![[P2] The Clause](gif/bnf/bnf02.gif)
Composition of the predicate.The predicate in a sentence consists of the auxiliary, verb phrase, along with possible sentence modifications of place, time, manner, etc. — the adverbial adjunct. The adverbial adjunct to the clause in [P2] is meant to describe such phrases as “confidentially,” “by the way,” “I should say.” Most of these adverbial elements belong on the same level with the verb phrase, but the verb phrase may itself include its own expression of an adverbial adjunct. This internal adverbial phrase is syntactically an adjunct to the copula, i.e., on the same level adjoining the copula. |
![[P3] The Predicate Phrase](gif/bnf/bnf03.gif)
![[P6] The Verb Phrase](gif/bnf/bnf06.gif)
Overview of predicate structures.Some examples of the verb phrase will be given below in a subsequent paragraph. Here, however, there are some of the structural elements for the entire predicate as generated by [P6]. We discuss compounding/accumulating (cf.§10.3), the auxiliary (cf.§17.5), and the adverbial clause in later chapters (cf.19-22), and the adverb phrase in the subsequent section (cf.§8.5). The adverbial adjunct is described in [P9]: |
![[P9] The Adverbial Adjunct](gif/bnf/bnf09.gif)
| Sentence | Structural Elements | Structural Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | John has usually been a friend at his convenience. | “has -en”  “be a friend”  copula+predicate argument“usually”  adverbial phrase“at his convenience” prepositional phrase |  |
| (2) | John was of a certain kind in those days. |  | |
| (3) | Yesterday some students were ill. |  | |
| (4) | The janitor should have been there when they came. |  | |
| (5) | The gunman won't surrender unless forced. |  | |
| (6) | He will give up without a fight. | | |
| (7) | The prosecution must have referred to it in their opening arguments. | | |
| (8) | His wife didn't speak of it to him that night. | | |
| (9) | He had loved her because she was sympathetic. | | |
| (10) | They shouldn't have immediately found the gun there. | | |
| (11) | They will always just sit there motionless. | |
Composition of the verb phrase.The verb phrase may include a noun phrase or noun clause (as a predicate argument), an adjective phrase, a partitive phrase, or an adverbial adjunct to express the logical predicate. When one of these elements is a part of the verb phrase, the verb is a copula, which then has little more than grammatical significance marking what follows as a logical predicate. |
| Sentence | Proposition | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (2) | a. | John is my friend for life. | LIFELONG(FRIEND(a)) |
| b. | John is of an astute sort. | ASTUTE(a) | |
| c. | John is astute at school. | AT(ASTUTE(a),b) | |
| d. | John is already aboard. | ALREADY(ABOARD(a)) |
| The verb phrase may include an object argument (a noun phrase or clause, as with the structure of a subject) or an adverb phrase in the adjunct here as a complement. In (3) the adverb phrase (from the adjunct in [P3]) modifies (is predicative of) the rest of the sentence. In (4) one adverb phrase is a prepositional phrase in a complement which is within (is a logical argument of) the logical predicate; the second prepositional phrase is in an adjunct of [P3]. Objects and other complements are ways English has of modifying the verb’s meaning. |
| Sentence | Proposition | Argument=Time of Event | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (3) | a. | John built a house last year. | IN(BUILD(a,b),c) | c = "the year previous" |
| b. | John then thought he might not finish. | AT(THINK(a,b),c) | c = "that time" | |
| (4) | John stood on the platform during the performance. | IN(STAND(a,ON(a,b)),c) | c = "that time" |
| A verb which takes one argument as object is transitive and two objects ditransitive. Such a verb may also include an adverbial adjunct along with its object(s). An intransitive verb may have a preposition particle or adverb particle to make it transitive. |
| Sentence | Proposition | Argument=Place of Event | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (5) | John put the glass on the table. | PUT(a,ON(b,c)) | c = "the table" |
| Sentence | Proposition | Argument=Object (of verb) | |
| (6) | John looked at the glass. | LOOK-AT(a,b) | b = "the glass" |
Overview of verb phrase structures.Here are the examples promised for some of the structural elements generated by [P6]: |
| Sentence | Structural Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | John is a friend. | ||
| (2) | John is of a certain kind. | ||
| (3) | Some students were ill. | ||
| (4) | The janitor was there. | ||
| (5) | The janitor was where he usually was. | ||
| (6) | The gunman surrendered. | ||
| (7) | He gave up. | ||
| (8) | The prosecution referred to it. | ||
| (9) | His wife spoke of it to him. | ||
| (10) | He loved her. | ||
| (11) | They found the gun there. | ||
| (12) | They just sat in the corner. | ||
