I. What is the structure of a simple sentence? Discuss the sentence as a projection of I.

II. Derive: I expect that everybody will come to see us at home.

I. Define unaccusativity. Define unergativity. Give the argument structure of each type of
predicate: unergative, as in: Mike ran down the hill, transitive, as in: They took the basket
from the table and unaccusative, as in: The moon appeared from behind the clouds.
II. Derive: 1. Mary seemed angry. 2. Mary was insulted by Susan. Indicate what accounts
for each movement.
I. What is the position of the floating adverbs as to the auxiliary constituent?
II. Derive: a. They must be watching the movies right now. b. He obviously
misunderstoood the question. c. He has obviously misunderstood the question.
I. Comment on the distribution of THERE in the following sentences:
a. There comes a man from behind the curtain. b. There arose a new house down the
valley. c. There seems to be a mistake in this essay.
II. Derive: Steve is my best friend.
II. What is the syntactic structure of: The lake froze last night. They lay on the ground.
I. Analyse: John laughed himself sick. The horse galloped itself lame. Comment on their
predicate(s).
I. What kind of verbs are the verbs of appearance? Make a short list of these verbs and
describe their syntax and semantics.
II. Explain the ungrammaticality of: *a man lived (in Paris), *an existed solution, *a
II. Explain the nature of causative (ergative) alternation. Give your own examples of
predicates that enter this alternation.
I. What is the argument structure of a transitive verb? (e.g. take). List the arguments and
the adjuncts in the following sentence: He met Mary at the station.
II. Derive the following sentence: The students met the teacher down the hall.

I. Define dative alternation and give one example.

II. Derive the following sentences: a. He looked forward to it. b. They put up with the
final solution.

II. Derive: You should put on your hat. You should put your hat on.
I. Explain why a double object construction and a dative construction are not
semantically equivalent. Derive: a. She taught Mary Spanish. b. He taught Spanish to
Mary.
II. What is the thematic structure of : a. He loaded the truck with apples. b He loaded the
apples into the truck. Give the theta-rig for each sentence.
II. What are the semantic differences between BE and GET in passive constructions?
I. Discuss the distribution of the passive in English. Do verbs like: fit, lack, resemble,
fail, suit passivize? What semantic feature is generally connected with passive formation?
II. Comment on the implicit Agent in middle constructions. Analyse: a. This truck loads
easily. b. Children scare easily in terms of argument structure.

I. Discuss the properties of unergative and ergative verbs. Analyse the underlined
predicates in terms of these properties: a.The cat sneezed for half an hour without
obvious reason. b. He grumbled with discontent whenever the phone rang. c. Stars
glowed above us. d. They broke the plates/The plates broke accidentally. e. Three men
remained in the room. f. *There laughed a child in the room.
II. Analyse the type of predicate in the following sentences: a. I was afraid I would
remain hungry all night. b. By noon the sea went very high indeed. c. The air suddenly
grew chill.
I. Discuss the properties of middle verbs. In what way are they different form
unaccusatives? Give examples.