Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Transcriber’s table:

{ and }: used to denote emphasis on a certain word; multiple levels for increased emphasis or two overlapping emphasies

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Authors:

Murray Munro
Cliff Burgess
Ivelnia Tchizmarova

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Acknowledgements

iii

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Margaret Bru, Ryan Schrodt, and everyone else at Kendall Hunt Publishing for their professionalism, advice, and enthusiastic support for our work on this textbook.

We would also like to thank the Department of Linguistics at Simon Fraser University which brought us together.

We dedicate this book to our families, who have embraced our passion for language.

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Content

What is Grammar? (1)
Classifying Words (19)
Inflectional and Derivational Affixes (45)
Verb Types, Multi-Word Verbs, and Related Constituency Issues (61)
Status of Verbs: Tense, Aspect, and Voice (83)
Using English Tense and Aspect (95)
Mood and Modals (107)
Constructing Noun Phrases (119)
Negation (131)
Interrogation (133)
Passives, Expletives, Imperatives, and Compounds (143)
Clause and Sentence Types (161)
Subordinate Clauses (169)
Non-Finite Verbals (191)
The Secret Life of Non-Finite Verbals (209)
Subordinate Clauses and Non-Finite Verbals: Review (219)
Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Modification (231)
Identifying Errors Made by Second Language Learners (245)
Supplementary Material: Tense, Aspect, and Modal Sequences (253)
List of Labels and Parsing Conventions (257)
Works Cited (261)

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CHAPTER 1: What is Grammar?

For linguists, the study of grammar is the study of the structure of language. In its broadest sense, grammar covers a wide variety of phenomena including the sound system of a language; the lexicon, which consists of words and other meaningful units; and larger structures such as phrases and sentences. However, grammar also has a more restricted sense—the one that we will use in this book. When most of us think of grammar, we think of the structure of sentences. When we “do” grammar, we analyze this structure by parsing (identifying the categories to which words belong) and by describing how the words form recurring patterns that we call phrases and clauses. There are many different approaches to grammar. The sections that follow outline some of them.

Descriptive Grammar

The material covered in this book is presented from a descriptive perspective. We will describe English sentence structure by examining the ways in which proficient speakers of English use grammar. When we take this view of language, we do not think of utterances in terms of whether they are good or bad English. Instead, we are concerned with the ways in which sentences and other units are commonly constructed. Grammatical sentences are structures that proficient speakers of English would actually say or write. In English, for example, determiners like the come before the nouns that they refer to. So we might say that a descriptive “fact” or “rule” of English grammar is that determiners precede nouns. If you compare sentences 1 and 2 below, you’ll notice that the first one conforms to that expectation, while the second one does not. For that reason we consider the first sentence to be grammatical and the second one to be ungrammatical. To denote an ungrammatical structure, linguists typically use an asterisk as shown.

1) The cat was sleeping by the door.
2) *Cat the was sleeping by door the.

Sentence 2 above is ungrammatical because its word order doesn’t fit our expectations about the way English sentences are constructed. However, word order is not the only thing we need to consider when analyzing grammatical structure. Sentence 3 below is grammatical, while 4 is not:

3) She works at the bakery.
4) *She work at the bakery.

The problem with sentence 4 is that it lacks a marker (-s) that is required in presenttense sentences with he or she as a subject. Still another example of ungrammaticality is illustrated by the following pair:

5) I ate all my dinner.
6) *I eated all my dinner. This time, the problem has to do with a particular verb form. The past form of eat is ate, not *eated. Children sometimes produce sentences like 6 when they are acquiring English, probably because they have recognized that many past tense verbs have an -ed ending. However, they eventually learn to produce the grammatical form ate.

While proficient speakers of English generally agree that sentences 2, 4, and 6 are ungrammatical, sometimes there are differences of opinion about other structures. One thing to notice is that the grammaticality of an utterance depends on the particular variety or dialect of a language that is being considered. In other words, a sentence that is grammatical in one variety of English may not be grammatical in another. For most speakers of Western Canadian English (WCE) the following are not grammatical:

7) *I might could get some eggs when I go to the store.
8) *This chair needs fixed.

Sentence 7 is marked with an asterisk because WCE generally does not allow more than one modal auxiliary (a word like can, may, might, or could) in a verb unit. Sentence 8 is also ungrammatical because, in WCE, needs requires an -ing form as its complement. Most speakers of WCE find both these sentences unacceptable and would be unlikely to ever say or write them. However, in some varieties of English, including dialects spoken in the southern United States, both of these sentences are grammatical, and a linguist attempting to describe those varieties would not mark them with an asterisk. In this book we will use WCE as our basis for deciding what is and what is not grammatical. We will focus on sentences that are clearly grammatical and will occasionally consider ones that are clearly ungrammatical. Sometimes speakers of a particular variety of a language like WCE may disagree on whether or not a particular sentence is grammatical. We will leave these debatable cases for discussion elsewhere.

One can approach descriptive grammar in a variety of ways. Linguists have developed many different types of labels and diagrams for sentences. Their variable approaches to grammar often make different assumptions about the nature of linguistic structures. In this book, we will take a traditional approach—one that uses fairly well-known labels in commonly-accepted ways. In fact, much of the terminology we will cover is similar to that used in books written for learners of English as a second language. However, if you read other books about language structure, you will find that the terminology used to talk about grammar can vary, and that different principles of

analysis are often assumed. Some approaches require a strict formalism: labels are applied in very particular ways, and tree diagrams are used to illustrate subtle structural phenomena. While the purpose of this book is to help you approach English grammar analytically, our goal is not to learn a particular formalism or to draw tree diagrams simply for the sake of doing so. Rather, we will aim at a general overview of English structures that should help you understand virtually any basic English grammar text.

The existence of a wide variety of approaches to English grammar reflects the fact that linguists have not come to an agreement on the best way to characterize the structure of English—or of languages in general. If you are to be successful at language analysis, you will have to accept this fact.

Prescriptive Grammar

Prescriptive grammar entails the evaluation of particular ways of using language as correct or incorrect or as good or bad. People who take this view use their opinions about language to tell others how to speak or write. Someone who tells you not to end a sentence with a preposition or not to “split” an infinitive (as in “to quickly finish”) is prescribing, rather than describing language use. This is a very different way of thinking about language than the descriptive approach covered above. Descriptivists consider all structures that proficient speakers systematically use to be grammatical. (Of course, that doesn’t include sentences produced with speech errors.) Therefore, for descriptivists, ungrammatical structures are ones that people don’t use. Prescriptivists, on the other hand, take the view that even things that people regularly say or write should be judged as good or bad. Over the centuries, hundreds of prescriptive “rules” have been proposed for English. Here are a few:

Don’t end an utterance with a preposition. Some people claim that “Who were you talking to?” is inferior to “To whom were you talking?”
Don’t split an infinitive. They might also claim that “…to boldly go where no man has gone before…” is inferior to “… to go boldly where no man has gone before…”
Don’t use object forms after BE. They might insist that “It’s me” should be replaced by “It is I.”
Don’t use “if” to begin a noun complement clause. They might say that “I wonder if he’s coming” is not as good as “I wonder whether he is coming.”

Even though some prescriptivists object to the examples above, we have not used any asterisks, because these patterns are not ungrammatical. In fact, proficient English speakers use structures like these all the time. Because the field of linguistics aims at documenting and analyzing the way language is actually used, rather than at telling people how to speak or write, linguists generally take a negative view of prescriptivism. In fact, some linguists have written quite scathing criticisms of prescriptivist thinking. In this text, we will certainly not be taking a prescriptive approach. However, it is worth commenting briefly on some of the errors in thinking that underlie a great deal of prescriptivist commentary on language.

Emotional Responses to Language

Some people believe that their own negative emotional reactions to particular uses of language should be shared by everyone. For instance, you might hear them complaining that they are horrified when they hear “access” used as a verb, as in “Everyone can access that web page easily.” Other folks become emotional about sentence-final prepositions or split infinitives. Regrettably, the people who become most emotional about language are often those who have the least understanding of linguistics. One very famous example of linguistic emotionalism comes from George Orwell, author of the novels Animal Farm and 1984. In 1946, Orwell wrote a bombastic essay entitled Politics and the English Language, in which he presented some of his prejudices about language use. Among these was his prescriptive belief that the passive voice should be avoided as much as possible. Orwell, who was not the first person to complain about the passive, would probably claim, for instance, that a sentence like “The house was damaged by the storm.” is inferior to “The storm damaged the house.” A number of years later an analysis of Orwell’s essay was published, in which it was reported that more than 20% of the verbs in that very essay were in the passive voice. Yet in typical periodical writing, the frequency of passive use was only about 13%! As far as anyone knows, Orwell was unaware that he was violating his own rule over and over again, and that he was actually using the passive more often than other writers. A possible reason for the discrepancy between his advice and his actions is that Orwell had not reflected carefully on the uses of the English passive. Instead his ideas were motivated by emotionalism. Descriptive linguists do not regard the passive as “good” or “bad.” Instead, they point out that the passive voice is generally used when the doer of an action is unknown or relatively unimportant. In scientific writing, for instance, the passive allows a writer to economically refer to actions and events without mentioning the agent (for instance, “The patient was given an injection” instead of “A nurse gave an injection to the patient.”) This case, and many others like it, have been discussed at length by the linguist, Geoffrey Pullum. You can read more of his ideas at the Language Log website <http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/>.

Misinformed and Illogical Views about Language

Some popular ideas about language are based on misinformation or a lack of understanding of how languages work. Some prescriptivists believe, for example, that older language forms and meanings are inherently more “correct” than newer ones. For instance, some have claimed that the expression “comprised of ” is less correct than “comprised” because the first form appeared later in the development of English (around the end of the eighteenth century CE). They argue that instead of saying “Canada is comprised of ten provinces” you should say “Canada comprises ten provinces.” However, if we were to follow this type of reasoning to its logical end, we would have to conclude that almost all aspects of contemporary English are wrong! English has changed a great deal over the many centuries that it has existed as a

language. Here, for instance, is a passage written in Old English, a phase of the language that lasted from about the fifth century to twelfth century CE:

Eft he axode, hu ðære ðeode nama wære þe hi of comon. Him wæs geandwyrd, þæt hi Angle genemnode wæron. Þa cwæð he, “Rihtlice hi sind Angle gehatene, for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað, and swilcum gedafenað Þæt hi on heofonum engla geferan beon.” (Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary <http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/history.htm>)

As you can see, this passage is mostly unintelligible to users of modern-day English. But if it really were true that older forms of language are “more correct” than newer forms, we would have to say that this passage is better written than its contemporary translation. Perhaps that means that we should all go back to speaking Old English to ensure that we are using our language correctly! Of course, that is a ridiculous idea, but it appears to be a logical extension of the belief that “older is better.”

The idea that older forms are inherently better than new ones is based on the false assumption that languages cannot evolve over time. In fact, all languages change, and it is unlikely that prescriptivists (or anyone else) can do anything to prevent this from happening. Descriptivists accept this fact. Moreover, they do not see linguistic change as inherently good or bad.

Another example of misinformed reasoning about language concerns the use of their as a singular possessive word, as in the following sentence:

9) Everyone should do their best.

Notice that we have not used an asterisk because this is a common type of utterance in WCE and in other varieties of English. However, prescriptivists have sometimes argued that sentence 9 is “bad English.” They note that everyone is a singular pronoun, but claim that their is a plural determiner that cannot be used to refer to a singular antecedent. This notion about correct and incorrect uses of their was probably the idea of eighteenth century grammarians, and it has been a favourite issue of grade school English teachers for a very long time. Some people have even argued that the occurrence of sentences like sentence 9 shows that English grammar is deteriorating and that the language is “at risk.” However, there is no reason to take that view seriously. Prior to the eighteenth century CE, their was commonly used with a singular antecedent, and you will find examples of this usage in the writings of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Swift, and many other great writers. If English really were in decline, it would seem odd to put the blame on Shakespeare!

Rather than view the plural use of their as a sign of bad English, descriptivists prefer to look for reasons why speakers of English might make such a choice. A likely explanation is that the alternatives to using their in sentence 9 are not very satisfactory. English has a few third person possessives: his, her, its, and one’s, for example. What problems do you see with each of these possibilities?

Stylebooks and writing manuals usually treat language prescriptively. Their authors might argue that written English is clearer and easier to read when certain prescriptions are followed. Whether they are right on that point is an issue that could be discussed at great length. However, we will not focus our attention on prescriptive matters in this book.

Punctuation is not Grammar!

Issues of punctuation and spelling are not regarded as aspects of descriptive grammar, and we will not generally discuss them either. A sentence like “Studying grammer sure is interesting” is not ungrammatical, even though it does contain a spelling error and lacks punctuation.

Applied Grammar: Teaching Second Language Learners

Applied grammar is the approach to grammar used in second language instruction. If you have learned English, French, or Mandarin as a second language, you have probably used a “pedagogical grammar” textbook. Most second language teaching is based on descriptive, rather than prescriptive, accounts of language. Although language teachers certainly give their students advice on how sentences are formed, their goal is to help learners gain proficiency in the language being taught. Therefore, they usually encourage their students to speak and write the language the way proficient users do. For instance, ESL instructors might teach students that sentence 10 below is grammatical, whereas 11 is not:

10) He often takes the bus to work.
11) *He takes often the bus to work.

Proficient speakers of English will almost always agree that something is wrong with sentence 11, although they might not be able to explain why. In this case, the problem has to do with the position of the frequency adverb often. Frequency adverbs do not generally occur between a verb (takes) and a direct object (the bus).

Most ESL instructors base their teaching on descriptive English grammar and not on prescriptions about good and bad usage. In a discussion between two ESL teachers a number of years ago, one of them mentioned that he had been telling his students about the common use of There’s… in both singular and plural contexts. For instance, some proficient speakers of English might use all the following:

12) There’s a fly in my soup.
13) There are three people in the room.
14) There’s three people in the room.
15) There’s a lot of cars parked on the street.

The other teacher was surprised that sentences 14 and 15 had been recommended to the students because she thought that these illustrated “bad” English. “Do you teach your students what English speakers actually say or what they should say?” she asked. As you can readily see, she was taking a prescriptive view. The reply was that the most important thing in English language instruction is to teach actual usage. Moreover, it would be useful to point out to students the difference in the ways sentences 13 and 14 might be used. If you were faced with the same situation, how would you explain the difference between these two utterances?

Grammar and Psychology

Some linguists study the ways in which linguistic knowledge is represented in the minds of speakers. They aim at answering the question “What do you know when you know a language?” Addressing this problem has led to much debate. For instance, some scholars have argued that a great deal of human knowledge of language is innately endowed. According to that account, we are born programmed with a universal grammar that includes quite specific information about how languages work. If so, then the chief task of children learning a native language is to discover how universal grammar is applied in that language.

But the nativist view of language described above is just one perspective. Other contemporary researchers and theorists doubt the existence of this kind of universal grammar. Instead, they believe that all the important aspects of language have to be learned after birth. They place the focus on how children make use of the linguistic input that they hear from caregivers and others in order to become proficient users of language.

Some linguists carry out psycholinguistic research to address this controversy and to answer other questions about the psychology of language. They might, for example, observe that sentences like 16 are sometimes produced by children learning English as a first language or by ESL learners:

16) *She goed home already.

This sentence uses a past tense form (*goed), which looks very much like many common past tense forms (arrived, lived, fixed, etc.), but which adult English speakers recognize as ungrammatical. The overgeneralization of the -ed past tense marker to an inappropriate situation is a common process in language acquisition. Psycholinguists are interested in explaining why such errors occur. One possible account is that people acquire and use subconscious structural “rules” about language, which they sometimes misapply. On that view, one of the things language learners must do is to learn when and when not to apply particular rules. In the case of the past tense, for instance, one might say that learners acquire a rule that captures the way the -ed marker is used, and that they must apply that rule only to certain verbs like wait and need, but not to the verbs eat, drive, and write.

However, an account based on rules is only one possible way of understanding why language learners make this error. Other linguists have proposed different kinds of language acquisition processes that do not entail actual knowledge of rules, but which have to do with the way the people associate different kinds of information in their brains. They argue that extensive exposure to and experience with a language results in a complex array of neural connections in the brain. It is these connections that underlie our ability to produce language that is grammatical. While a great deal of attention is currently being devoted to this newer viewpoint on language, it is likely that the debate over this problem and other related issues will continue for many years into the future.

Things You Need to Know About: Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Grammar

Descriptive Rules (D-rules)	Prescriptive Rules (P-rules)
Describe language as it is spoken by proficient adult native speakers of English; e.g., In English, personal pronouns appear as object forms after prepositions (between you and me, about me, between you and I, about I). In English the adjective is normally placed before the noun (beautiful place, place beautiful). In English statements (but not in questions) the subject normally precedes the verb (she laughed, laughed she).	Do not describe how language is actually used but rather prescribe how it should be used in someone’s opinion; e.g., one P-rule states that: We should say “between you and I” despite the fact that most native speakers (correctly) say “between you and me.”
Describe objectively sentences (1)–(4) as they occur in English (e.g., (1) and (3) as less formal than (2) and (4)), without qualifying any of them as “more correct” than the others. Who is she going out with? With whom is she going out? This is the man (that/who) I told you about. This is the man about whom I told you.	Reflect people’s preferences about the best way to say something when several alternative expressions are available. (1)P Who is she going out with? violates the P-rules: (a) “Do not end sentences with prepositions,” and (b) “Use ‘whom,’ not ‘who’ in object position”. (2) With whom is she going out? conforms to P-rules. Entail subjective evaluation or judgment, someone’s preference about “good” and “bad,” “correct” or “incorrect” language; according to these rules: (3) P This is the man (that/who) I told you about. is “bad/incorrect . . . ” English; while, (4) This is the man about whom I told you. is “good/proper . . . ” English.
9	9
Are learned naturally by native speakers, usually at home. Native speakers would say (5), but not (6): (5) My computer broke down last night. (6) Computer my broke down last night. Sentence (6) violates a D-rule: “The possessive pro-determiner should be placed before the noun in English.” Native speakers do not* produce sentences like (6); therefore this rule describes actual usage (and does not need to be taught at school).	Are not learned naturally by native speakers but have to be learned later in life; e.g., at school.
Comply with historical facts (based on Crystal 1995:44, 79, 367): The use of sentences ending in prepositions, beginning with conjunctions, or containing split infinitives (e.g., to quickly finish something) is evident in the works of the most educated people and renowned English writers such as Milton, Shakespeare and Locke. Using multiple negation for emphasis has been a natural part of the English language since Old English.	Contradict not only actual modern usage but also historical facts about the English language.
Reflect the understanding that beginning sentences with conjunctions such as ‘and’ may not be acceptable in some styles and registers; e.g., formal written academic prose, but in informal spoken English many utterances start this way, and, indeed, this is the most natural way to speak English.	Often mix up levels of formality and style with grammaticality and accuracy; e.g., *P And then she came to me, and gave me the letter. And I asked her . . . violates the P-rule: “Do not start sentences with conjunctions.”
Allow all four sentences below: (8) There’s a bear on the road. (9) There are two bears on the road. (10) There’s two bears on the road. (11) There’s a lot of bears in the forest.	Fail to account for language change as in sentences (10) and (12), and/or apply rules consistently as in (11): (8) There’s a bear on the road. (9) There are two bears on the road. (10) *P There’s two bears on the road. (11) There’s a lot of bears in the forest.
10	10
Sentence (10) contains an innovative form where the verb (“be”-singular) agrees with the impersonal existential “there” subject, rather than with the predicate noun (also called predicate nominative) (plural “two bears”; cf. (9)).	Sentence (10) violates P-rule: Verbs must always agree in number with the predicate nouns/subject complements. Do not sanction (11) as a P-rule violation although the verb (“be”) agrees with the prearticle (“a lot of ”) rather than with the head noun (“bears”) in the NP.
Allow this structure along with other alternatives, and reanalyzes “their” as a neutral possessive determiner used: (12) {Everyone} should do {their} best. when it’s not necessary or possible to determine gender, and instead of the longer and more cumbersome “his or her” (especially when it has to be repeated several times in a paragraph).	*P {Everyone} should do {their} best. violates the P-rule: Possessive pronoun determiners must agree in number with their antecedents. The P-rule requires that “their” be made singular (“one’s”, or “his or her”), or “everyone” be changed to plural (“people”).
Articles and books on language written by linguists, and many newer grammar and ESL texts are concerned only with D-rules. If P-rules are mentioned at all, it is only to show why they do not reflect language use and language change accurately.	Writing manuals, some traditional grammar and ESL texts, and the spell checker of your computer contain numerous P-rules.

Exercises

Indicate whether each of the statements below is motivated by descriptive (D) or prescriptive (P) thinking.
1. In English, adverbs often end in -ly.
2. It really burns me up when people say irregardless when they mean regardless.
3. The sentence “Don’t gives that to me” is not well-formed in WCE.
4. People who say “Wazzup?” don’t know proper English.
5. Children need to study grammar in school so that they learn to speak correctly.
Place an ‘*’ in front of each sentence that is ungrammatical for most or all proficient speakers of Western Canadian English (WCE), and see if you can explain why (i.e. explains how they violate D-rules). Then indicate which sentences might be criticized by a prescriptivist, despite being grammatical?
1. Be sure to fully cook the turkey.
2. Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.
3. Why do he always leave the lights on?
4. 12
  The people which live in that house are extremely tidy.
5. Because of the turbulence, you’ll have to fasten your seatbelt.
6. She drinks always coffee for breakfast.
7. did you here the good, news.
8. Some people dislike to go out in the rain.
13
All of the following are grammatical in some variety of English, but are unlikely to be used by speakers of WCE. Why not?
1. These drawings are not identical; one is clearly different to the other.
2. What are y’all doing after the movie?
3. She graduated high school in 2006.
4. He all right!
5. He was standing on line at the theatre for over an hour.
6. Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers plucked in the garden.
14

The following utterances have been made by native speakers of English. If you think that some of them may be criticized by prescriptivists, write down “Yes” (= ‘likely to be criticized’) next to the sentence number in the first column of the table, and then provide a brief explanation in the second column, as in the example below. If you think that a sentence does not violate prescriptive grammar rules, write down “No” (= ‘not likely to be criticized’) next to that sentence number as in sentence (2) in the example below.

Example:

Say you don’t need no money and I’ll be satisfied.
The electronic paper has a different layout from the printed version.

Answer:

Sentence #	Explanation
1. Yes	Double negative
2. No	_____

I don’t know who they got the information from, but it’s not true.
The goal of most international students is to quickly learn the language of instruction in the
Contrary to parents’ beliefs, every teenager knows what is best for them.
My boss always answers with “We’ll see.”
There’s no secrets between me and you.
This is the bestest thing that could have happened to you.
Dr. Atkins never accepts late papers.
There’s never been so many graduate students in the department.
If someone calls this afternoon, don’t forget to ask for their phone number.
I think they are talking about you and I.
Hi guys, I’ll be keen to attend the meeting. See youse all then.
And he’s like, “Could you, like, give me, like, $5.00?”

Example #	Explanation
	According to prescriptive rules only. (Note that according to the descriptive view, these sentences are acceptable.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Answers to Exercises

Exercise A:

Exercise B:

Descriptive rules:

3) * “do” should be “do{es}” (third person singular ending)
4) * “the people {which}” (inanimate) should be “the people {who}” (animate)
6) * drinks always coffee” [Verb + Adverb (Frequency) + Direct Object] should be “always drinks coffee” [Adverb (Frequency) + Verb + Direct Object] (adverbs of frequency do not occur between the verb and its direct object)
8) * “dislike to go” should be “dislike going” (“dislike” takes gerunds, not infinitives)

Note:

Sentence 2 is meaningless but fully grammatical (hence, no *).
Sentence 7 has spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors, but no D-errors.

Exercise C:

Origin of Utterances

British English
Southern US English
US English
AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) and hip-hop
some US dialects
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a prominent Victorian poet (1806-1861).

Exercise D:

Example #	Explanation
	According to prescriptive rules only. (Note that according to the descriptive view, these sentences are acceptable.)
1. Yes	The prep from should be moved before the word who, and who should be changed to whom in object position (…from whom they got the information…).
2. Yes	The adverb quickly should not split the infinitive.
3. Yes	Every is singular, so them should be singular (him or her) to agree with its antecedent.
4. No	_____
5. Yes	The verb ’s should be changed to are to agree with plural secrets.
6. Yes	Wrong superlative degree of adjective: “the bestest” has double marking [should be “the best”].
7. No	_____
8. Yes	The verb ’s should be changed to have to agree with plural so many graduate students.
9. Yes	Someone is singular, so their should be singular (his or her) to agree with its antecedent.
10. No	This one is interesting! Although many prescriptivists will not criticise it, it is actually ungrammatical according to descriptive rules. The personal pronouns should be in their object forms after the preposition about; i.e, about you and me. This is a case of the so-called “hypercorrection.”
11. Yes	The non-standard/dialectal form “youse” should be changed to “you.”
12. Yes	Overuse of the word “like” in non-standard ways. “He’s like” should be changed to “he said,” and the other two instances of “like” should be deleted.

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CHAPTER 2: Classifying Words

Word classes fall into two broad categories: open classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and closed classes (everything else). The sections that follow present some of the labels that we will be using for words when we analyze the structure of English sentences. For instance, we’ll use ‘N’ for a noun and ‘Adj’ for an adjective. Doing this type of analysis is called parsing, and we’ll refer to the labels in this section as parsing labels. In most cases we will be using the same symbols that Morenberg (2010) uses. However, we will add a few items to his list.

Open Classes

A class is regarded as “open” when new words can be added to it quite readily. For instance, as English changes in response to developments in technology, medicine, politics, and culture, we get new words like iPod, Viagra, ringtone, unibrow, supersize, or pwned. Words from open classes carry most of the meaningful content of a sentence. In fact, well-formed English sentences usually contain at least one open class word. For that reason, they are sometimes called content words.

Nouns (N)

Reference

Nouns are commonly said to refer to:

people: Marie-France, doctor, professor
places: Victoria, Stanley Park
things: tree, cat, soup

However, that definition is not very satisfactory. Nothingness is a noun, but it doesn’t fit into any of those categories. And abstract concepts like honesty, evil, and beauty are certainly not “things” in the same sense that a tree is a thing. For these reasons, it is helpful to think of word classes not just in terms of their reference, but also in terms of the roles they can play in sentences. Here we can use “slot tests” that may help us identify the class of a word on the basis of its grammatical properties. Because a noun, or a noun with a determiner, can serve as the subject or object of a sentence, words that fit grammatically into the blanks below are likely to be nouns:

Slot Tests

(The) _____ is interesting.
I like (the) _____.
I hate (the) _____.

Nouns can be sub-categorized according to three types of distinctions, as outlined below.

Noun Sub-Classes

a) Countable vs. uncountable nouns

Countable nouns refer to entities that can be enumerated (one cat, two cats, three cats, etc.); therefore, countable nouns have both singular and plural forms. Most nouns can be used in a countable sense in at least some circumstances.

card(s)
box(es)
chair(s)

Uncountable or mass nouns refer to things that are not generally regarded as individual entities. Nouns used in a mass sense are not pluralized.

milk
air
hydrogen

b) Proper vs. common nouns

Proper nouns (PropN) refer to specific people, places, or things and are usually capitalized.

Paris
Mr. Bean
the Vatican

Common nouns refer to everyday things.

magazine
bean
telephone

c) Concrete vs. abstract nouns

Concrete nouns refer to things that can be seen, touched, or otherwise experienced directly through the senses.

rock
fence
water

Abstract nouns refer to qualities or ideas that cannot be experienced directly by seeing, touching, etc. These nouns are not commonly pluralized.

love
stupidity
hatred

Note that the three sub-classes are not mutually exclusive. For instance, a concrete noun may simultaneously be a countable noun.

Verbs

Later on, we will be using a variety of different parsing labels for verbs. For now, we will simply call them ‘V.’

Reference

Verbs are sometimes described as “action words”; actions:

Tracey {works} seven days a week.
Harry {got up} at six.
Fido {chased} the car around the block.

However, many verbs do not refer to actions at all. Some verbs describe the following:

states/characteristics:

Ludo {seems} tired.
The president {became} a tyrant.

sensations:

This durian {smells} terrible.

Still other verbs don’t fit any of these categories very well:

Lyman {has} a lot of time to kill.
Lionel {endured} the two-hour operation.

As with nouns, it is often helpful to verify that a word is a verb by examining its grammatical properties. Because the auxiliary can is used together with verbs, words that fit into the following slots are likely to be verbs.

Slot Tests

I can _____ (it) (there).
It can _____.
It can _____ good.

Sub-Classes

There are many sub-classes of verbs. We will discuss these extensively later on.

Adjectives (Adj)

Reference

Adjectives are sometimes said to “modify” or supply descriptive information about nouns. They may answer such questions as “what kind” or indicate a characteristic or state of something.

This morning, I saw a {pretty} bird.
The weather last spring was {awful}.

Slot Tests

Grammatically speaking, adjectives pattern in two distinct ways. An attributive adjective is one that immediately precedes the noun that it refers to.

Attributive Adjective: A huge tree is growing on our front lawn.

A predicate adjective generally follows the verb in a sentence, and the noun it refers to comes earlier.

Predicate Adjective: Linda was enthusiastic.

Words that can fill one or both of the slots below are likely to be adjectives:

(The) _____ [noun] was very interesting. (attributive slot) (The) [noun] was very _____. (predicate slot)

Adverbs (Adv)

Reference

People often say that adverbs modify verbs, but that is not a very satisfactory description of their use. Often, adverbs provide background information for an entire sentence and are not tied to any other single word. They generally answer such questions as “how,” “how often,” “when,” and “where.” They are associated with the following types of meanings (among others).

manner–quickly, slowly time–yesterday, tomorrow location–outside, everywhere frequency–sometimes, never, seldom

Slot Tests

One of the following slots will work in most cases.

I did it _____.
I will do it _____.
I will _____ do it.

Unlike many other parts of speech, adverbs tend to have some degree of mobility. Although not all adverbs are mobile, if you find that a word can be moved to another position in a sentence with little or no change in meaning, it is probably an adverb.

{Yesterday} I saw Rear Window.
I saw Rear Window {yesterday}.
She finished the job {slowly}.
She {slowly} finished the job.

Closed Classes

A word class is closed if it is uncommon for new items to be added to it. This is certainly true of determiners, pronouns, prepositions, and the other classes listed below. It has been a very long time since English acquired any new prepositions, for example.

Closed class words vary in the amount of meaningful content they carry. Their main role is to help show the grammatical relationships between other words in a sentence, and sometimes to link words in one sentence to words and ideas that have been mentioned before. They are sometimes called function words.

Determiners

1. Articles

indefinite (IndefArt)
- a (for nouns beginning with a consonant sound)
  {a} book, {a} year, {a} union
  an (for nouns beginning with a vowel sound)
  {an} egg, {an} uncle, {an} hour
definite (DefArt)
- the

2. Demonstrative Determiners (DemonD)

Like other determiners, a demonstrative determiner refers to a noun that comes immediately or soon afterward.

this–{This} lesson is fascinating.
that–{That} long lesson was stimulating.
these–{These} easy lessons will thrill you.
those–{Those} lessons are over.

Notice that this and these are used to refer to nouns that are “near,” in terms of space and time from the reference point of the speaker. That and those generally refer to things that are more remote in terms of space or time.

IMPORTANT: Don’t confuse DemonD with demonstrative pronouns, which are described below.

3. Possessive Pronoun Determiners (PossProD)

Possessive pronoun determiners come from the Personal Pronoun Paradigm (see next section). Some textbooks call these Possessive Pronouns, but you should be careful not to confuse them with the Independent Possessive Pronouns (IndPossPro).

All of these determiners typically precede a noun.

my
your
her
his
its
our
your
their

4. Interrogative Pro-Determiners (IntProD)

These determiners also typically precede a noun, and are used to form questions.

what–{What} magazine would you like to read?
which–{Which} university is the best in Canada?
whose–{Whose} office is this?

Pronouns

People often say that pronouns “take the place of nouns.” Although that sometimes appears to be true, it often is not. For instance, consider this sentence:

Nobody came to Brian’s party.

Although nobody is clearly a pronoun, it is not possible to identify any noun that it replaces. Rather than say that pronouns replace nouns, it is better to think of them as words that can have the same kinds of grammatical functions as nouns. For example, just like nouns they can serve as subjects and objects in sentences.

1. Personal Pronouns (Pro)

Quick Quiz: Complete the Personal Pronoun Chart Below

Person	Subject Case (Pro)	Object Case (Pro)	Independent Possessive Pronouns (IndPossPro)	Reﬂexive Pronouns (Pro)	Possessive Pronoun Determiners (PossProD)
1st singular	I	me	mine	myself	my
2nd singular
3rd singular
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
2nd singular (archaic)
2nd plural (dialectal)
2nd plural (dialectal)

REMINDER: The items in the last column above are not pronouns.

2. Indeﬁnite Pronouns (Pro)

Prefix	some-	any-	every-	no-
-thing	something	anything	everything	nothing
-one	someone	anyone	everyone	no one
-body	somebody	anybody	everybody	nobody

3. Interrogative Pronouns (IntPro)

who–{Who} has seen the wind?
whom (archaic)–{Whom} did you see?
what–{What} is the sound of one hand clapping?

4. Relative Pronouns (RelPro)

who–The man {who} won the election was ecstatic. whom (archaic)–The woman {whom} we saw on TV was Joe’s friend. which–This shirt, {which} I bought at Rich’s, is made of silk. that–The country {that} the Prime Minister visited was China.

5. Demonstrative Pronouns (DemonPro)

Demonstrative pronouns should not be confused with demonstrative determiners. A demonstrative determiner modifies a noun, but a demonstrative pronoun stands in the place of a noun. Therefore, a demonstrative pronoun can be the subject or object (among other things) of a sentence.

this–{This} is a grammar lesson. I love {this}!
that–{That} is a fact.
these–{These} are examples of sentences with pronouns.
those–{Those} are fascinating.

Auxiliaries

Words in this class must be used with a verb. The verb may follow immediately or appear soon after the auxiliary.

1) HAVE, BE, DO (Aux)

HAVE–(have, has, had)
Louise {has} just arrived.
BE–(be, am, are, is, was, were, been)
Louise {is} working at the office today.
DO–(do, does, did, done)

{Do} you need any rutabagas today?
I {do}n’t need any.
You {do} complain too much! (emphatic)

2) Modals (Modal)

can–could
will–would
may–might
shall (archaic)–should, must, had better

3) Catenatives or Semi-modals (Caten)

These are “two-part” auxiliaries, all of which end with to. These auxiliaries are often contracted in spoken English, as shown in the second column.

have to–“hafta”
ought to–“otta”
want to–“wanna”
used to–“usta”
need to
dare to

Prepositions (Prep)

Prepositions introduce prepositional phrases with a wide range of meanings. The examples below are not exhaustive.

location–on (the wall), beside (the house), over (the fence)
time–at (six o’clock), on (Friday), after (the movie), before (dinner)
duration–for (two weeks)
instrument–with (a hammer), by (hand)
manner–with (pleasure), in (a hurry), like (a queen)
agency–by (Bill)
genitive–(Prime Minister) of (Canada)

Particles (Prt)

Particles often look like prepositions. However, they form a unit with a verb:

The demolitionist blew {up} the building.
The demolitionist blew the building {up}.

In the sentences above {blew up} is a two-word verb, and {up} is a particle.

Qualiﬁers (Qual)

Qualifiers can be said to qualify or intensify adjectives and adverbs. Although some textbooks treat qualifiers as adverbs, we will be careful to distinguish qualifiers from adverbs because of their special function.

very (old, quickly)
extremely (angry)
somewhat (pretty)
quite (busy)

Qualifiers have a fixed position—they precede the adjectives and adverbs they modify (see example (1) and the ungrammatical (2)), while adverbs can be placed in different positions in the sentence (see examples (3)–(6)).

They are {extremely} busy.
*{Extremely} they are busy.
{Fortunately}, we finished on time.
We finished on time, {fortunately}.
We {usually} finish on time.
{Usually}, we finish on time.
She is {absolutely} amazing.
There’s {absolutely} no food or open drinks in the classroom.

Note that “absolutely” in (8) precedes an NP!

Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions (CoordConj)
- and
- or
- but
- nor
- so
- for
- yet
Subordinating Conjunctions (SubConj)
- because
- although
- while
- since
- so (under some circumstances) . . .
Correlative Conjunctions (Correl)
- either…or
- neither…nor
- if…then
- both…and

Others

Negative Marker “not” (Neg):
Truth is {not} an easy thing to define.
You ca{n’t} take a goldfish for a walk. (contracted form)
29
Inﬁnitive Marker “to” (No label):
{To} err is human.
Alan’s great love is {to} play cards.
Expletive “there” (Expl):
{There} is a hole in my tire.
Expletive “it” (Expl):
{It} usually rains in December.
{It} is easy to make potato salad.
Complementizer “that” (COMP):
It is obvious {that} Bart is a brat.
Bruce said {that} he would leave the door unlocked.
Miscellaneous cases:
There are a number of less common types of words not covered in the sections above. Here are a few of them:
- Interjections (Interj)
  - Oh!
  - Ouch!
  - Darn! (euphemism)
  - Shit! (vulgar)
- Discourse particles (DiscPrt)
  These words are often used when a speaker pauses while formulating an utterance or changes the topic of discussion.
  - {Well}…I don’t know what to say.
  - {So}, what should we do for dinner?
- Reaction signals (RS)
  These are used in response to a prior question or remark.
  - Were you at home on the night of April 12? … {Yes}.
  - Are you asleep? … {No}.

Things You Need to Know About: Word Classes

A brief review of the traditional definitions of word classes focusing primarily on the meaning of words quickly reveals that meaning alone is an insufficient criterion to identify word classes. The following is a summary of the main points based on Crystal (1995), and Stewart and Vaillette (2001).

Classes	Traditional Definitions	Comments
Open Classes (Content Words)	NOUNS name people, things, and places. Examples: doctor, book, Vancouver.	This definition excludes many nouns which are not “persons, places, and things” such as: abstract notions like loyalty, jealousy, and joy; words with noun morphemes like nothingness; actions like jump in “That was a great jump* that you made.”* Makes no reference to morphology or syntax.
Open Classes (Content Words)	VERBS are “doing words” or “action words.” Examples: play, do, draw.	Excludes state verbs like know, remember, and be. Cannot account for verbs like resemble and have. Makes no reference to morphology or syntax.
Open Classes (Content Words)	ADJECTIVES modify or restrict the application of nouns by adding something to their meaning. Examples: pretty, this, the.	Allows a wide range of elements (e.g., the, his, all) that have different grammatical properties. Does not exclude nouns or NPs in certain types of constructions (e.g., Jim, my coworker). Makes no reference to morphology or syntax.
Open Classes (Content Words)	ADVERBS modify any part of speech except a noun or pronoun. Examples: now, always, quickly, very.	Some adverbs like interestingly can modify sentences, not parts of speech. Does not account for the fact that words like very and quite have different properties from words like usually and often. Makes no reference to morphology and syntax.
31	31	31
Closed Classes (Function Words)	PRONOUNS are used as nouns or noun-equivalents (i.e., act as nouns). Examples: she, that, where, yours.	The definition needs to be altered---pronouns are used instead of noun phrases, not just nouns (e.g., she refers to the whole phrase the cute little girl, not just the word girl; \*the cute little she). Makes no reference to morphology or syntax.
Closed Classes (Function Words)	PREPOSITIONS are placed before nouns or noun-equivalents to show in what relation the person or thing stands to something else. Examples: in, from, for, in front of.	This definition provides a clear syntactic criterion. Prepositions go before noun phrases rather than just nouns. Prepositions may also be used in other parts of the sentence; e.g., This is the book I told you {about}. More than just persons and things are involved, (e.g., {in} denial, {about} love).
Closed Classes (Function Words)	CONJUNCTIONS join words, phrases, or clauses together. Examples: and, before, as soon as.	This otherwise good definition is not restrictive enough; prepositions might also be said to have a joining function (e.g., the book on the table).
Closed Classes (Functional Words)	INTERJECTIONS are words or sounds thrown into a sentence to express the meaning of the mind. Examples: Oh, Bravo!	This definition is vague and needs to acknowledge that interjections do not enter into the construction of sentences.

Things You Need to Know About: Word Classes

Classes	More Word Classes (syntactically distinctive from the above classes)	Comments Subcategories/Examples
Most Closed Classes (Function Words)	DETERMINERS: words which can be used instead of the and a in the noun phrase, expressing such notions as quantity, number, possession, and definiteness (traditionally classified as adjectives). Examples: some, much, that, my.	ARTICLES: definite article the ({the} horse) and indefinite article a/an ({a} horse, {an} egg). DEMONSTRATIVE DETERMINERS: this, that, these, those (These courses are difficult.). Note: do not confuse demonstrative determiners above with demonstrative pronouns; e.g., {This} is a hit. I love {this}! POSSESSIVE PRONOUN DETERMINERS: my, your ({my} book) GENITIVES: e.g., {Leo’s} book INTERROGATIVE PRO-DETERMINERS: what, which, whose (e.g., {Which} magazine would you like to read?)
Most Closed Classes (Function Words)	CONJUNCTS: A group of words whose function is to relate (or ‘conjoin’) independent grammatical units such as clauses, sentences, or paragraphs. Traditional grammars call them conjunctive adverbs.	Examples: however, meanwhile, otherwise, namely.
Most Closed Classes (Function Words)	AUXILIARIES: a group of words whose function is to assist the head of a verb phrase in a clause to express several basic grammatical contrasts, such as of person, number, and tense. Traditional grammars sometimes recognized these as a separate class of ‘defective verbs.’	Have, be, do, get: (Ben {has} arrived; Ben {is} telecommuting today; {Do} you need anything?; We {got} robbed = We {were} robbed in North American English). Modals: can, may, would, should, etc. Catenatives (Semi-modals): have to, ought to, need to, want to, used to, be able to, be going to, etc.
Most Closed Classes (Function Words)	PARTICLES: they look like prepositions and form a unit with the verb.	Examples: He made {up} the story. He made the story {up}.
Most Closed Classes (Function Words)	OTHER: negative marker not infinitive marker to expletive there expletive it complementizer that interjections discourse particles reaction signals	This is not true. It’s hard to tell. There is someone in the house. It’s hot outside. I know that he’s here. Ouch! Darn! He is, like, a good guy, you know. Are you still there? Yes.

Useful Tests for Word Classes

Nouns:

_____ + plural morpheme1 — (song-song{s})
Determiner _____ — (the song)
Determiner Adjective _____ (this nice song)

Only with countable nouns; e.g., song-song{s} child-child{ren}, wom{a}n-wom{e}n, but {not} with uncountable nouns such as happiness—*happinesses.

Verbs:

_____ + tense morpheme — (walk-{walked})
_____ + third person singular morpheme — (walk-{walks})
_____ + progressive morpheme — ({is walking})
Auxiliary _____ — (can {walk})
_____! — ({walk}! [imperative])

Adjectives:

_____ + er/est — (nice, nicer, nicest), or
more/most (see note 2) _____ — (more/most interesting)
Determiner _____ Noun — (this nice lady)
Linking verb _____ — (This lady seems nice)
Qualifier _____ — (unexpectedly nice)

Note 2: Note that “more” and “most” are independent word versions of the morphemes “-er” and “-est.” When used with adjectives and adverbs, they behave like Qualifiers. However, they can also be used with nouns; e.g., “more students,” in which case we can parse them as general determiners (Det).

Adverbs:

[Adjective + ly]_Adverb (see note 3) — ({nice}, {nicer}, {nicest}), or
_____ Verb or Verb Phrase — (more/most {interesting})
or Verb/VP _____ — (moved {carefully})
more/most4 (see note 4) _____ — (more/most {interestingly})
_____ + er/est — ({faster})
Adverbs may occur in several positions in a sentence:

{Cautiously}, they stepped onto the slippery sidewalk.
They {cautiously} stepped onto the slippery sidewalk.
They stepped {cautiously} onto the slippery sidewalk.
They stepped onto the slippery sidewalk {cautiously}.

Note 3: Does not apply to all adverbs; e.g., fast.

Note 4: With some adverbs only.

Determiners:

_____ (Adjective) Noun — ({the} small things; {many} small things)

Auxiliary Verbs:

Noun phrase _____ Verb phrase — (I {might} go; I {have} gone)
_____ Noun phrase Verb phrase? — ({Did} I go?)
_____ not — (I {might} not go)

Prepositions:

_____ Noun phrase — ({in} the bag)
right _____ Noun phrase (see note 5) — (right {into} the store)

Note 5: With some prepositions only

Conjunctions

Noun ______ Noun — (mom {and} dad)
Adjective _______ Adjective — (delicious {but} unhealthy)
NP _______ NP — (a young boy {and} an older girl)
Adj phrase _____ Adj phrase — (unusually slim {and} unexpectedly clumsy)
Sentence _____ Sentence — (He will leave now {or} he will stay forever.)

Pronouns (see note 6):

Can be subjects — ({I} am here)
Can be objects — (Dana saw {me})

Note 6: Note that Possessive forms like his, my, and her are determiners (see above), not pronouns.

Qualiﬁers:

_____ Adjective — ({unusually} old)
_____ Adv — (he walked {unusually} slowly)

Meaning & Form, Syntactic Environment, and Syntactic Function

For many word classes, in addition to meaning, form, and the syntactic environment in which words occur (e.g., words to the left or to the right), we need to consider their syntactic function.

(A pie chart divided equally into three parts, labeled: Meaning and form, Syntactic environment and Syntactic function respectively.)

Nouns and Noun Phrase Functions

One of the most useful criteria in identifying nouns, for example, is the fact that nouns and the noun phrases (NPs) they belong to can function as Subjects (Subj), Direct Objects (DO), Indirect Objects (IO), Predicate Nouns (PredN), Object Complements (OC), or Objects of Prepositions (Obj/Prep).

A noun phrase can consist of a single element—a noun or a pronoun (e.g., students, they), or it can also include determiners and modifiers (e.g., the best students).

Syntactic Functions of Nouns and NPs	Examples
1) Subjects (Subj)	1) {Dogs} are good friends.
2) Direct Objects (DO)	2) We heard {dogs}.
3) Indirect Objects (IO)	3) We gave {the dogs} treats.
4) Predicate Nouns (PredN)	4) These are {smart dogs}.
5) Object Complements (OC)	5) We call our friends {dogs}.
6) Objects of Prepositions (Obj/Prep)	6) We were talking about {dogs}.

Some words can have more than one function, and therefore can belong to more than one word class. Apart from obvious examples like promise (verb) and promise (noun), it is particularly helpful to identify the syntactic environment and functions of words which have identical forms such as “be” as the main verb (BE) and “be” as an auxiliary verb (Aux), some adjectives and adverbs, many prepositions and verbal particles, and some prepositions and conjunctions.

“be” as the Main Verb (BE) and “be” as an Auxiliary Verb (Aux)	Examples
1. “be” as the Main Verb (BE)	1. She has been a student since 2004. She is polite. She is being silly. She will be in the office by 8 o’clock.
2. “be” as an Auxiliary Verb (Aux)	2. He has {been} playing the piano for 5 years. He {was} playing the piano when you called. He {is} being silly.

Adjectives and Adverbs	Examples
1. Attributive Adjectives Predicate Adjectivesa	1. She has a {fast} car. 2. She’s done with the test. She is {fast}. 3. She’s not done with the test. She is {slow}.
2. Adverbs	4. He drives {fast}. 5. He drives {slowly}. 6. He drives {slow}. (informal)

Prepositions and Particles	Examples
1. Prepositions	1. They walked {{down} the street}. 2. They came {{up} the stairs}. 3. They came {{with} their baby}.
2. Verbal Particles	4. They {calmed {down}} the baby. They {calmed} the baby {down}. 5. They {came {up with}} a great idea.

Prepositions and Conjunctions	Example
1. Prepositions (+ NPs)	1. They called {{after} the party}.
2. Conjunctions (+ Clauses/Sentences)	2. {{After} they bought the house}, they stopped coming.

Determiners (determine nouns)	Pronouns (replace nouns)
1. Demonstrative Determiners Example: {This} lesson is boring.	1. Demonstrative Pronouns Example: {This} is boring.
2. Possessive Pro-Determiners Example: {My} bag is on the ﬂoor.	2. Possessive Pronouns Example: This bag is {mine}.
3. Interrogative Pro-Determiners Example: {What} colour is this?	3. Interrogative Pronouns Example: {What} is this?

(Transcriber’s note: empty page)

Exercises

1

Which of the following words and expressions can be used as nouns or noun phrases? Hint: Try using the words in actual sentences.

a notebook
Vancouver
smile
the privileged
swimming
Starbucks
1998
a cry
to love
Joann McDonald
my bad
an Einstein
round

2

Use the following four features of nouns as tests (features based on Crystal 1995:207), and try to answer the question “How noun-like is ‘Beethoven’? as compared to a noun like ‘friendship’?”

Nouns are words which can be the head of a noun phrase.
They are words which can be the subject of a clause.
They are words which can have a plural form.
They are words which display a suffix such as -tion, -hood, etc.

friendship:

a) _____
b) _____
c) _____
d) _____

Beethoven:

a) _____
b) _____
c) _____
d) _____

3

Identify the lexical category of the underlined words in the following sentences/phrases:

They {should} have called us {earlier}. — _____, _____
The boy ran {down} the street barefoot. — _____
We bought a new tablecloth for the {round} table. — _____
{Would} you spell your name for me, please? — _____
{This} is a {very} unusual name. — _____, _____
They returned {our} essays on {Friday}. — _____, _____
I {won’t} {ask} you {to} go {to} that restaurant again. — _____, _____, _____, _____
{It} is difficult to learn a foreign language, {but} it’s a rewarding experience. — _____, _____
{Never} say “{never}.” — _____, _____
{Which} book did you choose? — _____
{Which} is your favourite book? — _____

(Transcriber’s note: empty page)

Answers to Exercises

1

All of these can be nouns/NPs:

a notebook --- I don’t have a notebook.
Vancouver --- They moved to Vancouver in 1975.
smile --- The baby gave me a happy smile.
the privileged --- The privileged take many things for granted.
swimming --- Swimming is favourite pastime in the city.
Starbucks --- I don’t know where the nearest Starbucks is.
1998 --- 1998 was a difficult year for the city.
a cry --- We heard a cry.
to love --- To love is easy.
Joann McDonald --- Joann McDonald is the executive manager of the society.
my bad --- My bad!
an Einstein --- He is quite smart but he is not an Einstein.
round --- The third round turned out to be difficult.

2

‘Friendship’ is an excellent noun because it satisfies all four criteria.

Nouns are words which can be the head of a noun phrase.
They are words which can be the subject of a clause.
They are words which can have a plural form.
They are words which display a suffix such as -tion, -hood, etc.:
1. I highly value their friendship.
2. Friendship is what matters to me most.
3. This business rivalry ended many friendships.
4. Friend{ship}

‘Beethoven’ is a much less typical noun.

Unlikely (except when it becomes a common noun; e.g., “This child is like a little Beethoven.”).
Beethoven is one of the greatest composers of all time.
Unlikely (except in special cases; e.g., “They believe they’ve discovered two new Beethovens among these talented kids.”).
None

3

They {should} have called us {earlier}. — Modal (should); Adv (earlier)
The boy ran {down} the street barefoot. — Prep (down)
We bought a new tablecloth for the {round} table. — Adj (round)
{Would} you spell your name for me, please? — Modal (would)
{This} is a {very} unusual name. — DemonPro (this); Qual (very)
They returned {our} essays on {Friday}. — PossProD (our); PropN (Friday)
I {won’t} {ask} you {to} go {to} that restaurant again. — Modal+Neg (won’t); Vg (ask); Infinitive Marker (to); Prep (to)
{It} is difficult to learn a foreign language, {but} it’s a rewarding experience. — Expl (it); CoordConj (but)
{Never} say “{never}.” — Adv (never); N (“never”)
{Which} book did you choose? — IntProD (which) [determines the noun “book”]
{Which} is your favourite book? — IntPro

CHAPTER 3: Inflectional and Derivational Affixes

In this section we will consider labels that can be used to describe the structure of words themselves. Notice that these are not parsing labels, and we will not be using them when we parse sentences.

Inﬂectional Markers

English has eight inflectional affixes that all appear as suffixes. Adding an inflectional affix to a word does not change its part of speech; nor does it create a “new word.” Rather, inflections are used as a grammatical device to mark things like number (for nouns) and person or tense (for verbs). If you find that an affix does not fit one of the eight types below, you can conclude that it is not an inflectional affix.

Noun Inﬂections

1. Plural Marker (-Plur)

Most nouns can be pluralized, usually by adding ‘-s’ or ‘-es.’

cat–cats
parsnip–parsnips
box–boxes

Irregular nouns form the plural in some other way.

child–children
mouse–mice
deer–deer
man–men

2. Genitive Marker (-Gen)

The genitive of singular nouns is usually spelled by adding an apostrophe + ‘s.’

{Jack’s} pencil
{the cat’s} tail
{the student’s} grades (one student)

Genitives of regular plural nouns are commonly spelled by adding ‘s’ + an apostrophe.

{the students’} grades (more than one student)
{her parents’} house (it belongs to both parents)

The genitive is used to indicate a relationship between two nouns. Often this is a “possessive” relationship, but there are several other possibilities.

Quick Quiz

See whether you can describe the meaning of the genitive in each case below. Are any of the phrases ambiguous?

Jane’s bike
Jane’s hair
Jane’s grades
Jane’s mother
Jane’s hometown
Jane’s job
Jane’s book
Jane’s intelligence
Jane’s reputation

Verb Inﬂections

3. Third Person Singular Marker (-3PS)

This suffix is added to verbs in the present tense when the subject represents the third person singular. It is usually spelled as ‘-s’ or ‘-es.’

(he, she, it, Mary) work{s}
(he, she, it, Mary) go{es}

A few verbs have irregular 3PS forms.

be–is
have–has
do–does

4. The Present Participle Suffix (-ing)

This present participle verb form has a variety of functions that will be discussed later in the course.

work–working
be–being
drive–driving

5. The Past Tense Marker (-Past)

The regular past tense is usually spelled by adding ‘-d’ or ‘-ed’ to a verb.

work–worked
live–lived
wait–waited

A number of verbs and auxiliaries have irregular past tense forms

Verb	Past Tense Form
be	was, were
have	had
do	did
eat	ate
write	wrote
drive	drove

6. Past Participle Marker (-PastPart)

You can determine the past participle of a verb by identifying the form that occurs after ‘have’ in a sentence frame such as “I have _____.”

Regular past participles look identical to regular past tense forms (i.e., they are spelled by adding ‘-d’ or ‘-ed’), but they function differently.

(I have) work{ed}.
(I have) live{d}.
(I have) wait{ed}.

Irregular past participles are often different from past tense forms and may be formed in various ways.

Verb	Past Tense Form	Past Participle Form
be	was, were	been
have	had	had
do	did	done
eat	ate	eaten
write	wrote	written
drive	drove	driven

Adjective and Adverb Inﬂections

7. Comparative Marker (-Compar)

The comparative forms of many adjectives and adverbs are created by adding ‘-er,’ sometimes with minor spelling modifications.

old–older
tall–taller
busy–busier
fast–faster

8. Superlative Marker (-Superl)

The superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs are typically created by adding ‘-est.’

old–oldest
tall–tallest
busy–busiest
fast–fastest

NOTE: A few adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Basic Form	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst

Some adjectives and adverbs (especially those of more than two syllables) have periphrastic comparative and superlative forms. These require the qualifiers ‘more’ and ‘most.’

beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful
intelligent	more intelligent	most intelligent

Derivational Affixes

Derivational prefixes and suffixes are used to derive new words. Adding a derivational affix to a word will often (but not always) change its part of speech. English has hundreds of derivational affixes. Some are highly productive (i.e., used in many words), while others are not. A few examples are given here. Note that these affixes may be analyzed in terms of the types of words they create, the types of words they may be added to, and the kinds of meanings they indicate.

Suffixes that derive new nouns:

-ity – generosity, sanity
-ant – inhabitant, servant

Suffixes that derive new verbs:

-ize – revolutionize, legalize
-ify – simplify, pacify

Suffixes that derive new adjectives:

-ous – courteous, bulbous
-ive – attractive, effective

Suffixes that derive new adverbs:

-ly – happily, quickly
-ward – backward

Agentive suffix (don’t confuse with the comparative inflection):

-er – baker, worker

Diminutive suffixes:

-let – piglet, starlet
-ette – novelette, statuette

Reversative prefix (attaches to verbs):

un- – undo, untie

Negative prefix (attaches to adjectives and adverbs):

un- – ununattractive, unusually

Degree prefixes:

super- – supernatural, supermarket
sub- – subordinate, subhuman

Negative prefix (attaches to verbs and adjectives):

dis- – distrust, disallow, disobey, dishonest, disrespectful

Repetitive prefix:

re- – rewrite, redo, recreate

Things You Need to Know About: Inﬂectional and Derivational Aﬃxes

Affixes can be very useful when you are guessing the meaning of words, and when you are identifying parts of speech. However, there are some exceptions and false friends, which you need to keep in mind.

Aﬃxes and the Meaning of Words	Exceptions and False Friends
(1) The prefix “super-” is added to words such as “size” and “car” to form “supersize” and “supercar,” meaning “(making or being) extremely large/advanced/powerful, etc.”	(1) Words like “superfluous” (meaning “unnecessary”) cannot be derived in this way because “fluous” is not a word.
(2) Words containing the prefix “re-”, such as “reorganize” or “reproduce,” usually mean “do something again or anew.”	(2) Words like “real, read, reach, rely, render, rest” do not contain this prefix.
(3) Words with the prefix “sub-” often mean “under” (literally or metaphorically); e.g., submarine.	(3) “Sublime” means “majestic, supreme.”
(4) Words ending in the suffix “-able,” such as “comparable” or “gradable,” mean “able to do something or allowing something to be done.”	(4) Some words ending in “-able” do not contain the suffix “-able” and/or do not display this meaning; e.g., “table, cable, stable, constable,” etc.
(5) Add your own example(s) here.	(5) Find out if your example(s) has (have) exceptions.

Aﬃxes and Parts of Speech	Exceptions and False Friends
(1) The prefix “un-”:
(1)(i) reverses the meaning of verbs; e.g., “untie, unpack, unbuckle,” etc.	(1)(a) Some words with this prefix are neither adjectives, nor adverbs, nor verbs; e.g., “unease” and “the untouchable” are nouns, while “unlike” is a preposition”;
(1)(ii) creates the opposite meaning in adjectives and adverbs; e.g., “unborn, unreal, uneducated, unusually,” etc.	(1)(b) Words like “uniform” and “unilateral” contain a different prefix, “uni-”, meaning “one.”
(2) Words ending in the suffix “-tion” such as “registration” and “creation,” are usually nouns.	(2) Words like “position, station, question, mention,” etc. can be verbs too.
(3) Words ending in the suffix “-s(s)ion” such as “television, decision, regression” are usually nouns.	(3) Words like “envision” and “commission,” can be verbs too.
(4) Word ending in the suffix “-ly”; e.g., “responsibly” and “typically,” are usually adverbs.	(4) A number of adjectives also end in “-ly”; e.g., “lovely, friendly, manly, womanly, slovenly, likely,” etc.
(5) Add your own example here.	(5) Find out if your example has exceptions.

Exercises for Sections 2 and 3: Identifying Parts of Speech and Inﬂectional Markers

A

Parse each sentence by writing the appropriate labels on the line below. Use ONLY the following labels for the parts of speech:

N
GenN
PropN
Pro
DemonPro
IndPossPro
IndefArt
DefArt
DemonD
PossProD
Aux
Modal
Caten
V
Prt
Adj
Adv
Qual
Prep
CoordConj
Neg
Expl

REMINDER: Note that -Plur, -Gen, -3PS, -ing, -Past, -PastPart, -Compar, -Superl are not parsing labels. We will not use these symbols when parsing sentences in the other exercises.

January is the rainiest month.
I’ll see you after the office party.
I really have to leave now.
I wish you’d leave your window open.
The slithy toves did gyre and gimbel in the wabe.
That is the best vegetable soup I’ve ever tasted.
It looks like a Picasso, but no one is completely sure.
That cat has a sore leg.
The bear has been catching fish and eating them. 51
It’s damn cold in Prince George this week.
I called him up, but he wasn’t there.
Tony broke Rose’s plate and felt very bad about it.
She’s hardly started work.
I see you lost your pencil. Do you want to use mine?
Despite the rain, we went for a walk in Queen Elizabeth Park.

B

How many different ways can each of the words below be used? Give a sentence illustrating each different use. e.g., just

Adj: She’s a just person.
Adv: She has just left.

will _____
well _____
light _____ 53
way _____
wrong _____
pretty _____

C

Identify all the inflectional markers in the sentences below using the following inflectional labels:
-Plur, -Gen, -3PS, -ing, -Past, -PastPart, -Compar, -Superl

She’s nearly completed the project.
It’s time for Karen to analyze her data.
Joan’s friends are coming over later.
The weather is more pleasant than we had expected.
Ralph’s a worldly person.
The mice’s tails have been cut off.

D

Identify the part of speech of the underlined words in the following sentences.

Hint: Use a combination of ways to identify parts of speech: word meaning, word form, syntactic environment, and syntactic function.

{This} makes quinoa an excellent option for vegetarians, vegans, and anyone interested in adding non-meat proteins to their diet.
[from “How to Make quinoa . . . ,” yahoo.com] 54
I wish you and {yours} a safe and happy holiday season.
Everyone has a {favourite}.
The two biggest upcoming trends everyone has been looking at are {virtualization} and cloud-computing.
[from “Death of the PC . . . ,” thevarguy.com]
Both of these technologies, which in some ways {complement} each other, do not rely on traditional ‘PCs.’
[from “Death of the PC . . . ,” thevarguy.com]
Those Christmas ornaments are really great {finds} in Vienna.
SFU president Andrew Petter {guests} on the “Your Education Matters” program on Shaw-TV (Cable 4).
[from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Thank you, Don! Love you {lots}. 55
All persons making deliveries and {pick-ups} should go to the main mailroom.
[from “Hand Deliveries . . . ,” sec.gov]
The paper towel “Bounty” is known as the “{Quicker Picker Upper}” because of its speed and effectiveness in blotting up a liquid {spill}.
[adapted from “The Quicker Picker Upper Experiment,” pubs.acs.org]
The paper towel “Bounty” is known as the “Quicker Picker Upper” because of its speed and effectiveness in blotting up a liquid spill.
[adapted from “The Quicker Picker Upper Experiment,” pubs.acs.org]
This was {way} too easy!
Use Facebook to get free stuff. See how you can {social-network} your way into free samples and more.
[from a Facebook commercial]
{Together} is amazing.
[from a Shaw commercial] 56
I’m sitting {pretty} these days.
[from an H & R Block radio commercial]
We’re all {Canucked} out today.
[Father with a young boy all dressed up in Canucks outfits talking to a bank clerk, March, 2011]

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

Answers to Selected Exercises

A

Format: word — Classification

{January} is the rainiest month.
- January — PropN
- is — V
- the — DefArt
- rainiest — Adj
- month. — N
{I’ll} see you after the {office} party.
- I’ll — Pro+Modal
- see — V
- you — Pro
- after — Prop
- the — DefArt
- office — N
- party. — N
I really {have to} leave now.
- I — Pro
- really — Adv
- have to — Caten (2 wds)
- leave — V
- now. — Adv
I {wish} {you’d} leave your window open.
- I — Pro
- wish — V
- you’d — Pro+Modal
- leave — V
- your — PossProD
- window — N
- open. — Adj
The slithy toves {did} {gyre} and {gimbel} in the wabe.
- The — DefArt
- slithy — Adj
- toves — N
- did — Aux/V
- gyre — V/N
- and — CoordConj
- gimbel — V and N
- in — Prep
- the — DefArt
- wabe. — N
{That} is the best {vegtable} soup {I’ve} {ever} had.
- That — DemonPro
- is — V
- the — DefArt
- best — Adj
- vegtable — N
- soup — N
- I’ve — Pro+Aux
- ever — Adv
- tasted. — V
It looks like a Picasso, but no one is {completely} sure.
- It — Pro
- looks — V
- like — Prep
- a — IndefArt
- Picasso, — PropN
- but — CoordConj
- no one — Pro (2wds)
- is — V
- completely — Qual
- sure. — Adj
{That} {cat} has a sore leg.
- That — DemonD
- cat — N
- has — V
- a — IndefArt
- sore — Adj
- leg. — N
The bear {has} {been} catching fish and eating them.
- The — DefArt
- bear — N
- has — Aux
- been — Aux
- catching — V
- fish — N
- and — CoordConj
- eating — V
- them. — Pro
{It’s} {damn} cold in {Prince George} this week.
- It’s — Expl+V
- damn — Qual
- cold — Adj
- in — Prep
- Prince George — PropN (2 wds)
- this — DemonD
- week. — N
I {called} him {up,} but he wasn’t there.
- I — Pro
- called — V
- him — Pro
- up, — Prt
- but — CoordConj
- he — Pro
- wasn’t — V+Neg
- there. — Adv
{Tony} broke {Rose’s} plate and felt {very} bad about it.
- Tony — PropN
- broke — V
- Rose’s — GenN
- plate — N
- and — CoordConj
- felt — V
- very — Qual
- bad — Adj
- about — Prep
- it. — Pro
She’s hardly started work.
- She’s — Pro+Aux
- hardly — Adv
- started — V
- work. — N
I {see} you lost your pencil. Do you {want to} use mine?
- I — Pro
- see — V
- you — Pro
- lost — V
- your — PossProD
- pencil. — N
- Do — Aux
- you — Pro
- want to — Caten (2 wds)
- use — V
- mine? — IndPossPro
{Despite} the rain we went for a walk in {Queen Elizabeth Park}.
- Despite — Prep
- the — DefAnt
- rain — N
- we — Pro
- went — V
- for — Prep
- a — IndefArt
- walk — N
- in — Prep
- Queen Elizabeth Park. — PropN (3 wds)

D

DemonPro
N (similar to “your family”; DO)
N (DO of V “has”)
N
V
N
V
Adv
N
PropN
N
Qual
V
N
Adv (or Adj:Adv)
Adj (similar to “we’re dressed up/decked out in Canucks outfits”)

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

Verb Types

There are many classifications of English verbs, but from a learnability point of view, and for the purposes of conducting basic analysis of English sentences, we find the following six categories of verbs in English particularly helpful (based on Morenberg 2010):

Intransitive verbs (VI)
Linking verbs (VL)
Transitive verbs (VT)
Verbs like “give” (Vg) [pronounced “Vee Gee”]
Verbs like “consider” (Vc) [pronounced like “Vee See”]
The Verb BE

1: Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive Verbs (VI) do not normally require any complements; their meaning is complete without any additional words in the VP:Predicate (rare exceptions will be noted as we come across them), and they could be the last word in the sentence; e.g.,

The bus {arrived}.
The man {stopped}.
They {ran}.

However, it is not a requirement for a VI to be the last word in the sentence. VI verbs can be accompanied by a number of adverbs, specifying the time, place, manner, etc. in which the event takes place.

The bus {arrived} {at 3 o’clock}.
{Suddenly}, the man {stopped} {in the middle of the street}.
They {ran} {fast} {through the forest}.

2: Linking Verbs

Linking Verbs (VL) link the NP:Subject on the left side of the verb and a Predicate form on the right side of the verb in declarative

sentences. The predicate form is either (a) an NP, called a Predicate Noun or Nominative (PredN), which renames the subject; or (b) an AdjP, called a Predicate Adjective (PredAdj), which provides some qualities or characteristic features of the subject. Unlike intransitive verbs, but like all other verb types, linking verbs cannot be the last word in statements, and their meaning is not complete without their complement as the sentences marked with an asterisk indicate (Note that some of these sentences may be grammatical in other contexts; i.e., when these verbs are used as VI verbs).

She {remained} {president} [PredN] for three more years. — *She remained.
He {turned} {traitor} [PredN]. — *He turned.
She {remained} {honest} [PredAdj].
The leaves {turned} {brown} [PredAdj]. — *The leaves turned.

3: Transitive Verbs

Transitive Verbs (VT) require an NP functioning as a direct object (DO) on the right side of the verb in statements; otherwise, their meaning is incomplete (see the ungrammatical sentences below). The NP:DO usually introduces an entity which is being acted upon, or is affected in some way by the subject.

They created an empire[DO]. — *They created.
The parents are building a new playground[DO]. — *The parents are building.
I recognized him[DO]. — *I recognized.

Sentences which contain VT verbs can be turned into passive structures in the following ways:

the NP:DO of the active sentence becomes the NP:Subject of the passive sentence, also called Grammatical Subject;
the verb is turned into a passive verb with the help of the Auxiliary verb BE and the past participle form of the verb (e.g., the active verb “see” becomes passive “is/are seen”);
the NP:Subject of the active sentence may optionally occur in a prepositional phrase (PP) with the Prep “by”, also called Logical Subject (because it continues to be the entity that does the action).

Notice that the verb in the passive structure remains transitive, although the DO is not in its usual place on the right side of the verb (the DO has become the Subject, and now precedes the verb).

Active — They[Subj] {created} {an empire}[DO].
Passive — An empire[Subj] {was created} (by {them}[Obj/Prep]).
Active — The parents[Subj] {are building} {a new playground}[DO].
Passive — A new playground[Subj] {is being built} (by {the parents}[Obj/Prep]).

There are a few exceptions when VT verbs cannot be made passive (a) when the NP:DO is a reflexive pronoun (e.g., “themselves”), and (b) when the VT verbs are “have,” “weigh,” “cost,” or “resemble.”

He {saw himself}[DO] in the mirror. — *Himself {was seen} in the mirror (by him).
I have a car[DO]. — *A car is had (by me).
This piano weighs a ton[DO]. — *A ton is weighed (by this piano).

4: Vg Verbs

Vg Verbs are called this because they behave like the verb “give” in many ways. Like transitive verbs, they require an NP:DO, but unlike transitive verbs, they require another NP complement called Indirect Object (IO). For this reason, they are sometimes called ditransitive verbs. So, an active sentence with a Vg verb includes a minimum of three different entities (except when a reflexive pronoun is the DO) expressed by three different NPs:

the NP:Subject, or the giver,
the NP:DO, an entity (usually an object) that transfers property literally or metaphorically from the NP:Subject to the NP:IO, and
(iii) an NP:IO, or the receiver, a usually animate entity receiving the object. The IO may precede the DO, or it may follow the DO, in which case it is introduced by the Preposition “to” or “for,” but both objects are required by the verb, otherwise the result is ungrammaticality or a different meaning.

I[Subj] {gave} {my brother}[IO] {the picture}[DO].
I[Subj] {gave} {the picture}[DO] to {my brother}[IO].
*I[Subj] {gave} {the picture}[DO].
*I[Subj] {gave} to {my brother}[IO].
I[Subj] {bought} {my brother}[IO] {a camera}[DO].
I[Sub] {bought} {a camera}[DO] for {my brother}[IO].
*I[Subj] {bought} {my brother}.
I[Subj] {bought} {a camera}[DO].

[VT not Vg verb, different meaning]

Like sentences with transitive verbs, sentences which contain Vg verbs can be turned into passive structures, with either object having the ability to become the subject in the passive structure. Again, if the doer of the action is mentioned in the passive, it is introduced by the preposition “by,” so it’s the object of the preposition “by” and Logical Subject.

Active
- I {gave} {my brother}[IO] {the picture}[DO].
Passive
- The picture[Subj] {was given} to {my brother}[IO] (by me[Obj/Prep]).
- My brother[Subj] {was given} {the picture}[DO] (by me[Obj/Prep]).

Similar to sentences with VT verbs, when the NP:DO is a reflexive pronoun, the passive structure is ungrammatical.

Active — They[Subj] {gave themselves}[IO] {a round of applause}[DO].
Passive — *Themselves {were given} a round of applause (by them).

5: Vc Verbs

Vc Verbs are called this because many of them behave like the verb “consider.” Like Vg verbs, they require two complements, one of which is NP:DO. The second complement, called an Object Complement (OC), completes the meaning of the DO and is necessary for the meaning of the Vc to be complete. The OC can be one of three types:

a noun phrase (NP:OC),
an adjective phrase (AdjP:OC), or
an infinitive phrase (InfP:OC). Without any of these complements, the sentence is either ungrammatical or has a different meaning. In sentence (a), for example, I am not simply considering my brother; I consider him to be a hero.

I consider my brother[DO] a hero[NP:OC].
- *I consider my brother.
- *I consider a hero.
I consider my brother[DO] famous[AdjP:OC].
- *I consider my brother.
- *I consider famous.
I consider my brother[DO] to be my best friend[InfP:OC].
- *I consider my brother.
- *I consider to be my best friend.

Like sentences with transitive and Vg verbs, sentences with Vc verbs can be turned into passive structures. Only the DO of the Vc can become the subject in the passive structure. Again, if the doer of the action is mentioned in the passive, it is introduced by the preposition “by,” so it’s the object of the preposition “by,” and Logical Subject and if the DO is a reflexive pronoun, the passive is not grammatical.

Active — Many people {consider} {him}[DO] {a hero}[NP:OC].
Passive — He[Subj] {is considered} {a hero}[NP:OC] ({by many people}[Obj/Prep]).
Active — He {considers} {himself}[DO] {a hero}[NP:OC].
Passive — *Himself {is considered} {a hero} (by {him}).

6: The Verb BE

The Verb BE is the only member in this category. Like linking verbs, it links the NP:Subject on the left side of the verb and a Predicate form on the right side of the verb in declarative sentences. The predicate form can be:

an NP which functions as a Predicate Noun/Nominative (PredN), and renames the subject; or
an AdjP, which functions as a Predicate Adjective (PredAdj), and provides some qualities or characteristic features of the subject; or
an AdvP called Predicate Adverb (PredAdv), which usually provides the location of the subject; the PredAdv can be an adverb; e.g., “here,” or a PP; e.g., “at home.”

The meaning of the verb BE is not complete without its complement (see the sentences marked with an asterisk as ungrammatical).

She is the president[PredN]. — *She is. 65
She is honest[PredAdj]. — *She is.
She is in the office[PredAdv]. — *She is.

The ability of the verb BE to take a PredAdv as a complement (as in (c)) distinguishes it from linking verbs, because although VL verbs could be modified by optional adverbs (e.g., He remained honest {for the rest of his life}), these adverbs must occur in conjunction with a PredN or a PredAdj. Thus *He remained for the rest of his life, where the intended meaning is that of a VL, is ungrammatical without the predicate form honest (note, however, that the same verb could be used as a VI; e.g., I left[VI] the small town when I was 18, but he remained[VI] for the rest of his life).

Multi-Word Verbs

Multi-word or “phrasal” verbs are combinations of verbs and particles (Prt) that function together as constituents. They tend to have idiomatic meanings that cannot be easily predicted by considering the meanings of the words they comprise. Consider, for example, the differences in meaning conveyed by these expressions: get up, get over, get by, and get after.

In the following sentences, multi-word verbs function as VT and are followed by NP:DO:

Keith {turned off} the lights.
Christine {thought over} her answer to the problem.
Kevin {puts up with} the noise from downstairs.
Debbie is {counting on} a bull market.

Other multi-word verbs may function as VI:

After working on the puzzle for two hours, Judy {gave up}.
Katy {worked out} at the gym yesterday.

Some multi-word VTs are separable. The direct object may appear between the verb and the particle:

Keith {turned} the lights {off}.
Christine {thought} the answer {over}.

When a separable multi-word VT has a pronoun object, the pronoun must occur between the V and the Prt:

Kevin turned them off.
*Kevin turned off them.
Christine thought it over.
*Christine thought over it.

Other multi-word verbs are {inseparable}:

*Kevin {puts} the noise {up with}.
*Kevin {puts up} the noise {with}.
*Debbie is {counting} a bull market {on}.

When analyzing sentences, we are sometimes faced with the problem of deciding whether a structure is a V + Prt construction or a V + PP (prepositional phrase) construction:

George {ran across} a good article in a magazine. (V + Prt = VT)
George {ran} across the street. (VI + PP)
Francine {turned down} the volume. (V + Prt = VT)
Francine {turned} down the alley. (VI + PP)

Some clues for identifying V + Prt combinations.

1) Your intuitions may help you. In a sentence like (p), “ran across” intuitively forms a constituent, and it seems fairly natural to pause briefly after “across.” In sentence (q), “across the street” intuitively forms a constituent and it seems fairly natural to pause after “ran.”

2) If the verb and the following word can be separated by an intervening object, the structure is V + Prt. Remember, however, that not all V + Prt structures are separable.

3) If you can attach a PP parallel to the existing structure, then it is a V + PP.

George ran {across the street} and {into the store}. (across the street = PP)
*George ran across a good article and into a good story. (across a good article is not a PP)

4) PP structures can sometimes move around in a sentence. Moving a Prt and the NP following it often results in an ungrammatical structure.

{Across the street} George ran. (across the street = PP)
*Across a good article George ran.

5) You can often insert a manner adverb between a V and a PP following it. However, you usually can’t place a manner adverb between a V and a Prt.

George ran quickly (angrily, hurriedly) across the street.
*George ran quickly (*angrily, *hurriedly) across an article.

6) V + Prt structures can often be replaced in a sentence by a single verb.

Keith {turned off} the lights = Keith {extinguished} the lights.
Christine {thought over} her answers = Christine {pondered} her answers.
(Transcriber's note: labeled "bb" in original text)
Kevin {puts up with} the noise = Kevin {tolerates} the noise.

Sentence Structure

NP: Subj	VP: Pred
NP: Subj	Verb	Verb Complements	(Adverbs)

Things You Need to Know About: Verb Types

One of the most important things you need to remember is not to try to memorize lists of verbs that belong to each type, because verbs often have multiple meanings, and can belong to a number of different categories. Given that there are thousands of verbs, and an infinite number of possible sentences in English, do you really believe you can memorize which category each of the verbs in these sentences belongs to?

Instead, try to read carefully every sentence and analyze the verb type depending on the specific context in the sentence; i.e., by looking at the components to the right and to the left of the verb.

Examples	Verb Type	Verb Compliments
(1) The President {left,} but the Vice-president remained.	(1) VI	(1) _____
(2) The president {left} the room.	(2) VT	DO (the room)
(3) He {left} his wife and two children.	(3) VT	DO (his wife and his two children)
(4) His decision {left} me disappointed.	(4) Vc	DO (me) OC (AdjP) (disappointed)
(5) He {left} the doorman a note.	(5) Vg	DO (a note) IO (the doorman)
(6) He {left} a note for the doorman.	(6) Vg	DO (a note) IO (the doorman)
(1) The President left, but the Vice-president {remained.}	(1) VI	(1) _____
(2) She {remained} a president for two years.	(2) VL	(2) PredN (a president)
The reason “left” in He left a note for the doorman is a Vg (and not a Vc verb which also allows two NP complements) is that it represents a typical Vg situation with three separate entities: (1) “he” (the giver); (2) “a note” which is being given from him to the doorman; and (3) “the doorman” (the receiver). In addition, both the IO and the DO of the verb can become subjects in passive structures; e.g., The doorman was given a note (by him), and A note was given to the doorman (by him). By contrast, “left” in His decision left me disappointed is a Vc verb because “his decision” did not “leave me,” it “left me feeling disappointed,” where “me” is the DO, and the AdjP “disappointed” completes the meaning of the DO “me,” by describing or modifying it (in the same way as the PredAdj qualifies the Subject of the verb BE; e.g., Because of his decision, I was disappointed ).
68	68	68
(1) She {was} a doctor.	(1) BE	(1) PredN (a doctor) {She} and {a doctor} refer to the same person.
(2) She {became} a doctor.	(2) VL	(2) PredN (a doctor) {She} and {a doctor} refer to the same person.
(3) She {called} a doctor.	(3) VT	(3) DO (a doctor) {She} and {a doctor} refer to different people. She phoned a doctor/she called someone and asked for a doctor.
(4) She {called} him a doctor.	(4) Vc Vg	(4) DO (him), OC (NP) (a doctor) {Him} and {a doctor} refer to the same person. She addresses this person using the term {doctor}. IO (him), DO (a doctor) {She}, {him} and {a doctor} refer to three different people. She called a doctor for him.
(5) She {called} herself a doctor.	(5) Vc Vg	(5) DO (herself), OC (NP) (a doctor) {She}, {herself} and {a doctor} refer to the same person. She referred to herself using the term {doctor}. IO (herself), DO (a doctor) {She} and {herself} refer to the same person, but {a doctor} refers to a different person. She called a doctor for herself.
(6) She {called} him “Doctor.”	(6) Vc	(6) DO (him), OC (NP) (doctor) {Doctor} without the IndefArt sounds like a term of address and, unlike (4), only allows the Vc interpretation.
(7) She {called} herself “Doctor.”	(7) Vc	(7) DO (herself), OC (NP) (doctor) {Doctor} without the IndefArt sounds like a term of address and, like (6) but unlike (4), only allows the Vc interpretation.
(8) She {called} five minutes ago.	(8) VI	(8) _____

Verb Types Diagrams and Illustrations

(Image of a construction project with a large crane hanging over a building.) Images courtesy of shutterstock.com

Transitive Verbs

“They are building a new high-rise.”

They — Subj
are building — VT
a new high-rise. — DO

As mentioned above, transitive verbs can be made passive. Passivization may be illustrated in the following way:

Active: “They created an empire.”
- They — NP: Subj
- created — VT (active)
- an empire. — NP: DO
Passive: “An empire was created by them”
- An empire — NP: Subj
- was created — VT (passive)
- by them. — PP (Prep + NP: Obj/Prep)

Passives, questions, and sentences containing relative clauses, etc., are best analyzed if turned into active sentences, statements, and simple clauses, respectively. The transformations allow us to see if the verb has any complement, and which type it is.

Passive: “The letter {has not} yet {been written}.”
Active: “They {have not}[VT] yet written {the letter}[NP:DO].”
Questions: “What {have} you {heard} _____ about the accident?”
Statements: “You {have heard}[VT] {what/something}[NP:DO] about the accident?”
RelCl: “The gift that I {bought} is not expensive.”
Simple: “I {bought}[VT] {a gift}[NP:DO]. The gift is not expensive.”

Vg Verbs

Vg verbs involve three separate entities. Imagine two baseball players, James (the pitcher) and Matt (the catcher), and one of them throwing a ball to the other.

James threw Matt the ball.
- James — Subj
- threw — Vg
- Matt — IO
- the ball. — DO
James threw the ball to Matt.
- James — Subj
- threw — Vg
- the ball — DO
- to
- Matt — IO

(An image of a man, “James”, throwing a ball to a second man, “Matt”.). Images courtesy of shutterstock.com

Linking Verbs

The NP:Subject and the predicate form (PredN or PredAdj) on both sides of the verb refer to the same entity. The PredN renames the subject, while the PredAdj modifies it.

James looks tired. (Transcriber’s note: “James” and “tired” are connected through a line.)
- James — NP: Subj
- looks — VL
- tired. — PredAdj
James became a doctor. (Transcriber’s note: “James” and “a doctor” are connected through a line.)
- James — NP: Subj
- became — VL
- a doctor. — PredN

Intransitive Verbs

VI verbs do not normally require any complements.

(An image of a female silhouette running during a sunset.)

Jane is running
- Jane — Subj
- is running — VI
James arrived.
- James — NP: Subj
- arrived. — VI

The Verb BE

(An image of an animated man with glasses standing at a desk.)

James is in his office
- James — Subj
- is — BE
- in his office — PredAdv

The NP:Subject and the predicate form (PredN, PredAdj, or PredAdv) on both sides of the verb BE refer to the same entity. The PredN renames the subject (as in (a)), the PredAdj modifies it (as in (b)), and the PredAdv provides information about its place, time, accompaniment, etc. (as in (c)).

James is a doctor.
James is tired.
James is here.
James is on time.
James is with his grandma.

“James is a doctor/tired/on time.”:

James — NP: Subj
is — BE
a doctor/tired/on time. — PredN/PredAdj/PredAdv

Vc Verbs

Here are several subtypes of Vc verbs:

like {consider} (expressing beliefs and opinions)
e.g., They {found} the experience unsettling.
like {call} (giving names, labels, etc.)
e.g., They {dubbed} him “the Killer”.
like {make} (making people feel a certain way)
e.g., You {make} me happy.
like {let} (allowing or causing someone to do something)
e.g. {Let} me think about it.

The OC (NP, AdjP, or InfP) completes the meaning of the DO.

Active: “They named the computer the top invention of the twentieth century.” (Transcriber’s note: “the computer” and “the top invention of the twentieth century” are connected by a line.)
- They — NP: Subj
- named — Vc
- the computer — NP:DO
- the top invention of the twentieth century. — NP:OC
Passive: “The computer was named the top invention of the twentieth century (by them).” (Transcriber’s note: “The computer” and “the top invention of the twentieth century.” are connected by a line.)
- The computer — NP: Subj
- was named — Vc
- the top invention of the twentieth century. — NP:OC
- (by them). — PP: Adv (agency) = Prep + NP: Obj/Prep

Verb Types and Verb Complements

Start with NP:Subj

Verb Type	Verb Complements
1. VI	-----
2. VL	PredN, PredAdj
3. VT	DO
4. Vg	IO/DO	DO/(to/for) IO
5. Vc	DO	OC (NP, AdjP, InfPh)
6. BE	PredN/PredAdj/PredAdv

Start with “They”:

Verb Type	Verb Complements		(Adverbs)
1. arrived	-----		(at 5 o'clock)
2. became	students/famous		(at SFU)/(3 years ago)
3. closed	the door		(quietly)
4. bought	me/flowers	flowers/for me	(yesterday)
5. consider	him	a star/famous/to be a star	(in this city)
6. are	students/famous/in class		(at SFU)/(in the city)/(this morning)

Exercises

A

Each group of sentences contains the same verb, but it may have a different meaning and therefore belong to a different verb type. Identify the type of the underlined verbs, choosing from the following: VI, VL, VT, Vg, Vc, or BE.

The child {looked} at the black cat. — _____
The child {looked} tired and unhappy. — _____
The child {looked} toward the ship. — _____
GM {makes} cars and trucks. — _____
My mom {makes} me delicious cakes. — _____
This {makes} me happy. — _____
He {went} outside. — _____
He {went} for a walk. — _____
He {went} to work. — _____
He {went} crazy, trying to solve this problem. — _____
Melanie {wrote} for pleasure. — _____
Melanie {wrote} short stories for children. — _____
Melanie {wrote} her fans personal letters. — _____
The old man {died} that afternoon in 1963. — _____
The villagers said the old man {died} a hero. — _____
The meeting {will start} on time. — _____
I {will start} the meeting on time. — _____

If you need more challenge, try out this exercise.

B

Identify each underlined verb as belonging to one of the six categories: VI, VL, VT, Vg, Vc, or BE. Then identify the verb complements, if any, by rewriting them and choosing one of the following labels: DO, IO, OC (specify if the OC is NP, AdjP, or InfP), PredN, PredAdj, PredAdv, or None.

Sentence	Verb Type	Verb Complement(s)
1. this lcd computer monitor sometimes {turns} blue, and then changes back to normal. [why is my lcd . . . , yahoo.com]	1. _____	_____
2. No one {delivers} pizza as fast as Dominos. [from a Dominos commercial]	2. _____	_____
3. Many businesses {have offered} the city council support for its green roofs initiative.	3. _____	_____
4. The jeweler {made} them the most exquisite wedding rings from his new collection.	4. _____	_____
5. Students who {behave} inappropriately will be expelled from class.	5. _____	_____
6. Students who behave inappropriately {will be expelled} from class.	6. _____	_____
7. Do you really think you {are} qualified for this job?	7. _____	_____
8. You will have to {persevere} to be able to finish your degree on time.	8. _____	_____
9. My boss {deems} professional development days essential for our business.	9. _____	_____
10. The final agreement {was called} the Proclamation of Independence.	10. _____	_____
11. This is the worst joke {I’ve} ever {heard}.	11. _____	_____
12. The sun {disappeared} behind the majestic mountains.	12. _____	_____
13. We’ll talk about how social media like Facebook and Twitter {impact} our daily lives. [adapted from “5 Ways Social Media … ,” mashable.com]	13. _____	_____
77	77	77
14. A note {was left} for the principal on the front door of the school.	14. _____	_____
15. The department created a supportive, non-critical environment where people {felt} comfortable and talked to each other openly about issues.	15. _____	_____
16. Dare to {think} the unthinkable, imagine the impossible, discuss the improbable. [from Philosophers’ Café, sfu.ca]	16. _____	_____
17. Please send us your email address, so we can {keep} you electronically updated on the latest changes in the schedule.	17. _____	_____
18. Things {have} never {been} better.	18. _____	_____
19. Can science {be trusted?} [from Philosophers’ Café, sfu.ca]	19. _____	_____
20. What does your intuition {tell} you? [from Philosophers’ Café, sfu.ca]	20. _____	_____
21. We care about the environment because we want to {leave} our children a livable world.	21. _____	_____
22. Emily {found} the conditions in the hotel room appalling.	22. _____	_____
23. Somehow, things {went} wrong.	23. _____	_____
24. South Australia {was proclaimed} a colony in 1836. [adapted from governor.sa.gov.au]	24. _____	_____
25. The River Tiber, which runs through Rome, {has risen} to its highest level in four decades. [from “Floods Beset Italy … ,” terradaily.com]	25. _____	_____

If you need more challenge, try out this exercise.

C

Identify each underlined word or group of words as one of the verb complements: DO, IO, OC, PredN, PredAdj, PredAdv, or indicate None.

They shouldn’t be selling us {paper coffee cups which have plastic lids} since the plastic lids are non-recyclable.
[adapted from the radio clip “Problems with Coffee Cups,” cbc.c] — _____
They shouldn’t be selling {us} paper coffee cups which have plastic lids since the plastic lids are non-recyclable. — _____
They shouldn’t be selling us paper coffee cups with plastic lids since the plastic lids are {non-recyclable}. — _____
We sent those packets {to Brazil} on Monday. — _____
Children often take it for granted that parents will always be by their side. — _____
The economic crisis made the need to cut costs our top priority. — _____
The bad weather made the assignment they gave me a dreaded experience. — _____
Could you please show me the way to New Westminster? — _____
He quickly put himself together and knocked the thief unconscious. — _____
This historian turned novelist and wrote a book about World War II.
[from “How a Historian … ,” hnn.us] — _____

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

Answers to Exercises

A

The child {looked} at the black cat. — VI
The child {looked} tired and unhappy. — VL
The child {looked} toward the ship. — VI
GM {makes} cars and trucks. — VT
My mom {makes} me delicious cakes. — Vg (My mom makes delicious caked for me)
This {makes} me happy. — Vc
He {went} outside. — VI
He {went} for a walk. — VI (idiomatic; alternatively, “go for” VT-2 wds, similar to “take”)
He {went} to work. — VI
He {went} crazy, trying to solve this problem. — VI
Melanie {wrote} for pleasure. — VI (some sources claim it is a VT, with an implied DO; e.g., books)
Melanie {wrote} short stories for children. — VT or Vg
Melanie {wrote} her fans personal letters. — Vg
The old man {died} that afternoon in 1963. — VI
The villagers said the old man {died} a hero. — VL
The meeting will start on time. — VI
I will start the meeting on time. — VT

B

Sentence	Verb Type	Verb Complement(s)
1. {turns}	VL	blue: PredAdj
2. {delivers}	VT	pizza: DO
3. {have offered}	Vg	the city council: IO support for its green roof initiative: DO
4. {made}	Vg	them: IO the most exquisite wedding rings from his new collection: DO
5. {behave}	VI	_____
81	81	81
6. {will be expelled}	VT	_____ [in the article “The school/they will expell {students} (DO) …]
7. {are}	BE	qualified for this job: PredAdj
8. {persevere}	VI	_____
9. {deems}	Vc	professional development days: DO essential for our business: OC:AdjP
10. {was called}	Vc	the Proclamation of Independence: OC:NP
11. {‘ve heard}	VT	the worst joke: DO [I’ve heard the words joke (DO)]
12. {disappeared}	VI	_____
13. {impacts}	VT	our daily lives: DO
14. {was left}	Vg	for the principle: IO (active “Someone left a note for the principle”)
15. {felt}	VL	comfortable: PredAdj
16. {think}	VT	the unthinkable: DO
17. {keep}	Vc	you: DO electronically updated on the latest changes in the schedule: OC:AdjP
18. {have been}	BE	better: PredAdj
19. {be trusted}	VT	_____ [active: “Can welcome/people trust science (DO)?”]
20. {tell}	Vg	you: IO what: DO
21. {leave}	Vg	our children: IO a livable world: DO
22. {found}	Vc	the conditions in the hotel room: DO appalling: OC:AdjP
23. {west}	VL	wrong: PredAdj
82	82	82
24. {was proclaimed}	Vc	a colony: OC:NP [in the active: “They proclaimed South Australia (DO) a colony…”]
25. {has risen}	VI	_____

C

DO
IO
PredAdj
None (Adv; not a verb complement)
PredAdv
OC
OC
IO
OC
PredN

CHAPTER 5: Status of Verbs: Tense, Aspect, and Voice

1

Verbs in English are traditionally said to have five forms or “parts.”

2

The main verb constituent (MV) is the unit containing the verb and any auxiliaries.

3

English is usually said to have two “morphological tenses”: present and past. The tense can generally be determined by looking at the first word in the MV.

Tense	Examples
present tense	{works}, {is} eating, {have} been writing
past tense	{worked}, {had} eaten, {had} been writing

It’s very important to understand that tense and time are not the same thing. Tense is a grammatical notion. Different languages may use tenses in very different ways. Time, on the other hand, refers to a concept that is common to all human experience. It is understood in terms of past, present, and future. The relationship between tense and time is not straightforward. For instance, in English we have no morphological future tense. But that certainly doesn’t mean that we can’t talk about future time. Here are some examples:

{I’m leaving} tomorrow. (present tense, future time)
{I will leave} tomorrow. (modal “will,” future time)
Yesterday, he told me that he {wasn’t leaving} till next week. (past tense, future time)

Here is another illustration of the complexity of the tense and time relationship:

I have already finished my homework. (present tense, past time)

Quick Quiz

What, in your opinion, are the past tense and past participle forms of the following verbs? Are there any that you are unsure of? Why?

Verb	Past tense	Past Participle
Shrink
Bid
Stink
Hang
Sneak
Lie
Lay
Swing
Forsake
Thrive
Shoe

4

Some MVs contain a modal.

Examples: will work, should have worked, might have been working

Do modals have tense?

You should be aware that some textbooks (including Morenberg 2010:54) consider modals to have present forms (e.g., can, will, shall) and past forms (could, would, should). This seems to make sense in pairs such as the following:

This year she can run a mile in five minutes. (present ability)
Last year she could run a mile in six minutes. (past ability)

Although we will follow Morenberg’s approach, analyzing modals strictly in this way doesn’t buy us much in terms of helping us understand them. Modals convey a wide range of meanings, many of which have little to do with present versus past time. The difference between can and could, for instance, is different in many respects from the distinction between walk and walked. How would you characterize the distinctions that are made in these sentences?

Can you open the window, please?
Could you open the window, please?
Would you open the window, please?

We’ll consider some ways of describing the meanings of modals later.

5

The two kinds of aspect are progressive (also called continuous) and perfective or perfect.

Progressive aspect can be recognized by the presence of the following:

be + present participle (-ing form) of the verb
be + … + ing
She {is} driv{ing}. (present tense + progressive aspect)
She {was} driv{ing}. (past tense + progressive aspect)
She may {be} driv{ing}. (present modal + progressive aspect)

Perfective aspect can be recognized by the presence of the following:

have + past participle of the verb
have + … + ed/en/etc.
She {has} driv{en}. (present tense + perfective aspect)
She {had} driv{en}. (past tense + perfective aspect)
She may {have} driv{en}. (present modal + perfective aspect)

6

When both kinds of aspect are evident, the auxiliary indicating the perfective (have) precedes.

She {has} been driving. (present tense + perfective aspect + progressive aspect)
She {had} been driving. (past tense + perfective aspect + progressive aspect)
She may {have} been driving. (present modal + perfective aspect + progressive aspect)

7

Voice may be active or passive.

Active voice

In active sentences, the subject is often the “doer of an action.”

The legislature passed a law.

Passive voice

In passive sentences, the subject often undergoes an action. The doer of the action is indicated in a prepositional phrase beginning with “by,” or it may be omitted.

A law was passed by the legislature.
A law was passed.

Passive voice may be recognized by the presence of the following:

be + past participle of the verb
be + . . . + ed/en/etc.
She {is} driv{en} (by George). (simple present tense, passive voice)
A law {was} pass{ed} (by the legislature). (simple past tense, passive voice)

8

When the passive voice is used together with one or both kinds of aspect, the auxiliary indicating the passive (be) comes last before the verb.

She is {being} driven. (present tense + progressive aspect + passive voice)
She has been {being} driven. (present tense + perfective aspect + prog. aspect + passive voice)

9

Here is a summary table, showing examples of the possible combinations of tense, aspect and voice.

Tense	Aspect	Active Voice	Passive Voice
simple present	—	she works	she is driven
present	progressive	she is working	she is being driven
present	perfect	she has worked	she has been driven
present	perfect progressive	she has been working	she has been being driven
simple past	—	she worked	she was driven
past	progressive	she was working	she was being driven
past	perfect	she had worked	she had been driven
past	perfect progressive	she had been working	she had been being driven

Notice that the present perfect progressive passive and the past perfect progressive passive are quite cumbersome structures, and they are rarely used in spoken or written English. However, they are grammatical, and it is not difficult to imagine contexts in which these forms might be appropriate.

Things You Need to Know About: Tense, Aspect, and Voice

There are only two morphologically-marked tenses in English:

present (he stays), marked with the inflection “-s” in the third person singular, and
past (he stayed), marked with the inflection “-ed.”

English uses other means to express future; e.g.,

modals like {will},
catenatives like {be going to},
adverbs like {tomorrow}.

The main verb is the verb along with its auxiliary elements (e.g., may, shall, have, is); i.e., the forms that show its:

tense,
modality,
voice, and
aspect.

The following diagram illustrates some of the elements that comprise the main verb in English. Note that they are not necessarily used at the same time, and some are mutually exclusive; e.g., the past tense marker “-ed” and the present-tense marker “-s.”

Main verb
- verb
  - stay
- tense
  - present (-s) stay(s)
  - past (-ed) stayed
- modality/aspect
  - modal auxiliary
    - could (modality); arrow to stay , arrow to have , arrow to be/is
  - auxiliaries
    - have
    - be/is
  - past participle
    - stayed (perfective)
  - present participle
    - staying (progressive aspect)

Tense is marked only once in the main verb, and always on the first element of the verb; e.g., if the first element is Aux “BE,” it gets the tense marker (e.g., he {was} building a house); if the first element is a modal, it gets the tense (e.g., he {could} have built a house).

All forms that show tense are called finite,
while all forms that do not show tense, and whose form remains unchanged regardless of the time of the event and who is involved in it, are called non-finite.

For example, the present participle writing does not show tense or change its form, regardless of the time of the event or the number and gender of the doers of the activity.

Tense and Time	Example	Gender and Number of the Subject
Present tense and time	He is {writing} a novel. They are {writing} a novel.	masculine, singular plural
Past tense and time	She was {writing} a novel at that time.	feminine, singular
Present tense, future time	She will be {writing} a novel at that time.	feminine, singular

Aspect indicates that the action of a verb is either completed (perfect aspect) or continuing (progressive aspect).

Perfect aspect indicates that the action of a verb is completed.
- It is shown by the auxiliary HAVE and the past participle (e.g., She {has seen} him before).
- The auxiliary HAVE exhibits tense:
  - present perfect ({has} seen); or
  - past perfect ({had} seen).
- Despite the terms (e.g., present perfect), {both} are related to completed actions.
Progressive aspect indicates that the action is continuing.
- It is shown by the auxiliary BE and the present participle (e.g., She {is dancing}).
- The auxiliary BE exhibits tense:
  - present progressive ({is} dancing), or
  - past progressive ({was} dancing).
- The terms present and past refer only to the form of BE.

It is possible for the perfect and progressive aspect to occur together; e.g., “he has been studying at SFU for three years now,” where:

the perfect aspect indicates that a three-year period of studying has been completed, while
the progressive aspect indicates that the activity is still in progress.

The category of voice is related to the semantic category of agent or doer of the action, and patient or experiencer of the action.

In active constructions, the agent (or doer of the action) and the subject coincide; e.g.,

Jane S. Parker wrote the novel in 1939: “Jane S. Parker” is both the grammatical subject and the person who wrote the novel.

In passive constructions, the patient (or experiencer, or entity that has been acted upon) and the subject coincide; e.g.,: The novel was written in 1939 (by Jane S. Parker).

“The novel” is only the grammatical subject; novels don’t write themselves.
It is still Jane S. Parker who wrote the novel in 1939; therefore “Jane S. Parker” in the prepositional phrase with “by” is called the logical subject.
The easiest way to recognize a passive structure such as The letter was sent over the email is:
- to ask yourself “Who did the action?” and
- if you can’t tell, or if you see the answer in the by-phrase, the structure is passive.
The easiest way to analyze the verb in a passive structure such as The letter was sent over the email is:
- to turn the passive sentence back into active; e.g., Someone sent the letter over the email, and
- see what kind of verb complements the verb has, if any; e.g., “the letter” is the DO of the VT “sent.”

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

Exercises

A

The word “smoking” is used in all of these sentences. In which of them is it the present participle form of the verb? Can you tell what it is if it is not a participle?

Format: Sentence — Answer

This is a smoking area. — _____
She is smoking hot. — _____
She is smoking. — _____
Is smoking really dangerous? — _____
We were just talking about smoking. — _____
We were smoking on the porch when the phone rang. — _____
She called smoking suicide. — _____
She hasn’t been smoking for over five years now. — _____

B

Study the sentences below, and underline the parts of the main verbs that show tense. Then decide if the forms listed in the table can exhibit tense or not. Next to your answer “yes” or “no,” you may indicate the number of the example that supports your decision.

Did he stay here last year?
I’m thinking about this possibility.
When I saw this question on the exam, I {couldn’t} answer it.
She loves risk, adventure, and high-adrenaline experiences.
I got fired last week from the only job I’ve ever liked.
I {wasn’t} able to get to this until Friday afternoon.

Can these forms exhibit tense?	Yes	No
a) single verbs without auxiliaries
b) the base forms of verbs following auxiliaries
c) the auxiliary “be”
d) the auxiliary “have”
e) the auxiliary “do”
f) the auxiliary “get”
g) modals
h) catenatives

C

Put the verb “study” in the requested tense-aspect form.

Tense + Verb — _____
Tense + Modal + Verb — _____
Tense + Perfect + Verb — _____
Tense + Progressive + Verb — _____
Tense + Modal + Perfect + Verb — _____
Tense + Modal + Progressive + Verb — _____
Tense + Perfect + Progressive + Verb — _____
Tense + Modal + Perfect + Progressive + Verb — _____

Answers to Exercises

A

Noun functioning as an Adjective
Qualifier (of “hot”—“informal”)
Present Participle (VI) (Present Progressive Aspect)
Noun, more specifically Gerund (VI) functioning as a Subject
Noun, more specifically Gerund (VI) functioning as the Obj/Prep “about”
Present Participle(VI) (Past Progressive Aspect)
Noun, more specifically Gerund (VI) functioning as a DO of Vc “called”
Present Participle (VI) (Present Perfect Progressive Aspect—Neg)

B

{Did} he stay here last year?
{I’m} thinking about this possibility.
When I saw this question on the exam, I {couldn’t} answer it.
She {loves} risk, adventure, and high-adrenaline experiences.
I {got} fired last week from the only job I’ve ever liked.
{I {was}n’t {able to}} get to this until Friday afternoon.

Can these forms exhibit tense?	Yes	No
a) single verbs without auxiliaries	✓ sentence 3 (saw), sentence 4 (loves)
b) the base forms of verbs following auxiliaries		✓ sentence 1 (stay), sentence 3 (answer), sentence 6 (get)
c) the auxiliary “be”	✓ sentence 2 (’m)
d) the auxiliary “have”	✓ sentence 5 (’ve)
e) the auxiliary “do”	✓ sentence 1 (did)
f) the auxiliary “get”	✓ sentence 5 (got)
g) modals	✓ sentence 3 (could)
h) catenatives	✓ sentence 6 (was able to)

C

studies
should study
has studied
is studying
should have studied
should be studying
has been studying
should have been studying

CHAPTER 6: Using English Tense and Aspect

In this section, we will summarize a few of the common uses of various tense/aspect combinations. You should be aware that we have omitted many possibilities. In each case, consider the ways in which we might represent tense and aspect on the graph.

1. Simple Present

(Transcription of chart: past, NOW, and future are plotted on the x axis of a graph.)

Information presented as a fact (even if it isn’t true!)
- The sky is blue.
- Ron lives in Toronto.
- Grass is usually orange.
Repeated or habitual actions
- I get up at seven every day.
- Judy always drinks coffee for breakfast.

Senses, perceptions, and desires
- I smell garlic.
- Susie hears music playing.
- I want mustard in my sandwich.
Future events (especially scheduled events)
- The plane leaves tomorrow at seven.
- Next week, Alan gets new office furniture.
Narrative descriptions
- First, she gets on the plane. Then she meets a stranger. (describing a story, film, etc.)

2. Present Progressive

(Transcription of image: past, NOW and future are plotted as the x axis of a graph.)

Actions occurring at the present moment
- Don’t bother me! I’m talking on the phone. (cf. I talk on the phone all the time.)
- She’s sitting in the back of the room.
Actions occurring intermittently over a period that encompasses the present time. Such actions may or may not be in progress at the actual moment of speaking.
- Frederick is writing a novel.
- They’re shooting a new film on the island.
Future events
- They’re leaving first thing in the morning.
- Carol is moving next month.

Narratives about past actions
- So yesterday I’m walking down Main Street, and I see this guy with a
- parrot. He’s carrying the parrot on his shoulder.

3. Simple Past

(Transcription of image: “Past, NOW and future plotted on the x axis of a graph.)

Actions or states at a specified or unspecified point in the past

Nancy ate breakfast.
Nancy ate breakfast at 6:30.
Nancy ate breakfast two hours ago.
Richard was tired.

4. Past Progressive

(Transcription of image: “Past, NOW and future are plotted on the x axis of a graph.”)

Actions or states in progress at a specified time or period of time in the past
- Jim was sleeping when the earthquake occurred.
- What were you doing at 10:00 p.m. on the night of the murder?
Statements about the past in which the duration of an activity is emphasized.
- I was driving for over ten hours!
- Joe was eating out of a can for six weeks!

5. Present Perfect

(Transcription of image: “Past, NOW and future are plotted on the x axis of a graph.”)

Events and states that began in the past, have continued to the present time, and have some likelihood of continuing into the future.
- Ann has lived in Vancouver for many years. (cf. Ann lived in Vancouver for many years.)
Events occurring within {a time frame} that began in the past and that continues up to the moment of speaking. Such events have at least a possibility of recurring in or persisting into the future.
- Alice Munro has written many short stories. (cf. ? Shakespeare has written many plays.)
- I’ve graded 72 essays so far this week.
- He has lived in Toronto, Calgary, and Winnipeg, though he now lives in Ottawa. (cf. He lived in Toronto, Calgary, and Winnipeg, but now he’s dead.) (cf. \*He has lived in Toronto, Calgary, and Winnipeg, but now he’s dead.)
- He has never eaten escargots. (He hasn’t eaten escargots so far in his life, but he might do so at some time in the future.)
- Have you ever traveled in a balloon? (The time frame of interest extends from the beginning of the addressee’s life to the moment of speaking.)

Events from the recent past that have some relevance to the present.
- The doughnuts have just arrived.
- Frank has finished his paperwork.

The present perfect is not used for a single event when a point in time is specified.

Caroline studied last night. (cf. * Caroline has studied last night).
The letter arrived at six. (cf. * The letter has arrived at six.)

6. Past Perfect

(Transcription of image: “Past, NOW and future are plotted on the x axis of a graph.”)

Events occurring before and lasting until a particular time in the past
- By June of last year, Rose had saved $500.
Events occurring within a time frame that began and ended in the past.
- By June of last year, Rose had lived in Toronto, Calgary, and Winnipeg.
- By June of last year, Rose had never eaten escargots.
Events occurring immediately before a particular time in the past
- Julia Child had finished cooking when Jacques Pepin arrived.

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7. Present Perfect Progressive and Past Perfect Progressive

(Transcription of image: “Past, NOW and future are plotted on the x axis of a graph.”)

These can often substitute for the present perfect and past perfect. They emphasize that the event occurred over time.

I have been working for hours. (cf. I’ve worked for hours.)
Julia had been cooking for hours when Jacques arrived.

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Things You Need to Know About: Using English Tense and Aspect

The terms tense and time are not identical. Tense is a grammatical category and “determines the physical form of the verb” (Morenberg 2010:51), while time refers to real time. Time in the western world is often visualized as a line with a single dot marking the present moment or now. The past is before now, schematically presented to the left of now, while the future is after now, schematically presented to the right of now.

(Transcription of image: “Past, present/NOW and future are plotted on the x axis of a graph.”)

The following examples illustrate how the same grammatical tense—present, can refer to present, past, and future time.

Examples	Tense	Time
(1) He {is working} on his paper.	(1a) (1b) present progressive tense	(1a) the event occurs {at the moment of speaking} (1b) he may not be working on the paper right this minute, but it’s his main project this month; the event occurs during a period of time that includes {the moment of speaking} => {now} or {extended now}
(2) He {works} at the department store.	(2) present simple tense	(2a) this is his {current} job, and he is working {now} (2b) this is his {current} job, but he may {not} be working {right now} => {now} or {not right now}
(3) The train {leaves / is leaving} at 8:00 p.m.	(3) present simple/progressive tense	(3) with events following a plan or schedule {future} time
(4) And I go into the cafe last night, and I see her sitting alone at the corner table, drinking, and I ask her …	(4) present simple tense	(4) for more immediate or vivid effect in story-telling, etc. with events that happened in the past => {past} time

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(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

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Exercises

Analyze the following sentences according to these instructions:

Identify the main verb (MV) by rewriting it and labeling it as one of these categories: VI, VL, VT, Vc, Vg, and BE in the MV column;
Identify the MV’s tense and aspect in the Tense and Aspect columns respectively;

Identify the parts of multi-word MVs using the following labels:

Modal	Aux-DO	BASE (the verb after Aux)
Aux-BE	Aux-HAVE	NEG
PastPart (past participle)		V (for one-word verbs)
PresPart (present participle)		Caten (catenative/semi-modal)

Identify the DO, IO, OC (and its type: NP, AdjP, InfP), PredN, PredAdj, and PredAdv in the Verb complements column.

Examples:

These two actors play the game perfectly in Hollywood.
He may be studying now.

Answer:

#	Main Verb and Type	Tense	Aspect	Verb Parts	Verb Complements
1	play: VT	present	—	V ‘play’	the game: DO
2	may be studying: VI	present	progressive	Modal+Aux-BE +PresPart	—

It must have been snowing for a few hours already.
They’ll find you a replacement quickly.
Is mom making us ice-cream?
I’m not going to look this word up in a dictionary.
They are throwing him a surprise birthday party.
I’ll order him a taxi for five o’clock.
The building could have been sinking for years.
She’s not going to be able to pick him up from the airport.

104

#	Main Verb and Type	Tense	Aspect	Verb Parts	Verb Complements
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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(Transcriber’s note: empty page)

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Answers to the Exercises

#	Main Verb and Type	Tense	Aspect	Verb Parts	Verb Complements
1	must have been snowing: VI	present	perfect progressive	Modal+Aux-Have+Aux-Be+PresPart	—
2	‘ll find: Vg	present	—	Modal+Base ‘find’	you: IO (=for you); a replacement: DO
3	is making: Vg	present	progressive	Aux-BE+PresPart	us: IO (=for us); ice-cream: DO
4	‘m not going to look up VT	present	—	Caten BE GOING TO[1] + NEG + Basic (2 wds) “look up”	this word: DO
5	are throwing: Vg	present	progressive	Aux-BE+PresPart	him: IO (=for him); a surprise birthday party: DO
6	‘ll order: Vg	present	—	Modal+Base “order”	him: IO (=for him); a taxi: DO
7	could have been sinking: VI	past	prefect progressive	Modal+Aux-Have+Aux-BE+PresPart	—
8	’s not going to be able to be able to: VT	present	—	Caten BE GOING TO[1] + NEG + Caten BE ABLE TO + Base (2 wds) “pick up”	him: DO

[1]: Some grammarians treat “to be going to” and “be able to” as catenatives. However, catenatives generally require DO-support for negation and interrogation, while these two structures do not. In addition, some catenatives can be converted to “-ing” forms, as in They’re always having to/wanting to/needing to . . . , while “be going to” has no form without “-ing.”

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CHAPTER 7: Mood and Modals

Mood

Indicative: statements
- Flynn played Robin Hood in the movie.
Interrogative: questions
- Are you busy?
- What time is it?
- You’re busy?
Imperative: instructions and commands Get up!
- Have some pie.
Conditional: expressions of possibility, probability, necessity, desire, doubt, obligation, and other related notions.
- You shouldn’t buy a leaky condo.
- He may be right.

Uses of Modals

Modals convey many kinds of meanings, some of which differ from each other in quite subtle ways. As a result, modals are sometimes difficult to talk about and difficult for ESL learners to acquire. To make matters even more complicated, sentences with modals are often ambiguous—they may sometimes be interpreted in more than one way, depending on the context. Three particular kinds of meanings are described here.

108

Epistemic meaning has to do with the speaker’s (or writer’s) belief about some possible or necessary state of affairs.
- Sentence: Tomorrow it {might} rain.
- Interpretation: The speaker believes that rain is possible (though he or she does not know for sure).
- Sentence: Joe’s coat is on the rack. He {must} be in the office.
- Interpretation: The speaker can infer that Joe is in his office because his coat is here.
- Sentence: I can’t find my keys. I {may} have left them in the car.
- Interpretation: The speaker judges that it is possible that the keys were left in the car.
Deontic meaning has to do with the speaker’s intention to influence someone or something. When a modal has this type of meaning it typically indicates advice, permission, or an instruction by the speaker to do something.
- Sentence: Anna {can} have another cookie if she likes.
- Interpretation: The speaker gives Anna permission to have another cookie.
- Sentence: I’m not interested in talking to you. You {must} leave right now!
- Interpretation: The speaker orders you to leave now.
- Sentence: Elaine {should} get more rest. She looks tired.
- Interpretation: The speaker recommends that Elaine get more rest.
Dynamic meanings typically indicate ability or willingness. Rather than reflecting the speaker’s belief or desire to influence, modals with this kind of meaning generally refer to facts outside the speaker’s judgment or control.
- Sentence: Frank can play hockey very well.
- Interpretation: He has the ability to play hockey well.
- Sentence: George won’t help me fix the washer.
- Interpretation: George refuses to assist me.

*P Prescriptive Note: It is sometimes claimed that “can” is not to be used to indicate permission (i.e., in the deontic sense). In fact, “can” is almost universally used with that meaning in WCE and other varieties of English spoken in North America.

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Quick Quiz State whether the modals in these sentences have epistemic (E), deontic (DE), or dynamic (DY) meanings. Which ones are ambiguous?

There’s a fly in the kitchen. You shouldn’t have left the window open. – _____
If you have difficulty, Wilbur will assist you. – _____
You may kiss the bride. – _____
Her eyes are red. She must have been crying. – _____
I can open that door for you. – _____
There might be some chocolate cake in the fridge. – _____
There must be a better way to make a living than telemarketing. – _____
When I was younger, I could run ten kilometres with no difficulty. – _____
You can’t be serious! – _____
May I have another chocolate, darling? – _____

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Things You Need to Know About: Mood and Modals

Mood and Modality have to do with the purpose of the sentence.

Mood	Examples
(1) Indicative mood: a sentence providing information or making a statement: has the following word order: Subject-Verb-Verb Complements, if any	(1) It was snowing on Burnaby Mountain yesterday. They just had a baby.
(2) Interrogative mood: a sentence asking a question; it is characterized by: a different word order (called subject-verb inversion): Verb-Subject or Aux-Subject-Verb rising intonation (e.g., on “Yes-No” questions) use of interrogative pronouns, pro-adverbs, and pro-determiners in “Wh-” questions (e.g., who, when, whose, etc.)	(2) Was it snowing on Burnaby Mountain yesterday? Have you heard of this dinosaur before? Where are they?
(3) Imperative mood: a sentence giving a command: the only type of sentence in English which normally does not have a subject the implied addressee is usually “you” (singular or plural) occasionally, the subject is stated explicitly many grammarians call imperativestenseless	(3) Go get my book! Hey, you, give me this!
(4) Conditional mood: a sentence indicating possibility or eventuality: conditional sentences with “if” indicating that if a condition is met, a result will follow sentences with modal verbs1 (e.g., can, must, might, should, etc.)	(4) If it snows again on Burnaby Mountain, I’ll have to put the snow tires back on my car. It may snow again this week on Burnaby Mountain.

Students often ask about questions containing modal verbs; e.g., Could you give me the book? Such sentences are interrogative.

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Things You Need to Know About: Mood and Modals

Modal verbs can be divided into categories depending on their form and meaning. Based on the morphological tense they exhibit, they have past and present forms, but you need to keep in mind that these forms rarely indicate past and present time respectively (see Ch. 5). For example, the modal verb “could” in a sentence like “Could you pass me the salt, please?” is past in form, but the verb “could pass” clearly refers to future time. Therefore, the following table refers only to the physical form of modal verbs.

Modal Verbs:

Present Form	Past Form
can	could
shall	should
will	would
may	might
must*

*(only present form); e.g., he must go

A number of verbs called “catenative verbs” (or “catenatives,” or “semi-modals”) also function as auxiliaries and have similar meanings to those of modals. As you can see in the table below, they consist of two or three words, so we will be labeling them that way; e.g., “want to” Caten (2 wds).

Catenative (Semi-modal) Verbs:

Two-Word Catenatives	Three-Word Catenatives [2]
dare to	be able to
happen to	be going to
have to	be about to
need to
ought to
seem to
used to
want to

[2]: See note 1 in the answers to the exercises in Chapter 6.

Modals and catenatives always occur first in the main verb and exhibit tense. The verb following the modal is always in its nonfinite form; e.g.:

will come
will – present modal
come – non-finite verb

Modals and catenatives have three types of meaning: epistemic, deontic, and dynamic.

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Meanings of Modals and Some Catenatives	Examples
(1) Epistemic: has to do with the speaker’s belief about some possible or necessary state of affairs: future possibility (prediction); various degrees of certainty about this possibility present possibility (logical deduction or inference about present state of affairs) past possibility (logical deduction or inference about past state of affairs) with perfective modals	It {will} be/{is going} to be sunny tomorrow. (Higher Degree of Certainty: decreesing down list) It {should/must/has} to be sunny tomorrow. It {may/might/could} be sunny tomorrow. He {won’t} tell his family about the accident. (lower degree of certainty) His keys are on the table. He {must} be home./He {has to} be home. We emailed her a reminder about the meeting, but she may not have checked her email.
(2) Deontic: has to do with the speaker’s intention to influence someone or something, by giving: advice or recommendation permission instruction for the addressee to do something	You look stressed out. You {need to} take it easy. You {may} start filling in the answer sheet now. We’re late! You {have to} run.
(3) Dynamic: generally refers to facts outside the speaker’s judgment or control; usually has to do with: ability or skill someone other than the speaker’s willingness or desire to do something	When she was five, she {could} lift this table by herself. {Can} you play the accordion with one hand? He {won’t} tell his family about the accident. (=he doesn’t want to tell his family)

Exercises

A.

Underline the complete MV in each sentence. Indicate the verb type (VI, VT, Vc, etc.), and then list the mood, modals, tense, aspect, and voice. If any of these is missing, write “none.”

George reported the accident.
Several of the trees in our yard were severely damaged by the storm.
Why have the doors been left open again?
Jim may have forgotten to give you a call.
Has the car been running well?
Didn’t you put the cat outside last night?
That shirt is quite becoming on you.
On Tuesday, I will have been living here for seven years.
I’m always being paged!
Have you been helped? 113
The dissidents are gradually being eliminated.
Give me one reason to stay here.
Carol doesn’t like working overtime.
She’s only been home a week.
Jill has just gotten over a cold.
Jack hates cooking dinner.
Pass me the salt, please.
Our customers are always treated with courtesy.
The fridge hadn’t been cleaned in over a month.
She must have been worrying all evening.

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B.

Which of these words best describes the meaning of the modal or catenative in each sentence?

ability
necessity
promise
advice
permission
willingness
instruction
possibility

Based on your choice, determine if the meaning of each modal or catenative is epistemic (E), deontic (DE), or dynamic (DY):

The packet {may} be coming in the mail this week.
This nonsense {has to} stop right now.
If he {can’t} do it, I don’t know who can.
You {may} come in.
O.k., fine, {I will} do it.
{I could have} come to the party if I knew the address.
You {need to} ask before taking your dad’s car.
No one {was able to} tell what happened.
You {must} use a different approach to solve the problem.
You {shouldn’t have} taken your dad’s car without permission.
He {is not going to} give you a raise, no matter what you do.
I hear voices inside. There {must} be someone in the house.

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C.

Which sentence in each pair expresses a higher degree of certainty about a possibility in the past, present or future? Circle it.

Then, based on your choice, write a short sentence creating an appropriate context for each of the sentences.

1. There has to be a way to help them.
2. There might be a way to help them.
1. They must have been busy shopping for a new house.
2. They may have been busy shopping for a new house.
1. He may have been sick.
2. He must have been sick.
1. Your parents are going to be a little late.
2. Your parents could be a little late.
1. She may be tired by now.
2. She has to be tired by now.

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(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

117

Answers to Selected Exercises

B.

The packet {may} be coming in the mail this week. – Possibility (E)
This nonsense {has to} stop right now. – Necessity/Instruction (DE)
If he {can’t} do it I don’t know who {can}. – Ability (DY)
You {may} come in. – Permission (DE)
O.k., fine, {I will} do it. – Promise (DY)
{I could have} come to the party if I knew the address. – Possibility (E)
You {need to} ask before taking your dad’s car. – Advice (DE)
No one {was able to} tell what happened. – Ability (DY)
You {must} use a different approach to solve the problem. – Instruction (DE)
You {shouldn’t have} taken your dad’s car without permission. – Advice (DE)
He {is not going to} give you a raise, no matter what you do. – Willingness (DY)
I hear voices inside. There {must} be someone in the house. – Possibility (E)

C.

Sample contexts for each sentence are provided below:

1. There has to be a way to help them {get the compensation they are entitled to}.
2. {I’m not sure what exactly we can do, but} there might be a way to help them.
1. {They told me they received an inheritance from their uncle.} They must have been busy shopping for a new house.
2. {We haven’t seen them since they won the lottery.} They may have been busy shopping for a new house, {or they may have gone on a cruise ship vacation.}
1. {He didn’t show up at the meeting last night.} He may have been sick.
2. {He always comes to these meetings but he didn’t show up last night.} He must have been sick.
1. Your parents are going to be a little late. {They just called and told me they are caught in traffic.}
2. {I heard there’s a lot of construction on the highway.} Your parents could be a little late.
1. {She’s been up since 5:00 a.m.} She may be tired by now.
2. {I can’t believe she cleaned the whole house this morning.} She has to be tired by now.

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CHAPTER 8: Constructing Noun Phrases

Every noun phrase must have at least one noun or pronoun, which is its head. The other words in the NP are called attributes. They may indicate the definiteness of the head, quantify it, or provide other descriptive information about it. In English, most attributes precede the head, and if there are several attributes, only certain word orders are grammatical. Determiners, for example, come first.

Types of Attributes

1. Determiner (Det)

a) Articles

DefArt: the
IndefArt: a, an

b) Demonstrative Determiners (DemonD)

this, that, these, those

c) Possessive Pronoun Determiners (PossProD)

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

d) Numbers

Cardinal numbers (CardN): one, two, three
Ordinal numbers (OrdN): first, second, next, last

e) Pre-Articles (PreArt)

quantifiers: all (of), some (of), neither (of)
partitives: a pound of, a slice of
multipliers: once, twice

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2. Genitive Nouns (GenN)

3. Adjectives (Adj)

These are of several types, including those indicating size (big, small), shape (round, square), colour (blue, red), and temperature (hot, cool). Proper adjectives (a French restaurant) are generally capitalized. (We will simply label these Adj.) Of course there are many other possibilities.

4. Nouns (N)

Nouns can modify other nouns. All of the following are N N structures.

telephone directory
aircraft commander
laundry detergent

5. Modifiers That Follow the Noun

a) Postnominal modifiers (PostN)

all, both, each; e.g., Emma and Max both left for London last night.

b) Prepositional phrases (PP)

e.g., the boy in the blue shirt . . .

c) Others; e.g., Relative Clauses, Participial Phrases, etc.

e.g., the boy who wrote the letter . . .

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Things You Need to Know About: Noun Phrases

The Noun Phrase consists of at least one element, which can be a noun (boys), a personal pronoun (he), an indefinite pronoun (someone), and a reflexive pronoun (himself), and is called the head of the NP. Stated differently, NP slots can be filled by nouns or personal, reflexive, and indefinite pronouns.

NP slot

Noun: boys
Personal Pronoun: he
Reflexive Pronoun: himself
Indefinite Pronoun: someone

Nouns can be classified in different ways (see Ch. 2). Nouns can be:

common (girl) or proper (referring to unique people, places, or things; e.g., Ann, the US).
concrete (chair) or abstract (honesty).
countable (boys) or non-countable (gold).
collective (flock) or noncollective (goose).

Noun classes overlap (e.g., jury is common, countable, concrete, and collective).

Personal Pronouns:

have subject forms (I, you, he, … as in He arrived last night) and object forms (me, you, him, … as in The officer arrested him).
refer to previously mentioned nouns (shared information).
are used independently, instead of nouns in their slots.

Reflexive Pronouns:

refer to the subject of the clause they are in (e.g., The little boy wrote his name by himself ).
cannot be subjects; e.g., *Himself wrote his name.
when reflexive pronouns are in DO slots, the sentences can’t be made passive; e.g.,
1. The soccer player put himself in this situation. [VT + DO]
2. \*Himself was put in this situation by the soccer player.
3. The soccer player called himself the best goalie in the country. [Vc + DO + NP: OC].
look like PredN-s of VL verbs; e.g., himself in (a), especially because such sentences cannot be made passive (as shown in (b)), but himself is the DO of the VT put in (a) and the DO of the Vc verb called in (c).

122

Indefinite Pronouns:

unlike personal and reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns do not refer to specific nouns; they are indefinite or general.
end with -body, -thing, or -one (e.g., somebody, something, someone).

The noun phrase can be expanded with determiners, genitives, and adjectives to the left of the noun, or various post-nominal modifiers, ranging from single words (all, both) to phrases and clauses (e.g., PP, InfP, PartP, RelCl, etc.), to the right of the noun. NP

NP
- Determiners (closed class, function words
  - PreArt
    - quantifiers
      {some} (of)
    - partitive
      (a) {little} of
    - fractions
      {three}-fourths
    - multipliers
      once (a/every/each)
  - PossProD
    - {my}
  - Articles
    - DefArt
      - {the}
    - IndefArt
      - a/{an}
  - Demonstrative
    - this
    - that
  - Number
    - three
    - third
- Genetives
  - Inflective
    - the people's joy
  - Phrasal
    - the joy of the people
- Adjectives (open class, content words)
  - nice
- Noun or Pro
  - Proper
    - Monaco
  - Common
    - books
  - Pro
    - he
- PostN
  - both
- Other
  - {RelCl}
    which I told {you} about
  - PP
    in red
  - Other

Definite articles and demonstratives:

indicate old (known/shared/given) information; e.g., We saw Avatar last night. Have you seen that movie?
indefinite articles do not express such information; e.g., I need a pen.
demonstratives like this/these and that/those also point at things (the grammatical concept of pointing is called DEIXIS; it is also expressed by words like here and there, now and then, come and go, etc.).

Possessive pronouns:

can be determiners when they precede a noun; e.g., my car;
or independent possessive pronouns which fill NP slots; e.g., This car is not mine (NP:PredN);
This car is Jack’s. Mine is in the garage (NP:Subj).

123

Constructing Noun Phrases

Numbers:

which precede nouns are determiners; e.g., seven computers, the first computer;
they fall into two categories:
- Cardinal Numbers: one, two, three, etc., and
- Ordinal Numbers: first, second, third, . . . next, last. Ordinal numbers generally follow articles as in the third time around, or possessives as in my second wife.
Numbers that do not precede nouns are generally considered nouns themselves (Seven is my lucky number; She is turning seven in September.).

Pre-articles:

precede articles in the NP. There are several kinds (Morenberg 2010:76–77):

Quantifiers	Partitive	Fractions	Multipliers
Some (of)	(A) little (of)	A third (of)	Once (a/each/every)
Any (of)	Plenty (of)	Two-fifths (of)	Twice (a/each/every)
No	A lot (of)	Three-eighths (of) …	Three times (a/each/every) …
None (of)	A good deal of	[1]	[2]
Each (of)	A small quantity of	[1]	[2]
Every	An item of	[1]	[2]
Either (of)	A slice of	[1]	[2]
Neither (of)	A bowl of	[1]	[2]
Many (of)	A quart of	[1]	[2]
(A) few (of)	A pound of	[1]	[2]
Several (of)	A jar of	[1]	[2]

[1]: Note: when of appears with a pre-article, it is not a preposition; it forms a constituent with the PreArt, not with the following noun; e.g., a third of the students
[2]: Note: a, each, and every following multipliers are determiners [a is the IndefArt, and each and every are unspecified determiners], forming a constituent first with the noun; e.g., once a semester

Examples:

None of my three dates worked out.
- None of — PreArt (2 wds)
- my — PossProD
- three — CardN
- dates — N
- worked out. — VI (2 wds)
Several of the books I read gave me an answer.
- Several of — PreArt (2 wds)
- the — DefArt
- book — N
- I — Pro
- read — VT
- gave — Vg
- me — Pro
- an — IndefArt
- answer. — N
? The several books I read didn’t give me an answer.
- ? The several — DefArt ?PreArt
- book — N
- I — Pro
- read — VT
- didn’t – Aux+Neg
- give — Vg
- me — Pro
- an — IndefArt
- answer. — N

Genitives:

occur as:

inflected forms; e.g., {The students'} task is to master the six verb types, and/or
PPs with the Prep of; e.g., The task of {the students} is to master the six verb types;

usually phrasal genitives can be turned into inflected genitive; e.g., the surface of the table, and the table’s surface, but there are exceptions; e.g., my friend’s leg, but ? *the leg of my friend;
these forms should be called genitives rather than possessives because often they do not indicate possession at all (see Ch. 3);
sometimes when an N is moved from a PP to the front of the head noun, the moved N won’t inflect; e.g., symbols of identity, but identity symbols (see NN combinations above);
a genitive phrase can be ambiguous about semantic roles; i.e., who performs the action and who is acted upon; e.g., the shooting of the hunters can be interpreted as (i) hunters shot someone, or (ii) someone shot the hunters;
there is a difference between “of” in:
1. {few of the people}, where few of is a PreArt (2 wds) and people is the head of the NP, and
2. {the dream of the people}, where dream is the head noun, and the preposition of introduces a PP: Gen (synonymous to the people’s dream).

Post-Noun Modifiers:

appear after the noun, and can be single words; e.g., both, each, and all; e.g., The teachers all/both expected this to happen.
however, these words can appear before the nouns (as determiners/pre-noun modifiers); e.g., All/both (of the) teachers expected this to happen.
post-noun modifiers can be phrases or clauses such as PP, InfPh, RelCl, NCL (all of which are discussed in detail in later chapters); e.g.:
- the lady {in the red dress} (PP),
- the conference {which I told you about} (RelCl),
- the most important thing {to remember} (InfPh), and
- it is general knowledge {that the Moon has phases} (NCL).

Exercises

A

Identify the function of each of the underlined words using the symbols below:

Adj
N
CardN
None
CoordConj
OrdN
Correl
IndPossPro
DefArt
PossProD
DemonD
PostN
DemonPro
PreArt
Det
Prep
GenN
PropN
IndefArt

{Both parents} worried that {their} {child} did not talk too much.
{Both} {of} {the} {parents} worried that their child did not talk too much.
{The} {parents} {both} worried that their child did not talk too much.
I bought {two} {books} from the bookstore yesterday. {Both} are very expensive.
{Both} {Max} {and} {his} {girlfriend} took part in the competition.

{The} {students} {each} got an award.
{Each} {student} got an award.
{Each} {of} {the} {students} got an award.
{Twice} {each} {year} they visit Montreal.
{Each} {year,} the students are randomly distributed into {three} {classes} {of} {twenty-five} {students} {each}.

126

This private gathering took place {twice} {a} {year} at Lily’s home.
The inspector looked at {the} {last} {piece} {of} {evidence} with disbelief.
No one ever learned that the stolen car was {his}.
Maya looked at {that} {funny} {picture} {of} {a} {baby} and couldn’t believe it was her.
Lady Gaga is {the} {new} {queen} {of} {pop} {music}.
As a teacher, you have to be able to understand that {each} {student} learns differently.
Thompson finished {third} in the race.
Most people spend {a} {good} {deal} {of} {time} thinking about nothing.

B

Decide if the underlined word in each of the following sentences is part of a PreArt. If it is not a part of a PreArt, write down what it is.

{An} ounce of gold, silver, or platinum can, for {a} variety of reasons, cost either more or less than another ounce of the same metal in the same market.
[from “Why an Ounce of Gold . . . ,” goldprice.org]
There has been {an} unusual occurrence {of} spiders in Florida.
[from “An Unusual Occurrence . . . ,” ingentaconnect.com]
They will discuss how to start investing with {a} small amount of money.
The book describes the greatest engineering achievements {of} the twentieth century.
[adapted from greatachievements.org]127</p>
Please leave the last piece {of} cake for your brother.
{Some} portions {of} this file cannot be played.
Only {five} of these two hundred students got an “A.”

128

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129

Answers to Exercises

A

{Both parents} worried that {their} {child} did not talk too much.
- Both — PreArt
- parents... — N
- their — PossProD
- child — N
{Both} {of} {the} {parents} worried that their child did not talk too much.
- Both of — PreArt (2 wds)
- the — DefArt
- parents — N
{The} {parents} {both} worried that their child did not talk too much.
- The — DefArt
- parents — N
- both — PostN
I bought {two} {books} from the bookstore yesterday. {Both} are very expensive.
- Two — CardN
- books — N
- Both — N
{Both} {Max} {and} {his} {girlfriend} took part in the competition.
- Both — Correl (both)
- Max — PropN
- and — Correl (and)
- his — PossProD
- girlfriend — N

{The} {students} {each} got an award.
- The — DefArt
- students — N
- each — PostN
{Each} {student} got an award.
- Each — PreArt
- students — N
{Each} {of} {the} {students} got an award.
- Each of — PreArt (2 wds)
- the — DefArt
- students — N
{Twice} {each} {year} they visit Montreal.
- Twice — PreArt
- each — Det
- year — N
{Each} {year,} the students are randomly distributed into {three} {classes} {of} {twenty-five} {students} {each}.
- Each — PreArt
- year — N
- Three classes of — PreArt (3 wds)
- twenty-five — CardN
- students — N
- each — PostN

126

This private gathering took place {twice} {a} {year} at Lily’s home.
- Twice — PreArt
- a — IndefArt
- year classes of — N
The inspector looked at {the} {last} {piece} {of} {evidence} with disbelief.
- The — DefArt
- last piece of evidence — PreArt (3 wds)
- evidence — N
No one ever learned that the stolen car was {his}.
- His — IndPossPro
Maya looked at {that} {funny} {picture} {of} {a} {baby} and couldn’t believe it was her.
- That — DemonD
- funny — Adj
- picture — N
- of — Prep
- a — IndefArt
- baby — N
Lady Gaga is {the} {new} {queen} {of} {pop} {music}.
- The — DefArt
- new — Adj
- queen — N
- of — Prep
- pop — N
- music — N
As a teacher, you have to be able to understand that {each} {student} learns differently.
- Each — PreArt
- student — N
Thompson finished {third} in the race.
- third — N
Most people spend {a} {good} {deal} {of} {time} thinking about nothing.
- A good deal of — PreArt (4 wds)
- time — N

130

B

{An} ounce of gold, silver, or platinum can, for {a} variety of reasons, cost either more or less than another ounce of the same metal in the same market.
- Part of a PreArt (an ounce of)
- Part of a PreArt (a variety of)
There has been {an} unusual occurrence {of} spiders in Florida.
- IndefArt
- Prep (of)
They will discuss how to start investing with {a} small amount of money.
- Part of a PreArt (a small amount of)
The book describes the greatest engineering achievements {of} the twentieth century.
- Prep
Please leave the last piece {of} cake for your brother.
- Part of a PreArt (the last piece of)
{Some} portions {of} this file cannot be played.
- Part of a PreArt (portions of)
Only {five} of these two hundred students got an “A.”
- Part of a PreArt (five of)

CHAPTER 9: Negation

To build a negative construction out of an affirmative one, you must add the NEG marker (“not”). The general rule to remember is that if the MV is not BE or does not contain an Aux or Modal, you must also add an Aux (some form of do). The addition of do is called do-support.

With BE as a simple MV, insert NEG after BE.

The cat {is} lazy.
- The cat {is not} lazy.
- The cat {isn’t} lazy.
Liz {was} a teacher.
- Liz {was not} a teacher.
- Liz {wasn’t} a teacher.

When one or more Auxs are already present because of the perfective or progressive aspect, or the passive voice, insert NEG after the first AUX.

Joan {has} left.
- Joan {has not} left.
- Joan {hasn’t} left.
Alan {is} writing a screenplay.
- Alan {is not} writing a screenplay.
- Alan {isn’t} writing a screenplay.
Ken {has} been living in Regina.
- Ken {has not} been living in Regina.
- Ken {hasn’t} been living in Regina.
The barn {was} struck by lightning.
- The barn {was not} struck by lightning.
- The barn {wasn’t} struck by lightning.

When a modal is already present, insert NEG after the modal, but before other auxiliaries.

Mark {can} read Hebrew.
- Mark {cannot} read Hebrew.
- Mark {can’t} read Hebrew.
Karen {should have} visited us.
- Karen {should not have} visited us.
- Karen {shouldn’t have} visited us.

132

With simple verbs other than BE, add the appropriate form of DO and then NEG.

Sam {likes} Scotch.
- Sam {does not like} Scotch.
- Sam {doesn’t like} Scotch.
Carol {ate} the apple.
- Carol {did not eat} the apple.
- Carol {didn’t eat} the apple.

With simple catenatives, add the appropriate form of DO and then NEG.

Diane {has to} leave.
- Diane {does not have to} leave.
- Diane {doesn’t have to} leave.
Mike {needs to} rest.
- Mike {does not need} to rest.
- Mike {doesn’t need} to rest.

Things You Need to Know About: Negation

If the MV is BE or contains an Aux or Modal, you must add the NEG marker “not” after BE or the first Aux/Modal:
- (a) He is (not) in the office.
- (a) He is {not} in the office.
- (b) He has (not) been in the office a lot lately.
- (b) He has {not} been in the office a lot lately.
If the MV is {not} BE or does {not} contain an Aux or Modal, you must first add an Aux (some form of do), put it in the tense of the original verb, and then add the NEG marker “not”:
- (c) She studied Japanese in high school.
  1. Add “do” in the appropriate form
  2. Change to past tense “did” and change “studied” to “study”.
  3. Insert “not” after Aux-DO.
- (c) She did {not} study Japanese in high school.

CHAPTER 10: Interrogation

Forming questions out of indicative sentences involves some of the same procedures as negation. The main rule to remember is that if the MV of the indicative sentence contains no Aux, Modal, or BE, do-support is typically required.

1. Yes/No Questions

To construct yes/no interrogatives out of indicative sentences, you must move the Aux, Modal, or BE (usually with NEG, if it is present) to the beginning of the sentence.

Everyone {is} waiting for Andrew. – {Is} everyone waiting for Andrew?
Jeff {can} skate well – {Can} Jeff skate well?
The party {hasn’t} begun. – {Hasn’t} the party begun? (cf. {Has} the party {not} begun?)
Gates {is} a billionaire. – {Is} Gates a billionaire?

If the sentence does not contain an Aux, Modal, or BE, you must add one. With declarative sentences containing simple MVs other than BE and those containing catenatives, put the appropriately-tensed form of DO at the beginning of the sentence and change the MV or catenative to its base form.

Steve Jobs {detests} Microsoft. – {Does} Steve Jobs {detest} Microsoft?
The Daily Show {won} an Emmy. – {Did} The Daily Show {win} an Emmy?
He {has to} take a stand. – {Does} he {have to} take a stand?

2. WH-Questions

WH-questions require WH-words as shown in the next table. Unless the interrogated unit is NP:Subj, they also require the addition of the appropriate form of ‘do’ when no Aux, Modal, or BE is present in the MV. Note that the WH-word generally appears at the beginning of the interrogative, followed by the Aux, Modal, or BE.

134

There are three types of WH-words:

Interrogative Pronoun (IntPro): replaces a NP.
Interrogative Pro-Adverb (IntProAdv): replaces an adverbial unit (Adv, PP:Adv, NP:Adv or infinitive phrase functioning as an adverbial).
Interrogative Pro-Determiner (IntProD): replaces a determiner.

The following chart summarizes the possible wh-question types.

Interrogated phrase or word	WH-word	Role of WH-word	Example	Example
NP (human)	IntPro {who}	NP: Subj*	{Jim} sits in the back.	{Who} sits in the back?
NP (human)	IntPro {who(m)}	NP: DO	You saw {Jim}.	{Who(m)} did you see?
NP (human)	IntPro {who(m)}	NP: IO	Maureen gave the package to {Don}.	{Who(m)} did Maureen give the package to?

*Do-support is not required when the interrogated unit is the NP:Subj.

Interrogated phrase or word	WH-word	Role of WH-word	Example	Example
NP (non-human)	IntPro {what}	NP: Subj*	{The candle} sits on the mantle.	{What} sits on the mantle?
NP (non-human)	IntPro {what}	NP: DO	She saw {a UFO}.	{What} did she see?
NP (non-human)	IntPro {which}	NP: DO	He picked the {green one}.	{Which} did he pick?
Adv (time)	IntProAdv {when}	Adverbial	She left {at two}.	{When} did she leave?
Adv (manner)	IntProAdv {how}	Adverbial	He left {quietly}.	{How} did he leave?
Adv (place)	IntProAdv {where}	Adverbial	She lives {in Burnaby}.	{Where} does she live?
Adv (frequency)	IntProAdv {how} often	Adverbial	She exercises {twice a week}.	{How} often does she exercise?
Adv (reason)	IntProAdv {why}	Adverbial	She called him {to hear his voice}.	{Why} did she call him?
Det	IntProD {which}	Det	She likes {this} house.	{Which} house does she like?
Det	IntProD {whose}	Det	He wants {your} number.	{Whose} number does he want?
Det	IntProD {what}	Det	I should take {the second} bus.	{What} bus should I take?

135

3. More on Questions

We noted above that wh-questions are generally formed by replacing interrogated units with wh-words and by moving the wh-words, along with Aux or BE, to the front of the clause. When no Aux or BE is present, do-support is required. However, some other commonly-occurring question types use formulaic expressions. The syntax of these questions is somewhat different: do-support is not necessary and there is no fronting of Aux or BE. Consider the structure of the following questions. Note that the material following each formulaic expression is a clause with normal word order.

a) Questions with “how come”

How come the door is open? (Why is the door open?)
How come the dog won’t eat his dinner? (Why won’t the dog eat his dinner?)
How come you’re hiding that box under the bed? (Why are you hiding that box under the bed?)

b) Questions with “is it that…”

What is it that you need? (What do you need?)
Why is it that you think I’m wrong? (Why do you think I’m wrong?)
How is it that George got a raise from his stingy boss? (How did George get a raise from his stingy boss?)
Where is it that I should turn? (Where should I turn?)

Another type of question with different syntactic properties is the tag or tail question. To make this kind of question,

take the first word in AUX,
change its polarity (make it negative if it’s positive, and vice versa), and
add the subject of the sentence; if the subject is a Pro, copy the Pro; if the Subj is not a Pro, turn the NP:Subj into a Pro:

c) Tag Questions

Your cousin is coming tomorrow, isn’t she?
Your cousin isn’t coming tomorrow, is she?

136

Things You Need to Know About Interrogation

Yes-No Questions:

Move the MV BE or the first Aux or Modal of a MV to the front of the sentence, unless the first word is a verb.

MV BE
- They {are} here today.
- {Are} they here today?
Aux-BE
- They {are} {seeing} him today.
- {Are} they {seeing} him today?
Aux-HAVE
- They {have} {seen} him today.
- {Have} they {seen} him today?
MODAL
- They {can} {see} him today.
- {Can} they see him today?

There are no changes in syntactic roles; e.g., “they” is still the NP:Subj, “are” is MV BE, and “here” is a PredAdv in “Are they here today?”

For all other verbs, add DO-support to the front of the sentence; the Aux-DO takes the tense of the verb, while the verb changes to a non-finite form (no tense).

They {came} here every day. [all other verbs]
Did [Aux + Tense] they {come} here every day?

Wh-Questions:

They question a content phrase: usually an NP or an AdvP
Replace an NP with an Interrogative Pronoun (what, who, whom), an AdvP with an Interrogative Proadverb (where, when, why, how, how often, etc.), and a determiner with an Interrogative Prodeterminer (whose, which, what)

137

Interrogative Pronouns	Interrogative Proadverbs	Interrogative Prodeterminers
What	Where	Whose
Who	When	Which
Whom	Why	What
	How
	How often
	…

When the IntPro replaces an NP:Subject, no changes in the word order are made: [IntPro for NP:Subj]

{They} laughed at my enthusiasm.
{Who} laughed at my enthusiasm.

When the IntPro replaces a non-subject NP; e.g., DO, the IntPro has to be moved to the front together with the verb BE, a Modal, Aux-HAVE, or Aux-BE, that’s already in the sentence. If none of these is already in the sentence, we have to add an Aux-DO. The Aux-DO takes the tense of the verb, while the verb changes to a non-finite form.

[IntPro for NP:DO]
- {What} [NP:DO] {did} [Aux-DO + tense] he {write}?
- He {wrote} {the letter} [NP:DO].
[IntProAdv]
- They {can} [Modal] find the information {online} [Adv-place].
- {Where} [Adv-place] {can} [Modal] they find the information?
[IntProD for GenN]
- The principle called {Anna’s} mother.
- {Whose} mother {did} [Aux.DO + tense] call?
[IntProD for Det]
- We {had to} go {this} way.
- {Which} way {did} [Aux.DO + tense] we have to go?

All core elements keep their functions. Thus, “what” in “What did he write?” is the NP:DO.

Exercises

Parse each sentence. Then identify all of its major NPs and all PPs.

Why did you leave the empty bowl in the fridge?
Where are my slippers?
Which colour do you prefer?
Is there a fly in your soup?
The fly in my soup is dead.
What do you think about this painting?
Which side of the bed do you sleep on?
Who is in charge here?
What are we having for dinner?
How much will you pay for this car?

140

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

141

Answers to Exercises

NPs are in blue, PPs are in square brackets. (Transcriber’s note, you will see “{“ and “}” to denote the blue. After square brackets, the PP will be denoted inside parentheses.)

1
- Why – IntProAdv
- did – Aux
- {you} – Pro
- leave – VT
- {the – DefArt
- empty – Adj
- bowl} – N
- [in – Prep
- {the – DefArt
- fridge}](PP:Adv-?) – N
2
- Where – IntProAdv
- are – BE
- {my – PossProD
- slippers?} – N
3
- {Which – IntProD
- colour} – N
- do – Aux
- {you} – Pro
- prefer? – VT
4
- Is – BE
- there – Expl
- {a – IndefArt
- fly} – N
- [in – Prep
- {your – PossProD
- soup}](PP:Adv-?) – N
5
- {The – DefArt
- fly} – N
- [in – Prep
- {my – PossProD
- soup}](PP:Adv-?) – N
- is – BE
- dead. – Adj.
6
- {What} – IntPro
- do – Aux
- {you} – Pro
- think – VT
- [about – Prep
- {this – DemonD
- painting}](PP:Adv-?) – N
7
- {Which – IntProD
- side – N
- [of – Prep
- the – DefArt
- bed}] – N
- do – Aux
- you – Pro
- usually – Adv
- sleep – VI
- on? – Prep
8
- {Who} – IntPro
- is – BE
- [in – Prep
- charge] – N
- here? – Adv
9
- {What} – IntPro
- are – Aux
- {we} – Pro
- having – VT
- [for – Prep
- {dinner}]? – N
10
- {How much [1]} – IntPro (2 wds)
- will – Modal
- {you} – Pro
- pay – VT
- [for – Prep
- {this – DemonD
- car}]? – N

\[1\] “How much” is best analyzed as a single interrogative pronoun consisting of two words. In this sentence it functions as the DO of “pay.”

142

(Transcriber’s note: empty page)

143

CHAPTER 11: Passives, Expletives, Imperatives, and Compounds

Passive Sentences

We discussed passive structures briefly in Chapter 4 with respect to verb types and verb complements, more specifically direct and indirect objects. In this chapter we look at the formation of the passive. Active sentences can be made passive by moving an object into a subject position, and making the verb passive with the help of AuxBE and the past participle form of the verb. This process is called passivization. The AuxBE takes the tense of the active verb; i.e., if the active verb is past (e.g., wrote), the passive form of the verb contains AuxBE in the past tense and past participle form of the verb.

Active – Julianne Marsh {wrote} the novel in 1963.
Passive – The novel {was written} in 1963 (by Julianne Marsh).

This is done when the doer of the action is unknown or irrelevant; e.g., when it is more important when the novel was written rather than who wrote it.

Expletive Sentences

Two of the most common types of expletive sentences contain words with primarily grammatical function such as:

Existential “there”; e.g., There are three yogurts in the fridge.
“It”-expletives; e.g., It is time to go; It’s cold today.

Existential-there structures can often be derived from sentences with the MV BE and an Adv-place; e.g., sentence (a) could be derived from “Three 144 yogurts are in the fridge,” by inserting “there” in the subject slot, and moving the original subject (“three yogurts”) in the PredN position. In the new structure, “there” is the Grammatical Subject, while the PredN continues to be the topic or agent, so it is the Logical Subject. In sentences containing it-expletives, the word “it” is not a pronoun and does not refer to a previously-mentioned noun. It simply fills in the grammatical slot of a subject. Compare “it” in sentence (b), and “it” in a sentence like:

I bought a new TV yesterday. It is big. – NOT an Expletive it structure. (Transcriber’s note: “It” has an arrow pointing to “a new TV”)

Here, “it” clearly refers to and replaces the NP “a new TV,” so it is a pronoun. Similar to existential-there, expletive it is the Grammatical Subject, while the PredN or PredAdj following the verb BE is the Logical Subject. A third type of expletive is Aux-DO, because the function of DO-support is purely grammatical; i.e., to make a sentence negative, turn it into a question, etc., as in (c):

c) Aux-DO; e.g., Why doesn’t he have time?

Note, however, that we use the label Aux-DO, not Expl.

Imperatives

Linguists argue that imperatives are derived from sentences with You: Subj and Modal-Will as (a), where the subject and the Aux both get deleted as shown in (b), and the result is (c):

a) You will give me this book. – Underlying structure
b) {You will} (crossed out) give me this book. – Deletion of Subj + Aux
c) {Give me this book!} – Surface Structure

As a result, the imperative is the only sentence type in English which can occur without a subject in the surface structure (c), though the implied subject in this example is the addressee—singular or plural you. Occasionally the subject “you” is retained for emphasis; e.g.,

d) Hey, {you,} give me this book!

Note that there can be first-person plural imperatives (e.g., “Let’s go!”), and third-person imperatives (e.g., “Let there be light!”, “God Bless You!”, and “Politicians be damned!”). The imperative is the only sentence type in English without tense (because when we delete Aux, we delete tense with it, and the verb is in infinitive form).

Compound Structures (Cpd)

Similar or identical structures (phrases or clauses) can be joined together with the help of two main types of conjunctions—coordinating and correlative. A third type of conjunctions—subordinating—join an independent/main clause and its dependent/ 145 subordinate clause(s). We introduced these conjunctions in Chapter 2. Here is a quick review:

Coordinating Conjunctions
- and, or, so, but . . .
- e.g., She left, and he started crying.
Correlative Conjunctions
- neither … nor … , either … or … , not only … but also …
- e.g., Neither the children nor their parents understood the new rules.
Subordinating Conjunctions
- if, after, when, because, since . . . (under some circumstances)
- e.g., You can go out after you finish your homework.

Coordinating conjunctions can join individual words or phrases, or clauses (as shown in examples (1)-(4) below), correlative conjunctions usually join NPs (as in (5)), and subordinating conjunctions join only clauses (as in (6)). If the same words that can function as subordinating conjunctions are followed by phrases; e.g., PPs as in “after dinner,” they are called prepositions, not conjunctions (as in (7)).

Jane, Lucas {and} Emma went home.
- CoordConj – Cpd N-s:Subj-s
I saw the boy {and} his dog.
- CoordConj – Cpd NP-s:DO-s
I saw the boy {and} smiled.
- CoordConj – Cpd VP-s
They saw me, {and} the dog barked cheerfully.
- CoordConj – Cpd Sentences
{Neither} Jane {nor} Lucas wanted to go home.
- Correl – NP-s: Subj-s
{After} I finished my homework, I went out.
- SubordConj – introducing an AdvCl
{After} dinner, I went out.
- Prep – followed by NP “dinner”

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Things You Need to Know About: Passives, Expletives, Imperatives, and Compounds

Passives

There are multiple steps involved in passivization. The first four steps are obligatory, while the last three are optional.

Move NP:Obj (DO or IO) before the V into the Subj. slot, so it becomes the Grammatical Subject;
Introduce BE into Aux;
Add TENSE to BE in Aux;
Change verb into PastPart form;
Add a PP: Adv-agency with Prep “by” (optional—could be omitted altogether);
Move the NP:Subj of the active sentence into PP with “by”; it becomes Obj/Prep “by” and is also the Logical Subject (this step is conditional on step 5);
If the NP:Subj in the active is a Pronoun, change it from Subj to Obj form after the Prep “by” (e.g., “He” V “by him”).

Note that agency and semantic roles; i.e., who does what to whom, are preserved in passives:

hence NP:Obj/Prep remains the doer of the action (or the giver with Vg verbs) or the Logical Subject,
the DO remains the affected entity or the entity acted upon, though it may show up as the Gram. Subject, or retain its DO status (as in “He was given the disc last night”), and
the IO (if any) remains the receiver.
Active: He gave me the disc last night.
- He – NP:Subj
- gave – Vg
- me – IO
- the disc – DO
- last night.
Passive: The disc was given to me last night (by him).
- The disc – NP:Gram.Subj
- was given – AUX+tense PastPart
- to me – IO
- last night
- (by – Prep
- him) – NP:Obj/Prep
  Log. Subj
Passives can be made from sentences with one- or two-place transitive verbs only; i.e., VT, Vg, and Vc verbs.
However, not all sentences with transitive verbs can be made passive; e.g., My car costs a fortune. vs. *A fortune is cost by my car. The exceptions involve verbs like cost, weigh, have, and resemble.
Important Note: the easiest way to analyze passive sentences, especially their verbs, is to turn them back into active. Thus, the easiest way to see that “elected” is a Vc verb in “He was elected president twice” is to turn it back into active and see that it is followed both by a DO “him” and an OC “president.”

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He {was elected} president twice (by the people).
They/the people {elected} him president twice.
- They/the people – NP:Subj
- elected – Vc
- him – NP:DO
- president – NP:OC
- twice.

The PP with “by” is often deleted when the information is irrelevant, unknown, or old (shared information).

Taxes will be increased again {by the government} (crossed out) this summer. [Assumed to be shared knowledge].

Past participles and adjectives can look alike; e.g., “The doctor was annoyed” can be analyzed as (a) “someone; e.g., his patients, annoyed the doctor” (passive, where “was” is Aux, and “annoyed” is PastPart); or as (b) “the doctor was in a state of annoyance” (active, where “was” is MV BE, and “annoyed” is PredAdj; similar to the “doctor was angry”). When in doubt, indicate both possible interpretations: The doctor was annoyed:

version	The	doctor	was	annoyed.
(a)	DefArt	N	Aux-BE	VT
(b)	DefArt	N	BE	Adj

Passives can be made negative or turned into questions:

The wallet {has been found.}
The wallet {has not been found.}
{Has} the wallet {been found?}
{Hasn’t} the wallet {been found?}
{When was} the wallet {found}?
{Where was} the wallet {found}?

There are progressive, perfect, and conditional passives, and combinations of them too:

The book {is being made} into a movie. – Present progressive passive
The book {had been made} into a movie. – Past perfect passive
The book {must have been made} into a movie. – Past perfect conditional passive

“GET” can be used as an Aux instead of “BE” in passives:

He {was robbed} by this own family.
He {got robbed} by his own family. – (especially frequent in informal American English).

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Expletives

An expletive is a word that has a grammatical function, but no meaning of its own.
The most common types of expletive constructions contain existential-there or expletive it, functioning as the Grammatical Subject.
A MV BE ⴙ Adv-place:PredAdv can often be rearranged into an existential-there sentence.
The NP:Subj of the core sentence is moved after the verb BE and is the PredN (and retains its semantic role, hence it is also the Logical Subject).
The word “there” is placed into the now empty subject slot and becomes a Grammatical Subject.

Many students are in the library after 10:00 p.m.
- Many students – NP:Subj
- are – BE
- in the library – Adv-place
- after 10:00 p.m. – Adv-time
There are many students in the library after 10:100 p.m.
- There – NP:Gram.Subj
- are – BE
- many students – NP: Log. Subj.
- in the library – Adv-place
- after 10:00 p.m. – Adv-time

Expletive it also occurs in subject position in constructions such as It is sunny and It is natural to miss home when you live abroad, where the word “it” is not a pronoun, and has a primary grammatical function. Compare also:

Expletive it – Gram. Subj

{It} {was too dark} outside, and we couldn’t see anything.
The photographer didn’t like that picture. {It} {was too dark}. -- Pronoun Log. Subj.

“It” in (a) does not replace a previously-mentioned NP, and fills in the Subject slot, so it is expletive it and Grammatical Subject, while in (b) “it” clearly replaces the NP “that picture,” so it is a pronoun and Logical Subject as well as a grammatical subject in this sentence.

Aux-DO in negative sentences or questions is also an expletive: Aux-DO shows tense and acts like a dummy modal; e.g., {Do} you see it? We’ll mark DO as Aux, not Expl.

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Imperatives

These are commands or orders like “Give me the bag!”
They have no visible subject; they have an understood or implied “you” as a subject.
Delete “will,” and most often the subject “you,” in a declarative sentence to turn it into an imperative.
- “You will give me the bag”, vs. “Give me the bag!”
Imperatives can have tags, which are invariably “won’t you”: e.g.,
- Give me the bag, won’t you? [esp. in American English]
The negative form of imperatives requires DO-support before the NEG particle “not” is inserted; e.g.,
- Do not give me the bag!
- Don’t give me the bag!

Compounds

The meaning of “compound” is “conjoin, coordinate.”
Connective words and phrases are called conjunctions.
Two types of conjunctions are used in compounding: Coordinate and Correlative.
Coordinate conjunctions (CoordConj) are single words like and, but, or, yet, and so. These can join words, phrases, and clauses.
- He was wondering if she was still awake {or} already asleep.
Correlative conjunctions (Correl) are pairs of words such as both … and, either … or, neither … nor, not only … but also.
- {Neither} the couple {nor} their parents knew the truth about what happened.
A note on punctuation (though it is not grammar): When two words or phrases are conjoined, usually there’s no comma, while when three or more words or phrases are conjoined, a comma is placed between the items; e.g.,
- Mary {and} Nick
- Mary, Nick, {and} James; or,
- Mary, Nick {and} James

The last example shows two types of punctuation: US-style with a comma placed between all items and Anglo-Canadian style without a comma after the penultimate NP in a series.

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Also, when two or more clauses are conjoined, some punctuation is used (e.g., comma, semicolon, period ⫹ new sentence) as in:
- She loved him, {but} he didn’t know it.
- She loved him; {but} he didn’t know it.
- She loved him. {But} he didn’t know it.
Words and phrases like besides, however, finally, moreover, to sum up, etc. are adverbs which link different sentences in the discourse, hence their function is better analyzed on the paragraph and larger level, rather than on the sentence level.
Unlike conjunctions, these adverbs can move around; e.g.,
- They promised to come. {However}, they never showed up.
- They promised to come. They never showed up, {however}.

Quick Quiz

What is the function of each underlined word?

{Both} students came to my office to talk to me.
{Both} Mary {and} Ann came to my office to talk to me.
{Neither} applicant has the required qualifications.
{Neither} Jim {nor} Bob has the required qualifications.
I looked at two shirts at the store. I didn’t like {either}.

Exercises

A.

Parse each sentence. Then identify all of its major NPs and all PPs.

She had a lot of money, so she bought some new shoes.
He climbed on his bicycle and rode down the path.
Were they working or taking a break?
Did you tell Frank and Joe the good news?
Whose computer got stolen?

B.

Parse each sentence and then identify its voice. If it is passive, convert it to its active form. If it is active, convert it to its passive form.

Marilyn sent a package of documents to Jerry.
Your luggage somehow got shipped to Albania.
The gold medal had been kept in a safe prior to the event.
Isn’t she driving her parents crazy with her choices in music? 152
Her garden was being designed by an expert.
Haven’t you been contacted by the company yet?
Gwendolyn was awarded first prize in the school’s music competition.
Fred was throwing out the trash.
Why didn’t the mechanic replace your muffler?
The band’s new CD has been called boring.

C.

Are the underlined words examples of existential-there? Reply with Yes or No, and identify the function of the words for which you answered “No.”

{There} is ice on the ground.
They have a lot of ice {there}.
And {here} comes my mom!
{Here} is a copy of your permit.
{There’s} three people in the car.
He looked at {their} car.
{They’re} in the car.

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D

Are the underlined words expletives? Reply with Yes or No, and identify the function of the words for which you answered “No.”

Your bicycle is very nice. I saw {it} in the yard.
I just bought this table, but {its} leg is broken.
A: Who’s calling?
B: {It}’s your mom.
Take an umbrella! {It} is raining.
She lives {here}.
{Here} are my boys.
{Do} you like her?

E.

Can these sentences be made passive? Reply with Yes or No, and provide a brief explanation why.

Example: He became a doctor.
Answer: No; become: VL (not a transitive verb)

This piano weighs a ton.
The principal gave him another book.
Newer airplanes have more sophisticated protection against electromagnetic interference. [from aircraftsystemsafety.com]
They both arrived fifteen minutes late.
We are fooling ourselves about healthy eating. [from Are We Fooling … ?, facebook.com]
Art reflects life with special mirrors. [Bertolt Brecht; wikiquote.org]
Students can be leaders in the fight against poverty.

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F.

Can the following sentences be turned into existential there ? Please reply with Yes if a sentence can be turned into existential “there” without replacing its verb with another verb, or No if this cannot be done.

The first few months he followed his girlfriend everywhere.
Your subconscious mind cannot distinguish something real from something just vividly imagined. [Secrets of Success … , ezinearticles.com]
Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope began in 1980. [from terryfox.org]
Only several hundred selected invitees were at the royal wedding on April 29, 2011.
The rain stopped in the late afternoon.
Seven hundred people were in the store for the grand opening.
Why are so many socks on the floor?

Extra Practice:

G.

Are the underlined words instances of expletive it? Reply with Yes or No, and identify the function of the words for which you answered “No.”

At that moment Machu Picchu revealed itself to us in all {its} grandeur. [whereoneartharewe.com]
{It}’s necessary to complete these forms before you sell the company.
The heavy books were in a plastic bag that didn’t look very reliable. {It} ripped off a few minutes after they left.
{It}’s a rule of thumb to look before you leap.
Music is, in {its} essence, repetition. [www.crispinsartwell.com]
Is {it} mandatory for parents to assist in school projects? 155
{It}’s recommended that you place one carbon monoxide detector on each level of your home. [stayingalive.ca]
I made a joke and {it} backfired.
{It}’s Canada’s time to quit smoking. [itscanadastime.com]
I don’t like {it} when you get that look.

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Answers to the Quick Quiz:

PreArt
Correl – Correl
PreArt
Correl – Correl
Noun

Answers to Selected Exercises

C. Existential-there

There is ice on the ground. – Yes
They have a lot of ice there. – No, Adv-place
And there comes my mom! – Yes: existential here and there can occur, though rarely, with come and go as in “There goes all my money!”
Here is a copy of your permit. – Yes
There’s three people in the car. – Yes: Prescriptive note: Though increasingly common in everyday spoken English, this sentence violates prescriptive rules on agreement.
He looked at their car. – No, PossProD
They’re in the car. – No, Pro=NP:Subj + MV BE

D. Explatives

Your bicycle is very nice. I saw {it} in the yard. No, Pro (refers to “your bicycle”)
I just bought this table, but {its} leg is broken. – No, PossProD
A: Who’s calling?
B: {It}’s your mom. – Yes
Take an umbrella! {It} is raining. – Yes
She lives {here}. – No, Adv-place
{Here} are my boys. – Yes
{Do} you like her? – Yes, Aux-DO

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E. Passives

This piano weighs a ton. – No, weigh :VT, but exception
The principal gave him another book. – Yes, gave: Vg
Newer airplanes have more sophisticated protection against electromagnetic interference. – No, have: VT, but exception
They both arrived fifteen minutes late. – No, arrived: VI
We are fooling ourselves about healthy eating. – No: reflexive Pro ourselves cannot be subject, -> no passive
Art reflects life with special mirrors. – Yes, reflects: VT
Students can be leaders in the fight against poverty. – No, MV BE

F. Existential-there

The first few months he followed his girlfriend everywhere. – No, followed: VT
Your subconscious mind cannot distinguish something real from something just vividly imagined. – No, distinguish: VT
Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope began in 1980. – No, began: VI
There were only several hundred selected invitees at the royal wedding on April 29, 2011. – Yes, MV BE + Adv-place
The rain stopped in the late afternoon. – No, stopped: VI
There were seven hundred people in the store for the grand opening. – Yes, MV BE + Adv-place
Why are there so many socks on the floor? – Yes, MV BE + Adv-place

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Extra Practice:

G. Expletive it

At that moment Machu Picchu revealed itself to us in all {its} grandeur. – No, PossProD
{It}’s necessary to complete these forms before you sell the company. – Yes
The heavy books were in a plastic bag that didn’t look very reliable. {It} ripped off a few minutes after they left. – No, Pro (replaces “a plastic bag”)
{It}’s a rule of thumb to look before you leap. – Yes
Music is, in {its} essence, repetition. – No, PossProD
Is {it} mandatory for parents to assist in school projects? – Yes
{It}’s recommended that you place one carbon monoxide detector on each level of your home. – Yes
I made a joke and {it} backfired. – No, Pro (refers to “a joke”)
{It}’s Canada’s time to quit smoking. – Yes
I don’t like {it} when you get that look. – ?: This is an interesting one! Many will answer “No”, because “it” is a DO, not a Subj; however, it is used in a formulaic expression, where, one could argue, it fills the slot of a dummy object.

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CHAPTER 12: Clause and Sentence Types

Traditionally, clauses are classified as either independent (those that can stand on their own as “complete ideas”) or dependent (subordinate clauses that cannot stand alone because they depend upon another idea). A sentence may consist of a single clause or two or more clauses connected together through coordination or subordination. Traditional grammar books identify four sentence types.

Simple – A single independent clause. Note that simple sentences can contain compound units such as compound NPs and VPs.
- The bird sang sweetly.
- The sparrow and the chickadee sang sweetly.
- The bird landed on a branch and sang sweetly.
- The bird landed on a branch, ate a delicious caterpillar,
- and flew away.
Compound – Two or more independent clauses joined by one or more coordinating conjunctions.
- The bird sang, and the bee buzzed.
- The bird landed on the branch, so the caterpillar tried to crawl away.
Complex – One independent clause with one or more dependent (subordinate) clauses.
- When the bird landed on the branch, the caterpillar tried to crawl away.
- When the bird landed on the branch, the caterpillar, who had been dozing, tried to crawl away.
CompoundComplex – More than one independent clause accompanied by at least one dependent (subordinate) clause.
- When the caterpillar moved, the bird tried to eat him, but the cat, who had been sitting on the roof, jumped down and caught the bird.

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Things You Need to Know About: Sentence Types

In order to determine which clauses are dependent and which are independent, separate a sentence into clauses and see which ones can stand on their own. A clause contains a NP:Subject and a VP:Predicate; e.g., “My boss called me last night.”

If a clause can stand on its own, it is an independent (or main) clause. If it cannot stand on its own, it is a dependent (or subordinate) clause. Below are four sentences which illustrate the four sentence types, and their schematic presentations:

The bird landed on a branch and sang sweetly.
The bird landed on the branch, so the caterpillar tried to crawl away.
When the bird landed on the branch, the caterpillar, who had been dozing, tried to crawl away.
When the caterpillar moved, the bird tried to eat him, but the cat, who had been sitting on the roof, jumped down and caught the bird.

Simple and Compound Sentences

Simple and compound sentences contain only independent clauses. A simple sentence has only one independent clause, though it may have compound elements (e.g., a compound verb phrase as in sentence (1)), while a compound sentence has two or more independent clauses linked by coordinating conjunctions (2).

Sentence Type	Conjunctions	Independent Clauses
1. Simple		(i) the birda {landed on a branch} (VP) {and} (Conj) {sang sweetly} (VP).
2. Compound	so	(i) the bird landed on the branch (ii) the caterpillar tried to crawl away

Complex and Compound-complex Sentences

Complex and compound-complex sentences contain at least one dependent clause. A complex sentence has only one independent clause (3), while a compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses (4).

163

Sentence Type	Subordinating Conjunctions	Dependent Clauses	Coordinating Conjunctions	Independent Clauses
3. Complex	when	(i) the bird landed on the branch (i.a only) (ii) who had been dozing (i.a and i.b)		(i.a) the caterpillar (i.b) tried to crawl away
4. Compound-complex	when	(i) the caterpillar moved (i only) (ii) who had been sitting on the roof (ii.a and ii.b)	but (i and ii.a)	(i) the bird tried to eat him (ii.a) the cat (ii.b) jumped down and caught the bird

164

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165

Exercises

A. Determine the type of each sentence as one of the following:

simple sentence
compound sentence
complex sentence
compound-complex sentence

She had a lot of money, yet she only bought cheap stuff.
The gold medal had been kept in a safe prior to the event.
The scale of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami wasn’t the only thing that surprised geologists. [from “Japan Quake . . . ,” livescience.com]
Heavy sand and rocks sink, while water and lighter sand bubble to the surface. [from “Japan Quake . . . ,” livescience.com]
We’ve seen localized examples of soil liquefaction as extreme as this before, but the distance and extent of damage in Japan were unusually severe. [from “Japan Quake . . . ,” livescience.com]
Researchers have yet to decide on the most vulnerable area in the world, but Ethiopia and Bangladesh are certainly near the top of the disaster-friendly list. [from “Estonia: The Safest . . . ,” ca.news.yahoo.com] 166
This scrutiny will grow exponentially and extend to all aspects of Kate Middleton’s life. [adapted from royal wedding.yahoo.com]
According to a recent study, women consider themselves old at twenty-nine as soon as they spot their first grey hairs, but men don’t feel over the hill until the age of fifty-eight. [from “Men Feel Old . . . ,” ca.news.yahoo.com]
The majority of men don’t feel old until they’ve reached retirement age. [from “Men Feel Old . . . ,” ca.news.yahoo.com]
This gulf between the sexes arises because age perception is so determined by society’s attitude towards youth and beauty. [from “Men Feel Old . . . ,” ca.news.yahoo.com]
In our society, men don’t have to be good looking, but, for some reason, it’s important for women to be attractive. [from “Men Feel Old . . . ,” ca.news.yahoo.com]
On Friday, the clip still ranked as one of the top five most popular stories on USA Today’s website.

B.

Underline the independent clauses, bracket the dependent clauses, and box all the subordinating and coordinating conjunctions used to link clauses in the twelve sentences from Exercise A. Remember that clauses can have compound elements; e.g., an independent clause may have a compound VP, but it still counts as one independent clause.

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Answers to Exercises A and B

She had a lot of money, {yet} she only bought cheap stuff. – compound
The gold medal had been kept in a safe prior to the event. – simple (passive)
The scale of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami wasn’t the only thing [that surprised geologists]. – complex
Heavy sand and rocks sink, [{while water and lighter sand] bubble to the surface]. – complex
We’ve seen localized examples of soil liquefaction as extreme as this before, {but} the distance and extent of damage in Japan were unusually severe. – compound
Researchers have yet to decide on the most vulnerable area in the world, {but} Ethiopia and Bangladesh are certainly near the top of the disaster-friendly list. – compound
This scrutiny will grow exponentially and extend to all aspects of Kate Middleton’s life. – simple (Cpd-VP)
According to a recent study, women consider themselves old at twenty-nine [{as soon as} they spot their first grey hairs], {but} men don’t feel over the hill until the age of fifty-eight. – compound-complex
The majority of men don’t feel old [{until} they’ve reached retirement age]. – complex
This gulf between the sexes arises [{because} age perception is so determined by society’s attitude towards youth and beauty]. – complex
In our society, men don’t have to be good looking, {but} , for some reason, it’s important for women to be attractive. – compound
On Friday, the clip still ranked as one of the top five most popular stories on USA Today’s website. – simple

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CHAPTER 13: Subordinate Clauses

Noun

Chicken Little thought NCL [that the sky was falling.] NCL [What he told Turkey Lurkey] was quite frightening. The fact NCL [that he was hysterical] soon became apparent.

Noun modifier

The house RELCL [that stands on the corner] is made of straw. The old goose, RELCL[who was swimming on the pond], became alarmed.

Adverb

(time)

(cause) (condition) (concession) (manner) (purpose)

ADVCL [When the farmer entered the

barn], the pigs stopped their poker game. Red Riding Hood was frightened ADVCL [because the wolf had big teeth]. ADVCL [If you need a spinning wheel], we’ll find you one. ADVCL [Although the wolf was tired], he tried to blow down the house. The pig grunted ADVCL [as though he needed food]. The hen picked the wheat ADVCL [so that she could make some bread].

Noun clauses, bracketed below with the label “NCL,” fit one of two general categories:

“that” clauses Although “that clauses” begin with “that,” they are not relative clauses. Instead they function as nouns and can play such roles as NP:Subj, NP:DO, or NP:PredN. Furthermore, in these structures, “that” functions as a COMP, rather than as a RelPro.

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170

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar NCL [That the politician is corrupt] is obvious. (NP:Subj)

He believed NCL [that the truth would come out]. (NP:DO) The trouble is NCL [that the leader has no charisma]. (NP:PredN) It is often idiomatic to extrapose noun clauses: It is obvious NCL [that the politician is corrupt]. In the example above, “it” is an Expl playing the role of grammatical subject of the sentence. The extraposed noun clause is the logical subject, but has taken the role of Comp to the Adj. “obvious.” In the case below, the noun clause moves to become Comp to NP: NCL [That Joe lost the election] surprised everyone.

It surprised everyoneNCL [that Joe lost the election]. In many instances, COMP can be deleted: He believed NCL [that the truth would come out]. He believed NCL [the truth would come out]. COMP-deletion cannot occur when the noun clause functions as NP:Subj: NCL [That he will lead the party] is obvious.

*He will lead the party is obvious.

Wh-clauses These are noun clauses beginning with such wh-subordinators (WhSub) as what, who, when, where, why, whether, how, how often, and a few others. NCL [What Ken wants] is a good meal.

In the example above, what Ken wants functions as the NP:Subj of the sentence. Note also that within the noun clause Ken has the role of NP:Subj, wants is a VT, and what has the role of NP:DO.

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171

Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses Relative Clauses 䡲䡲䡲䡲

relative clauses are dependent clauses; they function as Adjectives within NPs modifying the NP and narrowing down its meaning from a bigger set of referents to a smaller set and possibly a single referent they usually answer questions like What, Which, etc.; they have their own NP:Subj and VP:Pred.

In the following example, all elements of the main clause are green, while the elements of the relative clause are red. The boy who gave you the pen is my son. Subj Vg IO DO Rel Clause Which boy? The one who gave you the pen

Subj 䡲䡲

BE PredN

The Subject of the main clause is not just “the boy,” but “the boy who gave you the pen” The NP:Subj consists of two elements: 䡲䡲

Head NP (“the boy”), and RelCl:Adj (“who gave you the pen”)

The diagram below shows how relative clauses are embedded as dependent elements within a main clause. In this sentence, the RelCl is nested into the DO of the main clause “the man.” Sentence VP:Pred NP:DO RelCl:Adj VP:Pred MV:Past

NP:Head NP:Subj

NP:Subj

MV:Pres Det

NP:DO Det

Pro

DefArt

RelPro

DefArt

know

the

man

that

caused

the

accident.

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Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses 䡲䡲䡲䡲

Relative Clauses are usually introduced by relative pronouns: who, whom, which, and that, which we will label as RelPro. Who (in Subject position as in (1)) and whom (in Object position: DO, IO, Obj/Prep as in (2)) are used for animate NPs, which is used for inanimate NPs (as in (3)), and that can replace any of these three. Relative Clauses can also be introduced by other relative forms; e.g., the relative determiner whose (as in (4)), which we’ll label RelDet, and sometimes by the words when and where (as in (5) and (6)). The table below illustrates some of the most frequently used relative forms: Animate NPs NP:Subj who

NP:Obj (DO, IO, Obj/Prep)

Inanimate NPs Subj or Obj

whom

PossProD or GenN

which that

whose

A note on Prescriptive Grammar: Prescriptive rules require this form in object position, but as sentence (2) shows, “who” is also acceptable in informal contexts. In addition, sentence (2) may be criticized by prescriptivists because the Prep “to” is placed at the end of the RelCl rather than before the word “whom.”

䡲

Here are some examples of sentences containing RelCl: (1) The man who was talking about this is a famous author. that Subj of the RelCl (refers to a person) (2) The man whom she talked to is her dad. who that ⭋ Obj/Prep “to” (refers to a person) (3) It was one of these things which she hated to do. that ⭋ DO in the RelCl (refers to an inanimate NP) (4) (a) She worked with kids whose parents were in prison. RelDet (replaces a GenN or a PossProD)

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173

Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses (5) The town where I was born was the host of the 1988 Olympic Games. in which (6) The day when he got the award was one of the most memorable days in his life. 䡲

The RelPro can be deleted when it does not function as the subject of its own clause. For example, the RelPro “that” can be deleted in (2) and (3) but not in (1), because in (2) and (3) it is in Object position, while in (1) it is in Subject position.

䡲

Compare also (1) and (7). In (7) the RelPro is the Object of the preposition “about” in the RelCl (note that “he” is the Subj of the RelCl), hence it can be deleted, while in (1) (repeated as (8)) it is the Subj of the RelCl, and cannot be deleted. (7) The man that he was talking about is a famous author. The man he was talking about is a famous author. Obj/Prep “about” in the RelCl (8)

The man that was talking about this is a famous author. *The man was talking about this is a famous author. Subj in the RelCl

䡲

Multiple relative clauses can be embedded into one another. In sentence (9), for example, the RelCl “that he recommended to the lady who was singing in the piano bar,” modifying “the book,” has another RelCl embedded into it, “who was singing in the piano bar,” modifying “the lady”: (9) She bought the book that he recommended to the lady who was singing in the piano bar. RelCl 1 RelCl 2

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Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses Noun Clauses 䡲

Noun clauses (NCL) always fill noun slots.

䡲

There are two types of Noun clauses: That-clauses and Wh-Clauses.

䡲

That Clauses are introduced by the so-called complementizer “that,” labeled as COMP (it is also called a Subordinating conjunction, and a Subordinator, labeled as Subord).

䡲

The COMP “that” only introduces or signals the beginning of a that-clause; it does not have a grammatical function in the subordinate clause. That-clauses fulfill various functions; they can be subjects, direct objects, predicate nouns, complements to adjectives, and complements to noun phrases in the main clause (see the table).

䡲

Subject

That she can do these tricks seems unbelievable. Subj

Ben knew ( that ) his brother stole money from their parents. DO

PredN

The truth is ( that ) no one wants to claim responsibility for this gaffe. PredN

Comp to Adj

It is natural ( that ) people appreciate life more when they are older. Comp to Adj “natural”

Comp to NP

Fans still can’t digest the fact ( that ) Chris Brown attacked Rihanna. Comp to NP “the fact”

䡲

The COMP “that” is put in brackets in all sentences except the first one. This is because it cannot be deleted when the Noun Clause functions as the Subject, but it can be deleted elsewhere.

䡲

Here is a diagram of the second sentence from the table. It shows that the COMP “that” does not become a constituent of the subordinate clause. The noun clause has its own Subject “his brother,” VT “stole,” DO “money,” and PP:Adv of source “from their parents.” NP:Subj

Ben

knew

NP:DO NCL COMP q r that

NCL qhis brother stole money from their parentsr. Subj

PP:Adv-source

Chapter Thirteen

Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses

Quick Quiz 1: Which “that”? Determine the function of the word “that” in the following sentences: (1) That car is not mine. (2) That was an amazing experience. (3) I’ve never seen a place that beautiful. (4) The man that I talked to is my dad. (5) I know that he is tired. (6) That movie is boring. (7) He is always late. That is irresponsible. (8) Movies that make the most money at the box office usually are not low-budget psychological dramas. (9) I know that my parents always support me. (10) That my parents always support me helps me in everything I do.

Subordinate Clauses

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Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses 䡲

Students sometimes have trouble distinguishing between Noun Clauses and Relative Clauses. The following table will help you keep them apart. Relative Clauses 䡲 are embedded into NP-s 䡲 follow NP heads 䡲 function as Adj-s He saw the boy that played in the yard . Adj attaches to and modifies the DO “the boy” 䡲 “that” is a constituent of the RelCl 䡲 e.g., it is the Subj of the RelCl in the example above

䡲

Noun Clauses 䡲 fill whole NP slots 䡲 replace NP-s 䡲 function as NP-s He saw that the boy played in the yard . DO replaces and functions as NP:DO

䡲 “that” can be replaced by other RelPro-s such as “who” or “which”; e.g.,

䡲 “that” is not a constituent of the NCL 䡲 e.g., it does not have a function in the NCL in the example above 䡲 “that” cannot be replaced by any other word, hence the following sentence is ungrammatical

He saw the boy who played in the yard.

*He saw who the boy played in the yard.

Wh-clauses are also noun clauses; They are introduced by a Wh-word: who, when, where, how, how often, why, etc.

䡲

Unlike the COMP “that,” Wh-subordinators (Wh-Sub) are constituents in the Wh-Clause, and can have various functions; e.g., Subj, DO, IO, Adv, Det, etc.

Chapter Thirteen

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Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses 䡲

NCLs in general, and wh-clauses in particular have the same functions as nouns or other nominals (adapted from Rodby and Winterowd, 2005). Subject

Noun: Magic baffles people. NCL:

Noun: Shoppers seek bargains. NCL:

The boss called Jack whatever popped into his mind.

Noun: His home, the whole three-storey house, collapsed. NCL:

Vocative

The problem is how much this project will cost.

Noun: The boss called Jack a hypocrite. NCL:

Appositive NP

The children laughed at what the clown did.

Noun: The problem is money. NCL:

Police give whoever exceeds the speed limit citations.

Noun: The children laughed at the clown. NCL:

PredN

Shoppers seek whatever costs least.

Noun: Police give speeders citations. NCL:

Obj/Prep

What she can do baffles people.

His home, what was left of it after the earthquake, collapsed.

Noun: Father, please rescue the dog from these people. NCL:

Whoever has the power, please rescue the dog from these people.

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Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses 䡲

The diagrams below show that Wh-Subs are constituents of their respective clauses: NP:Subj

NP:DO NCL Wh-Sub

Ben

NP:Subj

knew

who

stole money from their parents .

Subj

PP:Adv-source

NP:DO NCL Wh-Sub

Ben

knew

what DO

NP:Subj

his brother stole from their parents . Subj

PP:Adv-source

NP:DO NCL Wh-Sub

Ben

knew

where Adv-place

his brother was hiding from their parents . Subj

PP:Adv-source

Quick Quiz 2 I. What is the function of the Wh-clause (in blue colour) in the sentence? II. What is the function of the underlined Wh-word within the Wh-clause? Wh-Clause Wh-Sub (1) The philanthropist gave whoever was needy financial help. (2) What I like about our library is that it is close to my building. (3) Father forgot who had set the garage on fire. (4) Do you know to whom Lily gave the note? (5) She arrived at what looked like a small village.

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Subordinate Clauses

Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses 䡲

Whether/if are different from Wh-Subs.

䡲

They do not function as nouns or adverbs within their clauses.

䡲

They are simply Subord. NP:Subj

NP:DO NCL Subord

Ben

didn’t know

NCL

≤ ± his brother stole money from their parents .≤ Subj

PP:Adv-source

Adverbial Clauses 䡲 Adverbial clauses can be for time, cause, condition, manner, purpose, etc.; 䡲 They are introduced by Subordinating Conjunctions such as if, before, after, as soon as, when, although, etc. (see sentences (1)-(6) below); 䡲 Adverbial clauses (in red colour) can occur before or after the main clause (in green colour); compare sentences (4) and (5): (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 䡲

If we get paid today, I’m going to buy this nice pair of shoes. After we get paid today, I’m going to buy this nice pair of shoes. As soon as we get paid today, I’m going to buy this nice pair of shoes. Before we get paid today, I can’t buy this nice pair of shoes. I can’t buy this nice pair of shoes before we get paid today. Although we get paid today, I still won’t be able to buy this nice pair of shoes.

Note that words like after, before, as, like, etc. can introduce AdvCl-s, and hence function as Subord, or they can be used with NPs to form PPs, hence they function as prepositions. Subord 䡲 combine with sentences/clauses 䡲 introduce AdvCl-s Subord ⫹ Clause ⫽ AdvCl After Subord ⫹

he finished dinner, he went out. Subj VT DO clause AdvCl

Prep 䡲 combine with NPs 䡲 introduce PPs Prep ⫹ NP ⫽ PP Afterdinner, he went out. Prep NP PP

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Exercises

A. Choose one of the following labels that best describes the grammatical role of the underlined word or group of words in either the main clause or the relative clause: Subj, DO, IO, OC, Obj/Prep, PredN, RelCl, RelDet, or None .

They shouldn’t be selling paper coffee cups which have plastic lids since the plastic lids are non-recyclable. [from radio clip “Problems with Coffee cups,” cbc.ca]
The letter was signed by the people who were trying to acquire the company.
Her husband wanted her to put on the dress he bought her for their first wedding anniversary.
Her husband wanted her to put on the dress he bought her for their first wedding anniversary.
Her husband wanted her to put on the dress he bought her for their first wedding anniversary.
The numerous rejections of my scripts I had to deal with as a university student just made me a better writer.
He became a man who knew no fear.
In case of emergency, follow the instructions the building manager gave you.
In case of emergency, follow the instructions the building manager gave you.

181

10. Applicants whose photos do not comply with the requirements will be asked to resubmit their

applications.

Applicants whose photos do not comply with the requirements will be asked to resubmit their applications.
J. K. Rowling finally created in her “Harry Potter” series the fantastic and adventurous world she had been dreaming of. [Harry Potter Series, thebest100lists.com]
I found January Jones’ dress for the 2010 Emmys a bold and smart choice which revealed her personality and wit.
The children who he went to choir with made fun of his unusual voice.
Russians find the last book Tolstoy wrote the most accurate reflection of life in Russia at the time.
Russians find the last book Tolstoy wrote the most accurate reflection of life in Russia at the time.
Russians find the last book Tolstoy wrote the most accurate reflection of life in Russia at the time.

182

B. Count how many of the requested items the sentence contains. In your answer, provide the total

number of items; e.g., zero/none, one, two, three, etc. (item/s).

Readers who enjoy political fables embrace the dark vision of the future George Orwell paints in his book “1984.” [adapted from 1984 Orwell Book Summary, ghanadiscuss.com] How many relative clauses are there in sentence 1?
Who knows the truth about the queen’s lost treasure? How many relative clauses are there in sentence 2?
Each student who attended the reading made a list of books that had influenced them and whose writer they wanted to meet in person. How many relative pronouns and or relative determiners are there in sentence 3?
A Tsar is a ruler in Medieval Europe who claims the same rank as a Roman emperor. [from Tsar, wikipedia.org] How many subjects are there in sentence 4?
A Tsar is a ruler in Medieval Europe who claims the same rank as a Roman emperor. [from Tsar, wikipedia.org] How many direct objects are there in sentence 5?

183

6. a) As a technical writer, I often edited documents in which people used the wrong word.

[from quickanddirtytips.com]

b) A suitcase which has lost its handle is useless. [from “Restrictive . . .”, proz.com] c) Which one of these do I need to use? d) Which people do you think are happier—the uneducated or the most educated among us? e) Think of the comparative ease with which we say “I’m sorry!” How many of the underlined “wh”-words in sentences 6a to 6e are relative pronouns?

a) Change sounds good; I’ve been thinking about that for a while. b) I don’t know why that lady keeps bothering me. c) Can you think of anything else that still has to be done? d) If you ask me, the show is overrated and not that interesting. e) The tree that was knocked down by the recent storm was over one hundred years old. How many of the underlined instances of “that” in sentences 7a to 7e are relative pronouns?

C. Identify the requested structure, if any, by underlining or copying it.

The Subject of the main clause The man who was saved by the night patrol last night is from Mexico.
The Logical and the Grammatical Subject of the relative clause The man who was saved by the night patrol last night is from Mexico.
The Obj/Prep She was obviously talking about someone who she had never met before.
The DO Liam hated the restaurant where his friends wanted to meet every Wednesday.
The RelCl The crowd applauded the athletes who competed so vigorously for the country they loved so much. 184

D. Choose one of the following labels that best describes the grammatical role of the underlined

word or group of words in either the main clause or the subordinate clause: AdvCl: Adv

NCL: Obj/Prep

NCL: Comp to Adj

NCL: PredN

NCL: Comp to NP

NCL: Subj

NCL: OC

None

NCL: DO

RelCl:Adj

SFU’s efforts make us confident that energy self-sufficiency by 2016 is fully realizable. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
People reported being happiest when engaged in what they were doing versus allowing their minds to wander. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]
People reported being happiest when engaged in what they were doing versus allowing their minds to wander. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]
Psychologists at Harvard found out people spend nearly half their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]
SFU “has not only consistently met its rigorous energy-saving targets, but has raised the bar for what Power Smart excellence truly is,” says BC Hydro president and CEO, Dave Cobb. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Where people like to go on a vacation can tell you a lot about their character.

185

E. What is the function of the underlined word in the subordinate clause in which it occurs? Choose

one label from the following list: Adv

Obj/Prep

Adj

PredAdj

PredAdv

PredN

None

Subj

SFU “has not only consistently met its rigorous energy-saving targets, but has raised the bar for what Power Smart excellence truly is,” says BC Hydro president and CEO, Dave Cobb. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Where people like to go on a vacation can tell you a lot about their character.
People reported being happiest when engaged in what they were doing versus allowing their minds to wander. [from “Daydreaming . . .”, scientificamerican.com]
SFU’s efforts make us confident that energy self-sufficiency by 2016 is fully realizable. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Take a moment to remember who the seats in our Priority Area are reserved for. [sign on a bus]

186

Answers to Quick Quiz 1

DemonD
DemonPro
Qual
RelPro
COMP (in NCL:DO; note that the COMP can be deleted)
DemonD
DemonPro
RelPro
COMP (in NCL:DO; note that the COMP can be deleted)
COMP (in NCL:Subj; note that the COMP cannot be deleted; note also that the sentence contains a RelCl “I do” with a deleted RelPro “that which”)

Answers to Quick Quiz 2 Wh-Clause

IO
Subj
DO
DO
Obj/Prep

Wh-Sub Subj DO Subj Obj/Prep or IO Subj

Answers to Exercises A. 1. Subj

Obj/Prep
RelCl
IO
DO
RelCl
PredN
DO
Subj
RelDet
None
RelCl
OC
Obj/Prep
RelCl
None
OC

(of the RelCl) (Prep “by”) (deleted RelPro) (of the verb “bought” in the RelCl) (deleted RelPro)

(of the RelCl with deleted RelPro) (of the RelCl with deleted RelPro) (part of the Subj, not the whole one) (deleted RelPro) (Prep “with” in the RelCl) (deleted RelPro) (part of the DO “the last book Tolstoy wrote”) (of the Vc “find”)

188

B. 1. Two

None
Three
Two
One
Three
Two

(“who enjoy political fables” and “G. Orwell paints in his book ‘1984’”) (“who” is an InterPro in a question) (“who,” “that,” and “whose”) (“a Tsar” and “who”) (“the same rank as a Roman emperor”) (a), (b), and (e) (c) and (e)

C. 1. The man who was saved by the night patrol last night is from Mexico. Subj of the main clause

The man who was saved by the night patrol last night is from Mexico. Gram. Subj of the RelCl

Logical Subj of the RelCl

She was obviously talking about someone who she had never met before . Obj/Prep “about”
Liam hated the restaurant where his friends wanted to meet every Wednesday . DO of the main clause
The crowd applauded the athletes who competed so vigorously for the country they loved so much . RelCl1 RelCl2

D. 1. NCL:Comp to Adj

AdvCl:Adv
NCL:Obj/Prep (Prep “in”)
NCL:DO (of “found out”; deleted COMP)
NCL:Obj/Prep (Prep “for”)
NCL:Subj E. 1. PredN
Adv
DO
None
Obj/Prep

(of place) (COMP; doesn’t have a function in the Subordinate Clause) (Prep “for”)

189

CHAPTER

Non-Finite Verbals

Non-finite verbal phrases, or non-finite verbals, are verb-like units that do not function as the MV of a sentence. They do not have tense, though they may have aspect. They can occur in both the active and the passive voices. Jack is imagining the future. The man imagining the future is Jack. Imagining the future, Jack wasted the whole afternoon. Imagining the future is a waste of time. To imagine the future is a waste of time.

MV ⫽ is imagining MV ⫽ is MV ⫽ wasted MV ⫽ is MV ⫽ is

I. Participles Participles and participial phrases tend to function as adjectival modifiers that are closely connected with an NP. The woman writing the novel is Jane. Tony is the guy fixing the sink. The tree damaged by the wind is in the back yard.

Aspect and voice of participles The simple active and simple passive participles are the most common types. However, more complex types sometimes occur, particularly in written English. Note that the participle (present or past) is always named according to the form of the first word of the non-finite verbal. In the examples below, the underlined portion is the participle itself; the italicized portion is the full participial phrase.

191

192

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar simple active present participle

The woman writing the novel is Jane.

perfective, active present participle

Having written twelve pages, Jane stopped working.

perfective, progressive, active present participle

Having been writing for ten years, Jane was very experienced.

simple passive present participle

The book being written by Jane is a suspense novel.

perfective, passive present participle

Having been written over thirty years ago, the computer manual was outdated.

past participle

The novel written by Jane is delightful.

II. Gerunds Gerunds function as nouns and, within the sentence, gerund phrases behave as NPs. In the examples below, the underlined portion is the gerund itself; the italicized portion is the full gerund phrase. Each italicized unit is also an NP. Kayaking is a very enjoyable sport. Marilyn prefers swimming with her friends. Grace thanked him by offering him dinner. Quickly finishing his work is Fred’s specialty. Ted’s leaving the company surprised us. My leaving the company surprised them.

Aspect and voice of gerunds simple active gerund perfective active gerund perfective progressive active gerund simple passive gerund perfective passive gerund

She regrets sleeping all day. She regrets having slept all day. She regrets having been sleeping (when you called). The cat hates being bathed. The cat hates having been bathed.

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193

III. Infinitives Infinitives and the phrases they belong to can play a variety of roles within the sentence. In the examples below, the underlined portion is the infinitive itself; the italicized portion is the full infinitive phrase.

Infinitive NPs To err is human. Keiko prefers to stay at home. Jack’s goal is to complete the work before Tuesday.

Aspect and voice of infinitives (simple active) (perfective active) (progressive active) (perfective progressive active) (simple passive) (perfective passive)

Chauncey loves to watch television. By the time I’m sixty, I intend to have travelled around the world. He likes to be working in his garden. To have been living in Provence for a year must have been wonderful. Move to Nebraska? I’d prefer to be eaten by sharks! I would like to have been introduced to your friend.

Quick Quiz Complete the following checklist, indicating which verbs can take a gerund object, which can take an infinitive object, and which can take both. Note any problems that arise in your classification. Gerund begin mind expect refuse endeavor stop remember intend can’t bear dislike

Infinitive

Both

194

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Additional examples of infinitive constructions She took Broad Street to avoid the heavy traffic. She took Broad Street in order to avoid the heavy traffic. John is eager to leave. The waterfall is wonderful to see. To visit Peru is Carol’s fondest wish. It is Carol’s fondest wish to visit Peru. To see the waterfall at night is marvelous. It is marvelous to see the waterfall at night. It is unusual for Fido to ignore his dinner.

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195

Things You Need to Know About Non-finite Verbals Participle Phrases 䡲 Participial Phrases contain non-tensed verb forms; 䡲

They are two types: 䡲 present participial phrases (PresPartPh), and 䡲

䡲

past participial phrases (PastPartPh);

They can be derived from relative clauses by deleting the RelPro:Subj and Aux-BE, as shown below: RELCL The children who were bullying him in elementary school were spoiled kids of wealthy parents. Delete Subj.Pro and Aux-BE The children who were bullying him in elementary school were spoiled kids of wealthy parents. Present participial phrases The children bullying him in elementary school were spoiled kids of wealthy parents.

RELCL Some of the treats which were made the previous day were stale by the day of the party. Delete Subj.Pro and Aux-BE Some of the treats which were made the previous day were stale by the day of the party. Past Participial Phrase Some of the treats made the previous day were stale by the day of the party. 䡲

Just like RelCls, the participial phrases in these examples function as adjectives: “bullying him in elementary school” is a PresPartPh:Adj, modifying the NP “the children,” while “made the previous day” is a PastPartPh:Adj, modifying the NP “some of the treats”;

䡲

Verbs which cannot be made progressive, have to be made into present participles (in addition to deleting Aux-BE and the RelPro) to derive a PresPartPh; e.g., RelCl having The students who have the best handwriting tend to get higher marks. PresPartPh The students having the best handwriting tend to get higher marks.

196

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Things You Need to Know About Non-finite Verbals 䡲

䡲

PastPartPh-s are always derived from passive clauses; e.g., They made the treats the previous day.

[original active clause]

The treats were made the previous day (by them).

[passive]

In PastPartPh, the verb may be followed by a PP functioning as an Adv. of agency, or the agent phrase may be deleted; e.g., a play created in the early thirties (by an unknown writer)

䡲

The verbs of PastPartPh-s are always transitive: VT, Vg, or Vc.

Infinitive Phrases 䡲

Infinitive Phrases (InfPh) contain non-tensed verb forms;

䡲

Infinitive Phrases have two functions: 䡲 as NPs, 䡲 as Adverbs.

䡲

Here are some examples of InfPh-s functioning as NPs and as Adv-s: To swim in the ocean is a great pleasure. Subject

Subj Note that “to” is not a preposition when a Verb follows; it’s an infinitive marker. I decided to read that novel immediately .

DO His job is to cook dinner .

PredN

PredN My goal remains to graduate in December . PredN She helped me find a great gift for my mom’s birthday .

OC of the Vc “helped” It is natural for students to be nervous before exams .

Comp to Adj

Comp to Adj “natural” I didn’t like the proposal to meet on Sundays .

Comp to NP

Comp to NP “the proposal”

Chapter Fourteen

Non-Finite Verbals

197

Things You Need to Know About Non-finite Verbals He let the blinds down to get some rest . InfPh:Adv-reason Adverb

ⴝ in order to get some rest Answers the question “Why? For what reason?” They stopped by to say “hi.” InfPh:Adv-reason

䡲

Infinitives are usually introduced by the infinitive marker “to”;

䡲

Some verbs like “let,” “make,” “have,” and “bid” require infinitives without the infinitive marker “to”; the verb “help” can be followed by infinitives with or without “to”; e.g., The teachers didn’t let us use dictionaries. She helped me (to) find a great gift for my mom’s birthday. You can’t make me do it.

䡲

It is also possible to have infinitives with their own subject, in which case the infinitives are introduced by two infinitive markers: “for” and “to,” and the subject of the infinitive is placed between the two markers; e.g., It is natural for students to be nervous before exams. Here, “students” is the subject of the “for . . . to”-infinitive.

䡲

Infinitive Phrases can be analyzed as reduced NCL-s; e.g., to He told us that we should be there on time. NCL He told us to be there on time. InfP:DO to It is natural that people get nervous before exams. NCL: Comp to Adj “natural” It is natural to get nervous before exams. InfPh: Comp to Adj It is natural for people to get nervous before exams. InfPh: Comp to Adj (for . . . to Inf)

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Things You Need to Know About Non-finite Verbals 䡲

However, it is not always possible to choose between an InfPh and a NCL, because many structures allow one or the other, or neither; e.g., I believe that we are on time. *I believe to be on time. The VT “believe” requires a That-Cl, and does not allow an InfPh; *She wants that she goes on a vacation. She wants to go on a vacation. The Caten “want to” must be followed by an infinitive verb (not InfPh); it doesn’t allow a That-Cl

Gerund Phrases 䡲䡲

Gerund Phrases (GerPh) contain non-tensed verb forms; Gerund Phrases always function as NPs; below are examples of the NP functions they may have: Swimming in the river is dangerous. Subject

Subj I enjoy reading detective stories .

DO of “enjoy” His job is cooking delicious meals for the family .

PredN

PredN We are thinking about travelling to Spain .

Obj/Prep

Obj/Prep “about”

䡲

The “-ing” ending of gerunds; e.g., swimming, marks gerunds just like the infinitive marker “to” marks InfPh; both markers can be thought of as Subord;

䡲

GerPh could be compound; in the following example, three compound GerPh-s function as the object of the preposition “about”: They were thinking about selling their house, moving to another city, and starting a new life . Cpd GerPh-s: Obj/Prep “about”

䡲

Some gerunds have their own subjects;

䡲

Such GerPh-s are called Gerunds with Genitives; in the following example “his mom’s” is the Subj of the gerund “meddling,” and the whole GerPh is the DO of VT “didn’t like”: He didn’t like his mom’s meddling into his life . GerPh:DO

Chapter Fourteen

Non-Finite Verbals

199

Things You Need to Know About Non-finite Verbals 䡲

Sometimes, it is difficult for students to distinguish between PresPartPh and GerPh because of the superficial similarity in the form; i.e., the non-finite verbs in both phrases end in “-ing”;

䡲

The following table will help you keep them apart: Present Participle Phrases Present participial phrases are derived from underlying structures with BE &”-ing”; e.g., Underlying RelCl:Adj i.a. The mayor spoke with the people who are fighting drug addiction.

Gerund Phrases Gerunds are not derived this way; e.g., ii. The mayor said (that) fighting drug addiction requires money. GerPh:Subj of the NCL “(that) fighting drug addiction requires money”

i.b. The mayor spoke with the people fighting drug addiction. PresPartPh:Adj PresPartPhs never fill noun slots; they function as Adj-s or Adv-s. 䡲

GerPh-s always fill noun slots.

Finally, compare these three sentences, and decide in which sentences the underlined set of words forms a constituent: (1) The man skating on the rink is my dad. (2) The man is skating on the rink. (3) The man loves skating on the rink.

䡲

In (1): 䡲䡲䡲

“skating on the rink” is similar to “the skating man” (Adj), answers the question “Which man?” and can be viewed as derived from a RelCl:Adj “the man who is skating on the rink”;

䡲

therefore, it is a PresPartPh:Adj.

䡲

In (2): 䡲䡲䡲

䡲

“skating” is the PresPart form of the verb, and it is a part of the MV “is skating”; “is” is the AUX BE, which combines with the PresPart form to make the present progressive tense-aspect combination; it answers the question “What is the man doing?,” while “on the rink” is a PP:Adv-place, and answers the question “Where?”;

therefore, the underlined set of words is not a constituent.

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Things You Need to Know About Non-finite Verbals 䡲

In (3): 䡲䡲

䡲

“skating on the rink” is the DO of the VT “love”; it has an NP function similar to “sports” in “The man loves sports,” or to “the rink” in “The man loves the rink”;

therefore, it is a GerPh:DO.

Exercises

A. a) Parse each sentence. b) Bracket all the participial, gerund, and infinitive phrases. c) For participial phrases (and participles that stand alone as modifiers), identify the noun modified (i.e., the logical subject of the participle).

d) Indicate the role in the sentence played by all gerund phrases and infinitive phrases. (NP: Subj, NP: DO, NP: ObjPrep, Adv, Comp to Adj, Comp to NP, etc.)

Watering the plants daily is his responsibility.
Rebecca plans to run three miles before heading to work.
He’s returning to the hotel early to get ready for an exciting evening.
Purring loudly, the kitten jumped into my lap.
In an effort to reduce crime on the downtown east side, the city is sending out more police officers.
With all that RAM, I can have many programs run simultaneously on my laptop.
A lot of energy is needed for running a marathon.
Alan will find practicing Zen a valuable experience.

201

9. Last night the neighbour’s dog’s barking disturbed my sleep.

An injection is now available to prevent the flu that’s going around.
She has a term paper to write by next week.
He annoys me with his constant complaining about everything going on in the neighbourhood.
Dee wants to learn to write romance novels.
Zoe likes to do cryptic crossword puzzles to keep her mind active.
When I saw the damaged window, I began to suspect that something was wrong.
They do the community a service by working in the soup kitchen.
I don’t intend to drink coffee after eight.
To have loved and lost is sad.
However, it is sadder not to have loved at all.
On hearing about his promotion, Ken’s first impulse was to open a bottle of Champagne.

202

21. It’s easy for him to get to work on the bus.

Flying planes can be dangerous.
It’s unusual to see traffic on our street.
She left during the night.
Ned abhors vacuuming.

B. Choose one of the following labels that best describes the grammatical role of the underlined word or group of words in either the main clause or the subordinate clause: GerPh:DO

InfPh:Adv

GerPh:Obj/Prep

InfPh:Comp to Adj

GerPh:PredN

InfPh:Comp to NP

GerPh:Subj

InfPh:OC

PresPartPh:Adj

InfPh:DO

Past PartPh:Adj

InfPh:PredN

None

InfPh:Subj

People reported being happiest when engaged in what they were doing versus allowing their minds to wander. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]
People reported being happiest when engaged in what they were doing versus allowing their minds to wander. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]

203

3. Often sitting back and letting your thoughts drift may be one of the most pleasant things.

[from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]

Often sitting back and letting your thoughts drift may be one of the most pleasant things. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]
Britain’s queen has launched a series of official pages offering the website’s 500 million users daily updates on her engagements, the royal household said on Sunday. [from “British Queen Joins . . . ,” nationnews.com]
Twenty-seven percent of employers think many workers are giving phony excuses because of all the stress and burnout caused by the recession and its aftermath. [from “The Year’s Most Ridiculous Excuses . . . ,” forbes.com]
Twenty-seven percent of employers think many workers are giving phony excuses because of all the stress and burnout caused by the recession and its aftermath. [from “The Year’s Most Ridiculous Excuses . . . ,” forbes.com]
Humans, to a degree unmatched by other animals, are capable of thinking about things outside the here and now. [from “Daydreaming . . . ,” scientificamerican.com]
In an October 22 ruling, the B.C. Labour Relations Board said West Coast Mazda had proper cause to fire the two employees for making “disrespectful, damaging, and derogatory comments on Facebook.” [from “First Clear Facebook Firing . . . ,” globaltvbc.com]
In an October 22 ruling, the B.C. Labour Relations Board said West Coast Mazda had proper cause to fire the two employees for making “disrespectful, damaging, and derogatory comments on Facebook.” [from “First Clear Facebook Firing . . . ,” globaltvbc.com]

204

11. SFU was the first major Canadian university to install a female president—Pauline Jewett in

1974; she was a former university professor and a member of Parliament. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]

SFU was the first Canadian university to establish a forensic laboratory in 1999 that uses entomology—the study of bugs—to help solve murders nationally and internationally. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]

205

Answers to Selected Exercises

B. 1. GerPh:DO

InfPh:OC
GerPh:Subj
InfPh:OC
PresPartPh:Adj
None
PastPartPh:Adj
GerPh:Obj/Prep
InfPh:Comp to NP
GerPh:Obj/Prep
InfPh:Comp to NP
InfPh:Adv

(of Vc “allow”) (of Vc “let”) (modifying “a series of official pages”) (“are giving”: MV; “giving”: PresPart forms of the verb, but not a PresPartPh) (modifying “all the stress and burnout”) (Prep “of ”) (DO: “proper cause”) (Prep “for”) (PredN: “the first major Canadian University . . . 1974”) (“in order to help . . .”)

207

The Secret Life of

Non-Finite Verbals

CHAPTER

When you are parsing sentences containing a gerund, infinitive, or participle, you should use the labels Ger, Inf, PresPart, and PastPart. The sentence below contains a gerund: PropN Gene

VT enjoys

Ger singing

Prep in

DefArt the

N rain.

However, it is important to recognize that non-finite verbal phrases have internal structure and logic. The preceding example contains a gerund phrase (“singing in the rain”) that functions as a DO and that has the following components: Gene ⫽ the logical subject of the gerund singing ⫽ Ger (VI) in the rain ⫽ PP (adverbial modifier) To provide a thorough analysis, include the verbal type in parentheses as in the parsing below: PropN Gene

VT enjoys

Ger (VI) singing

Prep in

DefArt the

N rain.

Additional examples: PropN VT Ger (VT) PossProD N Prep DefArt N Debbie likes walking her dog in the rain. The gerund phrase (walking her dog in the rain) plays the role of DO in the sentence. Debbie ⫽ the logical subject of the gerund walking ⫽ Ger (VT) her dog ⫽ NP:DO of the gerund in the rain ⫽ PP (adverbial modifier) 209

210

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar DefArt The

N cat

VT hates

Inf (BE) to be

Adj uncomfortable.

The infinitive phrase (to be uncomfortable) plays the role of DO in the sentence. The cat ⫽ the logical subject of the infinitive to be ⫽ Inf (BE) uncomfortable ⫽ PredAdj within the infinitive phrase

Chapter Fifteen

The Secret Life of Non-Finite Verbals

211

Things You Need to Know About The Secret Life of Non-finite Verbals Participial Phrases 䡲

Let’s look in more detail into the internal structure of Participial Phrases: Past Participial Phrase (1) Some of the treats made the previous day were stale by the day of the party. some of the treats: NP head of Subj made the previous day: PastPartPh:Adj (modifying “some of the treats”) made: PastPart (VT) [passive, comes from “someone made the treats”] the previous day: NP:Adv-time [contains: DefArt Adj N] Present Participial Phrase (2) The children bullying him in elementary school were spoiled kids of wealthy parents. the children: NP head of the Subj bullying him in elementary school: PresPartPh:Adj (modifying “the children”) bullying: PresPart (VT) him: DO of “bullying” in elementary school: PP:Adv-place [contains: Prep Adj N]

Infinitive Phrases 䡲

Let’s look in more detail into the internal structure of Infinitive Phrases: (3) The board’s decision was to close our department. 䡲

To close our department: InfPh:PredN of BE 䡲䡲

to close: Inf (VT) our department: DO of VT “close”

(4) She helped me find a great gift for my mom. 䡲

find a great gift for my mom: InfPh:OC of Vc “helped” (Note that “me” is the DO of Vc “helped”) 䡲䡲䡲

find: Inf (Vg) [“find a gift for my mom” or “find my mom a great gift”] a great gift: DO of Vg “find” [contains IndefArt Adj N] my mom: IO of Vg “find” [contains PossProD N]

(5) She helped me find a great gift for my mom’s birthday. 䡲

find a great gift for my mom’s birthday: InfPh:OC of Vc “helped” (Note that “me” is the DO of Vc “helped”) 䡲䡲

find: Inf (VT) [“find something”] a great gift for mom’s birthday: DO of VT “find” 䡲 a great gift: NP head of the DO [contains IndefArt Adj N] 䡲 for my mom’s birthday: PP:Adj (modifying “a great gift”; answers the question “What kind of gift?”); [contains Prep PossProD GenN N]

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Things You Need to Know About The Secret Life of Non-finite Verbals Inf—head of InfPh or MV? 䡲

It is sometimes hard to decide whether an infinitive is the head of an InfPh that fills a NP slot, or head of the MV constituent; compare (1) and (2) below: (1) She asked to see the principal. ask (VT): MV to see the principal: InfPh:DO of “ask” to see (VT): head of InfPh the principal: DO of the Inf (2) He had to see the principal. had to see: MV had to: Caten see (VT): head of the MV the principal: DO of “see”

䡲

Therefore, (1) contain an InfPh, but (2), although it contains an infinitive verb (“see”), does not contain an InfPh. Extraposed InfPh-s and InfPh with Subjects

䡲

InfPh-s are often extraposed in structures, where the expletive “it” is the Grammatical subject, and the InfPh is the Logical Subject; below is an example with a “for . . . to” infinitive: For Myra to admit she’s made such a silly mistake is difficult. InfPh:Subj It is difficult for Myra to admit she’s made such a silly mistake . Gram.Subj;

Extraposed InfPh: Log.Subj & Comp to Adj “difficult”

䡲

“For” and “to” function as a single infinitive marker, similar to Subord

䡲

As we mentioned in Chapter 14, the NP between “for” and “to” is the Subject of the InfPh

䡲

In the last sentence, repeated below, “for Myra to admit” is the 4-word Inf (VT)—head of the InfPh “for Myra to admit she’s made such a silly mistake,” and “Myra” is the subject of the Inf; note also that the InfPh contains a NCL (That-Cl): “she’s made such a silly mistake.” It is difficult for Myra to admit she’s made such a silly mistake . Subj of Inf Inf (VT; 4 wds)

That-Cl:DO of “admit” (Deleted COMP)

InfPh:Comp to Adj “difficult”

Chapter Fifteen

The Secret Life of Non-Finite Verbals

213

Things You Need to Know About The Secret Life of Non-finite Verbals Gerund Phrases 䡲

Let’s look in more detail into the internal structure of Gerund Phrases: I enjoy reading detective stories. reading detective stories: GerPh: DO of “enjoy” reading: Ger (VT) detective stories: DO of Ger “reading” [contains N:Adj N] GerPh with Subjects

䡲

We also noted in Chapter 14 that Gerunds can have subjects; for example, in the PossProD “his” and the Gen “mom’s” together make up the Subj of the Ger “meddling”; “meddling” is the head of the GerPh “his mom’s meddling into his life”: He didn’t like his mom’s meddling into his life . Subj of Ger Ger (VI)

PP:Adv

GerPh:DO his mom’s meddling into his life: GerPh:DO of “didn’t like” his mom’s: Subj of the Ger [contains PossProD GenN] meddling: Ger (VI) into his life: PP:Adv-place [contains Prep PossProD N]

Exercises

A. Determine the status of the underlined words in the sentences below. For verbs, use the labels VI, VT, etc. For participles, use PresPart(type) or PastPart(type). For preposed participles, use Adj For gerunds, use Ger(type).

Making money is the only thing that interests him.
You should let sleeping dogs lie.
Speak loudly so the people sitting in the back can hear you.
You can press your shirt on this ironing board.
A great deal of the information posted on Wikipedia is false.
Was the big pot simmering on the stove?
The chef tossed the vegetables into the big pot simmering on the stove.
That simmering pot looks very inviting.
Today’s featured speaker is from Chile.
She seems to enjoy making people angry.

215

11. Wandering down the path, he ran across a large toad.

After wandering down the path, he decided to take a swim.
He started wandering down the path.

B. a) Identify the functions of all PresPartPh-s, PastPartPh-s and GerPh-s. b) For PresPart-s and PastPart-s, decide if they are heads of PartPh-s or heads of MV;

216

Answers to Exercises A and B

Ger (VT)
Adj
PresPart (VI)
Adj
PastPart (VT)
PresPart (VI)
PresPart (VI)
Adj; Adj
Adj
Ger (Vc)
PresPart (VI)
Ger (VI)
Ger (VI)

B head of GerPh “making money”: Subj head of PresPartPh “sitting in the back”: Adj (modifying “the people”) head of the PastPartPh “posted on Wikipedia”: Adj (modifying “a great deal of the information”) head of MV “was simmering” head of the PresPartPh “simmering on the stove”: Adj (modifying “the big pot”)

head of the GerPh “making people angry”: DO of VT “seems to enjoy” [inside the GerPh: “people” is the DO of Ger, while “angry”: OC:Adj] head of the PresPartPh Note: We’ll discuss this function of the PresPartPh in Chapter 17. head of the GerPh “wandering down the path”: Obj/Prep “after” head of the GerPh “wandering down the path”: DO of VT “started”

218

Subordinate Clauses and

Non-Finite Verbals: Review

CHAPTER

Subordinate Clauses and Non-finite Verbal Phrases are structures embedded in main clauses following the principles of subordination, substitution, and modification. Thus, the AdvCl “when they heard voices” is subordinate to (or dependent on) the main clause “they stopped moving” in (1). The NCL “who will finish on time” substitutes (or replaces) an NP like “the result” in (2). The RelCl and the PresPartPh in (3)-(4) modify the NP “the man.” 1) AdvCl[When they heard voices], they stopped moving. 2) It is hard to tellNCL[who will finish on time]. 3) The manRelCl[who is skating the fastest] is my dad. 4) The manPresPartPh[skating the fastest] is my dad. Subordinate Clauses and Non-finite Verbals help us construct complex sentences and replace or modify NPs. They have internal structure. Subordinate clauses have clause (i.e., sentence) structure, thus they contain a NP:Subj and VP:Pred. Non-finite verbals are phrases; thus they have the structure of a VP minus tense. The diagrams below show their internal structure. The interrupted line in the diagram for Non-finite verbals indicates that some of them (InfPh-s and GerPh-s) occasionally have explicit subjects.

Subordinate Clause NP:Subj

VP:Pred ⴙTense

Non-finite Verbal (NP:Subj)

VP ⴚTense 219

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses and Non-finite Verbals Subordinate clauses function as: Subordinate Clauses Function

Type

Example

NCL (That-Clause)

That he finished on time is surprising. NCL:Subj

NCL (Wh-Clause)

It is hard to tell who will finish on time. NCL:DO of Inf (VT) “tell”

Adjectives

RelCl

I really liked the song which you wrote last month. RelCl:Adj (modifying “the song”)

Adverbs

AdvCl

When they heard voices, they stopped moving. AdvCl:Adv-time

Nouns

The following is a list of all the NP functions which NPs in general, and NCl-s, InfPh-s, and GerPh-s in particular can have. NP functions All NPs (including NCL-s, InfPh-s, and GerPh-s) in Main and/or Subordinate Clauses

NCL-s and InfPh-s only

Examples: (1) Subj

(1) Skating is fun.

(2) DO

(2) I love skating.

(3) IO

(3) I gave skating my life.

(4) PredN

(4) My hobby is skating.

(5) OC

(4) He let me skate all day.

(6) Obj/Prep

(6) I was thinking about skating.

Examples: (7) Comp to Adj

(7) It’ll be great to go skating.

(8) Comp to NP (NP:Subj, NP:PredN, etc.)

(8) I like the plan to go skating on the weekend.

Chapter Sixteen Subordinate Clauses and Non-Finite Verbals: Review

Things You Need to Know About Subordinate Clauses and Non-finite Verbals Non-finite verbals function as: Non-Finite Verbals Type

Function

GerPh Nouns InfPh InfPh

Adverbs

PresPartPh1 ? Adverbs

Example Skating fast is fun. GerPh:Subj I am learning to skate fast. NCL:DO of VT “am learning” I am skating to win this competition. InfPh:Adv-reason Skating flawlessly, he won his third competition. PresPartPh:Adv-attendant circumstance

PastPartPh

Supported by the cheering crowd, he skated the skate of his life. PastPartPh:Adv-reason

PresPartPh

The man skating the fastest is my dad. PresPartPh:Adj (modifying “the man”) Adjectives

PastPartPh 1

I remember all the skating competitions won by Canadian athletes in the last five years. PastPartPh:Adj (modifying “all the skating competitions”)

Some grammarians; e.g., Morenberg (2010:194–5) identify this function of PresPartPh-s and PastPartPh-s as Adverbial. We will discuss this issue in more detail in Ch. 17.

221

Exercises

A. In the following sentences, bracket each Wh-clause. Then underline the WhSub and state its role within the clause (NP:Subj, NP:DO, Adv, etc.). Also state the role of the clause (NP:Subj; NP:DO, etc.) in the sentence.

The records will show who was there.
Don explained how the program worked.
Where they live is beautiful.
A good rest is what he needs.
I wonder how often they’ll visit us.
I don’t know why he did that.
I’ll give the sofa to whoever wants it.
He’ll cook dinner with whatever we buy.
When we go depends on the weather.
Whatever you cook, I’ll eat.

223

B. How many Subordinate Clauses and Non-finite Verbals are there in the sentence? Identify each of

them by copying it and stating its function.

Why don’t you let me use the paper you wrote for this course last term?
I plan to let my assistant go after the holidays.
A lot of wood was needed to warm up this place.
The students didn’t find working at the zoo a very useful experience.
After hearing the verdict, the witness realized he had been used to convict an innocent man.
He came to help organize the event.
Chris Jordan is a Seattle-based photographer who quantifies consumption via images that reveal exactly how many products are bought or discarded in a given period of time, a minute, an hour, a day, or a year. [from the SFU website, events.sfu.ca]

224

8. A new copyright clearance checklist has been created to help clarify how instructors may

request copyright compliant reproductions for instructional purposes. [from “Academic Copyright . . . ,” copyright.com]

With an elevation of 400 metres above sea level, it’s not unusual for the Burnaby campus to be transformed into a winter wonderland. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
“Flower Power” helps catch criminals. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
The talk will review some of the basic principles of how plants can be used in criminal investigations including murder. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Speakers will talk about poverty, employment, climate change, and building community self-reliance through transforming our food systems to become more socially and environmentally just and sustainable. [from “Land and Food . . . ,” landfood.ubc.ca]
The new application called “Eyes and Feet” helps local businesses use social media more effectively by showing how competitors and customers are using it. [from “Marketing Tips . . . ,” reelseo.com]

225

14. The service integrates Google Maps, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Groupon to let local

businesses get a visual representation of the businesses and customers who are using social media surrounding them. [from “Marketing Tips . . . ,” reelseo.com]

SFU was the first Canadian university to establish a forensic laboratory in 1999 that uses entomology—the study of bugs—to help solve murders nationally and internationally. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]

226

Answers to Selected Exercises

B. 1. Two

(1) RelCl:Adj “you wrote for this course last term” (2) InfP:OC of Vc “let”—“use the paper you wrote for this course last term”

(1) InfPh:DO of “plan”—“to let my assistant go after the holidays” (2) InfPh:OC of “let”—“go”

(1) InfPh: Adv-reason (⫽in order to . . .) —“to warm up (VT) this place” Note that “was needed” is passive (Aux ⫹ VT) from “We needed a lot of wood to warm up this place.”

(1) GerPh:DO of “didn’t find (Vc)”—“working (VI) at the zoo”

Three

(1) GerPh:Obj/Prep “after”—“hearing the verdict” (2) That-Cl:DO of “realized”—“he had been used to convict an innocent man” (deleted COMP ‘that’)

(3) InfPh:Adv-reason (⫽in order to)—“to convict an innocent man”

(1) InfPh:Adv “to help organize the event” (2) InfPh:DO of “help”—“organize the event”

Three

(1) RelCl:Adj “who quantifies consumption . . . a year” (2) RelCl:Adj “that reveal exactly how many . . . a year” (3) Wh-Cl:DO “how many products . . . a year”

Three

(1) InfPh:Adv “to help clarify . . . purposes” (2) InfPh:DO of “help”—“clarify . . . .purposes” (3) WhCl:DO of “clarify”—“how instructors . . . purposes”

(1) InfPh:Comp to Adj “not unusual”—“for the Burnaby campus to be . . . wonderland”

(1) InfPh:DO of “help”—“catch criminals”

228

11. One

(1) NCL:Obj/Prep “of ”—“how plants can be used in criminal investigations including murder”

Three

(1) GerPh:Obj/Prep “about”—“building . . . sustainable” (2) GerPh:Obj/Prep “through”—“transforming . . . sustainable” (3) InfPh:Adv “to become . . . sustainable”

Four

(1) PastPartPh:Adj—“called ‘Eyes and Feet” (2) InfPh:OC of Vc “help”—“use social . . . using it” (3) GerPh:Obj/Prep “by”—“showing how . . . using it” (4) Wh-Cl:DO of Ger “showing”—“how competitors . . . using it”

Four

(1) InfPh:Adv-purpose—“to let . . . surrounding them” (2) InfPh:OC of Vc “let”—“get a . . . surrounding them” (3) RelCl:Adj “who are . . . surrounding them” (4) PresPartPh:Adj “surrounding them”

Four

(1) InfPh:Comp to NP “the first Canadian University”—“to establish . . . internationally”

(2) RelCl:Adj “that uses entomology . . . internationally” (3) InfPh:Adv:“to help . . . internationally” (4) InfPh:DO of “help”—“solve . . . internationally”

229

Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive

Modification

CHAPTER

A variety of modifiers, including relative clauses, participial phrases, and prepositional phrases may function as either restrictive or non-restrictive modifiers. Restrictive modifiers may be seen as restricting or “narrowing down” the range of possible people or things referred to by the noun they modify. Consider the following sentence and its restrictive relative clause: The bread that I bought was stale. Most people see this sentence as entailing the following notions: 䡲䡲

there are many loaves of bread in the world the particular loaf I bought was stale

Here the relative clause restricts the meaning of the subject NP to one particular instance—the one that I bought. Non-restrictive modifiers do not restrict meaning. Instead, they add additional, non-essential information about the noun they modify. The following sentence contains a non-restrictive relative clause. Peter Fonda, who starred in Ulee’s Gold, did not win an Oscar. Here, the clause does not restrict “Peter Fonda”; it merely supplies incidental information. Notice that restrictive modifiers are generally not punctuated. Nonrestrictive units are set off with commas, dashes, or even parentheses. NOTE: It is very important to understand that it is not the punctuation of a modifier that “causes” it to be restrictive. Rather, punctuation is used to convey the intended meaning to the reader. Remember that punctuation is merely a convention that is observed in writing and that it is not part of “grammar.” In this case, however, there is a close relationship between a punctuation convention and the grammatical structure.

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar Other examples: The cat in the window has fleas. (restrictive prepositional phrase) Most cats, except for Felix, like catnip. (non-restrictive prepositional phrase) The cat sitting in the window has fleas. (restrictive present participial phrase) Felix, sitting in the window and grooming himself, was a happy cat. (non-restrictive present participial phrase) His wife, Carol, is a microbiologist. (non-restrictive appositive; he can’t (legally) have more than one wife) His sister Ellen is a professor. (restrictive appositive; he has more than one sister, and one of them is a professor) His sister, Ellen, is a professor. (non-restrictive appositive; he has one sister, and her name is Ellen)

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Things You Need to Know About Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Modification Restrictive modifiers , as the name suggests, limit or restrict the number of referents from a bigger set to a smaller set, often just one referent. Restrictive modifiers include many of the structures discussed in previous chapters such as relative clauses, participial phrases, and prepositional phrases. These restrictive modifiers have non-restrictive counterparts which add non-essential information to the sentence, and are added as parenthetical comments or asides. Restrictive Modifiers

Non-restrictive Modifiers

Restrictive Relative Clauses

Canadians who believe their economy is doing o.k. may be surprised by the latest unemployment statistics.

Non-restrictive Relative Clauses

Canadians, who believe their economy is doing o.k., may be surprised by the latest unemployment statistics.

䡲

Implies some of them.

䡲

Implies all of them.

䡲

The meaning is “Some Canadians believe their economy is doing o.k., and they may be surprised by the latest unemployment statistics.”

䡲

The meaning is “Canadians, all of whom by the way believe their economy is doing o.k., may be surprised by the latest unemployment statistics.”

Restrictive Present Participial Phrases

The cat purring loudly is my neighbour’s.

Non-restrictive Present Participial Phrases 4.a. Purring loudly, the cat jumped into my lap. 4.b. The cat jumped into my lap, purring loudly.

䡲

Implies there is more than one cat in that setting, and only one is purring loudly; that cat is my neighbour’s.

䡲

Implies there is one cat, who was purring loudly while it jumped into my lap.

䡲

Functions as an Adjective.

䡲

Introduces a simultaneous activity, and some grammarians call it an Adverb of attendant circumstance (Morenberg 2010:194); however, this view is controversial. In the model sentence, for example, the PresPartPh is still saying something about the cat; i.e., modifying it.

䡲

Has a fixed position in the sentence, after the NP it modifies.

䡲

As 4.b. shows, it can be moved around freely in the sentence.

Images courtesy of shutterstock.com

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Things You Need to Know About Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Modification Restrictive Modifiers

Non-restrictive Modifiers

Restrictive Past Participial Phrases

Motorcycles made in Japan are usually reliable and durable.

Non-restrictive Past Participial Phrases

The motorcycles, made in Japan, survived two of the Paris-Dakar rallies.

䡲

Helps identify the referents.

䡲

Provides additional information, which is not essential for identifying the referents.

䡲

(5) states that only those motorcycles which are made in Japan are reliable and durable; it does not make the same claim about motorcycles made elsewhere.

䡲

The use of the DefArt with “motorcycles” suggests the listener/reader can identify them; the PastPartPh means “By the way, these motorcycles were made in Japan.”

Students overwhelmed by the amount of required reading usually drop the course.
Overwhelmed by the amount of required reading, the students decided to drop the course. A1B

䡲

Restricts the referents from all students to just those who get overwhelmed by the amount of reading.

䡲

Introduces a causal relation similar to an AdvCl with “because”—“The students decided to drop the course because they were overwhelmed by the amount of reading.”

䡲

Functions as an Adjective.

䡲

Some grammarians call it an Adverb of reason (Morenberg 2010:194–5); however, as the model sentences show, the PastPartPh is still saying something about the motorcycles in (6) and the students in (8).

䡲

Is bound to its NP.

䡲

Can move around in the sentence.

Images courtesy of shutterstock.com

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Things You Need to Know About Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Modification Restrictive Modifiers

Non-restrictive Modifiers

Restrictive Prepositional Phrases

The people at the end of the line were getting impatient.

Non-restrictive Prepositional Phrases

With or without the teachers’ support, the parents were determined to fight the School Board’s decision to cancel Art classes.

䡲

Suggests that the people who were at the end of the line were getting impatient, but does not make such a claim about others.

䡲

Introduces an additional comment on the sentence as a whole.

䡲

Can be viewed as a reduced RelCl with a deleted RelPro and MV “BE.”

䡲

The PP is bound to the NP “the people.”

䡲

The PP is not bound to any particular phrase in the sentence (can move freely).

䡲

Functions as an Adjective.

䡲

Functions as an Adverb of accompaniment.

Restrictive Appositives

His sister Ellen is a professor.

Non-restrictive Appositives (NPs or AdjPs)

His sister, Ellen, is a professor.

䡲

The Appositive NP “Ellen” singles out one of his sisters as the referent.

䡲

The Appositive NP “Ellen” repeats or states differently the information in the NP “his sister.”

䡲

(11) implies he has more than one sister, and one of them, called Ellen, is a professor.

䡲

(12) implies that he has one sister, whose name is Ellen, and she is a professor.

Images courtesy of shutterstock.com

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Things You Need to Know About Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Modification Restrictive Modifiers

Non-restrictive Modifiers

Talented and ambitious, his sister got an Ivy League degree. 䡲

The Appositive AdjP provides non-restrictive modification for the NP “his sister.”

䡲

Can move around in the sentence.

䡲

When the Appositive AdjP is placed before rather than after the NP it modifies, as in (13), it seems to introduce a causal relationship (similar to that in (8)), “Because she was talented and ambitious, his sister got an Ivy League degree.”

Absolute Phrases 䡲

Absolute Phrases contain NP:Subjects and partial predicates without tense.

䡲

The partial predicates are frequently participial phrases.

䡲

Absolute phrases can be derived by deleting the MV BE or AUX BE from a clause, thus deleting tense.

The crowd continued to push its way forward to the stage, the police unable to stop it. 䡲䡲

In (14), “the police” is the NP:Subject (underlined), and “unable to stop it” is the partial predicate. The Absolute can be derived by deleting the MV BE and with it, its tense; e.g., “the police was unable to stop it.” Absolute NP:Subj the police

Partial Predicate (-tense) was unable to stop it

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237

Non-restrictive Modifiers Absolutes with “With” 䡲

Absolutes often occur with the word “with”, which functions like a Subord rather than a Prep, as in (15):

With gas prices going up, people will be moving to more fuel-efficient cars. 䡲

Absolutes with “with” need to be distinguished from Non-restrictive PP with the Prep “with”; compare (15) and (16):

With higher gas prices, people will be moving to more fuel-efficient cars. 䡲

The Absolute with “with” in (15) has an NP: Subject (“gas prices”) and a predicate without tense (“going up”), while the PP with “with” in (16) has only an NP (“higher gas prices”).

䡲

Like all other restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers, absolute phrases can be compound, and can contain embedded elements; consider (18) derived from (17):

With

Salaries have been going down, and inflation has been going up in the last six month. So, many university graduates have been willing to accept low-paid jobs. With
salaries going down, and inflation going up in the last six months[Cpd Absolutes], many university graduates have been willing to accept low-paid jobs. 䡲

Finally, compare (18) to (19), which contains another NonRest PP with the Prep “with”:

With lower salaries and higher inflation[Cpd NonRestPPs], many university graduates have been willing to accept low-paid jobs.

Exercises

A. Determine whether the modifying phrases and clauses are restrictive or non-restrictive and punctuate appropriately.

The tallest building in Toronto the CN Tower is an important landmark.
Robertson Davies’ novel Fifth Business is the first book of the Deptford Trilogy.
Vancouver which is the third largest city in Canada is on the west coast.
The Vancouver in Washington is much smaller.
Sir John A. Macdonald who is depicted on the ten-dollar bill was known for his heavy drinking.
The university claiming the largest number of library holdings per student is the University of Alberta.
The man who is depicted on the five-dollar bill is Laurier.
Beethoven’s opera Fidelio is a masterpiece.
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Because the guests never arrived, all the work I did on Thursday the cooking, the cleaning, and the fluffing of the pillows was a waste of time.

239

B. Choose one of the following labels that best describes the underlined word or group of words. If a

group of words is not a sentence modifier; e.g., if it a RestRelCl rather than a NonRestRelCl, write None.

Absolute

NonRestPastPartPh

AdvCl

NonRestPP

Appositive AdjP

NonRestPresPartPh

Appositive NP

NonRestRelCl

None

When he woke up, it was still raining, the raindrops quietly tapping on the kitchen window.
People often throw the wrong things into the wrong containers—making recyclables useless and a big mess for us to clean up.
The United States and China, by far the world’s two biggest polluters, have the technology and processes in place right now to accurately measure and report their emissions of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases. [adapted from “Sustainable World . . . ,” sustainableworld.org.uk]
SFU Surrey mechatronics student Ben Brown-Bentley, who runs the event company Adrenaline Productions, is the city of Surrey’s latest student entrepreneur of the year. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Commonly considered a grain, quinoa is a seed which is related to leafy green vegetables such as spinach, chard, and beets.
“From C to C: Chinese Canadian Stories of Migration”—a richly layered exploration of the fate of pioneer Chinese-Canadians through the eyes of their descendants—will eventually be televised to viewers worldwide.

240

7. Kids that are involved in helping plan and prepare a meal are more likely to sit down and

enjoy it.

With weather-watchers betting on the coldest and snowiest B.C. winter in decades, it’s time to think about winter travel on Burnaby Mountain. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Before you drive on Burnaby Mountain, check the SFU Road Conditions report online or by phone at 604–444–4929. [from the SFU website, sfu.ca]
Let’s remember some of these students are quite young and brash, and being far from home, have little if any supervision.
For some reason, students have been finding it absolutely impossible to walk over to the garbage can to throw things out.
Eventually, A.J.’s conduct, shameful and disgraceful not just for his employer but for the entire industry, led to the club’s bankruptcy.
Amused by the cat’s relentless effort to catch his tail while spinning, Jeremy came up with an idea for his next animation movie.
I dislike the dumbing down of many toys marketed to females and the fact that a lot of toys for girls involve passive role-playing rather than a decision-making adventure focus. [from Together Family, togetherfamily.ca]

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15. With little ones running around, we know you are constantly doing laundry.

[from Together Family, togetherfamily.ca]

Students who do not pass this exam may fail the course.

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Answers to Selected Exercises

B. 1. Absolute

NonRestPresPartPh
Appositive NP
NonRestRelCl
NonRestPastPartPh
Appositive NP
None [RestRelCl]
Absolute
AdvCl
NonRestPresPartPh
NonRest PP
Appositive AdjP
NonRestPastPartPh
None [RestPastPartPh]
Absolute
None [RestRelCl]

244

Identifying Errors Made by

Second Language Learners

CHAPTER

The study of errors made by second language (L2) learners is a complex field of research that is of great interest to applied linguists. When we use the term “errors” we generally mean patterns of language that learners use, but that have not typically occurred in the input they have received, and that would not be used by proficient speakers of the language. For instance, someone who says “*He goed” may do so without ever having heard anyone use that pattern before. Instead, the verb form is likely to have been constructed by the learner on the basis of incomplete knowledge of English. Many errors in L2 speech and writing appear to arise in this way. Other errors may occur because L2 learners inappropriately apply patterns from their native language in their L2. A speaker of French, for example, might say, “*I carry often my umbrella with me.” Speakers of WCE consider this sentence ungrammatical because adverbs do not normally occur between a VT and a following NP:DO in English. And once again, this pattern is unlikely to occur in the input received by English learners. However, French does allow the pattern VT ⫹ Adv ⫹ NP:DO. In this case, then, the learner’s knowledge of French appears to have interfered with L2 learning. It is interesting to note that many L2 learners never reach a point of fully “native-like” language use. In other words, the outcome of L2 acquisition is often different from that of L1 acquisition. But even when L2 learners do not produce language that is identical to native speakers’ language, they may still be excellent communicators. For that reason, it is very important not to regard the language of L2 users as “defective” or “inferior” simply because it is different from L1 language. All the examples below illustrate matters that might be covered in courses for learners of English as a second language. They are presented here to give you an idea of the range of difficulties that English L2 speakers experience, and to provide you with analytical tools that you can use if you ever find yourself teaching English.

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Choice of Verb Tense, Aspect, or Voice. Joe has called me at 6:00 yesterday. Target form: Joe called me Explanation: The present perfect is not generally used when an exact time is specified in the sentence. Linda has been married for several years, but she died last month. Target form: was married, had been married Explanation: The present perfect usually indicates an action or state that continues to be true up to the moment of speaking. If we say “Linda has been married for several years,” we are implying that she is still married. Therefore, the present perfect is not appropriate in the first part of the sentence. This broken chair needs to fix. Target form: needs to be fixed Explanation: In the intended utterance, the chair is not an agent. Rather the agent is unspecified (“Unspecified” is the one who will fix the chair). To convey this meaning, a passive construction is needed (“The chair needs to be fixed by unspecified”).
Verb Forms Note: These errors differ from tense, aspect, or voice errors in that they result in an impossible verb form. Did he left yet? Target form: Did he leave yet? Explanation: “Did left” is not a grammatical structure. Here the past tense has been marked twice. It can be marked only once. When I called, she was work on her project. Target form: was working Explanation: “Was work” is not grammatical. The past progressive must be marked with—ing. He drived to the movie. Target form: drove Explanation: Proficient speakers generally don’t consider “drived” to be the past form of “drive.”
Problems with the Number of a Noun (Singular vs. Plural) Helen was able to obtain many interesting informations from her new CD-ROM.

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Target form: a great deal of interesting information Explanation: In this context “information” is an uncountable noun. It cannot be pluralized or determined by the PreArt “many.” She bought some new softwares for her computer. Target form: software Explanation: In this context “software” is an uncountable noun. It cannot be pluralized.

Subject-Verb Agreement The guys was busy in the work room. Target form: were busy Explanation: The subject of the sentence (“the guys . . .”) is plural. The verb must therefore be plural.
Gerund-Inﬁnitive Confusion Tom enjoys to cook when he has the time. Target form: cooking Explanation: “Enjoys” requires a gerund object. It cannot take an infinitive.
Word Order Errors Why you don’t come to visit me more often? Target form: don’t you Explanation: In question formation, “do” and other auxiliaries must be moved to the front of the clause, in this case after the Wh-word (inversion). Frank called up her to invite her to the party. Target form: called her up Explanation: When separable two-word verbs (such as “call up”) have a personal pronoun object, that object must appear between the verb and particle. Carol picked up large two watermelons at the market. Target form: two large watermelons Explanation: Normally CardN (e.g., “two”) must precede any adjectives modifying a noun. Ted gets usually up early. Target form: usually gets up early Explanation: It is generally not possible to break up a two-word verb with an adverbial expression.

248

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar I bought yesterday a litre of milk. Target form: Yesterday, I bought a litre of milk. I bought a litre of milk yesterday. Explanation: Adverbial expressions cannot occur between a VT and its DO.

Difficult Prepositions Note: The correct preposition for a particular context often cannot be predicted from any “rule.” Instead prepositions tend to be used idiomatically. I was born in September 24, 1982. Target form: on (used for exact dates) I was born on September. Target form: in (used for months) He is studying in SFU. Target form: at (used for a particular school or other institution)
Problems with Do-Support Why you said that? Target form: Why did you say that? Explanation: Questions in which there is no auxiliary or BE require do-support. Tomorrow’s a holiday, so I haven’t to go to work. Target form: I don’t have to Explanation: The catenative “have to” cannot be negated as a contraction. It requires “do-support.” (don’t have to)
Miscellaneous Problems Phone to me tomorrow if you have time. Target form: Phone me Explanation: “Phone” in the sense of “phone someone” is a VT and requires a DO, not a prepositional phrase. The runner won the race was from China. Target form: The runner who won the race Explanation: It is not possible to delete a RelPro (who) in a relative clause when it plays the role of Subj within the RELCL.

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The hotel which I stayed in it last year was very good. Target form: The hotel that I stayed in last year. Explanation: “Which” is a RelPro playing the role of Obj/Prep (of the preposition “in”). It is redundant (and ungrammatical) to use “it” as an Obj/Prep in the same clause. “It” and “which” would be playing the same role. The clerk which sold me the shirt is not working today. Target form: who Explanation: “Which” cannot be used for a human referent.

Things You Need to Know About Common Errors Made by ESL Learners The following table includes some common types of errors made by ESL learners, categorized according to the main grammar structures introduced in this text. Some space is left for you to include other common errors you have noticed. General Category

Subcategories

Specific Errors and Examples

(1) Verb Phrase

(1) Verb type and verb complements

(1) Using “BE” ⫹ PredAdj instead of a VT, such as agree as in *He is agreed.

(2) Verb tense and aspect

(2) present perfect used with a specific date in time as in *He has been there in 1996.

(3) Other. Specify.

(2) Noun Phrase

(1) Order of elements within the NP

(1) placing OrdN before CardN as in *the two first guys in line

(2) Count vs. Non-count nouns

(2) using a non-count noun as a count in *I have job experiences working as a teacher. But note the correct Ever since I came to Canada, I have had many positive experiences.

(3) Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA)

(3) Lack of SVA *My landlady know how to cook.

(4) Other. Specify.

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Things You Need to Know About Common Errors Made by ESL Learners General Category

Subcategories

Specific Errors and Examples

(3) Rearranging and Compounding

(1) Word Order (WO) in questions

(1) Adv of frequency “ever” placed before the DO rather than the PastPart of the V “seen” in *Have you seen ever such a thing?

(2) WO in indirect questions

(2) InterProAdv V Subj rather than InterProAdv Subj V in indirect questions like *Do you know where is he?

(3) Mistakes with passive forms

(3) Missing Aux Be: e.g., *The building demolished two months ago by the contractors.

(4) Other. Specify.

(4) Subordinate Clauses

(1) Relative Clauses

(1) repeating the IO in the RelCl with a Pro (where a blank should be left) as in *I know the man who she gave it to him.

(2) Adverbial Clauses

(2) use of Prep “despite” instead of SubordConj “although” in *Despite he had difficulties, he managed to graduate in May.

(3) Noun Clauses (a) That-clauses

(3) Verb specific complementation (a) Using a That-Cl instead of InfPh as in *He wants that he goes on a vacation. (b) Filling the Adv slot in the Wh-Cl twice as in *I don’t know where he went there.

(b) Wh-clauses

(4) Other. Specify.

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Things You Need to Know About Common Errors Made by ESL Learners General Category

Subcategories

Specific Errors and Examples

(5) Prepositional and Participial Phrases

(1) PP

(1) The verb “be” must be deleted in a PP *The cup was in front of him had lipstick on it.

(2) PresPartPh

(2) Verb “contains” needs to be made into PresPart (or a RelCl must be used) as in *The letter contains the threat is from them.

(3) PastPartPh

(3) The verb “be” needs to be deleted in a PastPartPh *The lady was dressed in black looked at him.

(4) Other. Specify.

(6) Gerunds and Infinitives

(1) Gerunds

(1) Using infinitives instead of gerunds *He avoids to drive at night.

(2) Infinitives

(2) Using gerunds instead of infinitives *He helped me finding the way.

(3) Other. Specify.

(7) Other. Specify.

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Things You Probably Already Know About English Grammar Remember that English sentences are made up of slots. You can think of them as templates, or empty boxes which have relatively fixed places in the sentence and with respect to each other. These slots or boxes can be filled with as few as one word each, or with much longer sequences of words. Look at the following examples from the cover of this text. The Blue boxes contain the NP:Subjects, the red ones contain the Main Verbs, and the blue boxes framed in red contain NPs (hence the blue colour) which are complements of the verb (hence the red colour). If you understand this concept, you will be able to manipulate a larger number of structures to express a given meaning.

a collie.

The black dog that I told you jumped over our neighbour’s fence when the fire started and saved their little boy’s life

is going to be

one of the most photographed and talked about collies at the Canine Heroes Show this afternoon organized by the city’s police department and Channel 5.

If you can analyze the elements of the second sentence, you have done a great job learning the fundamentals of English grammar. Congratulations! You are now a better writer, a better speaker, a better editor, a better ESL student or teacher, a better everything!

Supplementary Material: Tense,

Aspect, and Modal Sequences

CHAPTER

The following examples illustrate some of the common tense, aspect, and modal sequences. These patterns should not be viewed as “rules” or advice on the “correct” forms. In fact, many other patterns are possible.

I. Conditional Sentences Possible present or future condition if clause: simple present, present continuous result clause: will (future time), present continuous (future time), imperative, simple present (habitual) If it’s raining right now, we’ll get our umbrellas. If it rains tomorrow, we’ll take our umbrellas. If it rains tomorrow, I’m taking my umbrella. If it rains, take your umbrella. If it rains, I take my umbrella. Present contrary-to-fact condition if clause: simple past, past continuous result clause: would, could If it were raining, we would get our umbrellas. If we were in Paris, we could visit the Louvre. Past true condition if clause: simple past, past continuous result clause: past tense If it was sunny, we always ate outside.

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar Past contrary-to-fact condition if clause: past perfect, past perfect continuous result clause: would have, could have If it had rained, we would have gotten our umbrellas. If we had taken more money, we could have stayed longer.

II. Direct Quotations and Reported Speech In reported speech, the simple present and present progressive may be replaced by simple past and past progressive. Marilyn said, “The flowers are beautiful.” Marilyn said that the flowers were beautiful. Joan commented, “It’s raining.” Joan commented that it was raining. The simple past, past progressive, and present perfect may be replaced by the past perfect. The past perfect remains unchanged. He said, “I slept well last night.” He said that he had slept well last night. She replied, “I was working at the office on Sunday” She replied that she had been working at the office on Sunday. Don shouted, “The pipe has burst.” Don shouted that the pipe had burst. Dave said, “The pipe had burst (when I arrived).” Dave said that the pipe had burst (when he arrived). “Will” may be replaced by “would,” “can” may be replaced by “could.” Diane said, “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Diane said that she would call me tomorrow. Mike boasted, “I can speak five languages.” Mike boasted that he could speak five languages.

III. Other Cases Interesting patterns occur in that clauses preceded by wish. You are here. I wish (that) you were here. You will leave. I wish (that) you would leave.

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List of Labels and Parsing Conventions

List I: Alphabetical List of Labels to be Used in Parsing Exercises Label

Part of speech

Example

Adj

adjective

a happy goat

Adv

adverb

Miss Muffett left suddenly.

Aux

auxiliary (type unspecified)

Miss Muffett has left.

be functioning as a main verb

Little Boy Blue is lazy.

CardN

cardinal number

three crows

Caten

catenative auxiliary

We have to leave.

COMP

complementizer

I think that Mr. McGregor is angry.

CoordConj

coordinating conjunction

Jack and Jill

Correl

correlative conjunction

Both Jack and Jill

DefArt

definite article

the answer

DemonD

demonstrative determiner

This grammar book is interesting.

DemonPro

demonstrative pronoun

This is a beautiful castle.

DiscPrt

discourse particle

Well? . . . what do you think of my new coat?

Expl

expletive

It is obvious that Cinderella is unhappy.

GenN

genitive noun

Carol’s spinning wheel

Ger

gerund

Skiing is popular in BC.

IndefArt

indefinite article

an answer

IndPossPro

independent possessive pronoun

Mine is over there.

Inf

infinitive

To live is to suffer.

Interj

interjection

Ouch! I cut my finger.

IntPro

interrogative pronoun

What is under the chesterfield?

IntProAdv

interrogative pro-adverb

Where do you live?

IntProD

interrogative pro-determiner

Which pig tricked the wolf?

Modal

modal auxiliary

Parrots can sometimes speak.

noun (type unspecified)

book, chair, sky, anger

NEG

negative marker

She’s not here. She isn’t here.

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar Label

Part of speech

Example

OrdN

ordinal number

the third little pig

PastPart

past participle

The house damaged by the wolf was made of straw.

PossProD

possessive pronoun determiner

my work

PostN

postnominal modifier

The kids both went up the hill.

PreArt

prearticle

Bo-Peep has a lot of sheep.

Prep

preposition

to the moon

PresPart

present participle

The cat sitting in the window is Bill.

Pro

pronoun (type unspecified)

he, him, someone, anybody, themselves

PropN

proper noun

Calgary, Alice Munro

Prt

particle

He got up at six.

Qual

qualifier

It’s very dark.

RelDet

relative determiner

The girl whose grandmother was eaten was Red Riding Hood.

RelProAdv

relative pro-adverb

The place where she lived was the forest.

RelPro

relative pronoun

The person who gave her the cloak was her mother.

reaction signal

Are you finished? . . . Yes.

SubConj

subordinating conjunction

After he had his accident, Humpty couldn’t pull himself together.

two-place verb having an objective complement

Little pigs consider wolves dangerous.

two-place verb having an indirect object

The man gave the little pig a bunch of straw.

intransitive verb

The troll waited under the bridge.

linking verb

The troll seemed ugly.

transitive verb

Mary ate a little lamb with mint sauce.

WhSub

wh-subordinator

What the troll wanted was some goat meat.

List II: Noun Phrases Possible Roles for Noun Phrases NP:Subj

The wolf chased the pigs.

NP:DO

Goldilocks tasted the porridge.

NP:IO

Mary fed the lambs some grain. Mary fed some grain to the lambs.

NP:PredN

Tom was a thief.

NP:OC

The wolf considered grandmother an old fool.

NP:Adv

Last night the geese started an uprising.

NP:Obj/Prep

The fox climbed over the fence.

List of Labels and Parsing Conventions

Special Types of Noun Phrases Gerund NP

Wolves like eating fresh food.

Infinitive NP

Sheep hate to be original.

that-clause NP

Mary believed that her lamb was intelligent.

wh-clause NP

The sheep did what they were told.

List III: Prepositional Phrases Types of Prepositional Phrases PP:Adj

The cow in the field is ours.

PP:Adv(type)

The cow is grazing in the field.

PP:Gen

The Prime Minister visited the Queen of England.

List IV: Labels for Other Phrase Types AdjP

adjective phrase

She is unbelievably beautiful.

AdvP

adverbial phrase

I saw it right here.

verb phrase

I saw it right here.

AbsolPh

absolute phrase

With the bank sector struggling to recover from the latest financial fiasco, they can’t approve any more unreasonable loans.

ApposPh

appositive phrase

My father, James Keenan, wrote a letter of recommendation for her.

GerPh

gerund phrase

Wolves like eating fresh food.

InfPh

infinitive phrase

Sheep hate to be original.

PartPh

participial phrase

The girl waving at me is my sister. and Waving at me, she walked away.

List V: Clause Types (no label)

independent clause

When I got my paycheck, I bought this new pair of shoes.

ADVCL

(dependent) adverb clause

When I got my paycheck, I bought this new pair of shoes.

NCL

(dependent) noun clause

Mary believed that her lamb was intelligent.

RELCL

(dependent) relative clause

The person who gave her the cloak was her mother.

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Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

List VI: Some Parsing Conventions 䡲 Use a single label ⫹“x wds” for multi-word expressions such as catenatives: Caten(2 wds) I have to go now. 䡲 Names of specific people, places, events, etc. that consist of more than one word should be parsed as PropN(x wds): PropN(2 wds) He has met Queen Elizabeth. PropN(2 wds) He went to the beach on Labour Day. 䡲 Contractions can be denoted by a ‘⫹’ sign. Pro⫹BE He’s really busy. Modal⫹NEG I wouldn’t want to bother him. 䡲 Use a single label for hyphenated words: Adj Is this approach cost-effective? 䡲 If a proper noun is also genitive, use GenN: GenN Jake’s brother is coming over. 䡲 Write your answers in the activities legibly. Note especially the difference between VI, VT, and VL.

Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language.

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print. Language Log. Web. 2 June 2011. ⬍http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll⬎. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Web. 2 June 2011. ⬍http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/history.htm⬎. Morenberg, Max. Doing Grammar. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Rodby, Judith, and W. Ross Winterowd. The Uses of Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Stewart, Jr., Thomas W., and Nathan Vaillette, eds. Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics. 8th ed. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press, 2001.

W O R K S C I T E D

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This book is designed to help you understand the composition of English sentences and how

English language works. It will introduce you to the terminology and concepts commonly used in traditional English grammatical analysis: parts of speech, several main categories of verb types and their complements in English, the elements of a noun phrase, and the parts of simple sentences in English. It will demystify terms like constituency, dependent clauses, independent clauses, and sentence-level embedding, and enable you to use these as building blocks to make compound and complex sentences. The text has an informal theoretical orientation, and adopts a descriptive rather than prescriptive approach. Using colours, tables, pictures, useful summaries of main points in the “Things You Need to Know” sections, and fascinating diagrams, it will walk you through the process of taking sentences apart, labeling and identifying the various elements of English sentences. It will give you an advanced understanding of style, and the mechanisms available to you to become a better writer, speaker, (self-) editor, or ESL teacher. The concepts covered in this book are of particular use to teachers of English as a second language, to those planning to take university-level linguistics courses, and to everyone who needs to achieve a higher level of clarity and accuracy in English.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Description of English Grammar

Cover Page

Acknowledgements

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

Content

(Transcriber’s note: blank page)

CHAPTER 1: What is Grammar?

Descriptive Grammar

Prescriptive Grammar

Emotional Responses to Language

Misinformed and Illogical Views about Language

Punctuation is not Grammar!

Applied Grammar: Teaching Second Language Learners

Grammar and Psychology

Exercises

Answers to Exercises

Exercise A:

Exercise B:

Exercise C:

Exercise D:

CHAPTER 2: Classifying Words

Open Classes

Nouns (N)

Reference

Slot Tests

Noun Sub-Classes

a) Countable vs. uncountable nouns

b) Proper vs. common nouns

c) Concrete vs. abstract nouns

Verbs

Reference

Slot Tests

Sub-Classes

Adjectives (Adj)

Reference

Slot Tests

Adverbs (Adv)

Reference

Slot Tests

Closed Classes

Determiners

1. Articles

2. Demonstrative Determiners (DemonD)

3. Possessive Pronoun Determiners (PossProD)

4. Interrogative Pro-Determiners (IntProD)

Pronouns

1. Personal Pronouns (Pro)

2. Indeﬁnite Pronouns (Pro)

3. Interrogative Pronouns (IntPro)

4. Relative Pronouns (RelPro)

5. Demonstrative Pronouns (DemonPro)

Auxiliaries

Prepositions (Prep)

Particles (Prt)

Qualiﬁers (Qual)

Conjunctions

Others

Useful Tests for Word Classes

Meaning & Form, Syntactic Environment, and Syntactic Function

Nouns and Noun Phrase Functions

Exercises

1

2

3

Answers to Exercises

1

2

3

CHAPTER 3: Inflectional and Derivational Affixes

Inﬂectional Markers

Noun Inﬂections

1. Plural Marker (-Plur)

2. Genitive Marker (-Gen)

Quick Quiz

Verb Inﬂections

3. Third Person Singular Marker (-3PS)

4. The Present Participle Suffix (-ing)

5. The Past Tense Marker (-Past)

6. Past Participle Marker (-PastPart)