1 What is an Object?
English verbs can be classified as transitive verbs and intransitive verbs . A transitive verb is a verb that takes an object . In other words , it can answer the questions whom? or what? An intransitive verb, on the contrary, is incapable of answering these questions . Examples :
1 Rama wrote a story .
The verb wrote is transitive because it can answer the question what? What did Rama write? the answer is a story. , and it is the object of the verb wrote
2 Rama saw his friend.
The verb saw is transitive because it can provide answer to the question whom? Whom did Rama meet? The answer his friend is the object of the verb meet .
3 Sita went to the temple yesterday .
The verb went is incapable of providing answer to the question whom or what So it i9s called an intransitive verb .
2 What is Direct Object?
There are a few verbs in English called ditransitive verbs They are so called because they take two objects . One of these objects provides answers to the question whom ? or what ? and the other provides answer to the question for whom? or to whom?The commonly used ditransitive verbs are;
give , offer, grant , teach, send, bring, make, buy etc
1 I bought her a beautiful saree.
" a beautiful saree" is called the direct object . to distinguish it from her which is called indirect object .
2 Ramesh gave Sita a lovely birthday present. . Sita is the indirect object and a lovely birthday present is the direct object .
Please note that indirect object is usually a person and both the objects are Noun Phrases .
3 Can we change the positions of direct and indirect objects ?
No! English depends on word-order for meaning and , therefore, indirect object must always come before direct object .
However , in order to give end-focus to the indirect object we can shift it to the end of a sentence as a prepositional phrase It is then called an adverbial rather than the indirect object!
.Examples:
She made him coffee?
She made coffee for him .
I bought her an apple.
I bought an apple for her .
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Adverbs and Adverbials :: Difference Explained
The term adverb refers to a word class to which words like slowly, here, now etc belong . Adverbials , on the contrary, is a functional label , covering all the syntactic units performing the same function as single-word adverbs , that is, they are units which describe the action denoted by the verb . These syntactic units may be Prepositional Phrases or Noun Phrases.
An adverbial can describe an action by telling us how, where and when an action is done . Examples
* She sings sweetly . ( how)
* She has gone there. (where)
*He is sleeping now( when)
Instead of using single-word adverbials as in our examples above , we can use Prepositional Phrases and Noun Phrases to describe actions .
* She gets up at 6 o' clock .
* He left home in a hurry .
* She has gone to the hospital.
In these examples we have used Prepositional Phrases as advebials .
In the following examples we are using Noun Phrases as adverbials :
* He worked hard all day
* She came back home home last week .
* They will join us tomorrow .
* She left for the US the day before yesterday.
* They opposed the government proposal tooth and nail.
Please note that the term adverb refers to a word class while adverbial refers to different syntactic units performing a similar function, namely, describing the action performed by the verb.
The basic concept of describing an action is provided by the term adverb while the different realizations of the concept are provided by the term adverbial.
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An adverbial can describe an action by telling us how, where and when an action is done . Examples
* She sings sweetly . ( how)
* She has gone there. (where)
*He is sleeping now( when)
Instead of using single-word adverbials as in our examples above , we can use Prepositional Phrases and Noun Phrases to describe actions .
* She gets up at 6 o' clock .
* He left home in a hurry .
* She has gone to the hospital.
In these examples we have used Prepositional Phrases as advebials .
In the following examples we are using Noun Phrases as adverbials :
* He worked hard all day
* She came back home home last week .
* They will join us tomorrow .
* She left for the US the day before yesterday.
* They opposed the government proposal tooth and nail.
Please note that the term adverb refers to a word class while adverbial refers to different syntactic units performing a similar function, namely, describing the action performed by the verb.
The basic concept of describing an action is provided by the term adverb while the different realizations of the concept are provided by the term adverbial.
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Sunday, February 7, 2010
Subject-Verb Concord : A New Perspective
Subject - Verb Concord may not be a problem for native speakers of English .They have their instincts to trust to .! But it is a major problem area for ESL learners . The crux of the problem lies in the fact that English sometimes bases its concord on meaning and sometimes on form which can be confusing to learners . They do not know whether to follow form or meaning . Thus in the sentence
One of the books is missing .
the learner can follow meaning and choose the singular verb is .But in the sentence
More than one book is missing .
the learner has to follow form in the face of the fact that the subject is undeniably plural and choose the singular verb is.
I think that the form-meaning conflict can be put aside if the instructors train the learners to look upon the subject as a complex consisting of a Noun Phrase with a headword along with its modifiers . Instead of subject- verb concord , the learnershould think of subjectNP headword-verb concord and view the problem of concord in a new way . Then he can forget about meaning- form conflict ! This will obviate the problem to a great extent .
I will discuss specific examples to illustrate the new perspective
1 One of the books is missing .
Here the subject NP consists of the headword one and the prepositional phrase "of the books" . , post-modifying it . The verb naturally agrees with the headword one
2 More than one book is missing .
The subject NP consists of the headword bookwhich is pre-modified by "more than one". The form-meaning conflict need not bother us . The concept of headword- verb concord has made it irrelevant !
3 Many a ship has sunk in the sea .
The subject NP '"many a ship" has ship as its headword . and " many a " as its pre-modifier . Hence,the singular verb has
4 Ship after ship has sunk in this bay .
The headword ship is post-modified by "after ship" and the verb agrees with the singular head , despite the plural sense of the subject as a whole .
5 John or his friends are responsible for this.
As or is a co-ordinating conjunction the head of the NP could be John or his friends ( a case of multiple heads). and the verb could agree with any of them . Proximity is a strong attraction and the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it than with the one farther to it ! .In subjects joined by correlative conjunction either---or and neither---nor we can see proximity concord similar to this .
6 None of them is responsible for this .
The subject NP ''none of them" consists of the head none " and the post-modifier 'of them" .Hence, the singular verb is . The NPs neither of them and either of them follow the same pattern .
7 The President , along with his wife, has left for the US.
Along with his wife is a post-modifier of the head President It does not fully coordinate with the head like and , and so the verb agrees with the singular head .Similar examples are quasi-coordinators like together with, as well as, rather than , as much as etc .
The learner should realize that learning concord on the basis of meaning-form conflict can be absolutely confusing Let him view the problem in a new light .
NB . cases of concord not discussed above can be decided on the basis of meaning
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!
One of the books is missing .
the learner can follow meaning and choose the singular verb is .But in the sentence
More than one book is missing .
the learner has to follow form in the face of the fact that the subject is undeniably plural and choose the singular verb is.
I think that the form-meaning conflict can be put aside if the instructors train the learners to look upon the subject as a complex consisting of a Noun Phrase with a headword along with its modifiers . Instead of subject- verb concord , the learnershould think of subjectNP headword-verb concord and view the problem of concord in a new way . Then he can forget about meaning- form conflict ! This will obviate the problem to a great extent .
I will discuss specific examples to illustrate the new perspective
1 One of the books is missing .
Here the subject NP consists of the headword one and the prepositional phrase "of the books" . , post-modifying it . The verb naturally agrees with the headword one
2 More than one book is missing .
The subject NP consists of the headword bookwhich is pre-modified by "more than one". The form-meaning conflict need not bother us . The concept of headword- verb concord has made it irrelevant !
3 Many a ship has sunk in the sea .
The subject NP '"many a ship" has ship as its headword . and " many a " as its pre-modifier . Hence,the singular verb has
4 Ship after ship has sunk in this bay .
The headword ship is post-modified by "after ship" and the verb agrees with the singular head , despite the plural sense of the subject as a whole .
5 John or his friends are responsible for this.
As or is a co-ordinating conjunction the head of the NP could be John or his friends ( a case of multiple heads). and the verb could agree with any of them . Proximity is a strong attraction and the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it than with the one farther to it ! .In subjects joined by correlative conjunction either---or and neither---nor we can see proximity concord similar to this .
6 None of them is responsible for this .
The subject NP ''none of them" consists of the head none " and the post-modifier 'of them" .Hence, the singular verb is . The NPs neither of them and either of them follow the same pattern .
7 The President , along with his wife, has left for the US.
Along with his wife is a post-modifier of the head President It does not fully coordinate with the head like and , and so the verb agrees with the singular head .Similar examples are quasi-coordinators like together with, as well as, rather than , as much as etc .
The learner should realize that learning concord on the basis of meaning-form conflict can be absolutely confusing Let him view the problem in a new light .
NB . cases of concord not discussed above can be decided on the basis of meaning
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!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Post-Determiners
I have been discussing regular determiners and pre-determiners in my previous posts . In this concluding post on determiners I will be discussing post- determiners and their usage in English sentences .
Post-determiners, as their name suggests, come after regular determiners in a Noun Phrase .They precede nouns but follow regular determiners in a Noun Phrase .
Cardinal numbers like one. two three .four etc and ordinal numbers like first. second third etc are post-determiners . Examples
The first three apples
The first six boys
Please note ordinals always precede cardinals General ordinals like last, next other ,another etc are also post-determiners .
The important thing for an English learner to note is the order of various determiners in a pre-modification structure .
1 The first three boys
2 The next four days
3Another interesting case
If there is an adjective in the Noun Phrase it immediately precedes the noun , but follows post-determiners .
1 The first three famous novels
2The last six happiest days
Quantifiers like many , few, several , much , little etc are post-determiners and they precede nouns in a Noun Phrase
Determiners ( unlike adjectives ) have a general tendency not to co-occur . In other words, you will not find many of them together in a Noun Phrase . I think the maximum number of determiners you can squeeze into a Noun Phrase is three or four . Try, if you can, to squeeze more into a single Noun Phrase!
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Post-determiners, as their name suggests, come after regular determiners in a Noun Phrase .They precede nouns but follow regular determiners in a Noun Phrase .
Cardinal numbers like one. two three .four etc and ordinal numbers like first. second third etc are post-determiners . Examples
The first three apples
The first six boys
Please note ordinals always precede cardinals General ordinals like last, next other ,another etc are also post-determiners .
The important thing for an English learner to note is the order of various determiners in a pre-modification structure .
1 The first three boys
2 The next four days
3Another interesting case
If there is an adjective in the Noun Phrase it immediately precedes the noun , but follows post-determiners .
1 The first three famous novels
2The last six happiest days
Quantifiers like many , few, several , much , little etc are post-determiners and they precede nouns in a Noun Phrase
Determiners ( unlike adjectives ) have a general tendency not to co-occur . In other words, you will not find many of them together in a Noun Phrase . I think the maximum number of determiners you can squeeze into a Noun Phrase is three or four . Try, if you can, to squeeze more into a single Noun Phrase!
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Pre -Determiners
In my previous post I explained the difference between adjectives and determiners. Determiners can be sub- divided into three sub- classes : pre-determiners, regular determiners and post- determiners .
Pre- Determiners come before regular determiners in a Noun Phrase . I this post I will discuss some commonly used pre-determiners and their proper use in sentences .
ALL. BOTH AND HALF
These pre-determiners are followed by the + noun or demonstrative + noun (these+ noun)
All the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half the apples are rotten.
Of-construction is optional
All of the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half of the apples are rotten .
Please note that if pronouns are used of-construction is required
All of them resigned from the cabinet n.
Both of them are clever.
Half of them are rotten.
There are some intensifiers which are used as pre-determiners , especially in conversational English . These intensifiers are : such, quite rather and what . These pre-determiners indicate the attitude of the speaker. They are followed by a/an and a noun or an adjective .
He is such a darling! (admiration)
It was quite a calm place .(I liked it )
It is rather a small house (I don't like it ) )
What a pretty girl!(wonder)
Multipliers like twice , thrice etc are pre-determiners They are followed by the +noun
She gets thrice the salary of her husband
.
Possessives can be used in the place of the
He gets twice my salary.
Words indicating fractions like one-third, two- fourths etc are pre-determiners
He spends one third salary on travel.
Of- construction is optional
He spends one -third of his salary on travel.
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Pre- Determiners come before regular determiners in a Noun Phrase . I this post I will discuss some commonly used pre-determiners and their proper use in sentences .
ALL. BOTH AND HALF
These pre-determiners are followed by the + noun or demonstrative + noun (these+ noun)
All the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half the apples are rotten.
Of-construction is optional
All of the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half of the apples are rotten .
Please note that if pronouns are used of-construction is required
All of them resigned from the cabinet n.
Both of them are clever.
Half of them are rotten.
There are some intensifiers which are used as pre-determiners , especially in conversational English . These intensifiers are : such, quite rather and what . These pre-determiners indicate the attitude of the speaker. They are followed by a/an and a noun or an adjective .
He is such a darling! (admiration)
It was quite a calm place .(I liked it )
It is rather a small house (I don't like it ) )
What a pretty girl!(wonder)
Multipliers like twice , thrice etc are pre-determiners They are followed by the +noun
She gets thrice the salary of her husband
.
Possessives can be used in the place of the
He gets twice my salary.
Words indicating fractions like one-third, two- fourths etc are pre-determiners
He spends one third salary on travel.
Of- construction is optional
He spends one -third of his salary on travel.
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Determiners and Adjectives --Difference Explained
Adjectives are words that describe the intrinsic or inherent qualities of persons and things. Determiners , on the contrary , show attributes which are not inherent in persons or things , but are extraneous to them.
Good, bad, pretty, young , old etc are qualities that are inherent in persons and things , and so they are adjectives
Words denoting possession ( my, your , his ,her their etc ) , proximity ( this , that , these , those ) , distribution ( each, every , either, neither, both, all etc ) , quantity ( how much of something or how little of something like many, few, some , several ,little and the counting numbers one, two , three etc ) , reference (both anaphoric and cataphoric like the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an ) , order ( like the ordinal numbers , first, second, third etc ) ---these show attributes which are extraneous to the objects the nouns signify .
These words form a category by themselves ; and they are called determiners because they determine the way a noun is used in the context .
Determiners can be sub- divided into pre-determiners, regular determiners and post -determiners . I will discuss them in detail in my next post .
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Good, bad, pretty, young , old etc are qualities that are inherent in persons and things , and so they are adjectives
Words denoting possession ( my, your , his ,her their etc ) , proximity ( this , that , these , those ) , distribution ( each, every , either, neither, both, all etc ) , quantity ( how much of something or how little of something like many, few, some , several ,little and the counting numbers one, two , three etc ) , reference (both anaphoric and cataphoric like the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an ) , order ( like the ordinal numbers , first, second, third etc ) ---these show attributes which are extraneous to the objects the nouns signify .
These words form a category by themselves ; and they are called determiners because they determine the way a noun is used in the context .
Determiners can be sub- divided into pre-determiners, regular determiners and post -determiners . I will discuss them in detail in my next post .
Thank you for visiting !
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Emphatic Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns
Emphatic Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns look alike in form , but they are different in usage .
Both of them are formed by adding -self or -selves to the possessive or object-form of pronouns .
I ----------------Myself
You--------------Yourself
He----------------Himself
She---------------Herself
It-----------------Itseff
We----------------ourselves
You----------------Yourselves (plural)
They---------------Themselves
Emphatic Pronouns are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence . They are often placed at the end of sentences .
*I did it myself . ( that is , no other person did it )
*She cooked the meals herself .
* He cleaned the room himself .
* I drove the car all the way myself .
Emphatic Pronouns sometimes come immediately after the subject
I myself did it .
She herself cleaned the whole house .
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are used when the doer is affected by his or her own action
* She hurt herself while cutting vegetables,
* He blamed himself for what had happened .
* Othello stabbed himself to death
*She pricked herself with a needle .
Please note that there are some verbs which are used with reflexive pronouns and then these verbs have different meanings !
* She enjoyed herself during her stay in Cochin .( that is , she had a nice time )
*You should behave \yourself in public. . ( that is , you should behave decently .)*
Enough for today !
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Both of them are formed by adding -self or -selves to the possessive or object-form of pronouns .
I ----------------Myself
You--------------Yourself
He----------------Himself
She---------------Herself
It-----------------Itseff
We----------------ourselves
You----------------Yourselves (plural)
They---------------Themselves
Emphatic Pronouns are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence . They are often placed at the end of sentences .
*I did it myself . ( that is , no other person did it )
*She cooked the meals herself .
* He cleaned the room himself .
* I drove the car all the way myself .
Emphatic Pronouns sometimes come immediately after the subject
I myself did it .
She herself cleaned the whole house .
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are used when the doer is affected by his or her own action
* She hurt herself while cutting vegetables,
* He blamed himself for what had happened .
* Othello stabbed himself to death
*She pricked herself with a needle .
Please note that there are some verbs which are used with reflexive pronouns and then these verbs have different meanings !
* She enjoyed herself during her stay in Cochin .( that is , she had a nice time )
*You should behave \yourself in public. . ( that is , you should behave decently .)*
Enough for today !
Thank you for visiting!
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