Descriptive grammar
Lecture 7
dr Kinga Sądej
4 April 2009
Descriptive grammar
Lecture 7
dr Kinga Sądej
4 April 2009
Multi-word verbs
LEXICAL VERB + PARTICLE(S)
Lexical verb + adverb =
phrasal verbs,
e.g.
The plane has taken off
Lexical verb + preposition =
prepositional verb
, e.g.
The people looked at the picture.
Lexical verb + adverb + preposition =
phrasal-prepositional verb
,
e.g. I can’t put up with your rudness anymore.
Phrasal verbs
1. Intransitive
He’s
playing around
.
The plane has
taken off
.
When will they
give in
?
2. Transitive
We will
set up
a new company.
They
broke down
the door
.
He
rang up
all the friends he had made on the cruise the previous summer.
3. Transitive or intransitive
Terrorist have
blown up
the power station.
The power station has
blown up
.
They
broke down
the door to rescue the child.
Her health
broke down
under the strain.
Prepositional verbs
Type I (lexical verb + preposition)
The people
looked at
these pictures
[prepositional object]
These pictures were
looked at
by many people.
People
looked
disdainfully
at
these pictures. (unlike Od)
At
what did the people
look
?
At
these pictures.
People
looked at
these pictures
and
at
those sculptures.
People looked more carefully
at these
pictures
than
at
those sculptures.
We must
go into
the problem.
I
approve of
their action.
look into, call for, come by, touch on, deal with, see to, etc.
Prepositional verbs
Type II (lexical verb + object + prepositional object)
He
deprived
the peasants
of
their land.
>> The peasants were
deprived of
their land.
§
They
robbed
her
of
her necklace.
>> She was
robbed of
her necklace.
May I
remind
you
of
our agreement?
He
talked
me
into
accepting the job.
Someone may have
set fire to
the forest deliberately.
I have
lost touch with
most of my school friends.
Prepositional verbs vs. free combinations
1. The prepositional object can be made the subject of a
corresponding passive clause, e.g.
We
called on
the dean.
We
called after
lunch.
The dean was
called on
.
*Lunch was
called after
.
(the preposition is
stranded
)
2.
Wh
-questions eliciting the prepositional object are formed with the
pronouns
who(m)
and
what
rather than with adverbial questions, e.g.
Who(m) did we
call on
?
When did we
call
?
3. Prepositional objects can be conjoined, e.g.
We called
on the dean
and
on the vice-chancellor
.
Prepositional verbs vs. phrasal verbs
1. The particle of a prepositional verb must precede the prepositional object, but the
particle of a phrasal verb can generally precede or follow the Od, e.g.
She
called on
her friends.
She
called up
her friends
*She
called
her friends
on
.
She
called
her friends
up
.
2. When the object is a personal pronoun, the pronoun follows the particle of a
prepositional verb but precedes the particle of a phrasal verb, e.g.
She
called on
them.
She
called
them
up
.
*She
called
them
on
.
*She
called up
them.
3. An adverb can often/potentially be inserted between verb and particle in prepositional
verbs, but not in phrasal verbs, e.g.
She
called
angrily
on
her friends.
*She
called
angrily
up
her friends.
Prepositional verbs vs. phrasal verbs
4. The particle of a phrasal verb cannot precede a relative pronoun or
wh
-
interrogative, e.g.
The friends
on
whom she
called
.
*The friends
up
whom she
called
.
On
which friends did she
call
?
*
Up
which friends did she
call
?
5. The particle of a verb phrase is normally stressed, and in final position normally
bears the nuclear tone, whereas the particle of a prepositional verb is normally
unstressed and functions as the tail (nuclear tone falls on the lexical verb of the
prepositional verb), e.g.
Which friends did she CALL on?
Which friends did she call UP?
I wouldn’t dream of asking you to do it.
We never heard from them again.
The sun came out and I dozed off.
Please let me out.
Prepositional verbs vs. phrasal verbs
Some verb + particle combinations can function as both phrasal and
prepositional verbs, e.g. turn on, get over, come across, but the
meanings are different.
His former allies
turned on
him.
Let’s
turn on
the light.
[prepositional verb]
[phrasal verb]
She will never
get over
the shock. I want to
get
my operations
over
.
I
came across
some old letters.
Her voice
comes across
well.
Phrasal-prepositional verbs
1.
Their neighbours
look down on
them.
>> They’re
looked down on
by their neighbours.
>> Who do their neighbours
look down on
?
2. We can
put
our success
down to
hard work.
>> Our success can be
put down to
hard work.
>> What can they
put
their success
down to
?
Semantics of multi-word verbs
A. Non-idiomatic
Temperatures
went up
yesterday.
Put up
your umbrella; it’s starting to rain.
B. Semi-idiomatic
Don’t foget to
lock up
the house before going on holiday.
The sound of thunder
died away
.
C. Fully idiomatic
That child
catches on
quickly.
She can
run up
a dress in an hour on that machine.
Exercise
Verb complementation
ø, subject complement, adverbial :
intransitive
one object:
monotransitive
two objects:
ditransitive
object + object complement:
complex-transitive
Intransitive verbs
John has
arrived
.
It’s
snowing
.
She
blushed
.
The National Theatre
stands
near the river.
She’s
reading
(a book).
They’re
saving
(money) to buy a house.
John
drinks
coffee every day. (John
drinks
)
Intransitive: copular verbs
be, seem, become, appear, feel, look, smell, sound, taste, get,
grow, prove, turn, turn out, remain, go, stand, lie, stay, keep.
The city by night
looked
cosmopolitan.
We have to
remain
optimistic about the results.
His latest novel has
become
a best-seller.
The show
turned out
a success after all.
The child
fell
flat on its face.
The soldiers
fell
asleep.
Monotransitive verbs
1. Complementation by a finite clause, e.g.
I hope
(that) he arrives soon
.
It is hoped
(that) he arrives soon
.
2. Complementation by an extraposed subject
that
-clause, e.g.
It seems
(that) you are mistaken
.
3. Interrogative clause as object, e.g.
I don’t know
if we can get there in time
.
Monotransitive verbs
4. Non-finite clauses as direct object:
Wh
-infinitive, e.g.
The Curies discovered
how to isolate radioactive elements
.
Subjectless infinitive clause, e.g Ruth prefers
to go by bus
.
Subjectless –
ing
participle, e.g. They like
talking about their job
.
To
-infinitive clause with subject, e.g.
Charles wants
you to stand for election
.
-
ing
participle clause with subject, e.g.
I hate
their / them gossiping about our colleagues
.
Complex-transitive verbs
1. Direct object and object complement
She considered
her mother
a sensible woman
.
>>
Her mother
was considered (by her)
a sensible woman
.
The long walk made
us
hungry
.
He took
me
for a fool
.
I think
it
odd
that nobody came
. (extraposed object)
Complex-transitive verbs
2. Direct object and adjunct (SVOA):
I slipped
the key
into the lock
.
3. Direct object and to-infinitive clause:
John believed
the stranger
to be a policeman
.
4. Direct object and bare infinitive clause:
The crowd saw
him
score two goals
.
5. Direct object and –
ing
participle clause:
I saw
him
lying on the grass
.
6. Direct object and past participle clause:
Someone must have seen
the car
stolen
.
She had
the car
cleaned
.
Ditransitive verbs
1. Noun phrases as both indirect and direct object: He gave
the girl
a doll
.
2. Object and prepositional object: We addressed
our remarks
to the children
.
3. Indirect object and
that
-clause object:
Natalie convinced
David
that she was right
.
4. Prepositional object and
that
-clause object:
Philip recommended
(to me)
that I buy whisky
.
5. Indirect object and
wh
-clause object:
Martin asked
me
what time the meeting would end
.
6. Indirect object and
to
-infinitive object: I persuaded
Martin
to see a doctor
.
Adjective complementation
1. by a prepositional phrase: He is good
at maths
.
2. by a finite clause
We were confident
that Karen was still alive
.
I was doubtful
whether I should stay
.
3. by an –
ing
participle clause
I’m busy
getting the house redecorated
.
Adjective complementation
4. by a
to
-infinitive clause
Bob is splendid
to wait
.
Bob is slow
to react
.
Bob is sorry
to hear that
.
Bob is willing
to agree with you
.
Bob is hard
to convince
.
The food is ready
to eat
.
It is important
to be accurate
.