DEEP AND SURFACE STRUCTURE

• The underlying structure of sentences as represented by phrase

structure rules.
• Charlie broke the window.  focusing on what Charlie did
The window was broken by Charlie.  focusing on The window and
what happened to it.
• Structural ambiguity: a situation in which a single phrase or sentence
has two (or more) different underlying structures and interpretations
Example: Annie hit a man with an umbrella.
• S + V + dO (N + post modifier)  the man carried an umbrella
• S + V + dO + Adverbial  Annie used an umbrella to hit the man
DEEP AND SURFACE STRUCTURE
Example: Annie hit a man with an umbrella
S
S + V + dO (N + post modifier)

NP VP

V NP

Det N PP

pre NP

Det N

hit a man with an umbrella

Annie

Subject Verb Direct object

DEEP AND SURFACE STRUCTURE
Example: Annie hit a man with an umbrella.

S
S + V + dO + Adverbial

NP VP

VP

PP
V NP
pre NP
Det N
Det N

Annie hit a man with an umbrella

Subject Verb Direct object Adverbial

PRACTICE
• The sentences below are ambiguous. For each meaning, state the structure (the
set of sentence elements) and give a paraphrase of the corresponding meaning.
• Example:
They are baking potatoes.
S + V + SC – „They are potatoes for baking‟.
S + V + dO – „They have put potatoes in the oven to bake‟.

1. She will make a good model.

2. I‟ll call you my secretary.
3. Your men are revolting.
4. You should find me an honest worker.
5. She has appointed her assistant personnel manager.
6. My solicitor gives the poorest free advice.
7. She teaches the best.
8. Police found safe under bed.
 Tiến Đạt
S V A

S V O
THÙY TRANG
NGUYỄN THỊ LAN
The very famous director will hold a private showing for us in his home tomorrow.
The activists are striving for peace in the world.
The children stayed in the house yesterday.
 UNIT 3
WORD CLASSES
WORD CLASSES
• Open v.s. closed classes
• Open classes are readily open to new words; closed classes are
limited classes that rarely admit new words
Open classes

noun Paul, paper, speech, play

adjective young, cheerful, dark, round
main verb talk, become, like, play
adverb carefully, firmly, confidentially

Closed classes
pronoun she, somebody, one, who, that
determiner a, the, that, each, some
auxiliary verb can, may, will, have, be, do
conjunction and, that, in order that, if, though
HOMO WORDS
• Homonyms: words with same form but different meaning
• peer („person belonging to the same group in age and
status‟) and peer („look searchingly‟), or
• peep („make a feeble, shrill sound‟) and peep („look cautiously‟).
• Homophones: words with the same sound but perhaps differ in
spelling
• weigh and way or none and nun.
• SEVEN EIGHT (ATE) NINE
• WHY EIGHT IS AFRAID?
• Homographs: words with the same spelling but perhaps differ in
pronunciation
• row („line of objects‟) and row („quarrel‟).
NOUNS
• Noun suffixes

-tion (and variants) education, relation, invasion, revision

-er, -or camper, speaker, actor, supervisor

-ism optimism, socialism, terrorism

-ity mentality, normality, reality, sanity

-ment environment, equipment, government

-ness happiness, compactness, darkness

NOUN CLASSES
• Proper v.s. Common
• Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places or occasions,
and they usually begin with a capital letter: Shakespeare, Chicago,
January, Christmas, Ramadan.
• Names may consist of more than one word: The Hague,
The New York Times, Heathrow Airport, Captain Andrews, Mount
Everest
• Common nouns are nouns that are not names. Common nouns can be
sub-classified in two ways
• type of referent: concrete or abstract
• grammatical form: count or non-count
• Concrete nouns refer to people, places or things: girl, kitchen, car.
• Abstract nouns refer to qualities, states or actions: humour, belief,
honesty
NOUN CLASSES
• Count v.s. non-count
• Count nouns refer to entities that are viewed as countable. Count
nouns therefore have both a singular and a plural form and they can
be accompanied by determiners that refer to distinctions in number

• Non-count nouns refer to entities that are viewed as an indivisible

mass that cannot be counted: for example, information, furniture,
software. Non-count nouns are treated as singular and can be
accompanied only by determiners that do not refer to distinctions in
number:
NOUN CLASSES
• There is a general tendency for abstract nouns to be non-count
• Some nouns may be either count or non-count, depending on their
meaning
• There is not enough light in here. Non-count
• We need another couple of lights. Count
• Sandra does not have much difficulty with science. Non-count
• Benjamin is having great difficulties with arithmetic. Count
NOUN CLASSES
• Numbers
• Genders
• Case
• common case and the genitive case. The common case is the one
that is used ordinarily. The genitive case generally indicates
that the noun is dependent on the noun that follows it.
• Jane’s reactions – the reactions of Jane
Singular Plural
• common case the student the students
• genitive case student’s essay the students’ essays
NOUN CLASSES
• Dependent and independent case
• The dependent genitive functions like a possessive determiner
• the student’s essay (dependent genitive)
• his essay (possessive determiner)
• The independent genitive is not dependent on a following noun. The
noun may be omitted because it can be understood from the context
• Our ideas are more acceptable than Sandra’s. („Sandra‟s ideas‟)
David‟s comments are like Peter’s. („Peter‟s comments‟)
• The independent genitive may combine with the of-structure
• a friend of Martha’s
a suggestion of Norman’s
MAIN VERBS
• Verb suffixes

-ate, -iate chlorinate, originate, differentiate

-en darken, hasten, sadden

-ify, -fy codify, falsify, beautify

-ise, -ize apologise, publicise, rationalize

 MAIN VERBS
• Regular and Irregular verbs
• Classes of irregular verbs
AUXILIARY VERBS
• Classes of auxiliaries
• Primary auxiliaries be, have and do, and
• Modal auxiliaries can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might
and must
• Semi-auxiliaries, which include have to (I have to go now), be
going to (He’s going to retire next year), had better (He had better
not be late) and ought to (You ought to take a break).
• Passive auxiliary
• Progressive auxiliary
• Perfect auxiliary
THE MEANING OF MODALS
The modals express two main types of meaning:
• Human control over events, such as is involved in permission,
intention, ability or obligation:
You may leave now. („I give you permission to…)
I could speak Greek when I was young. („I knew how to …)
You must go to bed at once. („I require you to …)
• Judgement whether an event was, is or will be likely to happen:
They may be away for the weekend. („It is possible that they are …)
That could be your mother. („It is possible that it is …)
It must be past midnight. („It is certainly the case that it is …)
PRACTICE
Paraphrase the meanings of the underlined modals in the sentences below.

1. If you hit volleys like this you will have lots of success.
2. In addition to the basic volley, you may have to play half-volleys.
3. If played badly, a half-volley can have drastic consequences.
4. The grip must be firm on impact.
5. Although you can use a two-handed volley, the major disadvantage is one of
reach.
6. The two-handed volley may look easy, but it isn‟t.
7. You should start from the ready position, with a backhand grip.
8. A backhand volley can be played either with one hand or with two hands.
9. Your right arm will be slightly bent.
10. A backhand volley may look difficult, but practice makes perfect.