KEY PRACTICE SET 4 KEY

SYNTAX

Word Classes, Subclasses, & Agreement

Identify the word classes in sentences 1-4. Indicate any parts of a sentence
that must agree with each other.

1. The player choked his coach.

Article noun verb (possessive) pronoun verb
2. My favorite player is a murderer, but I love him.
(possessive) pronoun noun verb article noun conjunction
(subject) pronoun verb - (object) pronoun
is agrees with player, love agrees with I
3. Our police caught the reckless driver quickly.
(possessive) pronoun noun verb article noun verb adverb
4. She eats the juicy apple.
(subject) pronoun) noun verb adjective noun
eats agrees with she
5. Is ate a transitive or intransitive verb?
It is ditransitive We ate. (intrans) / We ate watermelon. (trans)
6. Is it grammatical (in the descriptive sense) to say, Ill take 2 sands?
This is the count noun v. noncount/mass noun thing we discussed in class

Constituent Structure & Structural Ambiguity

Identify all the noun phrases and verb phrases in the following sentences.
Then, for each sentence, explain why it is ambiguous.

1. They were inspiring musicians.

NP: they, musicians OR [inspiring musicians]
VP: [were inspiring] musicians OR were [inspiring musicians]
Ambiguity is due to fact that inspiring can be verb or adjective. If inspiring
is being used as a verb, the sentence describes what they were doing to the
musicians. If inspiring is being used as an adjective, the sentence
describes they.
2. He threatened to kill me in public.
NP: he, me
VP: threatened to [kill me in public] OR [threatened (to kill me) in public]
Ambiguity is due to the fact that the prepositional phrase in public could be
describing where the threat was made OR where the killing would take place.

3. The butcher has smoked ham.

NP: the butcher, ham OR smoked ham
VP: has [smoked ham] OR [has smoked] ham
Ambiguity is due to 2 intersecting instances of a word that may belong to
more than one word class ie., the word may function as more than one
type of word:
The word has can be used as a main verb or as an auxiliary verb.
The word smoked can be used as an adjective or as a verb (past
participle).
If smoked is modifying ham, then has must be acting as a main verb. If
smoked is acting as a past participle, then has must be acting as an
auxiliary verb.
4. She is a Chinese art expert.
NP: she, [Chinese art] expert OR Chinese [art expert]
VP: is
Ambiguity is due to the fact the adjective Chinese may be modifying the
noun art or the noun phrase art expert. That is, either the art is Chinese or
the art expert is Chinese.

Generate your own ambiguous sentences.

Any doubts about your own sentences, email me

Sentence Nesting
Draw brackets around the nested sentence in the following sentences.

1. The mongoose [that killed the cobra] is in the garden.

2. The people [who lived in {the town] that was close to the mountain} were
frightened.

Generate your own sentences with nested sentences.

Any doubts about your own sentences, email me