Transitivity

Transitivity types

There are five transitivity patterns in English. These patterns reflect the number and kinds of complements and other complements required by different types of verbs.

English transitivity patterns
(S = subject, V = verb, O = object, Oⁱ = indirect object, O^d = direct object, PC = predicative complement)

The subject

The form of the subject is dependent on the verb. This is because the meaning of the verb dictates what kind of subject is possible. Consider the following sentences and note that whereas the verb depend can take a subordinate clause as its subject, the verb looks requires a noun referring to a colour or another reference to appearance (for example, stripes) as its subject.

Because the subject depends on the verb, we can say that subjects are complements to the verb. An important difference between subjects and other complements is that subjects are outside the verb phrase. For this reason, subjects are sometimes called external complements of the verb phrase. The following discussion identifies the main properties of English subjects.

Basic position

In a basic clause the subject always comes before the VP.

Subject-auxiliary inversion

In a couple of non-basic clause types, especially in interrogatives, the subject appears after the auxiliary.

Case marking on subject pronouns

Case is the marking for grammatical role within the noun phrase. In Old English, case was marked on many elements within the noun phrase and was an important indicator of the structure of the clause. In Modern English case is no longer very central and we rely on word order to a much greater extent. Word order in Old English was much freer than it is in Modern English. The only area of the grammar of Modern English in which case is evident is the pronoun system. We can distinguish between subjects and objects by examining the form of the pronouns. The following table shows the Modern English personal pronoun paradigm.

The English personal pronoun paradigm

Try substituting pronouns for the subject and object noun phrases in the following sentences and note how the pronouns are distributed.

Verb agreement

In the present tense, English verbs (excluding the modal auxiliaries) show agreement with third person singular subjects. This is apparent if we change the person and number of the subject in the examples below.

The object

Let's start by summarising the information about objects we've covered in passing so far:

• an object, like a subject, is dependent on the verb

• an object (unlike the subject) is part of the verb phrase

• an object is often (though not always) a noun phrase

• pronouns functioning as objects are in the accusative case

• in basic clauses the object comes after the verb

Direct and indirect objects

In English there are some verbs that can take two objects (send, make, and give, for example). These verbs form ditransitive clauses. In these clauses, we can distinguish two types of object: direct (O^d) and indirect (Oⁱ). The direct object is the one most involved in the action. The indirect object is less involved – it often has the semantic role of recipient or beneficiary. Consider the following examples.

In many (but not all) cases it is possible to refer to the indirect object using a prepositional phrase. Note that in this construction the direct object is back next to the verb. Recipients are introduced by the preposition to and beneficiaries are introduced by the preposition for.

Predicative complements

Besides subjects and objects, verbs take an additional type of complement called a predicative complement (PC). The verbs which allow predicative complements in English include: be, seem, and appear among others.

Predicative complements versus objects

Predicative complements have the function of providing additional information about another entity in the clause – they do not refer to a new entity. Consider the following examples using verbs that have different meanings with either objects or predicative complements:

In the examples above, adjectives are used as PCs but it is also possible to use noun phrases in this function:

A useful test for determining whether a form is a predicative complement or not is to try and form the passive:

Subjective and objective predicative complements

In the above examples, the predicative complements all refer to the subject but it is also possible for a predicative complement to refer to an object (although this may not sound particularly natural to speakers of all varieties of Modern English). Consider the examples below.

Adjuncts

Adjuncts are not required by the verb. As a result there is a relatively large amount of freedom involved in their distribution. There is also quite a wide variety of semantic and syntactic types of structures that can be used as adjuncts.

Semantic types of adjunct

Examples of some of the different types of adjuncts found in English are listed below.

Semantic types of adjuncts in English

Categories that act as adjuncts

The types of grammatical structures that can function as adjuncts are listed below.

Grammatical structures of adjuncts

Modifiers and supplements

One final distinction that needs to be made within the category of adjuncts is between modifiers and supplements. This distinction reflects what relationship the adjunct has to the rest of the clause.

Modifiers are constituents of the clause or of one of its phrases. This is reflected in the prosody of the clause and possibly also in their position.

Supplements are external to the clause, occurring only at the periphery, and with a clear prosodic break; they provide commentary on the sentence as a whole.