Syntax: Constituents 1.2

This exercise will help you better understand the concept of constituents. These are words, or groups of words that constitute a syntactic unit. This tutorial looks at three tests by which you can know whether or not a group of words forms a constituent. 1. Replace: Can I replace a group of words with a type of pronominal? ex: Martha and Karine made dinner for all the students on their floor. The NP 'all the students on their floor' can be replaced with 'them' thus it forms a constituent. Martha and Karine made dinner for them. 2. Move: Can I move the group of words as a unit? ex. Francine found the clean towels in the bathroom. The PP 'in the bathroom' can move as a unit to the front of the sentence. In the bathroom, Francine found the clean towels. 3. Stand-alone: Can the group of words stand-alone and maintain meaning? ex. Too many students do not understand the importance of studying on a regular basis. The NP 'too many students' constitute a well-formed noun phrase that cannot be further divided into meaningful parts. For each question, decide whether the underlined word(s) are a constituent.