Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:Noun phrases' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'Noun phrases'

review

somer — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:49:02 GMT

3a) A cat ate the small animal.

3b) A cat is a small animal.

The syntactic analyses of the two sentences are differents. In the sentence 3a) we have (s, v, do) while, in the second sentence 3b) we have (s, v (copular), sP).

In 3a) âa cat âis noun phrase (a is determiner indefinite article, cat is head noun of noun phrase âa catâ), âateâ is verb in past simple tense,â the small animal â is noun phrase consist of determiner âtheâ, âsmallâ is adjective , âanimalâ is the head noun of the noun phrase, all the noun phrase functions as direct object.

In 3b) âa catâ is noun phrase (a is determiner indefinite article, cat is head noun of noun phrase âa catâ) function as subject, âisâ copular verb in simple present tense,â a small animalâ noun phrase consist of the indefinite determiner âaâ , the adjective small , and the head noun of the noun phrase âanimalâ, the noun phrase function as subject predicative.

Differences in the meaning: the first sentence means that there was a cat and it ate the small animal "the small animal" should be mentioned before, or known to the reader, while the second sentence means that a cat is a kind of animal and it is small. We are talking generally here.

Re: "and" and comma

Lovek323 — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:06:34 GMT

Question 1
Although the question has already been answered, I should like to comment on why arise is the correct choice. The subject of the clause should any difference arise is difference, which is singular and third person. One of the fundamental principles of English grammar is that the subject and verb must agree in number and person. Thus, as the subject is third person singular, the verb must also be third person singular. (A more thorough explanation would discuss number and person.)

For all verbs except to be, number and person only affect the present tense. The -s ending is used for the third person singular and the uninflected (unchanged) form is used for the rest:

My neighbours annoy me.
My dog annoys me.

The uninflected form annoy is used when the subject is a plural noun phrase ("my neighbours" above) or one of the pronouns I, we, you (sg. or pl.), or they. The -s ending is appended when the subject is a singular noun phrase or one of the third person singular personal pronouns (he, she, or it).

Question 2
As has already been pointed out, neither of the proposed sentences was correct. A sufficient response has been given as to the reason behind the choice of a semi colon, even if it was unnecessarily cerebral (just kidding).

Re: Grammar -I

Seloc@n — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 23:13:55 GMT

Turkgokhan40 wrote:

............... many countries start paying more attention to the role of sports in life,many generations of youth will have grown up unaware of the uses of working up their bodies.

A) While

B) Before

C) By the time

D) During

E) After

I don't find an exact answer.Could you help me?

............... many countries start paying more attention to the role of sports in life,many generations of youth will have grown up unaware of the uses of working up their bodies.

A) While ( it is of continuous event ) in that sense while present simple , future perfect . that choice doesn't sound to me fine.

B) Before ( before present simple , future perfect . that choice doesn't sound to me fine. )

C) By the time by the time present simple , future perfect tense that choice sounds to me fine. in this subordinate clause simple present tense means an action in future .

D) During noun or noun phrase : as seen in example there is no need to use during here.

E) After ( before present simple , future perfect . that choice doesn't sound to me fine. ) it is wrong

Re: 2 verbs

miriam — Wed, 07 Jul 2004 09:58:45 GMT

Hello again, kynguyen

You said:
"In fact I think most of the verbs can be used with or without "to", right?
For ex: I need to have a vacation. Or I need a vacation."

You used the verb "need" as an exampe of the verbs that can be used with or without the particle "to".
But the particle "to", when it is part of an infinitive, will precede the verb, not follow it.

In "I need to take a vacation" the infinitive is "to take", whereas "need" is a conjugated verb in the simple present tense.

In your second and third examples, "I need a vacation" and "I need the money for my vacation", there is no infinitive at all. The verb "need" is again in the simple present, and the constructions that follow the verb, in both sentences, are noun phrases (the main word in those constructions is a noun). That is why no "to" is needed. Actually, the use of "to" either before or after "need" in those two sentences would be incorrect.

Your fourth example, "I need to taking a vacation" is also incorrect, as was pointed out in the previous post. The reason, again, is that "to" has to appear before the verb when it is part of an infinitive. That is the reason why this type of infinitive is called "to-infinitive": the name shows the order in which both the particle "to" and the verb must appear, and that order can't be altered.
In "I need to taking a vacation", "to" does not "belong" to "need". It is part of the following verb, "take", which should be a "to-infinitive" (not an -ing form); so "taking" is incorrect. The infinitives, in English, are the "base" form of the verb, the verb as you would find it in a dictionary entry. The ending "-ing" is added to a verb after the particle "to" only when "to" is a preposition.

Have a look at these sentences, in which "to" precedes "take" and, together with it, forms a "to-infinitive":
"I have to take a vacation."
"I need to take a vacation."
"I want to take a vacation."
"I would like to take a vacation."

In all the above examples, "to" does not have a meaning and is only use as part of an infinitive verb. It is different from the "to" used in "I'm looking forward to seeing you soon", where it is a preposition and has a meaning of its own.

Miriam