Basic English Grammar with Exercises

Suggested Answers and Hints - Chapter 3

Exercise 6

Brackets symbolize the same as nodes do in the tree structure. Each pair of brackets

corresponds to a node in the tree with the label given at the left bracket. The first pair

of brackets gives the uppermost node, namely I. I is made up from the nodes H and J.

Inside J we have a word c and the node K. Following this logic, we get the following

tree structure:

I

H J

a b c K

d L

e f

Exercise 7

In the bracketed structure each pair of brackets represent a unit, like nodes do in the

tree. Thus each node in the tree can have a corresponding pair of brackets in the

bracketed structure. The strategy is to take a look at all nodes in the tree and to

determine which words of the sentence are dominated by the particular node. To each

node we will have a corresponding pair of brackets:

[K [I a [J b c]] [L [P d] [M e [N f [O g h]]]]]

Exercise 8

the category: [+F, +N, –V]

subcat: [nominal]

little category: [–F, +N, +V]


-grid: <theme>

subcat: [∆]

boy category: [–F, +N, –V]


-grid: <∆>

subcat: [∆]

may category: [+F, –N, +V]

subcat: [verbal]

think category: [–F, –N, +V]


-grid: <experiencer proposition>

subcat: sentential

that category: [+F, –N, –V]

subcat: [clausal]

features [–Wh, +Fin]

he category: [+F, +N, –V]

subcat: [∆]