Their argument was a tough stain on their relationship.

okay

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).

obama was told in early july 2004 that he was chosen to deliver the address, and he largely wrote the speech himself, with later edits from the kerry presidential campaign.