英语语法简答题(50题)

英语语法简答题

英语语法简答题，共

50

题，由模拟考卷整理出来的。

1. What are the two major types of alternative questions?

They are the type of YES-NO questions, e.g.

A: Would you like tea or coffee?

B: Tea, please.

And the type of WH-questions, e.g.

A: What would you like, tea of coffee?

B: Tea, please.

2. Why do we need to go beyond the sentence and study the text?

Because

to

express

a

clear

and

complete

idea

or

thought,

we

need

more

than

one

sentence. It is quite rare that we only use one sentence to express our ideas. When an idea

or

thought

is

expressed

in

more

than

one

sentence,

we

have

a

text,

which

relates

sentences together

. In other words, sentences in a text are coherent so that they help each

other in expressing a complete idea. The study of the text is to know how sentences can be

joined together coherently so that they can best express ideas.

3. Explain the syntactic distinction between the predictive and non- predictive use of modal

auxiliary with examples.

The syntactic distinction between the predictive and non- predictive use of modal auxiliary

is clear in the following two sentences:

1) He can’t have been there yesterday.

2) He couldn’t be there yesterday.

The two sentences reveal two quite different uses of the modal auxiliary. The first sentence,

where th

e predictive can’t relates to impossibility and the main verb is marked for past time

reference,

refers

to

the

speaker’s

present

denial

of

possibility

of

a

past

event.

In

the

second, the modal auxiliary itself, in non-predictive use, is marked for past tense, referring

to lack of ability in the past.

4. What’s the function of relative pronoun?

The relative pronoun serves as a “link” between the relative clause and its antecedent. It

performs two functions: showing concord with its antecedent and indicating its function

within the relative clause.

5. Provide example to illustrate nominal, verbal and causal ellipsis.

1) Nominal ellipsis: Why give me two cups of coffee? I only asked for one.

2) Verbal ellipsis: --Have you seen him before?

--Yes, I have (seen him before).

3) Causal ellipsis: --Are you OK?

--Yes (, I am OK).

6. If tense is related to time, what is aspect related to?

When tense points to the temporal location of an event or a state of affairs, aspect “reflects

the way in which the verb

action is regarded or experienced with respect to time”.

7. Apart from querying the truth of a statement, what other potential functions can a No

question perform?

They may be regarded as the speaker’s invitations or suggestions, made in a tentative wa

y

as they often are, rather than his negative assumptions. They are like imperatives. For

example:

Won’t you come in?

Won’t you sit down?

They can also be like exclamations:

Isn’t it lovely?

Aren’t you silly?

8. List the types of antecedents.

The antecedent is divided into nominal antecedent and non-nominal antecedent. Nominal

antecedents fall into different subclasses: they may be common nouns or proper nouns,

personal pronouns or demonstrative pronouns. Non-nominal antecedent can be subdivided

into three types: clause, verb phrase, predicative adjective.

9. Provide examples to illustrate result-adjuncts and purpose-adjuncts that are introduced

by so that.

He worked harder

, so that he managed to pass the examinations. (result)

He worked harder so that he could pass the examinations. (purpose)

10. Provide examples to illustrate the three degrees of comparison.

My brother is as tall as me. (positive degree)

My brother is taller than my father

. (comparative degree)

My brother is the tallest in the family. (superlative degree)

11. When the simple present refers to the present time, what are its characteristic uses?

When the simple present refers to the present time, it is suitable for the general timeless

statements or the expression of so- call

ed “eternal truths”. At the same time, it also

denotes the present existence or state of affairs. Besides, it can express regular recurrence

such as a habit, and it is also found in the presentation of an event that happens

simultaneously with speech.

12. Under what general circumstances do we prefer genitive to of-phrase and vice versa.

When nouns refer to people, and the relation between the nouns is one of definition,

classification, etc. genitives are preferred. When nouns refer to inanimate, lifeless objects,

and the head words of noun phrases are classifying adjectives, of-phrases are classifying

adjectives, of-phrases are preferred.

13. What is the primary of a WH-question?

The primary function of a WH-question is to ask for information concerning what,

when ,why, whose, which and how.

14. What are contingency adjuncts? How many types of contingency adjuncts have we

recognized?

Contingency adjuncts are an adverbial category that includes adjuncts denoting some kind

of cause-effect relation. They can be divided into subclasses: reason-adjuncts,

result-adjuncts, purpose-adjuncts, concession-adjuncts and condition-adjuncts.

15. Explain the differences between a double relative clause and an embedded relative

clause.

In double relative clauses, there are two relative clauses, one enclosing the other, whereas

in embedded relative clause there is only one relative clause which itself is embedded in a

clause.

16. Provide examples to illustrate some different types of time adjuncts.

1) When- adjuncts: soon, on Friday morning, now, etc.

2) Duration-adjuncts: for ten years, very long, since we met, etc.

3) Frequency-adjuncts: daily, weekly, often, etc.

17. What kind of relative clause do we normally use to modify a non-nominal antecedent?

We normally use non- restrictive-relative clause to modify a non- nominal antecedent. e.g.

1) Her husband is my brother and my wife is her sister, which makes us double in-laws.

2) She dance well, which I don’t.

3) Nick is tall, which I will never be.

18. Where are given information and the new information located in the sentence.

Generally speaking, the given information is offered at the beginning in each sentence

while the new information is consistently found in the predicate which normally constitutes

the latter half of sentence.

19. Explain the relationship between tense and time.

Time and tense are not the same thing: time is concept and tense is a grammatical device.

Different tenses can express the same period of time, such as the present.

20. What are two major types of exclamations?

The two major types of exclamations are WHAT-exclamations and HOW- exclamations. The

former is followed by a noun phrase, the latter is followed by an adjective or adverb.

21. What is the pseudo-passive?

A pseudo- passive sentence is passive in form but active in meaning. Its ed-participle is

adjectivalzed so that it becomes a subject complement in the SVC structure. As an

adjective, therefore, it can occur in a comparative construction, with a variety of

prepositional phrases other than by- phrase, and with other link verbs besides be and get.