Update: 2019-04-27 07:24 PM -0400

English Grammar in Plain Language

ch01.htm

by U Kyaw Tun (UKT), M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.), and staff of TIL (Tun Institute of Learning).
Based on Barron’s Educational Series, Grammar In Plain English, by Diamond, H. and Dutwin, P., Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., Woodbury, New York. Copyright 1977. Not for sale. No copyright. Free for everyone. Prepared for students and staff of TIL Research Station, Yangon, MYANMAR :
http://www.tuninst.net , www.romabama.blogspot.com

English Grammar in Plain Language

The Simplest Complete Thought

We can make some sense of a complete sentence even though we may not know the meaning of the words which make up the sentence. Thus, when Lewis Carrol wrote " Jabberwocky" the most famous nonsense poem ever written, it could still be read and "understood" at various levels of understanding.

01. What You’ve Always Known: Syntax

p001. Let’s take a sentence {wa-kya.} that would have pleased Lewis Carrol:

What you read is <script> {sa}. It represents <speech> {sa.ka:} . Never trust what you "hear" for it depends on your ears - "hearing".

Thus we can say, {ré: tau. a.mhûn} {prau: tau. a. þän}.

In BEPS, every speech is written in a particular script. Thus, Burmese speech is written in Myanmar script. English speech is written in Latin script, Pali in Myanmar, and Sanskrit in Devanagari.

When we write English-Latin we use <comma> and <full-stop> as punctuation {poad} marks. Similarly when we write Bur-Myan we use {poad-hprût} and {poad-ma.}. However when we speak, we pause (short pause & long pause) now and then to indicate the phrase and sentence.

The Burmese word {þæÑ} had been a puzzle for me. In the above, it is a sentence ending. However, it has been described as a post-positional marker . It is easily confused with particle. See - ch002.htm and proceed to particle .

Note that the above sentence tells us what the <dog> is doing. And therefore, {þæÑ} is the post-positional marker for a predicate.

Remember Burmese and English are two separate languages. Their syntaxes are different. Their word-orders are different.

Then a logical question arises. What about the sign languages used in various parts of the world? The sign language is a language in its own right. It has syntax. Note that the sign language is not what we understand by the "body-language".

02. Recognizing Complete and Incomplete Thoughts

p005. A complete sentence conveys a complete thought. And therefore incomplete sentences and thoughts are very recognizable. Incomplete sentences can be described simply as phrases. See my note in ch002.htm (link chk 160923) and proceed to • phrase

Illustration 1. p005. A sentence which begins with words such as when, after, because, as soon as, before, or since needs to have a completing thought.

* When you arrive at work.

* Because you are dutiful.

04. Action Words: Special Problems

The Burmese word {þæÑ} had been a puzzle for me. In the above, it is a sentence ending. However, it has been described as a post-positional marker . It is easily confused with particle.
See - ch002.htm and proceed to particle .

p005. A complete sentence conveys a complete thought. And therefore incomplete sentences and thoughts are very recognizable. Incomplete sentences can be described simply as phrases.
See my note in ch002.htm (link chk 160923)
and proceed to • phrase

Illustration 1.
p005. A sentence which begins with words such as when, after, because, as soon as, before, or since needs to have a completing thought.