earlier stages in the students‟ lives. However, when studying “basic
sentence patterns” the analysis of the various elements that constitute a simple sentence
may seem too abstract and meaningless. Students often find it hard to master all the
metalanguage necessary to refer to such analysis. Words like subject, object, complement
and adjunct may not tell much about the meaning of those elements in real communication.

In order to present the basic sentence patterns in English, the paper develops
concepts taken from various authors such as Close, Quirk, Greenbaum and Biber. They all
share a traditional syntactic analysis. However, the fact that all the authors- except for
Close- mention something about the semantic roles of clause elements at some stage of
their work shows that semantics and syntax need to be related. Functional Linguists such as
Martin, Matthiesen, Lock, Downing, among others, are also presented in the paper. In
general terms, these last authors follow the theory on Functional Grammar introduced by
Halliday. As this paper is intended for teachers rather that for linguists or text analysts, I
have adapted, simplified, reinterpreted, and used selectively the insights provided by the
authors mentioned above. I have felt free to borrow the labels presented by different

4
authors that were, in my opinion, the most convenient ones. In other words, certain
modifications may have been made so as to meet our students‟ needs and to address the
objectives of teachers.
The semantic roles of clause elements are given by the type of process. In other
words, the process determines the choice of participants in the semantic structure as well as
the verb determines the choice of syntactic elements in the syntactic structure. “There is not
one to one correlation between semantic structures and syntactic structures; rather, the
semantic categories cross-cut the syntactic ones, although with some correlation.”
(Dowining and Locke, 2002:112) When explaining this relative correlation, Halliday (1985:
132) suggests that the Actor is the „logical Subject‟, the Beneficiary is the „logical indirect
Object‟, the Goal the „logical direct object‟ and the Range is the „logical Cognate Object‟.
There is an unavoidable oversimplification when trying to fit an unlimited number
of options in real communication to a limited taxonomy. In Downing and Locke‟s (2002:
112) words, “One obvious problem in the identification of participants and processes is the
vastness and variety of the physical world and the difficulty involved in reducing this
variety to a few semantic roles and processes.” What is more, this large list of different
labels may seem too complex for students to handle. Students are not expected to learn
every label and analyse language from a functional perspective. However, by simply
exposing them to this classification with alternative labels, they can surely get an insight
into the semantic meanings lying inside syntactic structures.
This paper analyses the different clause elements that have a syntactic function in
the sentence. Pre and post modifiers will not be dealt with, as well as the internal structure
of the constituents. Adverbials are presented only when they are obligatory elements in the
sentence; i.e., when they accompany an intransitive verb of incomplete predication or a
complex transitive verb.
The purpose of this paper is to offer a complementary approach to the teaching of
basic sentence patterns in order to help students find this topic relevant to their learning
process as well as to their competence when using the language in real contexts. The
inclusion of a functional perspective can clearly be beneficial for students because it
accurately reflects authentic language and shows how grammar is a resource for making
and exchanging meanings in context.

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 CHAPTER 1
TRADITIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

When analysing and studying the language, Grammar is seen and described in
different ways. On the one hand, grammar can de regarded as a set of rules which specify
all the possible grammatical structures of the language. When following this approach,
there is usually a clear distinction between grammatical –correct- sentences and
ungrammatical –incorrect- sentences. In Graham Lock‟s (1996: 1) words, “the primary
concern is with the forms of grammatical structures and their relationship to one another,
rather than their meanings or their uses in different contexts”. This approach to grammatical
analysis is a prescriptive one, often applied in traditional grammatical analyses.

On the other hand, when language is considered a system of communication,

grammar is analysed so as to discover how it is organized in order to allow speakers and
writers to make and exchange meanings. The focus is not on the correctness or
incorrectness of a form, but on the appropriateness of that form for a particular
communicative purpose in a particular context. As Lock continues, “the primary concern is
with the functions of structures and their constituents and with their meanings in context”
(1996: 1). This approach is a descriptive one, often applied in functional analyses.

Most grammars belong primarily to either traditional or functional grammar.

However, these two apparently opposing approaches are by no means mutually exclusive.
Traditional analyses address meaning and function at some stage; while functional analyses
refer to form when showing its relationship with function. The difference between
traditional and functional approaches can be briefly and simply illustrated within the
following sentences:

Tim sent an email to Mary yesterday.

I’ve made a sand castle.
Peter has heard a noise.
Frank has told me the truth.

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 The Royal family owns four palaces.

When analysing these sentences, traditional and functional grammarians would have
different views on the elements in bold type. A traditional grammarian would call those
phrases the direct object. However, a functional grammarian would give different labels to
those clause elements depending on the meaning of the verbs –the process type in
functional terms- they accompany. In sentence a. the direct object would be called the
affected, in b. the effected, in c. the phenomenon, in d. the verbiage, and in e. the
possessed. Table 1 shows these different labels in a clearer way.

Sentence Traditional Grammar Functional Grammar

Tim sent an email to Mary yesterday. Direct Object Affected
I’ve made a sand castle Direct Object Effected
Peter has heard a noise. Direct Object Phenomenon
Frank has told me the truth. Direct Object Verbiage
The Royal family owns four palaces. Direct Object Possessed
Table 1 – Some Functional Labels for the Direct Object

The fact that there is just one label to refer to the direct object in these sentences
may not be so enlightening for students. In contrast, by further labelling the direct object in
different ways according to the entity they represent in the message given, students may be
given an insight into the actual semantic role a word / phrase plays in real communication.
Students should be continually aware of these semantic roles. This can be achieved by
complementing the labels that refer to the clause elements with functional grammar
terminology.

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 CHAPTER 2
TRADITIONAL SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

According to Greenbaum, a simple sentence can traditionally be divided into two

main constituents: the Subject and the Predicate (1991: 19). The subject is made up of a
noun, a noun phrase or a noun equivalent, such as a pronoun, a gerund, or a to- infinitive,
among other structures.

Water is an essential element in people‟s lives.

S (noun) Predicate

The doctor came into the room.

S (noun phrase) Predicate

Smoking is forbidden.
S (gerund) Predicate

I was shivering.
S (pronoun) Predicate

To have come was a mistake.

S (to infinitive) Predicate

The predicate must always be made up of a finite verb. However, this is not the only
element present in the predicate. Objects, complements and adverbials also play a role in
the organization of a sentence, adding extra information or completing the meaning of the
verb. Sentences differ widely as to what type and how many elements they include. This
organization of the elements of a sentence is what is often referred to as Sentence Patterns.
Sentence patterns will vary depending on whether the presence of one or more elements in
addition to the subject and finite verb is compulsory, optional or forbidden. Verb types will
vary depending on whether they need to be complemented by an object, by a subject
complement, by an object complement, by an adverbial complement, or even, when they
need no complementation at all; i.e., they can stand by themselves in the Predicate.

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 In ‘An Introduction to English Grammar’, Greenbaum (1991: 33) claims that there
are seven basic sentence structures:

1. Linking verbs, which take a subject complement V L + Cs

I feel tired.

2. Intransitive verbs of complete predication, which have no S + Vi

complement or object
Intransitive Someone is talking.
Verbs 3. Intransitive verbs of incomplete predication, which need S + Vi +
an adverbial complement AC
My parents are living in Chicago.
4. Monotransitive Verbs, which have a direct object Vmt + Od
We have finished our work.

5. Ditransitive verbs, which have a direct object and an Vdt + Oi

Transitive indirect object + Od
Verbs She has given me the letter.
6. Complex transitive verbs, which take a direct Vct + Od
object and an object complement + Co
Complex You can put your coat in my bedroom.
Transitive 7. Complex transitive verbs, which take a direct
Verbs object and an adverbial complement. Vct + Od
You have made me very happy. + AC

These are the basic structures of sentences; i.e. the elements that are necessary in
each pattern. However, we can always add optional elements such as adverbials. They
convey a range of information about the situation described by the basic elements. These
meanings include manner, time, place, degree, cause, and evaluation, among others.

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  LINKING VERBS

If the verb requires a Subject Complement, i.e., a noun phrase or an adjectival

phrase that refers back to the subject, that verb is a Linking Verb. The Subject Complement
usually identifies or characterizes the Subject.

Mary is my sister’s name.

S Vl Cs

Your test must be the one on the table.

S Vl Cs

The door is too narrow.

S Vl Cs

He could have been more careful.

S Vl Cs

As Greenbaum states, the most common linking verb is be. Other common linking
verbs are appear, become, seem, feel, get, look, sound.

Your question seems sensible.

S Vl Cs

She has become very angry.

S Vl Cs

The children look healthy.

S Vl Cs

Even though the verbs shown above are the most common linking verbs, many
verbs can be linking if followed by a subject complement.

He died a poor man.

S Vl Cs

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 They make a good couple.
S Vl Cs

The thief passed unnoticed.

S Vl Cs

The guilty shouldn’t go unpunished.

S Vl Cs

 INTRANSITIVE VERBS

They do not require an object to complete its meaning.

No cure exists.
S Vi

1- Intransitive Verbs of Complete Predication

These verbs do not require another element to complete its meaning. Sometimes
optional adverbials can be added in order to give extra information such as the place,
manner or time of an event or an action. Even if the meaning is undoubtedly more complete
when adverbials are present, these elements are not compulsory.

The little boy has fainted!

S Vi

Yesterday the little boy fainted after the race.

A S Vi A

Many intransitive verbs that do not need an adverbial refer to the making of sounds
or physical behaviour.
arise die kneel sigh
bleed faint laugh swim
blush fall rise vibrate
crackle gleam scream yawn

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 2- Intransitive Verbs of Incomplete Predication (+ Adverbial Complement)

In other cases, it is compulsory to include elements that convey the same

information as adverbials. This is so because the verb is not complete without these
elements. Grammarians like Greenbaum even change the name of these elements, calling
them Adverbial Complements. Compare the following sentences:

The workers were outside the main office.

S Vi AC

The workers were demonstrating outside the main office.

S Vi A

The first sentence needs the adverbial complement in order to be grammatically

correct. By contrast, the second example would still be correct without the adverbial.
The adverbial complement needed to complete the meaning of these verbs usually
refers to place or position. These verbs are generally denote movement or position.
Verbs that denote movement need to be followed by an adverbial complement
showing the place where someone or something is moving.

Sarah went back to the living room.

S Vi AC

The man travelled north.

S Vi AC

come gallop run

crawl glide stroll
flow plunge walk

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Verbs that indicate position are usually followed by adverbial complements indicating
position. Some of these verbs can also be linking when followed by a subject complement.1

The lady was lying on the bed.

S Vi AC

Tom lives in Lausanne.

S Vi AC

be hang remain sit

stand stay

Verbs such as look, gaze and stare need adverbial complements showing
direction.

The lonely girl is looking through the window.

S Vi AC

He stared at her motionless

S Vi AC

The verbs extend and stretch need an adverbial complement showing extent.

That storm extended all the way.

S Vi AC

Other verbs need adverbial complements of other sorts.

He behaves like a fool.

S Vi AC

progress act campaign

1
There is no agreement regarding the nature of some verbs that take an adverbial complement. Authors like
Close and Biber et al. believe that some linking verbs can be followed by adverbial complements. Some of
these verbs are seem, appear, remain and keep.

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  TRANSITIVE VERBS

This name is the umbrella term for any verb that takes at least one object. We will
make a distinction between verbs that take only one object (monotransitive verbs), verbs
that take two objects (ditransitive verbs) and verbs that take an object and a complement.

1- Monotransitive Verbs (+ Direct Object)

These verbs require an object, i.e., a noun phrase that generally refers to the entity
affected by the action described in the verb.

Polly tore the letter.

S Vmt Od

Greg has eaten all the strawberries.

S Vmt Od

Some verbs can take a large range of objects because of their meaning. In other
words, there are innumerable things people can want, describe, support, like or have, to
mention some.

She wanted an umbrella.

S Vmt Od

The teacher described the process.

S Vmt Od

I will always support that party.

S Vmt... A ...Vmt Od

He has never liked football.

S Vmt... A ...Vmt Od

They have three dogs.

S Vmt Od

Some other verbs can take a limited number of objects because of their meaning too.
For example, there are a few things people can kill or waste.

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 The poachers killed three rhinoceroses.
S Vmt Od

* The poachers killed the water.

You cannot waste more money.

S Vmt Od

* You cannot waste more difficulties.

The following verbs typically require an object:

achieve commit free recommend

address concern get rent
admire consider hear see
affect cut hire spot
bear demand keep take
believe do maintain tease
blame enjoy mean threaten
buy exchange plant value
carry fear please wear
claim find raise welcome

2- Ditransitive Verbs (+ Indirect Object + Direct Object)

These verbs involve two objects. As we said before, the Direct Object refers to the
person or thing directly affected by the action described in the sentence. The Indirect
Object refers to the entity that benefits from the action or receives something as a result.

Nick gave me the money.

S Vdt Oi Od

Mum always brings me a glass of milk for breakfast.

S A Vdt Oi Od

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 I will lend you the book.
S Vdt Oi Od

The president promised the workers a rise in their salary.

S Vdt Oi Od

As in the examples above, the indirect object is put immediately after the verb,
before the direct object. However, the indirect object can go in a prepositional phrase that
comes after the direct object.

He has made sandwiches for Helen and Beth.

S Vdt Od Oi

I ´ll send a postcard to all my friends.

S Vdt Od Oi

The secretary gave a form to all the candidates.

S Vdt Od Oi

I should buy the prize for the people who won the contest.
S Vdt Od Oi

There are a number of reasons for choosing this structure. As stated in Collins
Cobuild English Grammar, it is used particularly (a) when there is a special focus on the
indirect object, (b) when the indirect object is significantly longer than the direct object, (c)
when the direct object is a pronoun, or (d) when the indirect object provides the new
information.

(a) Give the money to me! (Not to her!)

Vdt Od Oi

(b) The Police will give a reward to all the people who can say something
S Vdt Od Oi

relevant about the crime.

(c) (d) After writing the letter, Paul sent it to his boss.
A S Vdt Od Oi

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 When choosing to place the indirect object after the direct object, the prepositional
phrase can begin either with to or with for. Some verbs only admit indirect objects preceded
by the preposition to:

deal lend sell tell

feed offer send
give owe show
grant rent teach

Other verbs accept indirect objects preceded only by the preposition for:

book cut keep reserve

build design order save
cash find paint win
cook get prepare

Some other verbs accept indirect objects beginning with either to or for. According
to Collins Cobuild English Grammar, indirect objects beginning with to generally refer to
people who receive something transferred to them, whereas indirect objects beginning with
for usually refer to people who benefit from he action described.

bring leave play sing

take write

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 Peter wrote a letter to Mary (because he was coming back soon).
S Vdt Od Oi

Peter wrote a letter for Mary (because she has a broken arm).
S Vdt Od Oi

Carol left the book to me (because I needed to study).

S Vdt Od Oi

Carol left the book for me (because I couldn´t go to the library).

S Vdt Od Oi

The little girl sang a beautiful song to the audience.

S Vdt Od Oi

The teacher sang the song for us (because we didn´t remember the lyrics).
S Vdt Od Oi

Some verbs almost always take the indirect object in front of the direct object:

allow bet cost envy

ask cause deny promise
begrudge charge draw refuse

He allowed his daughter only three pounds a week.

S Vdt Od Oi

That mansion cost her a fortune.

S Vdt Od Oi

3- Complex Transitive Verbs

These verbs require not only the object but a complement as well. We can
distinguish two different sub patterns depending on whether there is an Object Complement
or an Adverbial Complement apart from the Object.

3.1- Complex Transitive Verbs (+ Direct Object + Object Complement)

These verbs take, together with the direct object, a new element called the Object
Complement. The most common types of Object Complements take the form of a noun or a
noun phrase, an adjective or an adjectival phrase that refers to the direct object.
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 She considered him a fool.
S Vct Od Co

They elected her their team leader.

S Vct Od Co

His jokes made the audience uneasy.

S Vct Od Co

The boss declared the meeting open.

S Vct Od Co

In Collins Cobuild English Grammar, the authors give a classification of the

verbs that typically occur in this pattern. These verbs are generally verbs of causing, verbs
of naming, verbs of opinion, verbs of appointing and verbs that describe states.

 Verbs of causing

The students are driving the teacher crazy.

S Vct Od Co

I will paint the walls light pink.

S Vct Od Co

drive make send sweep

get paint shoot turn

 Verbs of naming

All her friends call her Betty.

S Vct Od Co

They christened the baby Tom.

S Vct Od Co

brand declare name pronounce

call designate nickname term
christen label proclaim

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  Verbs of opinion

His boss found his question very interesting.

S Vct Od Co

Susan considers Fred an embarrassment.

S Vct Od Co

account consider judge think

believe find reckon

 Verbs of appointing

The President has made him a junior minister.

S Vct Od Co

make appoint crown

 Describing states

He left the window open.

S Vct Od Co

The Police found her dead.

S Vct Od Co

I prefer the soup cold.

S Vct Od Co

burn hold like show

eat keep prefer want
find leave serve

Even though the best known object complements are nouns or adjectives, Carter and
McCarthy state in Cambridge Grammar of English that the Object Complement can take
other forms, which include to-infinitive clauses, bare infinitive clauses, -ing clauses, and –ed
clauses.

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 She has intended her work to cause controversy.
S Vct Od Co

She will allow her daughter to travel next summer.

S Vct Od Co

I had him mend that fence for me.

S Vct Od Co

I ’ll help you make that claim against the travel agent.
S Vct Od Co

I found her bathing the baby.

S Vct Od Co

I could hear someone walking up the stairs.

S Vct Od Co

He had a few things stolen.

S Vct Od Co

They want him buried here.

S Vct Od Co

3.2- Complex Transitive Verbs (+ Direct Object + Adverbial Complement)

Some transitive verbs need to take an Adverbial Complement after the Object. These
verbs usually indicate position or movement and therefore they are followed by adverbial
complements of place. However, some other verbs are followed by adverbial complements
of other kinds.

bring lead send treat

direct place set keep
escort position store
lay put tie

He placed the baby on the bed.

S Vct Od AC

The teacher positioned the chair next to the desk.

S Vct Od AC

She has treated everybody with kindness.

S Vct Od AC

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 CHAPTER 3
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

1- METAFUNCTIONS

Systemic Functional Grammar, first developed by M.A.K Halliday, foregrounds the

role of grammar as a resource for construing and exchanging meanings. When studying and
analysing grammar (and language in general) the main focus is on the fundamental functions
of language in real communication: experiential2, interpersonal and textual. Each of the
three metafunctions relates to a different meaning created through language, and is
concerned with how this meaning is encoded in clauses. In each metafunction an analysis of
a clause gives a different kind of structure composed from a different set of elements. Inspite
of their differences, the three metafunctions are simultaneous; i.e., a clause can be analysed
simultaneously from the different perspectives provided by the three metafunctions.

The Experiential metafunction is about the natural world, including the inner world
of our consciousness. It is concerned with clauses as representations. The experiential
metafunction relates to the context of culture; i.e., the meanings will vary depending on the
field to which the text belongs. Experiential meaning “is concerned with how we talk about
actions, happenings, feelings, beliefs, situations, states, and so on, the people and things
involved in them, and the relevant circumstances of time, place, manner, and so on.” (Lock,
1996: 9) The main system at play is Transitivity, in which a clause is analysed into Process,
Participants and Circumstances.

The Interpersonal metafunction is about the social world, especially the interaction
between speaker and hearer. It is concerned with clauses as exchanges. The interpersonal
metafunction relates to the context of situation; i.e., a text will vary accoring to the situation
in which it is produced and the relationship between the hearer/reader and the
speaker/writer. Following Lock (1994: 9), “interpersonal meaning has to do with the ways
in which we act upon one another through language – giving and requesting information,
getting people to do things, and offering to do things ourselves (...)”. This metafunction
allows speakers to give judgements about the messages they create. The main systems at

2
The experiential metafunction is part of the ideational metafunction, which also includes the logical
metafunction. Taking into account the objectives of this paper, we have adopted Lock‟s and Thompson‟s
classification in order to simplify the categories.
22
play are Mood amd Modality, in which a clause is analysed into Mood and Residue, with
the mood element further analysed into Subject and Finite.

The Textual metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the flow of
information in a text. It is concerned with clauses as messages and it focuses on the creation
of text as information that can be shared by speaker and listener. The role of the textual
metafunction is to enable the presentation of ideational and interpersonal meanings as
information that can be exchanged. This metafunction provides the speaker/writer with
strategies for guiding the listener/reader in the interpretation of the text. As Lock states, it
“has to do with the ways in which a stretch of language is organized in relation to its
context” (1994: 10). The main system at play is Thematic Structure, in which clauses are
divided into Theme and Rheme.

2- TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM

Transitivity is the part of grammar that encodes the speaker or writer's view of
reality. It is the major component of the Experiential metafunction. As mentioned before,
clauses are analized into processes, participants and circumstances. According to Thompson
(1996: 77), “the process is typically expressed – or realised- by the verbal group in the
clause, and is the central component of the message from the experiential perspective.”
Processes refer to events, actions, states, and feelings, among other situations, that belong to
the external or the internal world of language users.
The type of process will have a direct impact on the nature and number of
participants in the clause. Participants are realized by nominal groups, in traditional terms,
nouns, noun phrases and noun equivalents. Depending on the process type, a clause can
involve one participant, as in “The children have left”; two participants, as in “She carried
the box”; or even three participants, as in “Mary cooked dinner for them”. Circumstances
can occur with all types of processes because they generally add extra information about
time, cause, manner, place, and so on. They will not be described in this section except in
the cases in which they are obligatory elements. According to Halliday (1985: 102), the
semantic categories of process, participants and circumstances explain in the most general
way how different aspects of reality are represented as linguistic structures. However, he
believes that these categories are too general to provide a real insight into the way language
structures represent reality. A further classification of processes, together with the different
participants associated with each process type, seems totally necessary.

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 3- TYPES OF PROCESSES

Most functional grammarians agree on the fact that processes can be divided into three
main processes, Material, Mental and Relational, and three minor processes, namely
Behavioural, Existential and Verbal. We will analyse each of them, giving the most
relevant features of the processes and the participants invoved in them. In order to illustrate
the different processes and participants, a large number of examples are given. They have
been taken, or adapted, from Downing and Locke (2002), Martin and Matthiesen (1997),
Lock (1996), Eggins (1994), and Halliday (1985).

 MATERIAL PROCESSES

The spectators stood up.

An avalanche buried the climbers.
The child ate a chocolate.
I’ll heat up some soup for you.
The dog has died.
The mayor resigned.

All these clauses contain material processes, which describe “processes of DOING,
usually concrete, „real‟ tangible actions” (Eggins, 1994: 230). They can also describe
abstract doings such as resigned in the last example above. The unmarked tense for material
processes is the present progressive tense, although they can be found in many other tenses
with an extra shade of meaning. They typically involve at least one participant; and they can
involve two or three participants.

Agent - Animate and Inanimate

Ted hit Bill.

We carried our luggagge.
Lightning struck the oak tree.
Anxiety can ruin your health.

Following Downing and Locke (2002: 114), the agent is the doer of the action. The
agent is capable of operating on itself or others in order to bring some change in the state of
affairs. Therefore, the notion of agency generally involves animacy, intention, motivation

24
and responsibility. The agent is typically human. When the “doer” of the action is inanimate,
it may be called “force” or simply “inanimate agent”. In this case, the power or energy of
inanimate beings can never be intentional, unless these entities are given human properties
in a metaphorical sense. This participant can be probed by asking “What did X do?”.

Goal - Affected and Effected

These two wonderful Swiss men left their dinner.

My brother is painting the house.
The children are making a sand castle.
Mary made an omelette.
The chocolate was eaten by the child.

The second participant is usually the goal, at which an action is directed. When this
participant is affected by the action expressed in the process, it is called the Affected. In
contrast, when the participant is created or brought into being by the process itself, it is
called the Effected. This participant can be probed by asking “What happened to X?” or
saying “What was brought into being was X”. The following examples can make this
difference clearer. (Adapted from Downing and Locke 2002: 117)

AFFECTED EFFECTED
Susan decorated the cake. Susan baked a cake.
The gardener dug the garden. The gardener dug a hole.
I’m paining the house. I’m painting a picture of my house.

Range
They ran the race.
They were playing tennis.
They are taking a look.

Halliday (1985: 134-7) introduces a participant, the range, which apparently looks
similar to the goal. Yet, it has its own features. Semantically, the range is closely tied to the
meaning of the verb. Sometimes, it is a restatement of the process itself, as in he ran the
race. Other times, it expresses the extent, scope or domain of the process, as in they climbed
the mountain or they played bridge. Some other times, the range is found with “dummy” or
delexical verbs such as take, have, do, give and make, as in they gave a smile. The use of

25
delexical verbs with set phrases is very frequent in informal English. Students may feel
motivated to learn these constructions, as they may sound more idiomatic. Besides, these
types of ranges can be modified, adding extra information about the process. For example, it
is much more requent to hear “He gave a cruel, nasty smile” than “He smiled nastily and
cruelly”.

In traditional grammar, a similar constituent is the cognate object. In general,

cognate objects are morphologically similar to the verb. Thus, it is easy to identify them.
However, the notion of range covers a larger number of options. Halliday (1985: 136) offers
some tests which can be applied in order to identify goals and ranges:

1. Ranges cannot be probed by “what did X do to/with Y?” whereas goals can.
2. Ranges cannot be personal pronouns.
I’m playing the piano. Not *I’m playing it.
3. Ranges cannot be modified by possessives.
Take a look. Not *Take your look.
4. Ranges rarely become passive subjects.
The children played tennis. Not *Tennis was played by the children.
5. Ranges can usually be realized as prepositional phrases.
They climbed the mountain. Or They climbed up the mountain.
She plays the piano beautifully. Or She plays beautifully on the piano.
6. Ranges with delexical verbs can generally be turned into a verb.
They did a dance. Or they danced.

The following chart presents examples provided by Eggins (1994: 235), which may
clarify the difference between goals and ranges.

RANGE GOAL
Shoot a gun Shoot a kangaroo
Kick a goal Kick the dog
Serve dinner Serve the ball
Give a smile Give a present
Make a mistake Make a cake
Take a bath Take a biscuit

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Beneficiary
She mixed James a cocktail.
I’ll make you a sandwich.
Recipient
I gave the children some sweets.
Someone has sent Mary a get-well card.

According to Eggins (1994: 236), the Recipient is “the one goods are given to”. It is
generally an inherent participant closely tied to the process and the agent. It is generally
realized syntactically by the Indirect Object. It usually occurs with verbs such as give, send,
lend, grant, among others. Following Downing and Locke (2002: 117), there are two
syntactic tests for Recipients in material processes.

1. The Recipient can become the Subject in a corresponding passive clause.

The children were given some sweets
Mary has been sent a get-well card.
2. The Recipient can generally occur in final position in a prepositional phrase
beginning with to (with verbs that allow this alternative order).
I gave some sweets to the children.
Someone has sent a get-well card to Mary.

The Beneficiary is the participant for whom a service is done. In other words, it is
the entity who benefits from the action described in the process. It is generally optional since
it is not always necessary to mention for whom somebody is doing something. It frequently
occurs with verbs like cook, mix, knit, make, buy, and so on, which reflect services done for
people.
Following Downing and Locke, (2002), “unlike the Recipient, the Beneficiary can
rarely become Subject in a passive clause”.
*James was mixed a cocktail.
*You’ll be made a sandwich.
Besides, when the Beneficiary occurs in final position, it is found in a prepositional
phrase beginning with for.
She mixed a cocktail for James.
I’ll make a sandwich for you.

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  MENTAL PROCESSES

You can imagine his reaction

He heard a faint sound.
Peter loves cats.

The clauses above do not refer to concrete proceses of doing. Instead, they describe
thoughts, feelings and perceptions. They involve two participants: the Senser and the
Phenomenon. In he heard a faint noise, the Senser is he while the phenomenon is a faint
noice. The main features of these two participants are presented below.

The Senser is the person who feels, thinks, or perceives a phenomenon. It is no

longer appropriate to call this participant the „agent‟ as the person in whose mind the mental
process occurs is not performing an activity. As explained before, this participant must be a
conscious human being. In other words, only somebody (or something) endowed with
consciousness can feel, think or perceive. In a sentence like The empty house was longing
for the children to return, Halliday (1985:108) claims that “simply by putting the empty
house in this grammatical environment (…) we cause it to be understood as endowed with
consciousness”.

The second participant, the Phenomenon, is that element which is thought, felt or
perceived. Following Downing and Locke (2002: 125), the phenomenon may be a „thing‟
realized by a noun group, or a fact, realized by a clause. We will concentrate on phenomena
that take the form of a noun group since subordinate clauses will not be developed in this
paper.

Senser Mental Process Phenomenon

He felt the insertion of the needle.
The teacher couldn’t understand his handwriting.
Children love sweets.
James saw the accident.
Everybody knew the answer.
She liked the simple pleasures.

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 According to Lock (1996: 103), mental processes include “processes like thinking
and believing, seeing and hearing, liking and hating, and wanting and hoping.” They can be
further divided into processes of perception (see, hear, feel, etc.), of cognition (know, think,
realize, believe, etc.) and of affection (love, dislike, hate, please, etc.).

Following Downing and Locke (2002: 127), perception processes refer to

involuntary states that do not depend on the willingness or volition of the Senser. Verbs like
see, hear, taste, feel and smell belong to this group when they refer to sensations received
non-volitionally. In processes of seeing, hearing and feeling, the phenomenon can refer to a
situation that is either complete or incomplete. The choice of non finite clause can give this
aspectual difference.

COMPLETE INCOMPLETE
I saw the cat climb the tree. I saw the cat climbing the tree.
I heard them quarrel. I heard them quarrelling.
She felt Peter grasp her arm. She felt Peter grasping her arm

Cognition processes include verbs like understand, remember, know, think, believe,
doubt and guess, among others. These processes involve a wide range of phenomena,
realized by noun groups or different types of clauses. These different realizations depend
upond the process. Realize, for instance, can only take a finite clause as its phenomenon.
Forget and remember can take as their Phenomenon either –ing or to-infinitive non-finite
clauses - apart from noun groups and finite clauses. As Downing and Locke (2002: 128)
state, the choice between these two non-finite clauses reflects a difference in the time-
relation of the Penomenon to the process of remembering or forgetting. The following
examples illustrate the typical phenomena associated with cognition processes:

Everybody remembered his face. (noun group)

Noboby realized that he was right. (that clause)
He has forgotten to leave the key. (to- infinitive clause)
My mother doesn’t remember lending me the car. (-ing clause)
I don’t know what to do. (wh-clause)

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 Affection processes include verbs such as like, enjoy, delight, please, hate, detest,
surpise, depress, dismay, among others. The phenomenon can be realized by different
structures, including noun groups, finite clauses and non-finite clauses.

Mental processes are semantically and grammatically different from material

processes and thus call for different participants: the Senser and the Phenomenon. Halliday
(1985: 108-12) offers five main criteria to distinguish material clauses from mental clauses.

1. In mental clauses, the unmarked present tense is the simple present. It does not mean
that they do not occur in another tense. When they do occur, they carry an extra
dimension of meaning.
Jack knows the city. (Unmarked)
I ´m knowing the city (for the first time). (Marked)

In material clauses, the unmarked present tense is the present progressive.

Marg is heating the soup up. (Unmarked)
Marg heats up the soup (every night). (Marked)

2. Mental processes always involve two participants. Even when what is felt or thought
is not mentioned, that participant is implied or retrieved from the context. In
Halliday‟s (1985: 112) words, “all mental processes potentially involve both a
Senser and a Phenomenon”.
She believed his excuses.
She believed (something).

Material processes can involve either one or two participants. The presence of a goal
or a recipient is not always required or implied.
The children are running.
Tim kicked the ball.

3. Mental processes always involve one participant, the Senser, who is a conscious
being. The choice of this participant is more restricted for mental processes than for material
processes.
Helen saw the accident.

30
 Material processes do not necessarily involve a human participant. The choice of
Agent, then, is much broader for material processes.

4. In mental clauses, the Phenomenon - what is felt, perceived or thought – can be a

thing or a fact, the former realized by a noun group and the latter generally realized by a
„that‟ clause. In other words, mental processes can „project‟; i.e., they can quote or report
ideas. When doing so, a relationship is created between two different clauses.
Tim knows the city.
Fred realized that he was in the wrong place.

In material clauses, the participants are only things (a person, a creature, an object,
an institution, an abstraction). These participants are realized by noun groups. Material
processes, then, cannot project.
They are building a house.
*They are building that the house should be bigger.

5. In mental clauses the senser or the phenomenon can be the subject of active
sentences which have a similar meaning.

SENSER AS SUBJECT PHENOMENON AS SUBJECT

I like that answer. That answer pleases me.
I don’t understand this exercise. This exercise puzzles me.
I admire his courage. His courage impresses me.

In material clauses, the agent is the subject of the active sentence. When the goal is
the subject of a semantically similar sentence, it is a passive sentence (except with ergative
verbs).

AGENT AS SUBJECT GOAL AS SUBJECT

(passive constructions)
The Police have caught the thief. The thief has been caught (by the Police).
That child ate the chocolate. The chocolate was eaten (by that child).
An avalanche buried the climbers. The climbers were buried (by an avalanche)

31
 When dealing with Material and Mental processes, Martin et al (1997: 110-11),
refer to additional participants that have a causing or agentive role. Verbs like make, do,
help, and cause are particularly found in these clauses. The first participant is not actually
doing or sensing anything. It is the one who initiates the action ar induces the mental
process. The second participant is the real Actor or Senser. The chart shows how Martin et
al analyse these clauses.

Initiator Proces: Actor ... material Goal

You ‘ll help us monitor this.
Inducer Process: Senser ... mental Phenomenon
This programmes let parents understand their responsibilities.

 RELATIONAL PROCESSES

My mother is a lawyer.
Jane was the main actress.
The film seems good.
The post office was over there.

According to Thompson (1996: 86), relational clauses refer to a relationship between

two concepts. He believes that there is no process as such, since nothing is happening.
Besides, he argues that even though there are two concepts present, there is only one
participant in the real world because they refer to the same entity.

There have been different classifications of relational processes. Some of them differ
slightly and none of them seems to give a picture that takes into account all relational
clauses. According to Lock (1996: 126) there are three types of relational processes:
attributive, identifying and possessive. Downing and Locke (2002: 131) add a further
group: circumstantial. Eggins (1994: 265) also refers to causative relational processes.
Each of these processes has their own labels for the participants involved. The unmarked
tense for relational processes is the simple present tense, except in the case of some
attributive processes that refer to a transition.

32
 Attributive Clauses generally characterise an entity, giving a quality of it. They
involve a Carrier and an Attribute. This attribute is generally realised by an adjective.
When the attribute is realised by a noun group, it is usually indefinite. Even though the
attribute refers to the Subject, it can never take subject position. In other words, attributive
clauses are not reversible. Following Downing and Locke (2002: 132), attributive processes
include verbs such as be, keep, remain, stay, seem and appear. These processes describe an
attribute which exist at the same time of the process (Current Attribute). Other verbs like
become, get, turn, grow, run, and end up refer to a transition, in which an attribute is the
result of the process (Resultutive Attribute). This distinction is important because these
verbs are dynamic and, as such, very often take progressive tenses when they show
imperfective aspect. If the aspect is perfective, they typically take perfect tenses.

CURRENT ATTRIBUTE RESULTUTIVE ATTRIBUTE

The leaves remain yellow. The leaves are turning yellow.
The children seemed tired. They’ ve got tired.

Carrier Attributive Process Attribute

Peter is very tall.
Tom seems generous.
Helen has turned a good wife.

Identifying Clauses involve an entity which is identified. The labels given to these
constituents are Identified and Identifier, both of which are generally realised by noun
groups. These clauses are different from attributive ones in that they are reversible; i.e., the
two participants are interchangeable. Unlike attributes, the Identifier is usually definite. The
following examples can make the distinction between attributive and identifying processes
clearer.

ATTRIBUTIVE IDENTIFYING
Jack is a good player. Jack is the captain.
The river we crossed was wide. The river we crossed was the Thames.
The play was a success. The play was „Hamlet‟.

Identified Identifying Process Identifier

My brother is the fastest runner in the group.
Neglected children seem the real victims.
33
 Possessive Clauses show a relationship of possession between two entities. The
notion of possession is either given by the participants, as in This book is mine; or by the
process itself, as in They own a big house. Processes that imply possession include possess,
lack, need, include, exclude and contain.

Possessor Possessive Process Possessed

The baby has blue eyes.
Greg owns a yacht.
Possessed Possessor
The house belongs to a millionaire.
Those socks are my bother’s.

Circumstantial Clauses are processes in which the circumstantial element is

essential to the situation and thus, compulsory. When dealing with these clauses, Lock
(1996: 129) suggests that the notion of circumstance can be expressed in an adverbial group
or a prepositional phrase following verbs such as be, remain, and keep. This notion can also
be given in the process itself, as in last, concern, stretch, weigh and measure, among others.
In this case, the circumstance is typically realized by a noun group.

Circumstantial Attribute
The museum is round the corner. (place)
Our next meeting will be on June 10. (time)
The carpet measures three metres by two. (measurement)
This symphony is by Beethoven. (agent)
This meeting concerns teaching loads. (matter)

Causative Relational Clauses involve an Attributor that causes a Carrier to have a

particular Attribute. They can also involve an Assigner that causes an Identified to take an
Identity. Verbs like make, name, call, elect, and vote are typically found in these clauses.

34
 Attributor Causative Process Carrier Attribute
That experience made Diana a blood donor.
This problem will make him stronger.
They are making the road wider.

Assigner Causative Process Identified Identifier

All the students made him the captain.
They made Simon the barman.
The people voted him President.
They named the baby John.

 BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES

Diana sighed loudly.

The poor man cried for an hour.
Simon sniffed the food.

These processes are on the borderline between mental and material processes. As
Eggins (1994: 250)points out, “they are in part about action, but it is action that has to be
experienced by a conscious being”. They are semantically close to material and mental
processes. Grammatically, they they have characteristics of both.

MENTAL PROCESSES BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES

The cat smells the flower. The cat’s sniffing the flower.
The cat smells that another cat’s been in. ----
I can taste garlic in the sauce. I am tasting the soup.
I can taste that there is garlic in the sauce. ----
I can see the screen. I am looking at / watching the screen.
I can see that the screen is big. ----
I can hear my husband. I am listening to my husband.
I can hear that my husband is here. ----

35
 The unmarked present tense for behavioural processes is the present progressive
tense, like material processes. Besides, behavioural processes cannot „project‟. Unlike
mental processes, Behavioural processes generally involve only one participant: the
Behaver. This obligatory participant is typically a conscious being, as in mental processes.
They can take a second participant, the Behaviour, which is a restatement of the process.
This is similar to the Range in material clauses. If the second participant is not a restatement
of the process, it is called the Phenomenon, as in mental clauses. Circumstances,
particularly of manner or cause, can also occur in Behavioural processes. They include
processes such as watch, stare, laugh, cough, frown, breathe, grin, dream, and snuffle, verbs
which typically refer to physiological or psychological behaviour.

Behaver Behavioural Process Behaviour Phenomenon

The woman sighed.
The man smiled a broad smile.
George sniffed the soup.

 VERBAL PROCESSES

Children ask lots of questions.

Those people have told us a lot of lies.
The light says ‘stop’.

These are processes of verbal action involve a Sayer, a Receiver and a Verbiage. The
Sayer is responsible for the verbal process. It needn‟t be a concious being. Halliday (1985:
129) notices that these processes of „saying‟ have to be interpreted in a broad symbolic
sense; i.e., the Sayer can be anything animate or inanimate sending out a signal, as in my
watch says it´s three o’clock or the guidebook tells you where everything is. The Receiver is
the one to whom the verbalization is addressed. This participant is normally a conscious
being. The Verbiage is what is actually said or told. It can be a realized by a noun group, as
in she told me the news, a finite that clause as in he told me (that) he was tired, a to-
infinitive clause, as in she told him to mend his ways, or an interrogative clause, as in she
asked me what she could bring. As illustrated in the previous examples, we can see that
verbal processes can „project‟ because they can quote or report.

36
 Sayer Receiver Verbiage
A voice announced that the train was leaving.
Mary told me a secret.
Sue asked the assistant how much it cost.
That sign says ‘No entry’.

 EXISTENTIAL PROCESSES

There is some ice in the refrigerator.

There remain many problems.
There was a storm at sea.
There were three businessmen in the office.

According to Eggins (1994: 254) “Existential processes represent experience

by posting that „there was / is something”. These clauses are easy to identify because
the structure involves the use of the word there. This word neither represents a
process nor a circumstance. It has a structural role, as in English there must always
be a subject in subject position. Therefore, is does not receive any label in transitivity
analysis. Apart from this structural there, these clauses need a verb such as be, exist,
occur, and arise, among others. The only participant in an existential clause is the
Existent, which is a nominal group. Circumstantial elements or Attributes are often
found in these types of clauses as well.

Existential Existent Circumstantial Attribute

Process
There are a few students.
There isn’t a cloud in the sky.
There are some pages blank.

37
 SUMMARY OF MAIN SEMANTIC ROLES OF CLAUSE ELEMENTS

THE SUBJECT
Agent The Prime Minister resigned.
Birds fly.
She fell to her knees.
Affected The house was being painted by my mother.
The dog died.
The old lady collapsed.
She fell down the stairs.
Effected A beautiful house was drawn by this child.
The whole story was made up.
Recipient You will be given your paper in 5 minutes.
That worker has been paid the right amount.

Senser Tom saw the snake.

He can’t understand their objections.
Many people enjoy breakfast in bed.
Phenomenon His lack of self-esteem never worried him.

Possessor Each of them had their own porridge bowl.

Carrier Maxine is energetic.

Identified Judy is the star of Cukor’s movie.

Sayer The paper says there’ll be another election.

Behaver The cat is sniffing the flower.

Inducer Paul made the children eat all the food.

Attributor Susan considers this exercise too difficult.

38
Assigner The people present elected her secretary.

Causative Agent This machine will make your tasks simple.

Existent There are three people outside the room.

THE DIRECT OBJECT

Affected Lightning struck the oak tree

Effected She cooked a delicious meal.

This student composed a wonderful song.
Phenomenon Tom saw the snake.

Senser This news puzzled her.

Verbiage He told us the whole story.

Range I’ll give a lecture.

That man died a peaceful death.
They are having an argument.
Possessed They own a large castle.

THE INDIRECT OBJECT

Recipient My sister will lend you some money.
Give this letter to Susan, please.
Beneficiary Tom has fetched me the newspaper.
Kate poured a cup of tea for all the people in the meeting.

Receiver Michael told the kids a great story.

39
 THE SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
Attribute That woman is really smart.

Identity Peter is my lawyer.

THE OBJECT COMPLEMENT

Attribute Giving blood makes you weak.

Identifier Tom has made Susan his assistant.

THE ADVERBIAL COMPLEMENT

Circumstantial Entrance to the exhibition is by invitation.
Attribute The performance lasted three hours.
The girl put the book in the shelf.

40
 CHAPTER 4
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

The combination of the two aproaches developed in this paper offers teachers some
tools to deal with some common overgeneralizations usually made by students and teachers
as well. In the following paragraphs we will present some of these myths. Then we will see
how a functional approach can help us give a satisfying answer to our students.

 “The Subject Complement and the Subjects are interchangeable because they
refer to the same entity. The Subject can become the Subject Complement and the other
way around.”
Only in identifying relational processes; i.e., when the subject complement identifies
the Subject, can these two elements be interchanged.
Consider the following sentences:
Sarah is Jack’s assistant.
Jane was the main actress.
In these examples, the subject complement in traditional terms is the identifier in
functional terms. As identifing clauses are reversible, the subject complement can perfectly
be the subject.
Jack’s assistant is Sarah.
The main actress was Jane.
This is not the case of the sentences below.
My mother is a lawyer.
The film seems good.
As the subject complement is the attribute, it cannot become the subject. Therefore,
sentences like the following are normally considered incorrect.
* A lawyer is my mother.
* Good seems the film.

 “All transitive verbs can be used in passive voice.”

Material processes are generally the ones that can be expressed in the passive.
The Police have caught the thief.
The thief has been caught (by the Police).

41
 Besides, the passive subject in a material clause is typically the goal (affected or
effected). Both the Range or the Beneficiary rarely become passive subjects.
Mary will play the piano.
*The piano will be played by Mary.
She mixed a cocktail for James.
*James was mixed a cocktail.
Verbal clauses can also be found in the passive:
They told s the whole story.
The whole story was told to us.
Relational clauses are not found in the passive voice. This explains why, inspite of
being transitive, verbs like have do not occur in the passive.
Mental processes are also transitive as they generally involve a phenomenon.
Nevertheless, the phenomenon does not become the passive subject.
Young people love that song.
* That song is loved by young people.
Only when the active subject in a material clause is the phenomenon, can the
sentence be turned into the passive. In this way, the senser is placed at the beginning of the
clause.
Her answer puzzled me.
I was puzzled by her answer.

 “Linking verbs are stative verbs.”

The attribute in relational verbs can be a current attribute or a resultative. The former
exists at the same time of the process and the latter is is the result of the process.
The leaves remain yellow. Current Attribute
The leaves are turning yellow. Resultutive Attribute
Verbs like be, keep, remain, and stay are stative because they generally take current
attributes. That is why they do not take progressive tenses. By contrast, verbs like become,
get, turn, and grow are dynamic because they denote change and therefore take a resultative
attribute. These verbs can take progressive tenses when they show imperfective aspect.

 “The Subject is the doer of the action.”

We have seen throughout the paper that the subject can be the doer of the action (the
agent) as well as the senser of a mental process, somebody affected or caused by the action
described, the carrier of an attribute, and so on. Now this overgeneralization seems too far
from what clause elements really mean.

42
 These are some of the answers that functional grammar can provide when dealing
with sentence patterns and clause elements. There are other conclusions that can also be
drawn after having a functional perspective. They should be taken with as tendencies, not as
invariable rules that have no exceptions.
 Mental verbs are stative while behavioural verbs are dynamic.
 The preposition that precedes indirect object when it is in final position will vary
according to the role played by the indirect object. FOR introduces the BENEFICIARY
while TO introduces the RECIPIENT:
 Intransitive verbs of incomplete predication are generally Behavioural processes or
material processes where the subject is affected by the process.

These are some suggestions that teacher can apply when teaching grammar. Even
though there may be many more ideas, these are the ones that I consider related to the topic
of interest as well as useful and manageable enough for our students.
.

43
 CONCLUSION

It cannot be denied that teaching and learning basis sentence patterns is not an easy
task. Students often consider the topic too difficult and complex. Besides, they often feel
that learning syntactic structures may not help them become efficient users of the language.
What is more, they usually find the different labels to abstract to learn and they rarely
remember them at more advanced levels in their university years. The paper aims at
integrating a functional perspective from which grammar can be taught and learnt. This view
can have many advantages. First, it can make texts become clearer in their orientations.
Recognising transitivity patterns in texts is the first important step to being able to decode
the communicative purpose of them and the view of reality implicit in them. Second, it can
show students how syntactic structures play a semantic role in the representation of reality
present in texts. Third, a functional perspective helps teachers and learners to explain why
some choices might be more or less appropriate than others. Fourth, awareness of the
choices available at the level of transitivity allows speakers /writers to produce not only
accurate but also effective texts that meet their objectives.

The integration of Functional Grammar by no means implies the exclusion of

Traditional Grammar. This paper does not suggest a substitution of Traditional Grammar for
Functional Grammar, which students will be studying in Grammar II. Rather, a combination
of both approaches is presented as both useful and necessary. I believe that this combination
can be really advantageous for students and for teachers as well.

44
 REFERENCES

Close,R. A (1975) A Reference Grammar for Students of English. London: Longman.

Collins Cobuild English Grammar (1990) London: W. Collins Sons and Co Ltd.

Downing A. and P. Locke, (2002) A University Course in English Grammar. New York:

Prentice Hall International

Eggins S. (1994) An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics London: Pinter

Publishers

Greenbaum, S. (1991) An Introduction to English Grammar. Essex: Longman.

Halliday, M.A.K. (1985) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold

Publisher.

Lock, G. (1996) Functional English Grammar. An Introduction for Second Language

Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Martin, J. R., C. Matthiessen and C. Painter (1997) Working With Functional Grammar.

London: Arnold

McCarthy & Carter R. (2006) Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive Guide: Spoken

and Written English Grammar and Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Thompson G. (1996) Introducing Functional Grammar London: Arnold.

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