Subject
As noted earlier, the subject of a
positive or negative statement is usually the first element of a
clause or sentence. The Subjects in the following sentences are in bold and
the type of Subject is given in brackets:
- The tall, dark stranger was singing. (noun phrase)
- She stood still.(pronoun)
- To err is human. (verb)
- What he told me turned out to be a lie. (subordinate clause)
By far the most commonly used
types of Subject are the noun phrase and the pronoun (I is the most
frequently occurring word in the spoken language), while the verb - more
correctly the verb infinitive with to - is seldom used in
modern English. A subordinate clause as Subject is quite common both in
speech and writing and usually begins with what(ever)..., the fact
that... or that...:
- The fact that he likes skiing doesn't interest me at all.
- That Jane failed her exam is a great disappointment.
- Whatever I hear about him surprises me.
The way to test whether a clause
is functioning as the Subject is to try replacing it with a simpler
grammatical element such as a pronoun or basic noun phrase and then checking
the grammaticality of the clause. Applying this test to the sentences above
would give:
- It doesn't interest me at all.
- It is a great disappointment.
- It surprises me.
... all of which are grammatically
acceptable. Notice that, although the Subject may consist of several words, a
long phrase or even a subordinate clause, there can only be one grammatical
Subject per clause.
Up to this point we have been
discussing only positive and negative statements where the Subject is the
first element of the clause. However, there is one very common situation
where this word order is not used - namely, in questions. Here the Subject
and part of the verb phrase constituting the Verb element are inverted.
From some of the examples above we get:
- Was the tall, dark
stranger singing?
- Has the retail prices
index been rising?
- Doesn't shouting and
screaming in arguments help?
- Weren't the newly-arrived
refugees able to understand?
- Couldn't the poor
grasshopper sleep?
The Verb has a pivotal role in
sentence structure. As with the Subject, the Verb can, and often does,
consist of more than one word, but is treated as a single unit expressing not
only the basic meaning of the main word (run, decide, imitate
etc.), but also, among other things, the time that the action took place,
whether the action is finished or not and the certainty of the action. In the
examples below, the Verb is in bold:
- The cat sleeps all
day.
- He is talking rubbish.
- We will be seeing each
other next week.
- The wallet might have been
lost at the party.
So, although there may be up to
four, possibly even five words in the verb phrase of a clause, they are
usually analysed as one Verb as an element of the clause. To demonstrate the
importance of the Verb in a clause, try omitting the verb phrases from the
examples above. Having done that, now omit each of the other elements in turn
and see how the sense of the clause is affected.
The choice of the verb itself will
often largely dictate what other elements may or may not be used in the
clause. Verbs like yawn, sleep and scratch would seem to
require an animate Subject, while laugh, talk and read
usually need human Subjects (although the actions of animals are sometimes
described in the same terms). Some verbs need only a Subject to make a
complete clause (he yawned, the cat is sleeping, Barry
jumped), while others appear to need some more elements - *he hit...,
*they like..., *cars cost...; we will look at these other
elements in the next section.
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VERBS
Definition: Verbs are a class of words used to show the performance of an
action (do, throw, run), existence (be), possession (have), or state (know,
love) of a subject. To put it simply a verb shows what something or someone
does.
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One common classification of the main types of verb is
given below with examples:
- Activity: play,
speak, run, telephone, bathe, organise, read, raise, look at, listen to,
refuse, scratch. The vast majority of verbs are included in this
class and are what we normally understand an 'action' word to be.
- Process: ripen,
change, strengthen, grow, deteriorate, become, die, go, come, fall.
This class of verbs is used to indicate a change from one state to
another.
- Sensation: hurt,
ache, sting, smart, itch. This is a small class of verbs that are
used to refer to bodily sensations.
- Momentary: knock,
beat, tap, nod, hop, jump. These verbs, although closely related to
the first category, have a shorter duration of action.
- Cognition: know,
remember, perceive, prefer, want, forget, understand. These verbs
have less to do with an overt action since they involve mental or
cognitive processes.
- Perception: see,
smell, feel, taste, hear. This small class of verbs is closely
linked with verbs of cognition, but centre on the senses rather than
cerebral activity.
- Relational: be,
consist of, own, have, seem, resemble, appear, sound, look (good),
belong to. This category of verbs is used to connect two closely
related concepts, usually either through equivalence or possession.
These seven categories cover, by
and large, the main verb types in English and also constitute the sub-classes
of a broader grammatical division of verbs into dynamic verbs and stative
verbs. In the list above, categories 1 to 4 consist of dynamic verbs, while 5
to 7 contain stative verbs. Let's look at a few examples to illustrate what
is meant by the dynamic/stative contrast. Study the following pairs of
sentences:
- 1. I stay with friends every year.
- 2. I am staying with friends at the moment.
- 3. He eats sandwiches for lunch.
- 4. He is eating a sandwich.
- 5. We listen to Radio 1 in the morning.
- 6. We are listening to Radio 1.
All of the sentences contain dynamic
verbs taken from category 1 in the list above. The odd numbered
sentences are all examples of the Present Simple tense which, in these cases,
indicates an activity that occurs with regular frequency, namely every
year, every lunchtime, and every morning. The even
numbered sentences, however, limit the time of the activity to the moment of
speaking and are therefore temporary in nature. The verbs are, therefore in
the Present Continuous tense. Dynamic verbs, then, can be found in both
simple and continuous tenses.
Now look at the following pairs of
sentences which contain stative verbs taken from categories 5 to 7:
- I want to go home.
- *I am wanting to go home.
- We all love chocolate.
- *We are all loving chocolate.
- This bag belongs to me.
- *This bag is belonging to me.
The first sentence of each pair,
with the Present Simple tense is grammatically acceptable, but the second
sentence of each pair is not. As a general rule, then, stative verbs are not
found with the continuous tenses, but there are specific times when most of
the stative verbs can be used with a continuous tense. However, these
situations are limited to specific uses or entail a change in the basic
meaning of the verb, for example: I think you're right and I'm
thinking of you. In the first example I am giving you my opinion and so
the verb refers to cognition, whereas in the second, the thinking is much
more akin to an activity. You will probably find that this kind of
distinction can be made for most of those stative verbs that can be used with
both simple and continuous tenses.
How is the verb incorporated into
larger grammatical structures, and how is its meaning and function extended?
The Verb Phrase
The following sentences help to
illustrate the possible range of structures in the English verb phrase (in
bold).
- I play the piano.
- The family left early.
- He is talking rubbish.
- Sarah can sing opera.
- We used to have kippers for breakfast.
- I have been painting the lounge.
- We might be seeing each other next week.
- You should have been watching the baby.
- The wallet might have been lost at the party.
- The report must have been being prepared by
the boss.
From these examples we can see
that there may be up to four, possibly even five, separate words in the verb
phrase of a clause and they all have a particular part to play in the overall
meaning.
So, what are the individual elements of the verb phrase
and how does each of them contribute to the meaning? Let's first analyse some
of the sentences above as an illustration:
You will notice that the various
parts of the verb phrase have been divided into two main categories: auxiliary
verbs and main verb. The former has been further sub-divided into modal
auxiliary and primary auxiliary.
You may also have noticed that
there are a number of different possible configurations of these elements;
e.g. main verb only, modal auxiliary plus main verb, one primary auxiliary
plus main verb, two primary auxiliaries plus main verb and so on. However,
the only indispensable element of the verb phrase is the main verb, because
it is here that the basic, unchanging meaning of the verb phrase lies.
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Complement
Complement can often be confused
with the Object. While the Subject and Object of a clause, in the vast
majority of cases, refer to different entities, the Complement gives more
information about either the Subject or the Object. As with the Subject and
Object elements, there is only one grouping or phrase which is considered to
be the Complement of a clause.
The
Subject Complement
Let's begin by looking at some
pairs of sentences where this information centres on the Subject.
- Bill hit Harry.
- Bill is a policeman.
- The camel carried the load.
- The camel smells awful.
- A car hit the lamp post.
- A car was what she wanted for her birthday.
So, in the preceding examples the
first sentence of each pair contains an Object - Harry, the load, the lamp
post. These are clearly not the same entities as the Subjects of the
sentences. However, the same cannot be said for the second sentence of each
pair where there is a strong connection between the Subjects and the phrases
a policeman, awful and what she wanted for her birthday. These phrases act to
identify the Subject more precisely. These are known as Complements; more
specifically they are subject complements because they define the Subjects of
the clauses, in this case Bill, the camel and a car.
In most sentences where the
Complement defines the Subject, you will find a particular type of verb being
used. The most usual is the verb be and its forms (e.g. am, are, was, have
been) followed by a noun phrase or an adjective phrase, often as a single
word. In the instances above, a policeman is a noun phrase and awful is an
adjective phrase. Other examples are:
Noun
phrase as Subject Complement:
- Love is a drug.
- This is her pen.
- He is the father of three.
- Time is the great healer.
- Those animals were very rare Siberian tigers.
- The Earth is 150 million kilometres from the Sun.
Adjective
phrase as Subject Complement:
- The weather is hot.
- All the passengers were Russian.
- The little cottage was nice and cosy.
- Her teeth were pearly white.
- The argument became more heated.
- The weather gradually got hotter and hotter.
In all of these cases, the phrases
after is, was and were define the Subject. You should notice that, although
two of the Complements in the first set of examples contain adjectives
(great, very rare Siberian), these are still treated as noun phrases because
the main words in the groups are themselves nouns (healer, tigers).
Earlier I commented that a
particular type of verb is often used in clauses with a subject Complement
and that verb is usually be. However, there is a small number of other verbs
either closely connected with be or to do with sensing that frequently occur
in this type of clause. A short list with examples might include:
Be type: seem, appear, become,
turn out, grow, remain
- The sky seems clearer today.
- He turned out to be a bad influence.
- His client became more and more angry.
Sense type: look, sound, feel,
taste, smell (all followed by like with a noun)
- Her voice sounds lovely.
- That sounds like heaven.
- The tea tastes foul.
There is still one type of subject
Complement that we haven't looked at yet - this is the subordinate clause.
The example from the original sentences is:
- A car was what she wanted for her birthday.
Here a car is the Subject, the
Verb is was and the Complement defining the Subject is what she wanted for
her birthday, which is a clause since it has its own Subject (she) and Verb
(wanted). Other examples of clauses used as subject Complements are:
- Justice is what we're looking for.
- The first thing I did was open all the windows.
- The remaining problem is where to find the money.
- Our only option is to run away.
The
Object Complement
In all the instances in the
previous section the Complement gave additional information about the Subject
of the clause. Additional information can similarly be given about the
Object. Look at the examples below:
- Everyone thought him an idiot.
- The accusation made me livid.
- The whole town wanted the outlaw dead.
- The board has made him manager.
- I find it difficult to believe.
Here, the phrases in bold are
giving extra information about the Objects of the clauses which are him, me,
the outlaw, him, it. The object Complement usually follows the Object of the
clause as in all the examples above and the choice of verb is not so
restricted as it is with the subject Complement clauses.
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Modifier
Tells the time, place or manner of
the action. Very often it's a prepositional phrase. Prepotional phrase is a
group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun.
Note : A modifier of time usually comes last if more than one modifier is
present.
Example of prepositional phrases :
In the morning, at university, on the table
A modifier can also be an adverb or an adverbial phrase :
Last night, hurriedly, next year, outdoors, yesterday
Example : John bought a book at
the bookstore
(modifier place)
Jill was swimming in the pool yesterday
(modifier of place)(modifier of time)
Note :
The modifier normally follows the complement, but not always. However, the
modifier, especially when it's a prepositional phrase, usually can't separate
the verb and the complement.
Example : She drove the car on the
street
(verb) (complement)
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Exercise
Identify the subject, verb,
complement, and modifier in each of the following sentence.
1. Henry and Marcia have visited the president
2. We eat lunch in this restaurant today
3. Pat should have bought gasoline yesterday
4. Trees grows
5. It was raining at seven o'clock this morning
6. She buy pineaple in the market
7. They were watching tv a few minutes ago
*Answer*
1. Henry and Marcia/ have visited/
the president
(subject) (verb phrase) (complement)
2. We /eat/ lunch /in this restaurant /today
(subject) (verb phrase) (complement) (modifier of place)(modifier of time)
3. Pat /should have bought /gasoline /yesterday
(subject) (verb phrase) (complement) (modifier of time)
4. Trees /grows
(subject) (verb phrase)
5. It/ was raining /at seven o'clock this morning
(subject) (verb phrase) (modifier of time)
6. She /buy /pineaple /in the market
(subject) (verb phrase) (complement) (modifier of place)
7. They /were watching /tv /a few minutes ago
(subject) (verb phrase) (complement) (modifier of time)
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