Delahunty and Garvey
Diagram (48a) represents the situation in which old modifies the NP
men and women; (48b) represents the situation in which old modifies only
men.
the verb phrase (vp)
We begin with the functional formula for VPs and then examine the forms
that can satisfy those functions.
(49) VP Functional Formula
(AUXILIARY) + HEAD + (OBJECT) + (COMPLEMENT) + (MODI-
FIER)
This formula states that a VP must contain a head word, optionally preced-
ed by one or more auxiliaries, and optionally followed by object(s), comple-
ments, and/or modifier(s).
Simple VPs: head alone
Single-word VPs always consist of a head word that is an intransitive verb,
bolded in the examples in (50). The syntactic structure of such intransitive
verb phrases is given in (50’):
(50) a. Hector walks. (50’) VP
b. All the employees agree.
c. The lemmings followed. V
d. Cynthia lied/laughed/coughed/died/...
In school grammars, the terms main verb and simple predicate sometimes
are used for the head word of the VP.
VPs: auxiliaries and head
In our chapter on Major Parts of Speech, we distinguished between main
verbs and auxiliary verbs. The discussion primarily concerned head verbs.
However, heads often occur in the company of other verbs, called helping
verbs, auxiliaries, or simply Aux, some of whose functions we described in
our chapter on the Minor Parts of Speech.
The major auxiliary verbs in English are have, be, and do. (In our chapter
on Minor Parts of Speech we briefly discussed the modal auxiliaries will,
would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, and must.) The uses of have, be,
and do are illustrated in (51):