By Direct objects, Constructions

Hi,I'm really enjoying this. You're making me think. I'm going to take your points out of sequence. I think I'm still replying to your post; if I misrepresent what you're saying, please correct me. First, the summary of what I'm going to say: A lot depends on theory, and...

It appears to be, I agree However, if you diagram the sentence in the traditional linear style, the verb 'expect' has two direct objects: the phrase 'your work to be perfect' and the clause 'just that you try your best'. It isn't parallel construction, but the...

No, Jim, I really meant an adjective, as in "I'm happy to see you".happy to see you = predicative (or subject complement if you wish); adjectival construction.happy = head of the predicativeto see you = to-infinitive clause acting as "adjectival complement" (which means...

In response to the questions posed in the first post of this thread, "the officer" is NOT the subject of the sentence regardless of whether the sentence is active or passive. "The officer" is undoubtedly the doer of the action in both sentences, but it is the subject only in...

The list isn't meant to be exhaustive or carefully arranged. Any additions, corrections or further examples would be welcomed. 1 main verbs; lexical verbs (all verbs which are not auxiliaries or modals) 2 action verbs; event verbs; dynamic verbs (a verb which can be used in...

The bed is not the direct object. A direct object will never be in a prepositional phrase. Apologies for misleading.You are right. The introductory 'there' doesn't fit grammatically with the rest of the sentence.

Thank you for replying. "The bed" is the direct object? Really? I would've thought it an adverbial, since it answers the question 'Where?' Any chance you could explain what it is that makes it the direct object?So "there" can't be a subject. Got it. Is it...

"It lay a dog on the bed" does attempt, unsuccessfully, to make 'it' the subject. The prepatory 'there' is never the subject of a sentence. "There was a dog lying on the bed." In this sentence the dog is the subject, because this is what the verb is happening...

#1 and #2 are bare infinitives; they are object complements (of the direct objects him and us respectively).#3 is the -ing participle construction serving the same function (object complement of them).Yes, infinitives can serve various functions: object (I want to go), subject (To dance well is...

Your questions reveal the limitations of the traditional technical vocabulary for discussing grammatical structures! You can think of infinitives as a direct objects of the verb want. On the other hand, want takes a clause as its complement. I want (He helps us). But the complement...