Ch. 6—Phrases
151: Subject-Predicate division may be one of those fundamental rules of language.
152: Known-New pattern: We expect at the beginning of the sentence to hear information that we already know and then to hear something new about that subject. When you violate that pattern, listeners and readers get thrown off. A lot of times that results in an “Awk” comment in the margin of your paper.
153: Tag questions are very useful. In some dialects, though, they don’t work the same way. A Kenyan would say, “You have a nice house, isn’t it?” The “it” refers of course to “house,” but we might expect a “don’t you” with the “you” refering back to the subject.
Exercise 6.2
1. The car that Marcie wanted to buy cost an outrageous amount, didn’t it?
2. The personnel director decided to interview everyone who applied for a job, didn’t she?
Did the personnel director decide to interview everyone who applied for a job?
3. That tiny white poodle belongs to my sister-in-law, doesn’t it?
4. “Did it satisfy Joey’s curiosity?”
“Yes, one taste of the mashed rutabaga satisfied Joey’s curiosity.”
5. Tad’s new PlayStation was a gift from his parents, wasn’t it? [“Playstation” is the headword of the noun phrase, with “Tad’s” and “new” as modifiers. The whole noun phrase, though, can be replaced by “it” in the tag question.]
6. The train that is waiting on Track 1
7. The dead tree that is leaning over the driveway
8. The computer repairman, for whom I had been waiting for three weeks [all of this could be replaced by “he”]
159: Learn Noun Phrase (NP), Main Verb Phrase (MVP), Adjective Phrase (ADJP), and Adverb Phrase (ADVP).
Adjective Phrase
- Jack was happy.
- Jack was as happy as a bee in a clover field on a warm summer day.
Adverb Phrase
- Louise ran quickly
- Louise ran with great celerity
Exercise 6.3
1. Almost all of the first graders loved their teacher.
NP MVP NP
2. The next showing of the film is at 3:30.
NP MVP ADVP
3. The post office has been delivering my mail to the wrong address.
NP MVP NP ADVP
4. Most people consider Cordelia the kindest daughter of King Lear.
NP1 MVP NP2 NP3
6. the midshipmen threw their hats up in the air After graduating
NP MVP NP ADVP ADVP ADVP
Main Verb Phrase
· Core of the predicate
· Tells what the subject does or is like
· Must be a finite verb (with tense [present or past] either built in or added with auxiliaries)
· Order of the string with auxiliaries is always (Modal) + (Have) + (Be) + Headword
o The Modal does not change the verb form that follows: should drive
o The Have Auxiliary changes the verb form to past participle: have driven, has driven, had driven
o The Be Auxiliary changes to verb form to present participle: am driving, is driving, are driving, was driving, were driving, been driving
· Modals don’t inflect for tense, but whatever other auxiliary comes first in a string will give you the tense.
Exercise 6.4
1. Charlie had been driving for hours.
a. “had” shows tense (past)
d. “been” follows “had”; it’s the past participle of “to be”
e. “driving” is a present participle and the headword of the MVP
7. Charlie must have been driving the car today.
a. “have” shows present tense
b. “must” does not give tense
c. “have” follows “must”
d. “been” follows “have”
e. “driving” (present participle) follows “been”
Exercise 6.5
1. Our guests are arriving Friday night.
2. I have had this cold for a week.
3. Boris was being serious for a change.
4. The family had been sitting down to dinner when you arrived.
5. You reall + present + should + HAVE + {-en} be + on time.
Exercise 6.6
1. That horse is running poorly today.
Tense BE + {-ing} Main Verb
present is + {-ing} run
6. The keys had been lying on this table all along.
Tense HAVE + {-en} BE + {-ing} Main Verb
past had + {-en} been + {ing} lie
Exercise 6.7