Analysing Grammar structures

[paul@paulfernando.wanadoo]

Write the form, function and phonological aspects of these items

1.She used to have long hair
2.I was having a bath when the phone rang
3.I wish I had worked harder.

I am having slight difficulties understanding the structure/function
of these sentences

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Paul

[Casiopea]

Welcome, Paul.

I'll help you with the first one. Please note though, we do not do homework assignments, so you'll have to do the rest on your own.

1. She used to have long hair.

Form: used to (modal auxiliary verb) + have (verb)

How do you know which one is the main verb?
Test it: She had long hair.

Function: used to have (verb phrase; main verb 'have')

Phonological aspect: the word used is pronounced [ju:s] (<e> is silent and final <d> is not pronounced). The reason <d> isn't pronounced is this. Given the string usd to, /s/ is voiceless, /d/ is voiced, and /t/ is voiceless. It's easier to pronounce a string of sounds that are either all voiceless or all voiced.

All the best.