Descriptive Grammar of English part 2: Syntax
Topic 5: Basic Clauses – subcategorization of verbs
Reading: Wardhaugh, Ronald. 2003. Understanding English Grammar. Blackwell . Chapter 4.
Tutor: mgr Jadwiga Bogucka
1.
Clauses – smallest syntactic units which can be used independently
Contain predicates (narrowly understood as verbs) and their arguments (subject and objects)
John put the book on the table
put – predicate
John, the book, on the table – arguments
John – subject
2.
Subject – the element which occupies the specifier of the clause (spec, TP)
 Subjects don’t have to be nouns:
[PP Over the fence] is out
[CP That she liked him] was obvious
 Subjects agree with verbs:
Mary likes/*like John
That you know him is/*are amazing
To be is/*are to do
Sometimes subject-verb agreement is not perfect (especially in spoken language)
John and Mary are going, but: Either John or Mary is going
If the subject is distant, verb agrees with the closest element, not the subject (with some
speakers):
The purpose of these sessions are to introduce staff to the new manual
Descriptive rather than prescriptive approach
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Subjects have Nominative case:
He loves Mary/*Him loves Mary
3. Tests for subjecthood:
 It agrees with the verb
It is/*are amazing that you know John
There is/*are a book on the table
BUT: There is/*are two men in the room (seems that the verbs agrees not with the subject,
but with the object – other tests, however, indicate that there indeed is a subjects)
 Cannot be omitted
*is amazing that you know John
*is a book on the table
 It inverts with the first verb of the verb phrase in yes/no questions:
Is it amazing?
Are there books on the table?
 Tag questions:
There’s a book missing, isn’t there?
It is amazing, isn’t it?
4. Types of argument structure of verbs
a. Intransitive verbs - verbs which take only one argument
 Unaccusatives – verbs taking only the object argument
e.g. arrive, die, fall, emerge
She died
The subject is the underlying object – Patient or Experiencer (not the Agent)
Some unaccusatives have a transitive alternative (they are called ergatives):
The door opened - They opened the door
The glass broke – He broke the glass
The ice melted – She melted the ice
 Unergatives – verbs taking only subject argument
e.g. dance, jump, swim, rest, run
The argument of the verb is the active Agent
 Middles
e.g. This pen writes well
Assign only one theta role, but the adverb seems to be obligatory
Some intransitive verbs can be followed by particles => phrasal verbs:
The plane took off, I got up
b. Monotransitive verbs – verbs taking two arguments (subject and object)
- John read [the book]
- Mary caught [the ball]
Can be passivized:
- The book was read( by John)
- The ball was caught (by Mary)
some verbs can have the subject unexpressed, but understood
- Susan was drinking (too much alcohol)
- John was studying (maths)
 Taking sentential objects
With finite clauses:
- I said that he should go
With non-finite clauses:
- He finished [eating his breakfast]
- He wants [to go to the movies]
In these types of clauses, the subject of the embedded clause is understood to be the
subject of the main clause.
- He wanted Susan to go to the cinema
- I expect John to do it
In these types, on the other hand, what appears to be the indirect object of the main
verb (Susan, John) is actually in a subject-verb relationship with the embedded predicate
(Susan goes to the cinema, John does it)
 Pseudo –transitive verbs:
Cannot be passivized:
He has two good friends
It costs five dollars
She grew six inches
Monotransitive verbs can also be followed by particles, prepositions or both:
Phrasal verbs (with particles):
- He blew up [IFA]
Prepositional verbs (with prepositions):
- They commented [on the paper]
Phrasal-prepositional (with both particles and prepositions):
- You cannot go away [with this]!
c. Ditransitive verbs – taking three arguments (subject , indirect object and direct object)
Indirect object - Goal, Benefactive
Direct object - the object that undergoes the action -> Theme
He gave [Mary]Indirect Object [flowers]Direct Object
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d.
Taking two phrasal objects (DP, DP)
He gave [DP Mary][DP flowers]
Taking one phrasal object and one prepositional (DP, PP)
He put [DP the book][PP on the table]
Taking one phrasal and one sentential object (DP, CP/TP)
He persuaded [DP him][TP to go]
Linking verbs:
 subject complement (be, seem, appear)
when the complement is a noun phrase or adjective phrase, prepositional phrase, adverb
phrase => additional information about the subject,
She is a teacher
He seems a good sort
Bill appears uncertain
It’s actually the adjective which is the predicate => adjectival predicates
 object complement
We elected him president
They considered the job a success
The news made me angry
It is sometimes possible to insert the verb to be in these clauses:
They considered the job to be a success
5. Phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs
Phrasal verbs:
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Corresponding information-seeking questions include the particle:
Which candle did you blew out? When did the plane take off?
If the verb is transitive, the particle can follow the object:
They turned the light out, He blew the candle out
This is obligatory if the object is a pronoun:
He blew it out/*He blew out it
It’s not possible to introduce an adverb phrase between the verb and the particle:
*The plane took slowly off/ *He blew slowly out the candle
Passivization is possible:
The candle was blown out by him
Particles are stressed in speaking, especially when they occur finally
Prepositional phrases:
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You can introduce an adverb between the preposition and the verb:
He commented loudly on her shoes
The preposition cannot follow the object in prepositional phrases:
*He commented her shoes on
If the object is a pronoun, it can follow the preposition:
He commented on it/*He commented it on
In questions, there is option of either putting the preposition at the end, or at the beginning
Whom were you talking to? vs To whom were you talking?
Phrasal-prepositional verbs:
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Contain both a particle and a preposition:
He got away [with it], She walked out [on him]
(a phrasal verb, taking a Prepositional Phrase as its complement)
It’s possible to strand the preposition, but not the particle:
What did he get away with? /With what did he get away? /*Away with what did he get?
Whom did she walk out on?/On whom did she walk out?/*Out on whom did she walk?
References:
Wardhaugh, Ronald. 2003. Understanding English Grammar. Malden, MA: Blackwell.