Phrasal structure and verb complementation

A phrase structure grammar of English: This is a type of generative grammar in which constituent structures are represented by phrase structure rules or rewrite rules. A phrase structure grammar consists of a set of ordered rules known as rewrite rules, which are applied stepwise. For we can comprehend about this topic we must analyze most of the basic structures and types of English sentences.

The form of phrase structure rules.

For the basic structure of a phrase the phrases consist minimally of a Head. This means that in a one-word phrase like “boy”, the Head is “boy”

Phrase structure rules are usually of the following form:

A - B C

Meaning that the constituent A is separated into the two sub constituents B and C.

Subject and predicate:

In the traditional and generative grammar a sentence is constitute for subject and predicate, where the subject is the actor or that which spoken about and a predicate is usually defined as a word group that comes after the subject to complete the meaning of the sentence or clause.

Also, a predicate may be just a single word; a word group made up of a main verb and any helping verbs and finally a complete verb phrase: that is, a main verb and all the words related to that verb except the subject.

The subject and predicate are often described as a topic and a comment, what is being talked about (the subject) and what is being said about it (the predicate). Each of these elements is characterized by a combination of three elements or perspectives:

A position or slot within a sentence

A certain form or type of grammatical construction

A certain meaning

Example: The dog ran after the cat.

Noun phrase

Noun phrase consists of a single noun. The noun head can be accompanied by modifiers, determiners (such as the, a, her), and/or complements.

A noun phrase (NP) most commonly functions as a subject, object, or complement.

Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:

People like to have money.

I am tired.

It is getting late.

Or a determiner and a noun …:

Our friends have bought a house in the village.

Numbers:

Quantifiers come before determiners, but numbers come after determiners:

My four children go to school here. (All my children go to school here.)

Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases are mine)

So the noun phrase is built up in this way:

Noun: people; money

Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses

Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money

Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house.

Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children;

Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers.

Adverb phrase

In an adverb phrase can modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, and it can appear in a number of different positions in a sentence and we note that Deg is an optional modifier.

Adverb phrase or adverbial phrases are so-called because they can occur in the same range of positions as single adverbs; but many such adverbial phrases, paradoxically, do not contain an adverb.

On Friday night, I'm playing squash.

Their marriage broke up in the most painful way.

May I, on behalf of the shareholders, congratulate you?

Prepositional phrase

An easy way of comprehend the prepositional phrase is A prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition and a noun phrase. We use prepositional phrases for many purposes, for example:

As adverbials of time and place:

We will be back in a few days.

They drove to Glasgow

As a post modifier in a noun phrase:

Helen is the girl in the red dress

We’ve got a new television with a thirty one inch screen.

To show who did something:

The lion was killed by the hunter

I saw a wonderful painting by Van Gogh.