Luận văn english adverbial clauses and their vietnamese equivalents = mệnh đề trạng ngữ trong tiếng anh và các cấu trúc tương đương trong tiếng việt

Scope of the study These thesis are about adverbial clauses, especially, we focus on the kinds ofadverbial clauses, adverbial clauses in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.. Commo

VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

==

Lấ THỊ TRÂM NGUYấN

ENGLISH ADVERBIAL CLAUSES AND THEIR VIETNAMESE

EQUIVALENTS(mệnh đề trạng ngữ trong tiếng anh và các cấu trúc t-

ơng đơng trong tiếng việt)

1 Reasons for choosing the study

English usage is a subject as wide as the English language itself By far thegreater part of usage raises no controversies and poses no problems for nativespeakers of English, just because it is their native language However, there arecertain problems for learners of English as a foreign language, especially Englishconstructions Since plenty of them often fail to recognize kinds of adverbialclauses

For example: Working all day, he felt tired

They think that this sentence may be an adverbial clause of time “After heworked all day, he felt tired” or “When he worked all day, he felt tired” Thissentence may also be an adverbial clause of reason “Because he worked all day, hefelt tired”

Adverbial clauses are very important parts in English grammar but they arenot easy to use and usually cause difficulties for learners English adverbial clauseshave been dealt with by numerous grammarians But until recent years, there have

no research works on English Adverbial clauses and their Vietnamese equivalentsand the ways to help learners overcome the confusion

2 Aims of the study

The above – mentioned background shows that the status of adverbialclauses in English needs more detailed study not only in structure but also in uses

as well With this trend, this study is aimed at:

- Giving the description and features of English adverbial clauses and theirequivalent realizations in Vietnamese to illustrate the differences and similarities ofadverbial clauses in the two languages

- Offering suggestions for teaching adverbial clauses to Vietnamese learners

* Research questions

Determined by its aims, this paper tries to find the answers to the followingquestions:

1 What is an adverbial clause?

2 What are the features and classifications of adverbial clauses?

3 What are the differences and similarities between English adverbialclauses and their Vietnamese equivalents and how they serve the teaching

of English grammar to Vietnamese students?

4 What are the predicted errors Vietnamese students may make whenlearning English adverbial clauses?

5 How are these errors eliminated?

3 Scope of the study

These thesis are about adverbial clauses, especially, we focus on the kinds ofadverbial clauses, adverbial clauses in English and their Vietnamese equivalents Inaddition, we will provide learners how to overcome errors in using adverbialclauses

4 Methods of the study

i Comparative and contrastive method

ii Statistical method

iii Analytical method

5 Design of the study:

This subject consists of three main parts and references

Part A: The Introduction outlines the reasons, the aims, the research questions,

the scope, the methods, and the design of the study In addition, the organization

of the thesis is introduced

Part B, entitled “Investigation”, is divided into three chapters.

The first one, “Theoretical preliminaries” supplies an over view of sentence,

The second chapter, “Concrete cases of adverbial clauses

In English and their Vietnamese equivalents”, presents English adverbial

clauses and their Vietnamese equivalents The presentation focuses onsyntactical features, functional roles and Concrete cases of each kind ofadverbial clauses in the sentence

The last chapter is about the applications of the study to the teaching of

English adverbial clauses to Vietnamese students

Part C is the conclusion summarizing the main point discussed in previous

parts

PART B: INVESTIGATION

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES

1.1 Sentence and general knowledge of adverbial in sentence

1.1.1 Definition of sentence

Sentence, which is usually considered the largest syntactical unit, is one ofthe problems taking up a large portion of grammar books It is quite easy tounderstand why so much attention has been paid to the study of sentence

The term sentence is so familiar to everyone, from a learner who has just

started a language course to a linguist, yet its definitions are far from homogeneous,they are even very confusing, instead

In traditional grammars, sentences are simply defined as “composed of

words” and it is function of syntax to state what words can be combined with others

to form sentences and in what order

A linguistic definition of the sentence must be in terms of it internalstructure A sentence will be composed of certain specified elements in a certainorder, ultimately, of course, of word, or parts of word

According to G Leech and J Svartvict (1992), “Sentences are units made up

one or more clauses Sentence containing just one clause is called simple, and sentences containing more than one clause are called complex”

1.1.2 Parts of sentence

Randolph Quirk et al (1972) said that sentence usually has two main parts:Subject and predicate in which subject is a word or a phrase indicating people,

things, or events but predicate is the rest That means, “The subject of the sentence

has a close general relation” to “what is discussed”, “the theme”, of the sentence

with the normal application that something new The predicate is being said about a

“subject” that has already been introduced in an earlier sentence The elements of a

sentence can be expressed clearly by chart and example below:

Sentence

Subject predicate

Auxiliary and operator predication

Eg He had given the girl an apple

1.1.3 Functions of adverbials in sentence

 Adverbial is a part of sentence It can be an adverb phrase, preposition phrase, ornoun phrase They can tell us something about the action in the sentence bymodifying a verb

Eg:

Adverb phrase: You are going very slowly.

We wanted to get back.

Preposition phrase: Cathelin wasn’t at home.

You saw the police car in front of you.

Noun phrase: We wanted to get home.

It happened last week.

 Adverbial modifies different parts in the sentence

Eg The car in front of us was a police car.

You were getting really impatient.

They are going very slowly.

They inspected the car thoroughly.

Then you decided to overtake.

1.2 Clause

1.2.1 Common features

A clause is normally understood as a group of words containing a subject andfinite verb, forming a sentence or part of sentence, and often doing the work of anoun, adjective or adverb

In the traditional view, clauses are sentences that are part of larger sentences That is to say, clauses are seen as the minimal sentences while the term sentence is used for the larger or maximal sentence (Palmer (1994: 11))

To put it in another ways, the “traditional” clause is a component of thesentence Though arbitrary, this conception has indicated what is meant andillustrated a very important characteristic of natural language

Quirk et al (1972: 42) give simple explanation, more structurally andformally biased, of the clause A clause is a unit that can be analyzed in to theelements: S, V, O, C, and A (subject, verb, object, complement and adverb)

Later Leech and Svartvick (1992) modify this conception, proposing thatclauses are the principal structures of which sentence are composed They also putforward three important ways in which clauses may be described and classified

 In terms of clause elements (subject, verb etc.) from which they are constructedand the verb patterns which are formed from the elements

 In terms of the use in which a clause is made by verb phrase structure to helpdistinguish between finite clauses, non-finite clauses, and verbless clauses

 In terms of clause function (the function of a clause performs in a sentence),such as nominal clause, adverbial clause, etc Thus, Later Leech and Svartvick

Quirk et al, the formal and structural view of clauses proves to be clearer andmore precise than the traditional one for it also touches other aspects oflinguistics and serves as a better tool to do linguistic research More concernedwith language function, Halliday (1985: 67) defines clause is a functional unitwith a triple construction of meaning In his explanation, a clause functionssimultaneously

 As the expression of the phenomena of experience

 As the expression of speech function

 As the bearer of message, this is organized in the form of theme plusexposition

In the view of speech function, Halliday’s “clause” has a two-part structureconsisting of modal element and proposional elements

In whichever approach, traditional, structural or functional, there is always awidespread agreement that a clause typically consists of five elements: S, V, O, Cand A In addition, clauses are belong to the three types: adverbial clause, adjectiveclauses and noun clauses An adverbial clause is considered as modifying the verb

of the main clause or sometimes as modifier of the entire sentence The adjectiveclauses modifies a preceding noun or pronoun and a noun clause can function assubject, subjective complement, object of verb, objective of preposition andapposite In this study, we are going to deal with adverbial clause with the features,functions of each kind of them

I quickly shut the door

(Quirk and Greenbaum (1973: 168))

1.2.3 More about clauses

Clauses are classified into two main categories: Independent clauses and

dependent clauses They are also called “main clause” and “subordinate clause”.

An independent clause is a clause “capable of constituting a simple sentence”

(Quirk, Randolph et al (1972: 721)) or “that can start alone as a sentence” (Bửu (1994: 65)) A dependent clause is a clause “which makes up a grammatical

sentence only if subordinate to a further clause” (Quirk, Randolph et al (1972:

721)) or which does not stand on it is own as a sentence (Bửu (1994: 65)) In thetraditional view, there are threes types of dependent clauses, which are named, In

general terms according to their functions in the sentence: adverbial clause,adjective clauses and noun clauses

Later, dependent clauses are also functionally classified, in more specificterms, into subject, direct object, disjunct, conjunct The structures of them are verydiverse Therefore, the analysis will be done in this study

Analyzed by structure type, clauses are of three main classes: finite clause, finite clause, and verbless clause

non-A finite clause is defined as one containing a finite verb while a non-finiteclause containing a non-finite verb is named a non-finite clause The non-finite verb

can be infinitive with “to”, an infinitive without “to”, an –ing participle or an- ed

participle A clause which has no verbal element at all is a verbless clause One ofthe main differences between the finite clause and the other two is that the formeralways contains a subject while there is frequent absence of a subject in the latter.The kind of ellipsis found in non-finite clause and verb- less clause serve stylisticpurposes, especially in the written language

The clause can also be viewed in another perspective, in the light offunctional approach Halliay’s idea (1995: 73) is the typical of this view In his

opinion, “every clause is also structured as a message It consists of two parts: a

Theme, which is the point of departure- what the message is about, and another element that constitutes the body of the message, known as the Rhyme ” and the

Theme usually come first in the message structure when we extend our analysisbeyond the syntactic scope, though only occasionally, The Theme- Rhyme structure

is based on to work out a sound explanation

1.3 Adverbial clauses in English

1.3.1 Definition of Adverbial clauses

According to Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue “An adverbial clause is another type

of dependent clause is introduced by a subordinator It is used to modify the verb of the noun clause, and it answers such questions as Where?, Why?, How?, When?,… etc, for what purpose”.

An adverbial clause begins with a subordinating conjunction, which makes the subordinate (dependent) clause

Common subordinating conjunctions:

After in order (that) Unless

although insofar as Until

as soon as no matter how Where

because provided (that) While

in case (that) Till

Example of adverbial clause answering when?

When will the flowers bloom? Answer: when spring arrives

Example of adverbial clause answering why?

Why didn't the poor woman have money? Answer: because she had lost her

job

Example of adverbial clause answering where?

Where is there fire? Answer: where there is smoke

Example of adverbial clause answering how?

How did he answer the question? Answer: as if he knew the subject quite

well

Example of adverbial clause answering to what degree?

To what degree of lateness will Jones arrive? Answer: (later) than Smith

(will arrive)

Another example of an adverbial clause answering to what degree?

1.3.2 Common features of Adverbial clauses

Adverbial clauses are dependent clauses that function as other adverbials.They can have functions as adverb phrases, preposition phrases, and noun phrases

Eg We could play cards after wards.

We could play cards after the meal.

We could play cards after we’ve eaten

Adverbial clauses usually tell something extra about the action or statedescribed by the rest of the sentence, the time when it happened, the place where ithappened or the manner in which happened

Adverbial clauses usually come before or after a main clause A comma isoften used when the adverbial clause comes first

Eg If you like, we could play cards.

We could play cards if you like.

The order of clauses depends on whether the information it conveys is newand important or not When the information is new and important, it is usually put

at the end of the sentence

Eg I arrived about ten minutes after the start of the meeting.

I was late because Don was telling me his problems Here I was late

related back to ten minutes after the start The information about Don is new

There are non-finite adverbial clauses: - Ing clauses, -Ed clauses, and verblessclauses

Eg Why waiting, Colin paced up and down.

Please wait until told to proceed.

1.3.3 Types of Adverbial clauses

Linguistics have proposed different views about kinds of Adverbial clauses intheir famous grammar books and websites Generally, they are very diverse.Following L.G Alexander, there are ten main kinds of Adverbial clauses: Clauses

of time, clauses of place, clauses of manner, clauses of concession, clauses of

result, clauses of reason, clauses of purpose, clauses of comparison, clauses ofcondition, and abbreviated adverbial clauses

Eg John runs as quickly as Marry does.

10 Abbreviated adverbial clauses

Eg After listening a little, the postmaster got up and said.

CHAPTER 2 ADVERBIAL CLAUSES IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE

EQUIVALENTS

2.1 Functions of adverbial clause in English sentence structures

According to S Greenbaum and R Quirk (1990) “Adverbial clauses

function mainly as adjuncts or disjuncts In those functions they are like Adverbial phrases, but in their potentiality for greater explicitness, they are more often like preposition phrases”.

Adverbial clauses can be identified by asking and answering the questions:when?, where?, How?, why?, etc

When?: Tell him as soon as he arrive (Time)

Where?: You can sit where you like (Place)

How?: He spoke as if he meant business (Manner)

Why?: He went to bed because he felt ill (Reason)

There are some major kinds of Adverbial clauses and each of Adverbialclauses has different functions, so we study detail kinds of Adverbial clauses toknow more clearly about their functions

2.2 Concrete cases of adverbial clauses in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.

This part of the study will focus on common features, functions, concretecases of the ten kinds of English adverbial clauses, as already mentioned in theprevious chapter, and their Vietnamese equivalents

2.2.1 Clauses of time

2.2.1.1 Common features

Adverbial clauses of time are dependent clauses, often introduced by one

(ever), while, now that, as long as, immediately (that), directly (that) We

generally use a comma when an adverbial clauses come first

Eg: You did not look very well when you got up this morning.

After she got married, Madeleine changed completely.

You can keep these records as long as you like.

Once you’ve seen one penguin, you’ve seen them all.

2.2.1.2 Functions

An adverbial clause of time tells us when the action described by the mainverb took place

Eg: Her father died when she was young.

He has not stopped complaining since he got back from his holidays.

2.2.1.3 Some Concrete cases of adverbial clauses of time in English and

their Vietnamese equivalents.

Adverbial clauses of time are introduced by concrete main subordinators

Rồi khi mây tan, trời mưa ra cá (N Tâm, 7)

When the judge said that an interview with his highness was being arranged,

she agreed (G Balwnt, 34)

Khi thẩm phán nói rằng người ta đang thu xếp một cuộc tiếp kiến hoàng tử, thì

bà đồng ý (N Tâm, 35)

I watched her when she was not looking (M K Prabhat, 42) Tôi quan sát cô ấy lúc cô ấy không nhìn tôi (N Tâm, 43)

When she finished, I was silent with astonishment (M K Prabhat, 64)

Adverbial clauses of time with subordinator: “when” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents: (rồi khi…, khi…, lúc…, khi…thì, khi xong.)

nhiên môt cách lạ kỳ (N Tâm, 15)

He gets up late once he has so many things to do (H.V Bửu, 78)

Anh ấy thường thức đậy muộn một khi anh ấy có quá nhiều việc để làm.

We can go some Saturday after Maggie’s office closes (M K Prabhat, 66) Chúng tôi có thể đi vào thứ 7 nào đó sau khi Maggi tan sở.

Adverbial clauses of time are with subordinator: “after” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents: (sau khi…)

As soon as he came back, I will be granted an interview (M K Prabhat, 38)

Assuming her that all their troubles would end as soon as he got his chance to

go to London (M K Prabhat, 36)

Anh an ủi bà mẹ rằng tất cả nçi cực nhọc của họ sẽ chấm rứt ngay khi anh có

cơ hội đi Luân §ôn (N Tâm, 37)

2.2.2 Clauses of place

2.2.2.1 Common features

Adverbial clauses of place are dependent clauses, introduced by subordinators:

Where, wherever, anywhere, everywhere.

Eg The church was built where there had once been a Roman temple.

They went wherever they could find work.

With a special train ticket, you can travel everywhere/ anywhere you like.

2.2.2.2 Functions

Adverbial clauses of place tell where the action described by the main verbtook place

Eg Most people prefer to shop where they can be sure of quality.

Consumers usually prefer to do business wherever credit cards are accepted.

2.2.2.3 Some concrete cases of adverbial clauses of place in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.

Adverbial clauses of place are introduced by concrete main subordinators

He would come to where she gave him the first view (H.V Bửu, 77)

Anh ấy sẽ trở về nơi mà lần đầu anh gặp cô ấy

I will go where you tell me (H.V Bửu, 77) Tôi sẽ đến nơi nào anh bảo tôi

Adverbial clauses of place with subordinator: “where” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents: (nơi mà…, nơi nào…, một nơi…, ở chç…)

Adverbial clauses of place with subordinator” wherever” in English and their Vietnamese equivalents: ( ở chç nào…, bất cứ chç nào…).

2.2.3.Clauses of manner

2.2.3.1 Common features

Adverbial clauses of manner are dependent clauses, introduced by

subordinators: “As”, “in the way that” They normally come after the main

clause

Eg Type this again as I showed you moment ago.

This steak is cooked in the way that I like it.

Adverbial clauses of manner also express comparison when they are

introduced by expression: like, (in) the way, (in) the same way,( in) the same

way as.

Eg She is behaving in the same way her elder sister used to.

Adverbial clauses of manner can also be introduced by the

Conjunctions As if, as though after the verbs: be, act, appear, behave, feel, look,

seem, smell, sound

Eg I feel as if / as though I am floating on air.

It sounds as if/ as though the situation will get worse.

“As though” and “as if” can be used after any verbs describing behavior

Eg She acts as if she were mad.

Lillian was trembling as if she had seen a ghost.

2.2.3.2 Functions

Adverbial clauses of manner are dependent clauses, used to talk aboutsomeone’s behavior or the way something is done

Eg I was never allowed to do things the way I wanted to do them.

I feel as if/ as though I am floating on the air.

2.2.3.3 Some concrete cases of adverbial clauses of manner in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.

Adverbial clauses of manner are introduced by concrete main subordinators

 As:

Each time he lifted a foot the action culminated in sucking sound as the wet

most reluctantly released it’s grip (J LonDon, 11)

Mỗi khi bàn chân nhấc lên thì một tiếng phọt lại phát ra tưạ như lớp rêu sũng

nước đã miễn cưỡng buông chân ra (Đ Lê, 12)

I shall do as you suggest (O Henry, 72) Tôi sẽ làm như cô gợi ý (Đ Lê, 73)

Adverbial clauses of manner with subordinator: “as” in English and their vietnammese equivalents: (tựa như…, làm như…, như…)

As if I was some absent-minded professor of philosophy who, engross in the

contemplation of my stories of life, had forgotten the existence of the fancyumbrella in his hand (M K Prabhat, 12)

Tôi cứ như thể một giáo sư triết học đảng chí vì đang mãi suy nghĩ về những

bí ẩn của cuộc đời, mà quên khuấy mất rằng mình đang cầm một chíêc ô loại

hảo hạng (N T©m, 13)

He spoke as if he had known what he was talking about. (H.V Bửu, 81)

Nó nói như là nó biết vấn đề nó nói (H.V Bửu, 81)

Adverbial clauses of manner with subordinator: “as if” in English and their vietnammese equivalents: (cứ như thể …mà…, như là…)

The man stood till for fully a minute as though debating with himself, he

called out (J LonDon, 8)

Anh đứng yên đến chọn một phút tựa như đang tranh luận với bản thân rồi goị

to (§ Lª, 9)

He dropped it as though it had given him an electric shock.