Suggested answer for Exercise 8

a

John likes eating nice food.

John is a proper noun. Likes is a verb in 3^rd person singular simple present tense. Like is the verbal stem. ‘s’ is the 3^rd person singular present tense inflection. Eating is a verb in ‘ing’ form used as a noun also called the gerund, nice is an adjective. Food is a common noun.

b

The workers must have built the bridge near Boston.

The is the definite article. Workers is a common noun in plural. Must is a modal auxiliary verb. Have is an aspectual auxiliary. Built is a lexical verb in its -en form(3^rd form). Bridge is a common noun in singular. Near is a preposition. Boston is a proper noun.

c

A friend of mine gave a book to John’s brother.

A is an indefinite article. Friend is a common noun in singular. Of is a preposition. Mine is a possessive pronoun which is used predicatively or in the “of” possessive construction. Gave is a lexical verb in past tense. Book is a singular common noun. To is a preposition. John is a proper noun and 's is a determiner. Brother is a common noun in singular.