Practice Time

Exercise 1. The following sentences are taken from Swiss Sonata by Gwethalyn Graham, which is in the Public Domain in Canada. For each sentence, use as many constituency tests as are appropriate to determine whether the underlined portion is a constituent of that sentence.

• She was wearing a shabby, unbecoming black dress.
• One of the maids knocked on the door and entered with a telegram.
• Vicky stopped in her room to brush her hair slowly and carefully.
• Vicky stopped in her room to brush her hair slowly and carefully.

Exercise 2. For each of the following sentences, identify the subcategory of each verb and identify the grammatical role of each NP.

• Simon knew his parents would be angry.
• Senate will discuss the new bill in Parliament after the holiday.
• Gwen phoned her grandmother on the weekend.
• Amani realized Genet had finished the project without her.

Exercise 3. Draw tree diagrams consistent with x-bar principles to illustrate the structure of each of the sentences in Exercise 2.

Exercise 4. Draw tree diagrams consistent with x-bar principles to illustrate the Deep and Surface Structures of the following questions:

• Who will you vote for in the next election?
• What did the waiter say the specials were tonight?
• Does Resa know where your parents live?