Modifier Relations

An adverb that modifies another word. The label is the same whether the adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb, so the label alone does not tell you which. Sometimes the head is even a noun: in Only Priya answered, only attaches to Priya.

How the parser decides: the dependent is an adverb, and its head is the word it modifies. To read one, follow the arc up to its head.

A negative word: not, n’t, never, or the no of no longer. It has its own label, not advmod, because it does not add detail: it reverses the meaning.

How the parser decides: the word is one of these negators. It attaches to the word it negates, normally the main verb.

A noun phrase doing an adverb’s job, with no preposition in front of it. It says how long, how far or when: ran three hours. Add a preposition and the labels change: in ran for three hours, for is prep and hours is pobj.

How the parser decides: a noun phrase that modifies a verb or an adjective and answers an adverb’s question. It is the label for adverbial objectives. A one-word time noun such as tomorrow gets it too, although the Reed-Kellogg diagram draws that word as a plain adverb on a slant.

A preposition that modifies another word. The label sits on the preposition itself. Its object attaches to the preposition with a second arc, pobj, so a prepositional phrase is normally two arcs.

How the parser decides: the word is a preposition, and its head is the word the phrase modifies: a verb, a noun or an adjective. As with advmod, the label stays the same while the head changes, and the head is what changes the meaning.

Two exceptions. When the object is an -ing verb, the second arc is pcomp, not pobj: She left after finishing lunch. And a preposition at the end of a clause gets no pobj arc, because its object comes earlier in the sentence: This is the pen I write with.

An adverb clause: a whole clause that modifies a verb and says when, why, or under what condition. The label goes on the verb of the adverb clause, and its head is the word it modifies, usually a verb.

How the parser decides: a clause attached to a verb, not to a noun. It normally starts with a subordinating conjunction such as until, because or if, which takes the label mark.

Comparisons are the exception: a clause after than attaches to the adjective or adverb that it compares. In The lake was colder than it looked, looked is the advcl of colder, not of was (see what an adverb clause modifies).

A relative clause that modifies a noun. It starts with a relative pronoun (who, which, that) or with nothing at all. The parser uses the same label for a clause that starts with a relative adverb: the year when the bridge closed. Traditional grammar calls that an adjective clause, not a relative clause.

How the parser decides: a clause attached to a noun, where the noun also has a job inside the clause. The label sits on the clause’s verb, and its head is the noun: the arc runs from the noun down to the verb. An infinitive can be a relcl too: in We need something to eat, something is the object of eat. See Infinitives.

A clause that modifies a noun but is not a relative clause. Most are participial phrases or infinitive phrases: the man wearing a hat, her decision to resign. A that-clause after a noun such as fact or news takes acl too: They accepted the fact that prices rose.

How the parser decides: a participle after a noun normally takes acl. Any other clause takes acl when the noun has no job inside it. In the fact that prices rose, fact has no job inside the clause, so that is only a mark there, not a relative pronoun. The parser is not fully consistent: in Diego wrote a song to sing, sing gets acl, although song is its object.