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eBook English Syntax (Tài Liệu Ôn Thi Tuyển Sinh Sau Đại Học Chuyên Ngành Giảng Dạy Tiếng Anh) - Phần 1 - Tô Minh Thanh - 961922
eBook English Syntax (Tài Liệu Ôn Thi Tuyển Sinh Sau Đại Học Chuyên Ngành Giảng Dạy Tiếng Anh) - Phần 1 - Tô Minh Thanh - 961922
TRÖÔØNG ÑAÏI HOÏC KHOA HOÏC XAÕ HOÄI & NHAÂN VAÊN
TUYEÅN SINH SAU ÑAÏI HOÏC CHUYEÂN NGAØNH Giaûng daïy tieáng Anh
Thöïc teá laø khoâng phaûi saùch ngoân ngöõ cuûa taùc giaû ngöôøi nöôùc ngoaøi naøo
cuõng ñaùp öùng ñuùng vaø ñuû noäi dung oân taäp thi tuyeån sinh sau ñaïi hoïc chuyeân
ngaønh Giaûng daïy tieáng Anh (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
theo quy ñònh cuûa Tröôøng Ñaïi hoïc Khoa hoïc Xaõ hoäi vaø Nhaân vaên, thuoäc Ñaïi
hoïc Quoác gia Thaønh phoá Hoà Chí Minh. Taøi lieäu naøy ra ñôøi nhaèm ñaùp öùng nhu
caàu oân taäp thi tuyeån sinh sau ñaïi hoïc cho moân Ngöõ hoïc trong chuyeân ngaønh
neâu treân.
Ñeå giuùp caùc ñoái töôïng döï thi laøm quen vaø chuaån bò toát cho kyø thi cuûa
mình, taøi lieäu naøy (1) bao goàm nhöõng troïng ñieåm theo ñuùng qui ñònh veà noäi
dung oân taäp cuûa Ñeà cöông oân taäp Cuù phaùp cho kyø thi tuyeån sinh sau ñaïi hoïc
chuyeân ngaønh Giaûng daïy tieáng Anh vaø (2) ñöôïc trình baøy thaønh boán phaàn:
Phaàn 1: Caùc töø loaïi (Word Classes)
Phaàn 2: Caùc loaïi ngöõ, cuù vaø caâu (Types of phrases, clauses and
sentences)
Phaàn 3: Caùc moái quan heä ngöõ phaùp (Grammatical relations)
Phaàn 4: Moät soá ñeà thi vaø ñaùp aùn ñaõ thöïc teá ñöôïc duøng trong caùc kyø thi gaàn
ñaây.
Taøi lieäu naøy cuõng coù theå naèm trong thö muïc saùch tham khaûo giuùp sinh
vieân heä taïi chöùc vaø heä chính quy baèng 1 vaø baèng 2 cuûa chuyeân ngaønh Ngöõ
vaên Anh hoïc thaønh coâng moân Syntax trong chöông trình chính khoùa cuûa caùc
heä ñaøo taïo ñaïi hoïc naøy. Ngoaøi ra, caùc hoïc vieân cao hoïc chuyeân ngaønh Giaûng
daïy tieáng Anh vaø caùc thaày coâ cuûa khoùa Boài döôõng giaùo vieân taïi Tröôøng Ñaïi
hoïc Khoa hoïc Xaõ hoäi vaø Nhaân vaên, thuoäc Ñaïi hoïc Quoác gia Thaønh phoá Hoà Chí
Minh cuõng coù theå tham khaûo taøi lieäu naøy khi theo hoïc moân Linguistics PG
trong chöông trình chính khoùa cuûa caû hai heä ñaøo taïo sau ñaïi hoïc naøy.
Raát mong taøi lieäu naøy seõ giuùp caùc ñoái töôïng döï thi töï oân luyeän toát hôn duø
coù ñieàu kieän hay khoâng theå tröïc tieáp theo hoïc caùc lôùp luyeän thi taïi tröôøng.
vi
CONTENTS
Content ................................................................................................................................. i
Preface.............................................................................................................................. vii
Outline for revision ............................................................................................................ ix
Table of notational symbols ........................................................................................... xii
i
8.6 Verb participles ........................................................................................ 29
8.7 Gerunds ..................................................................................................... 30
8.8 Restricters ................................................................................................ 31
9 Types of post-nominal modifiers ......................................................................... 32
9.1 Prepositional phrases ................................................................................. 32
9.2 Adjective phrases ...................................................................................... 33
9.3 Participial phrases ..................................................................................... 35
9.4 Infinitive phrases ...................................................................................... 35
9.5 Subordinate adjective clauses .................................................................. 36
10 Noun complements vs. optional post-nominal modifiers .................................. 36
11 Classification of English verbs/verb phrases ................................................... 38
11.1 Intensive verbs/verb phrases ................................................................. 39
11.2 Complex transitive verbs/verb phrases .................................................. 40
11.3 Ditransitive verbs/verb phrases ............................................................. 43
11.4 Monotransitive verbs/verb phrases ........................................................ 47
11.5 Prepositional verbs/verb phrases ........................................................... 51
11.5.1 Monotransitive Prepositional verbs/verb phrases ................... 51
11.5.2 Ditransitive Prepositional verbs/verb phrases ........................ 53
11.6 Intransitive verbs/verb phrases ............................................................. 55
11.7 Summary of the classification of English verbs/verb phrases ............. 57
11.8 Troublesome verbs ................................................................................... 59
12 Types of clause links .......................................................................................... 61
13 Types of clauses ................................................................................................. 62
13.1 Finite clauses vs. non-finite clauses ........................................................ 62
13.2 Independent clauses vs. dependent clauses ........................................... 63
13.3 Subordinate clauses vs. embedded clauses ............................................ 64
14 Covert subjects vs. overt subjects .................................................................. 66
15 Types of finite dependent clauses .................................................................... 67
15.1 Nonimal clauses ........................................................................................ 67
15.2 Relative clauses ........................................................................................ 67
ii
15.3 Adverbial clauses ..................................................................................... 68
15.4 Reporting clauses ..................................................................................... 68
15.5 Comment clauses ...................................................................................... 68
16 Types of non-finite clauses .............................................................................. 69
16.1 Infinitive non-finite clauses .................................................................... 69
16.2 Gerund non-finite clauses ........................................................................ 69
16.3 Participial non-finite clauses ................................................................... 70
16.4 Verbless clauses ....................................................................................... 71
17 Classification of sentences according to their structures ............................. 71
17.1 Simple sentences ...................................................................................... 71
17.2 Compound sentences ................................................................................ 72
17.3 Complex sentences ................................................................................... 72
17.3.1 Embedded nominal clauses .............................................................. 73
17.3.1.1 As the subject ...................................................................... 73
17.3.1.2 As the direct object/the predicator complement ............ 78
17.3.1.3 As the indirect object ........................................................ 89
17.3.1.4 As the subject(ive) complement .......................................... 90
17.3.1.5 As the object(ive) complement ........................................... 91
17.3.1.6 As the complement of a preposition .................................... 94
17.3.2 Subordinate/embedded adjectival clauses .................................... 95
17.3.3 Subordinate/embedded adverbial clauses ..................................... 96
17.4 Compound-Complex sentences ................................................................. 97
iii
21 Constructions vs. constituents ........................................................................ 104
22 Immediate constituents vs. ultimate constituents ........................................ 104
23 Immediate constituents of a sentence ........................................................... 105
24 Intervening level of organization between word and sentence ..................... 106
25 Modifiers vs. complements ............................................................................... 106
26 Types of adjective complements ...................................................................... 108
27 Pre-adjectival modifiers vs. post-adjectival modifiers ................................. 108
28 Adjective complements vs. optional post-adjectival modifiers .................... 109
29 Classification of English adjectives according to their post-modifiers ............ 111
30 Types of adverbial adjuncts ............................................................................. 112
31 Noun phrase analyses ....................................................................................... 123
32 Mis-diagraming .................................................................................................. 125
33 Structural ambiguity in English noun phrases ................................................. 126
33.1 Define a structurally ambiguous noun phrase .......................................... 126
33.2 Explain structurally ambiguous noun phrases ........................................... 128
33.3 Disambiguate structurally ambiguous noun phrases ................................. 134
33.4 Account for structurally non-ambiguous noun phrases ........................... 138
34 Verb phrase analyses .................................................................................. 140
34.1 Noun phrases as the sP/sC of an intensive verb or as the dO of
a monotransitive verb ............................................................................. 140
34.2 NP direct objects of a monotransitive verb or NP adverbial
adjuncts of an intransitive verb .............................................................. 141
34.3 Prepositional phrases as the sP/sC of an intensive verb or as
the optional adverbial adjunct of any verb ............................................ 142
34.4 IntransVAC vs. intransV—Adv .............................................................. 143
34.5 MonotransVAC—NP vs. intransV—PP .................................................... 144
34.6 MonotransVAC—NP vs. monotrans-prepV—prepO ............................... 146
35 Sentence analyses ....................................................................................... 147
35.1 Identify the syntactic function of a PP ................................................... 147
35.2 Decide whether a PP is part of the complementation of a
ditransitive verb ..................................................................................... 148
iv
35.3 Explain the difference between two sentences ...................................... 151
35.4 Re-analyse sentence pairs, using tree-diagrams .................................. 154
36 Structural ambiguity in English verb phrases ................................................ 157
37 Phrase structure ............................................................................................... 162
37.1 Definition ................................................................................................. 162
37.2 How to determine phrase structure? ..................................................... 162
37.2.1 Substitution .............................................................................. 162
37.2.2 Conjoinability ............................................................................. 165
37.2.3 Movement .................................................................................. 166
37.2.4 Checking the antecedent for a pro-form ................................ 167
37.3 Phrase structure exercises .................................................................... 167
38 Phrase structure rules ..................................................................................... 170
39 Surface structures vs. deep structures ......................................................... 172
40 Signals of syntactic structures ....................................................................... 174
40.1 Word order .............................................................................................. 174
40.2 Function words ......................................................................................... 174
40.3 Inflection ................................................................................................. 175
40.4 Derivational contrast .............................................................................. 176
40.5 Prosody .................................................................................................... 176
41 What is syntax? ............................................................................................... 177
v
Ñaïi Hoïc Quoác Gia Tp. Hoà Chí Minh
TRÖÔØNG ÑAÏI HOÏC KHOA HOÏC XAÕ HOÄI & NHAÂN VAÊN
1. Linguistics
(a) Semantics
- The expression of meaning in English at the word and sentence level;
- The relations of different kinds of meaning;
- Meaning shifts or words;
- Use of language in social interaction.
(b) Syntax
- Word classes;
- Grammatical relations;
- Types of phrases, clauses & sentences.
2. Academic Writing
Write an essay of 250 - 300 words on an issue of second language
teaching and learning.
REFERENCES
Fromkin V. et al (1988) An Introduction to Language.
Sydney: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
viii
ix
SEMANTICS
Propositions-Utterances-Sentences
Performative sentences
Felicity conditions
Speech events
Pragmatic meaning
Maxims of conversation
Maxims of politeness
x
ENGLISH SYNTAX
Introduction • Chapters 1 & 2 in Jackson
• Syntax: “the study of how words combine to (1980)
form sentences and the rules which govern the • Chapter 5 in Francis (1958)
information of sentences” (Richards, Platt & • “The Grammar of English” by
Weber) Heatherington, in Clar et al
• Traditional grammar — Structural grammar — (1981: 329-42)
Transformational grammar • What do native speakers know
Five signals of syntactic structures: Word order, about their language?
Prosody, Function words, Inflections, and by Jacbs and Rosenbaum,
Derivational contrast (Francis, 1958: 234) in Clark et al (1981: 343-49)
Word classes: open ad closed classes
• Open classes: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives,
Adverbs (Jackson, 1980)
• Closed classes: Pronouns, Numerals,
Determiners, Prepositions, Conjunctions
(Jackson, 1980)
IC’s in Syntax • Chapter 6 in Francis (1958)
Four basic types of syntactic structures: • Chapter 6 in Fromkin et al
modification, predication, complementation, (1990)
and coordination (Francis, 1958) • Chapter 1in Nida (1996)
Endocentric and exocentric constructions • John Lyons (translated
(Bloomfield, 1933; Nida, 1966) version) pp. 368-70
Noun phrases Chapter 3 in Jackson (1980)
Types of modifiers in noun phrases
• Premodification: identifier, numeral/quantifier,
adjective, noun modifier
• Postmodification: relative clauses, non-finite
clauses, prepositional phrases
Verb phrases: tense, aspect, mood, voice Chapter 4 in Jackson (1980)
Adjective phrases, adverb phrases, and Chapter 5 in Jackson (1980)
prepositional phrases
Clauses Chapter 6 & 7 in Jackson (1980)
• Structures and types
• Dependent clauses
Phrase structure rules & Transformational rules Chapter 5 in Fromkin et al (1990)
xi
NOTATIONAL SYMBOLS
Most of the symbols used in this text follow conventions, but since conventions
vary, the following list indicates the meanings assigned to them here.
A = adjective iO = indirect object
Adv = (general) adverb M = modifier
ART = article ModN = pre-modifying noun
AP = adjective phrase monotrans = monotransitive verb
AdvP = adverb phrase monotrans-prep = monotransitive
C = complement prepositional verb
ComN = compound noun monotransVAC = monotransitive verb-
Comp = complementizer adverbial composite
complex = complex transitive verb N = noun
Conj = conjunction N’ = N-bar
Co-P = a coordination of Prepositions nC = noun complement
Co-PP = a coordinate Prepositional NP = noun phrase
phrase NUM = numeral/number
Co-NP = a coordinate noun phrase opA = optional adverbial adjunct
Co-AP = a coordinate adjective phrase obA = obligatory adverbial adjunct
DEG = degree adverb oC = object(ive) complement
DEM = demonstrative oP = object-predicative
DET = determiner POST-MOD = post-modifier
dO = direct object POST-DET = post-determiner
ditrans = ditransitive verb PRE-MOD = pre-modifier
ditrans-prep = ditransitive PRE-DET = pre-determiner
prepositional verb PRO = pronoun
EmACl = embedded adjective clause PropN = proper noun
EmAdvCl = embedded adverbial clause Poss = possessive
EXCLAMATORY DET = exclamatory PossA = possessive adjective
determiner PossPropN = possessive proper noun
E] = empty/covert/zero/implicit subject PossCommN = possessive common noun
[E
H = the head PossMarker = possessive marker
headN = the head noun PossNP = possessive noun phrase
headPRO = the head pronoun predC = predicator complement
headPropN = the head proper noun P = preposition
headA = the head adjective prep = prepositional verb
headGer = the head gerund prepO = prepositional object
IC = immediate constituent prepC = complement of a preposition
InfP = infinitive phrase PP = prepositional phrase
intens = intensive verb PartP = participial phrase
intrans = intransitive verb Q = quantifier
intransVAC = intransitive verb- QA = quantifying adjective
adverbial composite RESTRIC = restricter
S = sentence
xii
S’= S-bar Prt = adverbial particle
sC = subject(ive) complement VAC = verb-adverbial composite
sP = subject-predicative * = unaccepted form
SubACl = subordinate adjective clause ? = doubtfully acceptable form
SubAdvCl = subordinate adverbial clause [ ] = embedded unit
VP = verb phrase / = or
Vgrp = verb group φ= unfilled
V-Part = verb participle ⇒ = one-way dependence
V-Ger = gerund ⇔ = two-way dependence
xiii
SECTION 1: WORD CLASSES
“The traditional term ‘parts of speech’ is puzzling; it’s not clear why
kinds of words — really, classes of words — would be ‘parts’ of speech
any more than, say, phonemes, allophones, morphemes, allomorphs, or
even phrases or sentences. In fact, instead of ‘parts of speech,’ linguists
usually employ the terms ‘word class’ or ‘grammatical category.’ The
term ‘grammatical category’ is a useful one, since it captures an important
aspect of a ‘part of speech,’ namely, that all tokens of a particular part of
speech share important grammatical characteristics that other parts of speech
lack. The term ‘word class,’ however, is valuable in its simplicity and is
certainly an improvement over ‘part of speech’.” [Kaplan, 1989: 105]
1
“The syntactic categories of words and groups of words are revealed by
the way they pattern in sentences. If you didn’t have knowledge of these
syntactic categories, you would be unable to form grammatical sentences or
distinguish between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences.” [Fromkin
et al, 1988: 214] For example, the child belong to a family that includes the
police officer, your neighbour, this yellow cat, he, and countless others.
Each member of this family can be substituted for the child without
affecting the grammaticality of the sentence, although the meanings of
course would change.
“A family of expressions that can substitute for one another
without loss of grammaticality is called a syntactic category.” [Fromkin
and Rodman, 1993: 79]
1
2 Classification of word classes
2.1 Major classes vs. minor classes: Kaplan, [1989: 106] divides word
classes into two main groups—major and minor.
major classes minor classes
1. The major classes — nouns, 1. The minor classes — pronouns,
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs — numerals, determiners, prepositions,
have a great many members, e.g. a conjunctions, and so on — have few
hundred thousand nouns. members. It’s easy to list all the
articles of English: a, an, and the.
There are maybe 70 prepositions and
approximately a dozen subordinate
conjunctions: when, since, because,
after, before, while, although, as, etc.
2. Major class words tend to have 2. Minor class words tend not to have
referential meanings, since they referential meanings. That is their
involve, or allow, reference to actual meanings are not easily specified by
things, actions, events, or properties, means of a neat definition, e.g. how
e.g. “Horse means that kind of would you define the or of? In other
animals.” uttered while pointing to a words, “the open classes bear the
horse. greatest load in terms of meaning, in
the sense of refrence to things in the
world while the function of closed
classes is oriented more towards
internal linguistic relationships.”
[Jackson, 1980: 7]
3. Major classes are receptive to new 3. Minor classes are not receptive to
members. As a result, major classes new members; they are closed. It’s
are also called open classes [Jackson, unlikely you can think of any last new
1980: 7]. Originating in slang or slangy article, conjunction, pronoun,
casual contexts are the following new or preposition you’ve learned.
nouns, verbs, and adjectives (new
adverbs are harder to come up with):
teflon, yuppie, nerd (nouns); scam,
boot up, book (verbs); rad, gnardly,
killer, tubular, (adjectives).
2
2.2 English major classes: In defining major/open classes, Stageberg
[1965: 191-219] presents a double-track classification, one by form and the
other by position2.
2
1. House and Harman [1965] also classifies major/open classes according to their
meaning.
“According to the meaning they represent, nouns may be divided into several
classes: common or proper, concrete or abstract, collective, individual, mass,
material, etc.” [House and Harman, 1965: 22]
“When classified as to meaning, adjectives are descriptive or definitive,
some of each class having definite and some indefinite application.” [House and
Harman, 1965: 73]
2. Fromkin et al [1988, 214-215] present three types of criteria to define
major/open classes:
- Form: The class of a word may be apparent from its form. Certain
inflectional and derivational morphemes are associated with certain word classes.
- Function: The class of words may be indicated by the way it functions in a
phrase or sentence. For example, in the sentence
He will not score any more runs unless he runs faster.
The first runs is recognized as a noun and the second as a verb because of
their function.
- Meaning: Some words are commonly classified according to their semantic
type, such as abstract nouns (truth, kindness, beauty) and stative verbs (be,
appear, resemble).
Unfortunately meaning is not a reliable guide because there are many words
which belong to more than one word class (kick, love, drink), but those whose
meaning remains essentially the same. Meaning is therefore best regarded as a
secondary criterion, to be used to check the purely grammatical criteria of form
and function.
3. Kaplan [1989:108] points out that one problem with the traditional definition
of noun and verb since it is meaning-based (a noun is a word that names a person,
place, or thing; a verb is a word that names an action or state), it ought to be
universal — valid in all languages, that is. But concepts that are encoded
linguistically as nouns in one language may be encoded as verbs or adjectives in
others. In English, for example, we normally say I’m hungry, using an adjective to
describe how we feel; but in Spanish one says tengo hambre — literally, “I have
hunger”, using a noun, hambre, to describe the same feeling.
3
Stageberg’s four form classes are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs. Each form-class has its correlative position class, which will be
later labelled as nominals, verbals, adjectivals, or adverbials.
2.2.1 English form classes
2.2.1.1 Nouns
Noun are identified as nouns by two aspects of form, their
inflectional morphemes, and their derivational morphemes.
2.2.1.1.1 The two noun inflectional suffixes in English are:
The noun plural morpheme {–S1}: book–s, apple–s, box–es, etc.
The noun possessive morpheme {–S2}: man–’s, girl–’s, students–’,
Alice–’s, etc.
2.2.1.1.2 Nouns are identified not only by inflectional
morphemes but also by noun-forming derivational suffixes added to
verbs, adjectives, nouns, and bound forms: accept → acceptance, big →
bigness, book → booklet, dent- → dentist, etc.
2.2.1.2 Verbs
Verbs are identified as verbs by two aspects of form, their
inflectional morphemes, and their derivational morphemes.
2.2.1.2.1 The four verb inflectional suffixes in English are:
The verb third person singular present tense morpheme {–S3}:
walk–s, find–s, mix–es, etc.
The verb present participle morpheme {–ing1}:
play–ing, typ(e)–ing, dig(g)–ing, etc.
The verb past simple morpheme {–D1}:
flow–ed, work–ed, creat(e)–ed, drank, broke, thought, show–ed, etc.
The verb past participle morpheme {–D2}:
flow–ed, work–ed, creat(e)–ed, drunk, broken, thought, show–n, etc.
2.2.1.2.2 Verbs are identified not only by inflectional
morphemes but also by verb-forming derivational affixes added to
nouns or adjectives: knowledge → acknowledge, bath → bathe, ripe → ripen,
large → enlarge, etc.
4
2.2.1.3 Adjectives
Adjectives are identified as adjectives by two aspects of form, their
inflectional morphemes, and their derivational morphemes.
In short, “a word which is inflected with –er and –est and which is
capable of forming adverbs with –ly and/or nouns with –ness is called an
adjective.” [Stageberg, 1965: 202]
Or, “an adjective will be any word which has one or more of the
following positive attributes:
i. it can occur between Article and Noun.
ii. it can occur in the slot (Art) N is _____.
iii. it can occur before (or contains) –er and –est, or after more and most.
3
There is a group of about seventy-five, mostly of two syllables, which begin with
the prefix a-: afoot, aground, awake, agape, aloud, afresh, alert, adroit, etc.
“These are uninflected words (UW’s) because they take no inflectional endings.
Although they do have the prefix a- in common, it seems unwise to label them
formally as either adjectives or adverbs since positionally they appear in both
adjectival and adverbial slots.” [Stageberg, 1965: 206]
5
2.2.1.3.4 Adverbs
2.2.1.3.4.1 The two adverb inflectional suffixes in English are:
The adverb comparative morpheme {–er1}: fast–er, hard–er, etc.
The adverb superlative morpheme {–est 1}: fast–est, hard–est, etc.
2.2.1.3.4.2 Adverbs are identified not only by inflectional
morphemes but also by the adverb-forming derivational suffix {–ly1}4
added to adjectives: just → justly, beautiful→ beautifully, etc.
4
“In the word-stock of English there are many uninflected words often employed
in the adverbial positions:
1. Uninflected words used both as adverbials and prepositions: above, about,
after, around, before, behind, below, down, in, inside, on, out, outside, since, to,
under, up.
2. “-ward” series, with optional –s: afterward, backward, downward, forward,
homeward, inward, northward, outward, upward, windward.
3. “Here” series: here, herein, hereby, heretofore, hereafter.
4. “There” series: there, therein, thereby, theretofore, thereafter.
5. “-where” series: anywhere, everywhere, somewhere, nowhere.
6. “-ways” series: crossways, sideways; also, anyway.
7. “-time” series: meantime, sometime, anytime, sometimes.
8. Miscellaneous: today, tonight, tomorrow, yesterday, now, then, seldom, still,
yet, already, meanwhile, also, too, never, not, forth, thus, sidelong, headlong, maybe,
perhaps, instead, indeed, henceforth, piecemeal, nevertheless, downstairs, indoors,
outdoors, offhand, overseas, unawares, besides, furthermore, always.” [Stageberg,
1965:215]
6
- For Glenda to steal the diamond WOULD BE a shame.
2. The position of the direct object:
I HATE telling lies.
I WANT to think critically.
7
5. Giving to the poor is a Christian virtue.” [Stageberg, 1965: 201]
2.2.2.3 “Adjectivals, like nominals, occupy certain
characteristic sentence positions.” [Stageberg, 1965: 206]
1. The position between the determiner and the noun:
That joyful/college/laughing/recommended freshman is bright.
2. The position right after the noun:
The fellow waving drives a convertible.
3. The position right after an intensive verb: He always remains quiet.
4. The position right after the direct object of a complex transitive
verb: The management considered him competent.
8
(2)a. She actually EXPECTS to marry him.
b. Mary in her own way WAS a darling.
c. The environment secretary yesterday MOVED
to mitigate the effects of the inland revenue revaluation.
After THE MODAL/FIRST AUXILIARY VERB and before THE LEXICAL VERB:
(2)d. He WOULD seldom MAKE effort.
e. You MAY in this way BE of great assistance.
f. Carrie HAD often DREAMED about coming back.
g. The utilization of computers IS not of course LIMITED to business.
After all obligatory elements, i.e. the indirect object, the direct object,
the subjective complement, or the objective complement, of THE LEXICAL
VERB (though it may not be the last element if there are other final
adverbials in the same clause):
(3)a. Tom WAS a doctor for many years.
b. Tom WILL PLAY football tomorrow.
c. Tom SENT a telegraph to his wife yesterday morning.
d. Tom PUT his watch where he can find it in the dark.
e. Tom BELIEVED the man crazy after questioning him.
9
2.3 English minor classes:
Jackson’s [1980: 9-11] minor/closed classes consist of pronouns that
“have to main function of substituting for nouns, once a noun has been
mentioned in a particular text”; numerals that “are of two kinds: ordinal and
cardinal”; determiners that “are used with nouns and have the function of
defining the reference of the noun in some way”; prepositions the chief
function of which is “relating a noun phrase to another unit”; and
conjunctions that “are of two kinds: co-ordinating conjunctions, such as
and, or, but, which join two items on an equal footing; and subordinating
conjunctions, such as when, if, why, whether, because, since, which
subordinate one item to another in some way.”
1. swiftly 6. richly
2. homely 7. neatly {-ly1}
3. softly 8. yearly
4. costly {-ly2} 9. beastly
5. deftly 10. sourly
10
EXERCISE 2: Identify the italicized -ly as either the derivational adverb-
forming suffix {-ly1} or the derivational adverb-forming
suffix {-ly2}. Complete the table.
5
Notice the derivational class-changing noun-forming morpheme {-ing2} in
teaching, a meeting, droppings, etc.
11
EXERCISE 4: In the blank place a V to identifythe italicized inflectional
verb past participle morpheme {-D2} and an A to identify the
italicized derivational class-changing adjective-forming
morpheme {-D3}6. Complete the table.
1. You should read the printed statement. {-D2}
2. Mary became a devoted mother. {-D3}
3. This is a complicated question.
4. His chosen bride had lived in India.
5. He bought a stolen picture.
6. The invited guests all came.
7. He had a reserved seat.
8. The skipper was a reserved (= quiet) man.
9. A celebrated painter visited the campus.
10. A worried look crossed his face.
6
Notice that {-D1} is the inflectional verb past tense morpheme.
12
EXERCISE 6: The adverbial word groups are italicized. In the blank, give their
syntactic function in the sentence. Complete the table.
1. I’ll dress while you shave. adjunct of time
2. Our guide split the log with care.
3. He might under the circumstances agree the job.
4. When the coffee is ready, blow the whistle.
5. Chewing his tobacco meditatively, Ed studied
the blackening sky.
6. A hungry trout rose to the surface.
7. By that time the fish were no longer biting.
8. To find the camp, just follow the creek downstream. adjunct of purpose
9. From the hilltop you can see the sawmill.
10. Jake hunts to make a living.
11. You must hold the knife this way.
13
EXERCISE 8: In the blank identify the italicized word(s) by nominal, verbal,
adjectival or adverbial. Complete the table.
1. Last Monday was a holiday. nominal
2. The Monday washing is on the line. adjectival
3. Mrs. Reed always washes Mondays. adverbial
4. Won’t you come in?
5. The outs were angry with the ins.
6. They stomped upstairs.
7. They slept in the upstairs room.
8. One can see the airport from upstairs.
9. Jack was wrestling with his math.
10. The wrestling roommates were exhausted.
11. Jennifer found wrestling exciting.
12. They came in wrestling.
13. The student movie is presented weekly.
14. The student movie is a weekly occurrence
15. His way is the best.
16. He had it his way.
17. The mechanic ran the engine full speed.
18. By this means he burned down the carbon.
19. He raised the hood because the engine was hot.
20. They found the cabin just what they wanted.
14
SECTION 2: TYPES of PHRASES, CLAUSES and SENTENCES
15
rude, theoretically untenable, oddly inconclusive, diabolically tinted,
immediately recognizable, horribly burnt, etc.
An ADJECTIVE (A, for short) is the minimal form of an AP; indeed
many adjective phrases occur in the minimal form:
very enthusiastic → enthusiastic.
The head adjective may be pre-modified by:
degree adverbs, which are also called intensifying adverbs,
(DEG, for short; –ly or without –ly adverbs which specify the degree of the
attribute expressed by the adjective): very, highly, extremely, terribly,
awfully, completely, much, quite, so, too, rather, somewhat, hardly,
fairly, moderately, partially, slightly, increasingly, incredibly, etc.
general adverbs, which are also called non-intensifying adverbs,
(Adv, for short; –ly adverbs which typically have other adverbial functions
as well): frankly, potentially, enthusiastically, immediately, annoyingly,
oddly, disgustingly, amazingly, suspiciously, awkwardly, beautifully, etc.
AP AP
16
appears to be either directly (amazingly) or indirectly (horribly) an
expression of personal evaluation.
AdvP AdvP
17
But the vast majority of adjectives may function either attributively or
predicatively:
ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES PREDICATIVE ADJECTIVES
(4)a. The charming girl ATTRACTS his attention. (4)b. The girl IS charming.
(5)a. She’S a lonely wife. (5)b. I sometimes FEEL lonely.
_________________
6 Noun phrases vs. verb phrases
6.1 A NOUN PHRASE (NP, for short) in English consists of a nominal head
(normally a noun or a pronoun) with or without the modifiers that accompany
it, before or after.
NP1
NP2 AP
AP1 N’2
ModN headN
18
6.2 The one constituent that a VERB PHRASE (VP, for short) must contain is
the VERB GROUP (Vgrp, for short) [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 78]. The Vgrp, in
its turn, contains one lexical verb and “may have up to four auxiliary
verbs, besides the negative word not:
may not have been being interrogated.” [Jackson, 1980: 18]
The verb phrase in English consists of a Vgrp and all the words and
word groups which belong with the Vgrp and cluster around it. The Vgrp
itself is called the head, and the other words and word groups are the
modifiers and/or the complements of the head.
The modifier is the generic term for all the adverbial adjuncts that
optionally provide circumstantial information about the action, the process,
the event, etc. talked about in the clause in which they occur. Soundly
optionally describes the manner in which the baby sleeps and beside a
stream optionally describes the place at which Phil had lost his leather
wallet; the two adverbial adjuncts can be omitted without disturbing the
proposition of the two following sentences, which are marked (4)a-b:
(4)a. The baby WAS SLEEPING (soundly).
b. Phil HAD LOST his leather wallet (beside a stream).
The relation between the Vgrp (was sleeping or had lost his
leather wallet) and the adverbial adjunct (soundly or beside a stream)
is one of modification: there is a one-way dependency between the Vgrp
(as head) and the adverbial adjunct (as modifier). Thus, the use of the
Vgrp without any adverbial adjunct is grammatically acceptable.
The complement is the generic term for all the completers of the
verb [Stageberg, 1965: 165], which are usually known as the direct
object, the indirect object, the subjective complement, the objective
complement, and also the predicator complement [Downing and Locke,
1992: 55-56].
19
had lost is the Vgrp. The relation between the Vgrp (had lost) and the NP
(his leather wallet) is one of complementation: there is a two-way
dependency between the Vgrp (as head) and the NP (as complement).
The use of had lost without a following NP is ungrammatical, and so is the
use of the NP without had lost.
In the VP had lost his leather wallet beside a stream, had lost
is the Vgrp, his leather wallet is the complement and beside a stream
is the modifier of the Vgrp.
S
NP VP1
Since the one may substitute for the lonely man, we have shown that
lonely man is indeed a constituent, one that is a sister of the determiner on
the tree-diagram. Clearly, lonely man is not a full noun phrase, since it needs
a determiner; but neither is it a single noun — an intermediate category
20
is needed, one higher than noun and lower than noun phrase. We will
show it here as N’, and call it ‘the N-bar.’
NP
DET N’
AP N
8.1.1 Below are the determiners that may be preceded by one of the
pre-determiners (PRE-DET, for short), which are all, both and half
[Stageberg, 1965: 235]:
articles: the and a/an;
possessives: her, his, its, their, your, John’s, the book’s, etc.;
demonstratives: this, that, these, and those.
NP1 NP1 NP1
21
called QUANTIFIERS (Q, for short): some, any, no, each, enough, either,
neither and another, the others are often known as interrogative or
exclamatory determiners: what (a/an)1, which2 and whose3.
NP NP NP
1
what /w4t/ (det.) = the thing(s) which, the person or people who:
What money I have will be yours when I die.
I spent what little time with my family.
What family and friends I still have live a broad.
what /w4t/ (exclamatory det., used in making exclamations):
What awful weather we’re having!
What beautiful flowers! What a (lovely) view!
what /w4t/ (interrogative det., used to ask sb to specify one or more things, places, people,
etc. from an indefinite number):
Guess what famous writer said this.
I asked her what experience she has had.
What books have you got to read on the subjects?
What woman are you thinking of?
2
which /w1t∫/ (interrogative determiner, used to ask sb to specify one or more things,
places, people, etc. from a limited number):
Which way is quicker — by bus or by train?
Ask him which platform the London train leaves from.
which /w1t∫/ (interrogative pronoun) = which person or thing:
Which is your favourite subject?
Here are the recently published books. Tell me which are worth reading.
The twins are so much alike that I can’t tell which is which.
3
whose /hu:z/ (interrogative determiner/interrogative pronoun) = of whom:
Whose (house) is that? I wonder whose (book) this is.
22
NP1
NP DET N’1
ART headN2
(3)b. the book ‘s cover
8.1.4 The determiner position may be UNFILLED (φ, for short). Although
the noun phrases marked (4)a-b contain just one word, they should still be
analyzed as having a DET + N’ structure:
NP NP
DET N’ DET N’
HeadN headN
23
Like adjectives, they co-occur with and follow determiners: those
many books, the little butter that I have, some few successes, etc.,
including an unfilled determiner: φ many books, φ much garlic, etc.
Like adjectives, they are gradable: VERY many books, TOO much
garlic, SO few ideas, VERY little tact, where they are modified by A DEGREE
ADVERB.
NP NP
DET N’1
AP N’2
QA headN
24
CARDINAL NUMERALS: one, two, three, ... , and ninety-nine.
ORDINAL NUMERALS: first, second, third, fourth, ..., and last.
NP NP
score [C., pl. unchanged] set or group of twenty: a score of people, three score and ten
4
25
NP NP
(8)a. the first three students (8)b. the two first prizes
26
NP NP
27
NP NP
(11)a. some expensive roof maintenance (11)b. George’s two wool neckties
8.5.2 It is not unusual for more than one modifying noun to occur in a
noun phrase. “A complication arises from the fact that noun modifiers can
themselves be modified.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 163]
NP NP
ModNP
headComN1
(12)a. the child safety harness (12)b. the φ child poverty action group
28
NP NP
(14)a. the summer’s red roses (14)b. the red summer’s roses
Note that (14)a-b both mean ‘the roses which are red and which bloom
in summer’. Similarly, (15)a means ‘the garden roses which bloom in summer’
while (15)b means ‘the garden roses which are red and which bloom in
summer’.
NP NP
AP2 N’3
(15)a. the summer’s garden roses (15)b. the summer’s red garden roses
8.7 VERB PARTICIPLES (V-Part, for short): The active present participle
and the passive past participle may appear as pre-modifiers within the
N-bar.
NP NP
29
5
ACTIVE PRESENT PARTICIPLES PASSIVE PAST PARTICIPLES
the preceding statement a broken heart
melting snow sliced cake
falling leaves photocopied materials
those leaping/dropping clicks these departed guests
8.8 GERUNDS (V-Ger, for short) may also appear as pre-modifiers within
the N bar, but they should be carefully distinguished from active present
participles:
ACTIVE PRESENT PARTICIPLES GERUNDS
living organisms living rooms
the sleeping guard the sleeping car
a drinking horse drinking water
The combination of gerund and head noun is also referred to as A
COMPOUND NOUN. The compound noun sleeping car should be dominated in
ComN as in (17)b:
NP NP
5
Note that:
Certain true adjectives look very much like verb participles: tiring, tired,
(un)interesting, (un)interested, bored, boring, devoted, relieved, unexpected,
surprising, charming, demanding, pleasing, etc. However, since they are gradable (i.e.
they can be modified by degree adverbs) they are easily distinguished from verb
participles: rather pleasing, very interesting, quite unexpected, extremely devoted, etc.
Since the present and past participles are verbal rather than adjectival,
they are not gradable: *the very leering manager, *a slightly forgotten valley,
*rather sliced cake, etc. They may, however, be modified by general adverbs: in
the rapidly congealing gravy, rapidly modifies congealing resulting in ‘rapidly
congealing’, which is an AP.
30
8.9 RESTRICTERS (RESTRIC, for short): are really a small number of
adverbs with or without −ly like just, only, even, quite, especially,
merely, and particularly [Stageberg, 1956: 242] which can:
modify the head noun alone — just girls, even water, especially
candy, etc.;
precede the pre-determiner and/or the determiner, modifying
the whole noun phrase and simultaneously restricting its meaning to some
extent—only ten short minutes, just college girls, just romantic
college girls, just another romantic college girl, especially all our
guests, even the empty box, just some white athletic socks,
particularly her spotted kitten, quite a few6 people, quite a lot of
wine, quite some7 car, quite a party, etc.
(19)a. especially all our guests (19)b. particularly her spotted kitten
_________________
6
‘Quite a few’ or ‘quite a lot (of)’ both means ‘a considerable number or amount (of)’.
7
‘Quite some’ or ‘quite a’ is used to indicate that a person or thing is unusual.
31
9 Types of post-nominal modifiers
(1)a’. an expedition to the pub (1)b’. the man in the iron mask
32
NP1 NP1
the nuclear scientist from Germany Larry’s neat summary of the argument
(2) (3)
NP2 AP NP2 AP
(4)a. the time before this one (4)a’. the time before
b. the morning after the wedding b’. the morning after
c. the bus behind our car c’. the bus behind
d. the room above us d’. the room above
33
NP NP1
NP2 AP NP2 AP
(6)a. the chef responsible for the sauces (6)b. a tree safe to climb up
NP2 AP
ART headN
NP2 AP
ART headN
34
9.2.4 There is still another circumstance when the post-modifying AP
itself contains two or more adjective heads linked by a coordinate
conjunction, as in (8)a-b:
NP1
NP2 AP
ART headN
(8)a. the mailman, tired and wet, [trudged along in the rain]
b. a woman, old and gaunt, [stood at the door]
9.3 PARTICIPIAL PHRASES (PartP, for short):
Participial phrases can be subdivided into two sub-categories:
participial phrases with −ing as in (9)a-b and participial phrases with
−ed as in (9)c-d:
NP1 NP1
NP2 AP NP2 AP
PP InfP
the car coming down the road the man expected to arrive at any moment
(9)a. (9)b.
9.4 INFINITIVE PHRASES (InfP, for short):
An Infinitive phrase can play the role of an adjective, post-modifying
an NP.
NP1 NP1
NP2 AP NP2 AP
(10)a. the man to answer this question (10)b. a scheme to win Kathy’s heart
35
9.5 SUBORDINATE ADJECTIVE CLAUSES (SubACl, for short)
The adjective phrases in (6)a-b, (7)a-b and (8)a-b, the participial
phrases in (9)a-b, and the infinitive phrases in (10)a-b are often regarded
as the reductions of the following subordinate adjective clauses,
either restrictive or non-restrictive:
NP1
DET N’
ART headN
36
clause (or phrase) normally specifies the content of its head noun.” [Jacobs,
1995: 100]
NP1
NP2 AP [nC]
DET N’ PP
ART headN
(1)a. her belief in God
b. the rumour of an impending merger
c. the news of where she is staying
NP1
DET N’
ART headN
(2)a. this belief that the company WAS NOT making a profit
b. the rumour that Ed’s wife FALLS in love with his brother
c. the news that the enemy WERE near
37
Note that SUBORDINATE ADJECTIVE CLAUSES (SubACl, for short),
either restrictive or non-restrictive, are not noun complements; they are
optional post-nominal modifiers (POST-M, for short) in the noun phrases
marked (6)a-h: NP1
DET N’
ART headN
(6)a. the chef that is responsible for the sauces
b. a tree which is safe to climbed up
c. the mailman, who was exuberantly happy,
d. the mailman, who was tired and wet,
e. the car that is coming down the road
f. the man who is expected to arrive at any moment
g. the man whom you should ask about this question
h. the man who should answer this question
38
There are six main categories of English verbs: monotransitive,
intransitive, ditransitive, intensive, complex transitive, and
prepositional. The six categories of English verbs result in six types
of English verb phrases.
NP VP
39
(i) Attributive Subject(ive) Complements
AP Mountaineering CAN PROVE very dangerous indeed.
She IS twenty-two years old.
NP John IS a very lucky man.
Two brothers ARE pilots.
Finite clause Ken’s belief IS that things CAN’T GET any worse.
He HAS BECOME what he always WANTED to be.
40
complement (oC, for short) are in italic while the dOs are underlined in the
following examples:
S
NP VP
E] to be honest.
Non-finite clause We BELIEVED him [E
E] to be very important.
We CONSIDER this [E
41
(ii) Identifying Object(tive) Complements
Definite NP CAN you IMAGINE yourself the owner of a luxury yacht?
They ELECTED her Miss Universe.
42
copular verb.” [Jacobs, 1995: 59] That is the reason why the second NP in
(3)a-b is called an Object-Predicative or an Object(ive) Complement:
(3)a. We DECLARE Frank Wilson the winner.
(cf. Frank Wilson IS the winner.)
b. The club ELECTED Mr. Jones membership secretary.
(cf. Mr. Jones WAS the membership secretary of the club.)
11.2.4 Many complex transitive verbs can be made passive. The direct
object of an active verb became the subject of the same verb in the passive:
S
NP VP1
VP2 PP
[opA of Agent]
Vgrp [oP/oC]
[complex]
(2)a’. The lesson WAS MADE extremely interesting (by the teacher).
b’. Stella IS BEING MADE Beth’s spokesperson.
c’. He WAS REGARDED as the only possible candidate (by party members).
d’. The traffic WAS GOT moving (by the policeman).
e’. The place HAS BEEN DECLARED to be free from infection
(by an official).
11.3 DITRANSITIVE (ditrans, for short) verbs/verb phrases
11.3.1 A ditransitive verb is “one which requires two NPs as its
complementation [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 83].” A few examples of
ditransitive verbs are give, send, and buy.
43
11.3.2 In (5)a-c, the first complement NP, which is in italic,
functions as the INDIRCT OBJECT (iO, for short) of the ditransitive verb. The
second complement NP, which is underlined, functions as the DIRECT OBJECT
(dO, for short) of the ditransitive verb. The indirect object NP in (5)a-c
corresponds to a PP in a position following the direct object in (5)a’-c’. The
PPs that correspond in this way with indirect objects are always introduced
by to or for:
S S
NP VP NP VP
44
Verbs which take Beneficiary Indirect Objects, with alternative
for constructions, are verbs which carry out an action on someone’s behalf.
They include:
book bring build buy cash cut fetch find
get keep leave make pour reserve save spare write
Book me a seat on the night train. (… for me)
Would you cash me these traveler checks? (…for me)
She cut the boy some slices of ham. (…for the boy)
I’ve kept you a place in the front row. (…for you)
He got us a very good discount. (…for us)
She made all the family a good paella. (…for all the family)
Certain verbs such as bring, read and write admit either to or for as
alternatives, depending on the interpretation. With to as in bring it to me, read
it to me, write it to me, I receive the thing, either physically or mentally. With
for as in bring it for me, read it for me, write it for me, the thing is brought,
read or written on my behalf.” [Downing and Locke, 1992: 87]
11.3.4 Structures with a ditransitive verb + its iO Recipient + its dO like
(5)a admit two passives while those with a ditransitive verb + its iO
Beneficiary + its dO like (5)b admit only one passive because “Beneficiary
Objects do not easily become Subject in a passive clause, although this
restrictive is not absolute” [Downing and Locke, 1992: 47]:
(5)a’’. A prize WAS GIVEN to Steven.
b’’. Some toys WILL BE BOUGHT for you.
c’’. A place HAS BEEN SAVED for me.
(5)a’’’. Steven WAS GIVEN a prize.
b’’’. *You WILL BE BOUGHT some toys.
c’’’. ?I HAVE BEEN SAVED a place.
45
do not fulfil the second criterion for Indirect Objects, that of substitution
by a phrase with to or for as in (6)a’-b’. We will therefore call them Direct
Objects:
NP VP
46
c. [Let]’s ASK someone the way.
d. The bank HAS REFUSED me a loan.
e. They GRUDGED him his pocket money.
(7)a’. *He WISHED a happy day to me.
b’. *He GAVE a push to the door.
c’. *Let’s ASK the way to someone.
d’. *The bank HAS REFUSED a loan to me.
e’. *They GRUDGED his pocket money to him.
(7)a’’. *A happy day WAS WISHED to me.
b’’. *A push WAS GIVEN to the door.
c’’. * The way IS ASKED to someone.
d’’. *A loan HAS BEEN REFUSED to me.
e’’. *His pocket money WAS GRUDGED to him.
NP VP
Vgrp NP[dO]
[monotrans]
11.4.2 “The semantic role realised by the Direct Object can be realised
by the Subject in a passive clause … After passivisation, the meaning remains
unchanged.” [Downing and Locke, 1992: 41-42] A noun phrase is a typical
realization of the subject of a passive monotransitive verb which may be post-
modified by AN OPTIONAL ADVERBIAL ADJUNCT (opA, for short) of Agent:
47
S
NP VP
VP AdvP
[opA of Agent]
Vgrp
[monotrans] PP
However, the removal of over the fence and along the road from
(9)a-b is impossible because these PPs are two obligatory adverbial
adjuncts of Path:
(9)a’. *He JUMPED the horse.
b’. *The sergeant MARCHED the soldiers.
48
The same result will be found out with (9)c-d, (9)e-g and (9)h when
they respectively lose their obligatory adverbial adjunct of Terminus,
Location or Direction:
(9)c’. *I’LL WALK you.
d’. *You COULD BRING it.
e’. *I always GET off /LEAVE the bus.
f’. *Liza HAS BEEN PUTTING the liquor.
g’. *She PLACED the baby.
h’. *He [PUT his arms around me and] WALKED me.
As an obligatory adverbial adjunct of Terminus in (11)a, home
can neither be moved out of its fixed position at the end of this English
sentence, i.e. after the direct object ‘you’ of the monotransitive verb
WALK. That’s why (11)b-c are not grammatically correct:
(11)a. I’LL WALK you home.
b. *I home WILL WALK you.
c. *I’LL home WALK you.
As an optional adverbial adjunct of Time in (12)a-c, soon is free to
move to other typically adverbial positions within a sentence:
at the end of the sentence, i.e. after the complement (the direct
object, the indirect object, the subjective complement, or the objective
complement) of the lexical verb;
after the NP subject; and
after the auxiliary verb or the first auxiliary verb:
(12)a. I’LL SEE you soon.
b. I soon WILL SEE you.
c. I’LL soon SEE you.
The above illustrations prove that although it is not always easy to
distinguish obligatory adverbial adjuncts from optional adverbial adjuncts,
this can successfully be done with some care.
49
indirect object) and the two types of complements (i.e. the
subject(ive) complement and the object(ive) complement. The predC
follows one of the following subcategories of monotransitive verb:
(i) RELATIONAL VERBS: have, possess, lack, suit, contain and fit
(13)a. We HAVE plenty of time.
b. I DON’T POSSESS any valuables.
c. His argument LACKS force.
d. WILL 5 o’clock SUIT you?
e. This jar CONTAINS nails.
f. These gloves DON’T FIT me.
(13)a’.*Plenty of time IS HAD.
b’. *No valuables ARE POSSESSED.
c’. *Force IS LACKED by his argument.
d’. *WILL you BE SUITED by 5 o’clock?
e’. *Nails ARE CONTAINED in this jar.
f’. *I AM NOT FITTED by these gloves.
50
(iv) VERBS completed by means of a finite or non-finite clause
which cannot be replaced by a noun phrase or by the pronoun ‘it’: complain,
wonder, fancy, bother, wish, etc.
(13)m. He COMPLAINS that he is never consulted about anything.
n. I WONDER if you would like to join us for tea.
o. Don’t BOTHER [EE] to clear away the dishes.
p. FANCY [E
E] getting into a panic over a silly thing like that.
51
for) or has a different meaning (e.g. allow, allow for); and (b) if the verb
can passivise with the completive of the preposition at Subject (The
loss can’t be accounted for). In addition, such verbs can typically answer a
question beginning with what or wh(om) (What/Who must I see to?). A
short list of some common verbs of this kind is given below. Many verbs,
such as think or hear, admit more than one preposition with a slight
difference of meaning:
account bank admit talk
aim call consent about
allow for on to think
hope count keep
long rely resort
NP VP
Vgrp PP[prepO]
[monotrans-prep]
52
11.5.1.2 Some of the verbs in this case can be made passive. The
noun or noun phrase following the preposition in the active pattern becomes
the subject of the passive one:
S
NP VP
Vgrp P
[monotrans-prep]
NP VP
53
h. It REMINDS me of Italy.
i. They ROBBED her of her watch and jewels.
11.5.2.2 The subject and the direct object of the verb may refer to
the same person, in which case a reflexive pronoun is used.
(16)k. Why DON’T you HELP yourself to wine?
l. He CONVINCED himself of the rightness of his actions.
11.5.2.3 Note that both the NP direct object and the PP
prepositional object are obligatory in this case and that the ditransitive
prepositional verb is frequently used in the passive, with the dO constituent
becoming the subject in the passive clause:
S
NP VP
Vgrp PP [prepO]
[ditrans-prep]
54
11.6 INTRANSITIVE (intrans, for short) verbs/verb phrases
11.6.1 An intransitive verb “does not require any further constituent as
sister in the VP” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 83]. In other words, “verbs used
intransitively don’t take objects.” [Jacobs, 1995: 247]
S S
NP VP NP VP
Vgrp Vgrp
[intrans] [intrans]
NP VP1 NP VP1
55
11.6.3 Adverbial adjuncts are usually CIRCUMSTANTS or NON-
INHERENT ROLES [Halliday, 1970: 150], i.e. they optionally occur in a large
number of VPs; they can be omitted without disturbing the grammaticality of
the whole VPs that include them. However, they are ACTANTS or INHERENT
ROLES, i.e. their occurrence is obligatory in other VPs, when they accompany
a number of verbs:
(i) INTRANSITIVE VERBS of movement , in many cases together the
manner of moving, such as race, creep, slip, slide, flow, steal, walk,
stroll, trudge, run, plunge, swim, fly, sail, ride, etc. typically require an
obligatory adverbial adjunct of Location, Source, Direction, Terminus
or Path [Biber et al, 1999: 143]; [Downing and Locke, 1992: 56]:
56
(iii) INTRANSITIVE VERBSof occurrence such as break out, pick
up, take place, emerge, arise, ascend, follow, etc. typically require an
adverbial adjunct of Location, Source, Extent in Time, Point of Time,
Manner or Role:
(21)a. The market PICKS up in the spring (Point of Time).
b. A desperate hope AROSE somewhere deep inside her (Location).
c. No new evidence EMERGED during the enquiry (Extent in Time).
d. The funeral TOOK PLACE on 24 April at 3pm (Point of Time).
e. The mist ASCENDED from the valley below (Source).
f. Rioting BROKE up between rival groups of fans (Location).
g. He EMERGED as leader at the age of thirty (Manner or Desguise).
h. [I don’t see] how that FOLLOWS (Manner).
57
COMPLEX TRANSITIVE [complex]:
SVdOoP/oC:
HOLD your hand tight.
He CALLED her an angel.
I PREFER it with water.
He MADE the team what it is today.
subject—Vgrp—direct object—object predicative/object(ive) complement
S [complex] dO oP/oC
DITRANSITIVE [ditrans]:
a. SVdOiO: I ‘LL ORDER a taxi for you.
subject — Vgrp — direct object — to/for indirect object
S [ditrans] dO iO
58
PREPOSITIONAL [prep]:
a. MONOTRANSITIVE PREPOSITIONAL [monotrans-prep]:
SVprepO: Max GLANCED at the falling acrobat.
subject — Vgrp — prepositional object
S [montrans-prep] prepO
b. DITRANSITIVE PREPOSITIONAL [ditrans-prep]:
SVdOprepO:They BLAMED the fire on the gardener.
He REMINDED her of the time.
subject—Vgrp—direct object—prepositional object
S [ditrans-prep] dO prepO
INTRANSITIVE [intrans]:
a. SV: He TURNED UP (= appeared).
He IS LYING (= is telling lies).
subject—Vgrp
S [intrans]
59
(24)a. The water FEELS warm.
S Vgrp sP/sC
[intens]
(feels warm = is warm, is in a specified physical state referred to as warm)
60
(28)a. The doctor CAN only STAY the progress of this disease.
opA of Manner
S Vgrp dO
[monotrans] (stay = delay, make (sth) slower)
(29)a. I ’LL MAKE some tea. b. I ’LL MAKE a pizza for you.
S Vgrp dO S Vgrp dO iO
[monotrans] [ditrans]
(make sth [for sb] = prepare sth [for sb])
61
(3)a. They HAD no idea what it WAS.
b. The two people who FOUND it
ARE EXPECTED to receive the value of the brooch.
(5) I KNOW. I SAW it this morning. It’S really smart, ISn’t it?
_________________
13 Types of clauses
13.1 Finite clauses vs. non-finite clauses
The distinction between finite and non-finite clauses depends on
the form of the verb chosen: “If the speaker wishes to express tense,
person or number, a ‘finite’ form of the verb is chosen, such as eats, locked,
went and the clause is then called a finite clause.” [Downing and Locke,
1992: 11]
All of THE FOLLOWING VERB FORMS, which are capitalized, and
therefore the following clauses, are finite:
(1) She BROKE the dish.
(2) He HAS GONE.
(3) It IS unnecessary.
Accordingly, if the verb form does not express this type of information
about the verbal ‘process’, the verbs and the clauses are classed as ‘non-
finite’. In the following non-finite clauses, THE NON-FINITE VERB FORMS
are capitalized and italicized:
(4)a. For Sandra TO DELAY her graduation IS unnecessary. (to-infinitive)
b. I LET him DO it by himself. (bare infinitive)
c. Mary DOESN’T TOLERATE
Anna CHATTING with the construction workers.(active present participle)
d. He LEFT me STUNNED. (passive past participle)
e. The light HAVING GONE out, we LIGHTED candles.
(active perfect participle)
62
Briefly, “a non-finite clause is a clause with a non-finite
(tenseless) Verb group. MAIN clauses are always finite. So non-finite
clauses can only be SUBORDINATE.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 250]
13.2 Independent clauses vs. dependent clauses
A necessary distinction is that between INDEPENDENT CLAUSES, which
are also called MAIN CLAUSES, and DEPENDENT CLAUSES (which can be
subdivided into EMBEDDED CLAUSES and SUBORDINATE CLAUSES).
13.2.1 INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
“A clause that can stand alone as a sentence is called a main clause or
sometimes an independent clause. The latter designation is often used
when the clause is the only one in its sentence.” [Jacobs, 1995: 65]
An independent clause “does not depend on another clause, although
it may be linked to another independent clause, or to a dependent clause”
[Richards, Platt and Weber, 1987: 77]:
(1) Sharon’s car HAD BROKEN down, and this ASTONISHED the mechanic.
(2) Sharon’s car HAD BROKEN down before she ARRIVED at the airport.
An independent clause can be used on its own:
(3) Sharon’s car HAD BROKEN down.
(4) This ASTONISHED the mechanic.
(5) Sharon ARRIVED at the airport.
63
(8) “has a specific meaning, one something like ‘the reasons is’. Introducers
such as because, although, and since, all of which have quite specific
meanings, are subordinators.
NP VP
ART headN
(1) That Sharon’s car HAD BROKEN down ASTONISHED the mechanic.
64
S
NP VP
COMP S
(2) The police REPORTED that Sharon’s car HAD BROKEN down.
NP VP1
NP VP
65
Also note that the sentences marked (3-5)a are well-formed even without
their subordinate clauses, resulting in (3-5)b:
(3)b. The family RETURNED to the villa.
(4)b. Pavlova FOUND the children.
(5)b. Lord Aston only USED his Rolls Royce.
_________________
14 Covert subjects vs. overt subjects
14.1 All of the non-finite clauses in (1)a-e have an overt subject.
(1)a. For Sandra TO DELAY her graduation IS unnecessary. (to-infinitive)
b. I LET him DO it by himself. (bare infinitive)
c. Mary DOESN’T TOLERATE
Anna CHATTING with the construction workers.
(active present participle)
d. He LEFT me STUNNED. (passive past participle)
e. The light HAVING GONE out, we LIGHTED candles.
(active perfect participle)
14.2 However, “non-finite clauses frequently lack an overt subject”
[Burton-Roberts, 1997: 250]. Consider the italicized non-finite clauses in
(2)a-d. They lack an overt subject and their non-finite verbs (to avoid,
chatting, pushing, and battered) are tenseless:
(2)a. Beth LEFT early so as [E
E] TO AVOID the police.
b. Anna ENJOYS [EE] CHATTING with the construction workers.
E] PUSHING him aside, Carol JUMPED onto the platform.
c. [E
E] BATTERED by the heavy storm,
d. [E
the ship LIMPED into Southampton harbour.
66
“Covert subjects are cognitively real, that is, real in the English
speaker’s consciousness, despite the lack of words standing for them.”
[Jacobs, 1995: 72]
Although the non-finite clauses in (2)c-d “seem like modifiers of the
noun phrase following them, both their position and their function show that
they are not. They are non-finite subordinate clauses marking a perspective.
Sometimes, a more explicit marking of perspective appears:
After [E
E] BEING BATTERED by the heavy storm,
the ship LIMPED into Southampton harbour.” [Jacobs, 1995: 72]
_________________
15 Types of finite dependent clauses
67
wh-word, which has a grammatical role in the relative clause in addition to
its linking function” [Biber et al, 1999: 195]. Relative clauses may be either
restrictive as in (2)a or non-restrictive as in (2)b.
(2)a. We HAVE 30 men who ARE WORKING from 6am to 11pm.
b. He WANTED the public not to approach the men,
who ARE armed and dangerous.
15.3 Adverbial clauses
“Adverbial clauses are used as adverbials in the main clause,
generally as circumstance adverbials… they are optional and have some
freedom of positioning; both initial and final placement are common.
Adverbial clauses are regularly marked by a subordinator indicating the
relationship to the main clause”. [Biber et al, 1999: 194]
(3)a. Most ions ARE colorless, although some HAVE distinct colors.
b. If you ARE in a hurry, you CAN LEAVE.
68
16 Types of non-finite clauses
“Non-finite clauses are regularly dependent. They are more
compact and less explicit than finite clauses; they are not marked for tense
and modality, and they frequently lack an explicit subject and
subordinator.” [Biber et al, 1999: 198]
16.2 Gerund non-finite clauses can only play the role of a nominal to be:
E] HAVING a fever IS unpleasant.
• the subject: [E
69
• The extra-posed subject:
There are only around five tons of newsprints left and
it’S very difficult [E
E] GETTING supplies into Sarajevo.
• the direct object: I STARTED [E E]THINKING about Christmas.
• the subjective complement: The real problem IS
E] GETTING something done about the cheap imports.
[E
• the complement of a preposition: I EARN my living by [E E]TEACHING.
70
16.4 Verbless clauses
Among non-finite clauses may also be verbless clauses such as:
- She HAD also BEEN TAUGHT, when in difficulty, to think of a good
life to imitate.
- Although not a classic, this 90-minute video IS worth watching.
_________________
17 Classification of sentences according to their structure
“In many traditional grammars three major sentence types are
distinguished. A simple sentence consists of a single clause that stands alone
as it own sentence. In a coordinate sentence (called “compound” in
traditional grammars), two or more clauses are joined by a conjunction in a
coordinate relationship. A complex sentence combines two (or more) clauses
in such a way that one clause functions as a grammatical part of the other
one.” [Finegan, 1994: 122]
NP VP
71
17.2 The following are a number of typical examples of compound sentences.
S3
S1 Conj S2
(2)a. Karen ASSEMBLED the new grill and Joe COOKED the hot dogs.
b. She IS rich and famous but I DON’T FIND her talented.
c. You SHOULD TRY to work hard or you ’LL GET fired.
d. Roses ARE red but violets ARE blue.
Last but not least, co-ordinate constructions are not limited to two items
of equal value:
S5
(2)e. Roses ARE red but violets ARE blue and sugar IS sweet and so ARE you.
72
d. Although I DID NOT WANT to leave my bed, the wind BLEW so strong
that I WAS at last COMPELLED to get up to shut the window.
“Unlike coordinate sentences, which contain clauses of equal status,
complex sentences contain clauses of unequal status. In the complex
sentence we have been examining, one clause is subordinate to another
clause and function as a grammatical part of that clause. We call the
subordinate clause an embedded clause and the clause into which it is
embedded a matrix clause. Every subordinate clause is by definition
embedded in a matrix clause, in which it serves in a grammatical function
such as subject, direct object, or adverbial.” [Finegan, 1994: 122]
“Complex sentences contain sentences inside them … Embedded
clauses typically … function as subjects and direct objects and as sentence-
adverbial phrases.” [Kaplan, 1989: 267]
17.3.1 EMBEDDED NOMINAL CLAUSES (EmNCl, for short):
17.3.1.1 The subject can be realised by either a finite clause or a
non-finite clause. “Constituents functioning as subjects are always analysed
as NPs” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 197], so we shall analyse any clausal subject
as dominated by NP.
17.3.1.1.1 Subject finite clauses can be that-clauses or Wh-Wh
clauses, i.e. finite clauses preceded by either the introductory word that or
the subordinate conjunction what, where, when, why, who, how, etc. This
construction “is generally used in formal written English” [Stanley, 1989: 2]:
S1
NP1 VP1
S’[finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
73
e. That Columbus WAS an Italian IS sometimes DISPUTED.
f. That the computer revolution IS in its infancy frequently ESCAPES comment.
(5)a. Whether it IS CAUSED by rain or wind IS unknown.
b. How they MANAGED to survive IS a mystery.
c. When it WAS DONE SEEMS quite obvious to me.
d. Where he GOES IS no business of yours.
e. Why the library WAS CLOSED for months WAS NOT EXPLAINED.
f. What he SAID SHOCKED me.
g. When I GO DEPENDS on when the train leaves.
NP1 VP1
NP S’[finite that-clause]
DET N’ Comp S2
74
E]8TO TAKE such a risk WAS rather foolish. (to-inf. clause)
[E
Where [E
E] TO LEAVE the dog IS the problem. (Wh− + to-inf. clause)
NP1 VP1
NP2 VP2
8
Note that [E
E] is the symbol to stand for the empty/covert/zero/implicit subject in
non-finites clauses.
75
*WAS TO TAKE such a risk rather foolish?
*DID that he FAILED to turn up SURPRISE everybody?
DID the fact that he FAILED to turn up SURPRISE everybody?”
[Downing and Locke, 1992: 34-35]
9
“In any clause, elements are frequently of different size and complexity, or weight …
There is a preferred distribution of elements in the clause in accordance with the weight
called the principle of end-weight: the tendency for long and complex elements to be
placed towards the end of a clause [Biber et al, 1999: 898].” Compare:
(1) I FOUND the man guilty.
(2) I FOUND guilty the man who has scars on his cheeks.
76
S1
Note that the subjective complement of the copular verb be is, quite
often, realised by an NP, as in (6)a-d. Also note that embedded clausal
subjects can be extraposed from various sentence structures, with (S + be +
sP/sC) the most common:
(7)a. [E
E] TO SEE such poverty MAKES one sad.
a’. It MAKES one sad [E
E] TO SEE such poverty.
(S + complex transV + dO + oP/oC)
b. Where you SIT DOESN’T MATTER.
b’. It DOESN’T MATTER where you SIT . (S+ intranV)
c. (The fact) that the number-plate HAD BEEN CHANGED STRUCK me.
c’. It STRUCK me that the number-plate HAD BEEN CHANGED.
(S + monotransV + dO)
d. (The fact) that you ARE LEAVING the company SHOULDN’T COME as a surprise.
d’. It SHOULDN’T COME as a surprise (that) you ARE LEAVING the company.
(S + intensV + sP/sC)
77
17.3.1.2 The direct object (dO, for short) or the predicator
complement (predC, for short)10 can also be realised by either a finite
clause or a non-finite clause:
17.3.1.2.1 The dO/predC finite clause of a monotransitive
verb can be a that-clause or a Wh-clause. “Since clausal functioning
objects in active sentences can become subject NPs in the passive, I shall
analyse them as being dominated by a NP node, just like the clausal
subjects.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 200]
S’
Comp S1
NP1 VP1
Vgrp NP[dO/predC]
[monotrans]
S’[finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
10
Also see 6.2, 11.3.5, 11.4 and Downing and Locke [1992: 55-56] for further consideration.
78
Again, passivisation can be used to test whether or not an embedded
finite clause is a dO:
(9)a. Most people RECOGNISE that some form of taxation IS necessary.
b. That some form of taxation IS necessary IS RECOGNISED
by most people.
c. It IS RECOGNISED by most people that some form of taxation IS necessary.
Vgrp NP[dO/predC]
[monotrans]
S’[non-finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
79
(12)a. We HADN’T DECIDED what we OUGHT TO DO next.
what [E
E] TO DO next.
b. It HADN’T BEEN DECIDED what we OUGHT TO DO next.
what [E
E] TO DO next.
NP1 VP1
Vgrp NP[dO/predC]
[monotrans]
S’[non-finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
80
After remember and forget, the contrast between the to-infinitive
or the –ing form corresponds to a difference of meaning:
(13)f. I REMEMBERED [EE] TO POST your letters.
(= I didn’t forget to post them.)
(14)f. I REMEMBERED [EE] POSTING your letters.
(= I recalled having posted them.)
After need, require and want; the –ing form of the verb can be
replaced by the passive to-infinitive:
(13)g. The children still NEED [E
E] TO BE LOOKED after.
(14)g. The children still NEED [E
E] LOOKING after.
The verbs in this case cannot be made passive:
(13)f’. *[E
E]TO POST your letters WAS REMEMBERED (by me).
(14)f’. *[E
E] POSTING your letters WAS REMEMBERED (by me).
(13)g’. *[E
E]TO BE LOOKED after IS still NEEDED (by the children).
(14)g’. *[E
E] LOOKING after IS still NEEDED (by the children).
NP1 VP1
Vgrp NP[dO/predC]
[monotrans]
S’[non-finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
81
(17)a. I DON’T LIKE φ him/John INTERUPTING all the time.
b. Jill HATES φ him/her COMING home late.
c. We ANTICIPATED φ her/Mary(‘s) TAKING over the business.
d. The employers RESENTED φ the staff(‘s)/their BEING CONSULTED.
Note that the overt subject of the non-finite clause must be an object
personal pronoun (e.g. him, her, and them), a noun phrase (e.g. the staff) or a
possessive (e.g. Mary’s, their, and her) and that the verbs in (17)e cannot
normally be made passive while some of the verbs in (16)e can:
82
S1
NP1 VP1
Vgrp NP[dO/predC]
[monotrans]
S’ [non-finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
Note that:
The verbs in (19)a-e can be made passive:
(19)b’. Someone WAS HEARD SLAMMING/TO SLAM the door (by the porter).
c’. The cat WAS SEEN STEALING/TO STEAL the meat (by the children).
83
17.3.1.2.6 Many ditransitive verbs of communicating (assure,
inform, tell, notify, etc.) and of causing someone to think or believe or know
something (convince, persuade, remind, teach, etc.), and the performative
that-clause
verbs such as bet, promise, and warn can take a dO finite that
after an iO pronoun or noun phrase.
S1
NP1 VP1
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
17.3.1.2.7 Advise, ask, remind, show, teach, and tell are some
common ditransitive verbs which introduce indirect interrogatives. Most of
these can take a dO Wh-finite
Wh or non-finite clause after an iO pronoun or
noun phrase. Remind is commonly used with a non-finite.
84
S1
NP1 VP1
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
what [E
E] TO DO.
d. φ REMIND me when [E
E] TO SWITCH it off.
e. Tom WILL SHOW you where you CAN SEND it.
85
S1
NP1 VP1
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
(21)f. The instructor TAUGHT the dancers how they SHOULD BREATHE.
how [E
E] TO BREATHE.
86
(22)h. He ADVISED her [EE] TO SEE a doctor.
h’. She WAS ADVISED to see a doctor (by him).
E] TO SEE a doctor WAS ADVISED (by him).
h’’. *[E
17.3.1.2.9 Below are a number of ditransitive verbs that take
that-clause, a
an iO to-prepositional phrase first and later a dO which is a that
finite or non-finite Wh-clause
Wh , or a non-finite clause containing or
consisting of a to-infinitive: confess, explain, point out, prove, indicate,
signal, acknowledge, admit, announce, declare, mention, propose,
recommend, remark, report, state, and suggest.
S1
NP1 VP1
NP2 VP2
87
(25)a. He GESTURED to the students φ [E E] TO STAND UP.
b. Fred SIGNALLED to the waiter φ [E E] TO BRING another chair.
c. Stephen SHOUTED to the chairman φ [E
E] TO LET someone else speak.
d. A policeman MOTIONED to us φ [E
E] TO MOVE to the side of the road.
Note that:
The iO prepositional phrases in (23)a-f and (24)a-b refer to the
person or people addressed by the subject while the iO prepositional
phrases in (25)a-d refer to the person or people to whom the subject is
calling or signalling.
The Recipient indirect objects of these verbs can never become the
that-clause
subject in a corresponding passive clause. Neither can their that
direct objects:
(23)h. Sir Humphrey EXPLAINED to the Minister that delays MIGHT BE fatal.
h’. *The Minister WAS EXPLAINED that delays MIGHT BE fatal.
h’’. *That delays MIGHT BE fatal WAS EXPLAINED to the Minister.
88
S1
NP1 VP1
NP2 VP2
89
S1
NP1 VP1
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
(28)a. I ’M GIVING φ [E
E] READING magazines much less time.
b. He DID NOT GIVE φ [E
E] FINDING the cat a second thought.
90
S1
NP1 VP1
NP2 VP2
91
S1
NP1 VP1
NP2 VP2
NP1 VP1
NP2 VP2
92
17.3.1.5.3 The objective complement in (33)a-g is the bare
infinitive, either alone (e.g. work) or as part of a larger clause (e.g. play in
the road). It tells us what the direct object “is made or allowed to do [Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 1992: xxvi].” The causative verbs have, let
and make take a bare infinitive. With help either a to-infinitive or a bare
infinitive is possible:
S1
NP1 VP1
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
93
S1
NP1 VP1
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
Note that:
Only a small number of complex transitive verbs; usually those
mentioned in (31)a-e, (32)a-h, (33)a-g and (34)a-d; are used in this case.
Only a few verbs in this case can be made passive. The direct object of
an active verb becomes the subject of the same verb in the passive:
(31)c’. The baby WILL BE NAMED whatever his grandfather WISHES.
94
PP
P S’[(non-)finite clause]
[cPrep]
Comp S
NP VP
NP1 VP1
DET N’ Comp S2
(37)a. The news that the enemy WERE near ALARMED everybody.
b. The boy φ who WAS SLEEPING WAS DREAMING.
c. The place where I first MET my husband IS NOT far from here.
95
NP1
DET N’ Comp S
ART headN NP VP
d. I’LL never FORGET the day when I first ENTERED the university.
e. That’s the reason why she HAS REFISED his invitation.
Vgrp AP[sP/sC]
[intens]
headA S’[(non-)finite clause]
Comp S2
NP2 VP2
96
c. The tree IS safe (φ [E
E] TO CLIMB up).
d. Elephants ARE NOT easy φ [E
E] TO LASSO.
NP1 VP1
S3 Conj S2
Comp S1
NP1 VP1
(42)a. Sally SAID φ she SAW a ghost and Dan BELIEVED her.
97
S4
S3 Conj S2
I DID NOT WANT to leave my bed but the wind BLEW so strong
(42)b. S’
[finite that-clause]
Comp S1
NP1 VP1
98