Hello everyone!!
For these six sentences, I have to explain what determines whether the sentence is grammatical or not
1) Both the students were studying.
2) The students were both studying.
3) They were both studying.
4) *Both they were studying.
5) Both of you were studying.
6) *You were both of studying.
I know "both" is predeterminer when it comes before central determiner like sentence (1) and (5) but I have no idea about the rest of them....
Please help me....
The only incorrect ones, grammatically, is #4 because it has 2 subjects and #6.
#1 and #2 are clear but #3 and #5 do not specify that "students" were there.
Sra
What reasons can I provide to jusify if there are correct or wrong? Please help i am totally lost...
1) Both the students were studying.
--> ("Both" pre + "the"central )
2) The studnets were both studying.
--> ("The" central)......(for "both", is it post? )
3) They were both studying.
--> is this null DP ?,,, or "both" is still determiner ?
4) *Both they were studying.
--> Both is predeterminer but it is not grammatical..?
5) Both of you were studying.
--> (Both is pre... but i think "of" is not part of it ....
6) *You were both of studying.
--> have no idea...
Of course! I'd be happy to help you analyze these sentences to determine whether they are grammatically correct or not.
1) Both the students were studying.
This sentence is grammatical. In this sentence, "both" is functioning as a predeterminer, modifying "the students," which is the central determiner. The verb "were studying" agrees with the subjects "the students."
2) The students were both studying.
This sentence is also grammatical. Here, "both" is functioning as an adverb, modifying the verb "studying." It indicates that both students were engaged in studying.
3) They were both studying.
This sentence is grammatical as well. "Both" is again functioning as an adverb in this sentence, modifying the verb "studying." It indicates that both people referred to as "they" were involved in studying.
4) *Both they were studying.
This sentence is not grammatical. In English, it is common to place "both" before the subject pronoun (e.g., both of us, both of you, both of them), but not before the subject pronoun itself (e.g., both they). So, this sentence should be rephrased as "They were both studying."
5) Both of you were studying.
This sentence is grammatical. Here, "both" is functioning as a predeterminer, modifying "of you" (which is a prepositional phrase functioning as the object of "both"). The verb "were studying" agrees with the subject "you."
6) *You were both of studying.
This sentence is not grammatical. When using "both" with "of," it is typically used to modify a noun phrase (e.g., both of the students). Using "both of" before a verb form (e.g., "of studying") is not idiomatic in English. This sentence should be modified to "You were both studying."
In summary, sentences 1, 2, 3, and 5 are grammatically correct, while sentences 4 and 6 are not. The main difference lies in the placement and usage of "both" in relation to the other words in the sentence.