Ch. 9 | Exercise 5

Chapter 9
Finite and Nonfinite Clauses

Exercise 9.5
Wh-Clauses

1.

Bracket the wh-clause in each case, and identify the type and function of the clause.

Example: And girls have the additional pressure of their appearance, which boys suffer from less than girls. (COCA: SPOK)
Answer: which boys suffer from less than girls.
Type: nonrestrictive relative
Function: Mod of their appearance
a.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers questioned them about how well they’ve kept those promises (COCA: SPOK)

b.

There came a time when I stopped trying. (COCA: NEWS)

c.

A century ago a physicist named Enrico Fermi wondered why there were no obvious aliens around. (COCA: FIC)

d.

My question is why they didn’t shut down the campus. (COCA: SPOK)

e.

He was a person to whom other people gravitated (coca:spol)

f.

He works very hard at whatever he does (coca:news)

g.

My favorite is skiing to places where hardly anyone else goes. (coca:news)

h.

What you eat now will affect you as you head into your 40s and 50s. (COCA: MAG)

i.

Light aircraft carry us over Olduvai Gorge, where the archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey worked for decades. (coca:acad)

j.

I posted an ad on-line that I thought was quite creative. (coca:mag)

2.

Name the type of the underlined complementizer. If the complementizer is base-generated in Comp, call it a “pure complementizer”.

a.

I don’t know whose fault it is. (coca:spok)

b.

I came with a sushi-loving friend whose mother is Japanese. (coca:news)

c.

Sigmund Freud could have explained what he was doing. (coca:fic)

d.

I worry about whether we’ll fall out of love. (coca:fic)

e.

I don’t know how quickly we can change cooking habits here (coca:mag)

f.

A house where they could relax on weekends was their goal. (coca:mag)

g.

I’m sure they were glad when I left. (coca:news)

h.

Whenever I sense I’m in danger my ear throbs (coca:spok)

i.

Do you know which bus we take? (coca:spok)

j.

Ask your best friend on which day of the week she or he was born. (coca:acad)

k.

How do you spend your days off? (coca:news)

l.

Writers inevitably write what they know. (coca:acad)

3.

Give D structure trees for the following sentences.

a.

Why wasn’t Edward happy with his paycheck?

b.

What did you listen to on the weekend?

c.

Which government official was handed a note by the terrorists?

d.

How quickly could you type this letter for me?

e.

What did Norman say he would be putting in the mail today?

f.

You should consult a book which could give you the answers to those questions.

g.

I was amused by the stories that Alf told me last night.

h.

I must sell my car, which my parents gave me when I graduated.

i.

This is the time during term when students are most frantic.

j.

The man we have been waiting for has arrived.

k.

I met the woman whose house I am renting.

l.

I am sure that he will tell you what he knows.

m.

I asked whether the rumor that Elvis was alive was true.

n.

He answered my question about who was responsible.

o.

He doesn’t recall when Susan said she was leaving for Europe.

p.

Do you remember whether it is important that we know the material in the textbook?

1.
a. how well they’ve kept those promises
Type: indirect question Function: OP
b. when I stopped trying
Type: restrictive relative Function: Mod of time
c. why there were no obvious aliens around.
Type: indirect question Function: dO
d. why they didn’t shut down the campus.
Type: indirect question Function: sC
e. to whom other people gravitated.
Type: restrictive relative Function: Mod of person
f. whatever he does.
Type: indefinite relative Function: OP
g. where hardly anyone else goes
Type: restrictive relative Function: Mod of places
h. What you eat now will affect you as you head into your 40s and 50s.
Type: headless relative Function: Su
i. where the archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey worked for decades
Type: nonrestrictive relative Function: Mod of Olduvai Gorge
j. that I thought was quite creative
Type: restrictive relative restrictive relative
2.
a.

interrogative determiner

b.

relative determiner

c.

relative pronoun

d.

pure complementizer

e.

interrogative degree word

f.

relative adverb

g.

pure complementizer

h.

pure complementizer

i.

interrogative determiner

j.

relative determiner

k.

interrogative adverb

l.

relative adverb

3.
a.

f1.svg

b.

f2.svg

c.

f3.svg

d.

f4.svg

e.

f5.svg

f.

f6.svg

g.

f7.svg

h.

f8.svg

i.

f9.svg

j.

f10.svg

k.

f11.svg

l.

f12.svg

m.

f13.svg

n.

f14.svg

o.

f15.svg

The sentence has a second reading. Can you give the tree for it?

p.

f16.svg