MIDTERM FEEDBACK 1.

People who were ABSENT / FAILED

EVERYONE 2. TASK 1

NO RESIT (you have deprived yourself of additional 0 2! 0 2 points ) 0 3 BUT you HAVE TO CORRECT / WRITE the test AT HOME 3+ 0.5 1 4 and hand it in next time 1.5 4+ (otherwise you get MINUS POINTS) 2 5 2 5! I lend you the tests for ONE WEEK (read the comments, learn from mistakes) by comparison: all HW GIVE IT BACK next week (or I WILL fail you!!!)

points towards the final exam

Remember, in this task you ASSESS grammaticality. This is your task. You should explain WHY the sentence is ungrammatical and not apply a test to check if a given phrase is a phrasal constituent (what you have done above). The most obvious way to do so is to write: (iii) The sentence is ungrammatical BECAUSE xxx in not a phrasal constituent. Many of you had problems with explaining why the sentence *It was the suitcase with a paperclip that the man opened (or a related one) is not grammatical. Here is the answer: i. ii. iii. Process: Clefting Rule: Only phrasal constituents can undergo clefting with the sentence remaining grammatical the sentence is ungrammatical because the sequence which underwent clefting: the suitcase with a paperclip is NOT a phrasal constituent (as it is NOT EXHAUSTIVELY EXHAUSTIV dominated by the VP which has one more daughter the V)

in front of incorrect sentences (for the Sentence-Fragment Fragments test it is

3 THE ANSWER which is ungrammatical, NOT the question!) 3+ Some of you STILL produce very chaotic, messy conclusions. Please, follow the (i) (ii) 4 4+ (iii) steps, and label them accordingly. Some of you confuse Prepositional Verbs with 5 Phrasal Constituents (?!?) or, in the conclusions write that the sentence is grammatical and 5! therefore look out is a phrasal constituent (?! Which it is NOT), therefore look is a prepositional verb well, it makes NO SENSE (the correct version the sentence is grammatical and therefore out the window is a phrasal constituent, which is why look is a prepositional verb) verb When explaining how the test works do not explain how to produce a test sentence (e.g. Join two phrases with a coordinating conjunction), instead, give the essentials of its workings: workings e.g. only phrasal constituents can be coordinated with the sentence remaining grammatical.

points 16-18.5 19-21.5 22-24.5 25-27.5 28-29.5 30

mark

If you are not sure how to sketch a tree in task 3 do not sketch it at all (sometimes I had to take away points when your explanation was correct (and sufficient!) ant the tree was not ) do not confuse Strict Adjacency Principle P with Adverb Insertion rules (a lot of you have done so study the correct answers: )

GAPPING

e a new subject always introduce

John blew up the stairs and Jane up the house.

compl so 3. TASK 2 remember, an AP will never have an N for its head (or an NP for its complement), NEVER sketch it like that:

coordination ALWAYS follows the pattern:

1. * The girl ran accidentally down the cat. i. VP-Adverb Insertion Adverbs must be attached to the VP-node VP without crossing branches in front of or after phrasal ii. VP-Adverbs constituents (not in front of prepositions no such rule!). iii. the sentence is ungrammatical because the VP-adverb VP adverb attaches under the V-complex V node (branchcrossing is involved as run down is a phrasal verb). 2. * John ran up swiftly the stairs. stairs i. VP-Adverb Insertion Adverbs must be attached to the VP-node VP without crossing branches in front of or after phrasal ii. VP-Adverbs constituents. iii. the sentence is ungrammatical because the VP adverb attaches under the PP node (branch-crossing (branch is involved as up the stairs is a PP) 3. * He gave up reluctantly the search. i. Strict Adjacency Principle (+ VP-Adverb VP Insertion) ii. An NP complement of a V (not a VP!) must be strictly adjacent to the verb ( and NOT ANY OTHER RULE!!!!!!!!!, there is nothing about branch crossing here! here ) iii. A VP-adverb reluctantly separates the verb from its NP complement (NEVER a PP complement!!!) the search (give up is a phrasal verb with a complex head).

4. TASK 3 do NOT INVENT your own rules true, the course is mainly about understanding, but you also need to LEARN certain principles (you do not need to use the same wording but but you cannot change the meaning, eg. confuse NPs with Ns, VPs with Vs, Ps with Phrasal Constituents etc. ) The course is about precision and logic! Remember that GRAMMATICALITY JUDGEMENT is NOT a CONSTITUENCY TEST (here your task is to access if a given phrase is grammatical or not and explain why). The phrases you assess ARE NOT results of any tests, they are examples of possible mistakes) so DO NOT call it a TEST or mention constituency tuency tests in the definition: (i) Preposing test (?!) (ii) in this test (?!) only phrasal constituents can be preposed sed with the sentence remaining grammatical
(iii) the test shows that (?!)

Observe that example 2 and 3 seem very similar, yet the answer is completely different as run is a prepositional and give up a phrasal verb. So, apart from learning the rules, you need to be able to distinguish between the two before you start writing anything. Other problematic examples (and CORRECT answers)
* We ordered pizza and late.

i. ii. iii. i. ii. iii.

Ordinary Coordination Only related phrasal constituents can be coordinated with the sentence remaining grammatical. A nominal phrase (pizza) has been coordinated with and adverbial phrase (late).
* John left out important information and out important data.

Ordinary Coordination (NOT gapping

for gapping we INTRODUCE a NEW subject

John left out

important information and Jane out important data.)

Only phrasal constituents can be coordinated with the sentence sentence remaining grammatical. out important information and out important data are NOT phrasal constituents ( ( leave out is a phrasal verb)