Sapientia University

Syntax seminar
1st semester 2017/20178

ENGLISH SYNTAX SEMINAR (7)

Nominal Predicates
- a nominal predicate is made up of a descriptive predicative constituent together with a copula/link verb. The
copula does not have a descriptive content or it has an impoverished meaning. Yet, it is capable to express the
grammatical categories of the verb (mood, tense, agreement).

Types of predicative constituents

1. Adjectival phrase
- adjectives in English may be classified according to their attributive or predicative role. An attributive
adjective in English appears before a noun. A predicative adjective appears after a copula. Most adjectives may
appear in both positions.
e.g. a beautiful girl – The girl is beautiful.

-some types of adjectives are specialized for one of the two positions:
a) Adjectives which are attributive
- nominal adjectives: adjectives based on nouns
e.g. chemical engineer – an engineer who works in the domain of chemistry
* The engineer is chemical.
e.g. rural policeman, wooden bridge, golden ring
- adjectives of degree
e.g. utter confusion, complete misery, alleged murderer

b) Adjectives which are predicative

-adjectives which take a-
e.g. afloat, alive, afire, afoot, afraid, akin, alike
The boat was afloat. / The house was afire. / The man was afoot.
*the afloat boat, *the afire house, *the afoot man
- participial adjectives
e.g. drunk, bought, caught, lost, ironed, learned
- many predicative adjectives take as their complements prepositional phrases
e.g. fond of, glad about, satisfied with, inclined to, subject to
The prisoner was subject to torture.

c) Adjectives which appear in both positions

- they might slightly change their meaning when they change position
e.g. a real story (=quite a good story)
The story is real. (=the story is true)
- English does not allow adjectives that take complements to appear before a noun. Adjectives which appear
pre-nominally can only be used with degree words
e.g. a very tall man, an unbelievably good story, much more interesting movies
- however, adjectives which take complements can appear inside the noun phrase, but only after the noun
e.g. a man interested in arts, a girl fond of music
 2. Prepositional phrase
- they frequently appear as predicative constituents
e.g. This wall is of stone. – a stone wall
- sometimes the preposition can be omitted (when the predicative expresses colour, size, age, quality or shape)
e.g. This house is (of) marble. / Your hair is (of) the same colour as mine. / The cathedral is (of the )16th
century.

3. Noun phrase
- as predicative constituents, they are normally indefinite (preceded by a/an in the singular and with zero article
in the plural), e.g. He is a teacher. / They are teachers.
- the noun may appear in the Genitive case or it may be replaced by a possessive pronoun
e.g. this house is John’s, the jewels are the Queen of England’s, this house is mine, the dictionaries are ours

4. CLAUSE
- the predicative constituent can be a sentence, as well
a. THAT-clause: The fact was [that the house was too expensive].
b. FOR-TO-construction: It is [for the critics to criticize].
c. INFINITIVE: To see is [to believe].
d. GERUND: Seeing is [believing].

Other copulas
- copula-like verbs have some descriptive meaning, unlike BE, yet they share their distribution with the verb
BE, i.e. they appear at least one of the following contexts: -DP/-AP/-PP/-IP and they do not assign Acc case
e.g. GET get + DP My father is getting [an old man]DP.
get + AP It is getting [dark]AP.
get + PP It’s getting [near lunchtime]PP.
get + IP We’re getting [where we wanted to]IP.

e.g. become I became her friend. / They became poor. / She became of age.
come They came to power. / It came true. / It came to a standstill.
run The well has run dry. / We ran short of time.
go She went pale. / He went mute.
turn The girl turned red. / Water turned into ice. / When his wife is away, he turns into a cook.
fall It was falling dark. / She fell ill. / They fell in love.
look The child looked exhausted. / It looked out of place.
stand She was standing mute with grief. / He stands in need of help.

BE as a main verb – in existential sentences

- in natural languages existence is conceived as location in space, i.e. the main verb must be followed by an
AdvP or a PP when expressing location, e.g. The students are there. / The students are in a coffee shop.

- the existential verb BE allows THERE-insertion. THERE-insertion is possible in case of an indefinite subject
e.g. Students are in the cafeteria. – There are students in the cafeteria.
The students are in the cafeteria. – There are the students in the cafeteria.
- in case of THERE-sentences, the verb agrees with the post-verbal NP/DP, not with THERE, while in case of
IT-insertion, the verb agrees with IT itself
e.g. There is a book on the desk. / There are books on the desk.
Who’s there? It’s the students.
Derive the sentences below:
a. The program was open to criticism.
b. Life itself is form.
c. He is at peace with himself and with his environment.
d. All work is noble.
e. The town was abuzz with excitement.
f. All those reporters are enthusiastic about the results.
g. Morality must be action.
h. Beauty is a joy forever.
i. These bills are chargeable to Bill.
j. She is at home in several foreign languages.

Distinguish between the instances of BE in the sentences below:

a. He was at school.
b. My mother is out.
c. He is reading a new play.
d. The house has just been redecorated.
e. The soup is off.
f. He is at home in several foreign languages.
g. He is still at home.
h. I was surprised at/by the idea.
i. He is well -behaved.
j. I was being surprised by/*at your behaviour.
k. There’s the accident!
l. He is at table./ He is at the table.
m. He is Secretary of State.
n. Vegetative reproduction is by fragmentation.
o. It’s no use crying over the spilt milk.
p. She is artist enough to find an original solution.
q. Fur coats are the thing today.
r. The funeral is tomorrow
s. Nobody is on the safe.
t. There should be a lot of people there tomorrow.

Replace by BE-predicates and make all the necessary changes:

a. I regret to say that.
b. I fear that I presume too much on your patience.
c. They hope for a better life.
d. The music pleased everybody.
e. These words express my intimate desire.
f. They support their wives in public.
g. The boat drifted for a month.
h. The waves washed the deck.
i. The bulbs glittered in the trees.
j. John resembles his brother.
k. Nobody touched the food.
l. His attitude provoked a disaster.
m. He doesn’t like to work hard.
n. She has always pursued her personal interests.
EXERCISES - AGREEMENT
Choose the appropriate verb form.
a) Students studying English read/reads Conrad’s Heart of Darkness while at university.
b) Five pounds is/are a lot of money.
c) Two drops deodorizes/deodorize anything in your house.
d) Fifteen dollars in a week is/are not much.
e) Fifteen years represents/represent a long period of his life.
f) Two miles is/are as far as they can walk.
g) This government has/have broken its promises.
h) This England team have/has to win the championship.
i) This government dislike/dislikes change.
j) This committee has/have decided.
k) Most of John’s boat have/has been repainted.
l) Some of the record contain/contains evidence of wrongdoing.
m) Much of that theory is/are unfounded.
n) An example of these substances is/are tobacco.
o) The effectiveness of teaching and learning depend/depends on several factors.
p) One of the most serious problems that some students have is/are lack of motivation.
q) Ten years is/are a long time to spend in prison.
r) Everyone of us was/were given a prize.
s) Some of the fruit is/are going bad.
t) All of his wealth come/comes from real estate investments.
u) Some of their relatives live/lives nearby.
v) In the center of the cemetery lie/lies the grave of the unknown soldier.
w) Fifty pounds seem/seems like a lot of weight to lose in one year.
x) News of Persephone and Demeter have/has reached the great gods of Olympus.
y) Half of the year is/are dark and wintry.
z) Some of the promoters of ostrich meat compare/compares its/their taste to beef.

Find any grammatical errors in the following sentences.

a. The most impressive monument of Egypt’s greatness, and one of the wonders of the world, are
the pyramids.
b. They produced various medicines, the power of which were widely advertised.
c. The sharing which the two ministers made of their responsibilities were not successful.
d. The practical results of recognizing this fault was as follows.
e. The services of the Church of England states this to be a truth.
f. All special rights of voting in the election was abolished.
g. One of major factors affecting the value of diamonds are their weight.
h. Each of these stones have to be cut and polished.
i. Most of her free time are spent attending concerts and plays or visiting museums and art
galleries.

Examples taken from: http://www.ucd.ie/artspgs/introling/engsyndraft.pdf