Syntactic constituents

- Words exist/occur in dictionary (also called Lexicon) with their listed

meaning(s)
- When words occur in a sentence, they do not occur in isolation but in a
connected form: as a syntactic/grammatical unit
- Words form a syntactic unit or occur as part of a syntactic
unit/group/family.
- The units (larger than isolated words, may consist of a single word or
several words) are formed by grammatical/structural relations and behave
like a single indivisible element in and in the formation of a sentence: are
called PHRASE
- Phrase is a syntactic constituent and is the outcome/result of interaction
between words and grammar (rules).

Types of Syntactic constituents

- Phrases: are the basic building blocks and further form bigger syntactic
constituents: clauses and sentences.
- Clause (a type of bigger phrase consisting of a verb and its subject)
- Sentence (a type of still bigger phrase, a complete clause in the sense of
grammar and meaning, final/ultimate/end of phrase formation-expansion)

Phrase Types

- Noun Phrase (NP)

o [Boys] are intelligent.
o [These boys] will talk to [those girls].
o [The intelligent boys] are honest.
o [All the intelligent boys] are punctual.
o [We] saw [a rainbow] in [the sky].
o [They] consider [him] [a wise person]
o [The book that [I] bought yesterday] is very useful. (complex NP:
contains a clause inside it)
{Explanation: Relative clause

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 o Relative clause: restrictive and non-restrictive
o Restrictive: My brother who lives in Delhi is a doctor.
o Non-restrictive: My brother, who lives in Delhi, is a doctor.
o Give more examples of NPs.
o A Noun Phrase (NP) is formed by a NOUN and the Noun is the HEAD
of the noun phrase (NP) that it forms. The other words that may
(optionally) occur inside a noun phrase (NP) are: adjectives,
determiners, possessives, demonstratives, quantifiers, relative clause,
ETC.

o [Boys] are coming.

o [The boys] are coming.

o [A boy] is coming.

o [The boy] is coming.

o *Boy is coming.

o [Water] is falling.

o [The water] is falling. [The water] in/from your glass is falling.

-
o Pronouns are also NPs, pronouns replace an NP (not a noun) in a
sentence.
o Boys are intelligent.
o They are hard-working too.
o [Those boys] are intelligent.
o [They] are hard-working too.
o *Those they are hard-working
[The tall boys] are absent.
[They] will come the next week.
*The tall they …………..

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- Verb Phrase (VP)
o [NP They(3person-plural)] [VP smile(3person-plural)].
o [NP S/He(3person-singular)] [VP smiles(3person-singular)].
o The boy(3person-singular) has(3person-singular) come.
o The boys(3person-plural) have(3person-plural) come.
I person: I, we
I smile. I am/was smiling.
We smile. We are/were smiling.
II person: you
You smile. You are/were smiling
(All of) you smile. You are smiling.
III person: She/he/it, they
[She/he] smiles. She/he/it [is/was smiling].
[They] are smiling.

o They [are smiling]. (a single verb: verb and auxiliary)

o The boys [are eating [rice]]. (verb plus NP)
o They [gave him a pen]. (verb plus NP-NP)
o The girls [will talk to the boy]. (verb plus PP-Preposition Phrase)
o The girls [will talk to the boys in the garden]. (verb plus PP-PP)
o They [know that they are not fools]. (verb plus finite-clause]
o All of them [want to sing a song today in the afternoon near the bank of
the Ganges]. (verb plus non-finite-clause)
o Give more examples of VPs.

- Preposition Phrase (PP)

o I saw him [in the garden].
o They are playing [in the room].
o We are moving [towards the north].
o The books are kept [on the table].

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 o Give more examples of PPs.
o In a PP, P(preposition) is the HEAD and an NP is the complement.

- Adjective Phrase (AP)

o They think they are [very intelligent]. (very: intensifier)
o We did not find a book [much more useful] than this. (more: intensifier,
much: intensifier/degree marker words)
o More examples …

- Adverb Phrase (ADVP)

o He moved here [very slowly].
o We have to go there [quite immediately/urgently].
o More examples …

- Tense Phrase (TP): A clause/sentence is actually a TP

o [All the students will attempt a few questions].
o [I like [to come to the class on time]].
o [I like [you to come to the class on time]].
o (all the verb phrases are covered with/by a TP)
o More examples ….
o A clause/sentence may contain one/more clause(s)/sentence(s) inside
it.

- Complementizer Phrase (CP)

o I know [that you are smart].
o [Is he coming]? He is coming. Is he is coming
o [What did you do yesterday]?
o I wonder [why some students are still absent]].
o [TP I feel [CP that [TP there will be rain today]]].
o Interrogative/question sentences/clauses are CPs.
o More examples …..

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