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Participant Roles Exercises and Examples

The document discusses thematic roles, which express the role that a noun phrase plays with respect to the action or state described by a sentence's verb. Some key thematic roles discussed are: - Agent: the initiator of some action, capable of acting with volition. - Patient: the entity undergoing the effect of some action, often undergoing a change in state. - Theme: the entity which is moved by an action, or whose location is described; undergoes the action but does not change its state. - Experiencer: the entity which is aware of the action or state but is not in control. The document provides examples to illustrate different thematic roles and discusses related terms like

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1K views4 pages

Participant Roles Exercises and Examples

The document discusses thematic roles, which express the role that a noun phrase plays with respect to the action or state described by a sentence's verb. Some key thematic roles discussed are: - Agent: the initiator of some action, capable of acting with volition. - Patient: the entity undergoing the effect of some action, often undergoing a change in state. - Theme: the entity which is moved by an action, or whose location is described; undergoes the action but does not change its state. - Experiencer: the entity which is aware of the action or state but is not in control. The document provides examples to illustrate different thematic roles and discusses related terms like

Uploaded by

Mar Crespo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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thematic roles.

A term used to express the role that a noun phrase (role-bearing nominal) plays with
respect to the action or state described by a sentence's verb. For example, in the sentence
"Susan ate an apple", Susan is the doer of the eating, so she is an agent; the apple is the item
that is eaten, so it is a patient. The general term, as well as the terms for specific relations,
varies; 'participant role', 'semantic role', 'deep case' 'thematic relation'.

Thematic Roles
1. AGENT: the initiator of some action, capable of acting with volition, deliberately
performing the action, e.g.,
Paco studied hard for the exam
2. PATIENT: the entity undergoing the effect of some action, often undergoing some
change in state, e.g.,
The sun melted the ice The falling rocks crushed the car
3. Some writers have suggested that AGENT is a particular type of a more general
thematic role ACTOR, where ACTOR “expresses the participant which performs,
effects, instigates, or controls the situation denoted by the predicate”. So every
AGENT is an ACTOR, but not the other way round:
4. THEME: the entity which is moved by an action, or whose location is described;
undergoes the action but does not change its state e.g., Roberto passed me the salt
the book is in the library
5. EXPERIENCER: the entity which is aware of the action or state described by the predicate
but is not in control of neither.
S/he receives sensory or emotional input, e.g.,
My dog fell ill I heard the tolling bells
6. BENEFICIARY: the entity for whose benefit the action was performed, e.g., the
soldier fights for his country
My mother baked me a cake.
7. INSTRUMENT: the means by which an action is performed or something comes about,
e.g., the Baron cut the lock with a pair of scissors
She convinced me with a kiss
8. LOCATION: the place in which something is situated or takes place, e.g.,
I'll be at Julie's house studying for my test
the cat was hidding under the bed
9. GOAL: the entity toward which something moves, either literally or metaphorically
He walked to school Sheila handed the exam to the tutor
10. SOURCE: the entity from which something moves, e.g.,
She walked away from his boyfriend
Patt came back from the gym
11. PERCEPT/STIMULUS: the entity causing an effect (usually psychological) in the
EXPERIENCER, it prompts sensory or emotional feeling - not deliberately e.g. John
didn't like the cool weather
The noise frightened the passengers
12. FORCE: sometimes used for an inanimate entity that causes something, for
example, The wind flattened her hair
The child was weakened by fever
13. RECIPIENT: a type of GOAL involved in actions describing changes of possession,
e.g., I sent John the letter
He gave the book to her
Multiple choise questions
1. The word stove in the sentence “The stove emits heat” has the argument role of:
a) Agent
b) Theme
c) Source
d) Patient

The entity “the book” in “the book is in the library” is:


a) agent
b) goal
c) theme
d) location

The key in the sentence “the key opened the door”:


a) theme
b) instrument
c) beneficiary
d) goal

In the sentence “The cook tasted the onion” The cook is:
a) agent
b) experiencer
c) theme

In the sentence “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water” say if “a pail of water” is:
a) theme the entity which is moved by an action
b) agent
c) source
d) goal

Identify the thematic role of “from the table” in “The wind blew the papers from the table”:
a) goal
b) agent
c) source
d) patient

In the sentence “He sent his friend a message asking to confirm his assistance to the wedding”, “a
message” is:
a) theme
b) agent
c) source
d) goal

“the Bahamas” in “My brother took the ship back from the Bahamas” is:
a) theme
b) agent
c) source
d) goal
“the report” in “My brother took the report back from the office” is:
a) theme
b) agent
c) source
d) goal

“the airport” in “My brother took the car back from the airport” is:
a) theme
b) agent
c) source
d) goal

In the sentence “The book was written by Cervantes”, say if the argument role of “book” is:
a) theme
b) agent
c) source
d) goal

Is “my brother” in the sentence “The car was taken back to the station by my brother”
a) theme
b) agent
c) beneficiary
d)goal

In “The bullet killed the rabbit”, “the bullet” is:


a) agent
b) instrument
c) patient
d) theme

The thematic role grid of the verb put is as follows:


a) put V: <THEME, LOCATION>
b) put V: <AGENT, LOCATION>
c) put v: <AGENT, LOCATION, THEME>
d) put V: <AGENT, THEME, LOCATION>

The thematic role grid of the verb borrow is as follows:


a) borrow V: <AGENT, THEME, SOURCE>
b) borrow V: <RECIPIENT, THEME, SOURCE>
c) borrow V: <EXPERIENCER, THEME, SOURCE>
d) borrow V: <THEME, SOURCE>

Choose the correct statement:


a) Participant roles and arguments are the same thing
b) Participant roles and arguments are unrelated concepts
c) Arguments in the argument structure are like slots to be filled with different types of
participant roles
d) Arguments are types of participant roles
In the sentence “The gun killed the victim”, the element the gun is:
a) patient
b) instrument
c) agent
d) dative

“My mother” in the sentence “My mother saw the smoke first” is:
a) agent
b) experiencer She receives sensory input
c) beneficiary
d) goal

The car in “The car is in the garage” is:


a) agent
b) theme the entity whose location is described
c) beneficiary
d) goal

“The aircraft” in the sentence “The aircraft is in the hangar” is:


a) agent
b) theme the entity whose location is described
c) beneficiary
d) goal

“The nurse” in the sentence “The patient was taken to the theatre by the nurse” is:
a) theme
b) agent deliberately performing the action
c) beneficiary
d) goal

“The ball” in the sentence “Rafa Nadal passed the ball wide” is:
a) agent
b) theme the entity which is moved by an action
c) beneficiary
d) goal

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