Basic English Syntax with Exercises

Suggested Answers for Check Questions

It is proposed as a preliminary assumption that the Inflection head contains the bound morphemes 3sg ‑s, past tense ‑ed, modals and infinitival to. As a result, different clauses distribute differently depending on the inflectional element they contain. Secondly, it seems that the inflection behaves like a head in that it restricts its complement to vP or VP. Thirdly, it also behaves like a head in that it influences the Case form of its subject: nominative in finite and accusative in non-finite clauses. In addition, similarly to the other functional head D, the I head also displays agreement with its specifier, the subject.