Basic English Grammar with Exercises

Test your knowledge

6 Explain the difference between restrictions imposed by a head on complements

and those imposed on specifiers.

7 Discuss implications of the rule Move 
 and the Structure Preservation

Principle.

8 What levels of structural description are assumed and how are they linked?

How can D-Structure be characterised?

9 Discuss theta role assignment and the locality constraint imposed on it.

10 Show the distribution of nominative versus accusative case in English.

11 What bearing does the observation that clauses must have subjects have on the

movement types passive and raising?

Test your knowledge

Exercise 1

Identify those tree diagrams that exemplify possible configurations. State what the

problem is with those that contain impossible configurations.

(1) XP (2) XP

ZP X' X'

X' WP X

Y KP

(3) XP (4) XP

X' ZP X'

X' WP XP WP

X Y KP

(5) XP (6) XP

X' X'

X' WP X' WP

X YP X' KP

X YP