SECTION 3: GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS

18 Structure
“The concept of STRUCTURE is essential in distinguishing between the
strings of words that are well-formed expressions in the language
and those that are not.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 8] To show how things can
be analyzed into their constituent parts in this text, we use TREE-DIAGRAMS —
the trees that are upside-down:
S
NP

VP

DET

N’

DEM

headN

These

AP[sP/sC]

Vgrp
[intens]

A

concepts



substituted for as a whole by one of its constituent units; e.g. a noun may
stand for the whole noun phrase, c.f. big African lions roaming in the
jungle — lions.” [Jackson, 1980: 26]
19.2 EXOCENTRIC STRUCTURE
Phrases like the PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (PP, for short) beside a
⇔,
stream are said to be EXOCENTRIC. There is a TWO-WAY DEPENDENCE (⇔
for short) between beside and a stream as a whole: both of the two
constituents must occur to form the PP beside a stream; “one of them
cannot stand for the whole phrase” [Jackson, 1980: 26].
However, the PP beside a stream can also be considered
ENDOCENTRIC: “Although beside and a stream are both needed to express
the spatial orientation in this case, it is the word beside that is giving the
phrase as a whole its locational character. So beside is the head of the
phrase.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 43] If the PREPOSITION (P, for short)
beside is the HEAD (H, for short) of the prepositional phrase beside a
stream then a stream is functioning as COMPLEMENT (C, for short) to that
head: (H) beside ⇔ a stream (C).
“Each phrase must have a head. A noun phrase has a noun as head, a
verb phrase has a verb as head, a prepositional phrase a preposition as
head, and an adjective phrase an adjective as head.” [Jacobs, 1995: 51]
Briefly, the STRUCTURES of MODIFICATION, COMPLEMENTATION, and
CO-ORDINATION are all endocentric whereas THE STRUCTURE OF
PREDICATION is exocentric. As to a prepositional phrase, it may be regarded
either as an exocentric structure or as an endocentric structure.
_________________

20 Types of syntactic structures

20.3 STRUCTURE OF COORDINATION
“Max and Adrian is a COORDINATE NOUN PHRASE (Co-NP, for short),
with Max and Adrian coordinated by and. Co-ordinate NPs have as many
heads as there are nouns coordinated in them. Other COORDINATORS are
but and or.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 67]
In Stageberg’s opinion [1965: 273], the coordinator “is set off as a
separate element and does not belong to either IC”:

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Co-NP
NP1

Co-NP

Conj

N1

(1)a. Max

and

NP2

NP1

NP2


Conj

AP1
A2

DEG

Co-AP
Conj AP2

A

AP1

A

A

Conj

AP2
DEG

A

(2)a. too stuffy and hot (2)b.too stuffy and hot (2)c. stuffy and too hot
The prepositional phrase up and down the stairs contain a COORDINATION OF PREPOSITIONS (Co-P, for short), with up and down
coordinated by and as in (3)a. In the foundation and under the rafters
is a COORDINATE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (Co-PP, for short), with in the
foundation and under the rafters coordinated by and as in (3)b.


Two important points to notice about the co-ordinations marked (1)a-b,
(2)a-c and (3)a-b are
that “the mother and the sisters of the
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coordinator (and in this case) all have the same category label”
[Burton-Roberts, 1997: 71] and
that “the parts joined by Coordinate
Conjunctions ought usually to be of exactly equal value” [Campbell,
1962: 5]. All these co-ordinations are typical examples of the STRUCTURE of
COORDINATION.
20.4 STRUCTURE OF PREDICATION
Wherever possible, a SENTENCE (S, for short) should be divided into
the fewest possible parts, i.e. into two: a NOUN PHRASE (NP, for short) and a
VERB PHRASE (VP, for short).
S

NP

(subject)

VP

(4)a. Ducks
b. The ducks
c. Those gigantic ducks
d. The mouth-watering duck on the table
e. The ones over there

21 Constructions vs. constituents
21.1 A construction is any significant group of words (or morphemes):
old man, lives there, the man who lives there, has gone, to his son’s
house, has gone to his son’s house, the old man who lives there has
gone to his son’s house, etc.
But there has is not, since the two words have no direct connection.
Neither is man since this word contains only one word (and also one
morpheme). On a syntactic level lives is not a construction; but on a
morphological level it is a construction consisting of two morphemes, live
and −s.
21.2 A constituent is any word or construction (or morpheme) which
enters into some larger construction. Thus, each of the words in the
sentence ‘The old man who lives there has gone to his son’s house.’ is
a constituent. So are the two constructions old man and the old man who
lives there.
However, there has or man who is not a constituent. Neither is the
sentence as a whole since there is no larger construction of which it is a
part.
Briefly, all but the smallest constituents are constructions and all
but the largest constructions are constituents. In syntax, the smallest
constituents are words, and the largest constructions are sentences.
_________________

22 Immediate constituents vs. ultimate constituents
22.1 An IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT (an IC, for short) is one of the two
constituents of which any given construction is directly formed. In
other words, “each of the two parts into which any structure is
divided” [Stageberg, 1965: 263] is called an IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT.
The IC’s of a given construction are its constituents on the next
lower level:

the question “Are words the immediate constituents of the sentence that
contains them?”
S

(1) Old Sam sunbathed beside

a

stream.

Compare the diagram marked (1) with the diagrams marked (2) and (3):
S

*(2) Stream old Sam sunbathed beside a.
S

*(3) Sunbathed old beside stream a

Sam.

The diagram marked (1) fails to give any explanation of why the
words that occur in (1) form a well-formed English sentence, and why
those that occur in (2) and (3) do not.
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“The arrangement of words in a sentence is largely determined by the
fact that the words are not immediate constituents of the sentences, but
belong with other words to form groups which have their own specifiable
position in the structure of the sentence. In short, while sentences CONTAIN

common in reference to the term complement when the former [1985: 52]
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states that a complement is “that part of the sentence which follows the verb
and which thus completes the sentence” and the latter [1995: 59] believes
that “a complement is the phrase following the predicate and linked very
closely to it; it is the constituent that ‘completes’ the predicate. However,
these authors differ in what they consider as complements.
The complements according to Richards, Platt and Weber [1985:52] are:
subject complement: the complement linked to a subject by be or
an intensive verb: She IS a doctor.
object complement, i.e. the complement linked to an object:
We MADE her the chairperson.
adjective complement, i.e. the complement linked to an adjective:
I’M glad that you can come.

complement of a preposition, i.e. the complement linked to a preposition:
They ARGUED about what to do.”
In addition to subject and object complements [1995: 58-60] and
adjective and prepositional complements [1995: 99], Jacobs also presents
noun complements [1995: 99-101]: “Many nouns … takes complement
clauses or complement prepositional phrases:
the story that Eleanor had met with the senator
the news of her marriage.”
Unlike Jacobs [1995] and Richards, Platt and Weber [1985],
Stageberg’s [1965: 165] complements also cover direct and indirect
objects: “The complements is the generic term for the completers of the
verb, which we shall later learn to know as direct object, indirect object,
object complement, and subject complement (with its subclasses of

while a predicative adjective may optionally be pre-modified and
optionally or obligatorily post-modified.
27.1 The pre-modifier in an adjective phrase, either attributive or
predicative, may only be an adverb:
(1)a. It IS a very exciting film.
b. This film IS very exciting.
27.2 Predicative adjectives, not attributive adjectives, may take
post-modifiers:
(2)a. *She IS a somewhat anxious about his son’s health mother.
b. She IS somewhat anxious about his son’s health.
1

Aware can also take as its complement a prepositional phrase:

He WAS aware of a creaking noise.

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27.3 There are various kinds of post-modifiers in a predicative
adjective phrase:
A prepositional phrase:
(3)a. My roommate BECAME tired of studying.
b. The dean WAS NOT angry with me.
c. I’M worried about your study.
A non-finite to-infinitive clause:
E] TO SEE her.
(4)a. Jack APPEARED eager [E
b. We WERE reluctant [E
E] TO LEAVE.

(3)a. I’M NOT averse to a cup of tea.
b. ARE you free from all responsibilities?
c. Her remarks WERE tantamount to slander.

Loath is always followed by a non-finite to-infinitive clause:
(4) They WERE loath [E
E] TO LEAVE this district.
Aware must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or
a finite dependent clause:
(5)a. He WAS aware of a creaking noise.
b. He IS aware that very few jobs ARE available.
c. I don’t think you’RE aware how much this MEANS to me.
Afraid must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or a
finite dependent clause beginning with the subordinator “that”:
(6)a. She WAS afraid of what MIGHT HAPPEN
if Edward turned round and saw her.
b. She WAS afraid of losing customers.
c. She WAS afraid that
that he MIGHT LOSE customers.
The obligatory post-adjectival modifier should be called THE
COMPLEMENT of the head adjective in a predicative adjective phrase to be
distinguished from any possible optional post-adjectival modifier of the

head adjective.
An adjective may be both pre-modified and post-modified. Preadjectival modifiers are always optional whereas post-adjectival
modifiers may be either optional or obligatory. The combination of an

adjective and its optional post-modifier is an example of THE STRUCTURE
OF MODIFICATION whereas the combination of an adjective and its
obligatory complement displays THE STRUCTURE OF COMPLEMENTATION.

(6)a. This toy IS safe for children.
b. This tree IS safe to climb up.
Anxious
Anxi
ous, however, take all three kinds of post-modifiers:
(7)a. He IS very anxious about his wife’s health,
b. He IS very anxious to please everybody,
c. He IS very anxious that no one should accuse him of laziness.
29.3 Some adjectives require one or more kinds of oblibatory postmodifiers, which are also known as adjectives complements:

Fond and tantamount must take as its complement a prepositional
phrase:
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(8)a. I’M fond of swimming.
b. Her remarks WERE tantamount to slander.

Loath must take as its complement a non-finite to-infinitive clause:
(9) They WERE loath [E
E] TO LEAVE this district.

Aware must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or a
finite dependent clause:
(10)a. He WAS aware of a creaking noise.
b. He IS aware that very few jobs ARE available.
c. [I don’t think] you’RE aware how much this MEANS to me.

Afraid must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or a
finite dependent clause beginning with the subordinator “that”:

(2)a. I’D LIKE TO GO for a week in silence.
b. The two drivers MUST STAY until the police get there.
c. He WORKS hard from morning till night.
d. The bell RANG all day long.
e. It LASTED years.
f. I’VE BEEN WORKING here since 1981/since I graduated from my
university.
Adverbial adjuncts of Frequency describe how often an event
occurs, answering the question ‘How often?’ or ‘How many times?’:
(3)a. He COMES home late from time to time.
b. We MEET twice a week and EAT OUT every Friday evening.
c. The roof LEAKS whenever it rains.
d. The electrician always/usually/often/sometimes/rarely/never
WORKS overtime.
Adverbial adjuncts of Temporal relationship convey the temporal
relationship between two events or states, answering the question ‘When?
(4)a. After this the conversation SANK for a while into mere sociability.
b. They HAD ARRIVED before the meeting started.
30.2.2 Adverbial adjuncts of Place (also called Space) have six
subcategories within them:
Adverbial adjuncts of Location or Position describe the very place
in, on or at which an action occurs, answering the question ‘Where?’:
(5)a. They STOMPED upstairs.
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b. My sister and her boyfriend MET at a dance.
c. I CAN hardly STUDY at home.
d. A Panamanian passenger bus LAY in a ditch.
e. He always HIDES where I can never reach.

Adverbial adjuncts of Path describe the pathway of an action,
answering the question ‘By/Through/Along/Via/By way of which?’:
(10)a. They ARE TRAVELING to France by way of London.
b. You CAN GO from London to Washington via New York.
c. He JUMPED out of the window/over the wall.
d. A lot of vehicles TRAVEL along the street.
e. The train WHISTLED past (the village).
f. We CAME by country roads, not by the motor road.
g. The burglar GOT in through the window and ESCAPED through the
back door.
30.2.3 Adverbial adjuncts of Manner describe the way in which
something is done, answering the question ‘How?’ or ‘By what way?’:
(11)a. The gears WORK very smoothly.
b. She CAME in gently/in a gentle way.
c. He JUMPED this way.
d. I LINGERED on purpose.
e. He BEHAVES quite strangely/in a very strange way/as if he is
going to be attacked.
30.2.4 Adverbial adjuncts of Behalf or Guise answer the question
‘Who for?’, ‘Instead of whom?’, ‘On behalf of whom?’, ‘What as?’ or ‘What
into?’:
(12)a. I COME here as a friend.
b. Tom CAME instead of Paul.
c. He SET out poor/as a pauper.
d. He CAME back rich/a rich man/as a millionaire.
e. Mavis LEFT the house a smiling, confident woman.
30.2.5 Adverbial adjuncts of Comparison compare the manner of a
state or action relative to another, answering the question ‘How?’
(13)a. Our coach LEFT earlier than it should have done.
b. This M.C. SPEAKS more fluently than accurately.

b. They GOT over to that deserted village on foot/on horseback.
c. I GO to work by bus.
d. He GOT here by running all the way from home.
30.2.8 Adverbial adjuncts of Instrument describe the item used to
undertake a task, answering the question ‘With/Without what?’:
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(16)a. The prisoner ESCAPED with only a razor blade.
b. I CAN hardly STUDY without an up-to-date dictionary.
c. She frequently WRITES in pencil.
d. You SHOULD NOT READ by artificial light.
e. They usually PAY in cash, not by check.
f. She often SEWS with cotton thread.
30.2.9 Adverbial adjuncts of Cause and of Reason both answer the
question ‘Why?’ Traditionally, cause has been associate with a relatively
objective statement, as in (17)a-c, while reason has implied a more
subjective assessment, as in (17)d-e:
(17)a. He [was buried under bricks, and] DIED of head injures.
b. We MISSED the plane through being held up on the motorway.
c. The old man WALKED slowly because of his bad legs/
because his legs are bad.
d. I WENT there because I was told.
e. I’VE BEEN WAITING here as I know you’ll certainly come and pick
me up.
In the majority of cases, however, it is difficult to judge the level of
objectivity and thus to discern between cause and reason, as with the
following examples:
(17)f. The plan FELL down because it proved to be expensive.
g. He THRIVES on positive criticism.

about a certain result. The Subordinate Clause often has MAY or MIGHT. In
Result Sentences something happens by chance and brings about a certain
result. The Subordinate Clause never has MAY or MIGHT.” [Campbell,1962: 58]
(20)a. He DRANK so much that he’s got stomachache.
b. My father SMOKED so heavily that he got lung cancer.
c. He JUMPED so high that he easily crossed the barrier.
d. The third couple DANCED so beautifully that all the examiners
awarded them the maximal point.
30.2.13 Adverbial adjuncts of Concession express material that
runs counter to the proposition of the rest of the clause or, in the case of
adverbial adjuncts realized as clauses, counter to the proposition in the
main clause:
(21)a. He DOESN’T SUCCEED however hard he tries.
b. She FAILS however much she does.
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c. They KEPT on swimming
(even) though/in spite of the fact that the weather was bad.
despite/in spite of the bad weather.
d. [1700 miners have been out for seven months and,]
despite intimidation, no one HAS GONE back to work.
30.2.14 Adverbial adjuncts of Condition express the conditions
which hold on the proposition of the main clause, including both positive and
negative conditions. They usually answer the question ‘Under what
condition(s)?’:
(22)a. These people CANNOT OPERATE unless they receive support.
b. You MAY LEAVE right now
provided that you work overtime tomorrow.
c. We CAN PLAY as long as it doesn’t rain.

other possibilities:
(24)d. I’M only JOKING.
e. Well, they just FELL behind, you know.
A feature shared by adjuncts of Additive and those of Restrictive
is that, unlike many other adverbials, they often cannot be moved without
affecting their meaning in the clause. The position of the adverbial is
important in determining what element of the clause is the focus of the
addition or restriction. Thus, the following pairs of sentences are not
equivalent. Only the adverbs in (25)a-b are adjuncts; the adverb in (25)a’ is
a disjunct while that in (25)b’ is a conjunct:
(25)a. A heart born especially for me, Jackie USED TO TEASE.
a’. Especially a heart born for me, Jackie USED TO TEASE.
b. Mr. Arce Gomez also HAS a human rights reputation.
b’. Also Mr. Arce Gomez HAS a human rights reputation.
30.3 Note that adverbial adjuncts may precede and/or follow the Vgrp
of the VP:
S

S

NP
PropN

VP1
VP2
Vgrp
[intrans]

NP



PRO
AdvP1
[opA of Frequency]

VP2
VP3
VP4

DEG headAdv
Vgrp
[intrans]

(27)f. She hardly ever GOES

AdvP2
[opA of Point of Time]

AdvP3
[opA of Terminus ⇒ Purpose]

PP

PP

to bed

before midnight.

30.5 An obligatory adverbial adjunct can sometimes be left out provided

b. The jumbo jet FLEW up (Direction).
c’. The jumbo jet FLEW into the open air (Terminus).
It is not always easy to tell whether an adverbial adjunct is obligatory
or optional. However, this distinction is crucial as far as the meaning
expressed by the whole VP in which the adjunct occur is concerned.
30.8 The above illustrations indicate that a number of nouns or noun
phrases can, and sometimes must, appear without prepositions when they are
the adverbial adjuncts of Time, of Place or even of Manner in VPs.
Among these nouns/noun phrases are Tuesday; the next day; last night; next
week; the day before yesterday; yesterday afternoon; all the time; every Friday
evening; some time; home; there; here; then; this way; a bit; a lot; a pauper; a
rich man; a smiling, confident woman; etc. Jacobs [1995: 26] believes that
“this characteristic is a relic marked by special case suffixes rather than
prepositions”. In addition, adjectives like rich or poor can also be the
adverbial adjunct of Manner or of Guise.
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S
NP1

S
VP1

PRO

VP2

NP
AdvP

b. He

SET out
CAME back

poor.
rich.

_________________

31 Noun phrase analyses
Using a tree-diagram to give a complete analysis for each of the
following NPs means not using any triangle notation.
(1) much evening enjoyment
(3) a much more expensive trip
(2) a much harder job
(4) much more white sand
(5) [That was] much the best meal I’ve ever tasted
ANSWER:

1. In much evening enjoyment, much2 is a quantifying adjective
meaning ‘a large amount or quantity (of sth)’, pre-modifying the N’2 evening
enjoyment, which is in fact a compound noun. In this case, the determiner
position is unfilled.
NP
DET

NP
DET



(1) φ much evening enjoyment
2

much /m∧t∫/ (quantifying adj., used with uncountable nouns; esp. with negative an
interrogative verbs or after very, as, how, so, too) = a large amount or quantity (of sth): I
haven’t got much money. There’s never very much news on Sundays. Take as much time
as you like. How much petrol do you need?
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