Chapters 1-4

Question 1

If a word ends in -ize what is it likely to be?

Answer 1

a verb (e.g. colonize, problematize)

Question 2

What kind of phrase is “my sister” in the sentence “my sister took all four kids to the aquarium”?

Answer 2

A noun phrase

Question 3

What kind of syntactical slot would an adjective fill?

Answer 3

You can say “the ______ thing” (happy, ridiculous)

Question 4

Demonstrate correct and incorrect use of contractions.

Answer 4

“He swam but I didn’t” works, but “She’s driving and I’m” does not.

Question 5

Example of an adjective getting verbed.

Answer 5

to clean.

Question 6

Author and Date: A Short Introduction to English Grammar.

Answer 6

Robert Lowth, 1762.

Question 7

What kind of syntactical slot would an auxiliary verb fill?

Answer 7

You can say “She _____ go” (will, may, might)

Question 8

What kind of phrase is “to the aquarium” in the sentence “my sister took all four kids to the aquarium”?

Answer 8

a prepositional phrase. Here it is acting adverbially, modifying the verb took.

Question 9

Describe the prescriptive rationale of Authority.

Answer 9

Great writers use the language this way.

Question 10

Describe the prescriptive rationale of Analogy.

Answer 10

English should work like Latin or German.

Question 11

Example of a noun getting verbed.

Answer 11

to google.

Question 12

What is the definition of a clause?

Answer 12

Contains a subject and a predicate.

Question 13

Describe the prescriptive rationale of Logic.

Answer 13

Language should work like math, eve though it’s not math.

Question 14

Author and Date: Words and Their Uses: Past and Present.

Answer 14

Richard Grant White, 1870.

Question 15

Identify the subject and predicate in “My sister took all four kids to the aquarium.”

Answer 15

Subject is “My sister”, predicate is “took all four kids to the aquarium.”

Question 16

What’s wrong with “A dog chased me the street down”?

Answer 16

Preposition needs to come before the noun phrase.

Question 17

What kind of syntactical slot would a verb fill?

Answer 17

You can say “will ________” (swim, walk, go)

Question 18

What are the closed lexical categories?

Answer 18

pronouns, determiners, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions and prepositions. This class rarely takes new members.

Question 19

Why does the split infinitive sound better in phrases such as “to boldly go”?

Answer 19

The prosody of the weak-strong syllables.

Question 20

What are the open lexical categories?

Answer 20

nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. This class can take new members easily.

Question 21

Author and Date: English Grammar (the one written by an American Lawyer)

Answer 21

Lindley Murray, 1795.

Question 22

Author and Date: Dictionary of Modern Usage.

Answer 22

H.W. Fowler, 1926.

Question 23

What is a phrase?

Answer 23

A group of words that work together within a clause.

Question 24

Describe the prescriptive rationale of etymology.

Answer 24

Words should mean what they used to mean.

Question 25

What’s wrong with “Dog a chased me down street the”?

Answer 25

Determiners must come before nouns.

Question 26

What is, perhaps, a better rule regarding the split infinitive?

Answer 26

Fine to split infinitives with an adverb, but for clarity, not a long adverbial phrase (i.e. “to quickly and effectively but not always consistently grade”).

Question 27

Is “we don’t have nothing to hide” grammatical in the descriptive sense?

Answer 27

Yes. Not formally acceptable anymore, but multiple negation used to be. Makes sense. Just not currently preferred usage.

Question 28

Describe the split infinitive rule

Answer 28

Don’t put an adverb between the “to” and a verb (i.e. “to boldly go”, “to better understand”).

Question 29

What does “grammatical” mean in the descriptive sense?

Answer 29

It means rule-governed. A systematically constructed language that can be parsed by others.

Question 30

Demonstrate the we cannot strand pronouns contracted with auxiliary verbs at the end of a sentence.

Answer 30

Who has been to Africa? She has. (Works).

Who has been to Africa? She’s. (Does not work).

Question 31

What kind of syntactical slot would a preposition fill?

Answer 31

You can say “____ the tree” (in, up, down, around, on, to)

Question 32

What is the difference between a clause and a sentence?

Answer 32

They can be the same thing when a sentence has one clause. A sentence can have more than one clause. These are compound or complex sentences.

Question 33

What is the hierarchy for parts of speech?

Answer 33

Words make phrases, which make clauses, which make sentences.

Question 34

How is the term “grammar” used in this course?

Answer 34

More narrowly construed than “usage,” referring to morphology and syntax.

Question 35

If a word ends in -ion or -ment what is it likely to be?

Answer 35

a noun (e.g. realization, retirement).

Question 36

What is prescriptive grammar?

Answer 36

The set of rules that tell us what we should and shouldn’t do in formal standard English.

Question 37

Is a noun just a “person, place or thing”?

Answer 37

No. Can also be abstract concepts (love, confusion), states of being (limbo) and actions (running).

Question 38

Author and Date: Rudiments of English Grammar.

Answer 38

Joseph Priestly, 1761.

Question 39

How do you use morphology to determine lexical category?

Answer 39

nouns tend to make plural with -s. verbs tend to make past tense with -ed. Adjective tend to make comparative with -er and so on.

Question 40

What kind of syntactical slot would a noun fill?

Answer 40

You can say “the ________” (cat, love, running)

Question 41

What kind of phrase is “all four kids” in the sentence “my sister took all four kids to the aquarium”?

Answer 41

A noun phrase. Here it is the direct object.

Question 42

What is possibly problematic about the sentence: “Aptitude is essential; but equally as important is the desire to learn?”

Answer 42

Many find the phrase “equally as” redundant

Question 43

What does language “usage” refer to in this course?

Answer 43

how words and phrases are used speech and writing, covering pronunciation, word meaning, morphology, syntax and punctuation.

Question 44

Describe the prescriptive rationale of purity.

Answer 44

English should remain true to its roots, even though it has always been influenced by other languages.

Question 45

What words defy the lexical categories?

Answer 45

discourse markers (um, uh, etc.), interjections (ouch!) and not, which some call an adverb, others place in its own category.

Question 46

Example of a verb getting nouned.

Answer 46

a hire.

Question 47

What are some good things about prescriptive rules of grammar?

Answer 47

They can promote a standard, aesthetically pleasing prose, clarity.