Practice with commas

1. in fact i don't know how anyone could like lima beans.

2. fighting against high waves the young swimmer wondered if he would reach the shore.

3. populating the lake at the art museum are swans ducks turtles and fish

4. after his family went to birmingham alabama for the summer they decided that the south wasn't where they wanted to live.

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).

- "the die is cast; i have consented to return if we are not destroyed. thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; i come back ignorant and disappointed. it requires more philosophy than i possess to bear this injustice with patience. i have lost my hopes of utility and glory; i have lost my friend."