Why You Can't Do So Into The Sink

Lakoff, Ross 1976

Lakoff and Ross propose a test for determining whether a phrase is VP-internal or not:

• The phrase "do so" must be subsituted for a complete (nonstative) verb phrase. Thus, elements that may occur after "do so" are outside the VP; and elements that cannot occur after "do so" are inside it.

For example, time adverbials are outside the VP:

1. John took a trip last Tuesday, and I'm going to do so tommorow.

But directional adverbs are inside the VP:

2. John loaded a sack onto the truck, and I did so, too.
3. * John loaded a sack onto the truck, and I did so onto the wagon.

Applying this test to a variety of cases, he makes the following conclusions:

• Inside the VP:

  Phrase	Example
  Direct Object	John took the exam.
  Indirect object	John gave a book to Pete.
  Directional adverb	John loaded a sack onto a truck.

• Outside the VP:

  Phrase	Example
  Time adverbial	John left yesterday.
  Because-clause	John ate because he was hungry.
  If-clause	He will leave if she comes.
  Manner adverbial	He flies carefully.
  Duration adverbial	He worked for an hour.
  Frequency adverbial	He worked once a year.
  Instrumental adverbial	It was destroyed with bombs.
  Means adverbial	It was destroyed by bombing.
  Purpose adverbial	He did it to impress you.
  For someone's sake	He did it for your sake.
  With-phrase	He arrived with Mary.
  Instead of	He ran instead of walking.
  Without-clause	He ran without tripping.

It is worth noting that all but the first 3 outside-the-vp elements had previously been thought by Chomsky and others to be inside the verb phrase.

@InCollection{lakoff1976,
  author =       {George Lakoff and John Robert Ross},
  title =        {Why You Can't Do So into the Sink},
  booktitle =    {Notes from the Linguistic Underground},
  pages =        {101-111},
  publisher =    {Academic Press},
  year =         1976,
  editor =       {James D. McCawley},
  volume =       7,
  series =       {Syntax and Semantics},
  address =      {New York}
}