In English, sentences are always made up of noun phrases (NP) and verb phrases (VP).
A noun phrase should always contain at least a noun. It can also contain a determiner (Det), an adjective, and a prepositional phrase (PP).
A prepositional phrase must always contain a preposition and may contain a noun phrase.
A verb phrase must always contain an Aux (which indicates tense) and the main verb (MV). It may also contain a noun phrase, an adverb and a prepositional phrase.
Let’s analyse some sentences using TG grammar:
- The teacher bought the books.
Deep Structure: The + teacher + past + buy + the + books
Affix Switch Transformation: The + teacher + buy + past + the books
Surface Structure: The teacher bought the books.
- A grey snake crawled into the house.
Deep Structure: A + grey + snake + past + crawl + into + the + house
Affix Switch Transformation: A + grey + snake + crawl + past + into + the house
Surface Structure: A grey snake crawled into the house.
- The small boy ate the cake.
Deep Structure: The + small + boy + past + eat + the + cake
Affix Switch Transformation: The + small + boy + eat + past + the cake
Surface Structure: The small boy ate the cake.