Powepoint 4 about Grammar English

1. Unit 1
Introductory concepts and categories
(IV)

2. Adjective phrases
• Adjective phrase/Adjectival group: A phrase with an adjective
as its head: (modifier)+HEAD+(qualifier) m h q (ex.:
good/definitely good/good enough)
• Modifiers answer the question about the degree of a quality
• Adjective heads often take complements which answer the
question “In what sense is the adjectival quality to be
interpreted?” (ex.: guilty of a serious crime/slow to respond)
• The most important roles of AP are as modifier (attributive) &
subject predicative (ex.: a deeply sick man/He’s totally crazy)
• APs may be split into two parts by the noun head (ex.: He’s a
really tough player to beat)

3. Adverb phrases
• Adverb phrase/Adverbial group: a phrase with an adverb as
its head: (modifier)+HEAD+(qualifier) m h q (ex.: there/pretty
soon/fortunately enough)
• Adverb phrases are different from adverbials: adverb
phrases are structures while adverbials are clause elements
(adverb phrases, prepositional phrases and adverbial clauses
can all function as adverbials)
• Two basic syntactic roles of adverb phrases are: 1) modifier in
adjective/adverb phrases (ex.: He was an attractive little
creature with a sweetly expressive face); 2) adverbial (ex.: She
smiled sweetly)

4. Prepositional phrases
• Prepositional phrase/Prepositional group: a phrase with a
preposition as its head: (modifier)+HEAD+completive m h k
(ex.: considerably to the right/on the night of the first day)
• Prepositions can also take complement clauses that behave
like NPs (normally wh-clauses and ing-clauses) (ex.:
instructions on where they are used/after spending some time
in California)
• PPs have two basic syntactic roles: 1) adverbial (ex.: He
worked in a shop); 2) modifier/complement of a noun (ex.: He
was a teacher of philosophy)
• Stranded prepositions are not followed by their complements
(found in direct questions, interrogative clauses and direct
clauses; ex.: What more could a child ask for?)

5. Clauses
• Clause: key unit of syntax capable of occurring independently
• Clause: complete description of an event/state of affairs (ex.:
Have you got an exam on Monday?/She smiled sweetly)
• All clauses may be utterances but not all utterances are
clauses
– ex. (1): More sauce? vs. Would you like more sauce?
– ex. (2): Thirty pence please vs. It’s thirty pence please

6. Clauses
• Verb is the key element of a clause (valency of the verb
controls kinds of elements that follow it). Five major valency
patterns (each term used to refer to both valency and clause
pattern):
– Intransitive (S+V): Sarah and Michael dissapeared
– Monotransitive (S+V+DO): She’s changed her dress
– Copular (S+V+SP and S+V+Adv): The Swiss cheese has gone
bad/Marc was in the bathroom
– Ditransitive (S+V+IO+DO): You gave her the wrong answer
– Complex transitive (S+V+DO+OP and S+V+DO+A): That
makes me so mad/They’re sending us to Disneyland
T
R
A
N
S
I
T
I
V
E

7. Clauses
• Verb is the key element of a clause (valency of the verb
controls kinds of elements that follow it). Five major valency
patterns (each term used to refer to both valency and clause
pattern):
– Intransitive (S+V): Sarah and Michael dissapeared
– Monotransitive (S+V+DO): She’s changed her dress
– Copular (S+V+SP and S+V+Adv): The Swiss cheese has gone
bad/Marc was in the bathroom
– Ditransitive (S+V+IO+DO): You gave her the wrong answer
– Complex transitive (S+V+DO+OP and S+V+DO+A): That
makes me so mad/They’re sending us to Disneyland
T
R
A
N
S
I
T
I
V
E