Phrase Structure

Question 1

Head of the phrase

Answer 1

• the phrase minimally consists of it
• only syntactic function fulfilled by one word
• category of it determines the category of the whole phrase
• can be identified by substitution test

Question 2

Modifier / Adjunct

Answer 2

• always optional
• adjunct called when head is a verb
• can occur in pre- or post-head position
• no (grammatical) limit

Question 3

Complement

Answer 3

• obligatory, otherwise ungrammatical
• licensed by head
• example: “doubts…” = … = “about” is the only possible answer = complement

Question 4

Category

Answer 4

What are you?

Question 5

Function

Answer 5

What are you doing here?