Definition of Syntactic Functions

The different phrases that are part of a sentence have different specific functions. Thus, each type of phrase or part of a sentence corresponds to a specific function. There are three main functions: subject, predicate, and complements.

The syntactic functions express what type of agreement there is in the words that are grouped in the phrases.

The main syntactic functions and some examples

The noun phrase can perform various functions. One of them would be the subject, as happens in the sentence "Your neighbor called you before." In the sentence "He drew two faces "the noun phrase works as a direct object. In the sentence "It will arrive this afternoon" the nominal is a circumstantial complement of time.

The verbal has a specific function, that of a predicate.

The adverbial can act as a circumstantial complement of place or time or as attribute.

The adjectival phrase has two possible functions: as an attribute or as a predicative complement (for example, "the waters go down turbid").

The prepositional presents several differentiated functions: direct object ("he observed his friend on the beach "), indirect complement (" he gave the backpack to his uncle ") or circumstantial complement (" he went to the beach ").

The syntactic attribute function communicates a property or quality of someone ("Juan Gris was a great painter"). The direct object has the function of specifying and limiting the meaning of the verb ("Manuel saw a car").

The circumstantial complement is a syntactic function that provides secondary information in a sentence ("Her son sings in the yard"). There are three phrases that can perform this function: the prepositional phrase, the adverbial phrase and the noun phrase.

Syntactic analysis

The linguistics is the discipline who studies the language and all its structures or systems: phonetics, morphology, lexicology, semantics and syntax. In the syntax, the well-known syntactic analysis is carried out.

In all parsing of a sentence there are two different levels. At a higher level, sentence functions are analyzed, and at a lower level, there are syntagmatic functions, that is, the internal functions of phrases.

In any case, this type of analysis allows defining what syntactic function each of the words that make up a sentence has.

The first step in parsing a sentence is to differentiate the subject from the predicate. To recognize the subject you have to ask the verb who performs the action. To identify the predicate of a sentence you have to ask about what is said about the subject.

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