Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, A STUDENT'S INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

NOTES ON THE EXERCISES TO CHAPTER 15


1. For each of the main clauses below say whether it is canonical or non-canonical. If it's non-canonical, say which non-canonical construction it belongs to.

Ex She has such wonderful taste.
A canonical
Ex What excellent taste she has!
A non-canonical — exclamative


2. Classify the main clauses of the following examples with respect to voice, saying whether each is active or passive.

Ex They were looking rather amused.
A active
Ex They were being interrogated.
A passive


3. For each of the following active clauses, if it has a passive counterpart, supply it; if not, do your best to give a general statement of why this sort of clause doesn't have a passive. (For example, if given Jim remains chairman you might say that chairman is a predicative complement and as such could never become the subject of a corresponding passive clause, as seen by *Chairman is remained by Jim.)

Ex Few of the delegates applauded his speech.
A His speech was applauded by few of the delegates.
Ex This area boasts some of the best beaches in the country.
A No passive: the transitive verb boast is exceptional in that it doesn't occur in passive clauses.


4. Express each of these examples with all clauses entirely in the active voice.

Ex You should complain if you are going to be disadvantaged by the proposed changes.
A You should complain if the proposed changes are going to disadvantage you.


5. For each of the following, say whether it is (a) a passive clause (a be-passive or a get-passive); (b) a complex-intransitive clause with an adjectival passive as complement; or (c) ambiguous between the two. For the ambiguous cases, describe the difference in meaning.

Ex I was very embarrassed.
A (b) complex-intransitive clause (note that very cannot modify verbs, so this can't be a be-passive clause)
Ex We were interrogated by the police for five hours.
A (a) a passive clause (note the impossibility of replacing be by a complex-intransitive verb such as seem, become, etc.)
Ex She was injured.
A (c) ambiguous. As a passive clause this describes an event e.g. She was seriously injured when the platform they were standing on collapsed. As a complex-intransitive clause it describes the state resulting from some prior event — e.g. She couldn't play tennis with us because she was injured


6. For each underlined clause, give an extraposed counterpart if one is available, or if none is available, explain why.

Ex That they were cheating seems very likely.
A It seems very likely that they were cheating.
Ex The suggestion that they were cheating is preposterous.
A There is no extraposed counterpart because the underlined subordinate clause is functioning as complement within NP structure, not as subject or internal complement in clause structure.


7. Give existential or presentational counterparts of the following clauses if they are available. If none is available explain why.

Ex Only one student was on the committee.
A There was only one student on the committee.
Ex One of them was a genius.
A This has no existential counterpart: predicative complements in the existential construction are normally AdjPs (as in There was a nurse present,) not NPs (like a genius).


8. Give non-existential counterparts of the following clauses if one is available, and where none is available explain why. counterpart.
Ex There are some friends of yours outside.
A Some friends of yours are outside.
Ex There's been a terrible accident.
A This is a bare existential and thus has no non-existential


9. For each of the following, give an it-cleft counterpart with the same truth conditions, with the underlined constituent as the foregrounded element.

Ex One of their friends informed the police.
A It was one of their friends that informed the police.
Ex They finally convinced her with great difficulty.
A It was with great difficulty that they finally convinced her.


10. For each of the following, give a pseudo-cleft with the same truth conditions, with the underlined constituent as the foregrounded element.

Ex Why he pleaded guilty puzzled everyone.
A What puzzled everyone was why he pleaded guilty.
Ex We objected to the lack of consultation.
A What we objected to was the lack of consultation.


11. Classify the following examples as (a) left dislocation; (b) right dislocation; (c) preposing; or (d) postposing. Underline the dislocated or reordered constituent. In cases of dislocation, also underline the personal pronoun in the nucleus that has the dislocated phrase as its antecedent.

Ex Most of our complaints he simply refused to investigate.
A Most of our complaints he simply refused to investigate. Preposing — of a complement.
Ex My neighbours, I think their son has been arrested.
A My neighbours, I think their son has been arrested. Left dislocation.


This page last updated Sun Jul 23 17:53:13 PDT 2006 by GKP. 1