Before you read this anwer please try and work out the answer yourself. Take a pen and a paper and perhaps copy the trees that you have seen in this chapter.

TIP: You can build the main clause in three steps:

• Start with the underlying tree of all Dutch clauses
• Add an IP so the verb can get inflected
• Add the CP so you can move the verb to V2.

Build a main clause yourself from the following elements:

• subject: Els
• object: een kast
• verb: maken

Answer

Step 1:

Put the elements in the SOV structure, which is the underlying structure of all Dutch clauses (Diagram 1):

Step 2:

Move the Verb to I to get inflection. In this case we need inflection for the 3 rd person singular (stem of the verb = maak (maken –EN, add an ‘a’ because of the Dutch spelling rules) à 3 rd person = stem +t maakt) (Diagram 2)

Step 3:

Add the CP. The CP is present in all clauses. The CP is head-initial. (Diagram 3)

The verb has now moved from I to C, leaving another gap. The subject moved to CP because otherwise the word order would not be right (the subject comes before the verb in the Dutch main clause). Note that this last move is step 4 in the text.

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