Objective - Sentence Transformation

• Recognize the underlying pattern of sentences that have undergone

• Interrogative
• Negative
• Imperative Transformation

Negative Sentences with Auxiliary Verbs

• The negative word not appears after the auxiliary verb:

• Peter will not (won’t) arrive early.
• Frances has not (hasn’t) finished her homework.
• Fred is not (isn’t) painting his room white.

• In a combination of auxiliaries the negative marker not appears after the first one

• Jan should not have been driving your car.
• Edward has not been telephoning us regularly.

Negative Sentences with Be

• When the main verb is a form of Be, the negative word not appears after be

• Betty is here.
  ↓
• Betty is not (isn’t) here.
• Harold’s old stereo was powerful.
  ↓
• Harold’s old stereo was not (wasn’t) powerful.

Negative Sentences Without Auxiliary Verbs or Be

• To form a negative sentence we need to have an auxiliary verb or a verb be (as a main verb) and a negative indicator not.

• If the sentence does not have an auxiliary verb or a main verb be, the substitute auxiliary verb (do) must be used.
• Not is inserted after do.
• Do doesn’t bring any meaning to the sentence – is called sometimes a dummy auxiliary
• Tense is signaled by the form that do takes (do, does, did)
  • Do you know what is the time?
  • Do you know what is the time?
  • Did you see her today?
  • Does she know about the exam?

Analyzing the Substitute Auxiliary Do

• Jan should have been driving your car.
  • Jan + [Present + should + have + {-en} + be + {-ing} + drive + your car

• The negative transformation
  • Jan + [present + should + not + have + {-en} + be + {-ing} + drive + your car

• Jan should not have been driving your car.
• The bank remained open after 5:00 P.M.
  • The bank + [past + do] + remain + open + after 5:00 P.M.

• The negative transformation
  • The bank + [past + do + not] + remain + open + after 5:00 P.M.

The bank did not remain open after 5:00 P.M.

Double Negatives

• We have other ways of negating the sentences

• Prefixes like in-or un –
• Changing the indefinite pronoun some and any to no and none.
  • Her apologies were insincere.
  • He is treating them unkindly.
  • He blamed nobody for the accident.
  • The dog ate none of the cat food.

• If not is added to the negative sentences, the result has two negative signals
  • Her apologies were not insincere. = positive
  • Her apologies were not insincere. = positive
  • He is not treating them unkindly. = positive
  • He didn’t blame nobody for the accident. – to emphasize
  • The dong didn’t eat none of the cat food. – to emphasize

• The last two are avoided by native speakers (dialectal)

Interrogative Sentences

• Sentences of the five basic types are all declarative
  • They make statements.

• Interrogative sentences – ask questions
  • Yes/no questions (general questions)
    • Did someone eat last piece of cake?
  • Seeks yes/no answer.
  • Wh –questions (special questions)

• Who ate the last piece of cake?
  • Assumes the truth of a statement
  • Seeks the missing information about it

Yes, No Questions

• Are built by
• Moving the first auxiliary verb to the front of the sentence
  • Has Barbara←been reading the book?
• Moving the main verb be to the front of the sentence
  • Is Twin ← Jim’s favourite author?
• Inserting Do at the beginning of the sentence if auxiliaries are not present or the main verb is not Be
  • Did Bill turn off his computer?

Negative Yes, No Questions

• We often find it useful to combine two or more transformations in a single sentence.

• He opened his presents.
  • Statement

• Did he open his presents early?
  • Question

• He didn’t open his presents early.
  • Negative

• Didn’t he open his presents early?

• Negative question

Wh – Questions

• Wh – questions differ from yes/no questions in two ways
  • They ask for missing information rather than for confirmation or denial
  • They begin with interrogative word (wh – word)
• The most common wh- words: who, whom, what, when, where, why, how, which, whose
  • Who played the solo?
  • What will the judge decide?
  • Where has Dan go?
  • Why are the police on the corner?
  • When is the first exchange student arriving?

Interrogative Determiners

• When you create wh-question corresponding to the following declarative sentence with the indefinite word (stand for unknown information), you sentence is likely to by this

• Barbara wore someone’s coat
• Whose coat did Barbara wear?

• Note that the entire constituent containing an unknown must move to the front of the sentence in wh-question transformation

• Whose did Barbara wear coat?
• Whose coat did Barbara wear?

Ending a Sentence with Preposition

• What happens when the unknown is the object of a preposition?
  • Keith polished his car with something.
  • What did Keith polished his car with? (conversational)
  • With what did Keith polished his car? (appropriate only in formal situations)

• Who/Whom questions
  • Carolyn invited someone to the dance.
  • Who/Whom did Caroline invite to the dance?
  • Who/Whom was Caroline going to the dance with?

Imperative Sentences

• Imperative sentences give commands and issue orders
  • Finish your soup!
  • Sit down!

• More polite would be to say
  • Would you like to be seated?

• To transform from declarative into imperative sentences
  • Delete the subject you
  • You walk faster – Walk faster!
  • You are here - * Are here! ; You are quiet - * Are quiet!
  • Check if the verb is in its uninflected base form
  • Be here! Be quiet!

Negative Forms of the Imperative

• The negative form of imperatives contains a Do not , just like the negative of a sentence without an auxiliary constituent

• Since imperatives delete you and will, you insert an expletive DO in order to introduce not
• * Not wear black to the dance
• You will wear black to the dance.
  ↓
• Not wear black to the dance.
  ↓
• Don’t wear black to the dance.