Noun & Verb Phrases & Grammatical Functions

7/30/2019 Noun & Verb Phrases & Grammatical Functions

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THE SYNTAX OF ENGLISH

Noun and Verb Phrasesand

Grammatical Functions


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NOUN PHRASES (NP)

a noun and all the words/word groups that

belong with the noun and cluster

around it.

headword/head

modifiers


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Example:

girl

the girl

the beautiful girl

the beautiful girl who is standing by the window


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A NP can be rather complex, containing othernoun phrases, or it can consist of just one

word (a noun) if the word can occur withoutany modifier.

Examples:

Children often build castles on the beach.

Children who are very creative often buildcastles on the beach.

Dani wanted to take a make-up test.

Dani wanted to take a difficult test which shemissed the day before.


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a difficult test which she missed the day before

premodifier N postmodifier


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Some Syntactic Categories of Nouns

Nouns (Other Subclasses)

Count Nouns

Mass Nouns

Proper Nouns


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Count Nouns vs Mass Nouns

Count Nouns countable Singular form (with determiner) & plural form (with

& without determiner)

He drove his cardowntown.

The cars have been stolen.

Cars are expensive in Japan.

(except when the singular N represent the wholegroup/species/type)

- Lion is wild.

- Tigernever eats vegetables.


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Mass Nouns un/non-countable noun No plural form singular, but plural for

kinds/varieties/relating to container

Westerners eat breadwith every meal.

Holland bakery serves several breads.

We need some foodfor lunch. The food court sells Asian foods.

Many words may be mass nouns in one context andcount nouns in a different context:

Westerners eat bread with every meal.

Holland Bakery serves many breads.


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Modifiers Count noun many

Mass noun much


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Proper Nouns

names of particular/unique persons, places,and things

included in noun subclass because theyappear in noun positions

behaving like count noun with few

restrictions, i.e.


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Singular proper nouns usually appear without a determiner.

Decemberis a month for skiing.

We talked about Nico.

The inside ofGedung Kesenian Jakarta is hot.

However, a determiner is used with proper nouns whensuch nouns are restrictively modified, such as:

The Decemberin which she married was very cold.

It was a Decemberto remember.

The Nico I met had bird-nest-like hair.


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Proper nouns which are always plural are

normally accompanied by the, occasionallyby differentdeterminer.

The Appalachians are an old mountain chain. I like yourBahamas since they are beautiful.

We are going to visit the Hebrides.


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Certain proper nouns are usually singular and

take the. The Museum of Fine Arthas a new exhibition.

The Atlantic Ocean is rough in winter.

We stayed at the Goldiana.

However, they can also be used in the plural. Several Goldianas have been built in the capitals

of provinces.

There are two Atlantic Oceans in the NorthernHemisphere, the warm one of the tropics and thecold one toward the Pole.


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VERB PHRASES

a verb and all the words and word groups that

belong with the verb and cluster around

it.

headword/

head

auxiliaries, modifiers, complements

(DO, IO, OC, SC)

predicate


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Example:

arrived

soon arrived

arrived late

arrived just as the plane landed

was waiting at the doormay have been taken by the boy

built a hut

built his son a hut

seemed gloomy and dirty

became captain of his class


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Some Syntactic Categories of Verbs

Transitive Verbs

Intransitive Verbs

Linking Verbs

Verbs followed by a complement


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Transitive Verbsneed object

They ate some bread.

Intransitive Verbsdoesnt need object

They walked to school.

Linking Verbs introduce equivalency or

descriptive relationships They looked happy.


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Verbs followed by a complement

verb-ingbut not to infinitiveHe enjoyed fishing,

not He enjoyed to fish.

To infinitive but not verb-ingHe agreed to

come, not He agreed coming.

Eitherverb-ingorto infinitive I love eating, orIlove to eat.


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Verbs taking complements in ingand to- are

called catenatives because they can co-occurin chain.

- He wanted to stoptryingto postponeworking.


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Grammatical Function

functional elements

subject, object, direct object, indirect object,

complement


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Label of Function Grammatical Meaning

Subject of verb That which performs the action

of a verb, is described or

identified, or about which an

assertion is made.

e.g. The lion stalked its prey.

The prince is happy.


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Verb That which asserts an action

or state

e.g. Nico climbed the coconut tree.

Ibnu seemedupset.


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Subjective

Complement

That which follows be or

verb like become andidentifies or describes the

subject.

e.g. My mom is a housewife.

You look happy.


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Direct Object That which undergoes the

action of the verb.

e.g. She bought some cat food.

I saw him yesterday.


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Indirect Object That person or thing to or for

whom an action is performed.

e.g. He brought me some flowers.

You send me a letter.


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Objective

Complement

That which completes the direct

object and describes or identifies

it.

e.g. We consider him important.

The students elected him class

captain.


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Object of

Preposition

That which is related to

another word by a preposition.

e.g. We believe inGod.They walked toschool.


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Identifying Subjects

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Noun & Verb Phrases & Grammatical Functions