READING 2_QUESTIONS KEY English Descriptive Grammar 2016-17

Unit 2 Word Classes

Tallerman, M. (2001) Understanding Syntax. 3rd edition. London: Hodder Education.

Chapter 2 Words belong to different classes

Guided Reading Questions

1. What are the linguistic criteria for identifying word classes? Explain each of them and
provide examples.

The linguistic criteria for identifying word classes are three:

- Morphosyntax: the form a word takes in a given syntactic position (e.g. adjectives might take
the –er or –est ending in comparative/superlative structures).

- Distribution: where in a sentence a word occurs and which modifiers it can take (e.g.
adjectives occur in a pre-nominal position in English and can be modified by adverbs in English)

- Function: what function a word performs in the sentence (e.g. adjectives might be subject
complements in sentences with copula verbs).

2. How can word classes be classified? And on what grounds?

Words can be classified into open classes (i.e. classes to which we can add new words, for
example nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) and closed classes (i.e. classes with a closed set
of words belonging to it, for example prepositions) and lexical word classes (i.e. conveying
lexical meaning, for example nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, adverbs) or functional
word classes (i.e. conveying grammatical meaning, for example determiners, conjunctions,
pronouns).

We could keep this question for an exam to see how they argue for this.

3. What is a predicate?

Predicates are events, states, actions, processes or situations expressed by a verb in a

sentence.

4. Explain what instransitive, transitive and ditransitive verbs are and provide examples.

Intransitive verbs are verbs with only one argument (i.e. one participant, usually the agent).
Transitive verbs are verbs that require two arguments (i.e. two participants, usually agent and
patient or theme) and ditransitive verbs require three arguments (i.e. three participants,
usually the agent, the patient/theme and a recipient).

5. Name the grammatical categories expressed by verbs.

Tense, Aspect, Mood, Voice, Agreement.

6. How is aspect expressed in English?

READING 2_QUESTIONS KEY English Descriptive Grammar 2016-17

Aspect is expressed through morphological changes in the verb and the addition of auxiliary
verbs (i.e. progressive aspect: -ing and the auxiliary be and perfect aspect: -ed and the auxiliary
have).

7. What are valency-changing processes?

Valency-changing processes alter the basic argument structure of the verb changing the
syntactic requirements of the arguments, so for example in the construction of a passive
sentence the direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

8. What are the properties of subjects in English?

- They are usually positioned before the verb.

- They agree in person and number with the verb in present tense.

- Pronominal subjects occur in nominative case form when the verb is finite.

9. What is a prepositional object?

A prepositional object is a Noun Phrase which complements a preposition.