Descriptive grammar

Lecture 7

dr Kinga Sądej

4 April 2009

Multi-word verbs

LEXICAL VERB + PARTICLE(S)

Lexical verb + adverb =

phrasal verbs,

e.g.

The plane has taken off

Lexical verb + preposition =

prepositional verb

, e.g.

The people looked at the picture.

Lexical verb + adverb + preposition =

phrasal-prepositional verb

,

e.g. I can’t put up with your rudness anymore.

Phrasal verbs

1. Intransitive

He’s

playing around

.

The plane has

taken off

.

When will they

give in

?

2. Transitive

We will

set up

a new company.

They

broke down

the door

.

He

rang up

all the friends he had made on the cruise the previous summer.

3. Transitive or intransitive

Terrorist have

blown up

the power station.

The power station has

blown up

.

They

broke down

the door to rescue the child.

Her health

broke down

under the strain.

Prepositional verbs

Type I (lexical verb + preposition)

The people

looked at

these pictures

[prepositional object]

These pictures were

looked at

by many people.

People

looked

disdainfully

at

these pictures. (unlike Od)

At

what did the people

look

?

At

these pictures.

People

looked at

these pictures

and

at

those sculptures.

People looked more carefully

at these

pictures

than

at

those sculptures.

We must

go into

the problem.

I

approve of

their action.

look into, call for, come by, touch on, deal with, see to, etc.

Prepositional verbs

Type II (lexical verb + object + prepositional object)

He

deprived

the peasants

of

their land.

>> The peasants were

deprived of

their land.

§

They

robbed

her

of

her necklace.

>> She was

robbed of

her necklace.

May I

remind

you

of

our agreement?

He

talked

me

into

accepting the job.

Someone may have

set fire to

the forest deliberately.

I have

lost touch with

most of my school friends.

Prepositional verbs vs. free combinations

1. The prepositional object can be made the subject of a

corresponding passive clause, e.g.
We

called on

the dean.

We

called after

lunch.

The dean was

called on

.

*Lunch was

called after

.

(the preposition is

stranded

)

2.

Wh

-questions eliciting the prepositional object are formed with the

pronouns

who(m)

and

what

rather than with adverbial questions, e.g.

Who(m) did we

call on

?

When did we

call

?

3. Prepositional objects can be conjoined, e.g.

We called

on the dean

and

on the vice-chancellor

.

Prepositional verbs vs. phrasal verbs

1. The particle of a prepositional verb must precede the prepositional object, but the

particle of a phrasal verb can generally precede or follow the Od, e.g.

She

called on

her friends.

She

called up

her friends

*She

called

her friends

on

.

She

called

her friends

up

.

2. When the object is a personal pronoun, the pronoun follows the particle of a

prepositional verb but precedes the particle of a phrasal verb, e.g.

She

called on

them.

She

called

them

up

.

*She

called

them

on

.

*She

called up

them.

3. An adverb can often/potentially be inserted between verb and particle in prepositional

verbs, but not in phrasal verbs, e.g.

She

called

angrily

on

her friends.

*She

called

angrily

up

her friends.

Prepositional verbs vs. phrasal verbs

4. The particle of a phrasal verb cannot precede a relative pronoun or

wh

-

interrogative, e.g.

The friends

on

whom she

called

.

*The friends

up

whom she

called

.

On

which friends did she

call

?

*

Up

which friends did she

call

?

5. The particle of a verb phrase is normally stressed, and in final position normally

bears the nuclear tone, whereas the particle of a prepositional verb is normally
unstressed and functions as the tail (nuclear tone falls on the lexical verb of the
prepositional verb), e.g.

Which friends did she CALL on?

Which friends did she call UP?

I wouldn’t dream of asking you to do it.

We never heard from them again.

The sun came out and I dozed off.

Please let me out.

Prepositional verbs vs. phrasal verbs

Some verb + particle combinations can function as both phrasal and
prepositional verbs, e.g. turn on, get over, come across, but the
meanings are different.

His former allies

turned on

him.

Let’s

turn on

the light.

[prepositional verb]

[phrasal verb]

She will never

get over

the shock. I want to

get

my operations

over

.

I

came across

some old letters.

Her voice

comes across

well.

Phrasal-prepositional verbs

1.

Their neighbours

look down on

them.

>> They’re

looked down on

by their neighbours.

>> Who do their neighbours

look down on

?

2. We can

put

our success

down to

hard work.

>> Our success can be

put down to

hard work.

>> What can they

put

their success

down to

?

Semantics of multi-word verbs

A. Non-idiomatic
Temperatures

went up

yesterday.

Put up

your umbrella; it’s starting to rain.

B. Semi-idiomatic

Don’t foget to

lock up

the house before going on holiday.

The sound of thunder

died away

.

C. Fully idiomatic

That child

catches on

quickly.

She can

run up

a dress in an hour on that machine.



Exercise

Verb complementation

ø, subject complement, adverbial :

intransitive

one object:

monotransitive

two objects:

ditransitive

object + object complement:

complex-transitive

Intransitive verbs

John has

arrived

.

It’s

snowing

.

She

blushed

.

The National Theatre

stands

near the river.

She’s

reading

(a book).

They’re

saving

(money) to buy a house.

John

drinks

coffee every day. (John

drinks

)

Intransitive: copular verbs

be, seem, become, appear, feel, look, smell, sound, taste, get,

grow, prove, turn, turn out, remain, go, stand, lie, stay, keep.

The city by night

looked

cosmopolitan.

We have to

remain

optimistic about the results.

His latest novel has

become

a best-seller.

The show

turned out

a success after all.

The child

fell

flat on its face.

The soldiers

fell

asleep.

Monotransitive verbs

1. Complementation by a finite clause, e.g.

I hope

(that) he arrives soon

.

It is hoped

(that) he arrives soon

.

2. Complementation by an extraposed subject

that

-clause, e.g.

It seems

(that) you are mistaken

.

3. Interrogative clause as object, e.g.

I don’t know

if we can get there in time

.

Monotransitive verbs

4. Non-finite clauses as direct object:

Wh

-infinitive, e.g.

The Curies discovered

how to isolate radioactive elements

.

Subjectless infinitive clause, e.g Ruth prefers

to go by bus

.

Subjectless –

ing

participle, e.g. They like

talking about their job

.

To

-infinitive clause with subject, e.g.

Charles wants

you to stand for election

.

-

ing

participle clause with subject, e.g.

I hate

their / them gossiping about our colleagues

.

Complex-transitive verbs

1. Direct object and object complement
She considered

her mother

a sensible woman

.

>>

Her mother

was considered (by her)

a sensible woman

.

The long walk made

us

hungry

.

He took

me

for a fool

.

I think

it

odd

that nobody came

. (extraposed object)

Complex-transitive verbs

2. Direct object and adjunct (SVOA):

I slipped

the key

into the lock

.

3. Direct object and to-infinitive clause:

John believed

the stranger

to be a policeman

.

4. Direct object and bare infinitive clause:

The crowd saw

him

score two goals

.

5. Direct object and –

ing

participle clause:

I saw

him

lying on the grass

.

6. Direct object and past participle clause:

Someone must have seen

the car

stolen

.

She had

the car

cleaned

.

Ditransitive verbs

1. Noun phrases as both indirect and direct object: He gave

the girl

a doll

.

2. Object and prepositional object: We addressed

our remarks

to the children

.

3. Indirect object and

that

-clause object:

Natalie convinced

David

that she was right

.

4. Prepositional object and

that

-clause object:

Philip recommended

(to me)

that I buy whisky

.

5. Indirect object and

wh

-clause object:

Martin asked

me

what time the meeting would end

.

6. Indirect object and

to

-infinitive object: I persuaded

Martin

to see a doctor

.

Adjective complementation

1. by a prepositional phrase: He is good

at maths

.

2. by a finite clause

We were confident

that Karen was still alive

.

I was doubtful

whether I should stay

.

3. by an –

ing

participle clause

I’m busy

getting the house redecorated

.

Adjective complementation

4. by a

to

-infinitive clause

Bob is splendid

to wait

.

Bob is slow

to react

.

Bob is sorry

to hear that

.

Bob is willing

to agree with you

.

Bob is hard

to convince

.

The food is ready

to eat

.

It is important

to be accurate

.