Basic English Grammar with Exercises

Exercise 13

(iii) In sentence (3a) both PPs can be interpreted as the complement of the head,

therefore they can be coordinated and as coordinated PPs, they can be understood as

the complement of the head. In sentence (3b) the adjunct PP and the complement PP

are coordinated and that renders the sentence ungrammatical. The adjunct and the

complement have different statuses in the DP, therefore they cannot be coordinated.

Exercise 13

(1) a John solved the problem independently of me.

b My professor lives right in the middle of nowhere.

c I am very afraid of wild animals.

d John read a book about Britain.

(1a) The phrase in this sentence is an adverb phrase (AP) headed by the adverb

independently. The adverb independently has one complement. a prepositional phrase

PP of me. The head merges with the complement PP to form A'. In accordance with the

Specifier Rule A' further projects into AP. The X'-structure of the adverb phrase is in

(2):

(2) AP

A'

A PP

independently of me

(1b) The phrase in this sentence is a prepositional phrase (PP) whose head is in. It

is modified by the adverb right. The DP the middle of nowhere functions as the

complement of the prepositional head. The head is merged with the complement. They

form the P' level. The adjunct right is merged with P' making P' recursive. Finally the

P' level is projected into the PP.

(3) PP

P'

right P'

P DP

in the middle of nowhere

(1c) The structure in italics in sentence (4) is an adjectival phrase whose head is

the adjective afraid. This adjective is a two-place predicate. It has an experiencer

subject and a theme object. The adverb very is not in the lexical entry of the adjective.

It functions as an adjunct in the structure. The adjectival head is merged with the