2ND YEAR APPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

LECTURE I

THE NATURE OF UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR

This course of lectures aims to look into the structure of the simple finite sentence, namely sentences
that contain one single predication relation, the verb of which carries a Tense marker. The theoretical
perspective is the one offered by the Theory of Government and Binding, first synthesized by Chomsky in
“Lectures on Government and Binding” (1981).
UG was defined by Chomsky (1976) as follows: “the system of principles, conditions and rules that are
elements or properties of all human languages…. the essence of human language.” The goal of UG is to
provide a theory of grammar that should be able to offer a number of principles, a number of generalized
statements which are valid cross-linguistically. The differences between languages are accounted for in
terms of parameters, namely the different values that the principles have in different languages.

Principles

The Principle of Structure Dependency

Definition: language relies on structural relationships rather than on the linear sequence of items.
Operations on sentences such as movement require knowledge of the structural relationships of the
words rather than their linear sequence.

Evidence : Question formation

1. The letter will arrive tomorrow. Will the letter arrive tomorrow?

2. This is a dagger which I see before me. *A this a dagger which I see before me?

3. The man who is tall is John. *Is the man who tall is John?
Is the man who is tall John?

What moves in order to form a question in English is not the third or the fourth word in a sentence, but

the auxiliary in the main clause, irrespective of whether it comes first or second in the sentence.

Movement of the auxiliary depends on the knowledge of the structure of the language. English, like all

human languages is structure-dependent.

The Projection Principle

The theory emphasizes the Lexicon and the fact that speakers know what each word in the language
means, how it is pronounced and how it behaves syntactically. The syntactic description of the sentence
and the lexical properties of each lexical item are integrated by the theory via the Projection Principle,
which requires that syntax should accommodate the lexical specification of each lexical item.
4. Helen likes the French paintings.

*Helen likes.

5. Peter is working.

*Peter is working a chair.

Each lexical item has a lexical entry in the Lexicon which provides information about the phonological
form of the item, its categorical status (to which lexical category it belongs), and also about the number
of arguments the item has and the theta roles (Agent, Patient, Theme, Experiencer, a.s.o,) that item can
assign.
6. like categorial information [+V, -N]

thematic structure [Experiencer, Theme]

like -------›CS/[____NP]

7. work categorial information [+V, -N]

thematic structure [Agent]

work------›CS/ [ ____ ]

There are two types of selectional restrcitions which operate on the lexical item so as to define the
subcategorization properties of the respective item – c-slection (categorial selection) and s-selection
(semantic selection), which in fact are predictable from the thematic properties of the item. C-selection
refers to the type of categorical phrase that is subcategorized by the item, while s-selection refers to the
sematic properties of the phrase subcategorized by the respective item.

8. He brought a book to me. Bring [+V, -N]

thematic structure [Agent, Theme, Goal]

9. The earthquake brought disaster to Japan. Bring [+V, -N]

Thematic structure [Cause, Theme, Location]

So, the lexical entry is said to project onto syntax. The Projection Principle states that the lexical features
of each item stored in the Lexicon are projected to the other levels. It is a universal of human language,
as all languages integrate their syntactic features with their lexical entries.
The Principle of Endocentricity

One other important aspect of our study of the language is the way in which the elements are ordered in
a language. The main assumption is that sentences may be broken up into constituent phrases that are in
fact words grouped together round a head. The head is that word without which the respective phrase
has no meaning. The head gives the category of the phrase, as the phrase is in fact a projection round a
head, it is endocentric. One important criterion to identify a phrase is the fact that the phrase and its
head have the same distribution (appear in the same contexts).

10. [The London train NP] [arrived [at [platform five.NP]PP]VP]

N0 V0 P 0 N0
One important parameter is the position occupied by the head in each language, because in all types of
phrases in a language the head always occupies the same position, either on the left (first) or on the right
(last). For instance, English is a head-left (head-initial) language, whereas Japanese is a head-right
(head-last) language.

The Extended Projection Principle

It is another principle of UG that requires all sentences to have a subject. The problem is that the subject
is not always overt even in the finite sentences. This is a variation between languages, a parameter called
the Pro-drop Parameter. For instance, English is a non-pro-drop language, whereas Romanian is a pro-
drop language.

11. pro este acasă.

*pro is at home. / He is at home.

We can now say that the grammar of a language can be seen as a particular set of values for the
paramenters, while the overall system of rules, principles and parametsrs is UG, which we may take as to
be one element of the human biological endowment, namely the language facility.

The Componets of the Grammar

LEXICON

D-STRUCTURE

MOVE α

S-STRUCTURE

Phonological Form Logical Form

PF-Representations LF-Representations

GB requires two levels of representation, namely d-structure and s-structure. At d-structure all the
elements in the sentence are in their initial location, while at s-structure they have moved. Move α is the
one single basic operation on a sentence. Deletion, insertion and substitution may also operate on the
sentence. Move α operates on d-structure and is a general rule that says that anything can be moved
leaving behind a trace co-indexed with the moved element. Traces are indicated by t and they mark the
original place in the sentence of the elements that have moved. They are symbolized at the level of s-
structure as a means of preserving the initial syntactic relations existing between the constituents of the
sentence so as not to alter the meaning of the sentence. The PF (how the sentence is pronounced) and
the LF (the assignment of meaning) components operate on the s-structure, not on the d-structure.

12. You are seeing what at the cinema?

Whatj arei you t i seeing t j at the cinema?

13. Mary will go there and [she will] do her duty.

[She will] can be deleted under identity. One can delete only items which are recovereable.

14. A book is on the table.

[There] is a book on the table.

[There] is inserted in sentence initial position as it is empty semantically and it does not alter the
meaning of the sentence.

15. [The boy] will go there.

[He] will go there. ---- substitution

Lexical and Functional Categories

Lexical categories – open classes of words that have descriptive content (N, A, Adv, P, V).
- They contain an infinite number of members, new ones can always be added to such
classes.
- both c-selection and s-selection operate on lexical categories
- are assigned theta-roles (N) or are theta-role assigners (V,P)
- are assigned case (N) or are case assigners (V,P)

Functional categories – closed sets; no new members can be added

- do not have descriptive content, they are semantically abstract. They serve to
express certain morpho-syntactic features that are not expressed by the lexical category
they combine with.
- they always select the same type of argument (only c-selection. Eg. I 0 always selects a
VP)
- They are the locus of grammatical information. Parametric variation affects only functional
categories
- Do not assign theta-roles.
- Determiners (definite and indefinite articles, demonstratives, the possessive marker ‘s,
cardinal numbers, possessives, pronouns), degree, tense, aspect, agreement, inflection,
mood, complementizers (that, whether, for-to)

The Structure of the Simple Sentence

16. *He buy a book. (He bought a book / He buys a book every week)
 The simple finite sentence is a projection of the INFL node that carries Tense and Agreement. INFL is a
functional category which dominates all verbal inflection. Depending on whether I 0 carries markers for
Tense or not sentences are divided into two main classes – finite and non-finite. Finite sentences carry
Tense markers, while non-finite ones are [-Tense]. We include infinitives, gerunds, present and past
participles and also small clauses under the category of non-finite sentences.

17. I will ask [whether [Poirot will abandon the investigation.]] --- THAT selects a finite clause
I will say [that [Poirot …………….]]

18. I want [for [him to come] --- FOR-TO selected an infinitive (non-finite) clause

We suggest that the Complementizer is the head of the sentence. Complementizers are non-lexical heads,
they are functional categories which turn a clause into the argument of a head. The choice of the
Complementizer depends on the lexical properties of the head.

The Auxiliary
- auxiliaries are a functional category.
- modal verbs, Progressive and passive BE; Perfective HAVE; Negative and Interrogative DO.
- auxiliaries are generated in a pre-verbal position, to the left of the verb
- auxiliaries lack an event structure; do not assign a theta-role
- auxiliaries can be negated by NOT; they can invert with the Su in question formation
- auxiliaries occur in tag questions
- DO is devoid of amy meaning.It appears as a Last Resort. It is a support for the negative or the Tense
affix in the Simple present Tense and the Simple Past Tense

20. (a) He might have been reading a book.

(b) She does not sing.
(c) Did Mary wash the dishes?

(a) He might have been reading a book.

Argument Structure

Theta Theory

The intuitive idea of participants in an activity has been formalized in terms of the general notion of
argument structure and of the notion of thematic structure.
Generally speaking, verbs have an argument structure, based on the structure of the event denoted by
the verb. The structure of this event determines the structure and the meaning of the sentence. The
argument structure of a verb determines which constituents of a sentence are obligatory. The obligatory
constituents are called complements, while the non-obligatory ones are called adjuncts.

21. This detective imitates Poirot. (Two arguments, Agent Patient/Theme)

We like John. (Experiencer Patient/Theme)
He gave the flowers to Mary. (Agent Theme Goal)
He bought the book for Mary. (Agent Theme Benefactive)
He is working. (Agent)
The house collapsed. (Theme)
Arguments are divided into external and internal arguments. Internal arguments are subcategorized
by the verb. Adjectives and prepositions also have an argument structure. (interested in art, between
Mary and John).

The specific semantic relations between a verb and its arguments are referred to in terms of theta
roles. The verbs theta-marks its arguments by assigning a theta role to each of its arguments.

Theta-Criterion - each argument is assigned one and only one theta role, and each theta role is
assigned to one and only one argument.

Theta roles

1. Agent/Actor – the initiator of some action; the ‘doer’ or instigator of the action denoted by the
predicate. 
John made a table.

2. Theme/Patient – entity undergoing the effect of some action; the entity that is moved by the action
or event denoted by the predicate; an argument undergoing motion of some sort, including motion in a
metaphorical sense, such as a change of state; the term for arguments that are most 'affected' in a
situation or for the content of an experience.
The ball rolled towards him.
Jane crumbled to the floor.

3. Experiencer – entity experiencing some psychological state

Students hate linguistics.

4. Benefactive/Beneficiary– entity benefiting from some action.

John did the job for me.

5. Goal – entity towards which something moves

He offered the flowers to Jane.

6. Instrument – means by which something comes about

He opened the door with the key.

7.Location – place in which something is situated or takes place

He put the book on the shelf.

8. Source – entity from which something moves.

He came from Venice.

9. Cause- a non-sentient entity which causes the occurrence of an event

Hurricane-force winds demolished much of the town.
An epidemic killed off all of the tomatoes.
An economic downturn put thousands of workers out of work
LMA – 2nd YEAR
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR (I)

I. Discuss structure dependence starting from the examples below:
1. *Tall is John? 2.Did the woman who fall in love with Bogart in Casablanca was played by Ingrid Bergman or
Lauren Bacall? 3.*President was assassinated the. 4.*Who did you see the tall in the garden?
II. In the sentences below identify the phrases, the head of each phrase and state the complements
and adjuncts of each phrase:
1. This boy will speak very slowly to that girl.2.Almost certainly, the cat will eat his dinner. 3.The back seat of my
car has got books on it.4. She is very pretty. 5. Mary thinks that he may have been writing a letter to his sister. 6.
We are nearing a meadow. 7. Near the meadow they built a house.8. The house was nearer to the meadow
now.9.Nearness to the meadow was the great virtue of our house. 10. I saw two pictures of my brother on the
table.11. Mother has always admired his passion for music. 12. He was so very tall that he impressed all the girls in
the first year. 13. I can say I am rather pleased about it.14. She moved two meters to the left.15. He had waited for
her in the rain for three hours.
III. In the sentences below discuss the Projection Principle: 1.*This book belongs.2.Mary is eating an
apple.3.The children are eating.4.The President is kissing his wife.5.*The President is kissing.6.The President and
his wife are kissing.7.The professor gave a book to Mary.8*The professor gave a book.9.*The professor gave to
Mary.10.I rely on you.11.*I rely.12.John believed Mary’s lie.13.John believed Mary was lying.14.*John believed to
lie.15.The Professor is writing a book.16.The professor is writing a book on syntax.
IV. Identify the thematic roles assigned to the NPs in the sentences below:
1. Emily opened the drawer with the iron key. 2. The ball rolled down the slope. 3. The Bengal tiger died.
4. The trooper hoped for a promotion. 5. The poet’s words inspired the young woman. 6. The delegates
left Mexico City for Paris. 7. The government took over a billion dollars from the rich. 8. The chef baked a
cherry pie for Jessica. 9. He brought flowers to his wife. 10. Moses guided his people to the Promised
Land. 11. Each year the economy gets worse. 12. Sarah Higgins annoyed me. 13. The drug killed the
diseased cells. 14. To build a second nuclear reactor would be foolish. 15. John loves Mary.
V. Identify the Auxiliary in the sentences below: 1.He was here yesterday. 2. They have already
arrived.3.He may be at home.4.Mother is cooking in the kitchen. 5. She has been reading for an hour.6.The
teacher should be here any moment now.7.John may have been waiting for her.8.He could have left.9.She could be
reading.10.Mother might have been working in the garden since early morning.
VI.Analyse the sentences below and decide whether they are finite/non-finite; compound or
complex; analyse the syntactic function of each sentence and of the constituents of each sentence:
1.He knows the answer, but he would not tell it to me whatever I might do to persuade him.2.She cut the
bread with the knife which was on the table and she put the slices in the basket for mother to find them
in the morning.3.Describe carefully what you saw without omitting any detail.4.That he should be late is
quite odd, but that he should do his duty is even more curious, as we all know that he is lazy.5.I owe
Mary a big sum of money, and I don’t have any idea how to earn it and give it back to her.6.Tell the story
to whoever is willing to listen to you. 7.John is fed up with your telling so many lies.8.Seeing is
believing.9.He remembered to post the letters when he went to town.10.He remembered posting the
letters.11.The smoke which killed the rat came from our neighbours’ house.12. I saw Mary crossing the
street. 13. He heard the bell ring. 14. His coming here was quite unexpected. 15. It is always discouraging
to lose. 16. They encouraged Mary to go to the theatre.
VII. Are the following sentences ill-formed? Why?
1.Omar sighed a book.2.This tradition lasted despite our opposition.3.The women were bringing. 4.I gave the car
back to him.5.I gave the car to him back.6.I thought Mary was ill, but it turned out that she wasn’t. 7. I knew Mary
was ill, but it turned out that she wasn’t.7.My uncle realizes that I’m a lousy cook.8.My car realizes that I’m a lousy
cook.9.John very much Mary loves.10.All friends my linguists are.11.I killed John, but he didn’t die.12.Gary Gay
never loses her temper with anyone.13.”The naughty tree who we passed waved his cherry branches at Mary and
said: ‘You can tickle my leaves any time, darling.” (THE MAGIC FOREST) 14.John respects himself.15.We respect
himself.16.Who did we meet at the party? / Whom did we meet at the party? 16.Look at the cross-eyed
elephant./Look at the cross-eyed kindness./Look at the cross-eyed from
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

LECTURE II - THE COPULATIVE PREDICATION

Let us start from the analysis of the following sentences:

1. (a)Mary is quiet.
(b) Jack is a doctor.
(c) Susan is of my age.
(d) She will make a good mother.

These sentences contain a copula (be in sentences a,b,c) or a copula-like verb (make in sentence d) which
functions as the link between the subject of the sentence and the constituent which predicates about the subject.
This element is called a predicative. The copula or the copula-like verb and the predicative form a copulative
predicate.

Let’s have a look at the following examples:

2. (a) Granfather is a good man. (DP)

(b) My sister is very pretty. (AP)
(c) The hat is of my size. (PP)
(d) The problem is to do it correctly. (IP)
(e) The idea is that you should never agree to such things. (CP)

As we can see the predicative can be expressed by a wide range of phrases. Only the copula BE allows the full range
of predicatives, the other copula-like verbs allow only a limited number of possibilities.

THE COPULA BE

If we look at the sentences under 1, we shall immediately see that it is the predicative not the copula which assigns
a property to the subject, namely Mary is assigned the property quiet, Jack the property a doctor, a.s.o, which
means that the predication relation hold between the subject and the predicative, and not between the subject and
the copula. We can say that the subject of the sentence is assigned a theta role and so is an argument of the
predicative, not of the copula BE. It can be demonstrated by the semantic relations that the predicative imposes
on the subject.

3. (a) *Bill is a spinster.

(b) *Mrs Brown is Mary’s father.
(c) *His brother is buxom.

The sentences above are ungrammatical as the property assigned by the predicatice to the subject violates the s-
selection. A Spinster and buxom select a [+female] entity, while father selects a [+male] entity.

The copula does not assign an external theta role because it does not have substantive content (meaning). This
means that the copula does not have an external argument; it only has an internal argument, a small clause which
account for the predication relation between the subject ant the predicative. The subject is generated in the subject
position of the Small Clause, where it is assigned a theta role, and from there it moves to the subject position of the
sentence to be assigned case and also to satisfy the EPP, which says that all sentences must have a subject. This
means that BE cannot assign case, which is in keeping with the fact that it does not assign a theta role to an
external argument. So the copula BE behaves like an unaccusative verb.

BE [ Mary, very nice] small clause ------- Mary is very nice

│ │

Burzio’s generalization (i) a verb which lacks an external argument fails to assign Accusative case
 (ii)a verb which fails to assign Accusative case fails to theta-mark an external argument

The NP generated in the subject position of the Small Clause will move to subject position of the sentence in order
to be assigned case.

Conclusion
 The copula Be is a raising verb taking a small clause as its complement, it lacks an external argument, fails
to assign case to its complement, does not assign a theta role. Therefore it is an unaccusative verb which
selects a small clause, the subject of the clause being generated in the subject position of the small clause
out of which it raises to be assigned case.
 The copula BE is semantically light, which has been taken as a possible explanation for the fact that it
shares a number of properties with the auxiliaries.
 It behaves like auxiliary verbs – it moves in question formation; it is directly negated by not/n’t, it can be
stressed by emphatic affirmations, it occurs in tags and codas
4. (a) Are they students?
(b) They are not/aren’t students.
(c) Oh, but they ARE students.
(d) They are students, aren’t they?
(e) They are students, and so are theor friends.

 Like an auxiliary, the copula BE precedes the adverbs.

5. They are always rude to everyone.

He is never impertiment.

 Unlike auxiliaries, which only allow one type of complement (VP), the copula allows a wide variety of small
clauses as complements (DP, AP, NP, PP, IP, CP).

 The copula can co-occur with other auxiliaries, including auxiliary BE

6. You have always been so nice to me.

He is being clumsy now!

 When the small clause contains two NPs, any of the two can raise to [Spec,IP]

7. That unimportant incident was the cause of the war.

The cause of the war was that unimportant incident.

 To conclude, we can say that the copula BE is an unaccusative verb that has a number of specific properties
which distinguish it from regular unaccusatives and from auxiliaries as well.

The role of the copula

Small clauses are reduced clauses which lack the functional categories, mainly Tense, but which denote
predication relations, namely states of affairs which must receive temporal anchoring. This is done by the verb the
small clause is a complement of. The copula carries the markers for Tense, Aspect, Agreement, Mood .

8. (a) Michael is careful. (Tense)

(b) Michael is being so awkward today! (Tense, Aspect)
(c ) He has always been so nice. (Tense,Aspect)
(d) If only he were more attentive. (Tense, Mood)
COPULA-LIKE VERBS

 Fall, stand, make, sit, loom, remain, hold, run, get, lie, grow, go, turn, pass, seem, come, etc

9. MAKE - If you work hard, you will make a good lawyer.(DP)

She will make a wonderful actress.(DP)
FALL – The scheme fell flat.(AP)
He fell victim to her cruel remarks.(NP)
She fell an easy prey to him.(DP)
The house fell into ruins.(PP)
LIE – The book lay open on the table.(AP)
The snow lay thick on the ground.(AP)
HOLD – The argument holds true.(AP)
She always holds aloof from company.(AP)
STAND – Tom stands alone amomg his mates.(AP)
We will stand firm.(AP)
Lady Jane stood godmother to her sister’s child.(NP)
Those poor people stand in need of help.(PP)
SIT – He sat tight on the saddle.(AP)
LOOM – The castle loomed menacing in the distance. (AP)
REMAIN – He remained a widower at the age of 30.(DP)
GET – The sink got rusty.(AP)
GROW – He has grown old.(AP)
TURN – He finally turned a traitor. (DP)
They obliged the prisoners to turn Muslim. (AP)
PASS – They pass for rich.(PP)
He passed for a doctor.(PP)
SEEM – The students seem interested in linguistics. (AP)
COME – The knot has come undone.(AP)

Copula-like verbs behave like the copula. They lack an external argument, their internal complement is a small
clause, so they are raising verbs like the copula, in the sense that they trigger the movement of the subject of the
Small Clause to the subject position of the copulative clause, but the copula-like verbs do not move.

Nevertheless, there are a number of differences between the copula and the copula-like verbs.
 They preserve part of their lexical meaning (durative – stay, remain, inchoative –become, get)
 They impose certain selectional restrictions on the small clause (see the examples above)
 They do not combine with the full range of small clauses as BE
 They do not raise, do not invert in question formation, need do-support, are not negated by not/n’t, need
do-support, do not appear in tags and codas.

10. They turned Muslim.

*Turned they Muslim? (Did they turn Muslim?)
*They turned not Muslim. (They didn’t turn Muslim)
*They turned Muslim, turnedn’t they?

 They do not precede the adverbs (like lexical verbs)

11. *The river runs always dry in summer.

The river always runs dry in summer.
  Unlike the copula BE, when the small clause contains two NPs, only the NP subject, that is the one
generated in [Spec, SC] position can raise to [Spec, IP].

12. My uncle remained a doctor all his life.

*A doctor remained my uncle all his life.

THE PREDICATIVE

THE ADJECTIVAL TYPE

 Adjectives are heads that project structure, can be modified by an adverb in the pre-head position, can
select a complement (PP , CP or IP), can also contain adjuncts

13. (a)rather envious of Mary’s success

(b) glad that we were there
(c) very unwilling to come here
(d) rather discontent with me for my behaviour

 They may have an exclusively attributive or a exclusively predicative use or both

14. Mary is beautiful.

I saw a beautiful woman.

ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES

 They appear only in pre-nominal positions in English, unlike Romanian

15. an envious person / * a person envious

 When used attributively, adjectives do not allow complements

16. * a very unwilling to come here person

* a rather discontent with me father

 Nevertheles, there are a number of adjectives which appear post-nominally even when used attributively -
general, public, martial. laureate

17. secretary general, attorney general, notary public, court martial, poet laureate

 There are adjectives which, under specific conditions, appear post-nominally even when used attributively

18. The ships damaged by the strom were recovered yesterday.

 Attributive adjectives have degrees of comparison, but only those which denote gradable properties. They
can be modified by degree words (quite, rather). Adjectives that denote ungradable properties do not allow
comparison or degree words.

19. (a) the most beautiful woman

(b) It isn’t very hot.
(c ) *He is very alive.

 When the occur in a string preceding the noun they are arranged on a very strict order

a) adjectives modifying object-denoting nominals

possessives>cardinal>quality>size>shape>color>nation
20. a beautiful red Persian carpet / * a Persian beautiful red carpet

b) adjectives modifying event nominals

possessives>cardinal>ordinal>speaker-oriented>subject-oriented>manner>thematic
21. his previous disgusting angry reaction to your demand
Their future possible friendly cooperation

 Adjectives may denote temporary or permanent properties, and depending on that they may appear in pre
or post-modifying positions

22. the only navigable river (permanent property) / the responsible man (trustworthy)
The only river navigable (transient property) / the man responsible (to blame)

Exclusively modifying adjectives

1) denominal adjectives derived from nound denoting substances

Eg. Wooden, leaden, golden

23. a wooden bracelet / *The bracelet is wooden. (made of wood)
A leaden coffin. / *The coffin is leaden. (made of lead)
A golden ring / *The ring is golden. (made of gold)

If used in a figurative meaning, these adjectives may also be used predicatively

24. Her movements were wooden. (like wood)

The sky was leaden. (the colour of lead)
Her hair was golden. (the colour of gold)

2) adjectives which may have been derived from adverbs

Eg. Main, eventual, principal, utter, actual, favourite, former, mere, sole

25. The main purpose of his action has never been known. / *The purpose is main.
What we witnessed was an utter failure. /*The failure is utter.
Don’t overestimate the actual importance of the act./ *The importance of the act is actual.

3) past participles which never occur in passive sentences (deprated, escaped)

26. The departed guests. /*The guests are departed.

The escaped prisoner /*The prisoner is escaped

4) modal adjectives – alleged, potential, possibel

27. an alleged genius / *the genius was alleged

5)temporal adjectives – future, former, late, occasional, present, daily, monthly

28. the future wedding / *the wedding is future

6) manner adjectives (related to adverbs) – compulsive, big, frequent,

29. a compulsive eater / *the eater is compulsive

PREDICATIVE ADJECTIVES
  They select internal arguments (like verbs) to which they assign theta roles. They generally subcategorize
for PP, but the preposition is idiosyncratic, that is it cannot be predicted from the properties of the
adjective. Some adjectives subcategorize for IP (infinitives) or CPs.

30. capable of decision; conversant with the subject; lacking in intelligence; dependent on his family;
answearable to the Prime Minister

31. They were eager to succeed.

He is ready to leave.
She was happy that they had arrived.
I am afraid that they will not manage.

 They behave like verbs in a number of ways, but do not inflect for Tense and Agreement. They take a
subjected hosted by [Spec,AP] and a complement to which they assign theta roles.This type of phrase is
assumed to be a small clause

Exclusively predicative adjectives

1)Adverb-like adjectives beginning with a-

Eg. Ablaze, afire, agog, aghast, afraid, asleep, akin, ajar, akimbo, alive, alike, alone, afloat, aware, awash, astir,
askew, averse, ashamed

33. The whole building was ablaze. / *the ablaze building

He was asleep. /*the asleep man
The door was ajar. /*the ajar door

If the adjective is quantified it can be used as a modifying adjective.

34. a half-asleep student; a somewhat afraid student; a fully aware teacher

2) prepositional adjectives which can never appear as pre-nominal modifiers, which nevertheless appear in a post-
modifying position

35. Young people are fond of pop music.

Is your child subject to colds?
This woman is prone to superstition.
A child subject to so many colds should be carefully looked after.

Adjectives which appear in both positions

1) with distinct meanings

Eg. Heavy, hard, slow, frequent, traditionalist, occasional, possible, apparent

36. The march is slow. / A slow child

The luggage is heavy. / A heavy smoker

2) both predicative and modifying in one meaning and only modifying in the other meaning

Eg. Civil, criminal, dramatic, atomic, chemical

37. She gave me a very civil answer. /Her answer was civil.
He specializes in civil engineering / *The engineering is civil.

3) adjectives such as old, new, wrong – when characterizing the refernt directly they are used
 In both positions

Eg. True, complete, perfect,sure,clean,firm,sheer,total

38. old/new furniture / The furniture is old/new

A wrong answer / The answer is wrong

- when not characterizing the referent directly they are used

attributively

39. an old/new acquaintance

The wrong person (wrongly identified)

ATTRIBUTIVE AND EQUATIVE (IDENTIFYING) COPULATIVE PREDICATION

a) Attributive – A is B
40. Mary is smart.
Bobby is a fresher.
The district is in a state of chaos.
The problem is that he sould leave.

b) Equative – A=B
41. The girl is John’s friend.
He is Secretary of State.
This girls is the most attractive of all.
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR (II) - THE COPULATIVE PREDICATION

I. Is copulative BE a raising verb? What are the features that copulative BE shares with the auxiliaries? What are the
features that copulative BE does not share with the auxiliaries? What kind of complement does copulative BE subcategorize
for?
II Are copula-like verbs raising verbs? What kind of complement do copula-like verbs subcategorize for? What features
do copula-like verbs share with the copula BE and what features they don’t?
III. What do the following copula-like verbs subcategorize for?
1. He’ll make a poor pop-singer. 2. His voice went hoarse with so much shouting.3.The results of these experiments will
remain a secret as long as the researches are alive.4.The United States stands ready to take whatever military action is
appropriate.5.In ten years’ time from now on he will make a good president.6.The air turned cold.7.The hose has fallen lame.
8. The house fell into decay. 9. He will turn traitor, you will see.10.The knot has come untied.11.He can grow tired of writing.
12. He’ll continue as manager of the company till the following elections. 13. The prospect of war loomed large in everybody’s
minds. 14. Seawater tastes salty. 15. His fear turned into uncontrolled panic.
IV. Discuss the properties of adjectives when used attributively and predicatively.Decide whether the
adjectives below are exclusively modifying or exclusively predicative.Illustrate in sentences of your own.
ENVIOUS, GENERAL, PUBLIC,ALIVE, ASHEMED, DAMAGED, WOODEN, MAIN, FAVOURITE, DEPARTED, ALLEGED,
EAGER, FOND, HEAVY, CIVIL, OLD, GLAD.CURIOUS
V. VI. Distinguish between the instances of BE in the sentences below:
1. He was at school with my sisters. 2. He was at school. 3. The tulips are out. 4. My mother is out.5.The Social Democrats are
in. 6. My boss is in. 7. He is reading a new play. 8. The house has just been redecorated. 9. The soup is off. 10. We’re off. 11. He
is at home in several foreign languages. 12. He is still at home. 13. I was surprised at/by the idea. 14. He is well -behaved. 15. I
was being surprised by/*at your behaviour. 16.There’s the accident! 17.He is at table./ He is at the table.18.He is Secretary of
State. 19.Vegetative reproduction is by fragmentation.20.It’s no use crying over the spilt milk.21.She is artist enough to find
an original solution.22.Fur coats are the thing today.23.The funeral is tomorrow.24.Nobody is on the safe.25.There should be
a lot of people there tomorrow.
VII. Replace by BE-predicates and make all the necessary changes:
1.I regret to say that. 2. I fear that I presume too much on your patience.3. They hope for a better life.4. The music pleased
everybody. 6. These words express my intimate desire. 7. They support their wives in public. 8. The boat drifted for a month.
9. The waves washed the deck. 10. The bulbs glittered in the trees. 11. John resembles his brother. 12. Nobody touched the
food. 13. His attitude provoked a disaster. 14. He doesn `t like to work hard. 15. She has always pursued her personal
interests.
VIII. Consider the following subcategorization features and assign them to the copula-like verbs below;
supply one illustrative context of your own for each feature that you associate with each verb:
Features: [-AP]; [-AP,PP]; [-NP]; [-PP]; [-PRT,PP]
Verbs: SMELL, GROW, GO, MAKE, STAND.
IX. Supply the copula-like verbs in the sentences below:
1.His popularity may ......... eroded.2.Your zip has ......... undone.3.Lampposts .......... marooned on their concrete
islands .4.The mail ....... scattered on the table.5.His eyes ......... black in anger.6.What kind of people ........ bandit? 7.His
exploits .......... unsung. 8.The silk ........ soft and smooth.9.When that road ......... into disuse, nothing will be there
anymore.10.You will ......... a lovely public figure. 11.Their case ……… unheard as far as the authorities were concerned. 12. His
time of ten seconds ……….. unbeaten. 13. Unhinged by her death, he ………. ill. 14. Fashion has to change almost with the moon
to ……………. fashionable.15. How did Socrates ………….. master of himself? 16. There are times when we are like horses, we
…………. psychologists, we ………. restive. 17. When he ……….. very old, he told them a story he had heard in China. 18. Her
relatives would have nothing to do with her. She ……. sick, poor and weak. 19.As he remarried, his son ……….. estranged. 20.
Without what makes it full, the valley may ……….. dry. 21. He has such a sensitive face like Apollo ………….. fasting friar. 22.
He did not seem to notice that Henry had ………….. silent. 23. Why had they all …… so quiet? 24. The nuclear weapons that
had been stored in the cave had …….. loose, the cylinders had cracked. 25. He put in a word here before things ……….. heated.
26. The air around them ………….. awash with daylight. The sky ……….. something light and limitless. 27. Glands can …………
larger or smaller in response to use. 28. They may choose to ………. hungry rather than make another ten-mile track. 29.
Perhaps if the population of that country had not been exposed to the whole terror of modern war, they would have …………….
permanently nonviolent. 30. Who can …….. muddy and yet, settling, slowly ……….. limpid. 31. And if I cease to desire and
………. still, they will be at peace of their own accord. 32. King`s Chapel …………. without peer. 33. Laws should not be allowed
to ……… into contempt. 34. You can ………… young at heart. 35. How many positions have ………. vacant? 36. He is unhappy
because he has ……… bald. 37. They have ……….. short of food. 38. Such crimes must not ……. unpunished. 39. Their
achievement ………… unmatched to this day. 40. One can …….. lyrical on such a subject. 41. His plan to reform the system has
……… unstuck.42. Joblessness and school dropouts ……….. large among the problems I encountered. 43. A string may ……..
unties. 44. The telephone …….. dead. 45. The material has ……….. thin. 46. The silk ……… soft and smooth. 47. She ………..
pretentious. 48. The machinery has ……… to rust. 49. They ………. for the richest family in the county. 50.These methods have
gradually ……….. into disuse.
X. Fill in the necessary prepositions:
1. He was not ________ home in their world. 2. The table was ______ disarray. 3.The writing fit was ________ him
again. 4.Crying was ______ the point. 6.The man was _______ his best behaviour at the party. 6.I am _______ films.
7.This is an unpopular measure whichever Administration is ____ power. 8.We are ________ fear of snow. 9.In many cities
efforts were _______ way to raise funds. 10.Life was _______ standstill in New York yesterday. 11.You are _______
liberty to go. 12.The film hits him home; it`s right _____ target. 13.Their skill is _______ demand now. 14.Are you _____
good terms with yourself? 15.Can you say you are _________ no obligation to help? 16.He is always ________ a
disadvantage in arguments.17. Are you _______ to it? 18.Our zone is ______ peace. 19.The call is ________ . 20.These
clans are still _______ war. 21.We were ________ exclusion and discrimination.
XI. Translate into English using BE+PP/PRT+(PP):
1. Este o greşeală fără importanţă. 2. Rămăsese în urmă cu plata chiriei. 3. Ţi-e soarta în joc. 4. Copacii au înmugurit. 5. Se
studiaza promovarea ta. 6. E la curent cu asta? 7. terenul acesta este cultivat cu cartofi. 8. Sunt încă la prima ceaşcă de ceai. 9.
Nu are greutatea necesară. 10. Au ordin să tragă. 11. Face parte din personal de zece ani. 12. E încă în tratament. 13. E în curs
o anchetă pe plan local. 14. Îmi pare rău, nu mai avem aceste vederi în stoc. 15. Nu-i vorbi când lucrează. 16. El a greşit. 17. Ai
terminat cu călătoriile. 18. Vrea să-ţi ia slujba. 19. Probabil că are dureri mari. 20. Nici nu ai idee cu ce te pui.
XII. Translate into English, paying attention to the copulative predications and also to all the a fi
predicates:
A. Copiii sunt veseli şi zgomotoşi. Ei au devenit cercetători. Noi suntem fericiţi de venirea prietenilor noştri. Mihai a ajuns al
doilea la crosul de ieri. Obligaţia ta rămâne de a citi mereu câte puţin din cărţile din biblioteca tatălui tau. Tema este de scris.
Azi nu arăţi prea bine. Vecinul meu este, în zilele de sâmbătă şi duminică, paznic la un deposit de materii prime. Ea a rămas,
cun ştii şi tu foarte bine, generoasă şi amabilă. Problema este să ne prezentăm in corpore acolo. Toţi veţi deveni ceea ce v-aţi
propus. Să renunţi acum înseamnă să-ţi recunoşti public neputinţa. Primăvara aceasta este timpurie.
B. Era pe la 1601. Am fost la munte cu trenul. Cât e kilogramul de banane? Ce e când ţi se bate ochiul stâng? Ea este în
camera de alături. Aparatul era construit de o echipă specială. Când a fost să pleci te-am ajutat. Numai cine nu socoate
iubirea de ţară drept o datorie e în stare să se laude cu ea. Tu ai ajuns, conform previziunilor mele, pictor. Realizarea ta în
acest domeniu înseamnă, în final, o mare recompensă. Fapta lui pare neînsemnată, dar va avea, sunt sigur, consecinţe
cumplite. El se va face medic după ce va termina facultatea. Pe măsura ce învăţaţi deveniţi mai înţelepţi.
C. Dorinţa noastră este să ne perfecţionăm. Visul ei a fost să se facă actriţă. El nu a devenit ceeace a visat. Colegul meu a
ajuns ce a dorit mereu să fie, adica on de afaceri. Şcoala a rămas cum o ştii. Fiica prietenei mele cele mai bune s-a făcut ceea ce
şi-au dorit părinţii să fie şi acum este cumplit de nemulţumită. Răspunsul tău înseamnă că nu ai înţeles nimic din ce am spus
până acum sau nu ai fost deloc atent.Răsplata va fi după cum o meriţi. Cartea este a oricui ar dori s-o cumpere. Întrebarea
este cine ca fi premiat la sfârşitul acestui concurs. Mâncarea-i cum îţi place ţie, nici prea caldă, nici prea rece, nici prea sărată,
nici prea condimentată. Cum e mama e şi fiica.
D. 1. Căci obiceiul era să se meargă cumva cu capul descoperit în cazul când el singur ar fi fost acoperit şi s-ar fi văzut că n-a
mai intrat niciodată în asemenea local, iar lumea distinsă s-ar fi uitat zâmbind dispreţuitoare după el. Dacă dimpotrivă
obiceiul ar fi fost ca să se meargă acoperit iar el ar fi intrat cu pălăria în mână, cu hainele roase şi lustruite, cu faţa de bolnav
nerasă socoti că ar părea desigur acolo un comisionar care aută pe cineva şi gândul acesta îi răsucea nervii. (Camil Petrescu)
2. Poate că ofiţerul a înţeles că e mai bună afacerea pentru el să se facă la noapte că doarme decât să mai meargă până la
Seltim, hărţuit mereu că se află într-o ţară străină, mai ales că nu se mai opera nici o barcă şi pe malul celălalt nu puteau să
vorbească cu lopătarii . (Camil Petrescu)
3. N-am să-ţi dau răspuns la întrebările acestea căci ce voiesc eu e numai să deştept în mine sentimental că atunci când
eram copil nu-mi dădeam seama despre ceea ce făceam. Mama era, ce-i drept, aspră, dar ei nu-I păsa de ceea ce făceam eu;
vorba era numai să nu cad, să nu mă lovesc, să nu mă tai, să nu mă ard, să nu mă fac de ruşine . (Ioan Slavici)
4. Asta înseamnă că se apropie sfârşitul, se gândi bolnavul, şi pe portiţa gândului simţea cum se furişa în gol ameninţător
o dâră de groază care totuşi părea că-I plăcută. (Liviu Rebreanu)
5. Dacă el îndrăznea, însemna că el ştia ceva care ei nu ştiau şi înfriguraţi să afle acest ceva nou şi nesăbuit care apăruse
în mijlocul lor, lăsară căruţele fără pază şi începură să se apropie din toate părţile. (Marin Preda).
6. Când fu să plecăm, mă luă la o parte să mă previe să fiu faţă de soţul ei ca şi cum nu s-ar fi întâmplat nimic şi n-aş fi
ştiut nimic, pentru că nici dânsul nu avea să-şi aducă aminte. (Mateiu Caragiale).
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

LECTURE III - THE INTRANSITIVE PREDICATION

(ONE-ARGUMENT VERBS)

Traditionally, one-argument verbs minimally contain one NP, which generally appears in the subject position, but
the main problem seems to be related to the position of that argument in the argument frame of the verb, so the
problem is whether it is the external or the internal argument. The position of the argument has important
consequences for the syntactic behaviour of the verb.
One-argument verbs fall into two categories: a)unergatives and b)unaccusatives.
Eg. A) He may protest.
He overdosed.
He complained.
The children are swimming.
They were coughing because of the smoke.
B) There arose an unfortunate misunderstanding.
There came a cry of anguish from inside the house.
There appeared a ghostly face at the window.
In front of the house there stands a statue of the general.
There have arisen several problems.

A) Unergatives
 Describe mainly volitional acts
 The subject has control over the action, it is the initiator of the event, it is an Agent
 The NP appearing with an unergative verb is its external argument
 Is is not possible to have an postverbal imperative subject with unergatives
Eg. *Eat you up!
 The past participles of unergative verbs cannot be used as adjectives in a post-head position
Eg. *The man talked to was a neighbour of mine.
 The past participles of unergatives cannot be used as an adjective in a pre-head position
Eg, * The yawned student eventually fell asleep in class.
 Unergatives evince the feature of atelicity, in other words they do not presuppose an end point
Eg. The boys cried with laughter.
 Unergatives allow a so-called cognate object, an object which copies the semantic features of the verb and
which occupies the canonical position of the direct object, namely after the governing verb.
Eg. They slept the sleep of the just.
They died a heroic death.
She dreamt a nice dream.

B) Unaccusatives
 The subject of unaccusatives undergoes a change of location or state and has no control over the action
 The subject is not an Agent, it is generally assigned the theta-role Patient or Theme
 The unique argument of an unaccusative verb is the internal argument
 In Belfast English it is possible to have a postverbal imperative subject
Eg. Leave you now!
Arrive you before 6!
Be going you out of the door when he arrives!
 The past participles of unaccusatives can be used as aadjectives in a post-head position
Eg, The train arrived at platform 5 is the London Express.
They arrested a businessman recently returned from Thailand.
 The past participles of unaccusatives can be used as adjectives in a pre-head position
 Eg. He is some kind of a fallen hero.
 Unaccusatives evince the feature of telicity, namely they presuppose an end point.
Eg. The car had vanished from sight.
 They do not allow a direct object
Eg. *The prices decreased cheese.
 Unaccusatives co-occur with Resultative Constructions
Eg. The river froze solid.

UNERGATIVE VERBS

a) predicates describing willed or volitional acts: work, play, speak, talk, smile, grin, frown,
grimace, think, mediate, cogitate, daydream, skate, ski, swim, hunt, bicycle, walk, skip, jog,
quarrel, fight, wrestle, box, agree, disagree, knock, bang, hammer, pray, weep, cry, kneel, bow,
laugh, dance, crawl.
b) verbs denoting manners of speaking: whisper, shout, mumble, grumble, growl, bellow, etc
c) predicates describing sounds made by animals: bark, neigh, quack, roar, chirp, oink, mew, etc
d) verbs denoting involuntary bodily processes: cough, sneeze, hiccough, belch, burp, defecate, urinate,
sleep, cry, weep, etc

Eg. They quarreled quite often.

We sneezed a lot with hay fever.
They ski in the Alps every year.
She was weeping with joy at the ceremony.

UNACCUSATIVE VERBS
A) burn, fall, drop, sink, float, slide, slip, glide, soar, flow, ooze, seep, trickle, drip, gush, hang, dangle, sway,
wave, tremble, shake, languish, flourish, thrive, drown, stumble, trip, roll, succomb, dry, boil, seethe,
lie(involuntarily), sit(involuntarily), bend(involuntarily),
B) inchoatives (verbs showing a process resulting in a change of state) : melt, freeze, evaporate, redden,
darken, yellow, rot, decompose, germinate, sprout, bud, wilt, wither, increase, decrease, blush, explode,
die, perish, choke, suffocate, scatter, disperse, vanish, disappear
C) verbs of existing and happening: exist, occur, happen, result, take place
D) aspectual predicates: begin, start, stop, cease, continue, end, etc
E) duratives: last, remain, stay, survive, etc
F) verbs denoting a non-voluntary emission of stimuli that has an impact on the senses : shine, sparkle,
glitter, glow, jingle, clink, clang, snap, crackle, pop, smell, stink, etc
G) verbs of existence: blaze, bubble, cling, coexist, correspond, decay, depend, drift, dwell, elapse, emanate,
exist, fester, float, flow, fly, grow, hide, hover, live, loom, lurk, overspread, persist, predominate, prevail,
project, protrude, revolve, reside, rise, shelter, settle, smoulder, spread, stream, survive, sweep, swing,
tower, wind
H) verbs of appearance: accumulate, appear, arise, awake, awaken, break, burst, dawn, derive, develop,
emerge, ensure, evolve, exude, flow, follow, gush, happen, issue, materialize, occur, plop, spill, steal, stem,
supervene, surge

This D-structure is in accordance with the case-assigning properties of the two classes of verbs.
Following Burzio’s generalization, a verb which lacks an external argument, in other words it is does not
assign an external theta role also fails to assign Accusative case. Therefore, the internal argument of
unaccusatives has to move out of the VP internal position in order to be assigned case. On the contrary,
unergatives, which have an external argument, can assign Accusative case under specific conditions.
Eg. (a)The ice melted . ICE is the internal argument of the verb melt, it undergoes a change
of state. So the verb is unaccusative.
(b) He dreamt a nice dream. The verb allows a cognate object to which it assigns
Accusative Case, therefore it is unergative.
TESTS FOR UNERGATIVITY/UNACCUSATIVITY

I.. There-insertion
Only unaccusatives (with the exception of verbs of change of state) and passive verbs can occur in
the there-insertion construction, unergatives are not allowed in this construction.

Eg. A problem developed. /There developed a problem.

A ship appeared in the horizon. / There appeared a ship in the horizon.
A woman lodged at Mrs Brown’s. / *There lodged a woman at Mrs Brown’s
Oiled soared in price. / *There soared in price.
Eg, (passive predicates) There was found in this cave an ancient treasure.
There was glued a poster on this wall.
Eg. (unergatives) *There sneezed a man.
*There broke out a fire.
*There spoke a man in a loud voice.
Eg. (change of state) *On the line there are drying a lot of clothes.
*There melted a lot of snow on the streets of the city.

A.The there-insertion construction which diagnoses unaccusativity

There V NP PP

Eg. There remained three men in the room.

There followed a wave of indignation in the newspapers.
Throughout the 19th century there stood an ugly statue of the last king on the palace lawn.
There dangles a magnificent chandelier from the ceiling.

This construction simply postulates the existence of some entity and it may contain no locative information.
Existential there used in this construction is just a presentative construction, which does not necessarily locate
in space. There is devoid of meaning, it is an expletive element. The internal argument of the verb must be
[-agentive], it cannot have any control over the action denoted by the verb. Such sentences usually express
‘coming into being’. (There began a riot. / *There ended a riot). Not all unaccusatives allow the there-insertion
construction. It is mainly verbs of existence (the state resulting from the appearance of some entity) and verbs of
appearance (coming into existence), which share the idea of existence. They also require a location argument, be it
overt or implicit, which means that these verbs have two internal arguments – one describing the entity that exist
(Theme) and the other one describing the location at which the entity exists (the location argument).Such verbs
lack a causative variant.

Eg. *He appeared a cat at the door.

*They remained three men in the room.

There occupies the subject position, so the internal argument of the unaccusative verb can remain after the verb.
There inverts with the auxiliary in question formation (Were there many children in the yard?)

 There are unaccusatives derived from basically two argument-verbs causative predicates which become
intransitive and do not allow the there-insertion construction. The causative component of the predicate
disallows the there-insertion construction.

Eg. The glass broke./ He broke the glass

*There broke the glass.

B. The second type of there-insertion construction

There V PP NP

This construction need not be related to unaccusatives. There is a long list of verbs that can occur in this
construction. There in this construction carries a clear locative meaning.
Eg. A little boy darted into the room. / There darted into the room a little boy.

Verbs that can occur in this construction: amble, climb, crawl, creep, dance, dart, flee, float, fly, gallop, head,
hobble, hop, hurtle, jump, leap, march, plod, prance, ride, roam, roll, run, rush, sail, shuffle, skip, speed, stagger,
stray, stride, strut, swim, trot, trudge, walk.

C.Definiteness

 Definite NPs, proper names and pronouns cannot normally be used as subjects of the there-insertion
constructions.

Eg. *There is every student of mine in the room.

*There is John in the garden.
* There was him waiting for Mary.

 Indefinites are allowed as subjects in there-insertion constructions, while the postverbal NP had to
denote a discourse referent that is new to the hearer. (nouns preceded by an indefinite article, bare plurals,
nouns preceded by a cardinal number or by some)

Eg. There were flies in the room. [bare plural]

There remained a boy in the room. [indefinite article]
There are two boys in the room. [cardinal number]
There is some sugar in the sugar basin. [some]

Nevertheless, there may be other situations when not only indefinites are allowed as subjects of a there-insertion
construction:

 Partitives (headed by indefinite determiners)

Eg. There remained many of the same students at both seminars.
 Definite NPs - they are allowed as subjects of the there-insertion construction if and only iff they denote
discourse referent that is new to the hearer.
Eg. There was the mother of a student in the office.
There was the smell of liquor on his breath.

 Definite NPs which denote kinds

Eg. There were those kinds of books at the library.
There was every flavour of ice for tasting.
There was that kind of book listed in the catalog. (The underlined NP does not necessarily refer to a
unique object, it refers to a kind of objects, so it cannot be replaced by the pronoun it as an anaphoric
expression - *However, it was checked out).

 Definite NPs if the noun is modified by an AP, a PP or a clause:

Eg, There weren’t the doctors to staff the clinic.
There is her future to consider.
There has arisen the important problem of their social status.
 Definite NPs in an enumeration/list
Eg. Q: What else is there in that drawer?
A: There’s the rubber, the red pencil, and the writing paper.
Q: Who can we ask?
A: There’s Ann, or Mike, or Pete.
Remark: such definite NPs are allowed only it the truth of their existential assertion is presupposed.
D. The Predicate Restriction

There-insertion is allowed only with stage-level predicates, namely predicates which refer to unique,
individual events. There-insertion is not compatible with generic interpretations.

Eg. There was a man sick. / *There was a man tall.

There are three pigs loose. / *There are three pigs stupid.

The set of sentences on the left refer to two unique, individual events – one person who was sick at some point in
time or three pigs who are loose at some point in time, whereas the set of sentences on the right have generic
interpretations, referring to the inherent qualities of the subjects (being tall or being stupid).

Conclusion
 There has no meaning of its own
 It is a semantically empty element, required for structural reasons – it fills the subject position
 Its presence in the sentence is dependent of the presence of its associate, the postverbal NP, which must be
indefinite

2. Intransitives and Locative Inversion

It is a non-canonical construction in which the surface subject stays inside the VP and the sentence initial position
is occupied by a locative PP. It is a construction in which only unaccusatives can appear, unergatives and
transitives are ungrammatical. The most frequently used verbs are underived unaccusatives, namely verbs of
appearance and verbs of existence as well as verbs denoting position in space. Derived unaccusatives denoting a
definite change of state cannot be used in this configuration

(locative) PP V NP

Eg. 1. On our left was the Mediterranean.

2. On the table sat a nervous cat.
3. Out of nowhere appeared a mysterious figure.

Eg. *In the dining-room drank John a glass of wine.

* In the hall talked many people.
*On the top floor opened many windows.

Nevertheless, some unergatives can also be used in this configuration, namely verbs of manner of motion and
verbs of emission.

Eg. Around them chattered and sang many girls.

Up the stairs bounded the President

3. The Resultative Construction

A resultative phrase is a phrase that denotes the state achieved by the NP argument of the verb as a result of the
action denoted by the verb. Such a phrase can be predicated only of the immediately postverbal NP, namely the
internal argument of the verb. In other words, only those verbs that have an internal argument are compatible
with Resultative phrases.

Eg. The river froze [solid].

The door slid [open].
 UNERGATIVES
John laughed [himself sick].
The horse galloped [himself lame].

Unergatives and resultative phrases

Unergatives have no internal argument, so theoretically they should not allow resultative constructions.

Eg. *John laughed sick.

*She shouted hoarse.

 In order to allow a resultative phrase, a fake reflexive object is added.

Eg, John laughed himself sick.
She shouted herself hoarse.
 It is also possible to have a resultative phrase with an unergative in case the post verbal NP is not the
argument of the unergative.
Eg. The dog barked him awake.
You may sleep the baby quiet again.
Obviously, the postverbal NP is not the argument of the unergative, as the sentences below show it. This
NP is not subcategorized for by the verb.
*The dog barked him.
*You may sleep the baby.
 In case the possessor and the subject of the verb are co-referential.
Eg. Mike cried [his eyes out].
Mary had better sleep [her wrinkles away].
Such sentences are incorrect if the resultative phrase is left out.
*Mike cries his eyes.
*Mary had better sleep her wrinkles.

Unaccusatives and resultative phrases

 Unaccusatives have only an internal argument in their argument structure, so they cannot take any surface
object. The resultative phrase can only refer to the internal argument of the unaccusative verb, which, at
the level of the surface structure, appears in the subject position.
 Only derived telic unaccusatives are the ones that allow a resultative construction
 Verbs belonging to the arrive class, which are telic, but underived (they do not have a transitive causative
counterpart) do not allow this construction (advance, arrive, ascend, come, depart, descend, enter,
escape,exit,fall, flee,go,leave,plunge,return, rise, etc)

Eg, The prisoners froze [to death]

The bottle broke [open].
The gate swung [shut].
The curtain rolled [open on the court of the queen].

Eg. *She arrived tired.

*The convict escaped exhausted.
*She fell broken to pieces.

 Unaccusatives do not occur in sentences with Resultatives phrases predicated of non-argumental NPs,
unlike unergatives that appear in such constructions.

Eg. *The log rolled [its bark off]. / The log rolled off.
*The cart rolled [the rubber off its wheels].
The two NPs which appear in a postverbal position are not arguments of the unaccusative verbs, they are not
subcategorized for by the verb, so they cannot enter a resultative phrase.

 Unaccusatives can appear with resultative phrases without the mediation of a fake reflexive
Eg. * The water froze itself solid.

4. Intransitives and Past Participles

Generally speaking, the past participle of an unaccusative can be used as a noun modifier, both pre and post-
nominally, while the past participle of unergatives cannot.

Eg. A fallen leaf; vanished civilizations

*walked man, *slept children, *a worked man

Nevertheless, not all unaccusatives appear in a pre or post-nominal modifying position.

Eg. *A man lived in Paris, *an existed solution (atelic verbs)

The past participle of unaccusative describing atelic situations is incompatible with this position. Telic
unaccusatives are compatible with this construction.
Atelic unaccusatives – verbs of appearance, verbs of disappearance, verbs of inherently directed motion, verbs
denoting an internally caused change of state.
Ttelic unaccusatives fall into two categories: firstly (a) verbs depicting a change of state which can be
interpreted as a property (eg. Fallen leaves, blistered feet) and which are freely used as noun modifiers, and
secondly(b) verbs depicting a change of location or of place (?a fallen child) which are less felicitous as
noun modifiers.
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR (III) - THE INTRANSITIVE PREDICATION

I. Decide whether the verbs in the sentences below are unergatives or unaccusatives:
1. The car had vanished from sight. 2. No other creature can fly as fast, or for as long as birds.3. My hopes
collapsed. 4. They work very hard.5. The soldier’s face reddened with anger. 6. The bells were clanging. 7. Dogs
bark. 8. The child burped after eating. 9. A cluster of stars glowed above us. 10. When I saw them they were
dancing with joy. 11. All the water has evaporated. 12. He was suffocating with indignation. 13. When I last met
him, he was meditating on a difficult question. 14. The lake has already dried up. 15. A dim glow of light emanated
from the room.

II. Why are the sentences below (un)grammatical?

1.*Eat you up! 2.*Always laugh you at his joke! 3. Arrive you before six! 4. Several facts recently come to light point
to his guilt. 5.*The thief stolen the jewels was never captured. 6. He is a changed man. 7. *The overdosed man was
John Smith. 8. He spoke an unforgettable speech. 9. They fought the most important battle in their lives.10. *A
ghost appeared me. 11. *Several major problems have arisen John.
III. Account for the grammaticality/ungrammaticality of the there-insertion in the sentences
below:
1. There has never been such an opposition.2. There remains nothing to be done.3.*Karen appeared a striking
appearance at the party. 4.?? There darted a little boy in the room. 5. *There thawed the snow in the early spring.
6. *There banged a man at the door. 7. There floated logs down the river. 8. *There is John in the garden. 9. There
was the air of a soldier about him.10. There is that type of student in the class. 11. There was a person of that sort
at the party. 12. There is her past to consider. 13. *There was a basketball player tall in those days. 14. *There is a
kind of dinosaur widespread.15. Q: What’s on the table? A: There is the plate, the fork and the knife. 16. There was
Ann. 17. There weren’t the sailors to man the ship. 18. There were tires in short supply. 19. There appeared only
Mary at the party. 20.There strutted a man into the room.
IV. Discuss the grammaticality/ungrammaticality of the following NPs:
Tarnished metal, an existed solution, fallen leaves, a trembled student, capsized boat, withered plants, an already
occurred event, a sparkled diamond, a gushed fountain, a bubbled stew, dried clothes.
V. What type of surface Subject do the verbs below select?
TASTE, EXIST, BREATHE, BLOOM, BARK, CHIRP, RAIN, HAPPEN, LIE, LIVE, SUFFER, JUMP, CURDLE,
NEIGH, WITHER, EMERGE, SEEM
VI. Translate the following into English using there-insertion:
1. Masa aceasta are un capăt. 2. Există un oarecare adevar în asta.3. Sunt puţini cei care se încadrează în aceste
criterii.4. Este loc pentru toată lumea. 5. Trebuie luaţi în consideraţie trei factori.6. Nu-mi mai rămâne nici o altă
cale. 7. Se pare că mătorul are ceva. 8. Din întâmplare a mai rămas doar un exemplar. 9.În faţa trăsurii călărea un
bărbar superb. 10. In toată ţara există un anume număr de clădiri asemănătoare. 11. Vine cineva la cină? Da, este
vorba despre un vecin nou, prietenul său şi directorul şcolii.
VII.Identify the intransitive subtypes in the sentences below.
1. His eyes glimmered, his lips quivered. 2. It is raining.3. We went away frequently. 4. The seconds ticked by. 5.
They toiled away in silence till dawn. 6. Their tradtions are dying out.7. The neighbourhood has gone down
recently. 8. They went through with the marriage despite their parents’ opposition. 9. We can look up to many
people. 10. He can bestir himself to answer the phone. 11. They acted responsibly.12. The interruptions must have
lasted a week. 13. Some trees live for hundreds of years. 14. They live in a small flat. 15. It weighs two pounds. 16.
His estate totals twenty square miles. 17. He beamed at everyone. 18. Some opted for the solution. 19. The house
belongs to him. 20. The two buses collided on a country lane. / Bus 31 and bus 34 collided yesterday. / Bus 31
collided with bus 34 yesterday. 21.She complained to me about his rudeness to spare your feelings. 22. His record
weighed against him with the jury. 23.The lansmarks serve as signposts for an invisible mesh of trackways. 24. He
emerged as a leader at the age of 40. 25. He looks at your as another son.
VIII. Supply subcategorization frames for the verbs below: DIFFER, STAND, FALL, GO, RUN, OCCUR, DRIZZLE,
DART, ABSENT, DEAL, COME, BEHAVE, SULK, RESIDE, DWELL, PANT
IX. Which of the sentences below containing instances of locative inversion are grammatical and
which are ungrammatical?
1.On the line are drying a lot of towels. 2. In a little white house lived two rabbits.3.To their left, beyond a strip of
glass, was the front of a large high building in grey stone.4.Above then pranced the horses on the frieze.5. On her
finger sparkled a magnificent diamond.
X. Passivize the sentences below:
1. A gang of thieves broke into the house last night. 2. He glanced through the article quickly. 3. We will go very
carefully into these proposals. 4. We ran through the main points. 5. They had done away with that piece of
legislation. 6. They are looking forward to their voyage.7. The speaker did not put up with the interruptions so
cheerfully. 8. They agreed with him on the matter. 9. You should not look down on such people. 10. They discussed
the matter and put forth their proposals.
XI. Fill in the appropriate item and specify if it is a Preposition or a Particle:
1. She was _________ a strange spell. 2. The waiter has run ________ our bill. 3. Xandra seems to look ________ some
of her schoolmates. 4. The horse was being galloped _________ the slope. 5. Alice fell __________ a trance. 6. The indigo
horizon is penciled _______ _________ silver.7. Why do you kick ______ this comfortable chair? 8. Will the crystals
break ________ a peal of bells? 9. The tiger’s fur was spotted __________ yellowish brown. 10. My parents have frowned
______ ma decision. 11. She looked ________ at the tables standing ________ . 12. The kid was crying ______ pain.
XII. Translate into English:
A. 1. A strigat până a răguşit.2. A plâns până a adormit. 3. Lacul a îngheţat de tot. 4. Adesea se încuie pe dinafară.
5. Beţivul a căzut dar a reuşit să se redreseze. 6. A râs până i s-a făcut rău.7. A tot mers până a obosit. 8. Câinele a
lătrat până l-a trezit din somn. 9. A plâns de i-au ieşit ochii din cap. 10. A dormit până i-a trecut mahmureala. 11.
Soldaţii lui Napoleon au murit îngheţaţi în Siberia. 12. Calul a galopat până a început să schiopăteze. 13. Apa a
îngheţat bocnă. 14. Uşa s-a rotit şi s-a deschis. 15. Poarta s-a bălăngănit până s-a închis.
B. 1. În ce abunda lacul? 2. Cui s-au predat? 3. Merge pe treizecu de ani. 4. Vasul nu mai supoartă schimbări. 5.
Conta pe faptul că va fi transferat în India. 6. Clubul asigură satisfacerea preocupărilor celor tineri. 7. Mulţimea
vocifera împotriva deciziei nedrepte. 8. Se agăţă de creangă. 9. M-a atacat ca o tigroaică. 10. Tînjea după pace şi
linişte. 11. Soarele apăru în sfîrşit. 12. Vinul s-aterminat înainte de sfârşitul recepţiei. 13. A trebuit să suportăm
mult zgomot cînd părinţii lor au fost plecaţi de acasă. 14. N-are rost să lăsăm lucrurile să se adune. 15. Era posibil
să apară probe noi. 16. Vocea nu era la înălţimea înfăţişării. 17. Te dai în vânt după sărutatul mâinii? 18. Ar fi cazul
să vorbească cineva în favoarea conceptului de cinste şi onoare. 19. Nu pot da ânapoi de la ce am zis. 20. De ce
parte eşti? 21. Ce valori aperi? 22. Aştepta să primească noi instrucţiuni. 23. Mai redu din porţia de dulciuri, ai să
faci diabet. 24.Doctorul i-a recomandat să elimine grăsimile ca să nu mai facă iar o criză de inimă. 25. Ieri la
şedinţă a prezentat căteva propuneri. 26. Să trecem la următoarea chestiune. 27. Ţipa cât îl ţineau plămânii. 28. A
trecut luna pe cer. 29. Ploaia a ţinut trei zile. 30. Oile tocmai urcau la stâna şi baciul venera agale pe lângă ele.
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

TRANSITIVE PREDICATES

We shall focus on the properties of a different class of predicates, namely transitive predicates.

Eg.(1) Mary built a house.

* Mary built.
*Mary built last year a house.

(2)Mary offered a gift to her sister.

*Mary offered a gift.
*Mary offered to her sister.

 They have an external argument, the subject

 An internal argument, the syntactic function of which is that of direct object.
 It is not possible to omit the direct object (as a result of the application of the Projection Principle)
 The verb assigns Accusative case to its internal argument if the argument is adjacent to the verb (in other
words nothing can intervene between the verb and its argument)
 The internal argument (direct object) can be either an affected object (denoting an entity affected by the
action the predicate refers to) or an effected object (denoting an entity that is the result of the event
described by the verb).
Eg. Affected objects – cut the bread, eat a cake, chop a tree, carve the steak
Effected objects – build a house, bake a cake, compose a song, write a book
 The same verb may take either an affected object or an effected object
Eg. Cut the bread/ cut a road in the jungle; paint a house/paint a portrait; carve the steak/carve a statue;
press the juice/press the button
 The internal argument may be a Theme or a Patient
 We call such verbs monotranstive verbs
 There are transitive verbs that take two internal arguments- two NP complements (the examples under 2).
The first NP functions as a direct object, while the second NP functions as an indirect object or an
adverbial modifier of place. We call such verbs ditransitive verbs.
Eg. He offered flowers to his wife. (Agent, Theme, Goal)
Grandma made a cake for her grandsons. (Agent, Theme, Beneficiary)
John put the books on the table. (Agent, Theme, Location)
 With the first category of ditransitives it is possible to reverse the order of the two NP complements.This
reversal is accompanied by the deletion of the preposition to/for. Such a construction is called the double
object construction.
 With some ditransitive verbs it is possible to delete one of the two objects
Eg. The president assigned the task to the secretary.
The president assigned the secretary the task.
The president assigned the task.
The president assigned the secretary.

The Location/Locatum alternation

a) bag, bottle, box, cage, can, corral, garage, jail, shelve (location)
b) bandage, bar, bell, blindfold, clothe, curtain, fund, saddle (locatum)

Eg. I put the glasses on the shelf. / I shelved the glasses. (LOCATION)
He fitted the saddle on the horse. / He saddled the horse. (LOCATUM)
The second sentences in the pairs above are syntactic counterparts of the analytic sentences containing put or fit.
The difference between the sentences in these pairs is that the preposition is not overt and the upper verbal head
which is occupied by put or fit in the first alternants in the examples above is also empty.

In the sentences allowing the Location alternation, the location (the NP inside the PP indicating location) becomes
a verb in the monotransitive variant of the sentence, In the sentence allowing the Locatum alternation, the Direct
Object of the ditransitive sentence becomes a verb in the monotransitive sentence, as the DO indicates the object
to be located somewhere.

Eg. John corralled the cows. (put the cows in the corral)
*John cowed the corral.

Eg. We put the apples in the box.

*We appled the box. (We boxed the apples)
. They fitted the house with a roof
*They housed with a roof. / They roofed a house.

Eg. He put the bandage on the wound.

He bandaged the wound.

The Ergative alternation

Eg. The enemy sank the ship. / The ship sank.

They stopped the machine. / The machine stopped.

 Derived unaccusatives
 One argument verbs, namely the internal one, a Theme which is projected in the object position at D-
structure and moves to the Subject position at S-structure to be assigned case, as the intransitive
counterpart is unaccusative, it lacks an external argument, therefore cannot case-mark the internal
argument.
 The transitive variant is causative.
 They do not allow there-insertion (*There sank a ship.)

One can prove that such verbs are unaccusatives, namely that they lack an agent role since we cannot insert an
instrument role which is licensed only if an agent is present overtly or implicitly.

Eg. *The ship sank with a cannonball.

*The machine stopped with a stick.

Unaccusatives cannot control PRO (indicate the identity of PRO). Generally, PRO can be controlled if the original
role exists, which is not the case of unaccusatives.

Eg. He wants PRO to do that.

PRO is controlled by the subject of the verb in the matrix clause, in the sense that we can identify the empty
category PRO, the subject of the non-finite infinitive with the help of the overt subject of the verb want, the two
being identical. With unaccusatives it is not possible.

Eg. *Babies often roll/turn after PRO putting them to bed.

This sentence cannot possible be interpreted as meaning that those who put the babies in bed as also the ones that
roll/turn them, therefore control is not possible.

These two tests prove that such verbs do not have a causative structure.
Not all transitives have an ergative counterpart. There are transitive verbs that only select an agent as their
external theta role, but there are other transitives that select other roles as external arguments.

Eg.(a) The baby ate the soup. /*The spoon ate the soup. /*Hunger ate the soup
The barber shaved father. / *The razor shaved father.

(b) [Mike]agent opened the door. / [The key]instrument opened the door. / [The wind]cause opened the door.

 Verbs that have similar selectional properties – roll, redden, break, drown, enlarge

Where do these differences come from?

Causality plays an important role in deciding thematic structures. There is an overlap between Cause and Agent in
the sense that if an argument is the agent of a change of state it is also the cause of that change. The main
difference between agency and causality may be stated as the fact that agentivity involves properties of volition
and intention where as causality does not. If the verb is specified for both causality and agency (volition, intention)
(like eat, shave) it can only select an Agent. If a verb is specified only for causality (like open, break) it can select
both and agent and an instrument (cause) as external argument. In other words, only those transitives that are
specified only for causality, but not for volition, intention enter the ergative alternation.

De-adjectival ergative verbs

Eg. Thin, narrow, cool, thicken, harden, soften, widen, lengthen, shorten, broaden, loosen, tighten, darken,
redden, deepen, lower, enlarge

Eg. His eyes narrowed. / He narrowed his eyes and grinned.

The screen cleared when I bumped the keyboard./ I cleared the screen when I bumped the keyboard.

De-adjectival verbs also have analytical counterparts which can be either transitive or intransitive.

Eg. The leaves turned red./ The cold turned the leaves red.
The liquid froze solid. / We froze the liquid solid.
The safe blew open. / The charge blew the safe open.

The first sentence may be interpreted as a sentence containing a copula-like verb which subcategorizes for a small
clause, that is in fact a resultative phrase. Such sentences may be interpreted as describing a change resulting in a
state. (The cold does something such that the leaves come to be red.

THE CAUSATIVE ALTERNATION

Transitivisation of an intransitive verb by the addition of the feature of causation.

Induced Action Alternation

Eg. The horse jumped over the fence./The rider jumped the horse over the fence./
The dog walked./ I walked the dog. /
 More restrictive – only intransitive agentive verbs of manner of motion (in the presence of a directional
phrase) are allowed to be used transitively
Eg. Drive, fly, gallop, leap, march, race, run, swim, walk, etc
 The causee is generally an animate entity induced to act by the causer
Eg. She hurried him to the door.
He was running the horse down the hill.
Other instances of causative alternation

 Other basically intransitive verbs which denote internally controlled actions can, in certain cases be used
transitively, when externally controlled.

Eg. Bang, buzz, ring, clang, beam, flash, bleed

Fly, dangle, hang, stand, swing, sit
Lodge, burp

Eg. The visitors rang the bell./ The bell rang.

They stood the statue on the pedestal. / The statue stood on the pedestal.
The soldiers lodge in the schoolhouse. / The army lodged the soldiers in the schoolhouse.
The nurse burped the baby. / The baby burped.

Intransitives recategorized as causative transitives

Eg. He walked the horses up and down.

They generally graze their sheep on the neighbouring meadows.
The general worked his men ruthlessly.
You may sit down ten people with ease.

 All the verbs in the sentences above are inherently intransitive verbs recategorized as transitive causative
verbs.

 Two main subcategories :

A) transitives with a DO and an optional Adv of Place

B) transitives with a DO and an obligatory Adv of Place

A.1. motion verbs – amble, dance, float, gallop, hurry, jump. march, quiver, retire, roll, run, tumble, walk

Eg. He was ambling his horses along the river.

She hurried the guest to the door.
The king marched the army into the Capital city.
Don’t run him on a tight rope!
They all marched to London

A.2. positional verbs – sit down , stand

Eg. I sat the old man down in a chair.

The mother stood the baby upon the floor.

 Most recategorized verbs in the sentences above may undergo passivization

Eg. They were all marched to London by their commanders.

B.1. [-animate], [-abstract]DO and an obligatory Adv of Place. The DO usually has an instrumental meaning.

Eg. She leant her elbows on the table (she caused her elbows to lean on the table)
She stayed her arms on her knees.
She struck her hand against a stone.
She dabbed a powder-puff across her forehead.

Phrasal transitives
Eg. Bob put his coat on.
Bob put on his coat.

 Phrasal verbs – verb + particle (or verb+preposition / verb+particle+preposition/ verb+adverb)

 But such a verb can be interpreted as a verb phrase containing a verb and a particle inside which a direct
object can intrevene between the verb and the particle without any change in the grammaticality or
semantics of the phrase.
 The verb and the particle form a semantic unit and can be paraphrased by a lexical verb
Eg. Give up=renounce
Put off=postpone
Build up=develop
 This analysis is supported by the idiomatic character of many phrasal verbs, in which the particle deviates
from its literal meaning
Eg. Turn down, blow up, figure out
 If the particle preserves its literal meaning, it is more likely that the predicate will allow Particle movement
Eg. He put on his hat. / He put his hat on
 If the complex phrasal verb is idiomatic Particle Movement is blocked.
Eg. The terrorists blew up the building. / *The terrorists blew the building up.
 No adverbial , not even right or straight can intervene in the V Prt NP structure
Eg. He put on his hat. / *He put right on his hat.
 If the NP is heavy (for instance a very long NP, or an NP modified by a relative clause), a modifier can
intervene between the partcle and the verb
Eg. He looked up the answer I had given him. / He looked right up the asnwer I had given him. .
 If the complement is a pronoun Particle movement is obligatory
Eg. *He took off it. / He took it off.
 If the object is very heavy it cannot intervene between the verb and the particle
Eg. He turned off the light.
*He turned the light which I had forgotten on off.
 If the direct object is clausal it cannot intervene between the verb and the particle
Eg. He gave away all the books.
*He gave what he had been able to gather throughout his life away.
 Ditransitive phrasal verbs
Eg. He gave back the book to John.
*He have back John the book. (double object construction is ungrammatical)
He gave the book back to John. (Particle Movement possible across the direct object in
the prepositional variant of the sentence)
*He gave the book to John back. (Particle Movement is blocked across both objects).
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR -TRANSITIVE PREDICATIONS

I. Analyze the predicates in the sentences below:
1. The boy shall rewrite the exercise.2. You made a toy for John. 3. The children will buy that book soon. 4. We’ll
repair the care for you next week. 5. He took off his hat. He took his hat off. 6. He reminded me of my promise. 7.
War ruined her life. 8. The sun blinded him as soon as he went out of the house. 8. They freed all the political
prisoners at the end of the war. 9. The press belittled the significance of the by-elections. 10. The disease disables
thousands every year. 11. The architect enlarged the original windows. 12. Heat will surely activate the electrons.
13. You are Americanizing the department in every possible way.14. The clouds blackened the sky. 15. The strain of
looking after her has considerably aged him. 16. That story horrified everybody. 17.Your rudeness has lost you all
your friends. 18. She galloped the horse showing no pity at all. 19. Walk the dog before lunch, will you? 20. The
room will sit about 20 people. 21. The river floats a lot of ships. 22. Luckily she married Tom in her youth. 23.
Fortunately, they caught the burglars on the premises.24.They ate the food with zest. 26. Your hat should match
your bag. 27. You resemble your father. 28. She had already dressed the child. 29. They may simplify/ popularize
the procedure. 31. In the end, he will surely tighten the rope. 32. The ranger will fell those trees. 34. His arrogance
may enrage her. 35. The students have stopped the campaign. 36. The chairman opened the debate during
yesterday’s meeting. 37. They will disarm the group when they meet them. 38. Mother thickened the sauce by
adding some flour. 39. Oil and grease will rot the rubber of your tires. 40. They
washed/dressed/bathed/hid/surrendered themselves. 41.The industry in this area causes a lot of pollution.
II. Are the predicates in the sentences below inherently transitive?
1. The nurse was jumping the baby on her knees. 2. The Prince retired the cavalry from Poland.3. The teacher
stood the pupils in a row. 4. She stood a case against a wall. 5. We shall dine the Japanese in our living room. 6.
The captain rested his soldiers and horses. 7.The waves floated the boat away. 8. The sight curdled the blood in her
veins. 9. The scorching heat withered the leaves. 10. He pointed the weapon at the wolf. 11. He galloped the horse.
12. The teacher worked us hard. 13. I can walk the baby while you are cooking dinner.14. He’s run me off my feet.
15. You’ve cried your eyes out. 16. Barely three weeks later the terrorists’ bombs rained terror down on their city.
17. She tried to stare the other out. 18. He’ll cheat the trousers off your feet. 19. He’s shot his way into the
leadership of the cult. 20. He barked out his answer.

III. What type of alternations do the sentences below illustrate?

1.They dropped the stone to the bottom of the lake./ The stone dropped to the bottom of the lake. 2. The juice
reddened the water. / The water reddened. 3. The wind cleared the sky. / The sky cleared. 4. The waiter cleared the
table. /*The table cleared. 5. They killed their enemy. /*Their enemy killed. 6. Society widened the gap between
the rich and the poor./ The gap between the rich and the poor widened. 7. She hurried Tom to the door./ Tom
hurried to the door. 8. He was running the horse down the hill./ The horse was running down the hill. 9. The
patient was bleeding. / The doctor bled the patient. 10. The patrol flashed a flashlight along the road. / The
flashlight flashed along the road.11.I put the glasses on the shelf. / I shelved the glasses. 12. Mary put the cows in
the corral./ Mary corralled the cows./*Mary cowed the corral. 13.The leaves turned red. / The cold turned the
leaves red. 14. His eyes narrowed./ He narrowed hid eyes. 15. He fitted the saddle on the horse. / He saddled the
horse.
IV. Identify the syntactic functions of the constituents in the sentences below; identify the theta-
roles assigned to the various NPs
1. The student wrote a paper. 2. The shop assistant put the goods on the counter. 3. The librarian shelved the
books. 4. The kidnappers blindfolded the hostages. 5. We opened the window with a lot of effort. 6. He broke the
window with a stone. 7.He offered the prize to the best participant in the race. 8. I cooled the soup. 9. She looked
up the phone number. 10. People fear unknown areas.
V. Supply subcategorization frames for the following verbs:
ALLOW, ASK, ANSWER, BET. GRUDGE, COST, DENY. CHANGE, ENVY, FORGIVE, REFUSE, TEACH.
VI. Decide whether the sentences below containing phrasal verbs are grammatical or not. If they
are ungrammatical explain why.
1. She stood up and switched straight on the lamp. 2. I can drop Daisy off on my way home. 3. The French and the
British wanted to hold Chinese textile competition on the free market off as long as possible.4. Don’t out off it till
tomorrow. 5. She handed the book back to Peter. 6.She handed Peter the book back. 7. They singled out Peter. 8.
They rent that nice house which they parents built for them out. 9.We had to work until midnight to finish them
of. 10. Who has the cold weather gotten the sister of down? 11. You seem to fit in an enormous amount of work
every day. 12. A national strike would bring the government down / A national strike would bring down the
government. / A national strike would bring what we know as the authorities down. 13.Epidemics wiped right out
the local population. 14. Visitors wear out us more than the children do. 15. Inspector Standish was trying to clear
a complicated problem up. / Inspector Standish was trying to clear up a complicated problem. / Inspector
Standish was trying to clear what seemed to be a very complicated problem up.
VI. Fill in the blanks in the sentences below using MAKE or DO:
1. He ……… a lot of money last year. 2. They …….. peace last year. 3. I always ……. my best. 4. That glass of wine has
……. Me good. 5. Will you …….. me a favour? 6. Are you trying to ……….out a liar? 7. You must ………… up for the
lost time. 8.’Will this ……… for you?’ ‘I think I can ……. it ……..’. 9. You’ve only half an hour left, so you’d better
…………. the most of it. 10.I could ……. With a few more people like you to ………… up for the time I’ve lost with the
others.
VII. Translate into English:
A. Make use of the verb MAKE:
1. Am aranjat să plecăm împreună la munte în luna februarie. 2. Populaţia a făcut atâtea sacrificii încât nu mai este
dispusă să cedeze promisiunilor guvernului. 3. Trebuie neapărat să-mi promiţi ceva. 4. Te rog să nu mai faci
treaba de mântuială cum îţi este obiceiul. 5.A încercat să pună mâna pe putere, dar adversarii săi politici au fost
mai abili şi l-au învins. 6. Hoţul a luat-o la sănătoasa cînd a auzit ca mai incerca cineva uşa de la intrare. 7. Deşi nu
ar fi vrut-o, s-a văzut nevoit să mărturisească totul pentru ca ceilalţi aveau deja prea multe dovezi împotriva lui. 8.
După o absenţă de cinci ani, când nimeni nu mai credea că este posibil, actriţa a revenit din nou pe scenă şi a avut
un succes deplin în noul rol. 9. Comportarea ta va avea clar un impact asupra acestei situaţii dacă vei continua să
te porţi tot aşa.10. Fiica lui urma să se căsătorească, aşa că a trebuit să se scobească în buzunar şi să plătească
toate cheltuielile, oricât de rău i-ar fi părut după bani.
B. Make use of the verb DO:
1. Şi-a luat licenţa în drept. 2. Nu-mi vine să cred, a jefuit o bancă în tinereţe, de aceea este atât de bogat. 3.
Restaurantul acesta serveşte numai prânzul şi cina, nu şi micul dejun.4. Ieri primul ministru a ţinut un discurs în
care a acordat toată atenţia cuvenită contribuţiei partidelor de opoziţie la invitaţia pentru aderarea la NATO. 5. A
făcut pe dracu în patru şi a reuşit să-i convingă să meargă cu el în acea călătorie foarte periculoasă. 6. Ştiu că m-a
minţit de la obraz dar aştept să-i vină mintea la cap şi să-mi spună singur adevărul. 7. Nu trebuie să te grăbeşti,
poţi să faci treaba asta când socoteşti tu de cuviinţă, dar te rog să nu fie mai târziu de sfârşitul lunii. 8. Mâine dau o
petrecere aşa că am apelat la un specialist să-mi facă aranjamentele florale. 9. Când ai de gând să faci curat în
cameră? 10. Directorul fabricii a vrut să-l angajeze dar s-a răzgândit pentru că a aflat că a stat la răcoare.
C. Pay attention to the use of the reflexive and of the causative verbs:
1. Nu are niciodată nici un moment pentru sine deoarece trebuie să aibe grijă de copii. 2. S-au recunoscut
înfrânţi.3. Se exprimă cu o mare uşurinţă. 4. Omul se poate auto-guverna. 5. Trebuie să stabilească o relaţie cu o
lume total nouă şi necunoscută. 6. Trebuie să te întăreşti sufleteşte înainte de a te duce la dentist. 7. S-a străduit
din răsputeri să ia examenul 8. Nu-ţi mai rămâne nimic altceva de făcut decât să te aduni, căci toată familia ta
depinde de tine.9. M-am făcut util în timpul pregătirii reuniunii pentru că an vrut să mă pub bine cu şeful. 10. Ştia
cu siguranţă ce se petrecea în sinea lui, dar nu voia să recunoască. 11.Pacientul a leşinat din cauza sângerării. 12.
Mizeria a transformat-o într-o persoană cinică şi egoistă. 13. Vrăjitorul l-a transformat pe prinţ într-un pitic
dizgraţios. 14. Vîntul a sfărâmat corabia în bucăţi.15. Ploaia a transformat praful într-un strat gors de noroi. 16.
Revoluţia a dat naştere unei noi atitudini de viaţă.17. Accidentul său de maşină a fost cauzat de o explozie. 18.
Cearta cu mama sa i-a provocat un infact. 19. Am pus-o pe servitoare să ne aducă ceva de mâncare.20. Părinţii o
vor obliga pe Jane să se căsătorească cu un bărbat pe care nu-l iubeşte.21. M-au convins să plac cu ei. 22. În cele
din urmă. neglijenţa le-a ruinat afacerea. 23. Au tăiat nişte copaci în pădure.24. Trebuie să-ţi faci viaţa mai bună
cu orice preţ. 25. Conchistadorii i-au obligat pe băştinaşii din America Latină să treacă la catolicism.26. Drumul
acela prin uraşul întunecat şi pustiu mi-a adâncit şi mai mult teama. 27. Atitudinea asta de totală lipsă de interes
mă va innebuni cu siguranţă. 28. Când s-a suit pe tron noul rege şi-a decapitat duşmanii. 29. Isus Christos i-a
imputernicit pe apostoli să-l reprezinte pe pamânt-. 30. Cred că această schimbare de înfăţişare te înfrumuseţeayă.
31. Să nu idealizezi niciodată pe numeni.32. Lipsa de perspectivă l-a demoralizat complet. 33. Noua sa nuvelă i-a
adus un renume extraordinar. 34. In fiecare zi îşi plimbă câinele în parcul din faţa casei. 35. L-a grăbit pe pacient
să iasă din cabinet pentru că era deja în întârziere. 36. Am intrat în casă şi am aşezat umbrela în picioare lângă
perete. 37. Cred că nu este bine să aşezi scaunul în mijlocul camerei, se poate împiedica cineva de el. 38. Şeful îşi
pune oamenii să muncească fără nici o încetare. 39. Priveliştea masacrului le-a făcut să li se înceţoşeze privirea.
40. Stătea cu coatele pe marginea mesei.
2ND YEAR AAPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES – SYNTAX 1
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

THE DOUBLE OBJECT CONSTRUCTION

 Ditransitives – verbs which take an external argument and two internal arguments, the first one
functioning as a direct object and the second one as an indirect onject, which has the role of Goal or
Beneficiary.
 The two objects are obligatory arguments.
 We shall see that there is a difference of interpretation between the prepositional variant and the double
object construction.
 verbs which involve causation of a change of possession allow the Dative alternation.

Eg. (1) The teacher gave bad marks to the students. (Goal)
The teacher gave the students bad marks.
(2) She made a shirt for her niece. (Beneficiary)
*She made her niece a skirt.

Prepositional variant - interpreted as ‘Cause X TO BE OF Y

- the affected object is the DO

Double Object construction - interpreted as: ‘CAUSE Y TO HAVE X

- the affected object is the Indirect Object

 Classes of verbs denoting causation of change of possession which enter the Dative Alternation

A) give verbs – give, pass, sell, pay, loan, serve, feed, lease, lend, refund, rent, repay, trade

Eg. I rented the house to Tom.

I rented Tom the house.

B) verbs of future having - offer, promise, leave, forward, allocate, assign, advance, grant,
award, allot, concede, issue, leave, owe, vote.

Eg. We granted the money to him.

We granted him the money.

C) verbs of throwing - bash, bat, flick, fling, hurl, hit, kick, pass, pitch, shoot, slam, slap, sling,
throw, tip, toss

Eg. He passed the ball to John.

He passed John the ball.
D) verbs of sending; verbs of instruments of communication – cable, send, mail, signal, e-mail,
Ship, fax, wire, telephone, radio, telex,

Eg, She e-mailed the news to me.

She e-mailed me the news.
E) verbs of communication – ask, tell, show, teach, write, pose, read, quote, cite, preach

Eg. He preached the Gospel to the natives.

He preached the natives the Gospel.
F) bring, take - He brought flowers to Mary. / He brought Mary flowers.

 BUT – verbs of Latinate origin cannot occur in the double object construction, even if they denote change
of possession
 Eg, donate, contribute, convey, distribute, transposrt, transfer, address, porpel, release, explain, describe,
portray, narrate, demonstrate, dictate, recite, etc.

He donated his fortune to his best friend.

*He donated his best friend his fortune.

 BUT – verbs of future having and verbs of communication occur in the double object construction even if
they are of Latin origin

Eg. bequeath, refer, recommend, guarantee, permit, radio, telegraph, telephone, etc

Eg. She recommended the movie to me.

She recommended me the movie.

 Other verbs which are compatible with the change of possession concept, but do not allow
the double object construction

1) manner of speaking verbs – babble, bark, bellow, chant, call, murmur, roar, whisper, yell, stammer,
grumble, etc

Eg. She whispered the news to her mother.

*She whispered her mother the news.
2) verbs of communication subcategorizing for a complement clause – admit, allege, announce, articulate,
say, assert, communicate, question, claim, report, declare, confess, mention, state, repeat, recount

Eg. She communicated the news to John.

*She communicated John the news.

3) miscellaneous – entruct, present, provide, supply, credit, furnish, carry, pull, push, lift, lower, raise

Eg. They presented the prize to her.

*They presemted her the prize.

The [+animate] constraint

Eg. She brought disaster to the village. / *She brought the village disaster.
She brought a book to Mary. / She brought Mary a book.
The PrepNP [+animate] - needs to be recognized as a potential possessor.

The Benefective Alternation

Eg. She carved a toy for the baby (Benefective)

She carved the baby a toy.

Verbs of creation – in a general sense enter the Benefactive alternation; the DO – an effected object

Build verbs – arrange, assemble, blow, build, carve, knit, embroider, forge(metal), hammer,roll, sculpt, compile
Prepare verbs – mix, blend, cook, bake, boil, brew, fix, toast, toss, grind, light, clear, fry, iron, poach,
pour, prepare, roast, scamble, wash
Get verbs – book, buy, cash, catch, fetch, find, gather, hire, lease, leave, order, phone, pick, pluck,
procure, pull, reach, rent, reserve, save, secure, slaughter, sreal, vote
Create verbs – design, dig, mint
Verbs of performance – dance, play, sing, spin, whistle,
LMA – 2nd YEAR
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

THE PASSIVE ; MIDDLE FORMATION

THE PASSIVE
 Complex linguistic phenomenon, which manifests itself at three levels of linguistic analysis:
a) the morphological level – the auxiliaries be and get and the past participle of the verb
b) the syntactic level – a change in position and status of the active Subject and Object
c)the semantic level – a change in the relation between the underlying role-structure of the sentence and its
organization. The agent(subject) no longer appears in the subject position in the sentence, while the patient (the
object) appears in subject position.
 Stylistically speaking, the Passive makes the discourse more objective, what is important is not the agent
anymore, but the event denoted by the verb itself.
 The Passive Morphology – be + the past participle. Passive verbs behave like unaccusative verbs. The
external theta role of the verb that undergoes passivization is absorbed by the passive morphology, namely
the past participle of the verb. The verb is generated from the Lexicon as passive, that is as an unaccusative
that only has an internal argument which has to move to the Subject position in order to be assigned case
and also to satisfy the Extended Projection Principle. Being an unaccusative verb it does not theta-mark an
external argument so it cannot assign Accusative case. The internal argument moves to the Subject
position and is assigned Nominative Case. The external argument of the original active verb can be
recovered in the passive sentence as a prepositional phrase headed by the preposition BY which assigns it
the theta role Agent as well as case or it can be implicit.

 Conditions on the Passive – the adjacency constraint(the double object construction; the dative verbs)
(even with non-arguments of the verb)

Eg. John wrote a book.

The book was written (by John).

The Domain of the Passive

 Transitive verbs eg. The newcomer solved the puzzle.

The puzzle was solved by a new comer.
- the position of the Adverbials of manner
eg. He wrote the letter rapidly.
The letter was rapidly written.

 Ditransitive verbs ( change of possession, the Indirect Object is a beneficiary; both objects may undergo
Passivization )
Eg. (1)He gave the flowers to Mary
The flowers were given to Mary.

 Passivization of the Indirect Object – only after Dative movement (adjacency constraint)

I gave Mary the flowers.

Mary was given the flowers.

(2) She gave a book to me. / A book was given to me. / *I was given a book to.
She gave me a book. / I was given a book. / *A book was given me.

 Ditransitives (no change of possession, the Indirect Object is not a beneficiary, but an Experiencer, only
the IO can be passivised)
Eg. He gave me a push,
I was given a push.
 *A push was given to me.

 Unergatives with a prepositional object

Eg. He insisted upon the invitation. / The invitation was insisted upon.
They talked about the movie./ The movie was talked about.

 Intransitive with particle and preposition

Eg. They did away with that law.
That law was done away with.

 Intransitives with two prepositional objects _ No passive

Eg, talk to smb about smth; lecture; speak; apologize; appeal

 The Accusative NP in a Resultative Constrution

(1) She wore her pullover thin.
Her pullover was worn thin.
(2)He shouted us into silence.
We were shouted into silence

 The Accusative in complex constructions –Acc+Infinitive; ACC+Participle

(1) I saw him come. / He was seem to come

(2) I saw him coming. /He was seen coming.

 Idiomatic phrases
Eg. Take strong exception to smth; make an example of smth; foist all one’s problems on smth; pin one’s faith
on smth; make too much of smth; keep close tabs on smth; take advantage of smth,; etc
Eg. They made an example of his behaviour.
His behaviuour was made an example of.

 Some Prepositional Phrases showing location

They have sat on the chair.
That chair has been sat on.

NO Passive:
 reciprocal verbs – resemble, marry
eg. Music resembles poetry.
*Poetry is resembles by music
 state verbs (verbs of possession) – have, possess, own
eg. He owns a house.
*The house is owned by him.
 (verbs of feelings) – love, hate, loathe, abhor
Eg. He loves Mary.
*Mary is loved by him.
 Reflexives
Eg. Mary admired herself in the mirror.
*Herself was admired by Mary in the mirror.
 no idiomatic IT ( This argument eats it. / *IT is eaten by this argument.

 The Get Passive

. more dynamic, may have a detrimental meaning, may imply that the Agent has some responsibility for a
detrimental action
eg. His leg got broken.
How did the window get open?
- focuses on the event and on its effects on the Theme/Patient
- the implied agent has full control over the action denoted by the verb
 (*He got killed with great care./ He got shot – he did something because he wanted to get shot)
- it involves the speaker’s attitude, his emotional involvement
Eg. He got caught, the silly fool!
- it is associated with more punctual events.
Eg. He got arrested.

Middles

Eg. The poem reads easily./ Tennis balls sell best in summer./ The play reads better than it acts../ This fabric
washes easily./ Cotton shirts iron well./ These figures add easily.

Properties of the English Middles

they are one argument verb, the agent is not overt in the sentence.It may be understood as ‘one’ or ‘people in
general’,

 Unaccusatives do not have an external argument, not even an implicit one, so they can co-occur with all by
itself, in the sense that something happens without external aid, agentlessly, unlike middles.
Eg. The boat sank all by itself.
*The play acts well all by itself.
 The meaning contribution of the subject of a middle sentence is different from the meaning contribution of
the subject in a passive sentence, as the theta roles assigned to the subjects of a middle sentence are very
different.

Eg. The book reads easily. [Theme]

Children scare easily. [Experiencer]
The truck loads easily. [Location]

Eg. The book reads easily. (It can be paraphrased as “the book has the necessary properties that allow
it to read easily.Somehow the subject is responsible for the action
denoted by the verb.)
The book was easily read.

In an unaccusative sentence the subject cannot be interpreted as responsible because it refers to a concrete entity.

Eg. The door opens with difficulty.

So, the subject of a middle sentence is an entity, a non-Agent which is responsible for the action denoted by the
verb, in the sense that it has the necessary properties which make the situation denoted by the verb possible. In a
middle sentence, the Agent is semantically present, but syntactically absent.

 Middles are generic sentences that do not describe particular events in time. They are seen as stative, atelic
predicates, like individual level predicates. They are compatible with always and incompatible with the
progressive. When they occur in the progressive they denote a change between successive stages. They do
not occur in the imperative.

Eg. This book always reads easily.

The manuscript is reading better and better.
*Handle smoothly, car!

 Middle generally occur with obligatory modifications. It can be a Manner Adverbial, a Locative Adverbial, a
clausal modifier (non-purpose), a negative operator or an overt modal verb. The role of the modifier is to
stativize the predicate.

Eg. This book translates easily. (Manner)

Make sure the address reads through window. (Place)
Officials bribe before reaching high office. (Adverbial clause of time)
 This text does not translate. (Negation)
This text will not translate.(overt modal and negation)

 Agent oriented adverbs are not allowed in middle sentences.

Eg. *Officials bribe evidently.

Middle Formation

 Only transitive verbs that have an affected argument enter Middle Formation. Effected objects cannot
occur in a middle sentence

Eg. *A dress makes easily.

 Only activities and accomplishments occur in middle sentences, stative verbs and aachievements do not
allow middle formation.

Eg. The car drives well.

The book reads easily.
*The answer knows easily.
*Such mistakes notice fast.

 Only transitives that allow an Agent, an Instrument or a Cause in subject position enter Middle Formation.

Eg, John[Agent] broke the window.

The stone[Instrument] broke the window.

The wind[Cause] broke the window.

LMA – 2nd YEAR
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR - THE DOUBLE OBJECT CONSTRUCTION

I. Exemplify the classes of verbs which enter the Dative Alternation.

II. Which are the classes of verbs which enter the Benefective Alternation?
III. Explain the difference in meaning between the pairs of sentences below:
1. a) They gave flowers to Mary. / They gave Mary flowers.
2. a) The principal handed the prize to Victor./ The principal handed Victor the prize.
IV.Derive the sentences below:
1. The teacher explained the lesson to the students. 2. The manager offered her a job.
V.Apply Dative Movement in the sentences below; if it is not possible explain why.
1. They brought some flowers to Mary. / They brought some flowers to the table. 2. The sun baked these cookies
for John. / Grandmother baked these cookies for John. 3. He wrote a letter to his sister. / He wrote a letter for his
sister. 4. They donated the books to Tom / to the library. 5. The storm brought disaster to the city-dwellers. 6. He
will teach Mary’s students for her. 7. She made a new dress for her daughter. 8. Professor Jones thanked the
Rector for his students. 9. They promised a reward to the finder. 10. He owes a great sum of money to me.
VI. If necessary, correct the sentences below:1. She admitted me the mistake.2.I had to deny his request to
him. 3. Bill decided not to mention his sore throat to the doctor.4.They explained me the procedure. 5. The suspect
confessed the police his crime.6. We all envied his lifestyle to him.7. She announced her decision the delegates.8.
That adventure cost him his life. 9. My grand parents gave a coat of paint to the house.10.The scientists
demonstrated the new method to their colleagues.11.They built us a nes house.12. Her new coat cost a foryune to
her.13. I reported my boss the theft.14.Because of her present financial difficulties, I’m afraid we must refuse you a
pay rise.15. I pointed out the danger to the mechanic.16. Ann didn’t have the time to yake her library books back,
so I took them to her.17.I made him a cup of coffee.18.Can you describe the attacker to me?19.Could I introduce
you John?20.The university awarded a $10,000 grant Dr.Henderson,allowing him to continue his research.
VII. In the sentences below pronominalize the two objects, apply Dative Movement(if possible),
apply Object Deletion (if possible):
1. He will hand in the paper to the teacher tomorroe. 2. She hasn’t written a letter to us for ages. 3. Susan read a
story to little Tom. 4. The war ruined our future for us. 5. I offered the book to John. 6. Mary bought some flowers
for herself. 7. Has he paid the money to you? 8. The earthquake brought disaster to Iran. 9. He explained that
incredible story to me. 10. The lecturer distributed the hand-outs to the students.
VIII. Consider the dative strings below in terms of: 1) possible pronominalization; 2) possible non-
prepositional Double Object occurrence:
1. John has handed his room key to the receptionist. 2. Robert has taught English to all the youth of Ceylon and
India. 3. I lent my typewriter to a friend for the week-end. 4. The Express magazine offers $ 1000 to any reader
who could relate some details on the murder. 5. Rose bought a piece of cheese for her sister. 6. The last earthquake
brought disaster to Japan. 7. She gave a kiss to her son.
IX. The following Vs may occur with either a Goal or a Beneficiary role materialized as Indirect
Object: BRING, LEAVE, WRITE, SING. Compare and point out the semantic difference : 1. Karen wrote a letter
to her boyfriend. 2. Karen wrote a letter for her boyfriend.
X. Analyze the objects in the sentences below:
1.He explained to me why he had been late.2.Mary had a bath before falling asleep.3.She was not sure of the
news.4.She was living a dreadful life, among strangers.5.Joan married Ken in no time.6.He fought with his
neighbour because they were cross with each other.7.He broke his leg when he least expected it.8.I acquainted
myself with the surroundings.9.Don’ tell me this nonsense, I don’t believe you.10. They knew they were fighting a
losing battle. 11.He burst in on me one morning. 12. They appealed to her for mercy. 13. You will never live up to
my expectations. 14. We argued with the authorities about the building permit. 15. He explained to me why he had
been late.
LMA – 2nd YEAR
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: ROXANA-CRISTINA PETCU, PhD

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR (VI) - THE PASSIVE ; MIDDLE FORMATION

I. Mention the most important properties of the English Middles and provide examples.
II. Explain why the sentences below are ungrammatical:
1. *Such deeds do not admit easily.2.*Such stories do not tell fast.3.Politicians praise a lot on TV. 4.*Exams forget
easily. 5.*This kind of bread buys easily. 6. *Innocent victims murder easily.7.*Clever people like instantly.8.*This
aim achieves with difficulty. 9.*Fish cooks obviously.
III. Can the following verbs occur in middle sentences?
FLOAT, ROLL, BLOW, KICK, PULL, PUSH, BOMBARD, SHOWER, STONE, WATER, BREAK.
IV. Translate into English using middles wherever possible:
1. Aparatura de uz caznic se vinde foarte bine de sărbători.2. Se cumpără case în draci primăvara şi toamna.3.Am
dat peste un text absolut oribil.Pur şi simplu nu se traduce orice ai face. 4.Am să-mi cumpăr materialul
acesta.Vânzătoarea spune că se spală şi se calcă foarte bine.5.M-am uitat la anunţurile din ziar după un
apartament mai mic de închiriat, căci, după cum se ştie apartamentele mici se închiriază mai repede deci sunt mai
greu de găsit. 6.Dă-mi nişte lipici, te rog. Timbrele acestea nu se lipesc de loc pe plic şi trebuie să dau scrisoarea
curierului care aşteaptă pe hol.7. Vilele sunt mai spaţioase decât casele obişnuite dar se vând mai greu deoarece
preţurile sunt foarte mari. 8.Chiar şi pentru mine care sunt o gospodină fără experienţă albuşul şi gălbenuşul se
pot separa uşor.9. Brânza se rade uşor aşa că nu ai de ce să te plăngi.Poţi să pui cât de multă la spaghete fără mare
efort.10. Problema se poate rezolve uşor, nu te mai complica atât.
VI. Mention the constraints on the Passive and provide examples.
VII. Explain the differences between the BE passive and the GET passive (Refer to sentences such as
Mary got fired, the fool! / Mary was fired last week)
VIII. Passivize the sentences below (if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why):
1.The newcomer solved the puzzle.2 He wrote the letter rapidly.3. Music resembles poetry.4. He owns a house.
5.He loves Mary. 6. Mary admired herself in the mirror.7. He gave the flowers to Mary. 8.He gave me a push,9. He
insisted upon the invitation.10.They talked about the movie.11. The two tickets cost $100.12. The book belongs to
me.13. The house stands by the hill.14. He availed himself of the opportunity. 15.They did away with that law.16.
They made an example of his behaviuor. 17.The minister took strong exception to the position put forth by the
opposition. 18. The teacher made too much of your attitude during the exam. 19. The secret police kept close tabs
on the members of that terrorist organisation. 20. Somebody has sat on the chair. 21. The manager heard her
talking to the stockbroker. 22. We saw him cross the street.23. The town was dancing with light and
shadow.24.The filled the freezer with fish. 25. They have decided on this chair. 26. It stormed up a flood last night.
27. I took a picture of Mary. 28. Your presence there surprised me. 29. The force of the blizzard took us by
surprise. 30. My family possess this flat. 31.His grandfather left him about $100,000.32.The hooligans set upon
the old man and beat him up.33.She doesn’t like it if people criticize her.34.They have done away with trams in
England.35.I don’t think the police are doing anything about it.36.They were giving a concert in the hall when a
large piece of plaster fell down from the ceiling. It injured about fifty people seriously enough for the ambulance
men to take them to hospital.37.I have him a cheque for the amount required.38.The magistrate let him off with a
severe reprimand.39.They had evacuated the Cathedral before the spire collapsed, so it did not hurt
anyone.40.They look after you very well in that hotel.41.The police eventually gave up the search for the missing
men.42.Some girls love it if men pay them compliments.43.Someone gave me this pen for Christmas.44.Everyone
was listening to the news bulletin with avid interest.45.They told him curtly to go away.46.They are now building a
new cinema there.47.I assure you that the authorities are investigating your complaint.48.Some people object if
others make them work hard.49.I hate it when people make fun of me, though I don’t mind it if they tease
me.50.My sister’s fiancé is cooking dinner tonight. It smells all right anyway.51.He left without anyone noticing
him.52.He is tired of other people sponging him on.53.People believe the authorities accused them of planning an
armed revolt. 54.They swamped the ordinary voters with information about the candidates.55.Provided we do not
press the terms to far, we can identify the Republicans as the American conservatives and the Democrats as the
liberals.56.The law fixes the dates of the American presidential elections and there is no margin for
discretion.57.The voters mandate each member of the electoral college in advance. 58. They expect the Congress
will appoint him leader of the party.59.Somebody broke the vase during the party.60.Some crazy kids destroyed
my neighbour’s car last night.
IX. Translate into English:1.Nu se păstrează nici o dovadă referitoare la vizita pe care spune că a făcut-o la
Paris în 1978.2.Cum îni expirase viza mi s-a interzis să mai intru în ţară.3.Va fi aşteptat la aeroport?4.Directorului
I s-a trimis o invitaţie din partea consilului administrativ să se prezinte pe data de 20 ale lunii şi să justifice
propunerile ce fuseseră făcute privind modificarea organigramei întreprinderii.5.Mare parte din ce s-a spus la
întrunire a fost notat în procesul verbal.6.Operaţia la care a fost supus a durat 6 ore.7.S-a auzit un strigăt la celălat
capăt al coridorului şi s-a văzut o umbră neagră prelingându-se pe perete.8.Hotărârea ei de a nu se căsători cu acel
domn a fost aprobată de întreaga familie.9.Foarte multe obiecte de artă deosebit de valoroase s-au distrus în
timpul cutremurului.10. Se ştie că nimeni nu putea să-l sufere când era preşedintele acelei fundaţii.11.S-a acceptat
în general idea că cele mai multe IMM-uri din domeniul transporturilor sunt localizate în zonele de sud, centru şi
sud vest.12.În ultimul an s-a înregistrat o scădere accentuată a realizărilor economice ale zonei.13.După un timp
am pierdut vaporul din vedere.14.Nu-mi vine să cred că aceste obiecte de îmbrăcăminte au fost purtate de Regina
Maria.15.Cum treceam pe lângă tejghea mi s-a dat un platou şi am fost rugată să-l aduc la masă.16.Situaţia a fost
prezentată în faţa membrilor adunării generale cărora li s-a cerut să ia o hotărâre urgentă pentru ca lucrurile să
poată fi remediate cât mai curând cu putinţă.17.Se pare că s-a descoperit un nou medicament pentru a lupta
contra cazurilor de astm la copii.18.Este posibil ca în următoarele câteva zile să fie eliberat un nou grup de
prizonieri politici.19.Aproape întreg programul conferinţei a fost alocat unui raport despre situaţia din Irak.20.Nu
ştiu cum , dar în cele din urmă am fost convinsă să-mi cumpăr o motocicletă.21.S-a căzut de accord să se amâne
întrunirea.22.Toată lumea se aştepta ca daunele să fie deosebit de mari.23.Se vede clar că preţurile au crescut
vertiginos în luna septembrie.24.S-a luat hotărârea să se construiască un nou drum comunal.25.Ni s-a comunicat
că minsitrul de finanţe şi-a dat demisia.26.Încă nu s-a admis official că situaţia dramatică a învăţământului
superior românesc este cauzată în mare parte se subfinanţarea cronică.27.Actualmente există opinia că
informaţiile sunt transmise la creier de către diverse substanţe chimice.28.Se crede că mai există încă multe
obstacole în calea procesului de pace din Orientul Apropiat.29.În 1981 se cunoştea doar existenţa a doi specialişti
în acea boală extrem de rară în toată lumea.30.S-a formulat acuzaţia că pârâtul ar fi fost implicat într-un jaf armat.