SYNTAX MIDTERM QUESTIONS

I. Functions of clauses
1. What are the functions of noun equivalents (nominal clause noun/ pronoun/ noun
phrase/ to infinitive/gerund)? Give examples for illustration.

There exist 8 functions of noun equivalents. They are:

+ Subject. e.g. What he said inspires me. (Nominal clause as S)

+ Direct object. e.g. She visits me every month. (Pronoun as Od)

+ Indirect object. e.g. He gave me a new watch. (Noun phrase as Oi)

+ Subjective complement. e.g. His advice is to maintain a healthy diet. (To infinitive as
Cs)

+ Objective complement. e.g. He is afraid of losing her. (Gerund as Oc)

+ Adjective complement. e.g. I’m not aware that he told a lie. (Nominal clause as Cadj)

+ Prepositional complement. e.g. I’m interested in what he told me. (Nominal clause as
Cprep)

+ Appositive. e.g. The news that she married a foreigner is true. (Nominal clause as
App)

2. What is the main function of adverbial equivalents (adverbial clause/adverb/ adverb

phrase/ prepositional phrase)? Illustrate with examples.

Mainly functions as an Adjunct to “a related - meaning verb”.

Examples:
+ I’ll leave when she comes tomorrow. (Adv C as Ad to “leave”)
+ Though you may or may not like it, it is my duty to send you there. (Adv C as Ad to
“is”).
3. How many kinds of adverbial clauses are there in English in terms of meanings? (9
kinds)

- Manner: These adverbial clauses often use “as” or “like” to explain how something is
done. For example, “The politician seemed as if he had never spoken publicly before.”
Here, “as if” is the trigger word, “he” is the subject, and “had never spoken publicly
before” is the predicate.

- Time: Adverbial clauses addressing time often contain the words “until,” “before,”
“after,” “as long as,” and “while” answer when something happens. For example, “They
hiked before they ate dinner.”

- Purpose: These adverb clauses highlight the intention behind an action, often using
conjunctions such as “so that,” “lest you,” “in order to,” and “in case.” These adverbial
clauses do not follow a comma, as in the sentence, “They drove to the farm so that they
could pick apples.”

- Place: Adverbial clauses of place use the trigger words “where” and “wherever,” as in
“The puppy follows me wherever I went.”

- Condition: Conditional adverb clauses play out the potential outcomes of a situation
and use subordinating conjunctions such as “if,” “provided that,” and “lest.” For example,
“We will go to the zoo if it is sunny.”

- Reason: Cause or reason adverb clauses explain the why, using subordinating
conjunctions such as “because,” “since,” and “as.” For example, “We thought you’d go to
the concert since you love Vivladi’s music.”

- Comparison: These adverbial clauses highlight quality and quantity with conjunctions
like “than” and “as.” An example of a comparison adverbial clause is, “He can bake as
well as his grandmother.”

- Concession: Concession adverb clauses will have a comma separating two independent
clauses that contrast one another. For example, “I like to bike, though I don’t do it much
these days.” You can also use a comma in the case of a dependent clause at the beginning
of a sentence: “Although it was hot, the pool kept us cool.”

- Results: These clauses have a start and an end, relying on subordinating conjunctions
“so,” “that,” and “such.” For example, “The kitten was so cute that I had to buy it”
4. What is the function of adjective equivalents (adjective clause, adjective/ adjective
phrase/ prepositional phase)? Exemplify.

Only one function: Modifier : is post-modifier to the preceding noun.

+ The news that made me sad is true. (Adjective clause as Mod to “news”) (“that” -> S)

+ The news that I got yesterday is true.(Adjective clause as Mod to “news”) (“that”->Od)

II. Sentence Synthesis

5. How different are subordinator, coordinator and connector (conjunct)?

The dissimilarity between subordinator and coordinator is that the coordinator connects
at least 2 independent clauses in a compound sentence, while the subordinator plays a
role in a complex sentence by connecting only one main clause and at least one
dependent clause. Compared to subordinator and coordinator which join two clauses so
that it reads as one sentence, connectors are used between two separate sentences.

6. How different are simple sentences, subordination, coordination, and sub-

coordination? Clarify with examples.

They are different depending upon the number and type(s) of clauses they contain:

 A simple sentence has one independent clause. e.g. Tom reads novels.

 Subordination has one main clause plus at least one subordinate clause headed by
a subordinating conjunction. e.g. Although Tom reads novels, Jame reads comics.

 Coordination has at least 2 independent clauses joined by a coordinating

conjunction (aka FANBOYS) or a conjunctive adverb (e.g. however, therefore) or
a semicolon. e.g. Tom reads novels, but Jame reads comics.

 And sub-coordination is the combination of subordination and coordination,

which contains at least 2 independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.
e.g. While Tom reads novels, Jame reads comics, but Sam reads only magazines.

III. Syntactic Features of simple verbs in clause/ sentence structures

7. What are the elements/ components of a sentence structure?

The elements of a sentence structure are divided into 5: subject, verb, object, complement
and adjunct.

8. What are the differences between internal (obligatory) and external (optional) elements
in a sentence structure?

 Internal elements: Subject (a noun or pronoun), verb

o If you only include one of these two parts, you will have only a sentence
fragment, which is grammatically incorrect.

o It is obligatory when its omission would lead to unacceptability and change

the meaning of the sentences.

 External elements: Object, complement, modifier

o They merely give additional information and are not required the way a
subject and verb are.

o It is optional when its omission would result neither in unacceptability nor a

change in meaning.

9. How many internal elements are there in the patterns from 1 to 11?

10. What are the forms of subject/ verb/ object/ complement/ adjunct?

 Subject Forms

- Noun phrases: Ex: Cats are kind and loving creatures.

- Noun clauses: start with words like what, that, and who.

Ex: What I really want is freedom.

-Prepositional phrases: Ex: After dinner is when we go for a walk.

 Verb Forms

Base form: study Present tense form: studies Past tense form: studied
Present participle: studying Past participle: studied

 Object forms
- Direct objects (Od): I like what he tells me.

- Indirect Object (Oi): The teacher gave who was standing next to me a cake.

- Object of a Preposition: Sit with them.

 Adjunct forms: An adjunct can be a single word, a phrase, or an entire clause.

- Single-word: She will leave tomorrow.

- Phrase:

+ Noun Phrases (generally refer to as time): Ex: David gave blood last week

+ Adverb Phrases: Ex: They ate their meal too quickly.

+ Prepositional Phrases (generally refer to time or to place - when or where):

Ex: Susan went to school in New York / I work late on Mondays

+ Clause: She will leave after she has had breakfast.

 Complement forms:

+ Subject complement (Cs): That is what he told me

+ Object complement (Co): You can tell me whatever you like

+ Adjective complement (Cadj): I am not aware that he told me a lie.

+ Prepositional complement (C prep): I am interested in what he told me.

11. Give examples in which Vint/ Vtmono/ Vtdi/ Vpcomp/ Vi can be used.
12. Give examples in which Vpmono/ Vpdi/ Vpcomp can be used.
13. Give examples of patterns/ types 1-11.

14. Give examples of patterns/ types 1-11 with at least 3 external elements.
15. How can you differentiate Vtmono from Vtdi?
16. How can you differentiate Vt from Vi as an ordinary verb?

17. How can you identify the Vint, formally?

Formally, Vint comprises the verb be and linking verbs

18. What are the differences between adjunct, disjunct, filler and interjection?
19. What are the types of complex verbs?

Complex verbs are two or more verbs. (7 types)

20. What are the types of Vtmono/ Vtdi as complex verbs?
  Have 4 types of Vtmono as complex verbs:

o phrasal mono-transitive verbs (Vtmonoph)

o prepositional mono-transitive verbs (Vtmonoprep)

o phrasal prepositional mono-transitive verbs (Vtmonophprep)

o idiomatic mono-transitive verbs (Vtmonoid)

 Have 1 types of Vtdi: prepositional di-transitive verbs (Vtdiprep)

21. Give examples of Vi, Vint as complex verbs?

Examples of Vi as complex verbs:

Examples of Vint as complex verbs: