Key Terms
What is syntax?
The study of how words combine into phrases and sentences.
A thing the action was accomplished with (modifies the predicate) is called a(n):
Instrument.
The component parts of sentences, made up of one or more constituents are called:
Phrases
"I go."
This is an example of which kind of sentence?
A simple sentence: has only one subject and one predicate
The hierarchical ordering of constituents creates _________.
Sentences.
What are constituents?
Sets of morphemes that share a common function within the sentence
What are the three steps to identify constituents?
Movement: You can move it to another part of the sentence, and the sentence is still grammatical.
Substitution: You can substitute in a pro-form (pronoun, proverb) for it.
Coordination: You can link it to another morpheme or group of morphemes with "and" or "or" without changing anything else in the sentence.
What type of phrase includes one or more nouns and modifiers?
Noun phrase (NP)
Identify the constituents in the following sentence:
The bikes were left in the locker room yesterday evening.
Predicate: were left
Indirect object: in the locker room yesterday evening.
What are the main constituents of a sentence?
Verb (predicate, comment)
Subject (topic)
Object (argument)
A grammatical unit that contains the two essential constituents of subject and predicate is called a ________.
Sentence
An additional object that benefits from the predicate (modifies the predicate) is known as:
Benefactive
What type of phrase includes one or more verbs and modifiers?
Verb phrase (VP)
What is the location in the following sentence?
"I hid the money under the bed in my home in Alaska."
"under the bed in my home in Alaska."
What is the difference between a direct object and an indirect object?
Direct object: is directly tied to the action.
Indirect object: provides additional information about how the action was performed.
The subject is the constituent that does the action in the sentence (also called "topic" because sometimes there is no clear action)
A predicate is the action in the sentence (also called "comment" in those instances where there is no clear action)
_____________ shows multiplicity on the subject or object.
Accompaniment
What type of phrase uses additional constituents to modify the subject, predicate, or object?
Prepositional phrase (PP)
There are two ways to bracket the following sentence. What are they?
He sold the car to my cousin at Penn.
[He] [ [ [sold] [ the car] ] [to [my cousin] [at Penn] ] ]
[He] [ [ [sold] [the car] [to [my cousin at Penn] ] ]
What are 5 common components of verb phrases?
Verb: an action
Nouns: act as object of the verb
Adverbs: describe the action
Prepositional/postpositional phrase: describes the location, manner, or indirect object
Auxiliaries: additional verbs that provide new grammatical meanings
The constituent that undergoes or experiences the action of the sentence is called the ______.
Object.
What do additional constituents do?
Modify one or more of the nuclear constituents (subject, predicate, object)
What types of phrases link other phrases together?
Conjuncts (CONJ)
Coordinators (CORD)
Compliments (COMP)
What are the components of the following verb phrase?:
He should have swum quickly in the lake.
He (subject)
should have (auxiliary)
swum (verb)
quickly (adverb)
in the lake (prepositional phrase)
What are 5 common components of noun phrases?
BONUS: Which one does not occur in English?
Nouns (person, place, thing)
Determiners (specifies the noun)
Adjectives (noun descriptor)
Possessives (describes ownership by the noun)
Classifiers (differentiates classes of nouns)
BONUS: Classifiers do not occur in English☺