One of the beauties of phrase-structure grammar is its versatility. Earlier, we
modified our VP rule because we know that we have to be able to account for
tense if we are going to describe sentences accurately. But what about
adverbials? They are part of the VP, but so far we have not described grammati-
cally how they appear in the language. Well, all we have to do is modify the VP
rule again by adding an optional adverbial phrase:
VPÆAux V (NP) (AdvP) (AdjP) (PP)On page 79, we differentiated simple adverbs from adverbials, noting that
adverbs are single words and that adverbials are phrases and clauses—specifi-
cally, prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses—that function adverbi-
ally. Because phrase-structure rules do not provide explicit information about
function, prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses are not included under
the heading of AdjP. Consequently, if we expand the description of VP for
adverbs, we have:
AdvPÆadv
NPì
í
îü
ý
þThis rule allows us to describe sentences like 21 and 22:- Quickly, she called her bank on the cell phone.
- Macarena lost her checkbook yesterday.
Because adverbials and adjectivals frequently work together, we need one
more adjustment to the VP to describe sentences like 23:
- Buggsy bought his wife a very expensive emerald necklace.
Again, making the change to the rule is quite simple:AdjPÆ(AdvP)adv
NPì
í
îü
ý
þAt this point, the grammar rules are beginning to get more complicated, but
diagrams can help us visualize how the rules work to describe sentence gram-
mar. A diagram of sentence 23, for example, illustrates how the various compo-
nents fit together.
PHRASE STRUCTURE GRAMMAR 121