Scribd
Upload
28 views5 pages

L3 Syntax 2022 2023

Syntax in l3

Uploaded by

mpf82ptkpk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
28 views5 pages

L3 Syntax 2022 2023

Syntax in l3

Uploaded by

mpf82ptkpk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

ANG 353.

2 Semester 1 (2022-2023) Mrs Khady Tamba Ndao

Dr Khady Tamba Ndao


UCAD- English department
L3 (ANG 353.2)
English Syntax

A. Draw tree diagrams to show the structure of the following sentences

1. Awa sat by the beach


2. Awa opened a car.
3. The dog ran.

B. Adjectives

- Adjectives modify nouns

- If the adjective modifies the noun, then it is sister to the noun.

“The handsome boy”

NPDet N’

N’AdjN

- Use tree diagrams to show the structure of these sentences:

4. The tall girl left

5. Awa lives in a big apartment

1
ANG 353.2 Semester 1 (2022-2023) Mrs Khady Tamba Ndao

C. Adverbs

Consider the following sentences:

(1) The wind completely destroyed the house.

- This sentence contains a category which is referred to as: adverb. The latter is a
modifier that can specify how an event happens.
- For this reason, the adverb (Adv) modifies the element linked to the event (represented
by the VP).
- In English, adverbs can also occur in a position where they precede the VP (as shown
in (2) and (3)).

(2) S (3) S
eo ep
NP VP NP VP
eu eo eu ep
Det N Adv VP Det N VP Adv
g g g ei g g ti g
the dog completely V NP the dog V NP completely
g ty g ru
destroyed Det N destroyed Det N
g g g g
the house the house

D. Auxiliaries (helping verbs)

1. They always appear with a main verb

2. They belong to a closed class.

2
ANG 353.2 Semester 1 (2022-2023) Mrs Khady Tamba Ndao

E. Complementizer Phrase (CP)

 CPs are headed by a complementizer (that, if, whether etc.)

 They are complements of verbs.

 In this example, the CP (that the teacher saw her) is the complement of V

(thinks).

The student thinks [that the teacher saw her].

• VP VCP

• CP CPS

Practice exercises:

F. For each of the following sentence, draw a tree diagram showing its underlying
structure:

a) “the nice woman thought that the girls would come for dinner”

b) “The student bought the shoes at the mall”

c) “The brown bird pecked the bagel”

3
ANG 353.2 Semester 1 (2022-2023) Mrs Khady Tamba Ndao

d) Awa thinks that the tall lady should walk slowly.

G. Consider this truncated tree and fill in the following blanks:

VP
wo
V NP
In this tree, V and NP are _______________, they are under the same ____________.
We can also say that the NP in this sentence is the ____________________ of the verb.

H. Do the underlined words in each of the following sentences form a constituent?


Circle Yes or No. Use a constituency test to support your answer.

a. The sick girl ran two miles.


- Constituent: Yes No
- Test:

4
ANG 353.2 Semester 1 (2022-2023) Mrs Khady Tamba Ndao

b. The smith thinks that the boy left.


- Constituent: Yes No
- Test:

c. Two boys stole the key


- Constituent: Yes No
- Test:

d. The wind completely destroyed the house.

- Constituent: Yes No
- Test:

You might also like