can also be said to be a thing or person whom an action or state is directed as in the example the news on the Gulf War. On the Gulf War is the complement of the
Noun Phrase. A piece of news always tells about some things and in the Noun Phrase the news tells about the Gulf War.
The next elements are attribute and adjunct which show the characteristic of a head. The difference between the attribute and adjunct lies in their positions.
An attribute comes before the head and an adjunct comes after the head, like in the following examples very good at the beginning. The example is a kind of
Adjective Phrase AP, the head is good, the attribute which comes before the head is very, and the adjunct which comes after the head is at the beginning.
The following element in construction of a phrase is specifier. A specifier is the element which a head requires to appear in a larger construction
Dwijatmoko, 2002: 6. The specifier makes the phrase head more specific. For example in a noun phrase, the specifier can be an article or genitive pronoun, he
lost his dictionary, his is the specifier in Noun phrase his dictionary. As stated before, a phrase is a maximal projection of a category. It means
that a phrase with a category X or XP as the maximal projection of the category X. Based on Dwijatmoko 2002: 7, the letter X is used because the X-bar theory
is applicable to all phrase categories. It can stand for N noun, V verb, A adjective, P preposition, or any category.
Every elements of a phrase such as a complement, attribute, adjunct, and specifier have different relations with the head and show different functions, they
also form different levels of syntactic unit. A complement expands a head X into PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
an X’. An attribute and an adjunct expand an X’ into another X’, and specifier expands an X’ bar into an X” or a phrase XP. The relationships of the elements
in a phrase are often shown in the following diagram. XP X”
Specifier X’
X’ Adjunct
Attribute X’
X Complement
The relation between one element and another in a diagram can be called daughter or sister. An element is a daughter of another element if it is under the
node of the other element. An element is a sister of another element if the two elements are under the same node. With the terms daughter and sister the elements
which a head may have in a phrase in a diagram can be defined that a specifier is the daughter of XP and the sister of X’. An Attribute is the daughter of X’, the
sister of another X’, and comes before the head. An adjunct is the daughter of X’, the sister of another X’, and comes after the head. And the last, a complement is
the daughter of X’ and a sister of X. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Based on Dwijatmoko 2002: 68 in making s-structure, there are some features that will be used, such as Complementizer phrase CP, Tense phrase
TNSP, Verb phrase VP, Noun phrase NP, Adjective phrase AP, or Preposition Phrase PP. An English sentence S’ is equal to a CP. Then C takes
TNSP which is equal to a sentence in zero bar level S as its complement, and TNS takes VP as its complement. V may take another VP, NP, AP, or PP as its
complement. The NP, AP, PP may be fully developed with an NP as its specifier, and form what are usually called as small clause. The above description can be
represented as in the following example; 17
John reads novel. CP
-s [John read novel]. C’
C TNSP NP
TNS’ John TNS VP
-s V’ V NP
Read Novels
3. Theory on Tenses, Aspect and Mood
The most basic element in an English sentence is the verb Yule, 1998: 54. To describe the different forms of the verb, we need to talk about tense,
which often has to do with the location of a situation in time and aspect, which characterizes the way in which the situation is perceived or experienced.
Tense is a verb form that expresses actions which occur on certain time in the past, present, and future Murcia Freeman, 1983: 62. Basically there are
two main tenses in English: present and past. Each tense can have a simple form and each can be combined with either progressive aspect or with perfective aspect
or with both R.A. Close, 1977: 241. In most descriptions, the use of the modal verb will is included, typically as an indication of future reference Yule, 1998:
54. Quirk 1985: 40 explains that time is universal, non-linguistic concept
with three divisions: past, present, and future. By tense, we could understand the correspondence between the form of the verbs and our concept of time. The forms
of English tense are only present and past, but there are three divisions of time. In order to balancing the divisions of time, the forms of tenses can be combined with
the aspect and mood. The aspect concerns about the manner in which the verbal action experienced or regarded, while mood relates the verbal action to such
condition as certainty, obligation, necessity, possibility. Tenses, Aspect and Mood are related one to another. In particular the
expression of time present and past can’t be considered separately from aspects and the expression of future is closely bound up with moods. The forms of tense
which are combined with aspect and mood will be discussed later in the following paragraph. Based on Quirk 1985: 41 with this small set of technical terms, the
range of English verb forms can be divided into: PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
a. Present Tense
Based on Quirk 1985:41, there are three basic types of present in English:
i. Timeless The type of timeless is usually expressed with the simple present form and
used for; a.
Expressing habitual
action 18 I
always write with a special pen when I sign my name.
b. Expressing universal statements general timeless truth, e.g. physical laws or
customs. 19 The
sun sets in the west
ii. Limited The forms of the limited type are usually expressed by using the present
progressive. It is used for; a. Indicating that the action is in process
20 I am writing on this occasion with a special pen since I have
mislaid my
ordinary one.
b. Indicating that the action is in limited duration called as temporary activity action will end and therefore lacks of permanence of the simple
present tense
21 Normally he
lives in London, but at present he is living in Boston. c. Indicating incompleteness e.g. in a verb like stop whose action cannot in
reality have
duration PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
22 The bus
is stopping. d. Indicating a habitual action and conveying an emotional coloring such as
irritation usually
with an adverb of high frequency
23 He’s always writing with a special pen – just because he likes to
be different.
According to Quirk 1985:48 present progressive can also refer to a future happening which is anticipated in the present. The basic meaning of it is fixed
arrangement, plan, or program’. 24 He
is moving to London. iii. Instantaneous
The instantaneous type is usually expressed with either the simple or progressive forms.
25 Watch carefully now: first, I write with my ordinary pen; now, I
write with a special pen. 26
As you see, I am dropping the stone into the water. The using of simple present is regularly used in subordinate clauses that
are conditional introduced by if, unless, etc or temporal introduced by as soon as, before, when, etc. The used of simple present in main clause may be said to
represent a marked future aspect of unusual certainty. In the other words, the simple present tense can be used for;
a. Referring to a sequential habit in subordinate clause with the main verb is in future time.
27 The guest will be drunk before they leave.
