The Structure of English: The Verb Phrase

AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
The structure of English: The verb phrase
Introduction
A terminological tour around the
English verb phrase (VP)
17/09/2014
Lecture 1
1.1. Structure of today's lecture
1) About the lecturer 1.2-1.4 2-5
2) About the course 2.1- 2.5 6-10
3) The Verb 3.1-3.4 11-14
4) The Verb Phrase 4.1-4.5 15-19
5) Predication 5.1-5.2 20-22
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1.2. About me: http://ieas.unideb.hu/rakosi
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1.3. About me: http://nevmasblog.wordpress.com
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1.4. About me: http://www.facebook.com/nevmasblog
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2.1. About the course
A lecture series through the first 4 semesters:

 The Structure of English: The Verb Phrase
 English vs Hungarian
 The Structure of English: The Noun Phrase
 The Structure of English: The English Sentence
Targets:
 A descriptive grammar of English
 An outlook on background linguistic issues
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2.2. Introduction
This lecture introduces you to the descriptive

grammar of the English verb phrase (VP).
We discuss what grammatical features are
encoded on the English verb, and how these
features determine the construction of the VP.
We also study some of the variation that is
observable within the internal structure of the
English verb phrase.
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2.3. Exam requirements
What do we need for the exam?

The exam is primarily based on the lecture material.
Please note that the ppt presentations that we use in class
are not meant to be textbook chapters. They mostly only
contain the examples we discuss, and some brief
commentary on them. This helps you take notes and
concentrate, but you do need to take your own notes. Print
the presentations out before you come to the lecture, and
put down on them whatever you find useful. The
presentations will be made available on my web page.
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A glossary of the basic terms is available on my web page.
This list is the list of the key terms that you need to understand.
We discuss these during the lecture and they constitute the
basic vocabulary for talking about the VP. You are only
required to understand these terms, and you do not need to
learn definitions.
A list of the 100 most common irregular verbs is also
available on my page, but it is not compulsory for the exam
(you will need it for the VP seminar).
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We also use a VP reader that supplements the lecture material.
The reader is available in the library:
Verb Phrase – The Reader. Available in the library. Compiled from
Quirk et al. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language
The pages you need to read and study are the following: 99-
148, 175-237. Please note that this reading really only
supplements the lecture material: we do not discuss everything
that is in the reader, and there will be many issues that we
discuss during the lecture but that are not in the reader. The VP
reader is not compulsory, but it is recommended.
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3.1. The verb
What is a verb?
● School tradition:
The verb is a word-level/part-of-speech category,

and verbs refer to actions/event or states.
● Immediate problem:
(1) The event was organized by a Frenchman.

(2) He was not in a fit state to drive.
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3.2. The verb
 A part-of-speech category is a generalization over a

subset of our mental lexicon:
it identifies types of words that show the same
grammatical behaviour.
 Verb is a label for a group of words that share the
same defining set of grammatical features and that
behave the same way with respect to certain rules of
grammar.
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3.3. The verb
● Feature 1: verbs have past tense

(3) played, comitted, distributed, laughed, cried, etc.
(4) went, sang, taught, etc.
● Feature 2: verbs have -ing forms

(5) playing, crying, going, teaching, etc.
● Feature 3: verbs are ok after a modal auxiliary

(6) John can ______ (laugh/play/teach).
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3.4. The verb
(7) a. *event-ed
b. *event-ing
c. *John can event a lot.
(8) a. Kate and Julie need washing.
b. Kate and Julie are worth washing.
(9) a. need-ed ↔ *worth-ed
b. need-ing ↔ *worth-ing
c. He can need a lot. ↔ *He can worth a lot.
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4.1. The verb phrase
Words pattern to form syntactic units.

 phrase/constituent:
A syntactically relevant group of words.
 head:
The central element of a constituent that determines
the important grammatical properties of the whole
unit.
VPs are headed by verbs.
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(10) S (→ referring actually to a clause)
NP VP
John laughed.
walked home.
read the paper.
gave Kate a present.
jumped around.
sang a song happily.
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Constituency tests tell us that the expressions under VP in

(10) indeed form a syntactic unit.
(11) - Will you sing a song happily?

- I'll play the guitar but sing a song happily I never will.
(12) I didn't sing a song happily, but Peter did so.
(13) Peter will sing a song happily,
but I won't sing a song happily.
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In English, unlike in Hungarian, many VP-related

grammatical features are coded via multi-verb expressions.
We will refer to these as verbal complexes, see (14):
(14) John laughed at you
is laughing at you.
has laughed at you.
has been laughing at you.
will have been laughing at you.
will have been laughed at.
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 Two uses of the term VP:

it either includes or excludes the non-lexical part of
the verbal complex - here we usually use the term in
the latter sense.
 In (14), laugh is a lexical/full verb.
 The words to the left of the lexical verb are known as

auxiliaries.
Auxiliaries code grammatical features.
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5.1. Predication
● Phrases have a certain syntactic category (say, NP),

and that typing allows them to play designated roles in
the clause structure.
These roles are known as syntactic functions.
● For example, the two NPs in (15) function as the subject

and the object of the clause, respectively.
(15) The boy saw the girl.
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5.2. Predication
● The syntactic function of the VP is traditionally referred to

as predication, and the VP can be regarded to be a
predicate (állítmány, in Hungarian grammars).
● This goes back to Aristotle, who was interested in

sentences that have a subject-predicate logical structure.
(16) subject (~topic) predicate (~comment)
Every Greek is a human.
Humans are rational.
Thus, Every Greek is rational.
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5.3. Predication
● Notice that there is no one-to-one correspondence

between VP-hood and predication.
(17) a. To meet you is a pleasure.

b. To meet you doesn't feel good.
(18) a. I consider [Tom to be clever].

b. I consider [Tom clever] .
(19) a. Tom came home drunk last night.

b. Tom is wanted dead or alive.
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AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
The English verb

and its different forms:
go, goes, went, gone, going
24/09/2014
Lecture 2
1.1. Introduction: aims
An inventory of verbal forms (→ morphology):

V play: present tense (3SG), imperative,
subjunctive, bare infinitive
Vs: plays: 3SG agreement (present tense)
Ving playing: gerund, participle
Ved played: past tense, past participle, conditional
 What are these functions and why distinguish them?
 How much of this variation is relevant in the study of the
system of English grammar?
1.2. Introduction: aims
A morphological distinction between two

categories/functions can be accepted as valid and
across-the-board if:
(i) there is at least one word where the distinction is overt
(i.e., the same word has two contrasting forms);
(ii) or else there are rules of grammar that seem to make
systematic reference to the proposed distinction.
(NB: (i) is about pronunciation and not about spelling)
1.3. Structure of today's lecture
1. Introduction
2. Pronunciation matters
3. Inflectional distinctions on the English verb
4. Participles and gerunds

2.1. Pronouncing Vs
 /s/ if the verb ends in a voiceless sound
(1) cut-s, like-s, hope-s, etc.
 /z/ if the verb ends in a voiced sound

(2) call-s, run-s, flee-s, tri-es, etc.
 /iz/ or /əz/ if the verb ends in a (voiced or voiceless) sibilant

(a linking vowel is inserted to ease pronunciation)
(3) kiss-es, catch-es, push-es, etc.
2.2. Pronuncing Ved
 /t/ if the verb ends in a voiceless sound
(4) pass-ed, look-ed, lack-ed, capp-ed, etc.
 /d/ if the verb ends in a voiced sound

(5) call-ed, tri-ed, buzz-ed, mention-ed, etc.
 /id/ or /əd/ if the verb ends in /d/ or /t/

(a linking vowel is inserted to ease pronunciation)
(6) allude-d, herd-ed, regrett-ed, etc.
2.3. On irregular verbs
 Irregular verbs have a non-productive past tense (V2) or

past participle (V3) form.
But notice that:
(i) Such irregularities have historical sources (i.e., at
some point, these forms were productive but then
they got frozen).
(ii) Most irregular verbs still pattern up to form
(analogical) patterns.
 The –ed marker is not always that irregularly represented

in this domain, cf.:
(7) a. came
b. kept
c. learnt/learned (cf. German Hund)
 Vowel alternations often form patterns, cf.:
(8) a. teach taught taught
b. think thought thought
c. bring brought brought
 Extreme irregularities are rare.

But see the following cases (suppletion):
(9) go went gone

(10) be was/were been
3.1. Inflectional distinctions: agreement
 Subject agreement is a dependency between the subject

and the verb in terms of PERSON and NUMBER, c.f.
(11) I<1SG> am<1SG> here.
(12) He<3SG> is<3SG> here.

(13) *He<3SG> am<1SG> here.
 (verbal) -s: PERSON: 3

NUMBER: SG
TENSE: PRESENT
(14) a. Kate lives there.

b. *I lives there.
c. *Kate liveds there.
Compare the two present paradigms:

(15) 1SG am live
2SG are live
3SG is lives
1PL are live
2PL are live
3PL are live
3.4. Inflectional distinctions: tense
 Tense is the grammaticalization of time.
More on this comes next week, now only note that there
are only two morphological tenses in English:
(16) John started the meeting at six.
(17) a. John starts the meeting now.

b. John starts the meeting at six tomorrow.
(18) a. Kate will do this, she's the kind of person.

b. Kate would do this, she was the kind of person.
3.5. Inflectional distinctions: tense
● Productive past tense morphology:
 V + TENSE: PAST → Ved
● Irregular forms block the application of this rule:
*goed because went
NB: every English verb has a past tense form,

and each is regular in the sense of not lacking past
tense
3.6. Inflectional distinctions: mood
 Mood is a device to relate the propositional content of the

clause to the grammatical and the discourse context.
(19) You do this every day. indicative

(20) Do this every day. imperative
(21) I insist that you do this. subjunctive
(22) If you did this now, ... conditional
● The existence of these 4 mood features is supported by

both morphological and constructional evidence.
Imperative
(23) a. *(You) do this every day.

b. (You) do this every day!
(24) a. You are/*be clever.

b. Be/*are clever!
Subjunctive
(25) a. He does this every day.

b. I insist that he do this every day.
(26) *He do this every day.

Conditional (irrealis)
(27) a. He did this yesterday.

b. If he did this again today, ... .
(28) a. *He were here yesterday.

b. If he were here today, ... .
4.1. Participles and gerunds
 Why distinguish between past tense and past participle

(a.k.a. the second and third form of the verb)?
(29) He played music. V2
(30) a. Music was played. V3
b. He has played music.
(31) Kate chose Peter. V2
(32) a. Peter was chosen. V3
b. Kate has chosen Peter.
4.2. Participles and gerunds
 Why distinguish between gerunds and present

participles?
participles
(33) Kate was watching me.
(34) Watching me, Kate sat in the corner.
(35) Kate kept watching me.
(36) Kate saw me watching her.
gerunds
(37) Watching Kate is boring.
(38) I like watching Kate.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Tense and time
01/10/2014
Lecture 3
1.1. Introduction
The following sentences all denote the same type of

eventuality/situation:
(1) a. Peter will read a book.

b. Peter has been reading a book.
c. Peter reads a book.
d. Peter was reading a book.
1.2. Introduction
The following sentences can all describe the same real

world event (that happened at some time t in the past):
(2) a. Peter was reading a book.

b. Peter read a book.
c. Peter had read a book.
d. Peter has read a book.
1.3. Introduction
Language provides us with tools to describe real world

situations from different perspectives, focussing on certain
features and backgrounding some others.
(3) a. I have read this book (*yesterday).

b. I read this book (yesterday).
(4) a. I was walking home yesterday when I met you.

b. I walked home yesterday when I met you.
1.4. Introduction
12 basic constructions for this purpose:
(5) I will enter the room. future simple

I will be entering the room. future continuous
I will have entered the room. future perfect
I will have been entering the room. future perfect cont.
1.5. Introduction
(6) I enter the room. present simple

I am entering the room. present continuous
I have entered the room. present perfect
I have been entering the room. present perfect cont.
1.6. Introduction
(7) I entered the room. past simple

I was entering the room. past continuous
I had entered the room. past perfect
I had been entering the room. past perfect cont.
1.7. Introduction
● 3 issues to cover:
(future) - present - past Lecture 3
perfect - non-perfect Lecture 4
continuous/progressive - simple Lecture 5
● NB: tense is used in two senses:

(i) a construction type (12)
(ii) the grammaticalized notion of time (3 or 2)
1.8. Structure of the lecture
I. Introduction
II. No future?
III. Main clause tense
IV. Dependent tense in subordinate clauses
2.1. No future?
Remember that we argued that there are only two

morphological tenses in English:
(8) a. went  go(es)

b. had  have/has
c. played  play(s)
d. would  will
e. could  can
f. ---  must
2.2. No future?
(9) This will be the postman.
(10) The postman will have delivered him this letter

yesterday.
(11) *The postman would deliver him this letter yesterday.
(intended: (10)=(11))
(12) If he is still at home, he will be reading a book.

2.3. No future?
(13) He will go to bed late every day.

(14) He will never get up early.
(15) He would go to bed late when he was a kid.

(16) He would never get up early when he was a kid.
(17) Oil will float on water.

(18) If you pour oil on water, it will float.
2.4. No future?
(19) She won't go home.

(20) She doesn't want to go home.
(21) She wants to go home.
(22) She intends to go home.
(23) She is planning to go home.
(24) She is going home now, and
√she likes to go home.
*she wants to go home.
2.5. No future?
(25) We are meeting at six tomorrow.

(26) The meeting starts at six tomorrow.
(27) The meeting will start at six tomorrow.
(28) The meeting now starts at six tomorrow.

(29) The meeting will (??now) start at six tomorrow.
2.6. No future?

(i) Present is the unmarked tense in English.
(ii) The basic contrast is between past and
present in the English tense system.
(iii) Future does not seem to have been
grammaticalized, though there are
constructions that typically – but not
necessarily -have future time reference.
3.1. Main clause tense
 Past tense gives us past time in main clauses, cf.:

(30) John went home yesterday / *tomorrow.
(31) John was going home yesterday / *tomorrow.
 But notice that the real-world situation time and past
reference time need not fully overlap:
(32) John already knew the answer yesterday.
(33) In 1932, Peter was already dead.
 Present tense is often used when (part of) the

situation time is not in the present:
(34) John has been reading the book.
(35) John has read the book.
(36) By this time next week,
John will have been reading the book for two years.
(37) I promise to be true.

(38) I tell you this is not what you want.
(39) John lives in London.

(40) The bus comes here (every day).
(41) Here comes the bus.

 Present tense with past time reference:

(42) Rembrandt uses especially dark colours here.
(43) Shakespeare unlocks his heart in the sonnets.
(44) Prime Ministers resigns
(45) Bomb attack kills seven soldiers
(46) I actually stayed there for three weeks. And so I'm
walking home one night, when there comes this man
from the hotel and he tells me ...
(47) Your friend tells me you are leaving tomorrow

(# though now he knows you won't).
(48) Your friend told me you were to leave tomorrow

(but now he knows you won't).
(49) I hear (*yesterday) you're leaving tomorrow.

4.1. Dependent tense
 Tense in a dependent clause tends not to have

independent time reference, but to depend instead on
the tense of the main clause, cf.:
(50) You are feeling better.
(51) You know every answer.
(52) I won't leave until you are feeling better.
(53) I will be very happy if you know every answer.
(54) You did it on purpose.
(55) If you play football with Kate and she incidentally hurts
herself, she'll in fact think you did it on purpose.
(56) He told me last Thursday

that he was going home last Sunday.
(57) He told me last Friday
that he is going home next Sunday.
(58) Now he has changed his mind, but
he told me last Friday
that he *is/was going home next Sunday.
I am leaving before he returns.
(59) She said she was leaving before he returned.
(60) She said she was leaving before he returns.
(61) She said she is leaving before he returns.
(62) *She said she is leaving before he returned.

AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Aspectual matters:
Perfect constructions
15/10/2014
Lecture 4
Structure of the lecture
I. The grammatical category perfect

II. On past perfect
III. On present perfect
1.1. The perfect
6 perfect tenses:
(1) I will have read the book
(2) I will have been reading the book
(3) I have read the book
(4) I have been reading the book
(5) I had read the book
(6) I had been reading the book
1.2. The perfect
6 non-perfect tenses:
(7) I will read the book
(8) I will be reading the book
(9) I read the book
(10) I am reading the book
(11) I read the book
(12) I was reading the book
1.3. The perfect
The same distinction in non-finite forms:
(13) He seems to live here.

(14) He likes living here.
(15) Not living here, he doesn't know the place.
(16) He seems to have lived here.

(17) He likes having lived here.
(18) Not having lived here, he doesn't know the place.
1.4. The perfect
(19) He seems to have lived here. tlive< tseem
(20) He likes having lived here. tlive< tlike
(21) He will have read the book

by the time we get there. tread< tget-there
(22) He had read the book

and he wanted to watch tv. tread< twant
(23) He has read the book. tread< tpresent

1.5. The perfect
(24) He has read the book.

(25) He has read the book by now.
(26) He had read the book.

(27) He had read the book by then.
(28) He will have read the book.

(29) He will have read the book by then.
1.6. The perfect
perfect non-perfect
form have + V3 --
meaning locate the (part of the) absence of

event time that is referred to as this
anterior to meaning
(a possibly contextually
specified) time of orientation
2.1. Past perfect
(30) He seems to live here.

(31) He seems to have lived here.
(32) He seemed to live here.

(33) He seemed to have lived here.
(34) He regrets missing the latest episode.

(35) He regrets having missed the latest episode.
2.2. Past perfect
(36) She sat down as soon as we entered the room.

(37) She sat down as soon as we had entered the room.
(38) He had broken his arm and he couldn't type.

(39) He broke his arm and he couldn't type.
2.3. Past perfect
(40) 15 people were killed when a bomb exploded.
(41) The town looked much nicer than

when she had left it.
2.4. Past perfect
(42) A man was arrested after

the police followed his footprints.
(43) The painting was found only years after

it had been stolen.
3.1. Present perfect
(44) John broke Kate's arm.

(45) John has broken Kate's arm.
(46) John broke Kate's arm yesterday.

(47) John has broken Kate's arm *yesterday / already.
(48) I have visited Prague 4 times.

(49) Have you ever been there?
(50) I've just finished my first essay.
(51) I have read several books recently.
(52) I have lived here ever since I was born.
(53) I've been reading this book for ages.
(54) John broke Kate's arm.

 Kate's arm is still broken.
 Kate (has) recovered.
(55) John has broken Kate's arm.

 Kate's arm is still broken.
(56) John killed Kate.

John has killed Kate.
 Kate died and she is dead.

AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Aspectual matters II:
Progressive constructions
22/10/2014
Lecture 4
I. The grammatical category progressive
II. On the interaction between the progressive

and lexical aspect
1.1. The progressive
6 progressive (continuous) tenses:

(1) I will be reading the book
(2) I will have been reading the book
(3) I am reading the book
(4) I have been reading the book
(5) I was reading the book
(6) I had been reading the book
6 non-progressive tenses:
(7) I will read the book
(8) I will have read the book
(9) I read the book
(10) I have read the book
(11) I read the book
(12) I had read the book
The same distinction in non-finite constructions:
(13) He wants to go home.

(14) He wants to be going home.
(15) You could go home now.

(16) You could be going home now.
Initial hypothesis (to be rejected):

Progressive: reference to a particular situation
Simple: reference to habitual/generic situations
(17) He is going to the school.

(18) He goes to school.
(19) The sun rises in the East.
(20) The sun is rising.
(21) Today the sun rises at 6:15.

(22) We start when the sun rises.
(23) If he goes to school today, then you meet him there.
(24) The sun has already risen.
(25) The sun had already risen when we got there.
(26) He didn't go to school yesterday.
(27) They're forever talking about nonsense.

(28) You're always wondering about things.
(29) He is constantly sitting on that bench.
(30) John went home yesterday at six.

(31) John was going home yesterday at six.
(32) John will go home at six.
(33) John will be going home at six.
(34) John has gone home.
(35) John has been going home.
(36) *John went home yesterday at six,

but he broke his leg on the way and never got there.
(37) John was going home yesterday at six,

but he broke his leg on the way and never got there.
progressive simple
form be + Ving --
meaning refer to a part of refer to the whole of

the event the event
"internal perspective" "external perspective"
2.1. Lexical aspect
 The progressive/simple distinction is grammatically

coded: it is grammatical aspect in this sense.
 Verbs (or, in fact, VPs/predicates) also have an

intrinsic aspectual specification.
We can refer to this as lexical aspect.
2.2. Lexical aspect
 3 domains where lexical aspect interacts with the

progressive:
 Predicates with or without an inherent endpoint

 Punctual vs. durative predicates
 Predicates referring to temporary vs permanent
properties
2.3. Lexical aspect: inherent endpoints
(38) John went home.

(39) John went fast.
(40) John watched a film.

(41) John watched tv.
(42) John drank a bottle of water.

(43) John drank water.
(44) John watched the film yesterday.

(45) John was watching the film yesterday.
(46) John watched tv yesterday.

(47) John was watching tv yesterday.
(44)  (45) (45)  (44)

(46)  (47) (47)  (46)
(48) John wrote the essay between 4 and 6.

(49) John wrote the essay between 4 and 5.
(50) John wrote about films between 4 and 6.

(51) John wrote about films between 4 and 5.
(48)  (49)
(50)  (51)
2.6. Lexical aspect: punctual events
(52) I read a book.

(53) I was reading a book.
(54) I went to school.

(55) I was going to the school.
2.7. Lexical aspect: punctual events
(56) Kate died (*for a week).

(57) Kate was dying (for a week).
(58) We entered the room (between 5 and 6).

(59) We were entering this territory (between 5 and 6).
2.8. Lexical aspect: temporary properties
(60) Kate is having a nice time there.

(61) *Kate is having blonde hair.
(62) Kate is lying on the riverbank.

(63) A boat is lying on the riverbank.
(64) *London is lying on the riverbank.
2.9. Lexical aspect: temporary properties
(65) Kate is enjoying the sun.

(66) *Kate is liking the sun.
(67) Kate is stupid.

(68) Kate is being stupid.
(69) Kate is young.

(70) *Kate is being young.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
In the mood
05/11/2014
Lecture 6
I. Sentence functions and types
II. On the morphological category mood

1.1. Speech acts
Commands
(1) Leave this room immediately.
(2) I want you to leave this room immediately.
(3) Will you leave this room immediately?
1.2. Speech acts
Advice
(4) I think it’s better to leave now.
(5) You don’t really want to stay here, do you?
(6) Just leave, please.
1.3. Speech acts
Statement
(7) It’s a lovely book.
(8) What a lovely book.
(9) What book could be more lovely than this?
1.4. Sentence types
Declarative
(10) John stays here for the weekend.
Interrogative
(11) Does John stay here for the weekend?
(12) What does John do at the weekend?
(13) So John stays here for the weekend?

1.5. Sentence types
Exclamatives
(14) What a lovely book.
(15) How lovely this book is.
Imperatives
(16) Leave the room immediately.
(17) You leave the room immediately.
2.1. Mood
Mood is a morphological feature of verbs that

is used to express the beliefs or the attitudes
of a particular perspective holder (the speaker
by default) towards the eventuality described
by the clause.
2.2. Mood: indicative
(18) John thinks that Kate is here.

(19) John thought that Kate was here.
2.3. Mood: imperative
(20) Be here by six.

(21) You be here by six.
(22) *Be here by six yesterday!

2.4. Mood: subjunctive
(23) They insist that he leave/should leave/leaves at once.

(24) They insisted that he leave/left at once.
(25) Winning is what matters whatever be the cost.

(26) If any person be intoxicated in public, he shall be
deemed guilty of a class 4- misdemeanour.
2.5. Mood: conditional
(27) If I was/were rich, I would buy this.

(28) If I had been rich, I would have bought this.
(29) I wish I was/were rich.

(30) I’d rather you didn’t stay here.
(31) He left before I had met him.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Infinitives, gerunds, participles
05/11/2014
Lecture 7
1. An overview of the issues to be addressed
2. Verbal or non-verbal? Categorial problems
3. Clausal or non-clausal? Identifying subjects

1.1. An overview
(1) I helped her do the washing up.
(2) I wanted her to do the washing up.
(3) I found her doing the washing up.
(4) I like her doing the washing up.

1.2. An overview
Two fundamental questions in the grammar of non-finite

verbal forms:
(i) To what extent are these verbal?
What other categorial properties do they show?
(ii) To what extent do these verbal forms project a clause
structure?
2.1. Categorial problems
(i) Gerunds vs present participles
(ii) The conversion of present and past participles

(5) I remember meeting them.

(6) Meeting them was fun.
(7) I'm thinking of meeting them.
(8) I found meeting them boring.
(9) I am meeting them tomorrow.
(10) You won't see me meeting them.
(11) Not having met for a year, I'm glad to see you now.
(12) Anyone meeting them is in danger.
A list of differences (based on Bresnan 2000)
(13) Susan discussed visiting Fred.

(14) Susan kept visiting Fred.
Passivization
(15) Visiting Fred was discussed by Susan.

(16) *Visiting Fred was kept by Susan.
Clefting
(17) John kept a dog at home.

(18) It was a dog that John kept at home.
(19) It was visiting Fred that Susan discussed.
(20) *It was visiting Fred that Susan kept.
Topicalization (and pronominalization)
(21) John kept a dog at home.

(22) John likes cats but a dog he wouldn't want to keep.
(23) Visiting Fred, Susan doesn't want to discuss (it).
(24) *Visiting Fred, Susan doesn't want to keep (it).
Genitive subjects
(25) Susan discussed our visiting Fred.

(26) *Susan kept our visiting Fred.
The conversion of participles

Participles often seem to have adjectival properties, cf:
(27) They are entertaining John.
(28) They have frightened John.
(29) This is entertaining.
(30) John is frightened.
(31) Ved/Ving → Adj
Lexicalizations: changes in meaning

(32) This book is interesting.
(33) The picture was distorted.
(34) They are really entertaining.

(35) The door was broken.
(36) The museum was closed at six.
Lexicalizations: changes in form

(37) All the wine was drunk.
(38) All the people were drunken.
(39) He has learnt/learned the truth.

(40) He was a serious scholar, a genuinely learned man.
Adjectival morphology
(41) Peter unzipped his jacket.
(42) Peter was unhappy.
(42) The sacred jacket was unzipped by human hands.

(43) The sacred jacket was untouched by human hands.
Adjectival distribution
(44) Kate was very happy.
(45) *Kate was very washed.
(46) Kate was very frightened.
(47) Kate seemed happy.

(48) *Kate seemed washing.
(49) Kate seemed frightening.
An outlook: bicategoriality is not simultaneous

(50) Kate was very entertaining.
(51) Kate was entertaining her husband.
(52) *Kate was very entertaining her husband.
(53) Kate's clownish non-singing of the national anthem.
(54) Kate's clownishly not singing the national anthem.
(55) *Kate's clownishly non-singing the national anthem.
3.1. Identifying subjects
● When non-finite forms are verbal in nature,

they function as (reduced) clauses.
As such, they have their own subject, cf:
(56) I told John to go home.

(57) I told John that he should go home.
● We briefly overview here the main strategies that are

used to introduce or identify these non-finite subjects.
Overt non-finite subjects
(58) I consider this to be the best solution.

(59) We should let the situation unfold.
(60) I like them being here.
(61) I found John sleeping.
(62) I like their being here.

Overt non-finite subjects
(63) I am waiting for John to arrive.

(64) It is unpleasant for me to be here.
(65) It is unpleasant for me for you to be here.

Controlling covert non-finite subjects
(66) I hope to see you soon.

(67) I taught them to read.
(68) Being unfamiliar with these kind of people,

a. John really frightened Kate.
b. John really avoided Kate.
Controlling covert non-finite subjects
(69) I came here to surround the house.

(70) I wanted to surround the house.
(71) #I tried to surround the house.
(72) Surrounding the house is good.
(73) It is forbidden to surround the house.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Auxiliaries and the notion operator
13/11/2014
Lecture 8
 Clause-level syntactic operations
 Auxiliaries: the NICE properties
 Non-auxiliaries as operators
1.1. Syntactic operations
Non-negative declarative main clauses tend to represent the

unmarked syntactic structure cross-linguistically, cf.:
(1) I built a house.

(2) They live in London.
(3) He put the book on the table.
Operations that modify core sentence meaning tend to

receive special coding, cf.:
(4) They do not live in London. negation

(5) Do they live in London? question
(6) They do live in London. emphasis
NB:
The syntactic coding of such operations may be different in
main and subordinate clauses:
(7) Do you know whether they live in London?

(8) *Do you know whether do they live in London?
In English, these operations require the presence of an

operator in main clauses.
Auxiliaries by definition act as operators.
(9) John does/can/would not live there.

(10) Does/Can/Would John live there?
(11) *John lives not there. (=9)
(12) *Lives John there? (=10)
2.1. The NICE properties
The NICE properties
 Negation
 Inversion
 Code
 Emphasis
2.2. NICE: Negation
Clause-level vs constituent negation
(13) John did not see Peter.

-/→ John saw something.
(14) John saw not Peter (but Jane).

→ John saw something.
2.3. NICE: Negation
(15) We were friends at no time.

(16) We were friends in no time.
(17) We were friends at no time,

and neither were our parents.
(18) We were friends in no time,
and so were our parents.
2.4. NICE: Negation
(19) I did not want not to talk to you.

(20) I cannot not talk to you.
(21) I like not talking to you.
(22) Not talking to you, I haven't heard the news.
(23) They demanded that I not talk to you.
2.5. NICE: Inversion
(24) Do you know this book?

(25) What do you know then?
(26) What a mess she has made of her life!

(27) What a mess has she made of her life!
(28) *Never I go there.

(29) Never do I go there.
2.6. NICE: Inversion
(30) Ha asked me if I would like to join them.

(31) *He asked me if would I like to join them.
(32) %He asked me would I like to join them.
(33) If I had known about this, I would not have gone there.
(34) *If had I known about this, I would not have gone there.
(35) Had I known about this, I would not have gone there.
2.7. NICE: Code
(36) I won't go there but Peter will.

(37) Peter has read the book and Kate has too.
(38) I only talk to you if I must.
(39) *I won't go there but Peter goes.
(40) *Peter reads the book and Kate reads too.
(41) *I read it and Peter read too.
(42) I read it and Peter did too.
2.8. NICE: Emphasis
(43) - You don't like it.

- I DO like it. / No, I LIKE it.
(44) You don't think I have read it, but I HAVE read it.
(45) *You don't think I have read it, but I have read it.
(46) I AM responsible for this.

(47) He did not understand you, but he DID understand her.
2.9. Auxiliaries as operators
● Two classes of auxiliaries:

1. aspectual auxiliaries: be, do, have
2. modal auxiliaries: must, can, should, may, etc.
● NB: only the first auxiliary acts as an operator
(48) He may not have seen you.
(49) *He may have not seen you.
(50) Why should I have known about this?
(51) *Why have I should known about this?
3.1. Non-auxiliaries as operators
Be
(52) He is going there.
(53) He is not going there.
(54) Where is he going?
(55) He is there.
(56) He is not there.
(57) Where is he?
Have (British English)

(58) I have had a dog for two years.
(59) I have not had a dog.
(60) What have you had?
(61) I have a dog.

(62) I have not a dog.
(63) What have you?
Archaic examples (Quirk et al.)

(64) Whether they succeeded I know not.
(65) I care not who knows it.
(66) If I mistake not, you were at Yale?
(67) How goes it?

(68) How come you missed the train?
(69) What say you Peter?
(70) Where stands the Administration?
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Modal auxiliaries
19/11/2014
Lecture 9
4 classes of verbs
full verbs make, want, hope, etc. no operator

properties
aspectual be, do, have operators (NICE)

auxiliaries
modal may, might, can, could, operators (NICE)

auxiliaries must, should + modal auxiliary
(shall, will) properties
marginal dare, need, ought to, used to mixture of full verb
modals have to & modal auxiliary
properties
 Modal auxiliary properties
 Marginal modals
 On the distribution of modal readings

1.1. Modal auxiliaries
Modal auxiliaries have all the operator properties (NICE):
(1) John should not stay here.
(2) Should John stay here?
(3) John should stay here, and Kate should too.
(4) John doesn't like the idea, but he SHOULD stay here.
But modal auxiliaries also share

a distinctive set of grammatical
features which differentiate them
both from aspectual
auxiliaries and from full verbs.
No non-finite forms:
(5) *I want to can speak English.

(6) I want to be speaking English.
(7) I want to hope for something else.
(8) *Not musting to go there, I stayed at home.

(9) Not having gone there, I stayed at home.
(10) Not wanting to go there, I stayed at home.
(11) *I must can speak English.

Bare infinitival complements:
(12) I must (*to) go home.

(13) She may (*to) stay here.
(14) I want *(to) stay here.

(15) I hope *(to) see you soon.
(16) I let him (*to) stay here.

(17) I helped her (to) clean the dishes.
No agreement morphology:
(18) *He musts stay here.

(19) *She cans speak English.
(20) He wants to stay here.

(21) She never lets him speak English.
No past tense or no usual past tense:
(22) *I musted to go home early yesterday.

(23) *I must go home early yesterday.
(24) I can go home early today.

(25) *I can go home early yesterday.
(26) I could go home early today.

(27) I could go home early yesterday.
2.1. Marginal modals
Marginal modals can behave grammatically

either as
modal auxiliaries or as main verbs,
or they show a mixture
of these properties.
Some modals are formally full verbs:

(28) I don't have to listen to this.
(29) Do you have to stay here?
(30) I may have to go there tomorrow.

(31) Not having to get up early, I stayed in bed.
(32) They have *(to) stay here.
(33) He has to stay here.
(34) He had to stay here.
(35) He has to start at seven.

(36) He has a start at seven.
Some marginal modals show a blend of auxiliary and full

verb properties, cf.:
(37) They do not dare ask for more.

(38) Do they dare ask for more?
(39) He dared not obstruct them.
(40) He dares not tolerate this in class.
Others are consistently bicategorial, not allowing blending:
(41) He needn't go home.

(42) He doesn't need to go home.
(43) *He needn't to go home.

(44) *Does he need go home?
(45) *He needs go home.
(46) *He needed go home.
(47) John does not need to stay here.

(48) John need not stay here.
(49) John does not see any books on the table.
(50) Does John need to stay here?

(51) Need John stay here?
(52) Does John see any books on the table?
3.1. Modal readings
 The notion modality covers the following areas:

 possibility (→ may, might, can, could, be able to, etc.)
 necessity (→ must, should, need, have to, etc.)
 (volition/intention)
 (ability)
 etc.
 Modals show interpretive variation conditioned by the
types of modal backgrounds that they are compatible
with.
Here we only have an overview, consult the reader for
details.
3.2. Modal readings
Epistemic modality
Sth is possible/necessary in view of what one knows about
the world.
(53) For all I know,

John may be the youngest person in the office.
(54) I’m sure that I left the book on this table.

Someone must have taken it.
3.3. Modal readings
Deontic modality
Sth is possible/necessary in view of certain contextually
given codices/regulations/authorities (the modality of
permissions and obligations).
(55) It is not forbidden to smoke here.

So you may/can smoke.
(56) My boss does not allow us to be late.

So I must/have to be on time.
3.4. Modal readings
Dynamic modality
A family of modal readings where sth is possible/necessary
because of the circumstances, one’s dispositions and/or
characteristic features, etc.
(57) We still have time, so we can just take a walk.

(58) I could have something to eat now.
(59) John can be very angry sometimes.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Argument structure alternations
03/12/2014
Lecture 10-11
1. Argument structure alternations
2. Voice alternations
3. VP-internal alternations
1.1. Voice alternations
Argument structure
(1) John is beating Peter. write < Agent, Patient >

(2) The wind broke the pane. break <Cause, Patient>
(3) The ball rolled down. roll <Theme, Path>
(4) He loaded it into the truck. put <Agent, Theme, Goal>
(5) John loves this book. love <Experiencer, Stimulus>
Argument structure alternations

affect the composition of the argument structure and/or
the syntactic expression of the arguments.
(6) a. John is writing a book.
b. John is writing.
(7) a. John is working.
b. John is working on the book.
(8) a. John loaded the books into the truck.
b. John loaded the truck with the books.
Voice alternations
are argument structure alternations that affect the (Agent or
Cause) subject argument.
(9) a. John read the book.
b. The book reads well.
(10) a. The wind broke the windowpane.
b. The windowpane broke.
(11) a. John rolled the barrel down the hillside.
b. The barrel rolled down the hillside.
The passive is a voice alternation operation in this sense.

(12) a. Kate washed this shirt yesterday.
b. This shirt was washed yesterday (by Kate).
The anticausative alternation
(13) a. Kate broke the windowpane.
The middle alternation
(14) a. Kate washed this shirt easily.
b. This shirt washes easily.
● In each case, the transitive object becomes a subject:
(15) a. Kate washed this shirt.

b. Kate broke the windowpane.
(16) a. This shirt was washed yesterday.

c. This shirt washes easily.
● In each case, the subject argument of the transitive verb
can remain unexpressed.
2.4. Voice alternations: differences
Passives can be formed from a variety of transitives, cf.:

Agent
(17) a. John read the book.
b. The book was read by John.
Cause
(18) a. The crisis caused this problem.
b. This problem was caused by the crisis.
Agent or Cause
(19) a. John/the wind broke the windowpane.
b. The windowpane was broken by John/the wind.
Anticausatives can only be formed of verbs that are not

necessarily agentive:
(20) a. *The book read this morning.

b. *The letter wrote this morning.
c. *The breakfast liked this morning.
(21) a. The door opened at six.
c. John worried.
Middles are typically formed from agentive verbs:
(22) a. This dress washes easily.

b. Expensive presents do not sell easily.
c. The dress buttons quickly.
d. These apartments rent easily.
Middles are typically banned in episodic contexts.

They express a general property of the subject argument.
(23) a. The dress was washed last night.
b. The present will be sold today.
(24) a. *The dress washed last night.
b. *The present sells today.
(25) a. The shirt whitened during washing last night.
b. The vase broke during the storm.
● Both agent and cause arguments can be expressed in

passives as by-phrases:
(26) a. The shirt was dried by the sun.
b. The shirt was dried by Kate.
● In middles, it is barely an option.

But for-phrases are often possible.
(27) a. *This book does not read easily by John.
b. This book does not read easily for John.
● In anticausatives, only causes can be expressed as from-

phrases.
(28) a. *The window broke by John.

b. *The window broke by the sudden gust of wind.
(29) a. *The window broke from John.

b. The window broke from the sudden gust of wind.
The suppressed agent is detectable in passives even if it is

unexpressed:
(30) a. The window was broken by John.

b. The window was broken with a hammer.
c. The soup was cooled by lowering the temperature.
d. The window was broken to let the birds out.
e. The window was broken on purpose.
The suppressed agent is not detectable in anticausatives:
(31) a. *The window broke by John.

b. *The window broke with a hammer.
c. *The soup cooled by lowering the temperature.
d. *The window broke to let the birds out.
e. *The window broke on purpose.
3.1. VP-internal alternations
John loaded the truck with hay.

NP V NP PP category
subject predicate function
object oblique
load < Agent, Goal, Theme >

3.2 VP-internal alternations
Two types of VP-internal alternations:
(i) NP V NP PP
V NP PP
(ii) NP V NP
V PP
3.3 VP-internal alternations
In a canonical transitive construction, the object referent

o undergoes a change of state,
o is causally affected by another participant,
o and the whole of its structure is relevant in the event.
 A canonical object is a Proto-Patient.

 A canonical oblique is underspecified for these
properties.
(Dowty, David. 1991. Thematic Proto-Roles and Argument
Selection. Language 67 (3). 547-619.)
(32) The hunter shot the bear,

#but the bullet didn’t hit it.
(33) The hunter shot at the bear,

but the bullet didn’t hit it.
(34) She beat him with her fist.

She beat at him with her fist.
(35) The knight cut the monster.
The knight cut at the monster.
(36) She ran the marathon without training.

She ran at the marathon without training.
(37) They climbed the mountain.
They climbed up the mountain.
(38) I’ve travelled the world and I’m fed up with the fun side
of life.
I’ve travelled in the world a lot, but I would like to see
much more.
(39) John loaded the truck with hay.

John loaded the hay onto the truck.
(40) John sprayed the wall with paint.

John sprayed the paint on the wall.
(42) John hit the fence with the stick.

John hit the stick against the fence.
(43) John broke the fence with the stick.

John broke the stick against the fence.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Adverbial phrases
10/12/2014
Lecture 12
1. Adverbs
(1) John drove home carefully

(2) John drove home slow / slowly.
(3) John drove home fast.
(4) Still, I don't want your sympathy. It's like I used to tell
my team after I'd cussed them good and they
commenced going all limp-necked and womanish on
me.You looking for sympathy, you can find it in the
dictionary. It's in there somewhere between shit and
syphilis. COCA
2. Adverbs
(5) John drove home anyway.

(6) John just drove home.
(8) Do you want to stir it clockwise or anticlockwise? BNC
(9) How you managing then, money-wise? BNC
(10) At this point the heavens burst and the clouds
tumbled earthwards, deprived of their support. BNC
(11) John went home yesterday.
3. Adverbials
(12) John read the book quickly.

(13) John read the book in a relaxed manner.
(14) John read the book yesterday.
(15) John read the book on a cold winter morning.
(16) John read the book day and night.
(17) John read the book with a purpose.
(18) John read the book to prepare for the exam.
4. Adverbials: circumstantials
(19) We danced in the garden.

(20) We danced from the gate into the trees.
(21) We danced for an hour.
(22) We danced last night.
(23) We danced real slow.
(24) We danced because of the music.
(25) We danced for the audience.
5. Speaker-oriented/attitudinal adverbials
(26) It certainly makes our job easier.

(27) The actual numbers were probably much higher.
(28) In fact, this is not the case.
(29) Evidently even tomato soups were heavily sweetened.
(30) Fortunately, he was a very clever horse and learnt
easily.
(31) I honestly don’t know an awful lot about it.
6. Heavy adverbials
(32) Problems with conception are quite common.

In a recent survey, only half of the women trying for a
baby conceived within six months, while a quarter
took up to one year.
(33) It was not a weekend Mr Yeltsin would care to
remember. On Saturday, the four' nuclear' powers --
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan -- failed to
agree on means of ratifying Start, the US-Soviet
agreement to slash strategic nuclear weapons.
7. Light adverbials
(34) We pretend bodies are ugly. Really they are the most
beautiful things in the world.
(35) And how often those opinions can really surprise us.
(36) It’s nothing really.
(37) She lost everything, really.
8. Light adverbials
(38) John wrote the book hopefully.

(39) John hopefully wrote the book.
(40) Hopefully, John wrote the book.
AN11003BA/AN1102OMA
Preparing for the exam
17/12/2014
Lecture 13
What you need for the exam
• the lecture material with your notes

the slides are available here
• a glossary of the basic terms

the slides are available here
2
How to prepare for the exam
• your notes
• the VP reader (optional)
Verb Phrase – The Reader. Available in the library.
Compiled from Quirk et al. 1985. A Comprehensive
Grammar of the English Language. pp. 99-148 & 175-237.
• you can also check the Fogalomtár page on Névmásblog
(Hungarian only)
• consult me if you have any questions
(rakosigy@hotmail.com, office hours on my page)
3
The exam: a multiple choice test
4
5

The Structure of English: The Verb Phrase

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AN11003BA/AN1102OMA

The structure of English: The verb phrase

1) About the lecturer 1.2-1.4 2-5

2) About the course 2.1- 2.5 6-10

3) The Verb 3.1-3.4 11-14

4) The Verb Phrase 4.1-4.5 15-19

5) Predication 5.1-5.2 20-22

A lecture series through the first 4 semesters:

This lecture introduces you to the descriptive

What do we need for the exam?

What do we need for the exam?

What do we need for the exam?

The verb is a word-level/part-of-speech category,

(1) The event was organized by a Frenchman.

 A part-of-speech category is a generalization over a

● Feature 1: verbs have past tense

● Feature 2: verbs have -ing forms

● Feature 3: verbs are ok after a modal auxiliary

Words pattern to form syntactic units.

(10) S (→ referring actually to a clause)

Constituency tests tell us that the expressions under VP in

(11) - Will you sing a song happily?

In English, unlike in Hungarian, many VP-related

 Two uses of the term VP:

 In (14), laugh is a lexical/full verb.

 The words to the left of the lexical verb are known as

● Phrases have a certain syntactic category (say, NP),

● For example, the two NPs in (15) function as the subject

(15) The boy saw the girl.

● The syntactic function of the VP is traditionally referred to

● This goes back to Aristotle, who was interested in

● Notice that there is no one-to-one correspondence

(17) a. To meet you is a pleasure.

(18) a. I consider [Tom to be clever].

(19) a. Tom came home drunk last night.

The structure of English: The verb phrase

The English verb

An inventory of verbal forms (→ morphology):

A morphological distinction between two

3. Inflectional distinctions on the English verb

4. Participles and gerunds

 /s/ if the verb ends in a voiceless sound

(1) cut-s, like-s, hope-s, etc.

 /z/ if the verb ends in a voiced sound

 /iz/ or /əz/ if the verb ends in a (voiced or voiceless) sibilant

 /t/ if the verb ends in a voiceless sound

(4) pass-ed, look-ed, lack-ed, capp-ed, etc.

 /d/ if the verb ends in a voiced sound

 /id/ or /əd/ if the verb ends in /d/ or /t/

 Irregular verbs have a non-productive past tense (V2) or

 The –ed marker is not always that irregularly represented

 Extreme irregularities are rare.

(9) go went gone

 Subject agreement is a dependency between the subject

(12) He<3SG> is<3SG> here.

 (verbal) -s: PERSON: 3

(14) a. Kate lives there.

Compare the two present paradigms:

 Tense is the grammaticalization of time.

(16) John started the meeting at six.

(17) a. John starts the meeting now.

(18) a. Kate will do this, she's the kind of person.

● Productive past tense morphology: