Grammar The structure of sentences Kuiper and Allan Chapter 7

The grammar of simple phrases Exercise None of the following strings of words follows the rules of English syntax. Change the order of each so that it is a grammatical sentence. a. Has been eating the chocolate cake the old man. b. The old man the chocolate cake has been eating. c. Has been eating the old man the chocolate cake.

Three ways to identify phrases Movement Meaning Substitution

1. Movement: What moves together is a phrase. a. The old man ate the chocolate cake. b. What the old man ate was the chocolate cake. c. It was the chocolate cake that the old man ate. d. The chocolate cake was eaten by the old man. a. *It was man the chocolate cake which the old ate. b. *The the cake was eaten by chocolate old man.

2. Meaning: What means together is a phrase. Consider the following groups: a. the the old b. cake which the c. the leathery d. in the e. cake ate f. large evil Can you figure out the meaning of these sequences of words?

3. Substitution: What substitutes for a phrase is also a phrase. Exercise Look at the following sentence: a. Davina sold petrol yesterday at the corner store. Substitute another phrase for each of the underlined phrases.