Questions tagged [syntactic-analysis]

Parsing or syntactic analysis is the process of analysing a string of symbols, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar.

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Why did Jimmy ask, 'Do you think people are more offended by swearing in the States?'? [closed]

— Have you really shagged Jack Nicholson? — Yes. — Well done. — What was he like? — The Joker was wild. — Nice. — The Joker was what? She's even got a line on it! ...Do you think people are more ...
Didyougo's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
300 views

Is "There danced a man in the hall" a grammatical alternative to "A man danced in the hall"? What verbs are possible here? [duplicate]

Does the following sentence sound grammatical to you? There danced a man in the hall With the meaning: A man danced in the hall. And compare it with There died a man in the hall Which one sounds ...
Koray Nedim Özdemir's user avatar
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0 answers
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why is it a noun phrase and not an adjective phrase? [closed]

In the sentence "The boy is ten years old". Why is 'ten years old' a noun phrase and not an adjective phrase. Doesn't "ten years old" give me more information about the boy. How do ...
Nikhilonly's user avatar
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0 answers
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Is the phrase "Those are all cars make Chevrolet." in the English language? [migrated]

How about these? Those are all make Chevrolet cars. and Those are all Chevrolet make cars. Are any of these syntactically correct English phrases?
cherry-noize's user avatar
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Square Feet versus Square Foot [duplicate]

The sentence is The project would construct a 2000 square (foot/feet) kitchen.' I put 'The project would construct a 2000 square feet kitchen.' My senior reviewer changed feet to foot. Why? If I ...
Barnaby Briggs's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
112 views

'as he had lived'

In the clause 'He died as he had lived', what is the grammatical function of 'as he had lived'? I know it modifies 'died', and I know 'as' can be used.
Evangelos Aktoudianakis's user avatar
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1 answer
60 views

What is the technical grammatical difference between these two sentences?

. . . and is one preferred over the other? I believe he sent these contacts an email earlier this week. I believe he sent an email to these contacts earlier this week. I feel the second is ...
John Chase's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
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Parsing "…including a problem…, in a characteristically diffident aside, he noted his own 'fleeting vain attempts' to resolve it"

Prologue to a book which I was reading ends with this verbatim copy-pasted text: A book should be dedicated to someone living, so that the dedication can give pleasure. I have dedicated this book to ...
Prem's user avatar
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The bicycle is a vehicle but the bicycle in this room is just a decoration

Can the definite article have two different meanings in front of identical words in one sentence? As in The bicycle is a vehicle but the bicycle in this room is just a decoration. Or perhaps this ...
Quirkier's user avatar
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1 answer
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John goes to the cinema with Kate and (with) Ann

What's the difference between general public's interpretations of these: John goes to the cinema with Kate and Ann. John goes to the cinema with Kate and with Ann.
Quirkier's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
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Is Wikipedia's example of parallelism incorrect?

As of this writing, Wikipedia's article about parallelism in grammar includes these examples: Lacking parallelism: The dog ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and sprinted away. Parallel: ...
MWB's user avatar
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At weekends they prefer to stay home and visit some friends [migrated]

I am wondering how this sentence is to be paraphrased: At weekends they prefer to stay home and visit some friends. I am not sure which ones are close to the original: They like to remain in their ...
Bartender's user avatar
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1 answer
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What is the term for this? [duplicate]

I keep coming across "quotes" on the internet that say things like "psychology says, if a person blah blah" I'm wondering what the term would be when someone 'mislabels' a field of ...
Aaron Ramsden's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
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What is the grammatical name for “the countless flashes of red from swords and spears”? [closed]

What is the grammatical name and function for this string? the countless flashes of red from swords and spears
Lil Boo's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
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What is the grammatical role of the last line of Gray's 'Elegy'?

The last line of Thomas Gray's poem 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' is 'The bosom of his Father and his God." Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth A youth to Fortune and to Fame ...
EulerSpoiler's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
107 views

Grammar of “In Meditations, Aurelius wrote about ways to live a Stoic life, asserting that humans should aim to live a virtuous life to be happy”

Below: a photo of a learner's textbook exercise page with a reading passage about a Stoic Roman emperor, with punctuation issues – and a question about punctuation, with rejoinders. "A" (the ...
Mr.Brian's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
186 views

"when would be..." autocorrection

I have just been autocorrected as follows: I wrote: "Please let me know when would be a good time to..." Correction: "Please let me know when a good time would be to..." I suppose ...
Karl's user avatar
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benefitting patients with X/ benefits patients with X [duplicate]

I am struggling with analysing the sentence 'Y happens, benefitting patients with X'. I can see that 'Y benefits patients with X' uses the present tense simple form of the verb. But in the first ...
Billy's user avatar
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8 votes
9 answers
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Not sure if "combined 90 men’s years experience" is right usage as opposed to "combined 90 man years worth of experience"

I received a copy from a client with the following phrase: "Our current team boasts of a combined 90 man years worth of experience in the field of XYZ". While on its own it sounds ...
Bhakti Birmole's user avatar
-2 votes
5 answers
162 views

Can you tell me the difference between the bare infinitive and the base form of a verb?

I heard my teacher stating that the base form of a verb is not an infinitive itself, but it is used to construct one of the two forms of infinitives. Edit note This question has been linked to a ...
Stim Roe's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
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Do I need to add "in" before "an English-speaking country" in this sentence?

1 All my life, I have dreamed of living somewhere overseas, potentially an English-speaking country. 2 All my life, I have dreamed of living somewhere overseas, potentially in an English-speaking ...
No name's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
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What is the grammatical structure of “making such an endeavour unjustified”? [duplicate]

The focus on the exterior of a building alone will lead to the increase in construction cost, making such an endeavour unjustified. I want to know about the grammatical structure of this part: making ...
Reza's user avatar
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1 answer
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"He fought in World War II as an infantryman" - does 'as' change 'fought' into a linking verb?

Can an as-headed prepositional phrase turn an action verb into a linking verb? Consider the following examples: With the fall of the Roman Empire, cities were abandoned as centers of administration. [...
Matthew Rips's user avatar
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2 answers
67 views

Can a single adjective be an appositive for the clause?

He made no comment and there was a long and unhappy pause during which the cab leapt forward a foot or so, only to pause and pant again, frustrated. I thought 'frustrated' explained the atmosphere of ...
Smartpig's user avatar
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4 answers
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How should this English sentence be parsed linguistically?

On p173 of Section "Subjective Truth and the Problem of Relativism" of The Big Questions by Solomon: Rationality is tying our knowledge and our lives together in the most coherent and ...
Tim's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Is "went off in search of her hedgehog" a VP, and can it be broken down further?

I am new to linguistics and am currently learning how to figure out phrase markers for sentences. I am unsure about this sentence: She went off in search for her hedgehog. I know that "she" ...
lingheng's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
80 views

Why is the infinitive marker banned in this active voice but required in its passive voice?

More precisely, "to" is banned in the active form: The headmaster makes us honor our teachers but required in the passive (with no agent stated): We are made to honor our teachers I can just ...
Puzzled's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
988 views

We know how expensive we are

We know how expensive we are. I cannot for the life of me decide if this is supposed to be interpreted as a complement clause or an embedded question or what. My thought process so far is that it ...
RM Translations's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
103 views

"Greenland may not be as "green" as the name suggests". Is the second "as" a comparative conjunction although there is no object after "suggest"?

In the sentence below, Greenland may not be as "green" as the name suggests. The verb "suggest" should preceed an object as it is a transitive verb, but in the sentence, there is ...
HanJe Bae's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
674 views

How did grammarians determine that the Present Continuous is an aspect?

The three variants of the present tense are: [X] sits (Simple) [X] does sit (Emphatic) [X] is sitting (Continuous [also called Progressive]) This is something that I was taught in school at such an ...
Quack E. Duck's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
38 views

lo + adjective/adverb + que + clause in Spanish VS the adjective (superlative) + (that) + clause in English

Recently I learned a Spanish grammar "lo+adjective/adverb+que+clause" to translate"how ..." (indicative) of English. But I found the structure unusual because "lo+adjective&...
Atle's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
670 views

Has the conception of prepositions broadened?

When I studied linguistics 40-some years ago, it was understood that PP → Prep NP But I’ve discovered sources that suggest that the class of prepositions is (now?) understood much more broadly. ...
PaulTanenbaum's user avatar
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1 answer
54 views

Meaning and structure of "The vision to do today what is needed for tomorrow." [closed]

I would like to know the structure of the sentence and also meaning. Is the vision subject? What in the sentence is what? The vision to do today what is needed for tomorrow. Can I understand.. like ...
Oskarin's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
98 views

I was trying to describe a recipe to my friend that I'd had a go of

Is this dialectal use: And I thought I've got a nice kitchen now maybe I should learn to cook. And I'm learning, it's going quite well. I don't always know the right words for things. I couldn't ...
tes389's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
20 views

Can I do these kind of questions? “Who is your brother and where is he?” [duplicate]

Can we join two questions in one using and? Or do we need to separate both questions ?
Jessica Hernandez Aquino's user avatar
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1 answer
59 views

Is referencing a real instance of a noun the primary function of determiners as a word class?

In almost every case where a determiner/article is used, the noun phrase references an instance of the noun, either imagined or existing. Generally, the opposite is true; noun phrases without ...
Ubu English's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
82 views

Does seating sit or stand?

A new Wikipedia page (Theatre of Nero, July 2023) includes The first structure . . can thus be identified with the cavea of the theatre, where the tiers of seats for the audience stood . . . ...
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0 votes
1 answer
51 views

How do you understand the sentence's structure?

Chinese athletes had a disappointing 2018-19 season, with the country's only gold medal coming courtesy Sui Wenjing and Han Cong in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships. ...
Thomas Peng's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
133 views

What is the real-time elimination of improbable meanings called in the linguistic literature?

He brought some food to eat on the road. He found some beer to drink in the fridge. Is it only reality and sanity that keep us from taking the beer example to mean he would be squashed in the fridge ...
TimR's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
120 views

"and has as one of its Healthy People 2020 goals to “create social and physical environments that promote good health for all.”"

I would like to ask you about the bold-faced part in the following sentence: (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines social determinants of health as “conditions in the places ...
yasukotta's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
65 views

What is the syntactic role of "to do something" in these sentences?

Take these sentences: I felt he was mean to do that. We'd be stupid to do something like that. I feel like the "to do that" part in them functions differently syntactically than in ...
desmo's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
190 views

What is the sentence structure for this verse in John Keats' "The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone!"?

He writes: When the dusk holiday—or holinight [—][some versions put another em dash here] Of fragrant-curtain’d love begins to weave The woof of darkness thick, for hid delight, Should I read a ...
InfiniteSnow's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
66 views

Correct Grammar in School Tagline [closed]

Which of the following school taglines is grammatically correct? Or, could both be correct? If both, which is clearer? Option 1: Enter to learn, empower to serve Option 2: Enter to learn, empowered to ...
Math777's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
63 views

Simple or compound sentences? [closed]

John ate and drank to his satisfaction. John ate the yam and drank the juice. My question: Are these sentences simple or compound sentences?
Ayoola Igwe's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
848 views

In 19th century, why was it grammatical to place "such" after its referent? But UNgrammatical in 2023, when "such" must antecede its referent?

Please analyze why these examples of "such as" were grammatical — using Syntactic Theory, but in layman's terms? But why are they UNgrammatical to the Anglophones I polled in 2023? I lighted ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
39 views

Controlling the quality "of x process" vs "of the x process"

I'm working on a project for which I originally put the title as: Methods for controlling the quality of PET bottle manufacturing process. However, now that I re-read it, I feel like its way more ...
Zacky's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
67 views

Who is being fed in "Did hourly feed him by" from Walden, or, Life in the Woods? [duplicate]

There was a shepherd that did live, ⁠And held his thoughts as high As were the mounts whereon his flocks ⁠Did hourly feed him by From Walden, or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau I'm confused ...
ronald christenkkson's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
144 views

What is the grammatical function of "to help you"? [duplicate]

I am going to help you. What is the grammatical function of to help you here? Reopen note Please note that I did not ask about going to (and that the to belongs with the following verb as shown ...
Ayoola Igwe's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
61 views

only pay for or pay for only [duplicate]

I’m puzzled by a couple of advertising jingles heard recently, by different companies. Is it me, or does: Only pay for what you need. mean something rather different than: Pay for only what you ...
Bruce Simonson's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
88 views

Is this clause a subjective complement or just a modifier?

When we win, libraries will belong to all. Through them, Baby V will grow up bound to a collective that thinks freely and makes empowered choices for themselves, their community and their country, ...
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