OLGA TRADUCTORADO 2014

GRAMMAR II T.T.
SNCHEZ
STUDY GUIDE 1
BIBLIOGRAPHY
01 A Students Grammar of the English Language (Quirk) Chapter 17: The Noun Phrase
02 Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Witten English (Biber) Chapter 9:
Complex Noun Phrases (BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PRACTICE)
03 The Grammar Book (Celce-Murcia, Larsen-Freeman) Chapter 20: Adjectives
04 The Teachers Grammar of English (Cowan) Chapter 18: Relative Clauses
(BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PRACTICE)
05 Advanced Learners Grammar (Foley, Hall) Chapter 25: (Pg 251) Nominalization / Chapter
31: Relative Clauses (BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PRACTICE)
06 Oxford Guide to English Grammar (Eastwood) Chapter 35: Relative Clauses (BIBLIOGRAPHY)
PRACTICE
05 A University Grammar of English Workbook (Close) Chapter 13: The Complex Noun
Phrase
06 A Students Grammar of the English Language Workbook (Chalker) Chapter 17: The
Noun Phrase
r
362 Complementltlon 01 verband adJective.
We can generally omit the infnitive clause ( The/ood is ready), and we can
substitute a passive infnitive clause without change of meaning (The/ood
is ready to be ea/en). Other adjectives in this type include available, free,
soft,
In type (vii) the infnitive clause is an extraposed subject
To spray the trees every year is essential.
It is essential (for you) to spray the trees every year.
Adjectives in this type express volition, modality, or emotion (c! 16.39).
They incJudejortunate, important, possible, surprising, wrong.
NOTE la] Some adjectives belong to types (iv) and (vi) (eg: available,ft,free, ready), so
that a sentence like The lamb isready 10 eat is ambiguous: either equivalent to The
lamb is ready to b ea/en (type vi) or The lamb is ready to eat something (type iv).
[b] l n both lype (v) and type (vi), the infnitive clause can end with a stranded
preposition: He is di cull 10 talk t: The paper is loo fimsy 10 wrile 01.
16.41
Adjective complementatlon by an -Ingpariciple clause
An adjective may take an -ing participle clause as its complementation. In
some cases, a preposition optionally intervenes:
I' m busy (with) getting the house redecorated.
We'reforlunate (in) having Aunt Mary as a baby-sitter.
In other cases the preposition is obligatory:
We are used to not having a car.
I'm hopeless at keeping the garden tidy.
She's not capable oflooking after herself.
Bibliographical note
On phrasal verbs and other types or multi-word verbs, sAarts (1 989); Akimoto
( 1 983); Bolinger (1971); Dixon ( 1 982b); Frascr ( 1976); Lipka ( 1972); Makkai
( 1972); Sroka ( 1972).
On general aspects or verb classifcation and complementation, sce AlIerton
( 1982); Andersson ( 1 985); Chomsky ( 1965, Ch. 2): Fillmore ( 1 968, 1977a, 1977b);
Halliday ( 1967-8); Lyons (1 977, Ch. 12).
On verb compiementation by fnite clauses (especially by that-clauses), see
Behre ( 1 955); Kiparsky and Kiparsky ( 1 970).
On verb complementation by nonfnite construction, see Van Ek ( 1 966); Freed
( 1 979): Ma;r ( 1 990).
1 7 The noun phrase
17.1 In discussing nouns, determiners, and pronouns in Chapters 5 and 6, we
were of course dealing with the fundamentals of noun-phrase structure.
But we have deferred until this point in the book our consideration of the
noun phrase itself so that other constituents common in noun-phrase
structure (such as adjectives, adverbs, and clauses) had themselves been
individually explored. In other words, just as we have seen in Chapter 14
that the sentence may be indefnitely complex, so may the noun phrase.
This must be so, since sentenccs themselves can be reshaped so as to come
within nounphrase structure. For example, the following simple and
complex sentences [ l a-l e] can be re-expressed as one simple sentence [2]
with a very complex noun phrase as subject:
17.2
.
That girl is Angela Hunt. [ l a]
That g;r\ ;s tall. [1 b]
That girl was standing in the corner. [l e]
You waved to that girl when you entered. [Id]
That girl became angry because you waved to her. [ l e]
That tall girl standing in the corer who became angry
because you waved to her when you eflered is Angela Hunt. (2)
Moreover, working back from [2], we could unhesitatingly reconstruct
any of the sentences [ l a-le) and in fact we could not understand the noun
phrase subject of [2) unless we recognized its component parts as they are
set out in [I).
Yet (2) has introduced many changes. We have suppressed all or part of
the verbs in [Ib] and [lc] (diferent in tense and aspect); we have put the
complement tall of [I b] before the noun girl; we have replaced that girl of
[l e] by who.
The purpose of the present chapter is to state the conditions governing
such changes.
In describing complex noun phrases, we distinguish three components:
(a) The head, around which the other components cluster and which
dictates concord and other kinds of congruence with the rest of the
sentence outside the noun phrase. Thus, we can have [I], (2), and [3]:
That tall girl standing in the corner . . . is . . .
Those tall girls standing in the corer . . . are . . .
He addressed that girl standing in the corner.
[ 1 ]
[2]
[3]
3 The noun phr...
(b) The premodication, which comprises all the items placed before the
head - notably, determiners, adjectives, and nouns. Thus:
That tall girl
Some very expensive ofce furiture
(c) The postmodication, comprising all the items placed after the head -
notably, prepositional phrases, nonfniteclauses, and relative clauses:
The chair by the wall
All the boys playing in the garden
A car which she bought recently
We shall also be concerned in this chapter with apposition, a
construction typically presenting noun phrases of identical reference, as
ID:
My dentist, Susan Williams, is heavily overworked. (my dentist is
Susan Williams)
The authorities are worried by the problem 0/ "alldalism. (the
problem is vandalism)
Restrictive and non restrictive
17.3 Modifcation can be restrictive or nonrestrictive. That is, the head can be
viewed as a member of a class which can be linguistically identifed only
through the modifcation that has been supplied (restriclil'e). Or the head
can be viewed as unique or as a member of a class that has been
independently identifed (for example, in a preceding sentence); any
modifcation given to such a head is additional information which is not
essential for identifying the head, and we call it fOfrestrictive.
In example [2] of 1 7. \ . the girl is only identifable as Angela Hunt
provided we understand that it is the particular girl who is tall, who was
standing in the corner, and who became angry. Such modifcation is
restrictive. By contrast, consider the following:
Come and meet my famous mother.
Here, the modifcationJamous is understood as nonrestrictive. Again:
Angeia Hunt, who is (over there) in the corner, wants to meet you.
This sentence has a nonrestrictive relative clause since Angela Hunt's
identity is independent of whether or not she is in the corner, though the
information on her present location may be useful enough. In these
examples, the modifcation is inherently nonrestrictive, since the heads in

I
,
I
Tempor.r) and perm.nent 3
question - being treated as unique - will not normally admit restriction.
But any head can be nonrestrictiveiy modifed:
The tall girl, who is a chemist, is Angela Hunt.
Here the only information ofered to identify the girl as Angela Hunt is the
allusion to her tallness; the mention of her work as a chemist is not ofered
as an aid to identifcation but for additional interest.
Modifcation at its 'most restrictive' tends to come after the head: that
is, our decision to use an item as a premodifer (such as silly in Thesilly boy
got lost ) often refects our wish that it be taken for granted and not be
interpreted as a specifc identifer. Secondly, restrictive modifcation tends
to be given more prosodic emphasis than the head; nonrestrictive
modifcation, on the other hand, tends to be unstressed in pre-head
position, while in post-head position, its 'parenthetic' relation is endorsed
by being given a separate tone unit (2. 1 5), or - in writing - by being
enclosed by commas.
Temporary and permanent
17.4 There is a second dichotomy that has some afnities with the distinction
between restrictive and nonrestrictive but rather more with the contrast of
nonprogressive and progressive in predication (4.7f), and generic or
specifc reference in determiners (S.I I1f. S.22J!). Modifcation in noun
phrase structure may also be seen as permanent or temporary, such that
items placed in premodifcation position are given the linguistic status of
permanent or at any rate characteristic features. Although this does not
mean that postmodifcation position is committed to either temporariness
or permanence, those adjectives which cannot premodify have a notably
temporary reference. Thus The man is ready would be understood as
having reference only to a specifc time, and this corresponds to the
nonoccurrence of The ready man. On this basis, we see that timid and
aJraidare contrasted in part according as the frst is seen as permanent, the
second as temporary:
A man who is timid -A timid man
A man who is afraid _. An afraid man
Just as some modifers are too much identifed with temporary status to
appear in pre-head position, so there can be modifcation constrained to
pre-head position because it indicates permanent status. Compare
originalin the original )'ersion and Her work isquite original ; in the latter, it
would permit adverbial indication of time span (now, always, . . . ), as well
as use in premodifcation.
Postmod IlIcation
Explicitness
17.5 As we saw in 1 7. 1 , premodifcation is in general to be interpreted (and
most frequently can only be interpreted) in terms of post modifcation and
its greater explicitness. It will therefore be best to begin our detailed study
of nounphrase structure with the forms of postmodifcation.
Explicitness in postmodifcation varies considerably, however. It is
greater in the fnite relative clause
The taxi which is waiting outside
than in the non-fnite clause
The taxi waiting outside
from which the explicit tense (;s?/was?) has disappeared, though this in
turn is more explicit than
The taxi outside
from which the verb indicating a specifc action has also disappeared. We
are able (and usually must be able) to infer such facts as tense from the
sentential context much as we infer the subject of nonfnite adverbial
clauses ( 1 5.34);
Th
. . .
'd
{now IS }

e taxI wailing outSI e
I
.
h
or me.
as/ mg t was
Haw! you no/iced the taxi outside?
Part of the relative clause's explicitness lies in the specifying power of
the relative pronoun. It is capable (a) of showing agreement with the head,
and (b) of indicating its status as an element in the relative clause
structure.
Agreement is on the basis of a two-term 'gender' system. personal and
non-personal (5.45f:
Joan, who . . .
The boy/people who . .
The human being who . . .
The fairy who . . .
london, which . . .
The fox/animals which . . .
The human body which . . .
The unicorn which . . .
It will be seen from these examples that 'personality' is ascribed basically
to human beings but extends to creatures in the supernatural world
(angels, elves, etc) which are thought of as having human characteristics
such as specch. It does not extend to the body or character, in part or
whole, of a human bing, living or dead, when this is considered as
separate from the entire person. Pet animals can be regarded as 'personal'
(at least by their owners):
Rover, who was barking, frightened the children.
Postmomctlon 37
On the other hand, human babies can be regarded (though rarely perhaps
by their parents) as not having developed personality:
This is the baby which needs inoculation.
Though ships may take the personal pronoun she (5.46 Note [c)), the
relative pronoun is regularly nonpersonal:
Is sie the ship which is due to leave for Panama tomorrow?
It is noteworthy that collective nouns (5.46) are usually treated as prsonal
when they have plural concord, nonpersonal when they have singular:
{committee }{who were } . . . .
The
h'
responsible for thiS decision . . .
group W le I was
Case In the relative pronoun
17.6 Case is used to indicate the status of the relative pronoun in its clause.
17.7
There are two situations to consider. First, if the pronoun is in a genitive
relation to a noun head, the pronoun can have the form whose:
The woman whose daughter you met is Mrs Brown. [I]
(The woman is Mrs Brown; you met her daughter)
The house whose roof was damaged has now been repaired. [2]
(The house has now been repaired, its roof was damaged)
In examples like [2] where the antecedent head is nonpersonal, there is
some tendency to avoid the use of whose (by using, for example, /he roof of
which), presumably because many regard it as the genitive only of the
prsonal who.
Secondly, with a personal antecedent, the relative pronoun can show
the distinction between who and whom, depending on its role as subject of
the relative clause or as object or as prepositional complement:
The girl who spoke to him
The girl to whom he spoke
The girl who(m) he spoke to
The girl who(m) he met
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
It will be noticed that when the governing preposition precedes its
complement (ef 9.2) as in the rather formal [4], the choice of whom is
obligatory. When i t does not, as in the more informal [5J, or when the
relative pronoun is the object, as in [6], there is some choice btween who
or whom, the latter being preferred in formal written English and by some
speakers, the former being widely current informally.
Relative pronoun and adverbial
The relative pronoun can be replaced by special adjunct forms for place,
time, and cause:
I

17.8
368 The nCn phr ...
That is the place where he was bor.
That is the period when he lived here.
Thai is the reason why he spoke.
[ I ]
[2]
[3]
There are considerable and complicated restrictions on these adjunct
forms, however. Many speakers fnd their use along with the correspond
ing antecedent somewhat tautologous especially [31 - and would prefer
the whc1ause without antecedent:
That is where he was born.
That is when he lived here.
That is why he spoke.
[I a]
[2a]
[3a]
If how is used, such clauses cannot in any case have an antecedent noun:
That is how he spoke. [4]
Moreover, there are restrictions on the antecedent nouns that can occur in
[ 1-3]. With [3], reason is virtually alone, and with [I] and [2), it is also the
most general and abstract nouns of place and time that seem to be
preferred. Thus while
The ofce where he works . . . The day whell he was born . . .
are acceptable to most users of English, others would prefer a prep
ositional phrase in each case:
The ofce
{at

hich . . . (fonnal)
which . . . at
The day
{on
.
which . . . (fonnal)
which . . . on
or one of the less explicit fonns that we shall now be considering (The
ofce he works at, The day he was bor).
Restrictive relative clauses
Choice of relative pronoun
Though most of the examples in 1 7 .5fhave been of restrictive clauses, it is
in the non restrictive relative clauses that the most explicit forms of relative
pronoun are typically used. In restrictive clauses, frequent use is made of a
general pronoun lhat which is independent of the personal or nonpersonai
character of the antecedent and also of the function oflhe pronoun in the
relative clause:
The boy that is playing the piano . . . (or who) [I]
The table that stands in the corer . _ . (or which) [2]
The boy thal we met . . . (or who (m) ) [3]
The table that we admire . . . (or which) [4]
The boy that the dog barked at . . . (or 01 whom) [5]
The table that the boy crawled under . . . (or under which) [6]
NOTE
17.9
PotmltlC llon 369
Provided the relative pronoun is not the subject of the relative clause, as
in [I] and (2), a further option exists in relative clause structure of having
no relative pronoun at all: the clause with 'zero' () relative pronoun. The
examples [3-6) could take this form:
The boy we met . . . (who(m), that)
The table we admire . . . (which, that)
The boy the dog barked at . . . (at whom, who(m)/that . . . at)
The table the boy crawled under . . . (under which, which/that . . .
under)
Some choice exists in placing a preposition which has a wll-pronoun as its
complement ( 1 7.6); there is no such choice with that and zero, where the
preposition must be postposed.
The choices are summarized in the diagram:
The
{man

W
h
hO
.
d
table
t a
.
t remamc
which
who(m)
Th
{manthat
}
{I saw
e
table I glanced at
which
{man at whOm
}
The
bl h' h
I glanced
la eat w IC
Choices are not only connected with relative formality. Some prepositions cannot
b post posed (themeeting Ihat l slept during). Who is often preferred to that when
it is subject and when the antecedent is personal (people who visit me); but Ihal is
preferred to wllo(m) when it is object, in part perhaps to avoid the who/whom
choice (eople IlIal 1 visit ). When the verb in the relative clause is be, the
complement pronoun must b that or zero (John is not the man he la,). This
example illustrates onc orthe most favoured uses of zero: ie when the pronoun is
objcct or complement, the subject is pronominal. and the relative clause is short.
When the antecedent is long and complex, wh-pronouns are preferred:
I have interests outside my daily professional work which give me great
pleasure.
Just as tlat and zero are available when the relative pronoun is dominated
bya preposition, so they can b used when the relative pronoun is part ofa
place, time, or cause adjunct. With place adjuncts. the preposition must
usually b expressed:
This is the garden (that) he sunbathes in.
This is the university (that) she works at.
With the time adjuncts, however, omission of the preposition is usual
whether the pronoun is that or zero:
This is the time (that) she normally arrives (at).
Monday was the day (that) he left (on).
But when (less frequently and more formally) the pronoun is which, the
preposition must be expressed i n these instances and it would be usual to
make it precede the pronoun (cf 1 7.7):
This is the time at which she normally arrives.
Monday was the day on which he left.
With cause and manner adjuncts, the usual pronoun is that or zero, and
there is no preposition:
This is the reason (that) she came.
This is the way (that) he did it.
NOTE With manner adjuncts, it would not b abnormal to fnd which with a preposition
in a more formal style:
This is the way in which he did it.
Quantified heads
17.10 Beside the noun phrase the girls Ihat he knel, we may have one in which
the head is made quantitatively indefnite with the predeterminer such, the
relative pronoun that being replaced by as:
Such girls as he knew were at the party.
Compare: As many girls as he knew . . . A further connection with
comparative sentences (c! 15.36) can be seen in:
MOre } ,

girls Ihan he knew were at the party.
ewer
Nonrestrlctlve relative clauses
17.11 The loose non restrictive relationship is often semantically indistinguish
able from coordination (with or without conjunction) or adverbial
subordination, as we indicate by paraphrases in the examples below. The
repertoire of pronouns is limited to the It'h-items:
Th h B b
{who invited him to a party.
en e met ar ara,
d '
,
d h' an SII mVlte lm to a party.
H
'
R Id W Ik
{' who (m) I mentioned the other day.
ere IS ona a er . .
; I mentioned hlnl the other day.
H I S d
{which was enveloped in fog.
e got ost on now on . . ,
when 11 was enveloped 10 fog.
{which he was exploring.
He got lost on Snowdon,
while he was exploring il.
P0tml tton 371
NOTE As a determiner, which appears in nonrestriclive clauses that are introduced by
adjuncts, but this is largely in formal style:
He emigrated in 1 840, at which lime there was much hardship and unrest.
Cfalso for which purpose, in which city.for which reason, bywhich device.
Sentential relative clau
17.12 One type of nonrestrictive clause has as its antecedent not a noun phrase
but a whole clause or sentence or even sequence of sentences. As with the
clauses in 1 7. 1 1 , the relationship frequently resembles coordination, but
these clauses are also very much like disjuncts (cf 8.42, 1 5.33). For
example:
H d ' M H ' h
'
h
{surprises me.
e a mires rs ewltt, w IC
I f d n strange.
Cf'and this surprises me'; 'to my surprise'.
Quite ofen, which is used i n these clauses as a determiner of factive
nouns which represent the antecedent clause or sentence:
The train may have been held up, in which case we are wasting our
time.
Appositive clause.
17_13 The appositive clause resembles the relative clause in being capable of
introduction by Ihal, and in distinguishing between restrictive and
nonrestrictive. It differs in that the particle Ihal is not an element in the
clause structure (subject, object, etc) as it must be in a relative clause. It
differs also in that the head of the noun phrase must be an abstract noun
such asfact, proposition, reply, remark, answer, and the like. For example:
The belief that no one is infallible is well-founded.
I agree with the old saying that absence makes the heart growfonder.
As with apposition generally (cfI 7.27), we can link the apposed units with
he (where the copula typically has nuclear prominence):
The belief is that no one is infallible. ( . . . Is . . . )
The old saying is that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Or we may replace deverbal nouns like beliefby the corresponding verb
plus object clause: He believes thal IO one is infalble.
It will be noticed that these restrictive examples have the defnite article
before the head noun: this is normal but by no means invariable (except
with a few nouns referring to certainty, especially fact):
A message ,hat he would be late arrived by special delivery.
Plural heads are also rare with appositive postmodifcation and are
regarded as unacceptable, for example, with belief,facI, possibility.
372 Th. noun phr ...
NOTE Nonrcstriclive appositive clauses can less easily resemble relative clauses since
irrespective or nonreslrictiveness they still involvc the panicle lhO!, in sharp
contrast with nonrestrictivc relativc clauses:
This ract. that 11101 is obligatory, should be easy to remember.
Postmodlflcation by nonfinlte clauses
-/ngparticiple clauses
17,14 Postmodifcation of the noun phrase is possible with all three of the
nonfnite clause types ( 1 4.4), and the correspondence between restrictive
relative and nonfmite clauses will be illustrated. For example:
will
{ wri te
. .
be wntmg
writes
The man who is writing
wrote
was writing
the obituaries is my friend,
The man writing the obituaries is my friend.
The latter will be interpreted, according to the context, as equivalent to
one or other of the former more explicit versions. So too:
A tile/alng/rom a roo/shattered into fragments at his feet. ('which
/ell from a roof')
At the station you will see a lady carrying a large umbrella. ('who will
be carrying a large umbrella')
The student writing on the board when you came in . . . ('who was
writing . . ,')
But not all -ing forms in nonfnite postmodifers correspond to progressive
forms in relative clauses. Stative verbs, which cannot have the progressive
in the fnite verb phrase, can appear in participial form:
He is talking to a girl resembling Joan. (,who resembles Joan' not
'who is resembling Joan')
It was a mixture consisting ofoil alld vinegar. ('that consisted . . :)
In all instances, the antecedent head corresponds to the implicit subject of
the nonfnite verb clause; there is no nonfnite postmodifer, therefore,
corresponding directly to the relative clause in:
The obituary that the man is writing will be published tomorrow.
Instead, we must have recourse to the passive: being wrilfen by the man
( 1 7. 1 5).
-ld participle clauses
17.15 Consider now the different versions of the following:
{will be repaired }
The only car that is (being) repaired by that mechanic is mine.
was (being) repaired
The only car (being) repaired by that mechanic is mine.
Again, the latter will be interpreted, acording to the context, as
equivalent 10 one of the former. Thus:
bein re aired . now . . .
[ repaired
J
[neXl week . . .
The only car
reparel
by that mechamc
on Tuesdays . . .
Another example:
repaired before he left . . .
Any coins found on Ihis site must be handed to the police.
('that are found . . .' or, more precisely, 'that may be found . . .')
The antecedent head is identical with the implicit subject of the -et
postmodifying clause as it is with the -ing construction, but in this case the
participle concerned i s as frmly linked with the passive voice as that in the
-ing construction is linked with the active. Hence, with intransitive verbs,
there is no -ee postmodifer corresponding exactly to a relative clause:
The train which has arrived at platorm one is from York.
The train arrived at plalform one is from York.
Infinitive clauses
17.16 The nonfnite clause in
The next train 10 arrive was from York.
could, in a suitable context. have precisely the same meaning as the
relative clause which arrived. But the subject of an infnitive clause need
not be the antecedent. It may be separately introduced by the/or-device
( 1 5.9) or it may be entirely covert:
The man/or John to consult is Wilson.
The man to conslllt is Wilson.
The latter non fnite clause could be understood, according to context,
as '(The man) that you/he, etc, should consult' or 'that ereryofe should
consult', Still more elliptically, the infnitive clause may omit also an entire
adjunct phrase, as in:
The lime (for YOI) 10 arrive is 8 p.m.
A good place (for her) 10 stay is the White Hart.
374 The noun phr...
Here a fairly common alternative is to introduce the relative pronoun and
retain the infnitive clause:
. . . time at which to arrive . . . }
la t h- h t
(the subject obligatorily absent )
. . . p ce a w IC 0 stay . . .
Compare the way in which to do it beside the way to do it.
Finally it should be noted that voice and mood are variable, the latter
covertly:
The time to arrive ( = at which you should arrive)
The case to be investigated ( = that will or is to be investigated)
The money to buy food ( = with which you (or they etc) may buy)
The procedure to be followed ( =which must or should or will be
followed)
Nonrestrlctlve postmodlllcation
17.17 Postmodifcation with nonfnite clauses can also be non restrictive:
The apple tree, swaying gently in the breeze, had a good crop offruit.
('which was swaying . . .')
The substance, discovered almost by accident, has revolutionized
medicine. ('which was discovered . . . ')
This scholar, to be seen daily in the British Museum, has devoted his
life to the history of science. ('who can be seen . . . ')
These clauses can b moved 10 initial position without change ofmeaning,
but in that case they can no longer be expanded into fnite relative clauses.
Indeed, they have an implicit semanlic range byond that of a relative
clause (cf 1 5.35). Thus the nonfnite clause in this example:
The woman, wearing such dark glasses, obviously could not see
clearly.
could be a reduction of a relative clause ;who was wearing . . .' or of a
causal clause 'because she was wearing . . .' or ofa temporal clause such as
'whenever she wore . . .' .
NOTE Cjthe semantic versatility noted in fnite non restrictive relative clauses. 1 7. 1 1 .
Appositive postmodlflcatlon
17.18 Appositive postmodifcation is fairly common by means of infnitive
clauses. A restrictive example:
The appeal to join the movement was well received.
This would correspond to the fnite Ihal people shO ldjoin the movement.
A corresponding nonrestrictive example:
This last appeal, to come and visit him, was never delivered.
Po.tmolHcatlon by prep.ltlonal phr.... 375
There are cases of non fnite postmodifcation where no corresponding
fnite apposition exists:
Any attempt to leave early is against regulations.
(* . . . that one should leave early . . . )
He lost the ability to use his hands.
In all these examples, the construction obliges us to infer the (often
indefnite) subject of the infnitive clause from the context. But a subject
may be explicitly introduced by a prepositional device:
The appeal for Winired to join . . .
Any attempt by Harold to leave . . .
Postmodlllcatlon by prepositional phrases
Relation to more explicit modifiers
17.19 A prepositional phrase is by far the commonest type of postmodifcation
in English: it is three or four times more frequent than either fnite or
non fnite clausal postmodifcation. The full range of prepositions is
involved:
The road to Lincoln
A tree by a stream
The house beyond the church
Two years before the war
A manfrom the electricity board
This book Oi grammar
including the complex prepositions (9.3):
Action in case of.fre Passengers on board the ship
and including those having participial form:
A delay pending further inquiry
Among the prepositions less commonly used in postmodifcation we
should mention Jike in the sense 'resembling': 'The man like John is over
there'. But it is common and fully acceptable in the sense 'such as':
A man like John would never do that.
It is natural to relate such prepositional postmodifcations to sentences
or relative clauses with be ('the man in the corner' .the man (w"o) is in
the corner'), though in some instances more seems to be ellipted than the
verb be. For example. we presumably need to regard
The university as a political forum
as related to a somewhat fuller predication:
376 The nounphr ...
Th
. . . {acting } . .
e university IS
d d
as a political forum.
regar e
Again, although there is no problem with
The presentfor her birthday cost a great deal. (The present is for her
birthday)
we cannot interpret so straightforwardly
The person for the job is Anila ( = the right person for the job . . . )
So too, it is not through be sentences that we must understand
The man with a red beard The guest with a funny hat
but rather through hale sentences (The man has a red beard'): cf9. 1 4
Note [cl.
The ogenltlve
17.20 It is with "G'e sentences that we must fnd the most obvious resemblance
when we turn to the commonest prepositional postmodifcation of all, the
of-phrase:
A man of courage-The man has courage
But, as we saw i n 5.50, many relationships fnd expression through the of
genitive, and one that deserves brief consideration here is the appositive
relation ( 1 7.27) which in fact resembles a be sentence:
The pleasure of your company .Your company is a pleasure
Where the postmodifcation has an -ingclause, the subject may have to be
inferred from the context or i t may be identifed with a premodifer or the
head:
The hope of winning a prize ( = X hoped that X would win a prize)
John's hope of winning a prize ( =John hoped that he would . . . )
But a separate subject may be introduced:
John's hope of Mary( 's) winning a prize ( =John hoped that Mary
would . . . )
On Maryversus Mary's here, see 1 5.10. Where the postmodifcation has a
deverbal noun, a specifed 'subject" must, of course, b genitive:
Bill's hope of Sarah's arrival ( = Bill hoped that Sarah would arrive)
Restrictive and non restrictive
17.21 Prepositional phrases may thus be nonappositive or appositive, and in
either function. they can be restrictive or nonrestrictive:
r
Postmolftlon by prepitions. phr.... 377
This book on grammar
This book, on grammar,
The issue of student grants
The issue, of student grants,
(nonappositive, restrictive)
(nonappositive, nonrestrictive)
(appositive, restrictive)
(appositive, nonrestrictive)
But we must mention some limitations. The last example is rare and rather
awkward: nonrestrictive appositives would more usually b without a
preposition, as in
The issue, student grants,
It would thus have the primary form described in 1 7.27. On the other
hand, if the ambiguous noun phrase
The issue(,) of student grants(,)
had its nonappositive meaning (objective of: 'someone issued student
grants'), nonrestrictive function would be rare and unnatural, plainly
suggesting an awkward afterthought.
Position and varied relationshi p
17.22 As with nonfnite postmodifers when nonrestrictive, so with prepositio
nal phrases, the nonrestrictive function merges with adverbial expres
sions; compare (I} and [2]:
. {behind the fence} . .
The children
h b
Jeered at the soldiers.
on t e us
which means 'Those children who were . . . '
. {behind the fence } . .
The children,
h b
,Jeered at the soldiers.
on t e us
[ I]
[2]
which means 'The children, who (by the way) were . . .' or, on the other
hand, 'The children, now that they were (safely . . . r. It is rather this latter
implication that becomes uppermost if the prepositional phrase is moved
into initial position:
Behind the fence } . . .
O h b
' the children Jeered at the soldiers.
n t e us,
Again, the prepositional phrase i n the following is poised between
interpretation as nonrestrictive postmodifier and as adverbial:
Money, in aid of the refugees, was collected from students and staf.
In the former interpretation, the money collected was in aid of the
refugees, whereas in the latter, 'he act of collecting money was in aid of the
refugees, sinc in this case the adverbial modifes the whole predication
just as it would in initial position:
In aid of the refugees, money was collected .
378 Th. noun phr ...
Nomlnallzallon
17.23 We should not, however, exaggerate the diference between the preposit
ional phrase as adverbial and the prepositional phrase as postmodifer.
The second of these should rather be regarded as a spcial instance of the
frst, depending for its interpretation on our ability to relate it to a
sentence in which it is adjunct. In the following, for instance,
(a) A quarrel broke out in the morning o\er pay.
both the prepositional phrases are introduced as adjuncts. If we wish to
refer again to the quarrel, these adjuncts may now become postmodifers:
(b) The quarrel in the moring ruined their friendship.
(c) The quarrel over pay was the reason for his resignation.
The relation of post modifer to adjunct may be even clearer if, instead of
(a), (b), and (c), we take a sentence in which quarrel occurs as a verb:
(d) They quarrelled in the morning over pay.
We can now see that there is a one-far-one correspondence between the
verb quarrelled in (d) and the head of the subject noun phrase quarrel in
(a), (b), and (c); likewise between the adjuncts in (d) and the postmodifers
in (b) and (c). It is when we have such a correspondence between clause
elements and noun-phrase constituents that we speak of such a noun
phrase as a nominalization. Further examples:
She refused to answer. - Her refusal to answer
He writes well. - (He is) a good writer
The reviewer severely criticized - The reviewer 's se'ere
the book. criticism 01 the book
NOTE In relation to (d), we might also have in place of (b) and (c) respectively 'Their
quarrellillg in rhe moring ruined . . .', Their quarrelling o'er pay was . . .'. On such
-ing clauses, see 15. 10; but we recognize a gradience from concrete count nouns in
-ing, through what is Iraditionally called 'gerund', 10 Ihe purely participial form in
a fnite verb phrase:
Some paintings of Brown's (ie some paintings that Brown owns) [ I )
Brown's paintings of his daughter (ie paintings owned by Brown,
depicting his daughter but painted by someone else) [2J
Brown's paintings of his daughter (ie they depict his daughter and
were painted by him) (3)
The painting of Brown is as skilful a that of Gainsborough.
(ie Brown's (a) tehnique of painting or (b) action of painting) (4]
Brown's deft painting of his daughter is a delight to watch. (ie It is a
delight to watch while Brown defly paints his daughter) (5)
Brown's deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch. ( "[4b]
and (5) in meaning) (6)
I dislike Brown's painting his daughter. (ie I dislike eilher (a) the fact
or (b) the way Brown does it) (7]
I
I
l.
I dislike Brown painting his daughter. ( = (7a])
[8)
t watched Brown painting his daughter. (ie: eilher I watched Brown
as he painted or I watched the process of Brown('s) painting his
daughter)
(9)
Brown deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch. ( =[4b)
and (l})
(10)
Painting his daughter, Brown noticed that his hand was shaking. (ie
while he was painting) ( 1 1 )
Brown painting his daughter that day, I decided to go for a walk.
tie bcause Brown was painting)
(12)
The man painting the girl is Brown. (ie who is painting)
[13J
The silently painting man is Brown. (ie who is silently painting)
[14]
Brown is painting his daughter.
[15]
Minor types of poslmodlflcatlon
17.24 We come now to some relatively minor types of postmodifcation. These
are by (a) adverb phrases; (b) postposed adjectives (cf 7.8); and (c)
postposed 'mode' qualifers. For example:
(a) The road back was dense with trafc.
(b) Something strange happned last night.
(c) Lobster Newburg is difcult to prepare.
In (a) we recognize some such phrases as 'The road which leads back (to
London)
,
. from which all but the subject and an important adjunct have
been dropped. Similarly ' The way (which leads) in (to the auditorium)"
The people (who are sitting)just behind.
In (b), we have in fact two sUbtypes. The frst has been illustrated. The
indefnite pronouns such as allybody, someone can be followed but not
preceded by adjective modifcation. The pronouns concerned arc the OIY-,
some, no- series (6.2If) plus one or two others (cl: what else, who lext,
elc). But we are not free to postpose with indefnites all modifying items
that can be preposed with ordinary noun heads:
A party ofcial is waiting. bur 10t Somebody party is
waiting.
Even adjectives need generally to be 'permanent' and hence eligible
equally for attributive and predicative use ( 1 7.4); thus:
Somebody timid rather than Somebody afraid
The other subtype in (b) consists chiefy of the sprinkling of noun-plus
adjective phrases (modelled on French) like blood royal, heir apparent.
These are of little importance in themselves, being infrequently used
(though our ability to form names like Hotel Majestic suggests that they
are more than mere fossils) and it is likely that the native speaker feels
3 The noun phr._
The beginning student should be given every encouragemenl.
-ed pariciple
17.32 Much of what has been said of -ing participles applies to -ed participles
also, but there are additional complications. In the frst place, an -ed
participle can be active or passive, but as with postmodifcation ( 1 7. 1 5)
the active is rarely used in premodifcation. Contrast
The immigrant who has arrived with The arrived
immigrant
The vanished treasure ('The treasure which has vanished') and A retired
teacher are exceptional, but exceptions are somewhat more general when
an active participle is adverbially modifed:
The newly-arrived immigrant
Our recently-departed friend
Within the passive, we must distinguish the statal from the actional or true
passive (3.25); a statal example:
Some complicated machinery -The machinery is complicated.
(The machinery was complicated by the designer)
Here belong also born and some uses of hidden married troubled
darkened, etc, but in premodifcation they must either have 'permanent'
reference or be adverbially modifed: a married man, a newly-bor child, a
carefully-hidden spy. The last example illustrates a noteworthy general
contrast between -ing and -ed participles. Beside the similarity in
postmodifcation btween the following:
A spy, carefully hidden in the bUShes, }
A spy, carefully hiding in the bushes,
kept watch on the house.
the latter unlike the fonner resists premodifcation:
*A carefully-hiding spy . . .
17.33 Most -edparticiples are of the agential type and naturally only a few will
easily admit the pennanent reference that will pennit premodifying use.
We may contrast:
The wanted man was last seen in Cambridge. (The man goes on
being wanted by the police)
The found purse was retured to ilsowner. (The purse was found at
a particular moment)
But a losl purse is grammatical, because although a purse is no longer
regarded as 'found' after it has been retrieved, a purse will be regarded as
'lost' throughout the priod of its disappearance. So too: the defeated
army, a broken vase, a damaged car, ilS relieved owner. But not: a sold car,
the mentioned article, a built house, a described robber.
Preml ton 37
But there are exceptions which suggest that the semantic and aspectual
factors are more complicated than here described. For example, although
a sum of money can go on being needed, onc does not normally say *the
needed money. Modifed by adverbs, of course, the starred examples
become acceptable: a recently( -)sold car, elc.
Finally, some items in -ed are not participles at all but are directly
formed from nouns:
the vaulted roo
f
, ajuted pillar, a wooded hillside
But constraints occur (perhaps dictated merely by semantic redundancy),
such that there is no a powered engine, a haired child, a legged man,
though we have a diesel-powered engine, a red-haired child, a long-legged
man.
Premodlflcatlon by genitives
17.3 A noun phrase likeafsherman 's cottage is ambiguous: the cottage belongs
to a fshennan or belonged to a fsherman (or resembles the cottage of a
fsherman). As distinct from a delightful cottage or a completed cottage,
the determiner need not refer forward to the head: more usually, it refers
only to the genitive. If the latter, then any intennediate modifers between
the determiner and the genitive must also refer only to the genitive. Thus
These French women's clothing
where these must predetermine the plural women's and the phrase must
mean 'the clothing of these French women' and not 'the French clothing
of these women' which would require the order These women's French
clothing. If the former ('the clothing of. . :), then an intermediate modifer
will be interpreted as referring to the head. Thus
This French women's clothing
would mean 'this French clothing belonging to (or designed for) women'.
Ambiguous instances are, however, common: an old man's bicycle
(contrast: a man's old bicycle) could mean 'the bicycle belonging to an old
man' or 'an old bicycle designed for a man' (or - in principle - even 'a
bicycle designed for an old man').
NOTE On gcnitive modification in general. sec 5.49ff; on thc group genitive. see 17.26.
Premodlficatlon by nouns
17.35 Noun premodifers are often so closely associated with the head as to be
regarded as compounded with it. In many cases, they appear to be in a
reduced-explicitness relation with prepositional postmodifers:
The question of partition - The par'tition question
The door ofthe cupboard - The cupboard 'door
A village in Sussex - A Sussex 'village
364 The noun phrase
This last type is largely playful and informal. Somewhat more generally
used are noun phrases which can be interpreted either as having a sentence
as premodifer or as being object (usually of know) in an embedded noun
clause:
He asked ! don' t know Hdwmany people.
Premodlllcatlon by adjectives
17.29 A premodifying adjective, especially when it is the frst item after the
determiner, can itself be premodifed in the same way as it can in
predicative position (7.32):
His really quite unbelievably delightful cottage
Some intensifers tend, however, to be avoided with premodifying
adjectives. Thus the predicative phrase in His cottage which is so beautiful
would seem a little afected in premodifcation: His so beauti
f
ul co((age.
With indefnite determiners, so would be replaced by such (cf7. 35):
A cottage which is so beautiful -Such a beautiful cottage
Or else so plus adjective would b placed before the determiner: So
beautiful a cottage.
There is resistance also to transferring clause negation to a structure of
premodifcation, and this is possible only in limited circumstances
(usually not plus intensifer or negative afx):
, {very pleasant.
The dmner was not
1 l unp easan .
Th
{very pleasant }
d
'
- e not
1
lOner.
unp easant
NOTE On adjectives that cannot b used in premodifcation, se 7.22. By contrast, there
are premodifying adjectives that cannot b related to clauses with a corresponding
predicative usage: cf7. l 7j.
Premodlflcatlon by participles
-;ng participles
17.30 Everything here depends on the potentiality of the participle to indicate a
permanent or characteristic feature. To a lesser extent, gradability
(especially as indicated through intensifcation by very) is involved.
Consider:
She has a very interesting mind.
Here interesting is fully adjectival (7. Sfdespite the direct relation to the
verb interest :
Premoifation 35
Her mind interests me very much.
But an item can be a premodifer and yet disallow very:
A roaring bull (*very roaring)
And the converse can be true:
{reassuring. {reassuring }
The man was very shoced. ?He was a shoced man.
surpnsed. surpnsed
This last example will illustrate the crucial signifcance of the 'perma
nence' characteristic; such participles can rreely premodify nouns such as
look, smile:
{reaSSUring }
He greeted me with a very shoced expression.
surpnscd
The man himselr cannot have shock or surprise attributed permanently to
him, but a particular look can or course be permanently associated with
such a value. So too we may speak or a smilingface rather than of a smiling
person. It is thus necessary to realize that we are not here concerned with
particular participles so much as with their contextual meaning. A
wandering minstrel is onc habitually given to wandering, but ir we saw a
man wandering down the street, we could not ask:
*Who is the wandering man?
Again, someone who told good stories could be a (very) entertaining
person, but one could not say this of someone who happened, at the
moment of speaking. to be entertaining some rriends with a good story.
17.31 The indefnite article ravours the habitual or permanent, the definite
article the specifc or temporary (cf17.4). Thus
IThe approaching train is from Liverpool.
is strange (especially i n BrE) but not
He was frightened by an approaching train.
where we are concerned perhaps with what is characteristic in 'approach
ing trains'. Similarly, ?The barking dog is my neighbour's, compared with
the quite normal ! was wakened bya barking dog. On the other hand, after
an indefnite head has been postmodifed by an -ing clause, the -ing
participle can premodify the same head plus defnite article:
A proposal ofending many members . . . -The offending
proposal . . .
I n addition, the definite article may be used generically (5.24) and hence
evoke the same generality and permanence as the indefnite:
32 Te noun pr...
In this last sentence, the relative pronoun (which) is objet in the italicized
relative clause, When, however, a relative pronoun is subject, the
conjunction that must b omitted:
A poem will b written for you,
Tom hops (that) a poem will b written for you,
. . {hopes will } .
I will read the poem (whIch) Tom .
h h
.
"
be wrmenfor you.
opes t at Wl
NOTE Even wilh simpler examples and the most careful ordering, we may fnd clarity and
acceptable grammar difcult to attain in multiple modifcation. Beginning with
He liked the smiles of delight on all the faces.
a noun phrase based on this sentence and having smiles as its head may be
ambiguous in one ordering:
The smiles of delight on all the faces that he liked
(was it the smiles or the faces that he liked?), and grammatically awkward in
another.
Apposition
17.27 Two or more noun phrases are in apposition when they have identity of
reference. The appositives may be juxtaposed as in [I] or separated as in
[2], without formal expression of their relationship; or the apposition may
be indicated by a conjunction as in [3] and [4] or by forms such as Ihat is
and namely as in [5]. Particularly in [41 and [5], we see that apposition often
involves explanatory paraphrase.
A professional singer, someone trained in Paris, had been
engaged for the concert. [ 1 ]
His birthdaypresent lay on the table, a book on ethics, the work
ofhis professor. [21
My husband, and (my) coauthor is dissatisfed with the last
chapter. (3)
Linguistics or the study oflanguage attracts many students. [41
The outcome, that is her reeleclion, was a complete surprise. (5]
As we have already sen in earlier sections, apposition can also be
expressed by thatc1auses ( 1 7. 1 3), by non fnite clauses ( 1 7. 1 8), and by
prepositional phrases ( 1 7.20/).
In all the examples [1-5] above, the apposition has been nonrestrictivet
but the relation can also b restrictive (cl 17.3). Compare:
He was examined by lames Kelly, a doctor. [nonrestrictive]
He was examined by lames Kelly the doctor. [restrictive]
Premomc..tlo 3
Cl also my friend Annat the year ZO, the verb 'know'. Titles and
designations can b regarded as a speial form of restrictive apposition:
Doctor lames Ke/ly. Lake Michigan.
NOTE fa] Appositives need not b noun phrases; compare:
She is bigger than her brother. heavier, that is.
Sixthly and lastly, I reject the claim on ethical grounds.
He angered, nay infuriated, his audience.
{b) References to words, books. etc, are ofen expressed in appositive fonn: 'the
word geese', 'the good ship Venus', 'the play Romeoand Jutiet'. This explains why,
when the generic item is absent, concord is singular: 'geese is irregular'. 'Has
Romeo and Juliet ever been flmedT
Premodlllcallon
TypeS of premodltylng Item
17.28 Holding constant a lexical frame (his . . . cottage) and nonrestnctlve
function, we have the following range of premodifying items:
(a) ADJECTIVE
I visited his delightful cottage. (His cottage is delightful)
(b) PARTICIPLE

I visited his crumbling cottage. (His cottage is crumbling)

I visited his completed cottage. (His cottage has been completed)
(c) SGENITIVE
I visited his fsherman's cottage. (CfThe cottage belonged to a
fsherman)
It should be noticed that if we had used a more normal genitive example
(his uncle's cottage) we would have changed the relationship of his.
(d) NOUN
I visited his country cottage. (His cottage is in the country)
(e) ADVERBIAL
I visited his faraway cOllage. (His cottage is far away)
(I SENTENCE
(?) I visited his pop-downjorlheweekend cottage. (CfHis cottage is
one that he can pop down to for the weekend)
17.25
380 The noun phrase
them to b very similar to compound nouns. Nevertheless, beside this
subtypc, there is a similar hut much morc general phenomenon. When a
head is nonrestrictively modifed by a coordinated string of adjectives, it is
common to postpose them:
A man, timid and hesitant, approached the ofcial.
though the potential mobility of the string allows it to be detached from
the noun phrase altogether (cl 1 7. 1 7). Even a restrictively modifying
adjective can be poslposed if it is itself modifed (by an adverb capable of
being an adjunct, nol by the intensifer very: e/7.9):
A man notoriously limidis unft for this task. (cl: A man very timid)
But this is particularly common where the modifcation is ora 'temporary'
nature ( 1 7.4). Thus beside The fnest available car, we have Thefnest car
(currently) available.
With (c), we again encounter a French model: Lobster Newburg.
Though virtually confned to cuisine, it is moderately productive within
these limits, perhaps especially in AmE. In BrE one fnds veal paprika and
many others, but there is some resistance to this type of postposition with
other than French lexical items, as in pate maison, sole bonne femme.
Though technically a prepositional phrase phenomenon, expressions
involving a la clearly belong here. It appears in culinary formations like
chicken a la king, and also (informally or facetiously) to designate style:
Another play a la Beekett has appeared, though 1 forget who wrote it.
Multiple modification
(a) A head may have more than one postmodifcation. Thus
The girl in the corner
can be brought together as
and The girl talking to Peter
The girl in the corner (and) talking to Peter
Without conjunction, there would usually be a hierarchy:
{[The girl (in the corner)] talking to Peter}
(b) A modifcation may be applicable to more than one head. Thus
The girl in the corner and The boy in the corner
can be brought together by multiple-head rules which permit the
determiner to apply to both heads (cf 1 3.25):
The girl and boy in the corner
Multiple modltlcallon 381
By bringing (a) and (b) together, we can produce complexes such as:
The girl and boy in the corner (and) talking to Peter
(c) The head of a modifying phrase may itself be modifed; thus
The girl in the corner
may be brought together as
and The corner nearest the door
The girl in the corner nearest the door
By bringing (a), (b), and (c) together, we can form
The girl and boy in the corner nearest the door talking to Peler
But fastidious users of English would prefer to end with a relative clause
here (' . . . who are talking to Peter'), no doubt in response to an instinct
that prompts the introduction of explicitness at a point which is relatively
distant from the head.
Ambiguity and constraints on multiple modification
17.26 Frequently, careful ordering of constituents in a noun phrase is essential
to communicate all (and only) one's intention. To take an obvious
example, the following pair differ in meaning and are not mere stylistic
variants:
The man in black talking to the girl
The man talking to the girl in black
One of the chief reasons for preferring the of-phrase to the -s genitive is to
avoid discontinuity (with unwanted humour); thus:
The ears of the man in the deckchair
and not
*The man's ears in the deckchair
On the other hand, the group genirile construction enables us to postpose
the 's infection and avoid sequential of-phrases:
The man in the deckchair's ears
Cfalso a teacher ofmusic's qualifcations, the principal ofthe college's
appointment, a week or so's rest, all hour alld a half's discussion.
A special type of mUltiple modifcation that requires careful ordering
occurs when the modifying clause becomes itself embedded in a clause.
Consider the following series:
Jane will write a poem for you.
Tom hopes (that) Jane will write a poem for you.
Y will read the poem (which) Tom hopes (that) Jane wiI wrilefor you.
3 Th. noun phr ...
But not all noun premodifers have prepositionalphrase analogues:
Bernard Miles was both actor and producer - The actorpro'ducer
Attention must be drawn to two important features in premodifcation by
nouns:
( 1 ) Plural nouns usually become singular, even those that otherwise
have no singular form (eI5.44):
The leg of the trousers -The 'trouser leg
But while singularization i s normal it is by no means universal (cl:
the arms race), espeially with noun premodifcation that is not
hardening into a fxed phrase or compound: The committee on
promotions-The pro'motions committee.
(2) According to the relationship between the two nouns, the accent will
fall on the premodifier or the head; for example, An iroll 'rod but A
'war story. The conditions under which the latter stress pattern is
adopted are by no means wholly clear but they are also connected
with the conventionalizing of a sequence in the direction of
compounding.
A notable constraint against making postmodifying phrases into
premodifying nouns is the relative impermanence of the modifcation in
question. Thus while The table in the corner will readily yield The corner
table, we cannot do the same with
The girl jn tire corer (spoke to me) _. The corer girl . . .
We must insist again that this is not a properly of the lexical item (in this
instance, corner) but of the semantic relation; cl17. 4.
Multiple premocltlcatlon
With single head
17.36 The three types of multiple modifcation specifed in 17.25 apply to
premodifcation also. More than one premodifer may be related to a
single head, with no grammatical limit on the number:
His brilliant book - His last book - His ( . . . ) book.
,His last brilliant ( . . . ) book
This is, however, misleading in giving the impression that the multiple
modifers constitute an unordered and coordinate string. It usually
follows a recursive process:
His book _His brilliant book ...His [last (brilliant book)
We would here mean that, of several brilliant books, we are speaking only
of his last one; by contrast
His book ..
..His last book
-
His [brilliant (last book)
17.37
Pr.modlllcatlon 39
indicates that his last book was brilliant without commitment to whether
any of his others were. In some instances, however, we do indeed have
multiple modifcations in which no priority among modifers need be
assumed; to these we may give separate prosodic emphasis or introduce
commas in writing:
His LAST BRiLLIANT BK ('his last and brilliant book')
Or we may formally coordinate them. Thus there would be little difrence
between
Her forceful, lucid remarks and Her lucid (and) forceful
remarks.
When coordinated modifers relate to properties that are normally
thought to confict, the coordinator will probably not be and:
His handsome but scarred face His scarred but handsome face
With multiple head
Modifcation may apply to more than one head (cl1 3.25):
The new ta
h
bl
.
e }
_
The new table and chairs
The new c airs
The multiple head thus produced can now be subject to recursive or
coordinate modifcation:
" {The beautiful new table and chairs
The new table and chaIrs-
The new (but) ugly table and chairs
If we coordinated learned papers and books as in (He wrote) learned
papers and books, we would suggest that learned applies to both papers and
books. Ifi t should not, we can either reorder (books and learned papers) or
introduce separate determiners (some learned papers and some books).
With modifed modifer
17.38 We have already seen two types of modifcation with modifed modifer:
His really quite unbelievably delight
f
ul cottage ( 1 7.29)
These French women's clothing ( 1 7.34)
In a third type, the noun premodifer can be itself premodifed by either
adjective or a noun and, if the latter. this can in turn be similarly
premodifed:
r "
{The small o
f
fce furniture
The ofce urntture
-
Th I n r "turc e ox 0.ce urnt
J
C
The property /X ofce furniture.
The house property tax ofce furniture
It should be noted, however, that i f we were to introduce an adjetive in
this last noun phrase. already clumsy and improbable, (i) it would have to
17.39
NOTE
39 Yh. non phr ...
come immediately after the determiner, and (ii) it would normally be
interpreted as relating directly to the head furiture rather than to house,
the only other possibility:
The {pleasant [house property) tax) ofce] furniture}
This is not to say, however, that obscurity cannot exist or that noun
premodifers can modify only the next following noun. Consider A new
giant size cardboard detergent carton, where size does not premodify
detergent but where the linear structure is rather:
A (new {(giant size) [cardboard (detergent carton)]})
Other complexities In premodlflcatlon
A friendship between a boy and girl becomes A boy alld girlfriendship. A
committee dealing with appointments and promotions can readily be
describd as The appointments andpromolionscomminee, while one whose
business is the allocation of fnance can be The allocatioll of fnance
commillee.
A noun phrase in which there is noun premodifcation can be given the
denominal afx which puts it into the 'consisting of' class of adjectives
(7.26) while retaining the noun premodifer; hence, from party politics we
have (a) party political (broadcast).
Similarly. a noun phrase having a denominal adjective may itself take a
denominal afx to become a premodifer in a noun phrase. For example,
beside cerebral palsy ( = 'palsy' of the cerebrum), we have cerehral palsied
children which has the structure (cf 17.33):
{[(cerebral palsy)ed] children} alld not *[cerebral (palsied
children)]
Coordination gives rise to numerous difcuhies in premodifcation. Beside the
relatively explicit children with impaired speech, we have the prcmodifed form
speech-impaired children. But since speech and hearing arc so often jointly
impaired, we are involved in the need to have a corresponding premodifcation,
speech( -) and hearing( -) impaired children, clear enough in spoken English but
possibly requiring a clumsy double hyphenation to make it clear in writing.
Relative sequence of premodlflers
Denominal and nominal
17.40 The item that must come next before the head is the type of denominal
adjective often meaning 'consisting of', 'involving', or 'relating to', and
this can b preceded by a wide range of premodifying items:
extravagant
h
{pleasant
}
. I I c t e
only
!ocra lie
London
{
;OUs
}
I" I a po mca
mere
United States
problem

17.41
NOTE
.
Pr.mlflutlon 391
Next closest to the head is the noun premodifer, already exemplifed
with London, city, and Unifed States in the foregoing examples. When two
nouns premodify, one which corresponds to the head as object 10 verb will
follow one relating to material or agency:
a
{detergent }{ container
cardboard carton
{ container
- a cardboard detergent
carton
{ciga'rette
} I
' h my , Ig ter
gas
' my ,gas ciga'relte lighter
not *my cigarette gas lighter
Classes or adjctives
Next before a noun modifer, the most important class of items is the
adjective of provenance of style:
a Russian trade delegation Gothic church architecture
and preceding this type is the participle:
a carved Gothic doorway some interlocking Chinese designs
Preceding the participle, we have adjectives of colour:
a black dividing line a green carved idol
These are preceded by adjectives of age, together with the premodifers
and post modifers that these and other freely gradab\e adjectives may
have:
an old blue dress
a really very elderly trained nurse
a large enough lecture room
a very young physics student
Next comes the large class that we may call 'general', except that between
'general' and colour (and usually all other modifers to the right) comes
the diminutive unstressed use of lillle. Thus, not an old liule blue
ornament, bue
a
gracious
typical
bautiful
peculiar
handsome
hideous
splendid
I. I
{Old blue ornament
Itt e .
old carved GothiC doorway
See Fig 17.41 which illustrates the relative positions of items in
premodifcation.
There are many qualifcations to the foregoing. The general' adjectives, for
example. are not placed randomly but comprise several subclasses. Wc would
prefer a small round table to ?a round small table; seeral lhjck even slices to several
392 The noun phra..
een lhick slices; aferce shaggy dog to a shaggy ferce dog; a lall angr} man to an
angry lall man; a brief hOSlile glance to a hoslile briefglance. Evaluative or
subjective adjectives frequently preede those that are relatively objective or
measurable; size often precedes shape; within size, height often precedes girth.
'General' adjectives are themselves preceded by semantically weak items like nice,
by nonpredicable items like mere, by quantifers. numemls. determiners, and
associated closedsystem items (S.3D).
/it, g(n(ral
'
g
'
colour parti prOI"fn noun dnom h((d
miners cip/I an( ina/
<h' hetic social life
<h' extravagant London social lire
, crumbling church to\cr
, grey crumbling Gothic church tower
"'r' intricate old interloking Chinese designs
, small green carved jade idol
his heavy 0" moral responsibil.
ities
Fig 17.41 Examples of premodifcation sequence
Discontinuous modification
t 7.42 It is not uncommon for a noun phrase to be interrupted by other items of
clause structure. Note for instance the time adjunct between the head and
postmodifer in the following;
You'll meet a man tomorrow carrying a heal parcel.
There are more striking examples:
I had a nice glass ofbeer but in an ugly glass.
This is nOI as contradictory as it may seem, since it is only in the second
noun phrase that glass is premodifed by an adjective; in the frst, it is
better to regard glass ofbeer as a complex unit modifed as a whole but
with glas. being less a concrete noun than a unit of measure. So too with a
weak cup of tea. and phrases of the form kind/sort of N which take
premodifers plainly related to N rather than SOrl, both in semantics and in
concord:
A big awkward sort of carton
?These big awkward kind of carlons
17.43 Discontinuous modifcation more aptly applies to examples like the
following (c/7.9):
Dilontlnuous modification 393
Comparable facilities /0 ours
Dif
f
erelll production fgures from those given earlier
The prepositional phrases here do not directly relate to the head (as they
do in roads 10 London, people from the I,il/age) but to the premodifying
adjective: 'facilities comparable to ours', 'fgures diff erent from those'.
Compare also The rail man that 1 saw with Thefrsl mun Ihal l suw ( = 'The
man that I saw frst'); 'An allractil'e scheme
f
tllam:ially' ( = 'A scheme
which isflallcialy allractive'); cf7.32.
Most discontinuities, however, are brought about by interpolating a
parenthesis or the fnite verb of the sentence (where the noun phrase is
subject) between the head and the postmodifer; and the usual motive is to
correct a structural imbalance (cfI 8.27f) as in 'The story is told Ihat he wus
once a boxer', or to achieve a more immediate clarity as in:
The woman is by the DOR, who sold me the TicKets and lold me the
play doesn't begin till THREE.
Bibliographical note
On poslmodifcation, s Bresnan and Grimshaw (1 978); de Haan ( 1987);
Downing ( 1 978); EIsness (1982); Olofsson (1981); Schachtcr ( 1 973); Scars ( 1 972);
Young (1 980).
On prcmodifc3tion, s Bache ( 1978); Bolinger ( 1967a);lohansson ( 1 980); Levi
( 1978).
On the relation betwen modifers and heads, s Seppanen ( 1 978).
On the genitive and of-construction, s Dahl (1971), lahr Sorheim ( 1 980);
Lyons ( 1986); Wieser ( 1 986).
On nominaiization, s Chomsky ( 1 972); Colen ( 1 984); Kjellmer ( 1 980):
Vendlcr (1 968).
On apposition. see Austin (1 980); Mcyer ( 1 987).
35
Relative clauses
271 Summary
Introduction to relative clauses 272
An adjective or prepositional phrase can modify a noun. A relative clause
does the same.
Adjective: the red team
Phrase: the team in red
Relative clause: the team wearing red
the team who were wearing red
Some relative clauses do not have commas. They are identifying clauses
and classifying clauses.
Identifying: What's the name of the player who was injured?
(The clause tells us which player is meant.)
Classifying: A player who is injured has to leave the field.
(The clause tells us what kind of player is meant.)
Some relative clauses have commas. They are adding clauses and
connective clauses.
Adding: Jones, who was injured, left the field.
(The clause adds information about Jones.)
Connective: The ball went to Jones, who scored easily.
(The clause tells us what happened next.)
Relative pronouns in clauses without commas 273
We use the relative pronouns who or that for people and which or that for things.
These pronouns can be the subject or object of the clause.
Subject: We got on the first bus that came.
Object: We got on the first bus that we saw.
Object of a preposition: Next came the bus that we were waiting for.
We can leave out the pronoun when it is not the subject.
We got on the first bus we saw.
PAGE 356
P A G E 357 272 Introduction to relative clauses
Relative clauses with commas 274
In an adding clause or connective clause we cannot use that, and we cannot leave
out the pronoun.
The first bus, which came after five minutes, was a seven.
Whose 275
The player whose goal won the game was Jones.
P articiple relative clauses 276
The bus coming now is ours.
The player injured in the leg had to leave the field.
Infinitive relative clauses 277
United were the first team to score.
Which relating to a clause 278
United won easily, which pleased their fans.
Relative adverbs 279
That's the stop where we get our bus.
The relative pronoun what 280
United's fans got what they wanted.
Whoever, whatever and whichever 281
Whoever used the pans should wash them up.
272 Introduction to relative clauses
1 SE VE RN BODY CLUE
A body recovered from the River Severn at Tewkesbury at the weekend is
thought to be a man who disappeared from the Midlands in January, police
said yesterday.
(from The Guardian)
There are two relative clauses. E ach clause relates to a noun (body, man). The
second clause begins with a relative pronoun (who). The pronoun joins the relative
clause to the main clause.
The body is that of a man. He disappeared in January.
The body is that of a man who disappeared in January.
35 RELATIVE CLAUSES PAGE 358
2 There are different ways of modifying a noun.
Adjective: a dead body
Noun: a Midlands man
Phrase: a body in the river
a man from the Midlands
Participle relative clause: a body recovered from the river
a man speaking in a Midlands accent
Finite relative clause: a body which was recovered from the river
a man who disappeared from the Midlands
We usually choose the pattern that expresses the information in the shortest way.
For example, a man from the Midlands is more usual than a man who comes from
the Midlands.
NOTE
A relative clause can come after a pronoun such as everyone, something.
He is thought to be someone who disappeared from the Midlands in January.
But a clause after a personal pronoun is rather formal and old-fashioned.
He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.
3 The following kinds of relative clause do not have commas around them, and in
speech we do not pause before them.
a Identifying clauses
A clause can identify the noun, say which one we mean.
The architect who designed these flats doesn't live here, of course.
I can't find the book that I was reading.
The clause that I was reading identifies which book we are talking about.
NOTE
When there is an identifying clause, the determiner before the noun is usually the, not my,
your, etc.
I like the course that I'm doing now.
NOT I like my course that I'm doing now.
My identifies which course, so we do not need it with an identifying clause.
b Classifying clauses
A clause can classify the noun, say what kind we mean.
I hate people who laugh at their own jokes.
We're looking for a pub that serves food.
The clause that serves food expresses the kind of pub we mean.
c Clauses used for emphasis
We can use a relative clause in a pattern with it in order to emphasize a phrase.
It was Jones who was injured, not Brown. 51(3)
4 The following kinds of relative clause are separated from the noun, usually by a
comma. In speech there is a short pause before the clause.
a Adding clauses
A clause can add extra information about a noun. 274
Aristotle was taught by Plato, who founded the Academy at Athens.
The clause who founded the Academy at Athens adds extra information about
Plato. We can leave out the adding clause and the sentence still makes sense.
Identifying:
Adding:
272 Introduction to relative clauses
PAGE 359
b Connective clauses
A clause can tell us what happened next.
I shouted to the man, who ran off.
We use a connective clause to link two actions. In spoken English we often use two
main clauses.
I shouted to the man, and he ran off.
5 Whether we use commas or not (or whether we pause) makes a difference to the
meaning.
a Compare the identifying clause and the adding clause.
Identifying: Two cars had to swerve to avoid each other. One car left the road
and hit a tree, and the other one ended up on its roof. The driver of
the car which hit a tree was killed.
Adding: A car had to swerve to avoid a horse and left the road. The driver of
the car, which hit a tree, was killed.
The identifying clause tells us which of the two cars is meant. The adding clause
adds extra information about the car. It does not identify the car because in this
context there is only one.
b In speech we make a difference between the two kinds of clause.
Before the adding clause there is a pause. There is a fall in intonation on both the
noun phrase and the adding clause.
c Compare the classifying clause and the adding clause.
Classifying: Cars which cause pollution should be banned.
(Some cars should be banned because they cause pollution.)
Adding: Cars, which cause pollution, should be banned.
(All cars should be banned because they cause pollution.)
The classifying clause tells us what kind of cars are meant. The adding clause adds
information about cars in general.
6 A relative clause usually comes directly after the noun it relates to, but it can come
later in the sentence. These two examples are from real conversations.
I can't think of any good films at the moment that I'd like to see.
The train was just pulling out of the station that we were supposed to
connect with.
We can do this when the clause has important information that we need to put at
the end of the sentence. But separating the noun and its relative clause can be
awkward, and in writing we often avoid it.
NOTE
We can use fronting or inversion to get the noun + clause at the end.
At the moment I can't think of any good films that I'd like to see.
Just pulling out of the station was the train that we were supposed to connect with.
the driver of the car which hit a
tree
tree driver of the car, which hit a the
35 RELATIVE CLAUSES PAGE:
When we use a relative pronoun, we do not use a personal pronoun as well.
a man who disappeared in January NOT a man who he disappeared in January
a body that they found in the river NOT a body that they found it in the river
NOTE
But in informal spoken English we sometimes use an extra personal pronoun when the
relative clause has a sub clause.
We were talking about the factory that the police believe someone set fire to (it) deliberately.
273 Relative pronouns in clauses without commas
Here we look at clauses in which we use who, whom, which or that, and clauses
without a pronoun. These are identifying and classifying clauses.
1 Who or which?
We use who for a person and which for a thing or an idea.
Who was the girl who arrived late? It was a dream which came true.
The difference between who and which is like that between he/she and it. 184(3b)
We can use that with any noun.
Who was the girl who/that you came with?
It was a dream which/that came true.
With people, who is more usual than that. With other things, both which and that
are possible, but which is a little more formal.
NOTE
The forms are the same whether the noun is singular or plural
I don't know the girl/girls who arrived late.
2 Relative pronoun as subject
The pronoun can be the subject of the relative clause.
The young man who/that lives on the corner rides a motor-bike.
(He lives on the corner.)
I've got a computer program which/that does the job for me.
(It does the job for me.)
NOTE
In general, who is more usual than that as subject of the clause. But we often use that when
we do not mean a specific person.
Anyone who/that knows the facts must disagree with the official view.
3 Relative pronoun as object
a The pronoun can be the object of a relative clause.
It's the same actor who/that we saw at the theatre.
(We saw him at the theatre.)
You can get back the tax which/that you've paid.
(You've paid it.)
We often leave out the relative pronoun. (5)
It's the same actor we saw at the theatre.
NOTE
Who and that are both possible as the object. But we normally use that rather than which for
something not specific.
We can supply you with everything (that) you need.
b When who is the object, we can use whom instead.
It's the same actor who/whom we saw at the theatre.
A man who/whom Neil knew was standing at the bar.
Whom is formal and rather old-fashioned. In everyday speech we use who, or we
leave out the pronoun. (5)
4 Prepositions in relative clauses
a The relative pronoun can be the object of a preposition.
I'll introduce you to the man who/that I share aflat with.
(I share a flat with him.)
Is this the magazine which/that you were talking about just now?
(You were talking about it just now.)
In informal English the preposition comes in the same place as in a main clause
(share aflat with, talking about).
We often leave out the relative pronoun. (5)
I'll introduce you to the man I share aflat with.
NOTE
In this pattern whom is possible but less usual.
I'll introduce you to the man who/whom I share a flat with.
b In more formal English we can put the preposition before whom or which.
The person with whom Mr Fletcher shared the flat had not paid his rent.
The topic in which Michael is most interested is scientific theory.
We cannot leave out whom or which here, and we cannot use who or that.
5 Leaving out relative pronouns
We can leave out the pronoun when it is not the subject of the relative clause.
Clauses without pronouns are very common in informal English.
The woman Gary met knows your sister.
The parcel I posted on Monday still hasn't got there.
That man Angela was sitting next to never said a word.
He certainly could not have committed the crime he was accused of.
But we cannot leave out the pronoun when it is the subject.
That man who was sitting next to Angela never said a word.
Sometimes we can use a participle without a relative pronoun or an auxiliary.
276
That man sitting next to Angela never said a word.
NOTE
We usually leave out the object after a pronoun, a quantifier or a superlative.
I don't think there's anyone I can really trust.
All you ever get in this newspaper is sex.
This is the worst summer 1 can remember.
We can also use that here.
PAGE 361
273 Relative clauses without commas
35 RELATIVE CLAUSES PAGE 362
6 Overview: who, whom, which and that
People Things
Subject the man who was talking
the man that was talking
Object of the man who we met
verb the man that we met
the man we met
the man whom we met
Object of the man who we talked to
preposition the man that we talked to
the man we talked to
the man whom we talked to
the man to whom we talked
the music which was playing
the music that was playing
the music which we heard
the music that we heard
the music we heard
the music which we listened to
the music that we listened to
the music we listened to
the music to which we listened
274 Relative clauses with commas
1 An adding clause (or 'non-identifying clause') adds extra information. This news
item contains a sentence with an adding clause.
A bank robber escaped from prison last week, after climbing aboard a helicopter
that had been hijacked by an armed accomplice, in Brittany. Claude Riviere, who
was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1987, leapt into the helicopter while
on an exercise period.
(from Early Times)
The clause adds extra information that the reader may not know. But if we leave
out the adding clause, the sentence still makes sense.
There are often adding clauses in informative texts. They are rather formal and
typical of a written style.
For the difference between identifying and adding clauses, 272(5).
2 We separate the adding clause from the main clause, usually with commas.
We can also use dashes or brackets.
Einstein, who failed his university entrance exam, discovered relativity.
The new manager is nicer than the old one - whom the staff disliked.
The cat (whose name was Molly) was sitting on the window-sill.
The drugs, which were hidden in bars of chocolate, have a street value
of 20 million.
In an adding clause we use who, whom, whose or which but not that. And we
cannot leave out the pronoun from an adding clause.
3 A preposition can go before the pronoun, or it can stay in the same place as in a
main clause.
Tim's hobby is photography, on which he spends most of his spare cash.
Tim's hobby is photography, which he spends most of his spare cash on.
It is more informal to leave the preposition at the end.
4 We can use a quantifier + of whom/of which to express a whole or part quantity.
The police received a number of bomb warnings, all of which turned out to be
false alarms. (All of them turned out to be false alarms.)
In the chair lift were two people, one of whom was slightly injured.
There are dozens of TV channels, some of which operate 24 hours a day.
5 We use the same patterns in connective clauses to say what happened next.
He presented the flowers to Susan, who burst into tears.
Mike dropped a box of eggs, all of which broke.
275 Whose
1 Whose has a possessive meaning.
The people whose cars were damaged complained to the police.
(Their cars were damaged.)
Tania is someone whose courage I admire.
The friend whose dog I'm looking after is in Australia.
Madame Tussaud, whose waxworks are a popular attraction, died in 1850.
But NOT someone whose the courage I admire
2 Whose usually relates to a person, but it can relate to other things, especially a
country or organization.
I wouldn't fly with an airline whose safety record is so poor.
(Its safety record is so poor.)
The others were playing a game whose rules I couldn't understand.
NOTE
Instead of whose relating to a thing, we can use this pattern with of which.
The others were playing a game the rules of which I couldn't understand.
We are introducing a new system, the aim of which is to reduce costs.
3 Whose + noun can be the object of a preposition.
The President, in whose private life the newspapers are so interested, has
nothing to hide.
Phyllis is the woman whose cottage we once stayed at.
276 Participle relative clauses
1 Active participles
a We can use an active participle in a relative clause without a pronoun or an
auxiliary.
Those people taking photos over there come from Sweden.
(= those people who are taking photos)
The official took no notice of the telephone ringing on his desk.
(= the telephone which was ringing on his desk)
To Robin, sunbathing on the beach, all his problems seemed far away.
The participle can refer to the present (are taking) or the past (was ringing).
For this pattern with there + be, 50(3).
There was a telephone ringing somewhere.
PAGE 363
276 Participle relative clauses
35 RELATIVE CLAUSES PAGE 364
b An active participle can also refer to a state.
All the equipment belonging to the club is insured.
(= all the equipment which belongs to the club)
Fans wanting to buy tickets started queuing early.
It can also report people's words.
They've put up a sign warning of the danger.
c We can sometimes use the active participle for a repeated action.
People travelling into London every day are used to the hold-ups.
(= people who travel into London every day)
But the pattern is less usual for a single complete action.
The gang who stole the jewels got away.
NOT The gang stealing the jewels got away.
2 Passive participles
We can use a passive participle in a relative clause without a pronoun or an
auxiliary.
Applications sent in after 23rd March will not be considered.
(= applications which are sent in)
Stones thrown at the train by vandals smashed two windows.
(= stones which were thrown at the train)
Police are trying to identify a body recovered from the river.
(= a body which has been recovered from the river)
The first British TV commercial, broadcast in 1955, was for toothpaste.
NOTE
We can also use a continuous form of the participle.
Industrial training is the subject being discussed in Parliament this afternoon.
3 Word order with participles
We can sometimes put a participle before a noun.
a ringing telephone
But we cannot normally put a whole relative clause before the noun. 137
NOT the on his desk ringing telephone
277 Infinitive relative clauses
Look at this pattern with an adjective and a to-infinitive.
Which was the first country to win the World Cup at rugby?
(= the first country which won the World Cup)
The last person to leave will have to turn out the lights.
(= the last person who leaves)
Maxicorp were the only company to reply to my letter.
William Pitt was the youngest person to become Prime Minister.
We can use a to-infinitive after an ordinal number (first, second etc), after next and
last, after only, and after superlative adjectives (youngest).
NOTE
a We can also use a passive to-infinitive.
The first British monarch to be filmed was Queen Victoria.
b For I've got some letters to write, 124(2).
35 RELATIVE CLAUSES PAGE 364
b An active participle can also refer to a state.
All the equipment belonging to the club is insured.
(= all the equipment which belongs to the club)
Fans wanting to buy tickets started queuing early.
It can also report people's words.
They've put up a sign warning of the danger.
c We can sometimes use the active participle for a repeated action.
People travelling into London every day are used to the hold-ups.
(= people who travel into London every day)
But the pattern is less usual for a single complete action.
The gang who stole the jewels got away.
NOT The gang stealing the jewels got away.
2 Passive participles
We can use a passive participle in a relative clause without a pronoun or an
auxiliary.
Applications sent in after 23rd March will not be considered.
(= applications which are sent in)
Stones thrown at the train by vandals smashed two windows.
(= stones which were thrown at the train)
Police are trying to identify a body recovered from the river.
(= a body which has been recovered from the river)
The first British TV commercial, broadcast in 1955, was for toothpaste.
NOTE
We can also use a continuous form of the participle.
Industrial training is the subject being discussed in Parliament this afternoon.
3 Word order with participles
We can sometimes put a participle before a noun.
a ringing telephone
But we cannot normally put a whole relative clause before the noun. 137
NOT the on his desk ringing telephone
277 Infinitive relative clauses
Look at this pattern with an adjective and a to-infinitive.
Which was the first country to win the World Cup at rugby?
(= the first country which won the World Cup)
The last person to leave will have to turn out the lights.
(= the last person who leaves)
Maxicorp were the only company to reply to my letter.
William Pitt was the youngest person to become Prime Minister.
We can use a to-infinitive after an ordinal number (first, second etc), after next and
last, after only, and after superlative adjectives (youngest).
NOTE
a We can also use a passive to-infinitive.
The first British monarch to be filmed was Queen Victoria.
b For I've got some letters to write, 124(2).
35 RELATIVE CLAUSES PAGE 366
281 Whoever, whatever and whichever
Look at these examples.
Whoever designed this building ought to be shot.
(= the person who designed this building - no matter who it is)
I'll spend my money on whatever I like.
(= the thing that I like - no matter what it is)
Whichever date we choose will be inconvenient for some of us.
(= the date that we choose - no matter which it is)
We cannot use who in this pattern.
NOT Who-dcsigned this building ought to be shot.
But we can use what. 280
For whoever etc in another pattern, 254.
122
Exercise 244
Note the following two-fold analysis:
A. He wanted \ Mary to teach Bob.
He wanted Mary to.
B He persuaded Mary \ to teach Bob.
He persuaded Mary (to)
In which of those two ways could the following sentences be analysed?
1 I would love Mary to teach me. 6 I beseech you to come to our aid.
2 I would hate loan to drive my 7 We wish you to help us.
car. 8 Can you help us to regain our
3 I advise you to be more careful. liberty?
4 May I invite you to join us? 9 We would allow you to live here
5 We expect you to be here by for ever.
eight. 10 We beg you not to leave us.
e co
se
Noun modifiers
Exercise 245
lex
Say which of the underlined noun modifiers are (a) restrictive, (b) non-
restrictive:
1 My poor old mother suffers from arthritis.
2 Her devoted elder daughter takes care of her.
3 Where did youget that beautiful carpet in the. hall?
4 George was wearing a sports shirt, light cotton slacks and open-toed.
sandals.
5 I often see men who went to school with me.
6 The great fire of 1666 started in the house of a baker.
7 Oh, you sensible man. Good old Henry.
8 An old proverb says: III news travels apace.
9 Cuzco is still a thriving city, its Inca buildings merged into the buildings
of the Spaniard.
10 A queue of long-haired, strangely dressed youths formed up outside our
stately theatre.
11 The man who called here ~ s t night must have been Jeremy Taylor.
12 Jeremy Taylor, who called here last night, left this message for you.
13 The theatre to which we were taken was the oldest one in Paris.
14 The theatre, to which we were taken every week, was a great delight to us.
15 All these articles, which have been given to us by well::w1si1ers, are to be
sold to raise money for the club. .
16 All the articles you see here have been sold.
17 The students whose names are below the line on this list must sit the
examination again.
18 The demonstrators, whose names had already been taken by the police,.
refused to move.
19 Roses do very well in my garden, which is a perfect paradise in June.
20 Many things grow in my garden which I never planted in it.
124 .'
Explicitness in
ExerCise 246
Make the postmodifier in each of these sentences more explicit by replacing
it (a) by two different participle clauses, then (b) by two different relative
clauses:
Do you know the man with the overcoat?
2 I don't recognize the man in the garden.
3 The President will only shake hands with the people in" the front row.
4 Children at school will have first priority.
5 This book by Hertford will give you all the facts.
6 The new house was built with money from wealthy landowners.
Unambiguous use of postmodifiers
. Exercise 247 ,
Explain the absurdity of the sentences below in terms of noun phrase modifiers
and adverbial adjuncts. Then rephrase each sentence.
1 I have discussed the question of stocking the new pig farm with my staff.
2 Look at that silver cup which my daughter won for dancing on the mantel-
piece.
3 I have to give a lecture on the disposal of industrial waste to students of
engineering.
4 Last week an eighteenth century chair was bought by" a dealer with
beautifully carved legs for only forty pounds.
5 You can buy a copy of this book on breast-feeding at your local bookstore.
6 There are so many different washing machines on the market that you
would be well advised to consult an expert on the make.
7 A radish has been grown by one of our members the size of a turnip.
8 There is more to Ambridge than the mask of the bizarre behind which
our old-world village tries to hide.
Relative clauses
Exercise 248
Replace the relative pronoun that by who, whom; which or zero:
1 This is the house that Jack built.
2 He looks like a dog that has lost its tail.
3 Danny, our dog that followed us all the way from Scotland, has just died.
4 Don't believe everything that you read in the newspapers.
5 Babies that were born prematurely had little chance of survival.
6 Children that disobey their parents should be punished.
7 Murray was the sole survivor from a famous ship that sank on her first
voyage.
8 Murray was the only person that survived the disaster.
125
9 The party that was responsible for this extraordinary piece of legislation
is now out of office.
10 that were responsible are now trying to repair the damage.
Exercise 249
The sentence There is the officer to whom I spoke can have four variations, viz:
a There is the officer whom I spoke to.
b who I spoke to
c " " that I spoke to.
d ,., I spoke to.
Give as many variations of that kind as possible for the following:
1 Here is the article about which I was speaking .
2 Here is a book which will tell you all about it.
.3 Is this the book from which that quotation was taken?
4 Is Tnompson the man to whom you were referring?
5 He is a man for whom I have the greatest respect.
6 Is this really the house in which Shakespeare was born?
7 That was the very day on which I first saw Mary.
8 I shall always remember the way in which you received us that evening.
9 It was a century during which the country suffered continually from wars.
10 This is a matter concerning which 'you would be well advised to consult a
lawyer.
Non-restrictive and sentential relative clauses
Exercise 250
Identify the antecedent of the following relative clauses:
1 We were taken every week to the theatre, at which new plays were constantly
being produced.
2 We were taken every week to the theatre, which was a great delight to us.
3 We went to the theatre every week, which was our one relaxation.
-4 The singer gave five encores, for which he received enthusiastic .applause.
5 He gave five all of which were quite new to the audience.
6 He gave five encores, which was a very generous acknowledgement of the
welcome he had received.
7 The climbers spent two nights on the mountainside, which was swept by
biting winds.
8 They spent two nights on the mountainside, which was an ordeal for the
hardiest of them.
9 We test every bottle of Buzz in our laboratories, which is why it is so reliable.
10 We apply a labor,atory test to every bottle of Buzz, which is then hygienically
corked.
126 I _
Appositive clauses
Exercise 251 .
Rephrase each of the sentences below, using a factive abstract noun +
appositive clause. Say whether the clause so formed is (a) restrictive or
(b) non-restrictive:
1 It is still b.elieved in some countries that the earth is flat.
2 It is true that the earth is round, and that has been evident to every astro-
naut.
3 Columbus assumed that the land he had discovered was the eastern
extremity of Asia, but this was soon proved wrong.
4 Columbus reported that there was a king in the south who owned great
quantities of gold, and this lured many explorers to the search for El
Dorado.
5 People suspect that smoking has something to do with cancer: this rests on
several kinds of evidence.
6 When scientists argued that cigarette smoking may increase one's chances
of developing cancer of the lung, this was not well received in certain
quarters.
7 You may have gone to sleep during my lecture but that does not exempt
you from writing this essay.
8 You went to sleep during the lecture, and this fact suggests that you should
go to bed earlier.
9 You excuse yourself by saying people keep asking you out, but I cannot
accept that.
10 I know that I can always call upon you for support, and that is a great
comfort to me.
Postmodilication by non-finite clauses
Exercise 252
Convert the participle clause into a relative clause in each of these sentences:
At the station, we were met by a man carrying a copy of The Times.
2 He was accompanied by a porter weighing at least 150 kilos.
3 A car, coming unexpectedly out of a side street, crashed into us.
4 We collided with a car driven by a young man without a licence.
5 Any driver not having a licence ought to be sent to jail right away.
6 The train standing at platform six is for Brussels and Ostend.
7 Any article left in this bus was taken at once to the Lost Property Office.
8 Any dutiable articles not declared to the Customs will be liable to con-
fiscation.
9 Presents costing less than ten pounds in all may be imported duty free.
10 Anyone not hearing that noise must have been stone deaf.
11 Everybody, hearing the noise, jumped up in alarm.
12 The castle, burnt down in the sixteenth century, was never rebuilt.
;;. Exercise 253 _ -
Convert the infinitive clause in each 6f{l1ese sentences into a relative clause:
1 The train to arrive is from Edinburgh.
2 The first mail to fly non-stop across the Atlantic was John A1cock.
3 Was Cortes the first European ever to see the Pacific Ocean?
4 The best man to see for your eye trouble is the Professor of Ophthalmology.
5 The man for John to speak to first is the Director of the Museum.
6 The cheapest place to eat at is the cafeteria.
7 You '11 find the best time to get there is just after twelve.
8 The way to get to the l?-ead of the queue is to slip in through the kitchen.
9 Will you buy me a magazine to read on the journey?
10 Here is something for you to do while you're waiting.
11 The only thing left to consider now is how to get away without being seen.
12 The last problem, to be considered at our next meeting, is how to invest the
money.
Exercise 254
Rewrite these sentences, using a noun phrase with infinitive as post-
modifier.
1 We planned to cross the ri ver at night but failed.
2 Our appeal for volunteers for another attempt was greeted with enthusiasm.
3 We thought the idea that we shouldcreate a diversion upstream was a good
one.
4 We did not wish to waste lives in another frontal attack.
5 Our allies promised to send reinforcements but did not do so.
6 We felt they were cowardly to hesitate to come to our aid.
7 It was disgraceful that they should refuse to fulfil their promise.
8 This only made us more determined to succeed on our own.
9 Meanwhile, we were not disturbed when the enemy threatened to attack us.
10 Nor were we deceived wheQ. they proposed that we should call a truce.
Postmodification by prepositional phrases
Exercise 255
Replace each prepositiona1 phrase by a relative clause that will make the
meaning of the postmodification more explicit:
1 A house by the church. 8 The man with a gun.
2 A picture by a famous artist. 9 The man without a hat.
3 The plane for Moscow. lOA student from Portugal.
4 Warm clothes for Moscow. 11 A quotation from Shakespeare.
5 A land for all seasons. 12 Instructions in case of fire.
6 The man for the job. 13 The pleasure of your company.
7 The man with your wife. 14 A man of strong will.
128
15 A man of property.
16 A man of my acquaintance.
17 The flint wall of our cellar.
Premodification by participles
Exercise 256
18 The people of Asia.
19 The rule of the majority.
20 A Jack of all trades.
'Everything here depends on the potentiality of the participle to indicate a
permanent or characteristic feature.'
Accepting that as a criterion, paraphrase the items underlined in the sentences
below:
I The Commander was pacing the quarter-deck with the navigating officer.
2 I read Edgar Allan Poe's tales with a sort of shackled fascination.
3 I learned to climb the tree with a kind of absent-minded dexterity.
4 The paid servants had their specified position in the household.
5 The roses grew in great perfumed masses all over the garden.
6 I took a couple of furnished rooms in Vincent Square.
7 The French tutor was a charming young lady.
8 The outstanding discovery of sunspot activity was m':lde by a German
chemist.
9 He concluded that sunspots vary in a fairly well-defined cycle of about
eleven years.
10 Hong Kong is a mainly Cantonese-speaking city.
11 This writer makes his point with terrifying emphasis.
12 Sheila is the adopted daughter of a well-known banker.
13 You have a standing invitation to come with us at any time.
14 The Chief'felt thoroughly lost in the crowded streets of London.
15 A surprising factor has been the political energy of the Swiss.
Exercise 257
The sentence This book interests people very much can be rephrased:
This is a very interesting book
Indicate by Yes whether each of the sentences below can be rephrased with the
participle as premodifier, and add v if the participle can be modified by very:
1 This news has alarmed me very much.
2 George is a man who amuses me.
3 These people are very amused.
4 That story is most astonishing.
5 Those children behave themselves.
6 Those children behave themselves well.
7 Those students seem very bored.
8 There are many faces in the room that look bored.
9 That candle is burning.
10: That man is always drinking.
.ll This report encourages us.
, i 2 Thisis' an agreement that will last.
13 "We have a supply of fuel but it is limited.
14 h o ~ e seats are reserved.
15 Those clients were very satisfied.
16 That man seems surprised.
17 This result is totally unexpected.
18 These circumstances worry me.
Exercise 258 .
129
Explain the difference in function between the two words underlined in each of
the following pairs of sentences:
1 a Mary and John were married quietly last year.
b They were married when I first met them.
2 a Mary is charming.
b The snake-charmer is charming a cobra.
3 a That story is interesting.
b The speaker is certainly interesting his audience.
4 a The man painting that picture is a real artist.
b He is painting it extremely well.
5 a You are embarrassing the ladies.
b Your stories are embarrassing.
6 a John is promising you too much.
b Nevertheless, he is a promising young man.
Exercise 259
Change the form of the phrases below so that the postmodifiers become
premodifiers:
I A house that has been built well.
2 The article which was mentioned above.
3 An improvement that is needed badly.
4 A secret that has been kept closely.
5 Wealth that has never been told.
6 Cruelty such as we have never heard of before.
7 Central heating fired by oil.
8 Girls with blue eyes.
9 A man with a red nose.
10 A censor with a heavy hand.
11 A tiger with teeth like sabres.
12 A boat with a fiat bottom.
13U
Premodification bV nouns
Exercise 260
Convert each of the phrases below by using the pattern head + postmodffying
phrase, thus:
The cupboard door "-' The door of the cupboard.
1 water supply
2 a motor-bus service
3 repair personnel
4 the life sciences
'5 fish protein. production
6 a space pro be
7 a radio signal
8 a power station
9 peak power
I 0 price rise rate
Exercise 261
11 graphite blocks
12 ground-water possibilities
13 surface hydrology
14 storage capacity
15 the dam foundation
16 a diversion canal
17 landing-gear components
18 the impact strength (of steel)
19 the volume change
20 accident prevention legislation
Expand the following phrases so as to make it clear what words are being
modified by what:
a short, red-haired man
2 a short-haired fox terrier
3 a small, sparsely-furnished office
4 a to tally committed, self-effacing man
5 pretty gOQd entertainment expenses
6 two attractive flat-roofed villas
7 attractive two-bedroomed apartments
8 elegant period town houses
9 school careers adviser
10 new, reasonably.:.priced leather jackets
Relative sequence of premodifiers
Exercise 262
From each of the following sets of data, form one phrase composed entirely of
premodifiers + head word:
1 two chairs: made of oak; beautifully-carved
2 your blue, old, scarf; the silk one that you bought in Japan
3 this pot-round, small, made of iron, used for cooking
4 the murder that took place in the villa by the side of the river
5 their masks to keep out the smog; neat, white .
6 stamps for insurance, several thousand, unused, stolen recently
. 7 all these shells, walnut shells, shrivelled, broken
8 famous school, teaching mediCine, in Scotland
9 the cultivator that sells best in the country
10 'a:' cottage in the country, very picturesque though crumbling slightly; roof
of thatch '
17 The noun
phrase
Exerci se 170 Noun
phrases: i denti fyi ng the head
ISGE
17' 1-21
I dent i f y t hc head nouns i n t hc f ol l owi ng passage. The noun phrascs have been
pi cked out and numberecl
-cxccpt
f br si ngl c pronouns ancl one-word nant es, whi ch
arc ignorccl.
t sBC weat herman Mi chae I Fi sh' sl rri l rrrz t o gi vc a warni ng of t he grcat st ol nt t l f .
Oc t o b e r l 9 l J 7 ( l )
was
a spcct acul ar cxarnpl c of how nrocl crn nt ct eorol ouy l ' ai l s
(2)
says;
t hc Consunt cr s' Associ al i on
( 3)
i n
a rcport
(; l )
t ocl ay.
I t cl ai nt s t hul
t hc Met Ol ' l i cc' s ncrl r l t l ot l opol y on t rt ct corol ogy
(5)
ci l st s
a cl oucl
( 6)
ovcf
consur ncr i nt cf csl s.
( 7)
and argues f i rr
an Ol ' l i cc ol ' Fl i r Tr acl i ng i nvcst i gat i on i nt o l hc wcat hcr l or ccast i r t q i ndust r y.
( 8)
The associ at i on' s W/ ri r' l r' , ) t rt agazi t rc rcport
(9)
st rcsscs t hi l t
f i rrecast i ng
(
l 0)
i s cl car l y i nr pr ovi nl ovcr al l . but i t t l r kcs
t he Met Ot t cc
(
I l )
t o
t a s k
(
l 2 )
f i r r t i r i l i ng t o cxpl l i n
t hc wcat her
(
l 3)
l n
a user - f i i cndl y
way.
(
l 4)
I t says
t hc l anguagc ol ' i sobar s and ant i cycl oncs
(
l 5)
i s l css i mpor t ant l hat t
' whct her
St r t f ol k sht l r . r l cl put oul i t s washi ng'
and cal l s f or
bet t er t r i l nsl at i ons of whal f i r r ccast s acl ual l v t ncan.
( l 6)
Whi cl t . '
( l l
)
f avours
Rel at i ve cl auses 133
a new st yl e of f orecast i ng based on probabi l i t y.
(
l t 3)
Cl oser t o
t he sci ence of pl aci ng a bet on a horse
(
l 9)
t han
a t radi t i onal f brecast ,
(20)
t hi s woul d i ncl ude
phrases such as
' t here
i s a 70 per cent chance of rai n i n t hc Sout h'
(2 I
)
rat her t han t hc morc usual
' t here
nt ay be scat t ercd showers' .
Exer ci se 171 Rel at i ve cl auses: whose
[ SGE
17. 6]
Rewri t c t hc l bl l owi ng sent cnccs wi t h n' l t rr. rc i f possi bl c. ancl sce what t hc ori gi nal
wri t crs wl ol c. But onc scnt el l cc cannot bc changecl
-
why' l
E. runrpl t ' ' . They have gi ven t housat rds ol ' pouncl s t t t vari ous pressure groups,
r ni schi ef - r naki ng
bodi cs t hc r nai n pur posc ol ' whi ch i s t o st i r up hat r cd ancl
cl i sorcl cr.
At r su' cr ' . . . . r ni schi cf - r naki ng bodi es, whose nt ai n pt r r posc i s . . .
I I carnc t o rcal i zc t hi s t hrough t he st udy. not of ccort t l nt i cs t hat abst ract sci cncc
t hc pr ol cssor s t t f whi ch ncvcr scen) abl c t o i l gr ec
-
bul of ' hi st or y. whi ch i s t hc
rccortl of causc ancl e-ff' cct.
2 Bcrrnoncl se
y t urns t t ut t o havc bccn uni que as t hc f i rst by-cl cct i on ol ' whi ch t hc
rcsul l has bccn cl ai rt t ct l by al l part y spokcsl t t en as a vi ct ory.
3 Whcn Dorscy dcci dcs. l i rr pl ot rcasons ol ' whi ch i t t akcs an acconrpl i shcd
scri pt wri t cr t o convi rrcc you. l o aucl i t i on l i rr t hat l ernal c part i n a cl ayt i l nc
t el cvi si on sol p opcr a, hc becomcs ovcr ni ght a cul t succcss.
4 Thi s i s a t our t hc f unct i on of whi ch i s l o i t t t r oduce t he Pr i nccss t i l Canat l a.
5 When you havc l ( X) r ni l l i on dol l ar s t hc val ue of whi ch you must t . t t t i nt l i n
agai nst i nf l at i on. t herc arc l t ot l -ni t ny saf c pl act ' s t o
P1l 1
i 1.
6 The cl ccornt i on of Chi ne sc ncol i t hi c pot t cry nearl y al ways cot t si st ccl of abst ract
ancl gt : ornet ri c cl esi gns. t hc rneani ng of whi ch i s n<t t uncl e rst t l ocl .
Exerci se 172 Rel at i ve cl auses
I SGE
17. 5-11]
Cornpl et c t hc passagc by i nscrt i ng rel at i ve words as ncccssary. l ncl i cal c al l
possi bl c al t er nat i vcs. i ncl ucl i ng zcr o( - ) .
Thc r nyst er y o1' t hc Be r r nuda Tr i r ngl e i s i nt act . Ar ncr i can dccp sea di vcr s
(
I
)
wr t r t
cl ai rrrecl l ast mont h l o havc f i rund t he wrccks of f i ve US Navy pl anes
(2)
. . . . . . di sappcar cd ncar Bcr mut l a havc annt t unccd t hat t hey ar c not t hc
f anrous l , ost Squadrt t n.
Thc wr ccks
( l )
. . . . . . t hc cl i vcr s f i r und l ast r t t t t nt h i n 750 t i ' ct ol ' wat er l 0
nri l es of l ' t hc coast of Fl cl ri cl a wcre of an carl i err rnocl cl of ' TB M Avcngcr t han t he
f i vc
( - 1) . . . . . . vani shed on t r ai ni ng f l i ght l 9 on a hazy al j cr nt t ot r i n 1945.
The squacl r on' s di si t ppear ancc hel pccl bui l t l t he r cput at i on ol ' t hc Ber muda
' I ' r i angl c.
i n
( - 5) . . . . . . pcopl e. pl anes ant l boi t t s ar c sai t l t o vani sh wi t hout
t race.
When t he wrecks wcrc l bund i t sccrnccl as i f t hc myt h hacl been shat t ered. But
Mr Gr i r har n Hawk c .
( 6) . . . . .
. l edt he s ear c h. andt o( 7) . . . . . . t ' el l t he
134 The noun
phrase
unenvi abl e t ask of i i dr. r. ri t t i ng a mi st ake. sai cl ycst erday: We arc now qui t c ccrt ai n
t hat t he f i vc ai r cr af t
( t i )
. . . . . . wc t i r und ar e not t hose of f l i ght 19.
Hi s e vi dent cl i sappoi r r t nr cnt .
( 9)
. . . . . . pcr haps r ef l ect cd t hc l ost f or t unc
(
l 0) . . . . . . hi s company hacl st oocl t o r nakc l ' r om sal vagi n- e t hc di scovcr y,
wi l l bc r nat chccl by t hc pl easur e of ot hcr s
( l
l ) . . . . . . en. j oy t hc myst t - r i oLr s
power ot ' t he Tr i angl e. t hc t hr cc poi nt s of
(
12) . . . . . . ar e t i r r med by
Bcr nr ut l a. Pucl t o Ri co and Mi ar ni .
Mr Tccl Darcy. an archl eokrgi cal acl vi scr t o Thc Sci cnt i f i c Scarch Prcr. j cct . sai d
t hat t hc ar ca i n
(
I 3 )
. . . . . . t hc f i vc wr ccks wcr c t i r ul t d was uscd hy t hc l - l S
Navy as a pr act i cc r ange l i r r l ow- l cvcl t or pcdo r uns, ar t cl t hal t hc l i ve pl i t ncs (
1. 1)
. . . . . . wcr c l i r und wcr - c pr - obabl l ' l ost i n scpar - l t c acci dcnt s ovcr scvcr al
ycar s.
Susan Por vcr s- Spanl l cr .
(
l - 5
)
. . . . . l ' at hcr t l i sappcal cd wi t h t hc l i t t nous
l - ost Scl uat l r on i n l 9: 1- 5. sai cl : I ' r r r sad t hut t hcy wer cn' t l i r Lr nd. but ki nd ol ' gl ad i n
l u u' l y t hat i t r vi t sn' t t hcnr .
So t hc wr ccks
(
l 6) . . . . . . t l i scovcr v ur ouscd such i r r t cr cst l asl nr ont h al c
not r l ui l c what t hey' secr t t cr l . l nc i dcnt al l y. l hc ' pl ac c
(
l 7) . . . . . . t l t c l vr ccks
werc t i rurrt l hus al so cl ui nrcrl nrarrl ' shi 1. rs. at t d i t was t hc hopc of f i ndi ng Spuni sh
gul l cor r s
t hat or - i gi r t al l y cl r cu, t l t c t l i vcr s t o l hc spol .
Exerci se 173 Rel at i ve cl auses
I SGE
17. 5-121
. l oi n up 1hc i nf i r r - r nul i on
gi vcn,
so t hat i n cucl t cusc
y( ) r . l
havc or t c scnt cncc
c ont ui ni ng r c l ul i vc cl uusc s.
l i . r ut t t l t l t : Sont c
; - r copl c
unt l cr t ukc l or t q. j our r t cys.
- f hcy
wi l l r ct t t ct t t bct - t hcsc
. j our nc ys
al l t hei r l i vcs.
; l r r . r ' r ' cr ' : Sonr e peopl c ur r t l cr l akc l ong. j our - ncys/ r i t t t ct t / t r r . r r / - - t hcy wi l l r cr t t cr t t bcr -
al l t hc i r l i v es .
I
' I r avcl l e
r s on t hc Tnr ns- Si t r cr - i l n r ai l wav t ukc l 3 dl vs. 1 hour - s
r - 5
nr i t t ut cs ot t l hc
. j ount cl ' .
' l ' l r t -
l ' r ans- Si bcl ' i un r - ai l way sl r ct chcs f hr nr Moscr t w t o t hc l ) aci l i c
Occun. I ) Lu' i ng l hi s. j our ncv l hcr e ur c 97 st ol ' r s
I The
' l nr ! i an- Paci l i c ' r ai l wal cr oss c sAusl r al i al l ' onr Pc r t l t ( ) 11
t he l ndi anOccur )
t o Sycl ncy on t hc Paci f i c. I l s l epul al i on i s pcr hul . r s l css l cur sonr c t han l hc l ' r ' uns
S i be l i i t t t .
I l t cuvt ' r s u t l i st ancc ol ' 2. 710 nr i l cs
( . i . - l - 51 knr ) . Ol ' t hcsc. 197 nr i l cs
( - l 7l J
kr nt
acnl ss t l . r c \ Lr l l ur bor Pl ai n ar c t l car l st nr i ght . Thi s i s t hc l ongcst st nr i ght sl r et cl t
o1' nr i l wi t v i n t hc wol l d.
: 1
J' hcsc. j or . r r nct s aPl ' r cul 1o u ccr t oi n l t ' pc
( ) f ' t r avcl i cr .
A ce r t ai n t ypc ol t r ave- l l et
i s nol i n a I i r . r r r r ' . J- o t hi s t _vpc ot t r ave l l cr t hc. j our ncy. not t l t c l t r r i val . nr al t cr \ .
5
Apposi ti ve cl auses 135
Gary Sowerby
(Canada)
and Ti m Cahi l l
(USA)
cl rove a fbur-rvhccl dri ve pi ck-
Lr p t r uck f l om Ushuai a
( Ar gent i na)
t o Pr udhoc Bay
( Al aska.
USA) i n l 9f t 7 i r t
j ust
uncl cr 2,:l cl ays. Ti rn Cahi l l was Gary Sowerby' s ctl -cl ri vcr arl cl navi gator.
Fnr r n Ushuai a t o Pr udhoe Bay i s a di st ancc of l : 1. 739 nr i l es
( 13. 720
kr n) . Jusl
undcr 2zl days i s a recol cl ti mc l br thc
j ourney.
6 They wcrc howcvcr surf acc l ' r' ei ght cd ovcl t hc Dari cn
(i a1l .
Dari cn Ci ap i s
bct wccp Col ort rbi a ancl Panarl a. I I cre t hc Trans-At rt cri can hi ghway t l ocs t rol
c x l st .
Exerci se 174 Apposi t i ve cl auses
I SGE
17. 13]
Whcn t w0 l t oun pl -rri t scs arc i n ap1-rosi t i on. t hcy l rot h rcl c' rl o t hc si t t l l c pe rsol l
t l r t hi ng. s6 t hat onc gi vcs us r nor c dct r i l s about t l t c ot hcr . Sot t t ct i t t l cs a / / r { 1I
cl ausc i s i rr apposi i i on l t l i t rt abst racl I l oun l i kc. / i rcl . i l L' u. i rt f t t r-rrt t t l i rt t t .
Rcwr i t c t hc i nt i r nnt t i r l n so t hut i n cach casc yoLl havc a si r t gl c sct l l ct l cc col l t l l l l l l l l l l
a l l or. l l r + arr apl ' rosi t i vc cl i t t t sc.
l i 1ut t t pl t , ' . Sonr c pcopl c hcl i cvc t hal wc can abol i sh war .
' f
hi s scct t t s l t ' . r pcl r r l r at hct .
t han r t : al i st i c.
A2, rn, r, r' : l l rt ' l t t l i c. f t l rt t t r1
(' (
dt t ol t ol i sl t 11' (/ / ' sccnl s hopcl i rl ral l t cr t harl rcal i sl i c.
I I ) copl c sont et i nt cs susgcst l hi r t wc l r c noI i t l l ccl ul r l . Thi s r t t l t kcs st l t l l c peopl c
vcf y angr y.
An y . . .
I
Sornc
1-rcopl c
cxpl ai n t hul ucci dcnt s arc t t f t ct t t t obot l y' s l ' l rr-rl t . BLrt t t rl t l l v pcopl c
( l o
I l ot l cccpt l l l i s.
l l l ny pcopl c
J I wl s t ol d t hat l l t cr c ar c r nol c sci cnt i sl s al i vc l ot l av t l t ar t I t avc cvcr l i vct l bct i r r c.
l s t hat a f i rct ' l
l s i t a . .
: l
Sci cnt i sl s
say t hat t hcr c l t t . c i t l ot ol ' bl ack hol cs i n t l l c r - r ni vcr sc. I t l ot t ' t
un(l crst al t cl t hi s t hcorY.
I ckrn' t uncl cr-st al t d t l t e
-5 Thc uni ve I ' sc sl arl ct l wi t h a bi g bi rrrg. Thcrc i s al so t hat i t l ca.
Thcr c i s al so t hc . . . . . . .
6 C)1' coursc
wc hopc t t t ri cl t hc w' t l rl cl of povcrt y. Bu1 cl t t l wc/
I s t l r c r e a n y
. . . . . . . - - - - - - . !
7 Nc-i l Armst rong rcrnarke' cl rvhcn hc st cPpct l on t o t he rt t Ot l n.
' J' hat ' s
t t l l e st t l al l
st ep l i t r a t nal t . onc
gi anl
l cap t i rl nt rnki nrl . " Evcr)' ot -t c rcnt ct -t l bcrs l hi s.
Ever vot t e r ct t r e nt bcr s Nci l Ar r r r st r r l l l ! l s . . .
f i Shi l k csl t cat ' r ( ) t - , scr \ ' c( i t hi r t ' ul l t i t cuor l ( l ' \ r i
s t i t ! c' . 1' t l ' t t - t ot st t t - c $hc t l t c r ' l ag. r ec
I ' r n ni . r t sur i :
r vl t et hci I r t gr uc t ' , i l h . . . . .
136 The noun
phrase
Exerci se 175 Post modi f i cat i on by nonf i ni t e cl auses
[ SGE
17. 14-181
Rewri t e t he sent ences by changi ng t he f i ni t e rel at i ve cl auses i nt o nonf i ni t c f brms.
Use
-i l , q
t brrns.
-cr1
l brms or l o-i nf i ni t i ves as sui t abl e. N1ark t he new noun phrases
you have made.
E. rurnpl t : The rnan who wrot e t hc obi t uari cs i s rny f i i cnd.
Ansn' cr' . THE MAN wRrl ' rN(; r' nrr oBrrLl ARrES i s nt y f ri end.
E. runt pl a' . Any coi ns t hat arc f bund on t hi s si t c rnust be hancl cd t o t he pol i cc.
Ar t . su, t ' t : , \ Ny
( ' ot NS
r : ol Nr ) oN l r r r s sn' t , t r usf bc handccl t o t hc pol i cc.
E. runt l t l t , : Thc ncxt t rai n t hat arri vcd was l l ' orn York.
At t sv' ct ". t ' nt t NI t xt ' TRAI N To ARRt vt . . was l ' ront York.
Mi l l i ons of i nsomni acs coul d bcncf i l f l ' or l a new t cchni que ( l )
r . r ' f i i r l i nt u\ ' ( ur (
slceltlt.s.ttrt,s.r.
(2)
u' ltit h i,s bustd otr
' thou,qltt-.juntnritr,q'
.
Thc i dca i s t hat a si mpl c word l i ke t l u' . (3)v' hi t ' h i s rcpcut et l ut rl t ' r t l t c l t reut l t
t l rt ' t ' c rt r. f t t ut ' t i rnt ' . s u st , t ' t t t rt l , can bl ock st i rnul at i ng l hought s ancl i ncl ucc sl ccp. Thi s
ant i -i t rsort t ni a t echni quc (1)
u' l t i t l t i s l t ci t rc t cst cl l t . t ' rt . scurr' l t crs. f i ' onr
Conrbri t l , J(
of f crs pi l l -f i ec hopc t i rr nt i l l i ons
("5)
n' l rr, , . suf t t ' t ' . f ront sl ccpl c. sst rt ' . ss. I t i s based on
a t heor y t hat t hc br ai n has a ki nd o1' ' l nenl or y t r al ' l i c cont r ol ' , ( 6) u, hi ch l t t r s ht ut
cul l cd' t l r t ccr r t r ul t . r ct ' ul t l r " . ancl t hat t hi sconl r ol si nt i r r r nat i on( 7) t l r ut t t r t cr . ; t l r t '
l t t ' t r i t r .
Thc Car nbr i t l gc l car r r bel i evcs t hat wi t h i nsor nni acs
' 1hc
ccnt r al cxccut i vc'
i nsi st s on f i ncl i ng t asks whcn not hi ng
( 8)
t hut i . s
l t ur t i cul ur l . t ' i t r t t , t ' t ' , t t i r r , :
i s
happcni rrg. Thc t cant cl cci ci ccl t o l ook l i rr ways
(91
i t r u' hi t h t hc. r' cot rl d proyi dL' u
st t ' ud. t ' . f l ou' of i t r. f ornt ut i ot r i rrt rt t hc brrri ri , whi ch woul cl prcvcrrt i t f ront l ooki ng f i rr
ot l rer t asks
(10)
t l rut i t t ot rl d do.
Thc agc-ol cl t cchni quc ol ' count i ng shccp as a rne t hocl
(l
l ) t l t ut nru. y- i t t t l ucc sl ct p
r ccl ui r cs conccnt r at i on ancl st i r l ul at cs t l t ousht s about t hc i nr agi nar y shcc- p
( 12)
t l t ut ut ' ( l n' i t re t ot urt crl . Rcpcat i ng a bori ng l i t t l c worcl l i ke t / i c i s so cl ul l t hat t he
onl y t hi ng
\ 13)
t l rur rt t o. st
1t t ' opl c
t t rt r t ht i s t o
go
t o sl ccp.
Test s
(11)
t hut huyt l t cct r. t pcci t t l l . t ' t l csi grt ad t o t r_\ ' ()ut t he t hcort , wcrc carri ccl
or. rt unci cr cont rol l ccl concl i t i ons. A t hi rd o1' t hose
(l -5)
r' l ro v, (t ' ( t (st cl hacl qui ck
succcss. But ot he r peopl c st ayccl awake .
' I hcy
wcrc abl c t <t r. nout h si nrpl e words
whi f c st i l l t hi nki ng ol l r cr t houeht s. ' l ' hcr c i s st i l l wor k
( 16)
t l ut t n( ( ( 1. \ t ( ) be t l ot t t ' .
Exerci se 176 Post modi f i cat i on by
preposi t i onal phrases
[ SGE
17.19-231
Pr eposi t i onal phr ascs ar c f i cquent l y used t o' post r nocl i f y' nouns. t hat i s t o
acl cl i nl i rrnrati on afi er thent.
Fi l l i n t hc gaps wi t h sui t abl e pr eposi t i ons. and undcr l i ne t he noun phr ases l hat t hc
prcposi ti onal phrases are part of.
Thi s i s usual l y easy
-
( l )
u r t t u' wn' n I ' 111l ' f unt i l t ' . Not i cc, however , t hat
someti mes a preposi ti onal phrase contai ns anol hcr. Thus at
(9)
there i s no noun
phrasc
' rl i cri l ul
vrel l -bci ng ott pht' si t' ul hcrrl r/r. Instead thc prcposi ti onal phrase r.,l
pl tvsi tal heal th bel ongs to the bi gger noun phrase:
t he l at est st udy . . .
[ t he
el f et t s ( . . . ment al wcl l - bei ng) on phvsi t ul heul t hl
Nomi nal i zat i on 137
I f
you have a row
( I
. )
u rrH your f ami l y t oday, you coul d end up wi t h a col d by t he
end
(2
)
. t he week. Research
(3
)
. . . . . . . . . . psychol ogi st s suggest t hat
j oyl ess
days i ul l of i r r i t at i on
( 4)
. . . . . . . . . . a soci al ki nt l can l ead t o a weakeni ng
( - 5 ) . . . . . . . . . . t h e d i s e a s e - f i g h t i n g i mmu n e s y s t e m, a n d t h a t t b u r d a y s ( 6 ) . " ' . . . . .
a row your syst em can becomc t oo weak t o st op col d vi ruses f i t l m at t acki ng.
Thc t heor y i s t he l at est st udy
( 7)
. t he ef f ' ect s
( U)
. . . ' . . . . . . ment al wcl l -
bei ng
( 9) physi cal hcal t h.
Evi cl ence
( 10)
. . . . . . . . . . such ef f bct s has al r cady becn l buncl f or a numbcr
( l l )
. . . . . . . . . . s c r i ous c l i scas es. Ty pi c al l y t ht l se wht l hav e pr obl c nl s c x pr c ssi ng
emot i ons
( 12)
. . . . . . . . . . anger or who have suf l t r ecl t r aumat i c e xper i cnces af i cr t hc
deat h
( l 3) . . . . . . . . . . a s pouse appear t o bc most at r i sk .
Now a si rl i l ar ef ' f cct has been t buncl
(
l ' l ) . . . . . . . . . . t he conl l non col cl . A huncl recl
c l e r i c a l s t a t ' f ( I 5 ) . a t a x o f f i c c ( | 6 ) . . . . . . . . . . t h c n o r t h ( I 1 ) . . . . . . . . . . En g l a n c l
wcr e askcd t o kccp a cl i ar y
(
l l t ) . . . . . . . . . . t hei r hcal t h. t hci r t nt t ods al t d whal sor t
( 1 9 ) . . . . . . . . . . d a y t h c y h a d .
Af i cr t cn wecks, sevcnt ccl l vol unt ccrs hacl col ds. I t t hcn cmergcd t hat t i rur days
120) . . . . . . . . . .
c ont r ac t i ng t hc c ol cl . t hcr c hacl bc c n a r t t ar k c d cl r op
( 21)
. " . . . . . . .
cl i ar y cnt r i cs r ecor di nC f r i cnt l l y r e l at i ons
( 22)
. . . . . . . . . . t hei r spot l scs. r t nt l l r t
i nc r easc
( 23)
. . . . . . . . . . t he t r ut nber
( 24)
. . . . . . . . . . s t l ci al anl l oy ar l ccs .
The rescarchcrs bcl i eve t hat al l t h i s shows a dc l i l i t c l i nk
(
25
)
. rt t oocl at t t l
i nt ' cct i on. So
-
i f you don' t wl t nt a c<l l d. dt l n' t gct i t nnoyccl !
Exerci se 177 Nomi nal i zat i on
[ SGE
17. 23]
Noun phrascs t l t at corrcsponcl t o vcrbs and 0t hcr cl ause cl cl l t cnt s arc sot t l e t i rt t cs
cal l cd nor ni nal i zi t t i ons.
Rewr i t e t he t i t l l owi t r g, usi ng nouns i n pl acc ot ' t hc vcr bs i n i t al i c. i t r t t l nt aki t t t r t t r y
ot hcr changes I l ccessary.
E. runt pl c' . She rt ' f rrscri t o l t nswt : r, whi ch was di sapppoi nt i nt .
At rsu' t r' . I l cr rat hsuI | () d| I sh' (t was di sappoi nt i ng.
| | f ul i t t ' t ' t hat t hc hrc was st art ccl on purposc.
I t ' s I ny
2 Thcy corrcsl t t t t t Ll crl l i rr t wcnt y years.
l ust ed l i r r
3 Is the wrrrd cooccur ever hv-phctratctl'!
Is thcrc
zl
Thcy l tchuved rcal l y bacl l y, whi ch upset evcryone.
Thei r . .
5 These peopl e i nhubi t one of thc remotcst pl accs on earth.
The se peopl e arc . . .. . .
6 Everyone competi ng must put down the i r ni l mcs.
Al l t he.
7 Di d anyone strrt' ti ' e the crash' J
Were there
8 The way they organi:erl the event was brilliant.
The . . . .
138 The noun phr ase
c)
Those chi l dren wcrc not very wel l t t l ucut et l .
Thos echi l dr en' s. . . . .
l 0 You shoul d pru(t i sc n1ore.
You ncct l
I I I t was wondcrf ul when t he host ages wcre rel cu. sct l .
The host agcs'
l 2 l don' t l i ke t hc way you cont i nual l y cr i t i ci : t ' .
I d o n ' t l i k c y o u r . . .
l J Carr wc dt ' t ' urt , q( 1o rrreel ' l
Can we rnake
I ' l What do t hc sl ars ancl st ri pes synrl t ol i : c' l
Wh a t a r c t h c . . . . .
. . . . o l ' l
l - 5 Per l r aps wc shoul d
l t ubl i ci : t ' t hc
cl ub mor c.
Pcr haps t hc cl ub ncccl s . .
l 6 Havc you
l t ' d
t hc cat ' /
Wl r e r e i s t he t ' l r l ' s
l 7 I t ' s a hot cl whcr c you cun di t r t ' i n t hc gar dcn.
I t ' s a hot cl whcr c you can havc . .
l 8 Whcn of f i ccs t ' t l ot t t t t ' . t hc st af f dor r ' t usual l v l i kc i t .
Ol ' f i cc . . Lrsual l y upsct s t he st at l .
l9 I coulcl l' rltclly brcuthc.
I wt t s o u l o l . . . . . .
20 You didn' t olt
jcct
bclirrc.
You t l i t l t t ' l r l r i s t ' l r r t y
Exerci se 178 Apposi ti on
[SGE
17.271
Two or nrore notl l phrascs arc i n i l pposi l i on whcn they rcf' cr to thc samc pcrson
or t hi ng.
Conr pl ct c t hcsc aut hcnt i c r l uot al i ons by addi ng t hc f i r l l owi ng apposi t i ve phl ase s
i n t hc r i ght pl i r ccs.
E.tuntpl c' . -5(a) Hc greatl y cl i sl i kcs thc Bri ti sh l -i brary bui l di ng. a fhst-ri si ng bl ot on
thc Euston Road.
(a)
a fast-ri si ng bl ot on thc Euston Roacl
(b)
thc l atcst worcl i n anti -ti aud know-how
( c)
t he pol i ce cl evi cc t i r r i r nr nobi l i zi ng i l l egal l y par kccl car s
(d)
the wi l l i ngncss ol ' acacl erni cs to pay tri bute to the l caders of' bl oodthi rsty
rcgi l nes
(e)
those ri cher than hi rnscl f
(f)
thcnr or us
( g) Mi l l i e
I Three di pl ornati c cars were among the l i rst46 vi cti ms of thc wheel cl amp when
i t came i nto operati on i n London i n 1983.
2 Murauchi has a l ow opi ni on of the scrambl e by the new ri ch tbr European art.
3 The Bushes' spani el i s the l atest i n a l ong l i ne of Whi te House pets.
zl
It was gang wart-are. We had to ki l l them or they woul d have ki l l ed us.
-5 He greatl y di sl i kes the Bri ti sh Li brary bui l di ng.
6 Austral i a' s new pl asti c banknote sti l l cannot cope wi th earl i er fbrms of
Premodi fi cati on 139
technol ogy.
Peopl e l eavi ng the Sl 0 notc i tl trouscr
pockcts havc fbund that i t
shr i nks
when i r oned.
7 Thc l 0t i ng of t he cl i ct at or ' s wi t ' e by t he pol yt echni c i s a cl assi c exar npl e t l f a
pcet r I i l r r
Pht ' not t t ct t , t t l .
Exerci se
179 Premodi fi cati on by
parti ci pl es
ISGE
17' 28-331
Cor l pl cl c t hc t i r l l t t u' i ng. usi ng
pr er t t odi l yi ng par t i ci pl cs + l l oLr r ) s
- -
but onl y whcr e
possi bl c.
fi ttrtttl tl t' . Sonrc
l tl ays
totl ay cl i sgr,rsl rttc.
r l l t . r ' t l cl : Thcr c ar c s( ) Nl l , I ) l s( i t
r s' l
l \ ( i I ' l - i \ \ s t ( xl aY.
I Th e
l l l l r r
\ \ l r \ \ e t y r ' l t l e r l r l i l l i l l ' J .
I t wus . .
I l i tl wartl Fox' s
pcrl i l t' ttl attcc l ttl .ti tzctl tts.
Hc gavc .
I I ur l r ni r c hi r n l i r r t l l c wi t v hc t i r nct l hi s r r cl i t r s bcat r t i l i r l l l
I ar l nt i r c Edwar d l r ox' s .
4 I don' t l i kc pcopl c wl t o ar r i vc l l t t c.
Itfc i l n l -l I sl l l l cc
. 5 Thc l angul t gc ot ' sot t . t c pl avs ral hcr surpri scs t t l c.
Sonl c
pl aYs ct )l l t al l l . .
( r
Onc nl un wi l s l cal l y shockcd l nd l cl l .
C) t t c . . .
7 Thc cl r i l dr cn behi nt l [ l s wcr c l al ki ng, wl t i ch r vas l t l l Ll l sl t l l cc.
l l
-l ' he
sccnc t hat t
T h c . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9 Wc got i cc-crcat t t s i n t hc i l rl crval art d at c t hct l l .
Dur i ng t hc i nt c r v al wc . . . .
l 0 | cl on' t usul l l y buy a pr ogr at r l nl c bccausc I won' t pay t hc pr i ccs t hcy dcr t t r t nt l .
Th e . . . .
. . . . . a r c t o o h i g h .
I I Wc al ways rcscrvc our sci t t s.
Wc al ways hav c . . . . .
l 2 Thc pl ot was rat hcr corl pl i cat ecl .
The pl ay had . . . .
l 3 Thc
pl ay encl ed wi t h a' t wi st ' l l t at
was not unr cl at ccl .
Therc was
' at t hc e ncl '
l 4 Wc cert ai nl y were no1 e xpcct i ng t hat encl i ng
That was ccr t ai nl y . .
Exerci se
180 Attri buti ve nouns
[SGE
17.35]
Make compound nouns on thc pattern noun + noun.
Example: a book of cheques
=
Ansv,er: a cheque book
I someone addi ct ed t o dr ugs
=
. . . . . . . . .
2 i nsurance on
PeoPl e' s
l i ves
=
3 st r ai n on t he eyes
=
. . . . ' '
l pcncd t hc pl ay was br i l l i anl
140 The noun phrase
a bul l eti n of news
=
f he ski n of a banana
=
an outbre ak of measl es
=
chai r s l o use i n t l t c gi l r dcn
=
decay i n the teeth
hol es
( i n
a. l acket , shi r t et c) f br one'
a brush for brushi ng one' s cl othes
=
an i nt el l ect ual whosc head i s sai d t o l ook l i kc an cI s
=
a f ami l y wi t h t wo car s
=
an ol . l i cc whcre you can post l ct t crs
(and
buy st anl ps et c
)
=
a pl acc where you can wai t tbr buscs to stop
=
sor neone who si t s wi t h ( and
l ooks af i er ) babi es
( and
vouns chi l dr en)
=
1
5
o
1
6
u
l 0
l l
t 2
I --)
t 4
l-5
s arms
=
l 6
l l
ilt
l 9
20
an ol ' f i cc bl ock of ' t cn st orcys
=
a hol i day arranged as a packagc
=
cont rol of arrns
(wcapons) =
a shop scl l i ng dr csses
=
l i xxl t hat i s r eal l y
j unk =
Exerci se 181 Noun phrases
i n general
[ SGE
Chapt er 17]
St udy t hc f i l l l owi ng passage. and t hen al t swcr t hc cprcst i ons t hat f i rl l ow.
I t r Nove nt be r t hc sport srncn changc t hci r ckrt hcs. Thc f i shi ng rocl s arc pul l wl y i n
f avour ol ' shot guns at r d hunt i ng boot s. Eacl r ycar - 1hc spor t sl nan i s bci r r u r r r or c
cl oscl y r nar kcr l by an ant i - spor t snr an. of i cn t hc sl r adow ol ' hi r nscl f . The ant i -
spor t sl ncn ar c par l ol ' a l oosc col l cct i on ol ' act i vi st or gl r r i zl r t i ons, r ol t ecr ned wi t h
ani r nal wcl l l r c. and r angi ng acr oss t hc whol e skci n <l f r el at i onshi ps bct wccn
I t urnan ki ncl ancl t he ani nral w<l rkl .
Thc ant i - spt l r t snr cn scck l o cl i r ni nal c hunt i ng, sl r oot i ng ancl l i shi ng as a past i nt c.
Thcy acl opt mel hocl s ol ' bchavi oLr r whi ch apar t f i ' onr bci ng unci vi l , i l ' not i l l cgt l ,
rcvcal a wcakrt ess f i rr t hc chasc
-
t he i r cl uarry i n t hi s i nst ancc bci ng l he sport srnrrr
and hi s act i vi t i es
-
whi ch bcar s a st r i ki ng r cscr nbl ancc t o t hc wcakncsscs t hcy
af l cct t o depl orc i n ot hcrs.
So l i rr t hc carnpai gn has prosperccl rnore agai nst t bx hunt i ng t han ugai rrst
shoot i ng or f i sh i ng . . . I nt ernt i t t cnt harassmcnt of hunt s ancl t he i r support crs occur
t hroughout t hc wi nt er sonrcwhere across t he count ry. Nevert hel ess l bx hunt i ng
si nce t he war has pr osper ccl
. . .
Opposi t i on t o f i cl d sport s i n Bri t ai n i s al nrost as t radi t i onal as t he f i el cl sport s
t hcrrt sel ves. Bot h si des of t he argurnent have l i t crat ure and a cul t urc whi ch st ret ch
back f br cent uri es. Hi t hert o t he argurnent has been conduct ecl t ni rl y; but t herc i s
evi cl ence t hat a new war i s now bei ng waged wi t h f -ewer hol ds barrcd by t hosc
whose purpose i s t o el i mi nat e f i cl cl sport s t i om t he Bri t i sh scene .
one di sconce rt i ng aspect of t he argument i s t hc ext ent t o whi ch i t rcveal s t hat
count ry habi t s and perspect i ves are becomi ng l ess and l ess underst ood or respect ed
by ci t y dwel l ers; and i t i s more of t en t he ci t y dwel l ers who command t he money
and t he acccss t o t he medi a whi ch gi ves t hem a bet t er opport uni t y t o press t hei r
argument s t o successt ul concl usi ons.
Noun phrases 141
(a) Premodi fi cati on. Compl etc thcse noun phrases from the text wi th adj ecti ves or
an adj ect i ve- l i kc par t i ci pl e.
I a l oosc conncct l on
skei n
3 . . . hut nan
re' st' rl blrne r'
5 . . . s c c nc
6 . . . oppor t ul l r t y
(b)
Cornpl ct e t hcsc noun phrasc-s whcrc t hc prcrnocl i f i cr i s a noul r or nor-rn-l i ke
-il,q
firrrn:
1 . . . . . . r o t l s
ll shot
9 . . . . . . b o o t s
l o . . . . or . ul t t t i z r t l i t l t t s
I I . . . . spoi l s
I r c ount r y . . . al t t l .
( c)
Post r nodi l i cat i on. Cor npl ct c t hcsc noun phr ascs. whcr e t hc posl nr odi l i cat i on
i s a pr cposi t i onal pl t r asc.
l 3 r . c l at i ons hi pt . . . .
l r l . . . . . . . . . . . i r s l p l s t i r l t e
l 5 l t wt ' l t k l t c r s . . . . . . .
l 6 i nl cnni t t c r t t hi t r as sr t t c l t t . . . . . . .
l 7 t i r x l t u n t i n g . . . . . .
l 8 t ht ' i r t vt t l r et l l ( ' t ) l .
l ( , b t r l l t s i t l e s . .
2 0 . . . . . . . . . . . t o t h c r n c c l i a
( d)
Fi nd l hc r r ot r n pl r r ascs whi ch l r c conr pl cl cd by l l r c r cl at i vc cl uuscs sho' ul ' n:
2l . . . . . . . . . . . . whi ch r c vc ul a wc akl t css l i r r l l r c c has c
) 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . whi c h be ar s i t s t r i k i ng r c se t t t bl al t cc t o t l t c
wcak nes ses . . .
l 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . l hc y al l cc t 1o t l cpl or c i n ot l t cr s
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . whi ch st r c t ch back l i t r cct r t t t r i c s
25 . . . . . . . . . . . . whos c pur posc i s t o cl i nr i nat c t hc s por t . . .
26 . . . . . . . . . . . . t o whi ch i t r cv cal s t hal c ount f y hl bi t s and
pe rspcct i vcs arc bcconri t rg l e ss at t t l l css Lt t t cl crsl t t ocl
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . whi c h gi v cs t he I t t a be t t c r oppor l ur r i t y t o
pr css l hci r ar gunr cnt s 1o succcssf ul cor t cl usi t t ns
( c) l r i ncl t he nor t l i ni l e ver bs/ cl auscs t hi t t post l l l odi t y t hcsc r l ouns:
l X l et i vi st r r t gl t t t i z l t l i ot t s
2 9 t ' c we r h o l d s . . . . . . .
. l (
) l bcl l cr opp( ) r l uni l y