❖ Definitions
1-Syntax: the study of rules governing the way words are organized and
combined to form sentences in a language.
2-Clefting: is a movement of a sequence of the words to the position it(be).
that...
3-Constituent: a group of words that functions as a unit.
4-Head: the word that determines the syntactic type of that phrase.
5-Gerunds: nouns formed from verbs byladding-ing,
6-Complements: tems that follow the head of a phrase.
7-Substitution test: many constituents can be replaced by a word or short
phrase known as a “pro-form”, while perceiving “giving” the same meaning
of the original sentence.
8-root: that carries the core meaning of a word.
Q-1: How many morphemes can you identify in the following English
words?
1-Melted (2) 4-nation (1)
2-Printer (2) 5-Whiteboard (2)
3-Orange (1) 6-unacceptable (3)
Q-2: What is the difference between Lexical and Functional ?
-Laxical: Open class: they can admit new words and speakers can easily
invent new forms. Examples:1-Noun 2-Verb
-Functional: Closed class: they don't admit new words and they have a
limited number of items. Examples: 1-Determiner 2-Degree word
Q-3:Tell if the following sentences are ambiguous or not, if so, give the two
interpretation for each one:
1- Mary bumped into a girl with an umbrella.
It's ambiguous, and it may be interpreted as:
- Mary bumped a girl by an umbrella.
- Mary bumped into a girl who carry an umbrella.
2- The police killed the man with the knife.
It's ambiguous, and it may be interpreted as:
- The police killed the man by using the knife.
- The police killed the man who has the knife.
3- The girl saw a bird with a telescope.
It's ambiguous, and it may be interpreted just as:
- The girl saw a bird by using a telescope
- The girl saw a bird who has a telescope
➢ Q-4:True or False :
1. English has 3 auxiliary verbs:be,do,have. (T)
2. Modals and auxiliary can occur together in the same sentence (T)
3. Models: comes before the bare infinitive form of the main verb and
modify the meaning in different ways.(T)
4. English has 9 models: will, would, shall, should, can, could, may,
might,must. (T)
5. Models: used to indicate possibility, obligation, ability, or future
time.(T)
6. A root carries the core meanings of a word(T)
7. -grammatically is based on Is based on Having heard before (f)
8. -count nouns They have plural forms(T)
9. -Helping verbs in English are auxiliary and main verb (f)
10- Substitution test moving a sequence of words to the beginning of
the sentence with no other changes (f)
11- -Modals and Auxiliaries cannot occur together in same sentence(f)
12- -the verb fed is a Intransitive verb(f)
13- In English, it is the subject NP that determines plural agreement
on verb (T)
Q-5Which of the following violate the rule of subject-verb agreement?
1- Neither Jack nor his kids are coming.
violate the rule of subject-verb agreement, with neither, nor must be singular so “are” becoming “is”
2- Everyone in my family attend this school.
violate the rule of subject-verb agreement because after “everyone” the verb becoming singular
(attendees)
3- Both of the men are here.
There is no violate
4. My sister and brother is coming.
violate the rule of subject-verb agreement, with “and”, the verb must be “are” not “is”
Q-6: These verbs can serve in more than one category. Which categories, and how do
you know?
1. Eat: She eats an apple (transitive). Did you eat? (Intransitive)
2. Drink: He drinks the water (transitive). Don’t drink (intransitive)
3. Celebrate: She celebrated for her birthday (transitive). She celebrated
(intransitive).
4. Grow: She grows fast (linking). To get grow (intransitive).
5. Look: She looks very angry (linking). She looked to the book (intransitive).
#- Differences:
1-in Transitive verbs: can stand alone as a verb phrase.
Example: I walk.
2-Transitive verbs require a direct object:
Example: I have ten dollars.
• Examine if the underlined unit of words is a constituent by using at least
(2) of the constituents tests.
1- “John quickly found the cute dog.”
1-What did John quickly find? The cute dog. (stand alone test)-constituents
2-John quickly found [the cute dog] and [the cute cat]. (conjunction test)-constituents
3-John quickly found the cute [one]. (substitution)-constituents
4-It was [the cute dog] that John quickly found. (Movement test, clefting)-constituents
2- “John quickly found the cute dog.”
1-What did John quickly find the? *cute dog. (standalone test)-not constituents
2-It was [cute dog] that john quickly found the. (Movement test, clefting)-not constituents
• Identify the part of speech of each word in the following sentences:
a- The bored students ignored the easy questions.
[The]>det, [bored]>adj, [students]>n, [ignored]>verb, [the]>det, [easy]>adj,
[questions]>n.
b- She laughed uncontrollably.
[She]>pro, [laughed]>verb, [uncontrollably]>adv.
c- Look at the “the” in the first sentence.
[Look]>verb, [at]>prep, [the]>det, [“the”]>noun, [in]>prep, [the]>det,
[first]>adj, [sentence]>n.
▪ Identify all the verbs in the following sentences. Which are main and
which are helping? Of the helping verbs, which are auxiliaries and
which are models?
1- You can leave your shoes at the door.
Can (Modal V, helping V) Leave ( main V)
2- We are happy for you.
Are ( Aux V, helping V) Happy ( main V )
3- His watch is running fast.
Watch ( Main V) Is (Aux V)
4- This man has no enemies.
Has (helping V) and (Aux V)
5- I have been expecting you.
Have (Aux V) Expecting (Main V)
6- She would wait by the telephone for hours.
Would (Modal V) and Wait (Main V)
#Example of not observing the maxim of quantity:
بسكوت أبو نص بكم؟:مشتري
.… بنص يا اخوي: البائع
Q-7: Tree diagram:
1- The park
2- Trip over the wire and fall on the floor
3- All those many years
4- The lady from Alabma
5-Might have gone
5- All those many houses
# constituent tests:
1- Her bike
Her : main determiner
2- Her three children
Her : main determiner , Three : post determiner
3- Both my sisters friends
Both : pre determiner, my sisters : main determiner
4- Several questions
Several: main determiner
5- All three children
All: main determiner, three: post determiner