SIMPLE TRANSFORMATIONS (homework questions are indicated by boldface type)

 

I.  Yes-No Question Transformations:  WHAT IS THE RULE FOR YES/NO-QUESTION TRANSFORMATIONS (transforming a statement into a question that can be answered by yes or no)?  Here are some statements.  Transform them into yes/no questions and then use your data to infer a "rule."           1.  Pepe should eat papaya.        

2.  Pearl is tooting a horn madly.

3.  Gigi will go to the dance.

4.  Paul  likes papaya *

5. George goes crazy when he sees a pizza.*

(*Hint: In 4 and 5, go backwards from the question to a statement that has all the same words in it as the question and you will find there is an intermediate step between the original statement and the final question.)

 

II. Wh transformations (who, what, when, where, why, how).  (Explanation in text, p.144)

In making these questions, what we are doing is substituting a question word for a piece of information that is already in the sentence, then changing the order so that the question word begins the sentence.  The question word we choose depends on what grammatical slot the information is in (who or what in a nominal slot, when in an adverbial slot, etc.)  Making a wh- question is a 2-step process.  Here is an example:  The fat crocodile will eat anything!  º The fat crocodile will eat what? º What will the fat crocodile eat? Here are more examples:

 

A.  wh- in the subject slot:  Who will eat anything?  (Subjects are usually at the beginning already, so no movement is necessary.)

B. wh- for an adjectival phrase:  Which crocodile will eat anything?

C. "When will the fat crocodile eat anything?" is not a legimate transformation because that information was not in the original sentence.  The original sentence would have to have been  "The fat crocodile will eat anything on Tuesdays."  If the sentence had voraciously in it, I could say "eat how?"

MAKE UP A SENTENCE OF YOUR  OWN and  PERFORM 4  WH- TRANSFORMS ON IT.  Do them in two steps (as indicated in the crocodile sentence example).

     

III.  You will sentences may be transformed into condensed commands (imperatives) by deleting everything that precedes the main verb ( the subject & the auxiliary).  Ex: You will eat your tapioca. º Eat your tapioca.  TRANSFORM THE FOLLOWING INTO CONDENSED COMMANDS.

1.  You will separate the men from the boys.

2.  You will grind your teeth in unison.

Note: When you perform the imperitive transformation, all you are doing is condensing; the sentence is already a command.

 

IV.  The indirect object transformation puts information in a prepositional phrase after the direct object before the direct object (and deletes the preposition).  Example: The cat brought a mouse to me. º The cat brought me a mouse.  PERFORM THE INDIRECT OBJECT TRANSFORMATION ON THESE:                                   1. Scrooge brought a goose for the Cratchets at Christmas.

      2. Daddy handed a message to us.

 

V.  An adverbial transformation moves the adverb from its most common position after the verb to some other position in the sentence (adverbs can occupy many positions in English sentences).  (You're not adding an adverb that wasn't there; you're just moving one.)  Some examples follow:


1.  She skipped merrily along º She merrily skipped along.  Or Merrily, she skipped along.

2.  I went to the store today. º Today, I went to the store.

 

VI.  Passive transformations are explained on the next sheet.

 

VII.  Here is a list of simple transformations:

A. Negative

B. Yes/No question

C. Wh question

D. Imperative (condensed command)

E. Adverbial position transformation (move from after verb )

F. Indirect Object transformation

G. Passive transformation

 

In doing simple transformations, you are not creating content; you are working with the content already there implicitly.  In making wh- questions, for instance, you're imagining that the answer is the main content sentence and that you're using the wh- word to be a placeholder until you get it.

 

PERFORM ALL POSSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS ON THESE SENTENCES (there are 18 possible):

1.  Wind was whistling through the trees.

2.  You will give the bicycle to Paul immediately.

3.  The bread looks fresh today.

4.  Jumbo is an elephant.

 

VIII. DO THE FOLLOWING 2 EXERCISES

1. The following forms were produced by a native speaker of German acquiring English as a second language.    A. Can you go with me?

B. Has he drunk the beer?

C. Came you home early?

Based on this data, how does German appear to differ from English in terms of question formation?  How would you describe the German rule for forming a yes/no-question?  (Hint: the rule you formulated in Ex. I is similar to the rule in German, but the German rule is simpler!)

 

2. The following sentences illustrate the way that various yes/no-questions are formed in Standard (SAE) and Nonstandard (NSAE) varieties of American English.                                         

A. Do they need money? (SAE and NSAE)        D. Are they going (SAE)

B. Are they sick? (SAE)                                     E. Do they be going? (NSAE)

C. Do they be sick? (NSAE)                       

 

A) What is the rule for forming y/n questions in SAE when Abe@ is the main verb?

B) What is the rule for forming y/n questions in NSAE when Abe@ is the main verb? 

C) Which rule (the Abe@ rule in SAE or the Abe@ rule in NSAE) is closer to the rule you came up with in Part I (that rule being the rule for most main verbs in Standard American English)?

 

(Hint: Start out by writing down the probable assertion from which each of these yes/no questions is derived.  Then consider how what you have to do to transform each assertion into a question matches or does not match the rule formulated in Part I.)