Syntax: Copula

The Copula Verb phrases (VPs) tend to follow the subject in English and may consist of verb or verb and its object(s). The structure of such phrases differs depending on the class of the verb. The copula, or stative verbs may have in object position an NP (Harriett is a doctor), an AdjP (Harriett is gorgeous), or a PP (Harriett is under the table). The most frequently used verb in this category is 'to be.' Others which have the same syntactic structure are, feel, seem, taste, appears, and become. VP --> V NP, VP --> V AdjP, VP --> V PP Draw tree diagrams for the following VPs and check your answers (given in both simple and X-bar form).