This new rule allows us to analyze sentences like the following:- Macarena wasdancingat China Club.
- The band members wereplayinga hot salsa.
- They arethinkingabout the next break.
Progressive Verb Forms and Predicate Adjectives
English presents an analytical problem with sentences lik e the following:
- Raul was running.
- His toe was throbbing.
The structure of these sentences seems to be very similar, and, in fact, it may
seem reasonable to analyze them both as having progressive form verb phrases.
Such an analysis, however, is not accurate. Sentence 34 indeed has a progres-
sive form verb phrase, but sentence 35 does not; instead, the VP consists of a
linking verb and a predicate adjective. The tree diagrams for these sentences
clearly illustrate the difference between the two sentences.
PHRASE STRUCTURE GRAMMAR 131
Sentence 4.34: Raul was running.