Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2013
Language Structure Assignment 1: Key to Seminar
Grammar Tasks
Task 1
a.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
She | deserves | a present.
S|V|Od
The chef | served | us | lunch | on the patio.
S|V|Oi|Od|A
She | gave | me | a book about race horses.
S|V|Oi|Od
My brother’s new friend | keeps | a python | in his bathtub. S|V|Od|A
A woman who lives in our street | grows | beautiful roses.
S|V|Od
The python | always | seems | hungry.
S|A|V|Ps
She | seems | a nice girl.
S|V|Ps
1)
2)
She = pronoun; deserves = verb; present = noun.
chef = noun; served = verb; us = pronoun; lunch = noun; on = preposition;
patio = noun.
She = pronoun; gave = verb; me = pronoun; book = noun; about = preposition;
race = noun; horses = noun.
My = pronoun; brother’s = noun; new = adjective; friend = noun; keeps = verb;
python = noun; in = preposition; his = pronoun; bathtub = noun.
woman = noun; who = pronoun; lives = verb; in = preposition; our = pronoun;
street = noun; grows = verb; beautiful = adjective; roses = noun.
python = noun; always = adverb; seems = verb; hungry = adjective.
She = pronoun; seems = verb; nice = adjective; girl = noun.
b.
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
1
Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2013
c.
determiner
premodifier
a
The
the
a
My brother’s
a
his
A
new
beautiful
The
a
nice
head
She
present
chef
us
lunch
patio
She
me
book
friend
python
bathtub
woman
roses
python
She
girl
postmodifier
about race horses
who lives in our street
Task 2
a.
b.
1)
a | very interesting | film | on this topic
D|PRE|H|POST
2)
the | friendly | people | who met us at the door
D|PRE|H|POST
3)
the many | narrow | alleys | in this town
D|PRE|H|POST
You need to be able to find the head of a subject noun phrase in order to know
how the verb should be inflected, if the verb has different forms. Most verbs
agree with their subjects only in the present indicative, where subjects with
third-person singular heads require a verb form in -(e)s (e.g. The owner of the
bookshop reads lots of novels), while subjects with other heads require the base
form (e.g. The owners of the bookshop read lots of novels). The verb to be has
additional forms: in the present indicative, am for subjects with first-person
singular heads (e.g. I am an avid reader of novels), is for subjects with thirdperson singular heads (e.g. The owner of the bookshop is also a pianist), and are for
subjects with other heads; in the past indicative, was for subjects with firstperson singular and third-person singular heads (e.g. The owner of the bookshop
was tired of selling books) and were for subjects with other heads. The head of a
subject noun phrase may also control agreement with certain pronouns; for
instance, in The man with the black eye looked at himself in the mirror, the thirdperson singular masculine form himself is determined by man, the head of the
subject noun phrase the man with the black eye.
2
Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2013
Task 3
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
My best friend | may have arrived. My best friend: S (NP). may have arrived:
V (VP). Since (2) contains no objects or predicatives, the main verb in the
clause (arrived) is intransitive.
The French artist who won the contest | sang | beautifully. The French
artist who won the contest: S (NP). sang: V (VP). beautifully: A (AP). Since (3)
contains no objects or predicatives, the main verb in the clause (sang) is
intransitive.1
Unfortunately, | English teams | buy | our best football players.
Unfortunately: A (AP). English teams: S (NP). buy: V (VP). our best football
players: Od (NP). Since (4) contains at least one object but no predicatives,
the main verb in the clause (buy) is transitive.
Dave | was | in the kitchen. Dave: S (NP). was: V (VP). in the kitchen: A
(PP). Since (5) contains no objects or predicatives, the main verb in the
clause (was) is intransitive.
He | told | my oldest cousin | his biggest secret. He: S (NP). told: V (VP).
my oldest cousin: Oi (NP). his biggest secret: Od (NP). Since (6) contains at
least one object but no predicatives, the main verb in the clause (told) is
transitive.
We | called | our first child | Henrietta. We: S (NP). called: V (VP). our first
child: Od (NP). Henrietta: Po (NP). Since (7) contains a direct object and an
object predicative, the main verb in the clause (called) is a linking verb.
That evening | she | cooked | a lovely Italian meal. That evening: A (NP).
she: S (NP). cooked: V (VP). a lovely Italian meal: Od (NP). Since (8) contains
at least one object but no predicatives, the main verb in the clause (cooked)
is transitive.
There are actually two verb phrases in (3): won and sang. However, the relevant verb phrase is sang,
since it is that verb phrase which functions as the clause element verb in the entire sentence (see the
division into clause elements above). In contrast, the verb phrase won is the clause element verb only
in the relative clause who won the contest (which is part of the subject of the entire sentence), not in the
entire sentence. If you continue studying English at higher levels, you will learn to analyse dependent
clauses such as who won the contest in more detail. At the A1/T1/HS1 level, however, you will only be
asked to identify clause elements in full main clauses; thus only sang is relevant here. Note that, in (3),
as in (4), (5), and (8), the presence of an adverbial does not affect what type of main verb the clause
has.
1
3
Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2013
Task 4
There can be a one-to-one correspondence between an adverb (the word class) and
an adverbial (the clause element), as in He | never | tells | lies (S|A|V|Od), where
never is an adverb as a word class and an adverbial as a clause element. However,
this need not be the case. In He | was telling | lies | the whole time (S|V|Od|A), the
adverbial the whole time is a noun phrase that does not contain an adverb. Conversely,
in This car | is | extremely fast (S|V|Ps), the adverb extremely is not an adverbial, but a
modifier of the adjective fast in the adjective phrase extremely fast.
Task 5
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
They | are working | this evening.
They | are dreading | this evening.
She | was eating | chicken with mushroom sauce.
She | was eating | chicken | with chop sticks.
Interpretation 1: She | hit | the man with a stick.
Interpretation 2: She | hit | the man | with a stick.
Interpretation 1: They | found | her | a good friend.
Interpretation 2: They | found | her | a good friend.
She | made | me | furious.
She | made | me | a cake.
I | have become | a teacher.
4
S|V|A
S|V|Od
S|V|Od
S|V|Od|A
S|V|Od
S|V|Od|A
S|V|Oi|Od
S|V|Od|Po
S|V|Od|Po
S|V|Oi|Od
S|V|Ps