Download Type V – the Transitive Type

Lecture 15
English 3318: Studies in English Grammar
Five Basic Sentence Types
Type V
Dr. Svetlana Nuernberg
Objectives
●
●
●
●
Distinguish among be, intransitive, linking and
transitive verbs
Recognize the five basic sentence types on the
basis of the verb and its complements
Distinguish among direct object, indirect object
and object complements
Draw phrase structure trees for each of the five
sentence types
Type V – the Transitive Type
●
Verbs in Type V sentences require a noun phrase
complement that refers to something or someone
other than that to which the subject noun phrase
refers
–
●
●
none of the other sentence types have this characteristic
The second noun phrase (NP2) functions as a direct
object
Verbs are followed by noun phrases functioning as
direct objects are called – transitive verbs
Type V
●
●
SV = NP1 + MVtr +NP2
Cherry pie + enlivens + any meal
SV
NP1
VP
MVP
NP2
MVtr
Three minnows
nibbled
her toes
Test for Type V Sentences
●
Transitive Verbs
1. Are the subject NP the actor, the verb an action,
and the object NP the “receiver” of the action? If
yes, (as John hits Bill, where hitting is an action,
John perform the action, and Bill receives the
action) then the sentence is probably Type V
2. To find the direct object, ask who? or what? after
the subject noun phrase and verb: John saw
who/what? If the answer does not rename the
subject, it should be the direct object
Transitive Verbs with Reflexive and
Reciprocal Direct Objects
●
The reflexive pronoun (himself) signals that this is
an exceptional instance of a direct object that
refers back to the subject
–
–
●
Elmer cut himself with a Swiss Army knife
other reflexive pronouns that can function as direct
objects: myself, yourself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves
The reciprocal pronouns (each other, one another)
function much like reflexive pronouns
–
–
to signal a direct object relationship to the verb,
reflecting back to plural subjects that have the same
reference
My friends and I phone one another regularly.
Transitive Verbs with Object
Compliments
●
A few transitive verbs allow their direct object to
be followed by an object compliment
–
The students elected Mary (direct object) president (object
compliment)
–
Wool socks will keep your feet (direct object) very warm
(object compliment)
–
●
When the object compliment occur the pattern of a
predicate is one of those: MVtr + NP2 + NP2
They left the house a complete mess
MVtr + NP2 + ADJP – They left the house messy
–
●
object compliments can be nominal (president) or
adjectival (very warm)
Distinguishing Between Transitive
and Linking Verb Sentence Types
1. Is the verb followed by a nominal subject
complement (that is, a noun phrase that refers to
the same person, place or thing as the subject noun
phrase)? If so, then the sentence is Type IV
–
That house looks a wreck
2. Is the verb followed by a direct object, a noun
phrase that has a referent different from that of the
subject noun phrase? If so, the sentence is type V
–
Sam prefers popcorn
Verbs That Function in More Than
One Sentence Type
●
Many English verbs can function in the predicate
of more than a single sentence type
–
–
–
Tomatoes grow well here (type I – intransitive)
Will grows restless during speeches (type III – linking)
Our neighbor grows tomatoes (transitive type V)
●
–
–
–
Josh goes to Paris in June (type I – intransitive)
Josh goes slightly crazy in July (type III – linking)
Then Lucy goes, “I don't think so” (type V - transitive)
●
–
–
transitive/intransitive draw the literal meaning of the verb, as
a linking verb, it is used figuratively
refers to an act of traveling, metaphorically means “to
become” and “say”
The ball rolled slowly away (type I intransitive)
The child rolled the ball away (type V - transitive)