Construction (Grammar)

Construction Construction refers to the order and quantity of words that can be used when enunciating sentences .

Summary

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• 1 The construction
  • 1 Rules of regular or linear construction
  • 2 Construction figures
• 2 Construction defects.
• 3 Sources

Construction

Construction refers to the order and number of words that can be used when enunciating sentences . The words that make up the sentences do not follow a capricious order, but their grouping is governed by certain internal laws of the language , which determine their syntax within the noun syntagm and the verb syntagm , and also the relationship of the sentences in the period o in the paragraph . Sentence elements can be arranged in different ways, as long as they do not infer the norms imposed by the [[nature of the language, which would affect the compression of the expressed thought:

Examples: I’ll see you later – I’ll see you later

I won’t go out today – I won’t go out today

Even if it rains, we will do productive work – We will do productive work, even if it rains

The intention of the speaker and his desire to give greater elegance, energy and clarity to what is expressed, give rise to the great variety of combinations that we can observe in the syntactic elements, that is, the subgroups of unitary meaning and function (phrases) that make up the sentences. The Spanish is one of the languages of greater freedom among existing constructive. The grammar has determined, based on the nature of the language and the hierarchy of its elements, shape, construction called regular or linear. Any other variant also accepted by the grammar , but which adheres to the rules of linear construction, is called figurative syntax or enveloping construction.

Rules of regular or linear construction

The regular syntax establishes the following rules:

1. a) Regarding the placement of the words:

• The article always precedes the noun: the student, the meetings.
• Adjectives go together with nouns, sometimes preceding them, as happens with epithets and those with a determining character (demonstrative, possessive, numerals, etc.) for example: fierce lion, this child, my parents, five centuries; other times succeeding them: gifted students, outstanding worker, my friend, etc.
• Adverbs are placed next to the verbs to which it refers, sometimes before, as when we say: Don’t play, maybe it came out, although most of the time they are placed after. When determining the degree or intensity of adjectives and other adverbs, they are always placed before.

1. b) Regarding the placement of the constituent members of the sentence and the hierarchical order of its complements:

• The subject with all its modifications must precede the predicate:

Examples: The silent night advances over the village.

• In the predicate, the verb must precede all complements:

Example: The student gave the message to his teacher too late

• If the vocative appears, the regular construction determines that it is placed first:

Example: Guys, wait for me at the exit of the tunnel.

1. c) Regarding the placement of the coordinated and subordinate elements.
2. d) In coordination, regular construction is determined by the logical sequence of thought, manifested in the syntactic relationships that establish the coordinating elements, according to their conceptual value: Example: Pedro or Luis must assume responsibility

• In the subordination of sentences, the placement of the subordinate elements is governed, in the regular construction, by the norms corresponding to the categories of words that they represent (nouns, adjectives, adverb)

Construction figures

Speakers do not always fully conform to the patterns of regular or linear construction; We have already talked about the great freedom of construction that characterizes our language. All languages, and also Spanish, admit certain alterations of a linear order that obey, as we have seen, the interest of giving greater prominence to what the speaker deems most interesting or important; or to a stylistic intention, much more frequent in the literary language. Those alterations that, far from impoverishing, enrich the style and give it greater energy and elegance, are called construction figures. The most frequent construction figures are:

• The hyperbaton, which consists of placing the sentence elements in a secession that alters the regular order, but which is understandable.
• Ellipsis, which consists of omitting unnecessary voices for understanding the message expressed in a text or statement.

Another construction figure that is usually used with the intention of emphasizing or highlighting certain aspects of what is expressed is the pleonasm, which must be used with great care so as not to fall into a redundancy error.

Construction defects.

As can be seen, the construction offers a great variety of grammatical forms, but there are still vicious forms sometimes used with many frequencies. Construction errors are generally called solecisms, and the most frequent are:

1. a) Failure to correctly establish concordance relationships: students by students.
2. b) Inappropriate use of verbal forms: There were several absent, for There were several absent.
3. c) Misuse of pronominal variants: I returned to myself, for I returned to myself.
4. d) Addition of unnecessary voices (vicious pleonasms): Enter inside, by Enter; Low down, low down.
5. e) Correct use of the gerund: I received a package containing magazines, by I received a package containing magazines.
6. f) Misuse of prepositions: He realized very late by He realized very late. Other construction defects are the following:

• Amphibology or ambiguity

It consists of the use of certain constructions that can be interpreted with two senses.

• Cacophony

It is seen in a construction in which various sounds are grouped together that produce a bad effect on the ear when they are put together.

• Monotony or poverty

It consists of the little variety of language, both in vocabulary and in the grammatical forms that are used.