tests that are appropriate, and explain why
the other tests are not appropriate.
To morrow Pat will be backfrom skiing.
ii Is today some kind of holiday?
iii Down the road ran the crazy dog.
iv It isn 't the program that's at fa ult.
v Dan got bitten on the neck by a bat.
- For which of the following clauses would
it be implausible to say that the subject
identifies the performer of an action? Give
reasons for your answer.
She 's very like her mother.
ii The decision was made by my aunt.
iii My fa ther closed the door.
iv I've just received a letter fro m the mayor.
v She underwent surgery.
- For which of the following is it implausi
ble to say that the subject identifies the
topic? Give reasons for your answer.
i At this time of year you 're likely to get
violent thunderstorms.
ii Any fo ol could make a better job of it
than that.
iii My sister has just won the marathon.
iv Close tabs were kept on all the directors.
v Their house is worth a million and a half.
- In each of the following pairs pick out the one
in which the underlined expression is object.
Give syntactic reasons for your answer.
a. We all enjoyed that summer.
b. We all worked that summer.
ii a. She fa sted a very lonf time.
b. She wasted a very lonf time.
iii a. He seemed an amazinfly bad
film-maker.
b. He screened an amazinfly bad film.
- For each of the verbs below, determine
(citing relevant examples) which of the
Exercises 81
following three structures they can occur
in: (a) a structure with two NPs, like [15];
(b) a structure with one NP and a pp
headed by to; (c) a structure with one NP
and a pp headed by fo r.
award vi obtain
ii borrow vii owe
iii envy viii return
iv explain ix send
v fine x transfe r
- Determine whether the underlined expres
sions below are objects or predicative
complements. Give syntactic evidence in
support of your answers.
i They arrested a member of the party.
ii She remained a member ofthe party.
iii It looks a barfain to me.
iv He proposed a barfain to me.
v They continued the investifation.
- Recall the classification of canonical clause
types into (a) ordinary intransitive; (b)
complex-intransitive; (c) monotransitive;
(d) complex-transitive; and (e) ditransi
tive. For each of the verbs below, deter
mine which of the five constructions it
can enter into, and construct relevant
illustrative examples.
appear iii judge
ii consider iv keep
v promise viii show
vi save ix turn
vii send x wish
- Explain the ambiguities of the following
two sentences (they can each be under
stood either as complex-transitive or as
ditransitive ):
i I fo und her a good lawyer.
ii He called me a nurse.
