Burton,N. Analysing Sentences. England: Longman, 2011.

Grammar I - UTN
CHAPTER II: Sentence structure: functions Simeone / Coronel

Read Chapter II from the suggested bibliography and do the exercises below.

a) What are the tasks you have to perform in order to do a systematic syntactic
analysis of a sentence? Apply the information in the following sentence:

1. The little boy who had lost his mother in a car accident gave his father a
reason to live

b) What is the first task you have to perform when analyzing sentences?
Why? Analyse the following sentences and check if you can identify other constituents
within the main constituents of the sentence.

2. I couldnt follow what he was saying although I tried hard to concentrate on

his speech.

3. She didnt tell him the news because she wants to surprise him when they
meet tomorrow.

c) Frame a definition for The Subject and one for The Predicate.

d) After having spotted the constituents in the sentences in point b) , classify them
into nuclear and extra-nuclear ones. What determines if a constituent is nuclear or
extra nuclear in a sentence?

e) Analyse the following sentences:

4. The competitors didnt stop swimming during the competition in spite of the
big waves.

5. He re-read all the novelists he admired when he was young after he retired.

6. He sent an e-mail to all his friends to tell them he had decided to get
married.

f) What is the argument structure of the verb? How can you classify verbs in terms of
their argument structure? Provide one example of each type.

g) Why is it said that the S/P relation is a two-way dependency?

h) Apply the Subject constituency tests in the following sentences:

7. The girl sitting at the back is absolutely brilliant.

8. All her efforts to pass the exam finally paid off.

9. Mary and her kids have been to the zoo quite often lately.

10. In my opinion, the chapters from the Grammar book should be read quite
regularly.

1
Burton,N. Analysing Sentences. England: Longman, 2011. Grammar I - UTN
CHAPTER II: Sentence structure: functions Simeone / Coronel

11. The students at this Teacher Training College are eager to learn
Grammar.

12. It is raining hard.

13. There are many students who think Grammar is a difficult subject in
this TTC1.

14. It is important to read the material for every class in order to

understand the main concepts which will be discussed in class.

15. In 1932, Bonnie and Clyde killed 15 people.

16. Apparently, the crime took place at 11pm last night.

17. Michael Hutchence was the leader of INXS until he died in 1997.

18. The woman in black caught everyone's eye at the party.

19. Although the boss loves imported cars, he simply won't get rid of his old

Bentley.

20. The article written by Watkins made us reflect on the frequent abuses

of power we endure.

21. Steven Tyler, the leader of Aerosmith, is a consummate2 showman.

22. Riding a bicycle in town is both a healthy activity and an inexpensive

form of transport.

23. Shocked by the bad news, the Prime Minister called an urgent cabinet

meeting.

24. In today's world, most people devote little time to family life.

25. Robespierre and Danton were the main leaders of the French

Revolution.

26. Walking out, David bumped into his eternal competitor.

27. All the difficulties began when we hired Brian Thomas.

1 TTC stands for Teaching Training College

2 Adj. extremely skilled, superb at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consummate

2
Burton,N. Analysing Sentences. England: Longman, 2011. Grammar I - UTN
CHAPTER II: Sentence structure: functions Simeone / Coronel

28. What he can tell us is of very little use to us.

29. While he was still living in Germany, Marcus did some work as a

tradesman

i) Define the function of Head of a phrase.

j) What is a modifier? Why is the relation between a modifier and a head a one way
dependent function? Provide examples of different types of phrases including heads
and modifiers.

k) Analyse the phrases underlined in the following sentences

30. After the operation, she has been under treatment.

31. The prisoner is afraid of the consequences of his misbehaviour.

32. The plan to kill the Pope in London failed because the police had
discovered it before his visit to the city

33. Maureen is greatly interested in a fairly new area of medical research.

34. In the beginning of the story, a very talented young actress is found dead
in her own swimming pool.

35. The Book of the Year award was given to a man who was born in a very
poor environment.

l) Explain the difference between modification and complementation? Take into

account nuclearity and extra-nuclearity and position with respect to the head. Provide
examples of your own.

m) After having discussed the analysis of the sentences above, can you explain the
difference between function and category?

FUNCTION CATEGORY

Definition

Examples

3
Burton,N. Analysing Sentences. England: Longman, 2011. Grammar I - UTN
CHAPTER II: Sentence structure: functions Simeone / Coronel

n) State a relationship between MEANING and FORM. Should we treat these terms
separately? Analyse the following examples:

36. The girl in the car that needed water is waiting

37. Those prosecutors have been trying to lock him up for ten years.

38. Police help dog bite victim.

39. I saw the man with the binoculars.