CONSTITUENCY TESTS

That is my brother.
Q: Who’s that?
A: My brother.

Is "my brother" a constituent?

• YES

• NO

Answer explanation

"My brother" successfully answers the question "Who’s that?" without altering the meaning of the original sentence. Therefore, it is a constituent. Other tests like pro-form substitution ("He is my brother") and coordination ("My brother and my sister are here") also indicate that "my brother" is a constituent.

Which of the following is NOT a constituency test?

• A) WH Questions

• B) Coordination

• C) Pro-Form Substitution

• D) Synonym Replacement

Sentence: I want two of those apples.
Q: How many apples do you want?
A: Two of.

Is "two of" a constituent?

• YES

• NO

Answer explanation

"Two of" does not successfully answer the question "How many apples do you want?" because it is incomplete and alters the meaning. However, "two of those apples" answers the question correctly, showing that "two of those apples" is a constituent, but "two of" is not.

The doughnuts were full of jelly.
Q: The doughnuts were full of jelly but slightly disappointing.

Is "full of jelly but slightly disappointing" a constituent?

• YES

• NO

Answer explanation

"Full of jelly but slightly disappointing" does not form a single constituent as it combines an adjective phrase and an independent clause, which are not of the same type. Therefore, it is not a constituent.

Sentence: She bought three new books.
Q: How many books did she buy?
A: Three new.

Is "three new" a constituent?

• YES

• NO

Answer explanation

"Three new" does not provide a complete and meaningful answer to the question "How many books did she buy?" The correct answer should be "three new books." This indicates that "three new books" is a constituent, but "three new" alone is not. Other tests, such as pro-form substitution ("She bought them") and topicalization ("Three new books, she bought"), also support this conclusion.

In the coordination test, what must the coordinated parts have in common?

• A) They must be of the same syntactic type.

• B) They must be different syntactic types.

• C) They must always be nouns.

• D) They must rhyme.

Answer explanation

Coordination test requires that the parts being coordinated are of the same syntactic type.
For example:
Her friends from Peru and from Brazil went to the show.
"From Peru and from Brazil" is a valid coordination because both parts are prepositional phrases (PPs).

He is my best friend.
Q: Who is he?
A: My best friend.

Is "my best friend" a constituent?

• YES

• NO

Answer explanation

"My best friend" successfully answers the question "Who is he?" without changing the meaning of the original sentence. Therefore, it is a constituent. Other tests, such as pro-form substitution ("He is him") and coordination ("He is my best friend and my mentor"), also indicate that "my best friend" is a constituent.