Grammar Eng A21 - Lecture 1

Question 1

Determiners:

The articles

Demonstrative determiners

Possessive determiners

Quantifiers

Wh-determiners

Answer 1

Determiners

• The articles the car, a car
• Demonstrative determiners this car, those cars
• Possessive determiners my car, her cars
  * Quantifiers some cars
  * Wh-determiners what car

LSGSWE, p. 32: ”wh-words do not form an independent word class. Instead, they are members of word classes already mentioned, especially determiners, pronouns, and adverbs.”

– Differences compared to other classifications:

 * Demonstrative determiners are ”related to” demonstrative pronouns
 * Possessive determiners are ”related to” possessive pronouns
 * Quantifiers are ”related to” indefinite pronouns

Question 2

Personal pronouns

Answer 2

PRONOUNS RELATED DETERMINERS
• Personal pronouns
he, she, it, etc

Question 3

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative determiners

Answer 3

PRONOUNS RELATED DETERMINERS

Demonstrative pronouns Demonstrative determiners

I like these. I like these cars.

I like that. I like that car.

Question 4

• Reflexive pronouns

Answer 4

PRONOUNS RELATED DETERMINERS

• Reflexive pronouns
himself, herself, etc

Question 5

• Reciprocal pronouns

Answer 5

PRONOUNS RELATED DETERMINERS

• Reciprocal pronouns ?Reciprocal determiners?
They like each other. They like each other’s cars.

Question 6

• Possessive pronouns

Possessive determiners

Answer 6

PRONOUNS RELATED DETERMINERS

• Possessive pronouns Possessive determiners
This car is mine. my car

Question 7

• Indefinite pronouns

Quantifiers

Answer 7

PRONOUNS RELATED DETERMINERS

Indefinite pronouns Quantifiers
I heard something. some people

Question 8

Auxiliary verbs

Answer 8

• ’Closed class’, which is why it counts as a function word class
• Auxiliary verbs precede the lexical verb in the ’small’ VP
• Two types (or maybe three):
– Primary auxiliaries
– Modal auxiliaries
– Semi-modals (marginal modals)

Question 9

Primary auxiliaries:

Answer 9

Primary auxiliaries: have, be, do

(Kristy’s reminder: “I primarily have a bee-_do_”)

• Help form important verb constructions
– be
• Progressive aspect: I’m walking in Memphis.
• Passive voice: The book was sent three weeks ago.

– have
• Perfect aspect: I have never seen anything like it.
– do
• do insertion (do-support, do-periphrasis):I didn’t know where to go.
• All three also have uses as lexical verbs:
– be
• He was half asleep.
– have
• We had lunch at 2 o’clock.
– do
• Elisa never does her homework.

Question 10

Test Review:

Past participle

Answer 10

Used by the perfective (has, had…)

laughed

come

set

said…

Question 11

Modal auxiliaries

• Definition
• two types plus examples

Answer 11

Express modality (permission, obligation, necessity, etc.)

Intrinsic/personal modality (done by an agent)

• May I smoke in here? (permission)
• Can Mary come out to play? (permission)
• You mustn’t hit your little brother. (obligation)
• You shouldn’t hit your little brother. (obligation)
• If you would only be quiet, I could finish this in no time. (volition)

Extrinsic/logical modality (logical status of states or events)

• This may be a true story. (Possibility)
• This could not possibly be true. (Possibility)
• The Johnsons must have a lot of money. (Logical necessity)
• The meeting should be over by now. (Likelihood)
• I will see my children tomorrow. (Prediction)

• ”In practice the modals can be regarded as invariable function words, with no inflections” … most modals have a contracted negative form ending in n’t…(p. 28)

• Apparent tense distinctions in modals have very
little to do with time.
• Instead, past tense forms often indicate greater
tentativeness/indirectness:
– weaker possibility/likelihood
• He may have been telling us a lie.
• He might have been telling us a lie.
• This can turn out to be a problem.
• This could turn out to be a problem.
– weaker permission
• Can I talk to you for a minute?
• Could I talk to you for a minute?

Question 12

Semi-modals

Answer 12

Semi-modals
• Semantically similar to modal auxiliaries (i.e. they express obligation, possibility, future, etc.) BUT:
• Many semi-modals have non-finite forms, e.g. infinitive forms
– The police will have to search the whole area.
– This might explain why Noah would have needed to gather only two of every major kind (ie, family or genus) of animal onto the Ark.
• Typically, semi-modals are followed by a to-infinitive (actually, to is semantically part of the verb)
– We are supposed to leave at six.
– We are going to leave at six.
We will return to semi-modals when discussing verb complementation.

Question 13

Prepositions

Answer 13

• Syntax: Function as heads of prepositional phrases.
• Structure of prepositional phrases P + Complement
• Complements of prepositions are typically NPs, but may
take other forms as well:
– Bill was in the room (NP)
– Before too long my friends were far ahead of me. (AdvP)
– We can rely on Bill(’s) going home early. (non-finite clause)
• Semantics: Indicate relations between entitities (both physically and metaphorically)
– Bill is in the room.
– Bill is in love.
– Bill is interested in sports

Question 14

Adverbial particles

Answer 14

• Used to build phrasal verbs.
• Different distribution from other ’short’ adverbs.
– Bring in the chair from the kitchen.
– *** **Bring here the chair from the kitchen.
• Often same form as prepositions, but
– Prepositions obligatorily take complements, adverbial
particles do not:
We walked up the steps. (prep)
We walked up. (adv. particle)

Question 15

Coordinators:

Answer 15

_ and, but, or_

• Coordination at different levels:
– word-level
He always wore white shoes and pants. (head of NP)
He can read and write. (head of VP)
I’ll do it with or without your help. (head of PP)
– phrase-level
My brother and his wife are coming to visit. (NP)
My brother made me feel extremely stupid and very small.
(AP)
James drives very slowly and very carefully. (AdvP)
– clause-level
Bill joined the club but he never went to any of the meetings.

Question 16

Subordinators

Answer 16

• Introduce dependent clauses.
• When the dependent clause functions as an adverbial the
subordinator indicates its semantic role. A few examples:
– Condition
If you should see Bill, tell him I want to talk to him.
– Time
When you see Bill, tell him I want to talk to him.
– Concession
Bill still hasn’t fixed my bike, although I asked him to.
• Subordinators also introduce complement clauses (nominal clauses)
I told Bill that I wanted him to fix my car.

Question 17

NP: premodifiers

Answer 17

• Occur before the head:
[short] hair
[blue] shoes
an [internal] memo
a [very tall] [handsome] stranger
• As the last example shows, an NP may contain more
than one premodifier.
• Typically, premodifiers have the form of Adj.P, but
other phrases may also have this function:
a [recently published] article (VP)
these [Indian cotton] shirts (NP)
the [downstairs] room (AdvP)

Question 18

NP: postmodifiers

Answer 18

(GAP)

• Occur after the head
a woman [of great wisdom]
my career [as a journalist]
people [living next to the power plant]
the book [about syntax] [that I lent you]
• As the last example shows, an NP may contain more
than one postmodifier.
• Postmodifiers in NP typically have the form of PP or
dependent clause, but other phrases may also have
this function:
a man my age
all people now alive

(i) the man [that we met ∆ yesterday] (object gap = the man)
(iii) the man [to talk to ∆] (gap is the complement of P (= the man))

Question 19

NP: Complements

Answer 19

(NO GAP) - Reminder- no gap teeth = complements

• Complement clauses differ from postmodifying clauses in _not having a gap _
corresponding to the head noun.

(ii) the rumor [that Ford would close down the factory] (no gap)
(iv) her refusal to show any sign of emotion

• Very often, a complement clause in an NP corresponds to the object of a verb:
Compare (iv) with the corresponding clause:
She refused [to show any sign of emotion].

Question 20

Few words that take a complement:

Answer 20

rumor, claim, etc.

Question 21

Subject: Gap or No Gap, that is the question

Question 22

The rumor that Bill spread went around town.

Answer 22

The rumor that Bill spread went around town.

Has a Gap

Postmodifier

Object (?)

Question 23

The rumor that Bill is crazy has gone around town.

Answer 23

The rumor _that Bill is crazy _has gone around town.

NO Gap

Complement

Question 24

Subject: Identify the dependent clauses and their functions…

Question 25

To be absolutely honest, I’m not very fond of the big lamp.

Answer 25

To be absolutely honest, I’m not very fond of the big lamp.

Fxn: Adverbial

Question 26

Bill’s first book about the love-life of grasshoppers did not impress any of the critics that reviewed it.

Answer 26

Bill’s first book about the love-life of grasshoppers did not impress any of the critics that reviewed it.

GAP = Postmodifier

(Subject gap)

Question 27

If you see Mary please don’t tell her about the skeleton in her cupboard.

Answer 27

If you see Mary please don’t tell her about the skeleton in her cupboard.

Adverbial

Question 28

Everyone in the grammar class had heard the rumour that the test was really difficult.

Answer 28

Everyone in the grammar class had heard the rumour that the test was really difficult.

No Gap

Complement

Question 29

While we were waiting for the bus, Bill played a tune from West Africa on his guitar.

Answer 29

While we were waiting for the bus, Bill played a tune from West Africa on his guitar.

Adverbial

Question 30

His favorite pastime is playing soccer with his childhood friends from Malmö.

Answer 30

His favorite pastime is playing soccer with his childhood friends from Malmö.

Subject Predicative

Question 31

The man in the room next to mine insists that the hotel is haunted.

Answer 31

The man in the room next to mine insists that the hotel is haunted.

Direct Object

Question 32

To be honest, Bill has not made much progress since his last attempt at the record.

Answer 32

To be honest, Bill has not made much progress since his last attempt at the record.

Adverbial

Question 33

The first runner to qualify for the finals was the teenager from the Bahamas.

Answer 33

The first runner to qualify for the finals was the teenager from the Bahamas.

? Infinitive clause- noun complement

Question 34

Standing alone on a sandy beach on a rainy day in July is not my idea of a good time.

Answer 34

Standing alone on a sandy beach on a rainy day in July is not my idea of a good time.

Subject

Question 35

Adjective Phrases

• 2 types

Answer 35

• Internal structure
– HEAD
– Modifiers
– Complement
(We will deal with the difference between modifiers and complements later)
• External distribution
– Premodifier in NP – attributive APs
– Predicative – predicative APs

Question 36

Adverb Phrases

Answer 36

• Internal structure
– HEAD
– Modifiers
– Complements
• External distribution
– Modifier in AdjP
– Modifier in AdvP
– Adverbial in clause structure

Question 37

Prepositional Phrases

Answer 37

• Internal structure
– HEAD
– Prepositional complement
– Modifiers
right under his eyes
• External distribution
– Adverbial in clause structure
– Postmodifier in NP, AP, AdvP
– Complement in AP, AdvP (and, possibly, NP)
– Predicative

Question 38

What is a prepositional object?

Answer 38

• LSGSWE Glossary of terms (p. 459)
– prepositional object: a noun phrase (or nominal clause, etc.) which normally follows the preposition of a prepositional verb, and which resembles the object of a transitive verb:

• asked for permission*.

(A prepositional object is a special type of prepositional complement.)
– OK, so it is a function at the phrase level – a ”type of prepositional complement”
• LSGSWE (Table 8.1, p. 226)
– Prepositional object is listed as a clause element on a par with S, V, O, P, A, in effect a kind of object
• See relevant discussion on p. 130

Question 39

What is a complement clause?

Answer 39

• LSGSWE Glossary of terms (p. 456)
– complement clause: a dependent clause controlled by a preceding verb, adjective, noun or preposition
• LSGSWE (p. 256f)
– ”Complement clauses are also called nominal clauses, because their syntactic roles are comparable to those of a noun phrase. Thus they are used as subject, predicative, or object in the main clause.”
– ”Complement clauses can also occur within phrases /…/, as complements of noun, adjective, or preposition”
• So, in fact, ’complement clause’ is not a special clause element, but rather a short-hand term for clauses in the functions mentioned above.