ACE Editor Grammar

- Tobias Kuhn, 26 November 2010 -

Below, the grammar rules of the ACE Editor grammar are shown:

Texts and Sentences

'text' stands for a complete text consisting of an arbitrary number of complete sentences (including zero):

A complete sentence is represented by the category 'complete_sentence' and is either a declarative sentence that ends with a full stop or a question ending with a question mark:

General sentences are represented by 'sentence':

Sentences can be coordinated using "or" ('sentence_coord_1') and "and" ('sentence_coord_2'):

Uncoordinated sentences are represented in two levels by 'simple_sentence_1' and 'simple_sentence_2':

Verb Phrases

Like sentences, verb phrases can be coordinated using "or" ('vp_coord_1') and "and" ('vp_coord_2'):

Uncoordinated verb phrases represented by 'vp' can use an auxiliary verb and can have verb phrase modifiers:

The category 'v' represents the main verb or - if "be" is used as a copula verb - the complementing noun phrase or adjective complement:

Noun Phrases

Noun phrases are represented by 'np' and can consist of proper names, variables, pronouns, and different noun constructs:

The category 'nc' represents nouns optionally followed by variables, relative clauses, and prepositional phrases using "of":

The category 'n' stands for nouns that are preceded by an optional adjective coordination:

New variables, optional and mandatory, are represented by 'opt_newvar' and 'newvar', respectively:

Proper names can either require the definite article "the" or not, and are represented by the category 'prop':

Adjectives

Adjectives can be only coordinated by "and", and are represented by 'opt_adj_coord' for the optional case and by 'adj_coord' if mandatory:

Uncoordinated adjectives are represented by 'adj' and can be used in positive, comparative and superlative forms:

The category 'adjc' stands for more complicated adjective constructions including nested noun phrases that represent a comparison object:

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are represented by 'relcl'. They start with a relative pronoun and are always optional:

Like sentences and verb phrases, relative clauses can be coordinated by "or" ('relcl1') and "and" ('relcl2'):

Relative pronouns are represented by 'relpron' and can be either "that", "who" or "which":

The categories 'or_relpron' and 'and_relpron' define shortcuts - like "or that" as one token - for better usability inside of the predictive editor:

Verb Phrase Modifiers

Verb phrase modifiers are represented by 'vmod' and the auxiliary category 'vmod_x', and are always optional:

The category 'pp' represents prepositional phrases:

Adverbs can be coordinated by "and", which is represented by 'adv_coord':

Adverbial phrases are represented by 'adv_phrase', and can be in positive, comparative or superlative form:

Verbs

The category 'verb' represents main verbs that can be intransitive or transitive:

Auxiliary verbs are represented by 'aux', which includes negation markers:

Quantifiers

Existential and universal quantifiers are represented by 'quant':

The category 'num_quant' stands for numerical quantifiers:

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are represented by 'ipron':

Anaphoric Pronouns

The category 'pron' represents reflexive and irreflexive anaphoric pronouns: