Questions tagged [adjuncts]

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Is "when" considered a preposition in this sentence with extraposition and is the chunk an adjunct?

I recently discovered that if is considered a preposition in contemporary grammar. Is "when" considered a preposition as well? And in the following sentence, is the chunk introduced by when ...
TimR's user avatar
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Do Temporal Adjuncts Function as External Adjuncts in a Noun Phrase, or Is This Another Grammatical Construct?

In certain pieces often written by journalists and others in the publishing profession, I have come across phrases like the one below (my own example): Tinker Hatfield, today a legend of the Nike ...
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What Is the Function of the Determinative in the Construction 'They were all visiting their families' according to CGEL?

In Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL), Huddleston and Pullum talk about 'universal determinatives' (pp.374–378), 'both' and 'all.' They also talk about the 'distributive determiner' '...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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Are "many times", "a few times", "most days", etc. frequency adjuncts/adverbials? If so, of what type?

Huddleston and Pullum (2002) divide frequency adjuncts/adverbials into bounding (how many times) and non-bounding (how often). This is similar to Quirk et al's "definite" and "...
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What exactly are "indicators" (in the context of supplements) according to CGEL?

In CGEL, in the section on "supplements", there is a short subsection on "indicators" (pages 1354 and 1355). These are defined as follows: "Supplements may contain ...
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How can I distinguish between supplements and modifiers as proposed in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL)?

In CGEL, the authors use the term 'adjunct' as an umbrella term to cover an element that is either modifier or supplement. On page 1350, the authors explain the properties of supplements to ...
SalmonallDay's user avatar
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Where is the 'mid-position' of a sentence?

This question may sound simple, but I have never actually seen anyone define it. Where is the mid-position in a sentence? Is it between the subject and the predicate (everything other than the subject,...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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Is this prepositional phrase a 'predicative adjunct'?

The class was composed of thirty students, including Jonathan and Kelly. In this sentence, the prepositional phrase 'including Jonathan and Kelly' is a non-restrictive element in the clause structure ...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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Are subjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts types of adjunct?

In many examples of modern grammar, the five key components of clause structure are defined as subjects, objects, verbs, complements, and adjuncts. My question is simple: do subjuncts, disjuncts (...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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Is 'so much as' an adverbial modifier in this example?

He took my money without so much as a thank you. In this sentence, is 'so much as' an adverbial modifier (adjunct) of the indefinite article (determiner) 'a'? Or can we interpret it as a correlative ...
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Is this prepositional phrase a supplement or modifier? [duplicate]

In the morning, he drove to work. Now he knew what to do. Having read about supplements and modifiers (two types of adjunct), I have started to become confused. Supplements are considered to be non-...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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What are the key differences between a disjunct and a discourse marker?

English grammar often has overlaps, and terminology is difficult to keep track of. Recently, I've been reading about disjuncts and discourse markers, which has led me to think that this might be one ...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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Can prepositional phrases modify copular verbs?

Cassandra was a natural fit for the role because of her well-refined combat skills. In the above quote (from a piece I wrote for my job), I have used the prepositional phrase 'because of her well-...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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Type of adjunct

What type of adjunct is the prepositional phrase 'at all costs' (as in the below sentence)? Orders were given that the fugitive should at all costs be slain. I am inclined to regard this adjunct as ...
Eric's user avatar
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Are adjectives and adverbs just collapsed version of adjuncts?

Modifiers for verbs/ nouns can come in 3 main types: adjectives, adverbs & adjuncts. These all provide specific details about corresponding noun/ verbs e.g: Manner, means (instrumental) - with, ...
Ganon's user avatar
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predicative complement vs predicative adjunct

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 250) has this passage: Here, Od is Direct Object, and Oi is Indirect Object. It seems that CGEL is saying that almost raw in [i-ii] and fiendishly ...
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The non use of the proposition “by”

Please consider the following question below: “Did you ever stop to consider all the germs you pick up dragging a stupid blanket around?” Is this sentence correct? Shouldn’t the sentence go like this: ...
Zen Mournster's user avatar
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2 answers
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Omitting "by" preposition and the resulted phrase

Consider the following examples: I paid for it by using my credit card. I was in contact with my friends by sending letters. I learned how to dance by watching online videos if I remove the ...
Ramin's user avatar
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Is 'the course' a complement or an adjunct in 'Stay the course'?

Stay the course is a fixed expression, but I'd like to know how to analyze the course. At first blush, it seems to be complement of the verb stay. But then, you have a similar-looking example stay ...
listeneva's user avatar
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Is the relative clause always an adjunct/modifier of the antecedent?

The first two sentences mean the same thing, and so do the last two. (1) She's obviously the person to finish the job. (1') She's obviously the person who should finish the job. (2) She was the first ...
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complement vs adjunct/modifier

In the following noun phrase, is the prepositional phrase from Lloyds complement or adjunct/modifier? even all the preposterous salary from Lloyds that Bill gets The Cambridge Grammar of The ...
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What's the difference between adjuncts and modifiers?

All types of adjuncts (my conclusion from wikipedia.org): An adnominal adjunct is an adjunct modifying noun, i.e. it's dependent words in noun phrases (a good boy, the discussion before the game). ...
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Adjunct or Argument: "The bird flew over the lake"

In the title sentence, does "over the lake" serve as an adjunct or an optional argument? Here are the tests I tried using, though they weren't very enlightening beyond giving what kind of argument it ...
Kyle O'Brien's user avatar
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3 answers
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Is 'to smoke' a complement or adjunct in this sentence?

I hope you are all well. He stopped to smoke. Is to smoke a complement of stop or is it an infinitive-of-purpose adjunct?
Tom Addy's user avatar
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1 answer
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Since and for, where can they be omitted?

I’m well aware of the difference between ‘since’ and ‘for’. However I have a question. Imagine I say ‘I’ve been working on the essay since Saturday’ or ‘I’ve been working on the essay for two days’. ...
Camilla Stefanini's user avatar
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appositive relative clause or adjunct of reason/cause?

In the syntactic analysis of the following sentence I doubt: "They then took the matter to a three-person jury of appeal, specially convened to hear the protest" The last part in bold (speacially ...
BeaLO's user avatar
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Difference between adverb and adverbial adjunct

He arrived today. He arrived. Could we call adverb today as an adverbial adjunct because it still complete the meaning of sentence without it?
ughi tudhi's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
866 views

What's the FUNCTIONAL difference between a supplement and an adjunct/modifier?

I'm trying to understand the difference between supplements and adjuncts/modifiers. In my search for enlightenment, I've come across a number of entries and posts, of which I think this one summarises ...
Hannah's user avatar
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Are these 'that'-clauses complements or adjuncts?

(1) It's a plan [that is being touted as the most modest proposal considered yet in Congress]. Here, the that-clause is a relative clause that modifies the antecedent 'plan', so I believe it's not a ...
JK2's user avatar
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Grammatical name and function of "the end of the day" [closed]

What's the grammatical name of the end of the day here, and what is its grammatical function? The sentence is this: There was always a huge quantity of food left over at the end of the day.
Ibikunle Blessing's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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NPs - pre-/postmodifiers

Would you consider "both" in the following NPs rather as a predeterminer or a conjunction? If it's a predeterminer, it would determine both NPs, right? The swimming pool is both a great place to ...
JAck's user avatar
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Can I use a noun with a posessive determiner as adjunct?

For example: "Your level English" (Your level = adjunct)? Does it have the same meaning as "English of your level"?
Vladimir Bogachev's user avatar
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1 answer
107 views

Disambiguating the noun phrase "a pretty egg box"

Does "a pretty egg box" always mean "a pretty box of eggs" rather than "a box of pretty eggs"? More precisely, is "adjective adjunct-noun head-noun" always interpreted as "adjective (adjunct-noun ...
fundagain's user avatar
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What type of phrase is "A few days ago, ..." or "Last Monday, ..."? [duplicate]

What do you call a phrase like "A few days ago, ..." or "Last Monday, ..."? For example, "A few days ago, I went shopping" or "Last Monday, I finished reading my book" I was thinking that it was an ...
LightningJimmy's user avatar
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0 answers
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Is "with Trevor" in "dined with Trevor" adjunct or complement?

We dined with Trevor the following Monday. I'm doing a test to figure out whether the constituent "with Trevor" is an adjunct or complement to the verb "dine". It is called the "did so" test as some ...
Danguie Laurence Mosca's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
6k views

Argument vs. adjunct

I have a problem identifying certain structures of the sentence; sometimes it is hard to tell whether I'm dealing with an argument or adjunct. Adjunct is said to be optional;, that is, its omission ...
Vsevolod IV's user avatar
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0 answers
293 views

Are these two prepositional phrases disjuncts or something else?

Are these two prepositional phrases disjuncts or something else? I’ve looked through Biber and Huddleston, and the two examples don’t seem to fit into any of their categories of disjuncts. Thanks in ...
josh.r's user avatar
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That-clause (content clause) as an adjunct?

According to CGEL, that-clause can function as an adjunct. The following sentence is an example from page 952 of CGEL. He appealed to us to bring his case to the attention of the authorities that ...
firo's user avatar
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Under what kind of conditions is a past time adjunct allowed for in experiential perfects?

In CGEL p.144 the author says about experiential perfects This use of the present perfect allows for the inclusion, under restrictive conditions, of a past time adjunct: iia) We've already ...
Aki's user avatar
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Does a comma go there?

I'm having a hard time figuring out whether or not to use a comma in the type of situation shown in the examples below: Jane was concerned that running by herself she might get mugged. Jane ...
Benjamin Harman's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

Verb-Subject Order

Is it optional to front the verb in sentences like the one below when an adverbial precedes? In the film, appear two more girls who think that Dallas is quite rude. I have already checked the ...
M-b's user avatar
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Why can an adjective be placed after "eat" as in "garlic can be eaten raw"?

Edit note: This question with some good answers does not explain (or ask) why it is an adjective that's used as opposed to an adverb in this type of construction: Is this an objective complement or ...
Tom's user avatar
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Ending a sentence in the past tense with 'soon'

I was marking some exams for my Japanese high school students, and one of the test problems is: Arrange the following words into a sentence: walk / started / they / soon / to Without fail, all ~300 ...
Thomas Threlfo's user avatar
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2 answers
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What does an adjunct modify?

Does an adjunct always modify the noun or can it modify the verb, too? For example: He talked about me [in a hateful way]. I don't think that saying "in a hateful way" modifies him would be true. ...
isitright's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
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Why can I vary the position of the noun phrase only in certain sentences?

It is possible to say this: It formed inside him an ambition to teach his students all the more. I brought the "inside him" to the front of the noun phrase "an ambition to..." since the ...
sooeithdk's user avatar
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2 answers
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Could the "pseudo" adverbial phrases modify the real adverbial phrases?

1)A woman fell 50 feet down a cliff. 2)The project was finished 10 days ahead of the schedule. 3)Emma is 10 years older than Sophie. 4)I finished the project 10 days ago. 1)50 feet/10 days/10 ...
anotherworld's user avatar
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2 answers
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Commas with conjunctive adverbs [closed]

Which is correct? Certainly that was a good thing. or, Certainly, that was a good thing.
Ross's user avatar
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1 answer
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Fronted adjuncts

Is it correct to begin sentences with adjuncts? To which degree are the sentences below acceptable? Do you need a special context to license this word order, or can you start a text with these ...
Olga's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Is this Adverbial a complement or an adjunct?

According to Wiki, Adverbials are typically divided into four classes: adverbial complements (i.e. obligatory adverbial) are adverbials that render a sentence ungrammatical and meaningless if removed....
Louis Liu's user avatar
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1 answer
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Complements and adjuncts

Paul Austen’s novel sold immediately to the author’s eager readers. In the above sentence, which part is the complement and which is the adjunct? I am confused as to whether the adjunct should be ...
Shubham Ashok Gandhi's user avatar