Chapter  II   SENTENCE(S)


Lesson  10   Verb Patterns

 10-1  [Three Verb Patterns] 
     Verbs are of two kinds.  One kind is made up of one word and can stand alone, while the other is always made up of two or more words.
      (1)    A full moon rose.
      (2)    a. *I have.
             b.  I have a headache.
The word "rose" in (1) can be called a verb(V) alone, because it completes in meaning by itself.  The word "have" in (2a), however, can not be called a verb(V) because it is not complete in itself.  Back in 5-2, we named this kind of word a verbalizer, VZ.
     Some verbalizers can be complete only when they go with two words or phrases.
      (3) a. *I gave.
          b. *I gave her.
          c.  I gave her a doll.
      (4) a. *He put.
          b. *He put a kettle.
          c.  He put a kettle on the fire.
     To sum up, there are three verb patterns in English.
         <Three Verb Patterns(to be revised)>
      (5)a. V             (0 slot)        (ex. rise)
         b. VZ + X        (1 slot)        (ex. have + X)
         c. VZ + Y + Z    (2 slots)       (ex. give + Y + Z)
 10-2  [Seven Verb Patterns] 
     If we examine the verb patterns in (5), we find:
      (i) Y is always a noun(N).                        
     (ii) X and Z can be a noun(N), an adjective(A) or an adverb(AD).
This means that the three verb patterns in (5) can be revised in the following seven verb patterns.
         <Seven Verb Patterns(revised)>


 10-3  [Diagrams] 
      (7)      (rose)
                 V1
                 |
                 V
               (rose)

      (8)      (have a bad headache/became a pianist)
                     V2
                     
              CVT[VZ]    N
          (have/became)  (a bad headache/a pianist)

      (9)      (looks happy)
                     V3
                     
              CVT[VZ]     A
              (looks)   (happy)

      (10)      (live in Boston)
                     V4
                     
              CVT[VZ]    AD
              (live)    (in Boston)

      (11)      (gave her a doll/called it Blacky)
                      V5
                    |   
            CVT[VZ]   N      N
      (gave/called) (her/it) (a doll/Blacky)

      (12)      (found the room empty)
                      V6
                    |   
            CVT[VZ]   N      A
           (found) (the room) (empty)

      (13)      (put it over here)
                      V7
                    |   
            CVT[VZ]   N     AD
             (put)   (it)   (over here)
 10-4  [Versatile Verbalizers] 
     A verbalizer(VZ) may belong to more than one verb pattern.
      (14) a.  Mary kept a diary.       (VZ+N)
           b.  Mary kept quiet.         (VZ+A)
           c.  Mary kept her room neat and tidy.  (VZ+N+A)
           d.  Mary kept her jewelry in a cookie jar.  (VZ+N+AD)
These examples show that the verbalizer "keep" actually has four different meanings; so it has four verb patterns.
     Another example.
    (15) a.  Nobody could read and write there.        (V)
         b.  Do you often write home?                  (V)
         c.  The child wrote a big "M" on the road.    (VZ+N)
         d.  This pen writes well.                     (VZ+AD)

Copyright(C) 2004 Masaya Oba. All rights reserved.