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Chapter I: INTRODUCTION

I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 2

1. Rationale ....................................................................................................... 2

2. The significance of the study ........................................................................ 4

3. The scope of the study ................................................................................... 4

II THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING ......................................................... 4

1. The theoritorical and factual basic of the study ............................................ 4

2. Research procedures ................................................................................... 11

Chapter II: CONTENT

I. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ....................................................... 12

II.THE SOLUTION OF THE STUDY ............................................................ 12

1. The novelty of the study ............................................................................................ 12

2. The applied solutions of the study ...................................................................... 18

3. The effectiveness of the study ............................................................................... 27

Chapter III: CONCLUSION

1. Some implications for language teaching and learning .............................. 29

2. The development of the study ..................................................................... 29

3. Suggestions .................................................................................................. 30

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 31

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Chapter I: INTRODUCTION

I. BACKGROUND

1. Rationale

Nobody seems to know exactly what to do with adverbials. Many linguists and

grammarians mention adverbials as a likely picture.

Quirk et al, who are typical authors in this discussing field, state that:

“Adverbials may be integrated to some extent into the structure of the clause or they

may be peripheral to it. If integrated, they are termed ADJUNCTS. If peripheral, they

are termed DISJUNCTS and CONJUNCTS, the distinction between the two being

that conjuncts have primarily a connective function. “

[A university of English grammar, p207-208]

Furthermore, Quirk and Greenbaun mentioned to the adverbial element that is a

part of the sentence structure. They wrote ‘A sentence may alternatively be seen as

comprising five units called ELEMENTS of sentence structure: SUBJECT, VERB,

COMPLEMENT, OBJECT, ADVERBIAL, here abbreviated as S, V, C, O, A ’

Tran Huu Manh , in his book “ Ngôn Ngữ Học Đối chiếu : Cú pháp Tiếng Anh –

Tiếng Việt”, produce a clear evidence about the similarities of seven basic sentence

patterns including five elements S,V,O,C,A in English and Vietnamese, as presented

below:

English Vietnamese

1. S + V

The sun [S] is shining [V] Mặt trời [S] đang chiếu sáng[V]

2. S + V + O

The lecture [S] interested [V] me [O] Bài giảng [O] cuốn hút [V] tôi [O]

3. S + V + C

Your dinner[S] seems [V] ready [C] Buổi chiều của anh [S] hình như [S] đã

sẵn sàng rồi [C]

4. S + V + A

My office [S] is [ V] in the next

building [A]

Phòng làm việc của tôi[S] ở [V] trong

toà nhà bên cạnh [A]

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5. S + V + O + O

I [S] must send[V] my parents[O] a

card [O]

Tôi[S] phải gởi[V] bố mẹ tôi [O] một

bưu ảnh [O]

6. S + V + O + C

Most students [S] have found[V] her

[O] reasonable helpful [C]

Đa số sinh viên [S] đã thấy [V]bà giáo

[O] hỗ trợ rất hợp lý [C]

7. S + V + O + A

You [S] can put [V] the dish [O] on

the shelf [A]

Bạn [ S ] có thể để [V] cái đĩa đó [O]

trên giá [A]

Of all above sentence elements, only Subject and Verb are obligatory. Some

sentence clauses do not require Complement, Object and Adverbial. However, the

adverbial element is more flexible than the others, in that it can

- be composed of more forms

- fulfill more functions

- appear in more clause or sentence positions than the others

- be either optional or obligatory

- be put many adverbials in the same sentence, for the following example

Next Tuesday [A1], I shall probably [A2] visit her mother in London [A3] for an hour

or so [A4] to see if she‘s feeling better [A5], unless she telephones me before that

[A6], [A student’s .. p 158]

It is obvious that adverbial plays an important role in sentence elements.

Adverbial appears various points in sentence structures, which makes learners of

English confuse when using adverbial in educated speech and writing in particular.

Being aware of high school students’ difficulties in mastering and using adverbial,

I aim to help my students understand more and know for effective use of about

adverbials in English and Vietnamese sentence structure - that is why I choose my

research is

“A contrastive analysis of adjunct elements in English and Vietnamese

sentence structure”

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2 The significance of the study

The study will be a helpful contribution to Vietnamese learners of English in

mastering the syntactic and semantic features of adjunct adverbials in English and

Vietnamese sentence structure.

Through the paper, learners will able to enhance their competence to precisely use

the sentence patterns having adjunct adverbials in both languages to get success in

communication and in further study.

3 The scope of the study

As can be known, adverbials can be divided into two classes.Those that are

integrated to some extent are termed ADJUNCTS. Those that are peripheral to

clause structure are subdivided into DISJUNCTS or CONJUNCTS.

Adverbials

Integrated peripheral

in clause structure in clause structure

primarily primarily

non -connective connective

ADJUNCTS

DISJUNCTS CONJUNCTS

However, because of the time and the ability of our own, we would like to focus

on one element of basic clause structure that is adjunct.

II. THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING

1. Theoretical and factual basis of the study

An awareness of the adjunct elements in English and Vietnamese sentence

structure is important for language teaching and learning. The study presents the

syntactic and semantic features of adjuncts in English and Vietnamese as an attempt

to bring learners to comprehend more adjucts. Through this study, learners of English

will draw a distinction of the similarities and differences of English adjunct elements

and Vietnamese ones that they can get a better of using adjuncts in language learning.

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In my research, we base on the viewpoint of schoolbook grammar. Typically,

Quirk et al and Điệp Quang Ban‘s grammar books have been being taught for

Vietnamese learners for many years now.

1.1 What is an adjunct?

“An adjunct is a part of the basic structure of the clause or sentence in which it

occurs, and modifies the verb. Adverbs of time, place, frequency, degree, and

manner, are examples of adjuncts” [by Jack C. Richards et al –p8]

Adjuncts operate at sentence level as other sentence elements, as in the example

below:

Lorna ate breakfast yesterday morning.

S V O A

1.2 Adjunct and adverbial complement

Adjunct (i.e. optional adverbial) is a part of the core meaning of the sentence, but

if omitted still leave a meaningful sentence.

Example: The old man was eating in the restaurant. (Adjunct)

"In the restaurant" acts as an adverb since it describes where the old man was

eating, but the sentence would be a complete sentence even without it.

An adverbial complement (i.e. Obligatory adverbial) is a sentence element, which

conveys the same information as an adverb but which is necessary to the sentence.

Example: The old man was in the restaurant.(Adverbial complement)

"In the restaurant" acts as an adverb here and it is an adverbial complement

because without it the sentence would not be complete

1.3 The semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in English and Vietnamese

sentence structure

1.3.1 The semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in English

(a) The semantic features of adjuncts

Grammars traditionally classify adjuncts on the basis of meaning – as adjuncts

of place, time, reason, and so on. Because this classification is based on meaning

rather than grammatical form, it is inevitably open-ended and the boundaries between

the different kinds are often quite fuzzy. There isn't really an answer to questions

about exactly how many kinds of adjunct there are.

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In the following examples,we illustrate a number of the most frequent and obvious

categories:

MANNER He drove quite recklessly.

PLACE They have breakfast in bed.

TIME I saw her last week.

DURATION We lived in London for five Years.

FREQUENCY She telephones her mother every Sunday.

DEGREE We very much enjoyed your last novel.

PURPOSE I checked all the doors to make sure they were shut.

RESULT It rained all day, with the result that they couldn 't work.

CONDITION If it rains ,the match will be postponed.

CONCESSION Although he 's rich, he lives very simply.

As noted above, Adjuncts express the ideational circumstances surrounding the

process, specifying the manner, means, reason, time, place, duration or frequency.

(b) The syntactic features of adjuncts

In English, adjunct adverbials most commonly take the form of adverbs,

adverb phrases, temporal noun phrases or prepositional phrases. Many types of

adjunct adverbials (for instance reason and condition) are often expressed by clauses.

Adjunct adverbial functions are realized by:

b.1. Adverbs /adverb phrases :

We'll stay there.

Mary danced very gracefully.

b.2. Noun phrases : Peter was playing last week.

b.3. Prepositional phrases: I could hear people talking in the living room.

b.4. Adverbial Clauses

+ Finite verb clauses:

Peter was playing although he was very tired.

+ Non-finite verb clauses, in which the verb is

an infinitive: Peter was playing to win.

-ing participle: Wishing to encourage him, they praised Tom.

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-ed participle: if urged by our friends, we'll stay.

Verbless clauses: While in London, we'll stay at a hotel.

(c) Classification of adjuncts

From what mentioned above, adjuncts classified by their semantic features and

they fall into five broad categories of meaning, as determined by the kind of adverb

question they answer. The five adverb questions are when, where, why, how,and to

what extent / degree.

Adverb question adverb category

When: Adverbs of time Where: Adverbs of place

Why: Adverbs of reason How: Adverbs of manner

To what extent/ degree: Adverb of degree

When? Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time fall into three groups: point in time, frequency, and duration.

Adverbs of Time

point in time frequency duration.

There are three time-word questions. When is used (ambiguously) for either point-in-

time or frequency adverbs. How often is used for frequency adverbs. How long is

used for duration adverbs. For example:

Point in time: When were you there?

I was there Just last week.

Frequency: How often do you go there?

I go there about once a week.

Duration: How long are you staying there?

I am staying here until I get the job finished.

Where? Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of Place

position. Direction

Adverbs of place have two different meanings. One meaning is position.

The other meaning is direction -that is, to some place. The question word

where is (ambiguously) used for both meanings. For example:

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Position: Where were you?

I was at the office.

Direction: Where did you go (to)?

I went back home

WHY? Adverbs of Reason

Adverbs of Reason

Cause purpose

Adverbs of reason also have two different meanings. One meaning is cause;

the other meaning is purpose . To see the difference between the two meanings,

compare the following sentences:

Why did they do it?

Cause: They did it because they had to.

Purpose: They did it in order to make some extra money.

HOW ? Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of Manner

instrument style

Adverbs of manner also have two different meanings. One meaning is

instrument; the other meaning is style. To see the difference between the

two meanings, compare the adverb prepositional phrases in the following

sentences:

How did he open it?

Instrument: He opened the door with a key.

Style: He opened the door with a big smile.

TO WHAT EXTENT / DEGREE? Adverb of degree

Adverb of degree

Intensifiers downtoners

Adverbs that alter the tone or force of an adjective or adverb are called degree

adverbs. Degree adverbs are generally divided into two categories, intensifiers and

downtoners.

Intensifiers are adverbs such as very or extremely, which strengthen or intensify

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the meaning of adjectives or another adverb. Intensifiers normally precede the

adjective or adverb they are modifying.

Jan writes extremely well.

Jan is very busy.

Downtoners are adverbs, which decrease or lessen the tone of adjectives or another

adverb. Like intensifiers, downtoners normally precede the adjective or adverb they

are modifying.

Hannah read the book fairly quickly.

The ending is somewhat sad.

1.3.2 The semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in Vietnamese

(a) The Semantic features of adjuncts

In Vietnamese, according to Điệp Quang Ban’s grammar book “Ngữ Pháp Việt

Nam”, the author state that adverbials integrated to some extent within the structure

of the sentence are ADJUNCTS. To consider adjuncts from semantic features,

adjuncts express information about circumstances of process; they convey

information about such matters as place, time, manner, reason, condition, etc.

The following are the examples given as adjuncts in his book.

Circumstances

Time a. Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá.

b.Tị, hôm qua, đi câu cá.

c. Đã hai ngày rồi, nó không ăn

Place d. Ngoài sân ,hai con mèo đang vờn nhau.

Direction e. Ra bến xe, bác đi lối này ạ.

Reason f.Vì mưa , họ đến muộn.

Condition g. Nếu mưa, thì tôi sẽ không đến.

Concession h.Tuy mưa , họ vẫn đến đông đủ.

Purpose i. Muốn thi đỗ, thì phải học tập tốt.

k.Để thi đỗ, thì phải học tập tốt.

Manner k.Rón nén và hồi hộp, cậu bé tiến lại gần con chuồn chuồn.

Mean l.Với món tiền này, anh có thể mua được một chiếc xe tốt.

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(b) The syntactic features of adjuncts

As shown above, adjuncts are realized include not merely prepositional phrases

[d, f, g, h, k, m] but selected nominal ones as well, e.g. [a, b] .They may also be

realized by clauses, as the flowing examples

n. Vì trời mưa, họ không đến. (reason)

m. Tôi đến anh ngay nếu trời tạnh mưa. (condition)

According to the author, the forms of adjuncts in Vietnamese are realized by

- A word: [a, b, d, f, g, h]

- Principle and accessory phrases [c, e, i]

- Coordinated phrase [l]

- Prepositional phrases [d, f, g, h, k, m]

- Adverbial Clauses [n,m]

(c) Classification of adjuncts

Basing on the semantic representation of adjuncts, Nguyễn Minh Thuyết and

Nguyễn văn Hiệp, in their book “Thành Phần Câu Tiếng Việt”, state that adjuncts fall

in to the typical categories below :

Adverb of time

Lúc nào cũng vậy, sự giận dữ làm người ta mù quáng.

Adverb of place, space

Trong lòng hắn, những nỗi niềm không rõ riệt cũng rối bời.

Adverb of reason

Thị không thể sợ hắn có thể phậm đến thị bởi cái lẽ rất giản dị là thị là Thị chưa thấy

ai phạm đến Thị bao giờ.

Adverb of purpose

Dũng phải đưa ít tiền đến giúp Thái để Thái có cách trốn đi nơi khác xa,đợi dịp đi

ngoại quốc lần nữa.

Adverb of manner

Mặc dù biết vậy họ vẫn bình thản ra đi.

Adverb of definite

Qua câu chuyện , tôi có nhận xét cái tính lão hệt bọn đồ Cóc đã dốt lại hay khoe chữ.

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Adverb of the agent of action (agentive)

Chùa xây từ thời cách đây một nghìn sáu trăm năm bởi một nhà sư Ấn Độ

2. Research Procedures

The research work is carried out with the following steps:

- Step one presents the rationale for the research, the general purpose of the

study, the significance, the scope of the study.

- Step two is concerned with the theoretical and factual background of the

study, with a discussion of the characteristics adjuncts in English and

Vietnamese.

- Step three concentrates on the contrast and analysis of the semantic and

syntactic features of adjuncts in both languages in order to draw out their

similarities and differences.

- Chapter four summaries the results of the study and give implications for

language learning and teaching

Time is planned and procedure is estimated to finish this paper according to the

general scheme within academic year 2012 – 2013

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Chapter II: CONTENT

I. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

By the end of the study, it is expected to result in:

- An investigation into the semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in

English and Vietnamese.

- A contrastive analysis of the similarities and differences adjuncts in both

languages.

- Some solutions to all problems presented to solve the difficulties that learners

face when using adjuncts.

- A helpful reference to teacher of language.

II. THE SOLUTION OF THE STUDY

1. The Novelty of the study

The study has carried out an investigation into the linguistics of adjuncts in

English and Vietnamese. From the results of the semantic and syntactic features of

adjuncts discussed above, we can see that the novelty of the study is denoted as

follows:

Firstly, we can recognize adjuncts in sentence structure in English and Vietnamese

basing on the syntactic and semantics features of adjuncts.

In English

Recognizing adjuncts by their syntactic characteristics

a) as an adverb

The majority of adverbs are formed by adding to –ly to an adjective, as shown in the

following example:

Adjective (dangerous)Adverb (dangerously)

b) as a noun phrase (marked by adverb of time, place)

Monday, this year, last month, two hours, home, upstairs

c) as a prepositional phrase (marked by prepositions before the phrases)

In ten day, for decade, in the park, on Tuesday, for no reason, with enthusiasm

d) as a clause (marked by adverbial clauses)

When I arrived, while you are away, after they came back, since you moved

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Recognizing adjuncts by their semantic functions

Adjuncts express the ideational circumstances surrounding the process,

specifying the manner, means, reason, time, place, duration or frequency. As such

they are susceptible to questions beginning 'How?' (in what way, in what manner, by

what means),'Why?', 'When?', 'Where?', 'For how long?', 'How often?', 'In what

circumstances?', 'In spite of what circumstances?'.

When? time

They are coming tomorrow / this evening.

They'll be away until Tuesday.

How often? frequency/quantity

They go there twice a year.

They've been there an awful lot / six times.

Where? place (location + source, route, destination)

Here it is.

Jane is going from London / via Dover / to Paris.

Why? reason/cause

The match was abandoned because of the rain.

The children jumped for joy.

How? manner

That blackbird sings beautifully.

He welcomed the news with enormous pleasure.

In what way? means

We travelled by train / on the underground.

She reached the standard through hard work.

In what circumstance? circumstance

With the disappearance of his team-mate, he had no real chance.

In Vietnamese

Recognizing adjuncts by their syntactic characteristics

a) as a prepositional phrase (marked by prepositions before the phrases)

Ở ngoài ngõ, mẹ con chị Chuột vừa kêu vừa khóc, vừa van lạy. (Nam Cao)

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b) as a noun phrase (marked by adverb of time)

Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá.

c) as an adverbial clause

Tôi đến anh ngay, nếu trời tạnh mưa.

Recognizing adjuncts by their semantic functions

Basing the semantic representation of adjuncts, we can identify adjuncts in the

sentence structure through circumstances of the events or states that adjuncts deal

with as matters of time, manner, place, reason, purpose, etc. Semantically, adjuncts

establish circumstances for the nuclear of a sentence, which can be recognized by

four categories, as follow:

(i) Manner, means

Họ làm việc rất vui vẻ

Tị mở cửa bằng chìa khoá riêng.

(ii) Time : point in time, duration , frequency

Họ đến đây lúc 5 giờ chiều.

Họ học ở đại học bốn năm.

Nghỉ hè, Tị đi bơi thường xuyên.

(iii) Space : position ,direction

Con mèo ngủ ở thềm nhà

Xe chạy về hướng thành phố.

(iv) Reason, purpose, condition, concessive, result

Họ đến muộn vì mưa

Bạn ấy thông minh và chăm học nên đã đỗ cao.

Tôi đến sau nếu hôm nay về muộn.

Bạn ấy ra sân bay để đón bạn.

Secondly, basing on syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese

Adjuncts, We can find some similarities and differences of adjuncts in English and

Vietnamese sentence structure. This helps students know to use Adjuncts better in

detailed situations.

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Similarities

1. On syntactic aspect, both English and Vietnamese adjuncts are viewed as an

optional part of a clause; they can be omitted without changing the grammatical

structure of the clause.

In English

Paul plays tennis.

Paul pays tennis every week.

In Vietnamese

Họ làm việc.

Họ làm việc rất vui vẻ.

It is obvious that when adjuncts are left out in the examples above, there is no change

in syntactic structures of the sentences in English and in Vietnamese in comparison with

their original sentences.

2. On semantic aspect, both English and Vietnamese adjuncts realized thanks to

their semantic functions denoting the ideational circumstances, as some examples

shown below:

TIME I saw her last week. (English)

Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá. (Vietnamese)

PURPOSE I checked all the doors to make sure they were shut. (English)

Bạn ấy ra sân bay để đón bạn. (Vietnamese)

3. Both English and Vietnamese Adjuncts are realized by a word, a noun phrase, a

prepositional phrase and a clause. As shown in the follwing below:

Syntactic realizations of adjuncts in English and Vietnamese

Functions English Vietnamese

Adverb It’s raining hard. Cô bé hát hay.

Adverb

phrase

Paul pays tennis every week.

Họ làm việc rất vui vẻ.

Noun phrase They arrived yesterday. Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá

Prepositional

phrase

He looked at her with a hurt

expression.

Vì mưa , họ đến muộn

Clause Although he’s rich, he lives

very simply.

Tôi đến anh ngay nếu trời

tạnh mưa.

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4. On the ground of position, we can easily find out that Adjuncts in both

languages can be flexible with their positions in a clause: front, mid and end position.

As illustrated in the examples below.

In Vietnamese

Dưới bóng tre xanh, đã lâu đời, người dân cày Việt Nam dựng nhà, dựng cửa, vỡ ruộng

khai hoang.

Người dân cày Việt Nam dựng nhà, dựng cửa, vỡ ruộng khai hoang , dưới bóng tre

xanh, đã lâu đời .

In English

Recently they had an accident.

They recently had an accident.

They had an accident recently.

5. Most adjuncts realized by a prepositional phrase or an adverbial clause in both

English and Vietnamese clause, whose positions are mostly initial and final ones.

+ English

Peter was playing with great skill.

Peter was playing well, although he was very tired.

+ Vietnamese

Bằng lời nói đánh lừa ý nghĩ trong lòng mình của một anh nhà quê, lại làm cho

một cô gái sành sỏi của Hà Nội cảm động.

Tôi đến anh ngay nếu trời tạnh mưa.

6. The positions of adjuncts in the translation equivalent both languages, English

and Vietnamese, are mostly similar.

He drives the car carefully. (Anh ta lái xe cẩn thận.)

I have never been to India. (Tôi chưa bao giờ đến Ấn Độ)

In general, studying all the examples mentioned above from a contrastive view,

we can see that there is almost no syntactic difference between the English and

Vietnamese Adjuncts. Semantically, adjuncts have been classified by the distinct

semantic functions of each langauge. However, besides the similarities mentioned

above, some differences will be concerned below.

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Differences

In English, most adverbs are formed from adjectives by addition of ending ‘ly’ to

as quickly, interestingly, beautifully, and so forth.

Here are the most commonly used adverbs (note that not one of the very high

frequency adverb is derived from an adjective by adding –ly):only, then, now, also,

even, just, here, there, still, never, well, again, so, there, away, once, often, over, too,

almost…

One of the fundamental identifying features of modifying adverbs is that they are

by definition optional elements. That is, adverbs can always be deleted without

affecting the grammaticality of the sentence. For example, consider the following

sentence:

We had dinner then.

The adverb then can be deleted without making the rest of the sentence

ungrammatical:

We had dinner then.

Adjuncts in Vietnamese, however, there is no morphological difference between

adverbs and adjectives. Study two examples below:

Cô bé hát rất hay. (Manner Adverbs)

Cô bé có giọng hát rất hay. (Adjectival complement)

Therefore, it is very difficult even for Vietnamese lerners to identify whether

rất hay is adjectival or adverbial in two sentences above. In this case, basing on the

characteristics of adjuncts as presented above, we can identify rất hay in the first

sentence is an adverb because it can be left out without changing the grammatical

structure of the clause. Whereas, rất hay in the second one is an adjectival

complement because if it is omitted, the sentence structure is ungrammatical.

On the whole, the differences and similarities between English and Vietnamese

adjuncts which we have pointed out above are of course not complete enough. The

stauy , to some extent, is useful to identify and clarify one of the most heterogeneous

classes in both languages.

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2. Applied Solutions of the Study

The aim of the study is to help high school learners solve the difficulties that they

encounter when using adjuncts in textbooks Tiếng Anh 10, 11, 12 by Hoàng Văn Vân

et al & Tứ Anh et al, Education Press.

The following are the difficulties that they often encouter and solutions to these

problems.

2.1 Misuse of adjectives for adverbs

As discussed above, most English adverbs end “ly”. There are, however, some

adjectives, such as fast, hard, high, late, and low, that have identical adverb form.

He is a fast worker. (fast is an adjective modifying the noun worker)

He works fast. (fast is an adverb modifying the verb work)

Note that addition of 'ly’ sometimes forms adjectives, not adverbs .Although

the addition of ·ly usually forms an adverb from an adjective, it does not invariably do

so. In particular, there are some adjectives that are formed from nouns in this way ;

examples are given below

Noun beast coward death father friend prince woman

Adjective beastly cowardly deathly fatherly friendly princely womanly

It is clear that despite the ‘ly’ ending the words in the table above are

adjectives, not adverbs.They can function attributively and predicatively, but do not

modify verbs, as illustrated below with friendly

ATTRIBUTIVE USE PREDICATIVE USE MODIFYING VERB

a friendly old man He seems quite friendly *He behaved friendly

2.2 Adverb of frequency (Tiếng Anh 10)

Adverb of frequency usually occurs at the end of a sentence to express a specific

or a general sense of frequency. However, Adverb of frequency may also occur

initially if it is in focus. As shown in the following examples.

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Specific frequency General frequency Emphasis

Bod does his laundry

once a week.

I brush my teeth

every day.

Helen does the dishes once

in a whole.

You should write your

parents every now and then.

Once a week Bod does his

laundry.

Every now and then You

should write your parents.

In contrast to these adverbs of specific or general frequency, English also has a class

of preverbal adverbs of frequency that tend to occur most in the middle of a sentence.

John never writes his parents.

Mary is always late for class.

The position of adverbs of frequency is complicated but predictable. Teachers,

however, should give general rules to help students avoid common problems of the

misplacement of adverbs.

Subject + adverb + predicative

This rule accounts for all indicative and imperative sentences with preverbal

adverb that do not have auxiliary verb.

Gerald seldom goes to church.

Never talk with your mouth full.

The rule also accounts for all cases when the sentence contains an operator (i.e., an

auxiliary / copula be); that is, adverb comes either after the first auxiliary or after

copular be.

I can usually do my shopping on Sunday.

Mary is always late for class.

Preverbal adverbs of frequency, however, typically come before operators in case

of emphasizing operators or in reduced sentences.

You never are ready on time!

I never have met the president!

A: Is Mr. Franks strict?

B: Yes, he often is. (Yes, he is often strict.)

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Notice that when negative preverbal adverbs of frequency (i.e., never, seldom,

rarely, scarcely ever, hardly ever) placed in front position for stylistic reasons, it is

necessary to invert the subject and the operator.

We have seldom seen such a sight.

Seldom have we seen such a sight.

The following are errors that learners have dificulty in using ‘Statements and

questions with ever’

Learners difficulties : Statements and questions with ever

-Scarcely ever or hardly ever functions as preverbal adverbs of frequency.

John has scarcely ever / hardly ever gone to bed after midnight.

John has scarcely / hardly gone to bed after midnight. (Ungrammatical)

-Yes/ no questions with EVER that ask about specific experiences tend to elicit

specific responses. Against, responses with preverbal adverb of frequency are too

vague:

A: Have you ever been to Acapulco?

B: Yes, for one week back in 1971.

(?) Yes, I sometimes/ usually go there.

-That is to say, yes / no questions with ever that ask about the frequency of

habitual actions readily elicit responses with a preverbal adverb of frequency.

A: Do you ever study in the library?

B: I always/ usually/ often/ sometimes/ rarely/ never do.

2.3 Common problems of the misplacement of adverbs.

Placement of adverbs can also change meaning in sentences. Often, misplacing

an adverb not only alters the intended meaning, but also creates a sentence whose

meaning is highly unlikely or completely ridiculous.

This sentence, for example, suggests that we brought a lunch slowly:

We ate the lunch that we have brought slowly.

To repair the meaning, shift the adverb slowly so that it is near ate.

We slowly ate the lunch that we have brought.

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Therefore, the teachers should give a general rule to help learners avoid

committing errors above. A simple rule to remember, as follow:

RULE OF PROXIMITY

(We must place adverbs as close as possible to the words / phrases that they modify)

Some common one-word modifiers that are quite often misplaced are almost,

only, just, even, nearly, and merely.

2.4. Adjuncts that are adverbial clauses (Tiếng Anh 10, 11, 12)

a. Finite adverbial clauses

There are many types of adverbial clauses, but they all have something in

common: They tell us something about the information in the main clause.The type or

category of an adverbial clause is determined by its subordinator. For example, the

subordinators after and when introduce adverbial time clauses.

Finite adverbial clauses generally require a subordinator and can be used to express

clearly a great variety of semantic relationships, including time, contrast, place, cause,

result, purpose, condition, and manner. As can be seen in the following examples:

Adverbial clause types

Types Subordinators Examples

TIME before after until

while when since as

After we left, the town changed.

CONTRAST

Although even though

though

while whereas

inasmuch as

Although Jack studied, he didn’t

pass the test.

PLACE where Many people prefer to live where

the climate is warm.

CAUSE

Because since as

Whereas

inasmuch as

They came late because the traffic

was bad.

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RESULT such. . . that

so. . . that

There are so many cars on the road

that the traffic is always bad.

PURPOSE so that She majored in business so that she

could get a good job.

CONDITIONAL

If unless If I were rich, I would travel around

the world.

MANNER As as if as though Melissa petted the wolf cub as

though it were a puppy.

Learners difficulties: subordinators with multiple meanings

Three of the most common subordinators are items that can express more than one

semantic relationship:

As can be used for manner, reason, time

Since can express reason, time

While can express concession/contrast, time

b. Nonfinite adverbial clauses

In addition to the finite clauses above, nonfinite clauses can also function as adjuncts.

o To – infinitive clause: to verb …

The country is working hard to increase food production. (Clause of Purpose)

o ING clause : Verb-ing

Being a teacher, I believe in higher standards of education. (Clause of reason and

cause)

o Past participle clause: Verb-ed

Considered as a whole, it was not a happy marriage.

b.1 Reduced Adverbial Clauses

Reduced adverbial clauses are adverbial clauses that no longer have a full verb

phrase. Adverbial clauses can be reduced from clauses to phrases in case the subject

of the adverbial clause and the subject of the main clause must be identical. If there is

a different subject for each clause, then the adverbial clause cannot be reduced.

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- ING clause : Subordinators + verb-ing

After leaving school, she worked in an insurance office.

(= ‘After she left school…’)

- Past participle clause : Subordinators + (adverb) + verb-ed

If (firmly) planned in a rich soil, the tree will grow very quickly.

(= ‘if it is (firmly) planned ...’)

b.2 Verbless adverbial clause

Verbless adverbial clause is a clause with no verb

E.g. Old clocks are very valuable when in good condition.

(=’…when they are in good condition.’)

Learners difficulties : Dangling modifier or dangling participles

Adjuncts functioning as adverbial participle clause in clause- initial position is a

problem for native learners and as well as learners of English. Errors such as the

following are traditionally referred to as “dangling modifiers” or “dangling

participles”.

Dangling modifier

A modifier that starts a sentence must be followed right away by the word that it

describes. Otherwise, the modifier is said to be dangling, and the sentence takes on an

unintended meaning.

Sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made Larry sweat.

Corrected version:

Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Larry sweated at the sound of the drill.

As Larry was sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made him sweat.

How to correct dangling modifiers

Dangling modifiers may be corrected in two general ways.

Correction Method #1

- Leave the modifier as it is.

- Change the main part of the sentence so that it begins with the term actually

modified.

- This change will put the modifier next to the term it modifies.

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Correction Method #2

- Change the dangling modifier phrase to a subordinate clause, creating a subject

and verb.

- Leave the rest of the sentence as it is.

Dangling participles

Let’s see what we can do with the following participial phrase:

Believing that he had done no wrong, the sentence of the court was unfair.

What does our participle “Believing that he had done no wrong” describe either the

court or John? The correct answer in this case is John. Our participle is misplaced.

So, in order to correct a misplaced participle, place the word we want to describe

close to our participle.

Believing that he had done no wrong, John said that the sentence of the court

was unfair.

Things to remember when there are the participles phrases in a sentence.

- Participles MUST be right next to what they describe: if they don’t, they are

MISPLACED.

- Participles MUST have SOMETHING to describe, if they don’t, they

DANGLE.

From the reality, the results of the study provide learners with well – founded

applied solutions so that they are able to practice using adjuncts successfully in

detailed circumstances . The following are applied exercises related to adjuncts that

students often deal with in the examinations at school or in national ones.

Exercise 1: Choose the best answer to complete the following sentences

1.I have lost touch with him _________ He left for London.

A. as soon as ` B. after

C. before D. since

2.My mother is washing the dishes _________ my father is watching television.

A. when B. while

C. as D. Since

3._______, I will give him the report.

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A. When he will return B. When he returns

C. Until he will return D. No sooner he returns

4.I have earned my own living _______ I was seven.

A. since B. when

C. while D. as soon as

5.We saw many beautiful birds _______ in the lake.

A when we are fishing B. while fishing

C. while fished D. fishing

6._______, Peter came to see me.

A. While having dinner B. While I was having dinner

C. When having dinner D. When lam having dinner

7._______ my homework, I went to bed.

A. After I had finished B. After finished

C. Finished D. After had finished

8._______ the dance, Jerry said goodbye to his girlfriend.

A. Before left B. Before he leaves

C. Before leaving D. Before he will leave

9._______ the firemen arrived to help, we had already put out the fire.

A. Until B. No sooner

C. By the time D. After

10._______, Joe stays in bed and reads magazines.

A. Whenever raining B. As it will be raining

C. When it will rain D. Whenever it rains

11. ________________ The boy was happy he had done a good job.

A. because B. as

C. unless D. because of

12. Some people are tall, __________others are short.

A. whereas B. when

C. as D. so

13. ....................... it several times, he didn’t want to read it once again.

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A. Reading B. To read

C. To have read D. Having read

14. ......................... that he was poor, I offered to pay his fare.

A. Knowing B. Known

C. Knew D. Having knew

15. ....................... photographs of the place, I had no desire to go there.

A. Seeing B. Having Seen C. Saw D. Seen

Key : 1D 2B 3B 4A 5B 6B 7A 8C 9C 10D 11A 12A 13D 14A 15 B

Exercise 2: Rewrite these sentences without chaning their original meaning

1. She wrote a letter. Then she went to bed.

After……………………………

2. We switched off the lights before we went to bed.

Having ……………………………

3. Despite the cold weather, we all went for a walk.

Although ………………………………………………………………….

4. Although they played very well, Arsenal lost the game.

In spite of …………………………………………………………………..

5. Without Jack's help, I wouldn't have been able to move the table.

If.........................................................................................................................

Key :

1.After having written a letter, she went to bed ./ After she wrote a letter, she went to bed

2. Having switched off the lights, we went to bed.

3. Although it was cold, we all went for a walk.

4. In spite of playing very well, Arsenal lost the game.

5. if Jack hadn’t helped me, I wouldn't have been able to move the table.

With a general look through 40 papers collected from students in class 11A1 of

Vo Giu high school, I am quite pleased with the results because the scores are not so

low. Learners are able to know how to do kinds of exercises related to adjuncts rather

successfully thanks to applied solutions above-mentioned. Therefore, they made

careful consideration and decisions before choosing the most suitable answers in

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sentence. However, it does not mean that all of students could perform successfully in

the test. There are also many errors needed describing and analyzing so that the

students can realize their own errors and perfect in the next time. The following table

will brief depict the proportion of students’ results.

The percentage of correctness in two exercises (20 sentences) of 40 students tested.

Grade Number of

students

Number of

correct

sentences

Percentage (%)

Excellent 4 20 10

Good 8 17-19 20

Rather good 6 15-18 25

Average 17 10 -14 42.5

Below average 5 3 - 9 12.5

Total 40 20 100

Most of the students could not do the given exercises successfully because of

the lack of the theoretical understanding of Adjuncts. To deal with it, it is necessary

for them to review the theoretical knowledge by themselves to understand the

problem more clearly because theoretical knowledge is of really importance in the

process of achieving the success in practical field.

In brief, the results of the study make learners clearly understand and able to do

kinds of exercises related to adjuncts more effectively. This is a desire of researcher

when carrying out the study with view to contributing greatly to learners’academic

purposes.

3. The effectiveness of the Study

An investigation into adjuncts in English and in Vietnamese is very helpful for

learners in language learning. We should think that the result of this study is still

modest. We hope, however, this research work would be more or less beneficial for

the Vietnamese teachers and learners of English and all of those who are concerned

about this field.

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Firstly, the study of adjuct adverbials in English and in Vietnamese brings

many benefits not only students at school but also teachers of English, as follow:

+ From applied solutions with the mention of

- Misuse of adjectives for adverbs

- Use of frequencyAdverbs

- Common problems of the misplacement of adverbs

- Adjuncts that are adverbial clauses

To learners, it is obvious that the study has solved lots of difficulties that high

school learners encounter when using adjuncts.

To teachers, the characteristics of adjunct adverbials in English and Vietnamese

sentence structure are useful for them to consult about adjucts to give the lectures

more effectively.

Secondly, a contrastive analysis is used as an effective method to point out the

similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese adjuncts. This enables to help

learners of English get a better of using adjuncts in different situations. Besides, the

study has been carried out to meet the need of the leaners at high school because it has

solved the complicated questions they encounter when using adjuncts.

Thirdly, the effective use of the study makes learners of English now enable to

pursue independent studies in the above areas of adjuncts. Thence, they clearly

understand and able to use adjuncts more effectively in language learning.

In a word, the results of the study enable to help Vietnamese learners have a

comprehensive understanding about the linguistic features of Adjuncts in detailed

circumstances. From that point, learners of English are able to know for effective use

of adjuncts in their language learning as well as further study.

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Chapter III: CONCLUSION

1. Some implications for language teaching and learning

In written and spoken English and Vietnamese, the use of adjuncts has much

sense, with its help, an action, an event or action of people have been described

much more colorfully and thoroughly.

The contrastive analysis of the adjuncts in English and in Vietnamese may be

useful for teachers and learners of English. One of the aims of this contrastive

analysis is that teachers should use the results of the study in their teaching. The

differences as well as the similarities pointed out in the study will, to some extent,

help the teachers to predict and solve those areas of English adjuncts that will cause

some problems for Vietnamese learners. In addition to, this contrastive analysis will

help the learners avoid common errors thanks to rules mentioned in chapter 2.

2. The development of the study

As we know that grammar is always the foundation for any process of

development in language learning. The study on the linguistic features of adjuncts has

been conducted to serve as the process of teaching and learning English grammar in

the modern stage. The study has brought learners many attempts to clear one of the

most complicated issues, namely, adjuct averbials. From the results of the study, it is

hoped that the learners of English can learn some valuable knowledge of adjucts.

Thenceforth, the leaners can gain a better understanding on this field in particular and

English grammar in general.

From the theorical knowlege, the learners are able to carry out the exercises

related to adjuncts better at school and the study can meet their further study for

national examinations.

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3. Suggestions

The study on adjuncts is also a troublesome problem for learners of English to

know how to use them efficiently.Therefore, in order to avoid some mistakes when

dealing with adjucts, learners should be provided not only well-rounded knowledge of

adjuncts but also opportunities to practice them in context. Through practicing

sentence patterns containing adjuncts regularly, learners gradually master and use

them more effectively. From the results of the study, I hope to contribute to my own

experience in this field as a part of sharing a few difficulties within a huge one of

teachers’ teaching work.

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REFERENCES

English books

[1] Biber et al. (1999), Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman.

[2] Biber et al. (2002), Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English,

Longman.

[3] Downing, A. & Locke, P.(1995), A University Course in English Grammar,

Phoenix.

[4] Downing, A. & Locke, P. (2006), A University Course in English Grammar, 2nd

Edition, Routledge.

[5] Hornby, A .S. (1995), Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 5th Edition, Oxford

University Press.

[6] Malmkjær, K. (1995), The Linguistic Encyclopedia, Routledge.

[7] Mcarthus, T. (1992), The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford

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[8] Morley, David G (2000), Syntax in Functional Grammar: An Introduction to

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Longman.

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[14] Yule, G. (1998), Explaining English grammar, Oxford University Press.

32

Vietnamese books

[15] Diệp Quang Ban (2008), Ngữ pháp tiếng Việt, NXB Giáo dục.

[16] Diệp Quang Ban (2009), Ngữ pháp Việt Nam, NXB Giáo dục Việt Nam.

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[18] Trần Hữu Mạnh (2007), Ngôn ngữ học đối chiếu cú pháp tiếng Anh – tiếng

Việt, NXB ĐHQG Hà Nội.

[19] Lê Quang Thiêm (2004), Nghiên cứu đối chiếu các ngôn ngữ, NXB ĐHQG Hà

Nội.

[20] Nguyễn Minh Thuyết, Nguyễn văn Hiệp (2004), Thành phần câu tiếng Việt,

NXB Giáo dục.

[21] Hoàng Văn Vân (2007), Tiếng Anh 10, 11,12, NXB Giáo dục.

[22] Nguyễn Như Ý (1999), Đại từ điển tiếng Việt, NXB Văn Hóa - Thông Tin.

[23] Trung Tâm Khoa Học Xã Hội và Nhân Văn Quốc Gia Viện Ngôn Ngữ Học

(1996), Từ điển Anh – Việt, English – Vietnamese Dictionary, NXB TP. Hồ Chí

Minh.

[24] Trung Tâm Khoa Học Xã Hội và Nhân Văn Quốc Gia Viện Ngôn Ngữ Học

(2000), Từ điển Việt - Anh, Vietnamese - English Dictionary, NXB TP. Hồ Chí

Minh.