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SPOCA Review- the grammar of simple sentences and clauses
Task B - Our answer
The sentence has the following structure:
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S
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P-
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A
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-P
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O
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A
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A
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A
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She
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has |
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really |
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pushed |
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the boat |
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out, |
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perhaps |
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a little too far.
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(Note the way in which the first adverb comes in the middle
of the Predicator VP.)
The wry humour is effected by the contrast between the first part of
the sentence (up to the comma) and the rest. The first part of the sentence
is grammatically complete, and the last two Adverbials are non-obligatory
add-ons which undermine the earlier material. [S, P and O are obligatory
in transitive structures and the clause up to the comma is also a clichéd,
idiomatic expression in English, but Adverbials are more optional.] The
earlier material in the sentence is quite forceful ('pushed'is a dynamic
transitive verb and the Adverbial 'really' intensifies the force of 'pushed').
Then the optional clause material, tagged on at the end, rather like an
afterthought, undermines the first part of the sentence, suggesting in
'a little too far' that the dynamic clothes-buying was ill-judged. And
if we compare the Adverbials 'really' and 'perhaps' we can see that an
intensifying adverb in the first part is replaced by a hedging, downtoning
adverb in the second, bringing out further the contrast between the two
parts of the sentence.
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