Unit 5: Grammatical patterns

Activity 1: Introduction to grammatical patterns

Read.

The grammatical system in English as with many other languages is complex. In Japan, a great deal of time is dedicated to studying grammatical rules in school in order to pass examinations. Grammar rules describe patterns. Some rules are true all the time, some rules are true almost all the time and others are often true. In this course, our focus is on patterns and pattern detection, so we will look at some data, identify a pattern (which may be rule you have already studied), confirm or refute the pattern with more data, and finally write psuedocode that a software developer could use to create working code.

Activity 2: Worked example

Use the extract below to identify a pattern for the use of the indefinite article a and the definite article the.

The wicked witch handed Snow White a shiny red apple. Snow White took one bite of the apple and fell into a deep sleep.

Discuss the viability of following possible patterns for the articles a and the.

1. Before adjectives: The article a is used before adjectives. The article the is used before nouns.
2. Before letters: The article a is used before the letter s. The article the is used before the letter a
3. Before consonants: The article a is used before consonants, but the article the is used before vowels.

Search the internet to find a rule that explains how the definite article the is used.

One of the rules you may have found is about the use of the to refer to a noun phrase that has already been mentioned. Noun phrases may be grouped into three categories based on the type of common noun used, i.e. uncountable, plural or singular.

Find two examples of each categories. Shorten the examples to create a minimum working example.

1. Uncountable (air): We are surrounded by air. The air we breathe contains oxygen.
2. Plural (cars): Three cars were involved in a crash this morning. The cars were driving at over 100kph when the crash occurred.
3. Singular (crash): Three cars were involved in a crash this morning. The cars were driving at over 100kph when the crash occurred.

Decide the exact rule for using the when a noun phrase is mentioned the second time.

When an uncountable, plural or singular noun phrase is repeated, the definite article the is placed before the noun phase. Other determiners (e.g. a, an, this, that, my, your) are omitted.

Work with a partner to develop pseudocode to help a software developer create code that implements the rule above.

Activity 3: Student work to be placed here

Consider a pattern in these sentences:

1. She listened to the radio.
2. She watched TV.

Activity 4: Student work to be placed here

Consider a pattern in these sentences:

1. I looked at the sign/
2. I watched the cats play.

Activity 5: Student work to be placed here

Consider a pattern in these sentences:

1. See you tomorrow.
2. See you on Tuesday.

Activity 6: Student work to be placed here

Consider a pattern in these sentences:

1. I arrived at the airport.
2. I arrived in the airport.

Knowledge and application

Activity 7: Deducing grammatical patterns from data

Work with a partner or work alone. For your assigned topic complete the following.

1. Find an example of the assigned structure.
2. Decide the pattern.
3. Find different examples
4. Confirm or improve your pattern.
5. Write pseudocode.

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