Search results for 'tag:Nominative tag:Constructions' matching tags 'Nominative' and 'Constructions'

Re: passive voice

Huevos — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:22:52 GMT

Goodman
How would you classify this sentence then?

Goodman, your sentences are active voice. Their construction is: subject + linking verb (to be), + a noun phrase (predicate nominative). The passive voice, on the other hand, is formed thus: subject + verb to be + past participle of the lexical verb.

Re: Alex, Fabby and I

Philip — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:26:07 GMT

Grammatical rule, convention or politeness, it makes little difference to me. It has been my understanding for more than 60 years in the U.S. that if other people are involved, we place I after the others in the nominative and me after the others in the objective. I do know, however, that our linguistic brothers and sisters to the north often use constructions such as me and my mum went to the movies.

Re: nominative and objective pronouns.......confusing!

Huevos — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:31:44 GMT

Avangi
But "Than" is not.

I wasn't using the "after-preposition rule" to support this construction. Use here is open to opinion. "She is taller than I" is presciptivist, whereas "she is taller than me" is the overwelming choice of the language's native speakers. The question is how deep rooted does a use have to become before conservative prescriptivists accept it as part of the language.

By the way which version is your King James of choice?

Re: nominative and objective pronouns.......confusing!

Huevos — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:58:34 GMT

Avangi
What might the implied verb be?

Avangi, I don't want to get into that with this sentence. For the reason why, read my point to Raen below. "Like" is a preposition so follows that rule.

But to give you an idea what I mean about implied verb...

She is taller than me.
She is taller than I am.

Some people say "She is taller than I" but my recommendation is to leave that construction for the pretentious and supercilious, (maybe I'm just too much of an Alfred P. Doolittle to use it).

Raen
So it's always "between you and me" no matter where this expression sits in a sentence?

"Between" is a preposition. Pronouns that follow prepositions are always in the accusative case, not nominative. It's a rule, not a matter of opinion. Here are some examples that wrongly use the nominative.

He wrote a book about she.

The girl passed between he and I.

The bullet passed through he.

The waiter spilt orange juice on she.

Everyone caught the train except I.

Their father ordered the meal for they.

Re: nominative and objective pronouns.......confusing!

Huevos — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:05:16 GMT

Anonymous
You make errors even as you discuss errors!
1. You link singular "someone" with plural "they";
2. Childrens' is wrong;
3. "than me" should be "than I"!

Scary.

George

Argumentum ad hominem!

Go and read some Causer or Shakespeare. This construction is over 500 years old. Although many 19th century grammars shunned it, almost all 21st century models have embraced it once again.
Just a typo. No need for a personal attack. What's the big deal anyway, it wasn't the subject of the discussion.
To the conserative prescriptivist yes, but for the majority of English speakers that 19th construction has fallen from favour.

Re: nominative absolute clause..

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:39:35 GMT

Yes, it is. This is otherwise referred to in grammar as ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION. By definition, it is a reduced adjective or adverb clause that functions as sentence modifier indicating time and causality. This type of construction is commonly used more in writing than in speaking. I hope I've been able to help you in this matter.

Re: account for

26TMNTJG2PG — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:38:10 GMT

Taka
I've found this example:

These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, bringing out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment.

Isn't this the same as:

These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, and they have brought out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment.

?

These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, bringing out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment.

bringing out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists - This participial phrase is a nominative absolute phrase preceded by a 'they' which is understood with its non-finite verb 'bringing' having the finite equivalent 'bring'. The comma there has the function of joining two independent clauses and if you invoke such function, the new sentence will be "These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, and they bring out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment."

The finite verb 'have brought' has its non-finite equivalent as 'having brought'. On the same basis, the construction with a nominative absolute phrase for the sentence below

"These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, and they have brought out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment."

should be

"These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, having brought out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment."

HAND HTH

Re: forms of "be"

Mister Micawber — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:51:11 GMT

The uses of be are numerous, Sunilghai:

âverb (used without object)

1.	to exist or live: Shakespeare's âTo be or not to beâ is the ultimate question.

2.	to take place; happen; occur: The wedding was last week.

3.	to occupy a place or position: The book is on the table.

4.	to continue or remain as before: Let things be.

5.	to belong; attend; befall: May good fortune be with you.

6.	(used as a copula to connect the subject with its predicate adjective, or predicate nominative, in order to describe, identify, or amplify the subject): Martha is tall. John is president. This is she.

7.	(used as a copula to introduce or form interrogative or imperative sentences): Is that right? Be quiet! Don't be facetious.

âauxiliary verb

8.	(used with the present participle of another verb to form the progressive tense): I am waiting.

9.	(used with the present participle or infinitive of the principal verb to indicate future action): She is visiting there next week. He is to see me today.

10.

(used with the past participle of another verb to form the passive voice): The date was fixed. It must be done.

11.

(used in archaic or literary constructions with some intransitive verbs to form the perfect tense): He is come. Agamemnon to the wars is gone.

Is this sentential construction correct?

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:26:37 GMT

Hi,

Please tell me how can that this partial sentence with the underlined part be correct? Why doesn't it have something like 'with' in front of it?

A sickle in one hand and a saw in the other, sweat stinging the scratches on my arms, I glared at the weeds and ...

And, in a post titled "nominative absolute clause..", paco wrote on Feb. 13, 2006, wite this in an answer to sharad's post:

Because/When/As his feet had been decimated by the Spartans, he decided to head back to Athens. =His feet (having been) decimated by the Spartans, he decided to head back to Athens. = His feet decimated by the Spartans, he decided to head back to Athens.

You can take "being", "having", or "having been" from participle clauses.

Would you say that his last sentence can be rewritten as:

You can take out "being", "having", or "having been" from participle clauses"?

Re: The infinitive "to be"

CalifJim — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:34:32 GMT

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 clause is expressed with an infinitive. He helps us >> him to help us.
The final, correct form of I want (He helps us) is I want him to help us.

When the subject of want is the same as the subject of the complement clause, the subject in the complement clause is deleted:

I want (I am a doctor) >> I want me to be a doctor >> I want me to be a doctor >> I want to be a doctor.

In the same way:

She wants (She is happy) >> She wants her to be happy >> She wants ~~her~~ to be happy. >> She wants to be happy.

In the first of these a doctor is a predicate noun/nominative, as you say. And in the second, happy is a predicate adjective, as you say.
___________

The other pattern is quite different. is/are/was/were to be is a semi-modal construction with an idiomatic meaning. The whole pattern (in brackets below) can be analyzed as a verb phrase.

She [is to be] a doctor.

CJ