Grammatical Categories and Word Classes

Chapter 5
Exercise 5.1
Nominal Categories
1. Identify the meaning or function of the genitive in each of the following.
Example: the children's education
Answer: objective genitive
a.my parents' car
b. the hostages' release
c. the prisoners' escape
d. workers' rights
e. the sayings of Mao
f. many hours' delay
g. a relative of my mother's
h. the cover of the book
i. a member of the class
j. a week's vacation
k. the boys' singing
l. a group of reporters

2. Identify the meaning or function of the underlined definite/indefinite article in

each of the following.
Example: It was a week after Christmas
Answer: a = ‘one’
a.The wind is whistling around the house.
b.The door flew open.
c.The gray cat from next door ran into the house.
d.A cat is trapped in the cellar.
e.Yesterday I saw a cat. The cat was wearing a collar.
f.I like a long-haired cat.
g.A cat makes a good companion.
h.The “Puss” I know lives across the street.
3.Discuss what each of the following words shows concerning the formal expression
of gender in nouns.
Example: George/GeorginaAnswer: separate words for m/f, but also derivationally
related.
a.count/countess
b.dog/bitch
c.male nurse
d.king/queen/monarch
e.assistant
f.boyfriend

4.Discuss what each of the following words shows concerning the formal expression
of degree in adjectives.
Example: more sensuous
Answer: periphrastic comparison with polysyllabic word
a. little/less/least
b.*more open/*opener
c. best of health
d. prettiest twin
e. abler/ablest
f. late/latter/last
Answer key 5.1
1.
a.possessive
b.objective
c.subjective
d.descriptive
e.origin
f.measure
g.partitive (double genitive)
h.descriptive
i.partitive
j.measure
k.subjective
l.descriptive

2.
a.generally known
b.immediate context
c.modifying expression
d.no identification possible
e.first mention/previous mention
f.generic
g.= ‘any’
h.proper > common
3.

a.derivational affix for feminine gender

b.separate forms for masculine/feminine; masculine used for common gender
c.compounding
d.separate words for masculine/feminine/common gender
e.common gender derivational affix
f.compounding
4.
a.suppletive
b.incomparable adjective
c.superlative used for high degree = ‘very’
d.superlative used for two things, where comparative expected
e.inflection with disyllabic adjective ending in -le
f.latter no longer comparative, last no longer superlative
Exercise 5.2
Verbal Categories

1.Identify the meaning or function of the present tense in each of the following
sentences.
Example: The chemical composition of water is H2O.
Answer: timeless statement
a.
Still waters run deep.
b.Classes end November 30.
c.Janet bites her nails.
d.I think he was wrong.
e.Anna Karenina commits suicide.
f.Yesterday, I'm in a store and it's held up.
g.The earth revolves around the sun.
h.We hear that you are going to be a grandparent soon.
i.The early bird catches the worm.
j.I know the answer.
k.Napier passes the ball to Jones.
l.Phyllis teaches elementary school.

2.Identify each perfect aspect in the following as continuative or resultative in

meaning.
Example: A car accident has just occurred at the corner.
Answer: resultative
a.I have found some money.
b.We have walked around the entire lake.
c.I have forgotten your name.
d.She has sneezed all morning.
e.Climbers have reached the summit all day.
f.We have known each other since we were children.

3.Identify the meaning or function of the progressive aspect in each of the following
sentences.
Example: Someone is firing a gun.
Answer: iterative activity
a.Rosa is getting dressed.
b.The child is waking up.
c.It's snowing.
d.I'm forgetting things recently.
e.He's writing a paper.
f.They're all laughing.
4.Discuss what each of the following sentences shows concerning the formal
expression of the passive.
Example: The balloons were released.
Answer: agentless be-passive
a.The kite got tangled in the tree.
b.The dried mud will brush off.
c.Your shoes need polishing.
d.You should brace yourself for the worst.
e.That is being taken care of.
f.The dog became confused by the loud noises.

5.Discuss what each of the following sentences shows concerning the formal
expression of the subjunctive.
Example: Heaven preserve us.
Answer: inflected subjunctive in main clause
a.I suggest that she take another course.
b.If I were going, I could take you.
c.I was thinking of asking you to help.
d.This might do the trick.
e.The news is probably bad.
f.You're right, I'm sure
Exercise 5.2
Answer key Verbal Categories

1.
a.gnomic (proverbial) statement
b.future statement
c.habit
d.state
e.plot summary
f.narration in the present
g.timeless statement
h.information present
i.gnomic statement
j.state
k.instantaneous present
l.habit
2.
a.resultative
b.resultative
c.resultative
d.continuative
e.continuative
f.continuative
3.
a.continuous activity - endpoint not reached
b.process leading to an endpoint
c.continuous activity - no necessary endpoint
d.iterative activity
e.continuous activity - endpoint not reached
f.continuous activity - no necessary endpoint
4.
a.agentless get passive
b.notional passive = ‘is capable of being brushed off’
c.active participle with passive meaning = ‘need to be polished’
d.middle/reflexive
e.progressive passive, agentless
f.become stative form
5.
a.inflected subjunctive following suggest
b.inflected subjunctive in if- clause, modal auxiliary in main-clause
c.past tense used for politeness
d.modal auxiliary
e.first mention/previous mention
f.parenthetical clause
Exercise 5.3
Grammatical Categories
1.Name and give concrete examples of three different formal means for expressing
each of the following grammatical distinctions in English on the part of speech
indicated.
Example generic number in nouns
:
Answer: the + N The cat is an independent animal.
a + N A cat is an independent animal.
Ns Cats are independent animals.
a.genitive case in nouns
b.passive voice in verbs
c.future tense in verbs
d.dative case in nouns
2.Identify the grammatical distinction exemplified by the underlined word and explain
its meaning.
Example: person: You never can tell.
Answer: 2nd person used for generic purposes
a. case: The building's collapse was impressive.
b tense: The moon circles the earth.
.
c. aspect: We have argued since we were children.
d tense: My parents are going to visit next weekend.
.
e. definiteness: I wonder where the remote control is.
f. number: Rattlesnakes live in the desert.
g gender: Who is it at the door?
.
h voice: The dog's tail got caught in the door.
.
i. tense: All's well that ends well.
j. case: You should have given Jack the opportunity to answer.
k person: She let me copy her class notes.
.
3.Identify the grammatical distinction exemplified by the underlined word and explain
its form.
Example: person: He claims to have been caught in traffic.
Answer: inflection
a. aspect: He has forgotten her birthday.
b mood: The engineer recommended that the street be widened.
.
c. gender: The audience gave the pianist a standing ovation.
d definiteness: I just had a very strange experience.
.
e. mood: Let's begin the meeting.
f. gender: We consider Pat someone to reckon with.
g aspect: The alarm has been sounding for several minutes
.
h tense: She might have seen the movie already.
.
4.Name all of the grammatical distinction(s) expressed by each of the underlined
forms. Then describe the means used to express this distinction (periphrasis,
inflection, word order, etc.).
a.He is seeing her these days.
b.That bicycle is mine.
c.Give me a hand here.
d.She granted the student an extension.
e.He had forgotten her birthday.
f.Janice has several boyfriends.
g.I was pleased to be promoted.
h.The weather is pleasant today.
i.You could make this paper better – less verbose, clearer, and more coherent.
Exercise 5.3
Answer key Grammatical Categories
1.

inflection: the student's paper

a.
periphrasis: the title page of the paper
inflection and periphrasis: one of the student's papers
b. periphrasis: BE  + pstprt - The tree was felled.
GET  + pstprt - The roof got damaged.
inflection: notional passive - This fabric holds up well.
c. periphrases: will - I will help you.
will + progressive - I will be working tomorrow.
be going to - I am going to look into the problem.
progressive - I am running a race this weekend.
inflection: simple present - I finish my job tomorrow.
d. periphrases: to - I gave the food to the dog.
for - I made a house for the dog.
word order: I made the dog a house.
2.

a. genitive case subjective

b present tense timeless statement
.
c. perfect aspect continuative
d future tense present intention
.
e. Definiteness immediate context
f. plural number generic
g neuter gender expedient
.
h passive voice actional (get -passive)
.
i. present tense gnomic
j. dative case indirect object
k first person speaker
.
3.

a. perfect aspect periphrasis

b subjunctive mood inflection
.
c. common gender derivational affix
d indefiniteness covert
.
e. 1st p imperative periphrasis
f. common gender lexical
g perfect-progressive aspect periphrasis
.
h past tense inflection
.
4.

a. progressive aspectpresent expressed by periphrasisexpressed by inflection of

tense3rd p sgindicative mood, auxiliaryexpressed by inflectionexpressed by inflection
active voice
b genitive case, 1st person, and expressed by inflected form of pronoun
. singular number
c. imperative mood expressed by syntactic form
d objective casesingular
. numberneuter
genderindefiniteness
e. perfect aspectpast tense3rd p expressed by word orderexpressed by zero inflection on
sgindicative mood, active voice nounexpressed covertlyexpressed by indefinite article
expressed covertly on noun by cooccurrence
f. plural numbermasculine expressed by periphrasisexpressed by inflection of
genderobjective auxiliaryexpressed by inflectionexpressed by inflection
caseindefiniteness
g passive voice expressed by periphrasis
.
h Definiteness expressed by definite article, expressed covertly on
. noun by cooccurrence
i. comparative degree expressed by suppletion (better)periphrasis (less
verbose, more coherent)inflection (clearer)

Exercise 5.4
Distributional and Inflectional Tests for the Category Auxiliary
The following words are generally considered to constitute the category of auxiliary
verbs:
the modal auxiliaries will, shall, can, may, must
the “dummy” auxiliary do
the primary auxiliaries have, be
The auxiliary verbs (or “helping verbs”) cannot stand alone in a sentence, but must
always be accompanied by a main verb. Given the (incomplete) data below,
determine whether auxiliaries actually belong to the category Verb, or whether they
should be put into a separate category Auxiliary (Aux). Part 1 below applies the
inflectional tests for verbs to the auxiliaries. Do they work? Part 2 shows the
syntactic distribution of auxiliaries. First, determine what the distribution is in each
case and then decide whether auxiliaries have the same distribution as verbs.
Not all auxiliaries will meet every test. Make note of any exceptions. You should
be aware that BE , HAVE , and DO  may also function as main verbs, as in the following
sentences:
Mary is happy about her promotion.
John has enough money to buy a car.
Bill does the dishes every evening.
Decide when main verb BE , HAVE , and DO  behave like auxiliaries and when they do
not.
1.Inflection of auxiliaries
a.He said that he could/would/should/might/must help.
He had gone. He was going. He did go.
b.He *cans/*wills/*shalls/*mays/*musts leave.
He has gone. He is going. He does go.
c.*maying/*willing/*shalling/*musting/*canning/being/having/doing
d.been/had/done
e.*to may/*to will/*to shall/*to must/*to can/to be/to have/to do
2.Distribution of auxiliaries
a.She is not taking the exam.
John had not seen the stop sign.
She can/will/should/might not leave.
b.I have too paid.
I can so see the ocean.
She is so talking too much.
He did so turn in his paper.
c.She isn't taking the exam.
John hadn't seen the stop sign.
She can't/won't/shouldn't/?mightn't leave.
d.She's not taking the exam.
She'll leave tomorrow.
He'd better leave tomorrow.
e.Can/will/must he help?
Is she working?
Has she worked for long?
f.Hasn't he answered your letter?
Can't she see me now?
*Has not he answered your letter?
*Can not she see me now?
g.He dóes know the answer. (contrastive emphasis)
She wíll help, if she can.
You might also consider the following:
h.She will know the answer and so will he.
She will know the answer and he will too.
John can go, but you can't.
Burt won't attend, but I will.
She will help, won't she?
He left, didn't he?
Answer key Exercise 5.4 Distributional and Inflectional Tests for the Category
Auxiliary

1. The data in (1a) show that the modals, BE , HAVE , and DO  are all inflected for the past
tense, though the forms are quite irregular. The data in (1b) show that BE , HAVE , and DO ,
but not the modals, take the -s 3rd p sg pres ending. The data in (1c) show that BE , HAVE ,
and DO be, but not the modals take the -ing present participle, and the same forms have past
participle forms, as shown in (1d). (1e) shows that BE , HAVE , and DO , but not the modals
may follow the infinitive marker to. Thus, the inflectional evidence is somewhat ambivalent.
The forms that can function as main verbs as well as auxiliaries are inflected like verbs, but
the forms that cannot function as main verbs (the modals) take the past tense inflection but
no others.
2.The data in (2) show the following distribution for auxiliaries:
a. ___ not V (i.e., preceding not)
b ___ Emp (so, too) V (i.e., emphatic)
.
c. ___ -n't V (i.e., contracted with not)
d Su-___ V (i.e., contracted with subject)
.
e. ___ Su V (i.e., preceding subject)
f. ___-n't Su V (i.e., contracted with not preceding
subject)
g ___ V (i.e., carrying contrastive stress)
.
h and so ___ Suand Su ___ toobut Su ___ (-n't)___ (i.e., in tags)
. (-n't) Su?
She isn't happy about her promotion.
She is so happy about her promotion.
Is she happy about her promotion?
Isn't she happy about her promotion?
He hasn't enough money to buy a car.
(OR He doesn't have enough money to buy a car.)
Has he enough money to buy a car?
(OR Does he have enough money to buy a car?)
Hasn't he enough money to buy a car?
(OR Doesn't he have enough money to buy a car?)
Main verb do always behaves as a main verb:
*He doesn't the dishes every night.
*Does he the dishes every night?
Note that these tests also work in reverse for verbs:
Aux not/-n't ___
Aux Emp ___
Aux (-n't) Subject ___

Exercise 5.5
Word Classes

1. Identify the word class of up in each of the following:

a. Your time is up.
b. She's in an up mood.
c. He upped the ante.
d. The balloons rose up into the sky.
e. The dog tore up the slipper.
f. Life is full of ups and downs.
g. They live just up the street from us.

2.Identify the word class of down in each of the following:

a.. Alex is feeling rather down today.
b. Would you write your address down for me?
C .On a dare, he downed the whole beer.
d. That was a first down, wasn't it?
e. The computers are down today.
f. He ran down the stairs.
G .He looked down because he was embarrassed.

3. In the passage from E. B. White's “The Ring of Time” given below, identify the
words in bold as belonging to one of the following categories:
count noun transitive verb
mass noun copulative verb
abstract noun intransitive verb
concrete noun adverb
collective noun degree word
attributive adjective preposition
predicative adjective determiner
Auxiliary
It has been ambitious and plucky of me to attempt to describe what is indescribable,
and I have failed, as I knew I would. But I have discharged my duty to my society;
and besides, a writer, like an acrobat, must occasionally try a stunt that is too much
for him. At any rate, it is worth reporting that long before the circus comes to town,
its most notable performances have already been given. Under the bright lights of
the finished show, a
performer need only reflectthe 3.ambitious predicative adjective electric
candle power that is directed failed intransitive verb upon him;
but in the dark and dirty old discharged transitive verb training rings
and in the makeshift cages, whatever
my determiner
light is generated, whateverexcit ement,
whatever beauty, must come duty abstract noun (also count) from original
sources - from internal fires of society collective noun (also professional
hunger and delight, from
count)
the exuberance and gravity of youth.
It is the difference between stunt concrete noun (also count)
planetary light and the too degree word combustion
of the stars. (White 1934: 145) long adverb
most degree word
already adverb
under preposition
need auxiliary

Exercise 5.5 reflect transitive verb

Word Classes makeshift attributive adjective

is auxiliary
1.
whatever determiner
a. A
b .A beauty mass noun (also abstract)
c. V must auxiliary
d .Adv
e .Prt exuberance mass noun (also abstract)
is copula verb
difference abstract noun
between preposition
planetary attributive adjective
f .N
g .P

2.
a. A
b. Prt
c. V
d .N
e. A
f. P
g .Adv

Exercise 5.6
Subcategorization and Recategorization
1.
Using inflectional and distributional tests, determine the word class of the underlined
words in each set (a)–(d). How do you account for the fact that the same lexical
items can meet the tests for membership in more than one word class, as shown by
the more usual word-class usage in (a′)–(d′):
a.
The car idles too fast.
She emptied the trash.
They are bettering us.
The work has wearied her.
a′.
My time is idle.
Here is an empty box.
Here is a better answer
She is very weary.
b.
a newspaper reporter
a seaside resort
an office building
a concrete building
b′.
the Sunday newspaper
the beautiful seaside
the home office
the wet concrete
(Note: One can say a concrete office building but not *an office concrete building.
Why might this be?)
c.
You must up the ante.
Down your drink!
The gangster was offed.
c′.
The audience stood up.
The child fell down.
The handle fell off.
d.
a juvenile
a private
a natural
a daily
d′.
a juvenile offender
a private ceremony
a natural product
a daily paper
2.
a.
What do the following acceptable and unacceptable forms show you about the
subcategorization of adjectives in English?

A smaller the small plate the plate is small

B *rounder the round plate the plate is round
C *aliver *the alive cat the cat is alive
D *mainer the main problem *the problem is main
b.What do the following acceptable and unacceptable forms show you about the
subcategorization of nouns in English?
a pencil the pencil two pencils
*a wheat the wheat *two wheats
*a goodness the goodness *two goodnesses
*a New *the New York *two New Yorks
York
*a trousers the trousers ? two trousers
a herd *the herd two herds
*a cosmetics the cosmetics *two cosmetics
c.Given the following behavior, how would you subcategorize the noun pastryand the
noun bread?
Pastry pastries bread breads
the pastry a pastry the bread ? a bread
more pastry more pastries more bread ? more breads
a piece of pastry five pastries a piece of bread ? five breads
a large amount ___of a large number ___of a large amount ___of ? a large number ___of
pastry pastries bread breads
d.How do you pluralize the noun lettuce? Is it a count noun or a mass noun? Explain.

Answer key Exercise 5.6

Subcategorization and Recategorization
1.
a.The words meet the inflectional test for verbs:
3rd p sg pres idles, empties, betters, wearies
-s
past –ed idled, emptied, bettered, wearied
prsprt –ing idling, emptying, bettering, wearying
pstprt –en idled, emptied, bettered, wearied
The words meet the distributional tests for verbs

_____ NP empty, better, weary

_____ # idle
to _____ (to) idle, empty, better, weary
Aux (not) (will not) idle, empty, better, weary
_____
These words, which are otherwise A, have been recategorized as V, assuming all of the
inflectional and distributional characteristics of the class. Some may even take the agentive
affix -er (idler, emptier, ?  betterer, ?  wearier).
b.These words do not meet the inflectional tests for adjectives because of their phonological
shape. While they meet the test Det _____ N for adjectives, they also do not meet the other
distributional tests for adjectives:
very _____ *very newspaper, *very concrete, *very office
more/most *more seaside, *most office
______
Vcop_____ *the reporter is newspaper, ? the resort is seaside
*the building is office, but the building is concrete
Additionally, they may not take the derivational affix
-ly (*seasidely, *newspaperly, *officely, concretely). It is likely that the nouns in this case are
functioning syntactically as adjectives, but have not been recategorized as adjectives, since
they do not have the other requisite properties of adjectives other than the ability to precede
nouns.
Office building seems to form a compound noun; thus, it is internally indivisible.
c.The words meet the inflectional tests for verbs:
3rd p sg pres ups, downs, offs
-s
past –ed upped, downed, offed
prsprt –ing upping, downing offing
pstprt –en upped, downed, offed
The words meet the distributional tests for verbs

_____ NP up, down, off

to _____ (to) up, down, off
Aux (not) (will not) up, down, off
_____
These words, which are otherwise Prt, have been recategorized as V, assuming all of the
inflectional and distributional characteristics of the class.
d.These words meet the inflectional tests for noun:
plural -s juveniles, privates, naturals, dailies
possessive juvenile's, private's, natural's, daily's
-s
In addition, they appear to meet the other distributional tests for noun:

A _____ scared juveniles, happy privates, unknown naturals, bankrupt dailies

Det A the convicted juvenile, that discouraged private, which newly-discovered natural,
_____ the widely-circulating daily
These words, which are originally A, appear to be recategorized as N. However, while they
meet the inflectional and distributional tests for nouns, they do so rather awkwardly in some
cases.
2.
a.The inflectional and distributional tests suggest four separate subcategories:
A.meets All three tests
B.cannot take -er (for semantic, not phonological reasons)
C.cannot take -er, cannot be attributive
D.cannot take -er, cannot be predicative

b.The cooccurrence of the noun with a determiner as well as its ability to pluralize
determines the following classes:
A.follows a/the, pluralizes: i.e., pencil (count), herd (collective)
B.follows the, does not follow a, does not pluralize:
i.e., wheat (mass), goodness (abstract), cosmetics (collective)
C.does not follow a/the, does not pluralize: i.e., New York (proper)
D.follows the, does not follow a, awkwardly pluralizes: i.e., trousers (bipartite item)

c.The noun pastry is a mass noun (meaning 'dough') which has been recategorized as a
count noun (meaning 'baked food made with pastry'). It behaves equally well as a mass
noun – occurring with Ø article, with the, with more in the sense of 'greater quantity', and
with the mass quantifier a large amount of – and as a count noun – pluralizing, occurring
with a, with more in the sense of 'greater amount', with a numeral, and with the count
quantifier a large number of. The noun bread can occur as a mass noun and as a count
noun (in the plural meaning 'types of bread' or perhaps 'loaves of bread'). However, it is odd
in most of the count constructions, suggesting that this is not a case of complete
recategorization.
Exercise 8.1
Types of Adverbials
1.

Identify the adverbial(s) in each of the following sentences. Label the phrasal
category and identify the type of adverbial.
Example: There's a Kid Rock concert tomorrow night in San Diego. ( COCA:MAG )
Categor Type
y

Answer tomorrow night NP aA

:

in San Diego PP aA

a.

Unfortunately Frontier got caught in those cross hairs. ( COCA:NEWS )

b.

That includes, by the way, all personal pronouns and proper names. ( COCA:NEWS )
c.

To my annoyance, tears came to my eyes. (COCA:FIC )

d.

Independence was finally brokered in 1960. ( COCA:ACAD )

e.

Finally, the festival of Holiya draws to a close with the dawn prayer. ( COCA:ACAD )
f.

A wickedly high heel is key to cranking up the sex quotient of an otherwise tame
outfit. (COCA:MAG )
g.

Otherwise, all government officials would emigrate. ( COCA:MAG )

h.

The cows might tell you otherwise. (COCA:MAG )

i.

I stupidly blurted a sentry's challenge. (COCA:FIC )

j.
It all makes me stupidly happy. (COCA:MAG )
k.

Stupidly I left some bags laying next to the pack. ( COCA:MAG )

2.

Linguistic purists often argue that hopefully should not be used as in (a) but only as
in (b):
a.

Hopefully, the day will come when Turkey takes its place in the EU. ( COCA:ACAD )
b.

the kind of clinching evidence that Lowe could not uncover but that Kent hopefully
anticipates finding. (COCA:ACAD )
What are the different uses exemplified above and what is the meaning
of hopefully in each? How could you argue that both uses should be permissible.
Key

1.

Category Type of Adverb

a. unfortunately AdvP dA

b by the way PP cA
.

c. to my annoyance PP dA

d finally AdvP aA
. in 1960 PP aA

e. finally AdvP cA
with the dawn prayer PP aA

f. otherwise AdvP Mod of A tame

g. otherwise AdvP cA

h otherwise AdvP aA
.

i. stupidly AdvP aA

j. stupidly AdvP Mod of

A happy

k. stupidly AdvP dA
2.

In (a), hopefully means ‘I am hopeful that’ and functions as a disjunct adverbial. In

(b), hopefully means ‘with hope’ and functions as an adjunct adverbial (a manner adverb).
One could point to a number of other adverbs which have dual functions and are fully
acceptable in both (for example, frankly or stupidly).