DukeAnt9074
Subjects Identify the subject in each of the examples below….
Subjects
Identify the subject in each of the examples below. Present the reasoning that tells you it is the subject. Use the syntactic tests that are appropriate, and explain why the other tests are not appropriate. Remember that the subject is a phrase. It might be a one-word phrase, but it’s a phrase, not a word. For example, the subject of
“the chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied”
is not chances, it’s the chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe.
Here’s an example of how to do the next 4 questions. Make sure you do áll 4 steps for each question:
“being popular doesn’t make you talented.”
The subject is being popular.
1. It’s in the position before the verb, does.
2. It’s a noun phrase and not a pronoun, so it doesn’t show case. But we could replace it with a nominative pronoun (she doesn’t make you popular), not an accusative one (her doesn’t make you popular).
3. The agreement test might not be really appropriate, because it’s a clause and not a noun phrase, so it doesn’t have number. On the other hand, we can say that clauses take singular verbs. If we changed it to a plural subject, like the ideas of popularity, the verb would have to change to do, so it does actually agree.
4. If we make the clause interrogative, it inverts with the verb. Doesn’t being popular make you talented?
Therefore the evidence demonstrates that being popular is the subject.
Question 1.
It’s a hot, and kinda boring, drive from the Bay Area to Anaheim.
Question 2.
Were all of his ideas perfect?
Question 3.
Someday I may live a more sophisticated life.
Question 4.
As it happened, he also got hired by my church to be music director.
Objects
In each of the following pairs, pick out the one in which the underlined expression is an object. Give syntactic reasons for your answer.
Here is an example of how to do the next 3 questions:
a. We all enjoyed that summer.
b. We all worked that summer.
– First, in clause a the phrase cannot be deleted, but in clause b it can:
*We all enjoyed.
We all worked.
This suggests that in clause a the verb is licensing the phrase, while in clause b nothing is licensing it.
– Second, we can make clause a, but not clause b, into a passive clause.
That summer was enjoyed by us all.
*That summer was worked by us all.
– Third, we can replace the phrase with it in a but not b.
We all enjoyed it.
*We all worked it.
– Finally, we can’t put any adjunct between the verb and the phrase in a, but we can in b.
*We all enjoyed very much that summer.
We all worked very much that summer.
Therefore, all the evidence indicates that “this summer” is an object in a but not in b.
Question 5.
a. She preached a lot of times.
b. She preached a lot of sermons.
Question 6.
a. They ran the ferris wheel.
b. The water ran clear.
Question 7.
a. They didn’t go Mondays.
b. They didn’t like Mondays.
Indirect Objects
From the list of verbs below, choose three you feel confident about in regards to this question. For each of the three, 1) say whether it can license a ditransitive clause, and give an example, whether grammatical or ungrammatical, and 2) give a paraphrase of that clause where instead of a ditransitive structure you have a direct object and a prepositional phrase headed by to or for.
Example 1. Suppose the verb you chose was send. You would say that send does license a ditransitive structure, and you would give an example like they sent me a card. Then you would say the paraphrase of that clause would be they sent a card to me.
Example 2. Suppose the verb you chose was explain. You would say that it doesn’t license ditransitive clauses, and you’d give an example like *they explained me the problem. Then you’d say that instead you have to use a prepositional phrase with to, as in they explained the problem to me.
Choose a new verb each time. Here are the verbs you can choose from:
award
borrow
fine
obtain
owe
return
make
buy
get
Question 8.
Choose a verb from above and then follow the directions above to answer the question.
Question 9.
Choose a verb from above and then follow the directions above to answer the question.
Question 10.
Choose a verb from above and then follow the directions above to answer the question.
Five canonical clause types
For three verbs below, give example clauses, whether grammatical or ungrammatical, of the five clause patterns (intransitive, complex intransitive, monotransitive, complex transitive, ditransitive). Mark the ungrammatical ones with an asterisk.
Here’s an example, using the verb appear:
a. intransitive – yes The rabbit appeared.
b. complex intransitive – yes They appeared perplexed.
c. monotransitive – no *The magician appeared the rabbit.
d. complex transitive – no *The trickery appeared me perplexed.
e. ditransitive – no *The magician appeared us a rabbit.
Question 11.
Choose either consider or judge.
Question 12.
Choose either keep or promise.
Question 13.
Choose either show or turn.
