JOUF UNIVERSITY

LANE 334

Chapter 3

Function Words
(Functional categories )
Five major grammatical categories
1. Noun
2. Verb
3. Preposition
4. Adjective
5. Adverb
For typographical convenience, it is standard practice to use capital-letter abbreviations
for categories:
N
V
P
A
ADV
Five major grammatical categories
The words which belong to these five categories are traditionally said
to be:
Contentives
Content words
They have substantive descriptive content.
Functional categories
In addition to content words languages also contain functors (or
function words):
Words which serve primarily to carry information about the
grammatical function of particular types of expression within the
sentence (e.g. information about grammatical properties such as
person, number, gender, case, etc.).
 Contentive vs. Functional categories
The differences between contentives and functors can be
illustrated by comparing a (contentive) noun like car with a
(functional) pronoun like they.
A noun like car has obvious descriptive content in that it denotes an
object which typically has four wheels and an engine, and it would
be easy enough to draw a picture of a typical car

By contrast, a pronoun such as they has no descriptive content, but

rather is a functor which simply encodes a set of grammatical
(more specifically, person, number and case) properties in that it
is a third person plural nominative pronoun.
Contentive vs. Functional categories
One test of whether words have descriptive content is to see whether they have antonyms
(i.e. opposites): if a word has an antonym, it is a contentive.

For example,
a noun/N such as loss has the antonym gain
a verb/V such as rise has the antonym fall
an adjective/A such as tall has the antonym short
an adverb/ADV such as early (as in He arrived early) has the antonym late
a preposition/P such as inside has the antonym outside.

This reflects the fact that nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions typically have
substantive descriptive content, and so are contentives.
By contrast, a particle like infinitival to, or an auxiliary like do (cf. ‘Do you want to smoke?’), or
a determiner like the, or a pronoun like they, or a complementiser (i.e. complement-clause
introducing particle) like that (as used in a sentence like ‘I said that I was tired’) have no
obvious antonyms.
Contentive vs. Functional categories
• In the previous example we can say these words lack descriptive content,
and so to be functors.

• Using rather different (but equivalent) terminology, we can say that

contentives have substantive lexical content (i.e. idiosyncratic descriptive
content which varies from one lexical item/word to another), whereas
functors have functional content.

• We can then conclude that nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and

prepositions are lexical or substantive categories (because the words
belonging to these categories have substantive lexical/descriptive content)
whereas particles, auxiliaries, determiners, pronouns and complementisers
are functional categories (because words belonging to these categories have
an essentially grammatical function).
 Functional categories: Determiners
In Chapter 3 we take a closer look at the main functional categories found in
English.
- Determiners and quantifiers
The first type of functional category which we shall deal with is the category of
determiner (abbreviated to D, or sometimes DET).
Underlined items are traditionally said to be (referential) determiners (because
they determine the referential properties of the italicized noun expression
which follows them):
The village store is closed
This appalling behaviour has got to stop
That dog of yours is crazy

Referential determiners are used to introduce referring expressions.

 Functional categories: Determiners
An expression like the car in a sentence:

Shall we take the car?

is a referring expression in the sense that it is typically used to refer

to a specific car which is assumed to be familiar to the
hearer/addressee.
 Functional categories: Quantifier
A related class of words are those which belong to the category
quantifier (abbreviated to Q):
Most good comedians tell some bad jokes
Every true Scotsman hates all Englishmen
Many students have no money
Each exercise contains several examples

Such items are termed quantifiers because they serve to quantify

the underlined noun expression which follows them.
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
Since determiners and quantifiers are positioned in front of nouns:
The boys and many boys
And adjectives can similarly be positioned in front of nouns:
tall boys
why we couldn’t just say that the determiners/quantifiers in have the categorial
status of adjectives?
The answer is that any attempt to analyse determiners or quantifiers as adjectives in
English runs up against a number of serious descriptive problems.
One reason for not subsuming determiners/quantifiers within the category of
adjectives is that they are syntactically distinct from adjectives in a variety of ways.
1. adjectives can be iteratively (i.e. repeatedly) stacked in front of a noun they
modify, in the sense that you can go on putting more and more adjectives in front of
a given noun:
Handsome strangers
Dark handsome strangers
Tall dark handsome strangers
Sensitive tall handsome strangers
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
By contrast, neither determiners nor quantifiers can be stacked in
this way.

quantifier + determiner +noun expression

Ex., both the twins
* determiner + determiner +noun expression
Ex., *the these books
* quantifier + quantifier +noun expression
Ex., * all both twins
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
2. Determiners, quantifiers and adjectives can be used together to
modify a noun.
But any determiner or quantifier modifying the noun has to
precede any adjective(s) modifying the noun:

the same old excuses [determiner + adjective + adjective +noun]

*same the old excuses [adjective+ determiner +adjective +noun]
*same old the excuses [adjective + adjective + determiner +noun]

Determiners and quantifiers seem to have a different distribution

(and hence to be categorically distinct) from adjectives.
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
3. Another difference between determiners/quantifiers and adjectives can be illustrated in relation to what speaker B can –
and cannot – reply in the following dialogue

SPEAKER A: What are you looking for?

SPEAKER B: *Chair
*Comfortable chair
A chair
Another chair
The chair
That chair

Nouns like chair have the property that they are countable (one chair, two chairs, etc.). They differ from mass nouns like
furniture which are uncountable.
A singular count noun like chair cannot stand on its own as a complete noun expression, nor indeed can it function as such
even if modified by an adjective like comfortable.
A singular count noun requires a modifying determiner or quantifier like a/another/the/that etc.
This provides us with clear evidence that determiners and quantifiers in English have a different categorial status from
adjectives
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
Determiners tend to be restricted to modifying nouns which have specific
number/countability properties:
the determiner a modifies a singular count noun
much modifies a (singular) mass noun
several modifies a plural count noun
more modifies either a plural count noun or a (singular) mass noun
Can you pass me a chair
He doesn’t have much furniture
He brought several chairs
Do we need more furniture / chairs
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
By contrast, adjectives can generally be used to modify all three types of nouns:

the adjectives nice, simple, comfortable and modern modify:

a singular count noun / a (singular) mass noun / a plural count noun

We need a nice, simple, comfortable chair

We need nice, simple, comfortable chairs
We need nice, simple, comfortable furniture
 Determiners & Quantifier vs. Adjectives
5. Determiners and quantifiers are functional categories whereas adjectives are a lexical/substantive
category.
Ex.,
adjectives (e.g. thoughtful) have descriptive content but determiners and quantifiers do not
A thoughtful friend ----- This friend
?A thoughtful fish ---- Another fish
?A thoughtful pan ----- Every problem
An adjective like thoughtful can only be used to modify certain types of noun; this is because its
descriptive content is such that it is only compatible with (e.g.) an expression denoting a rational
(mind-possessing) entity.
Determiners/quantifiers lack specific descriptive content, and hence can be used to modify any
semantic class of noun.
Thus, it seems appropriate to conclude that determiners and quantifiers are functional categories,
and adjectives a lexical category.
 Determiners/quantifiers: Prenominal & Pronominal
determiners
(dual use).
Determiners can be used to modify a following noun expressions and also can
be used on their own (without any following noun).

Prenominal determiners Pronominal determiners

Premodifying a noun expression Standing on their own

All guests are welcome All are welcome

Many miners died in the accident
Several protesters were arrested
Each son was envious of the other
I don’t have any cigarettes
We have no bananas
I prefer this book
Are you going to buy those items
Many died in the accident
Several were arrested
Each was envious of the other
I don’t have any
We have none
I prefer this
Are you going to buy those?
 Determiners/quantifiers: Prenominal & Pronominal
determiners
(*dual use).
Some determiners can only be used prenominally:

Prenominal determiners * Pronominal determiners

Premodifying a noun expression Standing on their own

Don’t touch the glass * Don’t touch the

Every student failed * Every failed

Now!
Consider some categories can only be used pronominally?
Think of ……………………… I/me/we/us/he/him/she/her/it/they/them
Functional categories: Personal Pronouns
These are called personal pronouns not because they denote people (the pronoun it is not
normally used to denote a person), but rather because they encode the grammatical
property of person.

I/me/my/we/us/our are said to be first person pronouns, in that they are expressions
whose reference includes the person/s speaking

you/your are second person pronouns, in that their reference includes the addressee/s
(the person/s being spoken to), but excludes the speaker

he/him/his/she/her/it/its/they/them/their are third person pronouns in the sense that

they refer to entities other than the speaker/s and addressee/s.
 Functional categories: Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns differ morphologically from nouns in modern English in that
they generally have (partially) distinct nominative, accusative and genitive case
forms, whereas nouns have a common nominative/accusative form and a
distinct genitive ’s form:

Nominative Form Accusative Form Genitive Form

John snores Find John! Look at John’s trousers

He snores Find him Look at his trousers

Personal Pronouns : Reflecting case form of PRO
Personal pronouns like he/him/his and nouns like John/John’s change their
morphological form according to the position which they occupy within the sentence:

John admires Mary, and Mary admires John.

____ admires ____, and ____ admires ____.

• The nominative forms he/John are required as the subject of a finite verb like snores.
• The accusative forms him/John are required when used as the (object) Complement
of a transitive verb like find (or when used as the complement of a transitive
preposition)
• The genitive forms his/John’s are used to express possession
• These variations reflect different case forms of the relevant items.
 Personal Pronouns : Need for reference + context

Personal pronouns are functors by virtue of lacking descriptive content: whereas

a noun like dogs denotes a specific type of animal, a personal pronoun like they
denotes no specific type of entity, but has to have its reference determined from
the linguistic or nonlinguistic context.
 Personal Pronouns : Encode the grammatical properties

Personal pronouns encode the grammatical properties of (first, second or third)

person, (singular or plural) number, (masculine, feminine or neuter/inanimate)
gender and (nominative, accusative or genitive) case:
SG = singular

PL = plural

M = masculine

F = feminine

N = neuter
 what grammatical category do personal pronouns belong to?

Some grammarians suggest that personal pronouns have the categorial status of
determiners.
This assumption would provide us with a unitary analysis of the syntax of the items in the
bracketed expressions:
A. [We psychologists] don’t trust [you linguists]

• we and you in (A) modify the nouns psychologists / linguists

• determiners like the are typically used to modify nouns
• it seems reasonable to suppose that we/you function as prenominal determiners
 what grammatical category do personal pronouns belong to?

we and you also have the categorial status of determiners as in (B).

B. [We] don’t trust [you]
• we/you have the categorial status of determiners in both (A) and (B)
• we/you differ in that they are used prenominally (i.e. with a following noun expression)
in (A), but pronominally (i.e. without any following noun expression) in (B).
• third person pronouns like he/she/it/they are typically used only pronominally
• the ungrammaticality of expressions such as *they boys in standard varieties of English
(though this is grammatical in some non-standard varieties of English – e.g. that spoken
in Bristol in South-West England)
 Next functional category?
Having looked at the nominal functional category pronoun
Next…
we now turn to look at the verbal functional category auxiliary.
 Functional categories: Auxiliary
Traditional grammarians posit that there is a special class of items which
once functioned simply as verbs, but in the course of the evolution of
the English language have become sufficiently distinct from main verbs
that they are now regarded as belonging to a different category of
auxiliary (AUX).

An auxiliary verb is used to add functional/grammatical content to the

information expressed by another verb, considered to be the main verb.
 Functional categories: Auxiliary

• Auxiliaries differ from main verbs in a number of ways.

• Main verb like want may take a range of different types of complement:
A subjectless infinitival to-complement:
I want [to go home]
A subject infinitival to-complement:
I want [you to go home]
A noun expression:
I want [lots of money]

• Auxiliaries typically allow only a verb expression as their complement.

see the example in the next slide→
 Functional categories: Auxiliary
Examples
• I am writing a book.
• He has done the work.
• We will be there in a minute.
• you would help me with this homework
• you can open the door now
• Did you visit New York last holiday?
• Do you like chocolates?
• They must get there on time.
Functional categories: Auxiliary
Tell whether if the bold word in the sentences is an auxiliary or a full verb
1. Dad is working in the garden.
2. We do the shopping once a week.
3. These students never have classes on Fridays.
4. What do you do for a living?
5. The kids were dancing to the music.
6. Did you see him?
7. The door is closed.
8. Where have you been?
9. My parents are on holiday.
10. I had just finished my breakfast when the phone rang.
Functional categories: Auxiliary
Auxiliaries typically allow only a verb expression as their complement and
have semantic function of marking grammatical prosperities associated with
relevant verb, such as tense, aspect, voice, mood or modality.
Aspect auxiliary (how it extends over time (ongoing, continuous, repetitive,
habitual).

He has/had [gone]
She is/was [staying at home]
In the uses illustrated above, have/be are (perfect/progressive) aspect
auxiliaries
Functional categories: Auxiliary
Auxiliaries typically allow only a verb expression as their complement and
have semantic function of marking grammatical prosperities associated with
relevant verb, such as tense, aspect, voice, mood or modality.
Voice auxiliary (what the focus is—the agent or the patient)
They are/were [taken away for questioning]
The example above shows ‘are/were’ is a (passive) voice auxiliary

Tense auxiliary (where it is located in time or in a period of time)

He really does/did [say a lot]
The example above shows ‘does/did’ is a present/past tense auxiliary
Functional categories: Auxiliary
Auxiliaries typically allow only a verb expression as their complement and
have semantic function of marking grammatical prosperities associated with
relevant verb, such as tense, aspect, voice, mood or modality.
Modal auxiliary (how the speaker feels about it—attitude, opinion, prediction, or
inference: ability, possibility, permission)
You can/could [help us]
They may/might [come back]
He will/would [get upset]
I shall/should [return]
You must [finish your assignment]
You ought [to apologise]
Tell have if the bold word in the sentences is an auxiliary or a full verb

1. Dad is working in the garden.

2. We do the shopping once a week.
3. These students never have classes on Fridays.
4. What do you do for a living?
5. The kids were dancing to the music.
6. Did you see him?
7. The door is closed.
8. Where have you been?
9. My parents are on holiday.
10. I had just finished my breakfast when the phone rang.
 Functional categories: Auxiliaries uses
• have is traditionally said to be a perfective auxiliary
• be is traditionally said to be an imperfective/progressive auxiliary
• do is traditionally said to be a dummy(meaningless) auxiliary
• can/could/may/might/will/ would/shall/should/must is traditionally
said to be modal auxiliaries

• Problem: in some cases do and have function as verbs rather that

auxiliaries
 Auxiliary vs. Verb
There are clear syntactic differences between auxiliaries and verbs.
FIRST:
Auxiliaries can undergo inversion (and thereby be moved into pre-subject position) in questions such
as below:

Can you speak Japanese?

Does he smoke?
Is it raining?

By contrast, typical verbs do not themselves permit inversion, but rather require what is traditionally
called DO-support:
*Intends he to come? → Does he intend to come?
*Saw you the mayor? ? → Did you see the mayor?
*Plays he the piano? → Does he play the piano?
 Auxiliary vs. Verb
Second:
Auxiliaries can generally be directly negated by a following not (which can usually attach to the
auxiliary in the guise of its contracted form n’t)
1. John could not/couldn’t come to the party
2. He is not/isn’t working very hard
3. I do not/don’t like her much
4. They have not/haven’t finished

By contrast, verbs cannot themselves be directly negated by not/n’t, but rather require indirect
negation through the use of DO-support
**They like not/liken’t me *I see not/seen’t the point *You came not/camen’t
They do not/don’t like me I do not/don’t see the point You did not/didn’t come
 Auxiliary vs. Verb
Third:
Auxiliaries can appear in sentence-final tags, as illustrated by the examples below (where the part of
the sentence following the comma is traditionally referred to as a tag)
You don’t like her, do you? She isn’t working, is she?
He won’t win, will he? He can’t drive, can he?

By contrast, verbs cannot themselves be used in tags, but rather require the use of Do-tags:
You like her, do/*like you?
They want one, do/*want they?
Thus,
on the basis of these syntactic properties, we can conclude that
auxiliaries constitute a different category from verbs.
 Functional categories: Infinitival to
A fourth type of functor found in English is the infinitive particle to – so called
because the only kind of complement it allows is one containing a verb in the
infinitive form (The infinitive form of the verb is its uninflected base form).
- Labelled INFL or I

1. I wonder whether to [go home]

2. We don’t intend to [surrender]
3. Many people want the government to [change course]

Infinitival to takes verbal phrase complement.

 Infinitival to vs. Transitive preposition to
1. He stayed to [the end of the film]
2. Why don’t you come to [the point]
3. He went to [the police]
Transitive preposition to takes determiner phrase as its
complement (the-phrase or noun expression )
 Infinitival to vs. Transitive preposition to
Decide whether ‘to’ is infinitival or preposition?
1. I intended to register
2. I intended to registration
3. Try to decision
4. Try to decide
5. She waited for Nayfa to arrive
6. She waited for Tahani to arrival
 Infinitival to vs. Prepositions
Decide the correct complements for the underlined words.
(verbal complement or gerund complement)
1. I’m against (capitulating / capitulate)
2. I want to (going / go) there
3. You must try to (working / work) hard
4. Try and do it without (complaining / complain)
5. You managed to (upsetting / upset) them
6. Think carefully before (deciding / decide)
 Infinitival to vs. Transitive preposition to
Infinitival to permits ellipsis (omission) of its complement, whereas
prepositional to does not.
Speaker A: Do you want to go the cinema?
Speaker B: No. I don’t really want to. (Infinitival)
Speaker B: *No. I don’t really want to go to. (prepositional)
 Functional categories: Complementisers
The last type of functional category which we shall look at in this chapter is that of
complementiser (COMP/C). It is a term used to describe the kind of (underlined)
word which is used to introduce complement clauses such as those bracketed below:
1. I think [that you may be right]
2. I doubt [if you can help me]
3. I’m anxious [for you to receive the best treatment possible]

Each of the bracketed clauses in is a complement clause, in that it functions as the

complement of the word immediately preceding it (think/doubt/anxious).
The underlined word which introduces each clause is known as a complementiser
 Functional categories: Complementisers
Complementisers are functors in the sense that they encode particular sets of grammatical
properties.
Complementisers encode (non)finiteness by virtue of the fact that they are intrinsically finite or
nonfinite.
The complementisers that and if are inherently finite in the sense that they can only be used to
introduce a finite clause (i.e. a clause containing a present or past tense auxiliary or verb), and not
e.g. an infinitival to-clause
Complementiser for is an inherently infinitival complementiser, and so can be used to introduce a
clause containing infinitival to, but not a finite clause containing a tensed auxiliary:

1. I think [that you may be right] *I think [that you to be right]

2. I doubt [if you can help me] *I doubt [if you to help me]
3. I’m anxious [for you to receive the best treatment possible] *I’m anxious [for you should receive the best
treatment possible]
 Functional categories: Complementisers (if, that, for) serve three
grammatical functions:
1. they mark the fact that the clause they introduce is the complement of some
other word (think/doubt/anxious).
2. they serve to indicate whether the clause they introduce is finite(contains a
present/past tense V/AUX) or infinitival (contains infinitival to).
3. They mark the illocutionary force (i.e., semantic/pragmatic function)of the clause
they introduce:
a. if introduces an interrogative clause (i.e. question-asking)
b. that and for introduce other types of clauses like a declarative clause (statement-
making)
Why do we need to assign if, that and for to C/COMP
…instead of treating for as a P?
……………………………… that as a DET?
……………………………… if as a ADV?

THE ANSWER IS NO.

 for as a P vs. for to C/COMP
for as a P has an intrinsic semantic content that can be intensified by straight/right:

He headed straight/right for the pub (for = P)

The dog went straight/right for her throat (for = P)
*He was anxious straight/right for nobody to leave (for = C)
*It is vital straight/right for there to be peace (for = C)

for as C is a functor and can never be so intensified

 for as a P vs. for to C/COMP
for as a C differ in their syntactic behaviour:

A clause introduced by the complementiser for can be the subject of an expression like
would cause chaos, whereas a phrase introduced by the preposition for cannot:

For him to resign would cause chaos (for as C with a clause)

*For him would cause chaos (for as P with a phrase)
 for as a P vs. for to C/COMP
prepositions in English aren’t generally followed by a [bracketed] infinitive
complement
1. *She was surprised at [there to be nobody to meet her]
2. *I'm not sure about [you to be there]
3. *I have decided against [us to go there]

The only verbal complements which can be used after prepositions are gerund
structures containing a verb in the -ing form:
1. I am against capitulating/*capitulate
2. Try and do it without complaining/*complain
3. Think carefully before deciding/*decide
 for as a P vs. for to C/COMP
For functions as complementize = For-clause can be substituted by another
complementizer

Is it really necessary for there to be a showdown?

Is it really necessary that there (should) be a showdown?

For functions as preposition (for-phrase):

Cannot be substituted by a complementizer
We are heading for a general strike
*We are heading that there (will) be a general strike
 Labeled bracketing
Each word is enclosed in a pair of square brackets, and the left-hand member of
each pair of brackets is given an appropriate subscript category label to indicate
what category the word belongs to.
It is conventional to use the following capital-letter abbreviations:
N = noun A = adjective
P = preposition Q = quantifier
C/COMP = complementizer V = verb
ADV = adverb D/DET = determiner
PRN = pronoun
T = Tense-marker (e.g. auxiliary/infinitival to)
 Activity:
Analyze these sentences using labeled bracketing

1. Any experienced journalist knows that he can sometimes manage to

lure the unsuspecting politician into making unguarded comments.

2. The president never comments on hypothetical situations.

3. Greed can trap careless politicians.

 Grammatical features
But simply specifying what category a particular word in a particular sentence belongs
to does not provide a full description of the grammatical properties of the relevant
word.
For example:
Categorising he as a pronoun doesn’t tell us in what ways he differs from other pronouns like e.g.
I/us/you/her/it/them – i.e. it doesn’t tell us about the (third) person, (singular) number, (masculine)
gender and (nominative) case properties of he.
We need sets of grammatical features.
Features are enclosed in square brackets and often abbreviated (to save space).
These grammatical features can describe the person/number/gender/case properties of the pronoun
he in terms of the features:
[3-Pers, Sg-Num, Masc-Gen, Nom-Case]
This means ‘Third-Person, Singular-Number, Masculine-Gender, Nominative-Case’.
 Grammatical features
Each of these features comprises an attribute (i.e. a property like person, number,
gender or case) and a value (which can be first/second/third for person, singular/plural
for number, masculine/feminine/neuter for gender, and nominative/accusative/
genitive for case).

The selectional properties of individual words (e.g. what kinds of complement they
can take). We can illustrate the importance of selectional information by considering
what kinds of word can occupy the position marked by --- in the sentences below:

He might --- to Paris

He is --- to Paris
He has --- to Paris
An adequate description of syntax also requires us to specify the selectional
properties of individual words (e.g. what kinds of complement they can
take)
He might --- to Paris
He is --- to Paris
He has --- to Paris

A categorial answer would be ‘A verb’.

However, we can’t just use any verb: e.g. it’s OK to use verbs like go/fly, but not
verbs like find/stay. This is because different verbs select (i.e. ‘take’) different
types of complement, and verbs like go/fly select a to-expression as their
complement but verbs like find/stay do not.

a full description of the grammatical properties of words requires us to specify

not only their categorial and subcategorial properties, but also their selectional
properties.
 Grammatical features
Grammatical properties of words requires us to specify not only their categorial and
subcategorial properties, but also their selectional properties.
The selectional properties of words can be described in terms of selectional features.
• progressive be selects a progressive participle complement might be described by
saying that it has the selectional feature [V-ing] a notation intended to signify that it
selects a complement headed by a verb carrying the -ing suffix.
• Chomsky argued that all the grammatical properties of a word (including its
categorial properties) can be described in terms of a set of grammatical features. He
argued that the categorial distinction between nouns, verbs, adjectives and
prepositions can be handled in terms of two sets of categorial features [±V]
‘verbal/nonverbal’ & [±N] ‘nominal/non-nominal’.
verb = [+V, –N] adjective = [+V, +N] noun = [–V, +N] preposition = [–V, –N]
Chapter 3 discussions
Discuss in details and cite examples of the following making sure to write grammatical
sentences:
1. Q-Pronoun
2. Aspect/modal/tense auxiliaries
3. A quantifier
4. Auxiliaries differ from main verbs in a number of syntactic ways
5. Determiners and quantifiers are not adjectives
6. Dual-use
7. Cases/gender/number of personal pronouns
8. Pronominal determiners vs. prenominal determiners
9. Comment on the differences between these two groups:
Group A (car, pretty, inside)
Group B (it, any, the, can).
10. Compare and categorize ‘to’ in these two sentences:
A: He went to the police
B: We need to call the police
Chapter 3 discussions
More questions:
1. Do pronouns have the categorial status of determiners. Explain.
2. Auxiliaries constitute a different category from verbs. Discuss.
3. State the differences between the two dos: What do you do for a living? Compare the type of
complements for each?
4. Use grammatical features (both value and attribute) to describe the pronoun(s):
he/me/I/her/them etc..
5. What is the difference between the first ‘to’ and the second ‘to’ in the sentence: My friend
likes to drive her car to the party.
6. Describe quantifiers and compare its category to determiners? What type of features do they
share?
7. Illustrate your understanding of the category that can mark off the embedded or subordinate
clause from the main clause.
8. The only verbal complements which can be used after prepositions are gerund structures.
Explain with an example.