How would you analyze this:  Once upon a time, there was a prince named
Joe.

 

Do you analyze a prince named Joe as a noun phrase with a participle
phrase modifying the noun head, or as a participle clause?  I've always
called these non-finite constructions reduced clauses or participle
clauses, but I have run into a problem.  In my grammar class for
pre-service teachers, I start with noun phrases.  When I teach noun
modification, I want to teach students about post-modification, but they
really don't know anything about finite and non-finite verbs yet, nor do
they know much about clauses.  So this semester, I decided I would just
call them participle phrases which modify nouns.  But then I was in
trouble when we got to clauses because I wanted to call then reduced or
non-finite clauses.  By that time, the students knew enough to say "Hey
wait a minute!  Didn't you just tell us those were phrases?"  At least I
know they were listening in October.

 

Also, do you call 'Joe' a retained object complement, or is there a
better way to label this?

 

How about this:  Joe baked a cake for me.  Can I just go ahead and call
'Joe' an indirect object? It means exactly the same this as Joe baked me
a cake.

 

This is an on-going problem for me, because, even though I try to teach
them a pretty straight forward descriptive-structural-functional view of
syntax (Quirk et al is my bible), with a little discussion of
prescriptivism thrown in so they'll know what to expect when they get
into the schools, I find that frequently there is more than one way to
analyze a given structure.  This disturbs my students.  They want to
know the 'right' way, and it better be the way that it is gong to show
up on the subject area test they have to take.  Do you think there is
any consensus on the 'best' grammar approach to teach pre-service
teachers?  This is not a trivial issue, since they have high-stakes
tests (for themselves and their students) principals and parents in
their futures.

 

Comments?

 

Janet Castilleja


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