- •1.The sentence. The structural classification. The simple sentence.
- •2.Communicative types of sentences
- •4. Negation
- •3.Modality.Oblique moods in simple sentences.
- •6. Subjects “It” and “There”.
- •7.The noun. Semantic classification.
- •8. The category of number. Irregular plurals.
- •9. The category of number.Singular and plural invariable nouns.
- •10. Agreement of the predicate with the simple subject. Pronouns as subjects.
- •11. Agreement of the predicate with phrasal and homogeneous subjects.
- •12. The case of noun. The use of the genitive case.
- •13. The use of the indefinite and definite articles with countable nouns.
- •14. The use of articles with material nouns.
- •15. The use of articles with abstract nouns .
- •16. The use of articles with names of persons.
- •17. The use of articles with place names.
- •18. The use of articles with nouns in some syntactic function
- •19. Prepositive noun modifiers. Ways of expressing.
- •20. Postpositive noun modifiers. Ways of expression.
- •21. Verb complementation. Intransitive Verbs and Monotransitive
- •22. Verb Complementation. Complex-transitive and delexical
- •23. The predicate. Ditransitive and copular verbs.
- •24. The Object and Complement. Ways of expressing. Types of objects and complements.
- •25. Predicative complexes that function as objects only
- •26. Adverbials. Ways of expressing. Types and Semantic classes.
- •27. Adjective and adverb modifying
- •28. Predicative complexes that function as adverbials only
- •29. Predicative complexes which can be any part of the sentence
- •5) Adverbial modifier
- •30. The compound sentence. Semantic relations between coordinate clauses.
- •31. Complex sentences with nominal clauses.
- •32. Complex sentences with attributive clauses.
- •33.Oblique moods in nominal and appositive clauses.
- •34. Complex sentences with adverbial clauses
- •35. Oblique moods in adverbial clauses.
- •36. Subjunctive II
- •37. The conditional mood
- •38. The suppositional mood and subjunctive I
- •39. Word order. Emphasis. Inversion.
- •40. Making Texts. Cohesion. Discourse.
- •1. The sentence. The structural classification. The simple sentence.
21. Verb complementation. Intransitive Verbs and Monotransitive
The predicate is the verbal component of a sentence or clause which expresses a state, an action, or an event. The predicate may consist simply of a verb as in Tom disappeared or of a verb followed by one or more complements, that is words or phrases added to a verb to complete the predicate, without which sentences would be incomplete as in All the men wore* [dark suits], or have a different meaning as in They found the test [difficult].
Every verb or class of verbs can be followed by the particular number and type of objects and complements.
INTRANSITIVE VERBS (pure intransitive, ergative)
Intransitive verbs denote actions and events which involve only one person or thing, the performer of the action. Intransitive verbs can be divided into two main classes:
1) Pure intransitives, which are almost exclusively intransitive, such as appear, fade, rise, rain.
It is raining. The sun rose.
Many pure intransitives express behavior which is typically involuntary, as blush, cough, faint, smile, scream.
Verbs of position such as be, belong, hang, lie, live, remain, sit, stand, stay and verbs of movement such as come, crawl, creep, drift, flow, gallop, glide, go, plunge, run, soar, spring, stroll, travel, walk require a complement (an obligatory adverbial) denoting place, direction or time.
2) Verbs used both transitively and intransitively (ergative)
a) Some transitive verbs in very restricted contexts can be used intransitively. For example, when you are contrasting two actions: We gave, he took.
b) Some verbs can be used transitively, followed by the object, or intransitively, without the original performer being mentioned. These verbs are called ergative verbs. Many ergative verbs relate specifically to certain areas of meaning.
MONOTRANSITIVE VERBS Monotransitive verbs describe events which in addition to the subject involve someone or something else. These verbs take one object (a direct object or a prepositional object).
Here is a list of some verbs which are monotransitive: achieve, create, favour, maintain, rent, address, damage, get.
There are a small number of verbs which are usually intransitive, but which can be transitive when used with one particular object, a cognate object. The object is usually directly related to the verb. dance (a,dance), laugh (a laugh), die (a death), live (a life)
The complement following a transitive verb is not necessarily a noun group representing a person or thing, but it can also be an infinitive or gerundial phrase, an infinitive, gerundial or participial complex, or a clause, which represents a fact, a report, or a situation, makes a proposal or expresses an indirect question. He doesn't enjoy dancing. He wants to stay.
• Some verbs are always followed by a gerund, gerundial phrase or gerundial predicative complex: delay, deny, detest, dislike, dread, enjoy, fancy, finish, imagine.
• Other verbs are used with an infinitive, infinitive phrase or infinitive construction: afford, claim, hesitate, plan, agree, decide, intend, pretend, aim.
• A few verbs can be used with either a gerund or an infinitive without altering the meaning of the verb: attempt, cease, fear, love, begin, continue, hate, prefer, bother.
• With a few verbs the meaning is altered depending on whether you use a gerund or an infinitive: