Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'a boy' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'a boy' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
What is the main characteristic of a Subject in a sentence according to Kim & Sells (2008)?
What is the main characteristic of a Subject in a sentence according to Kim & Sells (2008)?
What is the structural property of a Direct Object that involves the verb 'to be' in the passive voice?
What is the structural property of a Direct Object that involves the verb 'to be' in the passive voice?
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'on Monday' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'on Monday' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the main characteristic of a Direct Object in a sentence according to Kim & Sells (2008)?
What is the main characteristic of a Direct Object in a sentence according to Kim & Sells (2008)?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the structural property of a Subject that involves changing the word order in a sentence?
What is the structural property of a Subject that involves changing the word order in a sentence?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'scratched' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'scratched' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the main characteristic of a Modifier in a sentence according to Kim & Sells (2008)?
What is the main characteristic of a Modifier in a sentence according to Kim & Sells (2008)?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the structural property of a Direct Object that cannot be applied to all sentences?
What is the structural property of a Direct Object that cannot be applied to all sentences?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'The monkey' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
What is the grammatical function of the constituent 'The monkey' in the sentence 'The monkey scratched a boy on Monday'?
Signup and view all the answers
Study Notes
Grammatical Functions
- Grammatical functions represent the grammatical role each constituent plays in a sentence, such as SUBJ (Subject), OBJ (Object), MOD (Modifier), and PRED (Predicate).
- Example: The monkey scratched a boy on Monday. [S [SUBJ The monkey] [PRED scratched [OBJ a boy] [MOD on Monday]]].
Subject (SUB)
- The NP subject performs the action denoted by the verb.
- Examples:
- My brother wears a green overcoat.
- This car stinks.
- It rains.
- The committee disliked her proposal.
- The car chased the mouse.
Structural Properties of a Subject
- Agreement with verb:
- Examples:
- She never writes home.
- These books sadden me.
- Our neighbor takes his children to school in his car.
- Examples:
- Agreement in tag questions:
- Examples:
- The lady singing with a boy is a genius, isn't she?
- With their teacher, the kids have arrived safely, haven't they?
- Examples:
- Subject-auxiliary inversion:
- Examples:
- Is this teacher a genius?
- Have the kids arrived safely?
- Could it be more detrimental?
- Examples:
Direct and Indirect Objects
- A direct object (DO) is an NP that undergoes the process denoted by the verb.
- Examples:
- His girlfriend bought this computer.
- That silly fool broke the teapot.
Structural Properties of a Direct Object
- Passivization:
- Examples:
- This computer was bought by his girlfriend.
- The teapot was broken by that silly fool.
- Note: Not all sentences can be passivized.
- Examples:
Oblique Complements (OC)
- Oblique complements are neither objects nor predicative complements.
- Their presence is obligatory for syntactic well-formedness.
- Examples:
- John put books in the box.
- John talked to Bill about the exam.
- She reminded him of the last time they met.
- They would inform Mary of any success they have made.
Predicative Complements (PC)
- Predicative complements describe a property of the subject or object.
- They are NPs which follow a verb but do not behave as DOs or IOs.
- Examples:
- This is my ultimate goal.
- Michelle became an architect.
- They elected Graham chairman.
- I consider Andrew the best writer.
- Note: Even though they are NPs, they do not passivize.
Modifiers (MOD)
- Modifiers are optional and specify the manner, location, time, or reason, among other properties, of the situations expressed by sentences.
- Examples:
- The bus stopped suddenly.
- Shakespeare wrote his plays a long time ago.
- They went to the theater in London.
- He failed chemistry because he can't understand it.
- Modifiers can be stacked up (i.e., can come together subsequently), whereas complements cannot.
Studying That Suits You
Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.
Description
Identify and understand the concept of oblique complements in English grammar, including their role in sentence structure and examples of oblique phrases.
