语法问答复习题

1 There are two ways of sentence analysis (parsing). What are they?Sentential analysis is traditionally called parsing. The purpose of parsing is to facilitate description of how the English language works. We have two solutions to do parsing.The first solution is the way is to divide the predicate into predicate verb, object, complement and adverbial. These elements together with the subject make the five clause elements.The other way of sentence analysis is to divide the predicate into two parts: the operator and the predication. The operator is usually the auxiliary or the first auxiliary in a complex verb phrase, while the predication comprises the main verb with its complementation (object, complement or adverbial).2 What is the difference between stative and dynamic adjectives?Semantically, adjectives can be dynamic or stative. Stative adjectives, such as tall, short, big, small, describe the static characteristics of animate or inanimate objects, and most adjectives are stative adjectives. Dynamic adjectives, such as ambitious, careful, generous, helpful, patient, witty, describe the dynamic properties of people or things, and they are different in use from stative adjectives. For instance, dynamic adjectives can go with the progressive aspect of the verb be, while stative adjectives cannot. Dynamic ad¬jectives can co-occur with imperative be, while stative adjectives cannot. Lastly, dynamic adjectives can occur in causative construc¬tions in which it is impossible to use stative adjectives.3 List two situations in which simple present is used to refer to the past.The future use of the simple present is more frequent in dependent, especially conditional and temporal, clauses than in main clauses, e.g.:If she comes, I’ll tell her all about it.It won’t be long before the rain stops.In main clauses, the simple present refers to an immutable future event predetermined by a timetable or a schedule which is very definite and unalterable, e.g.:She retires next month.Tomorrow is Saturday.Next Christmas falls on a Thursday.4 What is the relationship between tense and time?Tense is a grammatical form associated with verbs that tells of the distinctions of time; that is to say, tense and time are at once related and different.Time is a universal concept with three divisions: past time, present time and future time. When the notion of time, which is common to all mankind, is expressed linguistically, one way of doing this is by means of tense.5 What are diterminers?Words that precede any premodifying adjectives in a noun phrase and which denote such referential meanings as specific reference, generic reference, definite quantity or indefinite quantity are referred to as determiners.Determiners, as a class of words, include: articles (definite article, indefinite article, zero article), possessive determiners (e.g., my, your, his, her, our, your, their, one’s, its), genitive nouns (e.g., John’s, my friend’s), demonstrative determiners (e.g., this, that, these, those, such), relative determiners (e.g., whose, which), interrogative determiners (e.g., what, which, whose), indefinite determiners (e.g., no, some, any, each, every, enough, either, neither, all, both, half, several, many, much, (a) few, (a) little, other, another), cardinal (e.g., one, two, three)and ordinal numerals (e.g., first, second, third), fractional (e.g., one third, two fourths)and multiplicative numerals (e.g., three times), and other quantifiers (e.g., a lot of, lots of, plenty of, a great / good deal of, a large / small amount / quantity of, a great / large / good number of).6 Why is ellipsis often called a cohesive device and treated as a means of emphasis as well?Ellipsis is leaving unsaid something structurally recoverable with reference to the linguistic context. This is precisely why ellipsis, just like substitution, is also called a grammatical device for achieving textual cohesion because if the missing element is to be retrieved the linguistic environment has to be refered to. Further,when an identical item is omitted, attention is focused on the neighboring element. Therefore, ellipsis is also a means of emphasis.7 There are three groups of textual connectors. What are they?There are various devices for cementing sentences into a text. They are called textual connectors, which may be divided into three groups: logical connectors, grammatical connectors and lexical connectors.8 What is information structure? How do you understand end focus and end weight?As an information unit, the sentence normally consists of two parts: old information + new information. Old information (also called “given / known information”) is the kind of information which, the speaker assumes, is already known to the hearer, and this is usually expressed by the subject. New information, usually expressed by the predicate, is the message to be conveyed, and the focus or the most important part of the message usually occupies the end position in the sentence. That is what we call information focus or “end focus”.Closely related to the princip le of “end focus” is that of “end weight”, which manifests itself in the fact that the construction of the subject is usually shorter and less complicated than that of the predicate where the new information lies.The compatibility of the two principles “end focus” and “end weight” lies in the fact that the new information has a greater need for explanation than the given information and is accordingly conveyed by weightier elements.9 What are anaphoric reference, cataphoric reference and situational reference?According to the relative position of the referent or antecedent, pronoun reference can be anaphoric or cataphoric.When the antecedent occurs before the pronoun, which has to point backward for its own interpretation, that is anaphoric reference.If the antecedent appears after the pronoun, and the pronoun has to point forward for its meaning, that is cataphoric reference.If the antecedent does not occur anywhere in a linguistic context, and the pronoun only refers to somebody or something indicated by an extra-linguistic situation in which the utterance is given, that is situational reference.10 What is the difference between restrictive relative clauses and non-restrictive relative clausesRelative clauses may be restrictive or non-restrictive. A restrictive relative clause gives essential information about the meaning of the antecedent. It forms an integral part of the noun phrase, without which the head cannot be identified as the specific object. A non-restrictive relative clause does not restrict the referential meaning of the antecedent. If it is taken away, the antecedent still refers to the same person or thing.Formally, a restrictive clause is closely attached to the head, and it is not separated from the head by a break in intonation, or by a comma in writing while with a non-restrictive clauses the opposite is the truth.。