[Grammar] Part of speech?

[dawnngcm]

1. Could anyone tell me what part of speech of the words which are underlined?

2. Are sentences still correct if I drop “all” and “that”?

All that I have is yours.
All I want is a place to sit down.
All I want is your happiness.
All that you say is certainly true.
All you need is love.

 

[5jj]

1. Could anyone tell me what part of speech of the words which are underlined are?

2. Are the sentences still correct if I drop “all” and “that”? No

What part of speech do you think they might be? Clue: each is preceded by a subject.

 

[dawnngcm]

What part of speech do you think they might be? Clue: each is preceded by a subject.

I don’t know!? :roll: (Would it be “that”? But it seems it don’t fit your clue!)

At first I think they are verb, but “is” is a verb too. It shouldn’t have two verbs in this sentence. And I think the main verb is “is”.

P.S. I checked both “Swan” and dictionary, but I still can’t found out the answer.

Teacher fivejedjon, I know what mistake I made in my 1st question. In the 2nd question, I put “the” at first, but I delete it because I think “sentences” is a plural noun. Could you please tell me what mistake I made?

 

[5jj]

At first I [STRIKE]think[/STRIKE] thought they are verbs, but “is” is a verb too. It shouldn’t have two verbs in this sentence. And I think the main verb is “is”.

It is possible, as you can see from this sentence, which contains more than one verb.

The noise (that) you can hear is my stomach.

'(that) you can hear' is a defining relative clause telling us which noise you can hear.

All that I have is yours.

'(that) I have' is a defining relative clause restricting 'all'. It's not really 'all' (or 'everything') that is yours, just all that I have.

 

[englishhobby]

You seem to mix up notions of "part of speech" and "part of a sentence" which do not coinside. They are certainly verbs (as parts of speech), but in the sentences you wrote they serve as part of a subject (the whole subject being "All I want" and the like). You can drop that in every sentence, but you can't drop all.

 

[5jj]

In the 2nd question, I put “the” at first, but I delete it because I think “sentences” is a plural noun. Could you please tell me what mistake I made?

Are sentences still correct if I drop “all” and “that”?

This suggests that you are asking about all sentences ever composed.

With 'the' you make it clear that you are referring to particular sentences already mentioned.

 

[TheParser]

1. Could anyone tell me what part of speech of the words which are underlined?

2. Are sentences still correct if I drop “all” and “that”?

All that I have is yours.
All I want is a place to sit down.
All I want is your happiness.
All that you say is certainly true.
All you need is love.

NOT A TEACHER


(1) Two excellent posters have answered your question.

(2) I know what a serious student you are, so I would like to add a few

comments.

(a) It is really important that you review adjective (relative) clauses. They are

something like sentences that describe someone or something. The adjective clause is in bold print:

All that I have is yours.

(i) If you say to a friend "All is yours," that IS good English, but your friend will be

confused. She will ask "All what is mine?" Then you will have to answer "Oh, I'm

sorry. All that I have is yours." Then she will understand that all that you have is

hers, not all that Tony or Martha or Mona has is hers.

(a) As the two other posters said, you may delete (drop) the "that." Since you

are a learner, I most respectfully suggest that you always use "that."

(b) I think your other sentences should read:

All that I want is a place to sit down. (REMEMBER: You can delete an adjective clause and it is still good English: All is a place to sit down. But if you delete the adjective clause, your friend will not understand. He will ask "All what?")

All that I want is your happiness.

All that you say is certainly true.

All that you need is love. (I think that those famous singers the Beatles sang a song with that sentence, although they deleted "that," as many native speakers do.)

(c) In your five sentences, the main verb is "is." The other verb belongs to the

adjective clause. You have correctly (congratulations!) underlined the verb in each

adjective clause. Just remember that you could delete the adjective clause, and the

sentence would still be good English. But you cannot delete the main verb. In other

words, you could not say "All that I have yours." You need that "is."

(3) I, too, am a learner, so I know how difficult it is to understand certain things.

If you have more questions about this matter, please post them, and the excellent

teachers will give you and me the answers. All that we need is right here at

usingenglish.com.

 

[dawnngcm]

Thanks all of you. :up:

I have been struggling to understand the structures. I’m trying to build a habit to spot them out.

Thanks for putting up with my English writing!

 

[dawnngcm]

Are sentences still correct if I drop “all” and “that”?

This suggests that you are asking about all sentences ever composed.

With 'the' you make it clear that you are referring to particular sentences already mentioned.

Thanks teacher fivejedjon! :-D

I re-checked “Swan” and got the answer at section 64.

 

[5jj]

Thanks for putting up with my English writing!

You are welcome, but we are not 'putting up with it'. We are here to help with genuine enquiries if we can.
​

 

[dawnngcm]

I have been struggling to understand the structures. I’m trying to build a habit to spot them out.

QUOTE]


this/that/these/those?
Could I ask one more question?

1. If “the” (highlighted in blue above) is replaced by this/that/these/those, are they all correct?

2.Which one is the best to use in the sentence?

 

[5jj]

I have been struggling to understand the structures.

this/that/these/those?
Could I ask one more question?

1. If “the” (highlighted in blue above) is replaced by this/that/these/those, are they all correct?

2.Which one is the best to use in the sentence?

1. As 'structures' is plural, only 'these' or 'those' are possible; 'these' is better.
2. I'd use 'These'.

 

[dawnngcm]

2. I'd use 'These'.

Could you tell me why?

I’ve checked and checked over “Swan”, it seems I can’t found out the answer. (I’m not sure if I overlooked again! :shock

 

[TheParser]

Could you tell me why?

I’ve checked and checked over “Swan”, it seems I can’t found out the answer. (I’m not sure if I overlooked again! :shock

NOT A TEACHER


(1) As usual, you have asked an excellent question.

(2) I, too, am waiting for Teacher Fivejedjon (or some other teacher) to answer

this, for I have never been able to find a definite answer to the question: When do

we use "this/these" and "that/those" when referring to something that has already

been mentioned.

(3) Many experts have told me that there is no rule (You notice that Teacher Fivejedjon

tells us that either "these" or "those" is possible in your sentence, although he prefers

"these.")

(4) One very qualified English teacher told me: "It is not unusual for the speaker to

refer to a point he himself has made as this and to a point by the other person as

that."

(5) Consider:

(a) You listed 5 sentences.

(b) Then you wrote: I have been trying to understand ___ structures . I am trying

to build a habit to spot them out.

(6) Well, we could say that "these" is correct because -- as that English teacher

said -- you are referring to some points you yourself have made.

(7) Also, maybe we can use "these" because your sentence is so near the

five sentences. In fact, your sentence comes right after you list 5 sentences.

As you know, we use "this" for things closer to us and "that" for things farther from us.

(8) The good news: As Teacher Fivejedjon taught us, if you used "those," no one could

really say that you are "wrong."

(9) Well, it's time for this old man to hit the sack (go to bed). When I return tomorrow

morning, I hope that Teacher Fivejedjon (or someone else) will have given us the

answer to a question that has long confused me, too.

 

[TheParser]

Could you tell me why?

NOT A TEACHER


(1) Well, it's about 2 a.m. here. I have sadly noted that no one has replied -- as I type this --, so may I share something that I found? It has helped me. Maybe you'll find it of some help, too. It's a letter from B.L. He taught English to people who spoke X (I don't wish to mention the language). His letter was published in a 1980 book entitled On Language by William Safire. I have changed his letter to a conversation, but the ideas belong 100% to B.L. My comments are in the brackets ( [...] ).


**********

Tom: The word "this" refers to something that is close to us in physical distance or time, and "that" refers to something farther off in distance or time.

Mona: That is right! [B.L. says no native speaker would use "this" to respond to another person's statement.]

Tom: Congratulations, Mona.

Mona: Congratulations for what?

Tom: You said "THAT is right." Some of my friends say "THIS is right," which is not correct.

Mona: Why do they use "this"?

Tom: Well, I have a theory [idea].

Mona: What is your theory?

Tom: This is my theory: this mistake is due to the fact that some of my friends speak X. X does not make a difference between "this" and "that."

[Tom uses the first "this" because he is referring to the words that follow the colon (:). Tom uses the second "this" because he had just discussed the mistake earlier in this conversation. Remember: use "this" for something close to us in distance and time.]

Mona: I like your theory.

Tom: Well, maybe my theory is right; maybe it is wrong. But this is my theory.

[Again, Tom uses "this" because he has just given us his theory.]

 

[5jj]

Sorry. I replied, but inadvertently omitted to submit it. Here (roughly) is my response.

Teacher Fivejedjon tells us that either "these" or "those" is possible in your sentence, although he prefers "these."

Exactly

"It is not unusual for the speaker to refer to a point he himself has made as this and to a point by the other person as that."

:up:

"if you used "those," no one could really say that you are "wrong."

:up:
The answer depends on what is passing through the speaker's mind at the moment of speaking. In any case, what is near and what is not near is a very subjective distinction.

And that (or this) is probably my last word on the subject. (Had I started my post with those words, I would have written only, " And this is probably my last word on the subject").

 

[dawnngcm]

Teacher Fivejedion, TheParser and all other teachers are my :lilangel:.

Thank you all!

 

[5jj]