Chapters 5-8

Question 1

How do most people misuse that/which?

Answer 1

Most people use “that” properly for restrictive clauses, but many use “which” for both restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

Question 2

Give two examples on multiple determiners in their correct order.

Answer 2

“The first several pages.” or “All my many quirks.”

Question 3

What three cases do most personal pronouns distinguish in English?

Answer 3

subject, object (direct and indirect) and possessive.

Question 4

What are the predeterminers?

Answer 4

Include all/both, multiplying expressions, and fractions.

Question 5

What are examples of zero plurals?

Answer 5

sheep and deer. Fish is a new one–used to be fishes.

Question 6

What are number determiners?

Answer 6

cardinal and ordinal numbers: one/two, first/second

Question 7

When does the case system in pronouns become more fluid?

Answer 7

“X-and-Y” type situations. “My Mom and I went to the store” can turn into “Me and my mom went to the store.” “My mother called my sister and me” can turn into “My mother called my sister and I.”

Question 8

What’s an idiomatic usage of less with a countable measure of amount?

Answer 8

less than $200.

Question 9

What are the three main categories of irregular plurals spawned from English?

Answer 9

-en plurals; zero plurals; and vowel changes.

Question 10

What’s an unremarkable usage of “less” with a countable noun?

Answer 10

500 words or less.

Question 11

What are the second person pronouns subj/obj/poss?

Answer 11

you/you/yours

Question 12

What is a zero relative clause? Example.

Answer 12

The relative pronoun doesn’t appear at all. “I can’t remember the name of the person whom I met last night” can be “I can’t remember the name of the person I met last night.”

Question 13

What is the basic rule regarding less and fewer.

Answer 13

Less is for quantity (uncountable nouns) and fewer is for number (countable nouns).

Question 14

What are examples of vowel change plurals?

Answer 14

goose/geese; man/men; mouse/mice.

Question 15

What is the mechanic for zero relative clause happening?

Answer 15

The objective pronoun gets fronted in the clause next to the noun it modifies. “The book that I just finished” is “The book [I just finished that]” where that has been fronted and can disappear. “The book I just finished.”

Question 16

What is case?

Answer 16

a grammatical system that distinguishes the function of a noun or pronoun in a clause.

Question 17

What are interrogative determiners?

Answer 17

which, what, whatever, etc.

Question 18

When can zero relative clauses happen?

Answer 18

When the relative pronoun functions as the object in the relative clause.

Question 19

What’s an idiomatic usage of less with a countable measure of time?

Answer 19

less than three days.

Question 20

Why can’t subject pronouns become zero relative clauses?

Answer 20

The pronoun is already at the front of the clause as a subject. “I saw my friend who lives in Beijing.” Who is already at the front of the clause and cannot be deleted.

Question 21

What are article determiners?

Answer 21

a, an, the

Question 22

What are -en plurals?

Answer 22

They’ve been dying out for sometime. Limited to words like children, oxen, and brethren.

Question 23

Give an example of a restrictive relative clause.

Answer 23

“I had lunch with a friend who just returned from China.” A restrictive relative clause restricts from a larger set of friends to one friend.

Question 24

What are the central determiners?

Answer 24

Include definite and indefinite articles, possessives and demonstratives

Question 25

What are Indefinite determiners?

Answer 25

any, each, other, another

Question 26

What is one way to categorize determiners?

Answer 26

PI AND Q. Possessives, Interrogatives, Articles, Numbers, Demonstratives, Indefinites, Quantifiers.

Question 27

Give an example of “correct” use of “that.”

Answer 27

“I have the keys to the car that is in the driveway.” (There are multiple cars and I’m specifying which one I have keys for—as opposed to one in the garage.)

Question 28

Give an example of where the singular they is idiomatic.

Answer 28

A person at that level should not have to keep track of the hours they put in.

Question 29

What’s an example of plural agreement with existential there?

Answer 29

There is a spider on your head; There’s three spiders on your head; but There are three spiders on your head (without the contraction).

Question 30

What are the first person pronouns subj/obj/poss?

Answer 30

I/me/mine; we/us/ours

Question 31

Give an example of pied-piping.

Answer 31

“I am wondering whom I should send the RSVP to.” The “whom” has been fronted. The “to” follows along. Thus: “I am wondering to whom I should send the RSVP.”

Question 32

What is the that/witch normative rule?

Answer 32

We should use “that” for restrictive clauses and “which” for nonrestrictive clauses.

Question 33

What is a relative clause introduced by?

Answer 33

a relative pronoun such as: that, which, who, whom, whoever, whomever, whose.

Question 34

What’s an idiomatic usage of less with a countable approximation?

Answer 34

100 bottles, more or less.

Question 35

What are three determiner categories based on the order in which they occur in a noun phrase?

Answer 35

predeterminers, central determiners, and postdeterminers.

Question 36

What is a prototypical counting noun?

Answer 36

pencil.

Question 37

What is a prototypical uncountable noun?

Answer 37

water.

Question 38

Give an example of a nonrestrictive relative clause.

Answer 38

“Alex recently ran into our old roommate, who now lives in Hong Kong.” The clause adds information about the roommate but the roommate was already known and restricted.

Question 39

What are possessive determiners?

Answer 39

my, her, their our, etc.

Question 40

What are the postdeterminers?

Answer 40

Include cardinal and ordinal numbers, general ordinals (next and last) and quantifiers (many and some).

Question 41

What’s an idiomatic usage of less with a countable measure of distance?

Answer 41

less than 100 miles.

Question 42

What is pied-piping?

Answer 42

Sometimes the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition in the relative clause. In this case, the preposition will follow the pronoun as it gets fronted.

Question 43

What happened to the case system for nouns in English?

Answer 43

We have lost all but the possessive s. Pronouns have a much more complete remainder of the case system.

Question 44

What are quantifier determiners?

Answer 44

many, some, several, most

Question 45

How are determiners different from adjectives?

Answer 45

Adjectives can occur before a noun and out in the predicate (“The friendly cat”; “The cat is friendly”). Determiners only appear before the noun (“the cat” and not “cat is the.”)

Question 46

How can you count uncountable nouns?

Answer 46

With measure words such as drops, cups, or buckets of water.

Question 47

What are the third person pronouns subj/obj/poss?

Answer 47

he/him/his; she/her/hers; they/them/theirs; it/it/its

Question 48

What’s an example of how you consistently get I in the subject position and me in the object position if the pronoun occurs by itself?

Answer 48

I went to the store; My mother called me.

Question 49

What’s a jarring usage of “less” with a countable noun?

Answer 49

90 percent less germs.

Question 50

What is a relative clause?

Answer 50

A clause that modifies a noun or noun phrase.

Question 51

Give an example of “correct” use of “which.”

Answer 51

“I have the keys to the car, which is in the driveway.” (There is only one car, and I’m just letting you know where it’s parked)

Question 52

What are demonstrative determiners?

Answer 52

this, that, these, those

Question 53

What are determiners?

Answer 53

The little words that introduce nouns and noun phrases.