VERBS

Verb is a category of word which has the morphological property that it can carry a range of inflections including past
TENSE (+d), third PERSON singular NUMBER present TENSE (+s), perfective (+n), and progressive (+ing) ASPECT; e.g.:
show, shows, showed, shown, showing; and the syntactic property that it can head the complement of infinitival “to”; e.g.: Do
you want to show me?
o According to their phonological characteristics, verbs are classified into:
 WEAK ( -ed, -d, -t ) with or without changes in the stem
 STRONG (all others)
o According to their inflectional suffixes, verbs are classified into:
 REGULAR (e.g.: show – showED – showN) without changes in the stem
 IRREGULAR (all others)
The inflectional affixes attached to verbs express the following grammatical features:
o (first, second, third) PERSON
o (singular, plural) NUMBER
o (past, present) TENSE
o (perfective, imperfective) ASPECT
o (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) MOOD
o (active, passive) VOICE
o According to their derivational morphology, verbs are classified into:
 SIMPLE (go, ride, read)
 DERIVATIVE (shorten, simplify, criticise, reorganise, mislead)
 COMPOUND (undergo, forecast, overcome, misunderstand)
Word stress may also mark a derivational change: 'record (NOUN) / re'cord (VERB)
Derivational suffixes typical of verbs are: -ate, -en, -fy, -ish, -ize
-ate combines mainly with nouns: hyphenate
-en combines with adjectives: deafen, sadden, ripen
-ify / -fy combines with adjectives and nouns: simplify, amplify, codify, identify
-ize (-ise) combines with adjectives and nouns: modernize, hospitalize, symbolise
Derivational prefixes which affect verbs:
dis- combines with verbs: disconnect, disinfect
dis- verbs and other open-class items: disappear, disobey
de- denominal verbs and deverbal nouns: decentralize, defrost, deconstruct
un- (reversing the action) undo, untie, unzip, unpack, unwrap
under- verbs and past participles: underestimate, undercharge, underplay
over- verbs and adjectives: overtake, overdo, overreact, overestimate, oversimplify
re- verbs and deverbal nouns: rebuild, reclaim, recycle, re-use
fore- verbs and nouns: foretell, foresee, foreshadow, forecast, foreclose
out- denominal transitive verbs: outnumber, outgrow, outlive
mis- verbs, abstract nouns: misunderstand, miscalculate, mishear, misinform, mislead
be- (1) to intensify the force of stem verbs: bedazzle, bestir
(2) denominal transitive verbs: bewitch, befriend
en-/em- with nouns, to yield verbs: empower, endanger, embitter, enflame
per- (low productivity) percolate, peruse
pre- (low productivity) pre-cook, pre-heat
mal- verbs, adjectives, abstract nouns: maltreat, malfunction
co- with verbs and deverbal nouns: cohabit, cooperate
contra- nouns, verbs and denominal adjectives: contraindicate
counter- verbs, nouns and denominal adjectives counteract, countersign
inter- denominal adjectives, verbs and nouns: interweave
sub- adjectives, verbs and nouns: sublet, subdivide, subcontract
trans- denominal adjectives and verbs: transplant
super- (low productivity) superimpose
 Finite verbs are limited by AGREEMENT (number, person) and TENSE features, and in English they always take
an overt subject. Examples of finite verb phrases: ...notices problems in a patient's condition / ...spends time with hospitalised patients
/ ...[were] training a collie to herd cows / rose from her bed /...stood in the shade / ...looks happy / ...[has] remained listening / ...stumbled to the
door / ...leapt over the edge and dropped to the beach
 Non-finite verb forms (infinitive, gerund, past participle, present participle) form part of non-finite clauses, with different
syntactic positions within the sentence; but they also occur in finite clauses as complement to auxiliary verbs.
Examples of Non-finite clauses are:
to become an assistant district attorney / to accept criticism / to have lost
reading one's own writing / wearing a white shirt / playing the clarinet
the sun having set (absolute construction)
trained in Rumania / marooned by the flood...
Non-finite clauses may occur as sentence subjects, adjuncts, or complements to different categories, but they are
never the subject in a passive construction.
An INFINITIVAL CLAUSE is a tenseless functional phrase headed by an overt/covert infinitive particle, whose complement is
a lexical verb phrase headed by an uninflected base verb form. Its subject is often realised by a non-overt element [PRO]. The underlined
constituent in each of the following sentences is an infinitive clause:
 subject: To lean out of the window may be risky.
To admit he committed suicide would settle the problem.
 extraposed subject: It would be an easy solution to admit he committed suicide.
We consider it a mistake to appoint him president.
 main predication: The best alternative is to forgive them all (equative sentence).
 complement to a transitive verb: He hates to drive slowly. / I want to offer them some help.
The infinitive may take an overt subject: They wanted us to pay a lot more. [ECM] / She made him cry bitterly. [ECM]
 complement to a three-place verb: They told us to wait outside. / She persuaded him to visit her place
 complement to an adjective: She is eager to express her opinion. / He is glad to see us together.
The infinitive may take an overt subject: It was dreadful for me to find myself alone there.
 purpose adjunct: We asked him ten questions to see how much he knew about the subject.
 abridged clause with overt subject: The plan was accepted, the details to be discussed later. (absolute construction)

A GERUNDIAL CLAUSE is a tenseless lexical verb phrase headed by a verb in its –ing form. Gerundial clauses take the same
sentence positions as noun constructions. They behave as nominalized verbal constructions, whose subject is either an overt or a
non-overt element:
 subject: Seeing is believing. / Walking in the rain can be pleasant.
Peter’s rushing away so suddenly puzzled everybody present.
 extraposed subject: It is no use asking him where he keeps the money.
 theme in existential sentence: There was no knowing what might happen.
 main predication (equative sentences): His big mistake was marrying her. / All that interests her is playing the piano.
 complement to a transitive verb: I hate growing old. / He suggested our taking the girl with us.
Do you like smoking cigars? / We enjoyed swimming in the lake at night.
 complement to a three-place verb: They gave intensive reading close attention. / I held back revealing that secret for a very long time.
 complement to a preposition: We were looking forward to seeing Jim. / Don’t worry about Leo coming in unexpectedly.
 pre-modifying a noun: dining-room / wedding-ring / walking-stick / swimming-pool / sleeping-pill

A PRESENT-PARTICIPLE Clause is a tenseless lexical verb phrase headed by a verb in its –ing form. Its subject is often a non-
overt element. Present-participle clauses can occur in different positions within the sentence:
 adjunct (abridged adverbial clause): When/while listening to the radio I came to know about the riot.
He groaned as if imploring me to leave the whole subject alone.
 free adjunct (abridged adverbial clause): Feeling much better, I went to work the next day.
 abridged clause with overt subject: We rented a cottage together with some friends, they occupying the front room,
and we having the rest at our disposal. (absolute construction)
 manner adjunct with unaccusatives: He sat fiddling with his spectacles. / He arrived singing a strange song.
 noun modifier (abridged relative clause): The kid lying here is Jim. / Those were idle thoughts passing through my mind.
 noun pre-modifier (attributive): We saw two interesting films. / The land-owning families took part in politics.
We started amidst quickly vanishing shadows.
 adjective pre-modifier (result adjunct): The metal was piping hot / dripping wet / freezing cold ...
 predication in non-finite clause: We saw him leaving on the bus.
 main predication: The delay was maddening. / The play proved really amusing and interesting.
A PAST-PARTICIPLE CLAUSE is a tenseless lexical verb phrase headed by a verb in its past participle form. Its subject is
generally a non-overt element. Past-participle clauses can occur in different positions within the sentence:
 adjunct (abridged adverbial clause): When addressed properly, letters find easily their way home.
 free adjunct: Dazzled by the sunlight we hardly recognized the sailing figure.
 abridged clause with overt subject: She stood there before me, her blind face thrown upwards. (absolute construction)
 pre-modifying a noun: There she found a broken arrow / He waited with humbly bent head.
We came across some long abandoned utensils and a hastily improvised furnace.
 noun modifier (abridged relative clause): The medicine brought to them by the chemist proved very effective.
 predication in non-finite clause: I found the beach littered with cans. / No-one seemed (to be) interested in it.
 main predication: This bag is made of genuine leather. / He was too excited to speak.

L E X I C A L V E R B S
Intransitive Transitive

Unaccusative Unergative Monotransitive Ditransitive

(including control / ECM) (including object-control)

I NTRANSITIVE V ERBS
Intransitive Verbs have traditionally been described as one-place predicates –denoting actions which involve a single
entity–, with their sole argument taking the syntactic position of subject:
 Her whole body ached
 Such people still exist
 My condition deteriorated
 Cinthia coughed a lot and then wept bitterly
 The gate squeaked
 The messenger arrived too late
However, many of the so-called intransitive verbs (i.e. unaccusative) are in fact two-place predicates, denoting a locative
relation between an entity and a place:
 Her cousin went to Brazil last month and hasn’t come back yet.
 The equestrian statue stands in the middle of the square.
 Such people still exist [in the world]
 The messenger arrived [at the office] too late
Unaccusative verbs: The state or event they denote minimally involves an animate or inanimate entity and an explicit
or implicit location or property. Syntactically, unaccusatives select an internal argument, whose θ-role is theme, and a
spatial location or property, which may be realised by a locative phrase (inherent unaccusatives) or encoded in the verb
itself (ergatives). The theme argument is not assigned accusative case features, therefore, it is not a direct object to the verb.
The theme argument is generally realised by a non-accusative determiner phrase which may or may not move to the subject
position (Spec-TP). Thus, unaccusative verbs may occur within at least two possible configurations:
There remains no hope ------------------------------ No hope remains.
TP TP

D T' DP T'
There
T VP No hope T VP

Spec V' Spec V'

V DP V DP
remains remains no hope
no hope
 UNACCUSATIVE VERBS
ATELIC (non-delimited) TELIC (delimited)
INHERENT ALTERNANT
INHERENT UNACCUSATIVE ERGATIVE ERGATIVE
Spatial
Existential Presentational Motion Change of State
Configuration
be cling appear advance bloom begin
exist droop arise approach blossom break
persist hang arrive become blush burn
linger kneel depart come decay cease
remain lie (lay; lain) disappear digress decline change
stay sit emerge enter* die close
stand happen escape* elapse collapse
leave* exit* ensue crack
occur fall expire decrease
go faint disintegrate
regress flourish freeze
return* grow increase
rise recede melt
relent open
subside part
vanish shift
shut
thaw
wilt
withdraw
wither
* verbs of Latin origin with incorporated directional preposition
underlined: verbs admiting a causative NON-ERGATIVE alternation
Unaccusative verbs always select a DP THEME argument, but as they generally predicate the appearance, movement or position of
these themes, they also take an overt or covert locative complement, which is generally realised by a prepositional or an
adverbial construction. So, delimited unaccusatives are usually followed by constructions expressing direction, and
non-delimited unaccusatives, by constructions expressing location:
 They have ARRIVED [here]
 He WENT straight to his own room
 Donald was LYING on the bed
 He LAY on the ground for the rest of the evening
 The monolith used to STAND right there
 In front of the house (there) STANDS a statue of General Harvey
 From inside the house (there) CAME a cry of anguish
 There AROSE an unfortunate misunderstanding among some members
 There APPEARED a ghostly face at the window
 The curtains DISAPPEARED from view
 There could have OCCURRED a diplomatic incident between those countries
 The unaccusative verb go may occur in special contexts, such as:
 To go TO SLEEP > (TO = preposition / SLEEP = N)
 To go dancing / shopping / swimming (-ING = gerund)
 Go buy me some cigarettes
 The unaccusative verbs live and die may, marginally, have TRANSITIVE behaviour:
 I don’t believe Davis died a natural death.
 Some of them have been living entirely artificial lives.
 Some spatial configuration verbs can occur in CAUSATIVE (non-ergative) constructions such as:
 Peter hung several pictures above the mantelpiece (i.e. caused them to hang)
 The hostess sat the guests on comfortable cushions (i.e. made them sit)
 Verbs of spatial configuration may co-occur with expressions of direction (e.g.: up, down). In these cases they take
on a delimited meaning (i.e. assuming a position):
 Madge sat down on the couch for a while but pretty soon she was standing up crying
Unergative verbs denote events which minimally involve a single participant. These verbs select a single argument
(external), which always occupies the subject position. The thematic role of their minimally required argument is either a
volitional or non-volitional causer of the action denoted by the verb, and it is generally realised by a nominative determiner phrase.
Normally, these verbs do not take an accusative complement.1

MANNER OF MOTION MANNER OF EMISSION

+ displacement – displacement SOUND LIGHT SUBSTANCE
amble blink babble murmur* beam ache
clump falter bark mutter* dazzle bleed
crawl fidget bawl natter flash burp
creep flinch beef prattle flicker cough*
dance fumble bellow protest gape erupt
drift hesitate bitch ramble gawk fart
drop hover bleat roar* gawp gargle
edge lurk blubber scream* gaze itch
fly quake chat screech glance listen
hobble quiver chatter shout* glare ooze
inch pause cheer shriek gleam piss*
limp peep chirp snarl glimmer reek
lurch reel chortle sneer glint shit*
march rummage chuckle snigger/snicker glisten smart
move* scavenge clap snivel glitter sneeze
pace scuffle complain snore glow snort
pad shake converse sob goggle spit
paddle shamble coo speak* grin splutter
plod shiver crackle sputter leer stink
prowl shudder crow squeal look sweat
roam skulk cry* squeak peek tingle
run* sleep giggle stammer peer vomit*
saunter sulk gripe stumble shimmer weep
scamper throb groan stutter shine
scuttle tremble growl talk smile
scurry twitch grumble thud smirk ADMISSION
shuffle vibrate grunt titter sparkle
breathe
skip waver guffaw tweet stare
dine*
slide wag hiccup/hiccough twitter twinkle
drink*
slither waggle hiss waffle wink
eat*
slip wait holler wail
fast
sneak wiggle hoot wheeze
gasp
stagger wince howl whimper
lunch*
stomp work* hum whine
pant
stride wriggle jeer whinge
sigh
stroll laugh whisper
smoke*
stumble lie (lied; lied) whistle*
sniff
swim lisp yammer
sniffle
tiptoe moan yap
suck*
traipse mumble yell
yawn
tramp yelp
trudge
turn*
waddle NOTE: items foll owed by ( *) can behave (or be consider ed) as transitive V
These tr ansitive c onstructions inv olve either merger of a cog nate
wade object or a process of “manner confl ation” and they will be thor oughly
walk* dealt with i n Com par ative Grammar
wander

1 Unergative verbs are actually derived from transitive constructions in which the NOMINAL object “incorporates” onto the
verbal head, therefore, these verbs allow both “cognate” and non-subcategorised objects, the latter only in RESULTATIVE
constructions.
Unergative verbs are usually denominal, i.e. they are derived from a noun:
 He patted her on the head and gave a laugh → He laughed loudly
 He is always telling lies → He may lie to you too
 They have been groaning and shouting for hours
 He was lunching / golfing

 Most unergative verbs, being denominal, can be paraphrased by transitive constructions headed by transitive light verbs
such as: make, have, emit, give, tell, utter, catch, etc., whose direct object is always the noun from which the unergative
verb derives:
 give advice / account / answer / example / information / interview / lecture / reason / report /
speech / summary / talk / warning
 give a chuckle / cry / gasp / giggle / groan / hug / kick / kiss / laugh / sigh / grin shrill / scream
/ squeeze / scowl / shout / shriek / smile / snigger / whistle / yell
 have a bath / jog / lunch / paddle / rest / run / shower / stroll / swim / walk / look / peep /
smell / feel / sniff / talk / taste / take a look / tell a lie...
 make a complaint / remark / comment / confession / protest / signal / change

 Some unergative verbs, e.g.: dance; dream; smile; laugh; sigh; etc., may have TRANSITIVE behaviour:
 Steve smiled his thin, cruel smile
 Alice laughed a scornful laugh
 She usually dreams sweet dreams / that she can fly
 He usually works his boss into a rage
 We worked our way through the forest with much difficulty
 I think (that) she doesn’t want to travel with us
 We insisted that Peter be at home before 2 a.m.

 The minimally required argument of an unergative verb is usually an AGENT / EXPERIENCER DP, but occasionally some
of these verbs also allow a RECIPIENT / GOAL prepositional phrase in adjunct position:
lie
He may complain to you
protest
 He COMPLAINED to the press council
 He may PROTEST to the prime minister
 They SMILED at me when I LOOKED up.
 We LOOKED out of the window / into my eyes / at the picture in silence
 She was LOOKING after the baby
 I LISTEN to / for your footsteps every morning
 We’re WAITING for the train / for them (to do something)
 Brian WAITED an hour for his uncle / I have been WAITING (for) twenty minutes

 Some unergative verbs may select a LOCATIVE (goal, source, etc.) prepositional phrase complement [manner conflation]2:
 I travelled south
 She crawled into the tent.
 The lorry clunked into town.
 She hopped up on a pony and ran away with Tony

 In certain cases the prepositional phrase selected by the unergative verbs is obligatory:
 We can cater for all age groups in our summer schools.
 Mr. Terry catered to the public taste for sentimental plays.
 He yearned for academic recognition
 Landlords often resorted to violence
 I sympathised / talked with them cf. They sympathised / talked

 A few unergative verbs select a constituent expressing MANNER / COMPARISON which is obligatory:
 This animal behaves rather like a squirrel
 She acts just like you / as if she were mad

2In manner-conflation constructions, unergative verbs assume an unaccusative or locative behaviour, that is why in those syntactic
environments the locative phrase is always argumental. Manner-conflation constructions will be thoroughly dealt with in Comparative
Grammar.
 Transitive Verbs
Monotransitive verbs denote events which minimally involve two participants. Therefore, these verbs select two
arguments, an external one (the subject) with an agent or experiencer theta-role and an internal one, traditionally known as
the direct object, with a patient, percept or theme -role. The internal argument is usually realised by a DP with accusative (i.e.
objective) case features:
 He caught the ball
 The stone hit me
 He phoned me this morning
 She described her background
 We rewarded John
 We found the wallet that Peter had lost before Jim departed.
 He had commited a disgraceful action
 The will benefits us all
 I still support the government
 The extra profit justifies the investment
 The trial raised a number of questions
 He had always liked Mr Phillips
 She wanted some help / money / a rest / success / etc.
 They wanted an assistant in the box office
 Children seek independence

 Some transitive verbs are in fact intransitive ergative verbs with an additional agentive argument. Thus they may occur
both in causative and ergative constructions (these alternations are best explained by the theory of vP-shells):
 We broke the window last night. / The window broke last night.
 Gral. Gray has withdrawn his troops. / Gral. Gray’s troops have withdrawn.
 She thawed his icy heart. / I froze a duck, it thawed, then I re-froze it, is it ok to cook?

 While many transitive verbs can take a large range of objects, others select a restricted range of objects, furthermore,
some select exclusively objects with a +animate or a +human semantic feature:
 He has been wasting time / money / his efforts
 She killed the man and his horse / I’m killing time
 My questions angered the crowd
 We thanked her parents and left
 Her sudden death had surprised everybody
 Blue suits you
 Money did not interest him very much

 The internal argument of a transitive verb can be realised by a subordinate Noun clause or a Free Relative clause (i.e. CP):
 He said that you were ill
 I don’t know where to go from here
 We wondered whether we should stay with her
 He found what he was looking for

 The internal argument of a transitive verb can also be realised by a non-finite clause, with or without an overt subject, or
by a verbless clause:
 He wanted to see Mary / He wanted me to see her
 She expects me to love her / I want those kids out of the room
 He declared me a criminal / He considered the girls his daughters
 She made her friend happy / I made her my slave
 I found that attitude strange / Most people supposed him innocent
 I consider it unwise to go now / I thought it awful that he should have left us

 Non-finite clause objects without an overt subject take a PRO-subject which is co-referential with the main clause subject.
A control verb is a transitive verb which selects an infinitive clause with a PRO-subject as its complement; these
verbs do not select infinitive clauses with an overt subject:
 She was hoping to win [*She was hoping him to win]
 She refused to do it
 They declined to comment on it
 They were trying to escape
 They had decided to postpone the meeting
 CONTROL VERBS (NOT ECM)
attempted
decided
chose
She accepted to stay
refused
tried
managed
failed

 An ECM / control predicate is a transitive verb which selects as complement either a non-finite clause with a PRO-
subject, or a non-finite clause with an overt subject. This overt subject carries accusative (i.e. objective) case features
(ECM stands for exceptional case marking):
 We would like to (PRO) stay / We would like you (ECM) to stay
 She expects to win / She expects him to win
 We don’t want to upset them / We don’t want anyone to upset them
 They expect to pass the exam / They expect students to pass the exam
 They want to live together / John wants his parents to live together
 John wants to prove himself / They want John to help himself
 They want to become rich / They want their son to become a millonaire
 He wants his sons to become millonaires
 The president doesn’t want the congressmen to fight each other
 We wish you to be happy
 I prefer them (to be) on toast

 Among these verbs, intend and expect select a clausal complement whose subject can become the sentence subject in
the passive construction; but want, like, love, hate, etc. select a clausal complement whose subject cannot become the
sentence subject in the passive construction:
 They expected Peter to write those letters yesterday
 Peter was expected to write those letters yesterday
 We want /would like /would love /would hate Peter to write those letters during the week
 *Peter is / would be wanted / liked / loved / hated to write those letters...

 Some of these verbs may also select a gerundial clause as complement, but in those cases they behave exclusively
as CONTROL predicates:
 We like / love / hate / don’t mind / don’t care + visiting museums

 ECM / control verbs may also select elliptical clauses or small clauses (i.e. verbless) as complement:
 I want this (to be) done now
 We wanted it (to be) hot

ECM / CONTROL VERBS

intended
expected
wanted
We (would) like (them) to stay
(would) love
(would) hate
desired
wish ed

 Some ECM transitive verbs select as their complement exclusively non-finite or small clauses with an overt accusative subject,
that is, they do not behave as control predicates at all. These verbs can be further sub-grouped as verbs expressing subjective
opinion, performative verbs, causative verbs and verbs denoting sensory perceptions:
opinion verbs
 I knew her to be weird
 He thought it interesting to listen to the lecture
 I’ve never thought this picture (to be) mine
 They believed it (to be) true
 He believed it impossible to recover his sight
 You can't consider that ring (to be) yours
 They considered it impossible that he could explain the truth
  I judged it (to be) solved
 They found the play very interesting
 He found the articles out of hand (expensive)
sensory perception verbs
 We heard you cry / crying
 I didn’t hear him climbing the stairs
 I saw him cross the street / crossing the street
 You felt it moving under the rug
 I felt her hands tremble
causative verbs
 They made me cry
 He made her happy
 We had the walls painted
 I’ve just had my hair cut
 We had the students write an essay on religion
 Get them to finish the job
performative verbs [internal argument = small clause]:
 Someone proclaimed him our leader
 They declared me innocent
 He called me a fool
NOTE: While Generativism analyses ECM transitive verbs as two-place predicates selecting a single internal clausal argument, i.e.
a non-finite clause with exceptional case marking on its subject, or a small clause [agreement or elliptical] with exceptional case
marking on its subject), previous approaches have mistakenly analysed these verbs as transitive verbs of incomplete predication upon the
claim that they select two internal constituents instead of just one. Thus all the verbs included in the preceding lists, together with
many three-place verbs, have traditionally been thought to be followed by a so-called 'direct object' and an 'objective complement'.
Moreover, this objective complement, a separate constituent from the direct object, would bear a syntactic relation of ‘complementation’
with both the verb and the direct object. According to generativism, these two traditional constituents are in fact only one just in the
cases listed above, but they are actually two separate constituents in the cases of certain three-place verbs, such as those described
below. One way of telling the first group from true three-place verbs is to check whether the accusative nominal construction
immediately following them is itself in fact an argument of the verb, e.g. in They made me cry, ’me’ is not an argument of ‘make’; and in
We considered him our boss, ‘him’ is not an argument of ‘considered’. But rather, in both examples, the internal argument of the verb is the
whole clause following it. As for sensory perception verbs, this test may not be totally effective, therefore we can paraphrase the non-
finite clause following the verb into a finite noun clause, then check whether grammaticality is preserved and finally confirm the
meaning is the same in both cases.
Exceptional Clause
The Exceptional Clause is a structure following a monotransitive verb, which consists of a subject and a predicate linked by a non-finite
inflection node or by an agreement node. Its predicate can be realised by different categories:

NOUN  They deemed [him a hero].

ADJECTIVE  They thought [my brother very intelligent].

PRONOUN  You can’t consider [that ring yours].

INFINITIVE  I expected [them to wait].

PRESENT PARTICIPLE  I heard [him crying].
PAST PARTICIPLE  I judged [the discussion solved].

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE  I saw [the man in tears].

 Phrasal Verbs
(adapted from J. B. Heaton. PREPOSITIONS AND ADVERBIAL PARTICLES. LONGMANS , UK, 1965)

Simple Phrasal Prepositional

Intransitive  They arrived late  He stood down and let his friend be  She smiled at me
 Here comes John nominated for the post (retire) intransitive verb +
 She smiled sweetly  My cousin came back before we left prepositional complement
 We work every day intransitive V + intransitive P  I will look forward
 They looked at her  I can’t put up with him any longer (IDIOM) (to seeing him soon)
Transitive  I’ve just bought this book  Angry Joe told the cyclist off (reprove)
 He said that he liked it  The two soldiers ran the national flag up (to mark their victory)
 Can I call you tomorrow? (= raise, hoist) transitive V + intransitive P
 I want you to see it.  That picture gave him away.
Three-place  She gave Jim a nice present  Put your coat on / Put on your coat
for his birthday  We will have to put the meeting off / put off the meeting
Middle  They walked two miles
cost - last - marry - have NOTE: phrasal verbs will be dealt with in detail in Comparative Grammar

Middle Verbs
4. Traditionally, a small group of verbs have been subclassified as MIDDLE VERBS. They are transitive verbs whose
objects cannot become the subject in the passive voice. A further characteristic of some middle verbs is that the
Noun constructions realising their complements do not always carry accusative case features. Only those
complements following the verbs to marry, to resemble, to fit and to have (possessive meaning) can be realised by pronouns
with accusative case features; but when the Noun construction following the middle verb denotes a magnitude and
follows verbs like: to lack, to cost, to last, to take (time, etc.) to walk (some distance), it does not carry accusative case features. e.g.: It
takes two hours to reach the port.
Middle verbs are followed by DP’s that cannot become the subject in the passive voice:
 weigh 23 pounds
 cost 4 dollars / a lot of money V + complement of measure/magnitude
 walk 1 mile / 5 kilometers
 have 2 dollars / a house / a headache
 lack something V + direct object
 hold many people (give room to...)
 fit someone

Three–Place Verbs
Three-place verbs denote events which minimally involve three participants, therefore, they select no less than three
arguments. These verbs can be further subclassified with respect to the semantic and syntactic nature of their
arguments. Sometimes these verbs are referred to as Ditransitive verbs, but in fact this label should be restricted to a
subgroup of verbs within the more general class of predicates selecting three arguments, namely those verbs which can
take two objects carrying accusative case features.3
a) Ditransitive Verbs
External argument: agent DP subject / Internal arguments: theme DP direct object + benefactive / recipient DP / PP)
Verbs like give – hand – offer – show – etc. select two internal arguments, traditionally known as direct object and indirect object. In English
either complement can be placed first, but if the direct object comes first, the indirect object will be a prepositional phrase. Furthermore,
when the direct object is a pronoun, it cannot come at the end:
 Give me the book / Give the book to me / Give it to me / *GIVE ME IT.
 Her parents gave everything (money could buy) to her
 He showed her his credentials / Show them the map, please
 He passed me the salt / Could you pass me the salt?
 He sent me a card
 The crew handed back the passengers their passport
 The crew handed the passengers back their passports
 The crew handed the passengers their passports back

3 Most examples are taken from Andrew Radford (1997). Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English, CUP. UK
 According to Traditional grammar, on functional grounds, the Prepositional Indirect Object occurs:
o When the D.O. is realised by a pronoun (given information) and the I.O.expresses new information:
 I gave it to her. / *I gave her it.
Monotransitive Predicates: some (mono)transitive verbs can also behave ditransitively:
 He read me the letter
 He bought me a car / I bought her a gift
 He brought me a bottle
 They will get the teacher a present
 He sold me a painting
 He ordered me a taxi
 He played me a tape
 He found me a replacement
 She cooked me some food
 They baked us some beans
Just as denominal unergative verbs can be paraphrased by transitive constructions headed by light verbs such as: have, give, tell, etc.,
denominal transitive verbs can similarly be paraphrased by ditransitive constructions:
 We thanked her parents and left  He bowed his head and gave thanks
 They welcomed us  They gave us a warm welcome
 He didn’t explain anything to them  He gave no explanation to his friends
 She brushed her hair  She gave her hair a brush(ing)
NOTE: Some verbs –mostly of Latin origin– either appear to be ditransitive or share some of the characteristics of ditransitive
constructions but, insofar as their THEME argument and the prepositional to-phrase cannot swap places, they are in fact plain
monotransitive verbs followed by an adjunt of orientation:
 He said something to them / *He said them something
 I'll explain the rules to you / *I'll explain you the rules
 He whispered sweet words to her
 He recommended an analyst to her
 He admitted his guilt to her
 He announced his retirement to the press
 He mentioned the strike to his boss
 He reported the robbery to the police
o When the D.O. is realised by a CP, the prepositional to-phrase intervenes between the verb and the CP:
 They explained to us what had happened the day before
 *They explained us what had happened the day before
 I explained to them that they had to go straight ahead and turn left at the third crossing
 I recommended to them that they should resign right away
 He remarked to her that Bill was a fraud
 She suggested to him that they should try to solve the problem quietly
o When unergative verbs of emission lack an internal ‘cognate’ object, the prepositional phrase is always an adjunct:
 She won’t speak to me. / Let’s complain to the judge. / She smiles at me whenever she sees me.

b) Object-Control predicates
External argument: agent DP subject / Internal arguments: theme DP / TP / CP direct object + goal / recipient DP / PP)
In constructions with verbs of modal character, expressing command or demand, like advise, ask, persuade, remind, require, tell, etc.:
 When one of the complements is a clause it can be either a to-infinitive clause or a finite noun clause
 The empty subject of the infinitive complement clause is co-referential with the direct object to the main verb
 The indirect object to the main verb can become the sentence subject in the passive construction
 I told the boy to come back later
 The boy was told to come back later
 I told them to stay inside / She told me a story
 She persuaded me to try phoneme-free phonology
 We persuaded the students to attend the lecture
 Advertising can convince people to buy almost anything
 Someone should remind him to activate his memory bank
 The FBI advised us to bug Macdonalds
 They advised us to fire the senator
 They asked us to fire the senator
 These verbs may also select either a finite noun clause or an of PP as one of their complements:
 She reminded him that the FBI were looking for his brother
 He reminded me that I should take the books with me
 They reminded us of our duty
 They assured her that he was lying
 He assured her of his good intention
 He convinced me that he was lying
 He convinced me of the truth of what he was saying
 I warned her that he was lying
 I warned her of the perils she might be exposed to
 He persuaded me that I should do this course
 I told them that they should stay inside
 She told me where I could find the letters
Other verbs of modal character expressing enablement, permission or compulsion, like allow, enable, constrain, force, oblige, order, permit, urge,
etc. have a more restricted behaviour:
 When one of the complements is a clause, it is always a to-infinitive clause
 In the passive construction, the subject of the complement clause becomes the sentence subject
 She ordered me to clean the place
 I was ordered / urged / forced / allowed to clean the place
 He urged me to jump ahead
 They forced us to leave the camp
Verbs of ‘influencing’ may select a nonfinite clause with a purposive meaning as their second complement:
 We assisted / helped / encouraged / induced / inspired her to finish her work
 We assisted her so that she could finish her work
The following example involves ellipsis of the infinitive verb:
 He forced the group dozens of takes (before being restrained by their producer)
reduced adverbial clause of time
I.O. (GOAL) D.O. (THEME)
The verb ask may introduce a demand (pedir) or a question (preguntar):
 They asked us if we could fire the senator
 When he asked (me) ’Did you vote for Bush?’, I said no
 When he asked (me) whether I had voted for Bush, I said no
 Are you feeling better?, he asked (me)
 He asked (me) whether I was feeling better
 She asked me where to go
Promise is not an Object Control verb but a Subject-Control verb, because the subject of the embedded clause is controlled by
the external argument of the verb. That is to say, the -sometimes implicit- goal / recipient complement of the verb is not co-
referential with the subject of the clausal complement within the VP:
 Dumbo has promised to come to our party
 Dumbo has promised us to come to our party
 Dumbo has promised (that) he would come to our party
 The other day, my father fought with my mother and he threatened her to kill her sooner or later4
The verb decide can only marginally behave as a three-place verb; this occurs when its external argument is a non-agentive [–
animate] entity which refers to the cause or reason leading to the event:
 It was mainly the climate that decided us to spend our last holiday here
 What decided you to take this course?

c) Three-place locative verbs

External argument: agent DP subject / Internal arguments: patient DP direct object + goal/source PP/AdvP/CP locative compl)
 She put her keys on the table
 I put my hand on the door
 He placed the cups on the tray
 We left the books on the top shelf
 They took / stole everything from her
 Take her to the guest house / Take me there

4 The verb THREATEN may be used both as an object-control verb and as a subject-control verb.
  Show her to the guest house / Show her around
 He handed the documents over
 They brought the suspects in
 He poured the whisky slowly out (Phrasal Verb)
 He poured the whisky out slowly
 He poured out the whisky slowly
 Drive her home

Obligatory adjuncts
a) Two-place verbs selecting an obligatory adjunct realised by a prepositional construction
External argument: agent DP subject / Internal argument: accusative case DP object / PP adjunct ( for / with )
 She exchanged her ring for food
 They swaped roles
 She swaped roles with Mary
 I changed my pen for a new one
 We must substitute a new chair for the broken one
 Can you substitute for me at the meeting?
 I mistook Peter for someone else
 They searched the woods for escaped prisoners
 The woods were searched for escaped prisoners
 Escaped prisoners were searched for in the woods
 The police searched her for drugs
 They searched around for hours
 They searched (through) the drawers for the missing papers
The following transitive verbs select a prepositional phrase which functions as adjunct of reason, etc.:
 We paid little money for that car
 Nobody can blame you for the accident
 Will you pardon her for her offence?
 Will you forgive her for her wrongs?
 Let me thank you for your kindness
 He had to prescribe remedies for her illnes
Certain transitive verbs select a source PP adjunct which always occurs between the verb and its complement:
 I concluded from his fist that he was a Scot
 He learned from Superman that Louise was a pain...
 cf. He agreed with her that Jim was troubled

b) One-place ‘communication’ verbs with obligatory adjuncts realised by prepositional constructions

 You have to account to the principal for your actions
 The neighbours complained to the police about the noise
 Women complain of pressure on them to get jobs
 Peter briefed Caron on the events of the afternoon
 They implored me for mercy
 cf. I told her about our adventure
 cf. I asked somebody for help / She asked (us) for something to drink
 cf. I asked somebody to help me / She asked us to give her something to drink

NOTE: When the verb MEET behaves intransitively, it selects either (a) just a plural theme argument or (b) a singular theme
argument folowed by a compulsory adjunct of company introduced by preposition WITH. Alternatively it can behave transitively,
denoting a reciprocal state. It can be categorised as ERGATIVE with causative alternation.
a) Would you care to know what Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain had to say when they met?
b) Michael Jackson's children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, met with their court-appointed attorney,
c) Kristy Gaffney says she thought she’d found love when she met a man online.
 Resultative and Pseudo-resultative constructions
1) Transitive and Unergative verbs like pound – push – hoot – bark ... can occur in resultative constructions.
a) Resultatives with Monotransitive Verbs (similar to object-control constructions)
The resultative small clause is a GOAL/DELIMITER adjunct that takes an empty subject controlled by the object of V
External argument: agent subject / Internal argument: patient direct object + Adjunct small clause: result (goal)
 The Handsome Prince has kissed them all alive {Las revivió de/con un beso}
 He pushed the door open {Abrió la puerta de un empujón}
 We pounded the metal flat {Achatamos el metal a golpes}
 They painted the house pink / The house was painted pink
 The sun dried it yellow {Quedó amarillo al secarse al sol}
 The accusative DP following the main verb can take subject position in the passive construction:
 They’ve been all kissed alive {Fueron ‘reanimadas’ con un beso}
 The door was pushed open {puerta fue abierta de un empujón}
b) Resultatives with Unergative Verbs (similar to ECM constructions)
The resultative small clause is a GOAL/DELIMITER adjunct that takes an overt ECM subject with ACC case features
External argument: agent subject / Adjunct small clause: patient ECM ACC subjec + resulting STATEt (goal)
 He swam [himself sober]
 [The old man] was ticked [awake] by the alarm clock (Passive)
 They hooted [the actors off the stage]
c) Ergative verbs with Resultatives can alternatively behave as one- or two-place predicates:
 He’s burnt the toast black / The toast has burnt black
 The bottle broke open
 The acid turned the paper red / cf. The paper turned red
2) Pseudo-resultatives contain an obligatory manner adjunct (an A/N small clause) instead of an actual result:
 The butcher has cut the meat very thin
 That taylor hasn’t cut my coat right
 She has wanted to name the baby Colleen
 They elected Bob president of the company and then we crowned him king
 She was voted MOST PROMISING NEW ACTRESS by the London theatre critics
 They appointed her what she had always wanted to be