APPLYING KEY IDEASDirections: Analyze these sentences, identifying their constituents. Select five
and diagram them using the phrase-structure rules presented in this chapter.
- Fred wanted to talk to Macarena about marriage.
- For him to buy an engagement ring at this point would be foolish.
- Fred decided to discuss the matter with his priest.
- Her fondness for the two boys made Macarena tell them a lie.
- Buggsy told his goons that he had a message for them to deliver.
- Raul asked Maria to go with him to the dance.
- Macarena was delighted to get the invitation to Buggsy’s next party.
- To tell the truth, she was impressed with Buggsy’s money.
- For her to turn down the invitation would have been unthinkable.
10.She decided to tell Fred and Fritz that she wanted to visit her sick aunt.
SUMMARY OF PHRASE-STRUCTURE RULESBefore we go on to consider transformational-generative grammar in the next
chapter, let’s take a moment to review the final versions of the phrase-structure
rules we’ve developed:
- XPÆXP CC XP
- XPÆXP S
- SÆNP VP
- NPÆ(det) (AdjP) N (PP)
- VPÆAux V (NP) (AdjP) (AdvP) (PP)
- VÆ
V
Vprt+ì
í
îü
ý
þ- prtÆparticle
- AdvPÆ
adv
NPì
í
îü
ý
þ- detÆ
pro
NP poss
art+ì
íïîïü
ýïþï158 CHAPTER 4