Basic Sentence Transformations Chapter 8 and More

Reason for Transformations Canonical vs. non-canonical Arbitrariness vs. Iconicity Proximity –First things first –More important before less important –Conceptually close things - e.g. noun phrase

Passives Functions –To demote the Agent –To promote the Patient –To make the Verb less active and more stative Agentless Passives (He was fired.) Get Passives (He got fired by the boss.) Resultative Adjectives (He is/got drunk.)

Passives and Style Student writers are often discouraged from using passives. (if you’ll pardon my passive) They can create confusion or be difficult to process (p. 248) They can make the sentence more wordy Sometimes, they are useful (p. 249)

Indirect Object Transformation Moving the indirect object (to/for + NP) before the direct object and eliminate the preposition. –He gave him the present. (< He gave the present to him.) –He baked me a cake. (< He baked a cake for me.) Function: to promote the indirect object Doesn’t work if the indirect object is a place adverbial. (*He drove Chicago the car.) Indirect object is the recipient or benefactor of the direct object

Object Complements Object complements refer to the direct object –I consider him a fool.; I want him arrested. If an object complement is an NP, then the sentence has two NPs after the verb Pages ; Edwin considers/bought Eleanor a jewel.

Question Transformations Wh-Question –Invert the subject and the first auxiliary –Move the Wh-Word to the front –Whom will he choose? Yes-No Question –Invert the subject and the first auxiliary –Will he choose me? Tag Question –At the end of the sentence, put the first auxiliary followed by not if the sentence is positive and then a pronominal form of the subject –He’ll choose me, won’t he?/He won’t choose me, will he?

Hierarchy of Certainty in Questions Answer Unknown Answer Known

Diagramming Wh-Questions we will eatWhat we will eat what S NP Pronoun VP MVP AUXMV NP Pronoun

Examples of Wh-Questions Subject (Who is here? What bit me?) Direct Object (Whom did you call? What will we eat?) Indirect Object (To whom did you give the present to? For whom did you bake the cake?) Object of a preposition (In whom shall we place our trust? Onto what did you put the book.) Possessor (Whose book is this? In which/what box will we find the candy?)

Other Transformations Imperative –Understood second person subject (sg. or pl.) –Open the door. Negative –Put not after the first auxiliary –Tom doesn’t like me. Left Dislocation (Tom, he likes me.) Y-Movement (Tom he likes.)

Four uses of the Verb, Be As a linking verb (e.g., They are nice.) As an auxiliary with the present participle form of the main verb to form the progressive (They are dancing.) As an auxiliary with the past participle form of the main verb to form the passive (They were surprised by the answer.) As an existential (There is a Santa Claus.) Exercise 8.9, p. 253

Rules involving the first auxiliary Wh-Question, Yes/No-Question, Tag Question, Negative If a sentence does not have a first auxiliary, then insert do as the first auxiliary. If the main verb is Be, do not insert do.