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 Foreign Language
Success Strategies

First Edition, Volume I: August 2006  

Part II- English Language Grammar Primer & Exercises

TRANSITIVE VERBS
Subject + Verb + Direct Object (NP + VP + NP)

The transitive verb (Vt) transmits action to a direct object. The definition of a direct object (DO) is a noun, pronoun, or noun equivalent that receives the main verb’s action (S + Vt + DO).
Examples: College students drink beer. (Beer is receiving the action of drinking (DO)).
My uncle likes running. (Running is receiving the action of liking (DO)).


Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object (NP + VP + NP + NP)

The transitive verb may have another noun, pronoun, or indirect object (IO), to receive the direct object. The definition of an indirect object is a noun, pronoun, or noun equivalent that receives the direct object
(S + Vt + IO + DO).

Example: She mailed me a letter bomb. (She did not mail me; she mailed a letter bomb.)


Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement (NP + VP + NP + NP/ADJ)

The object complement describes or renames the direct object. The object complement (OC) may be a descriptive adjective or a noun that renames the direct object. (S + Vt + DO + OC)

Examples: She called him on the phone. (S + V + DO)
She called him a bucket-head. (S + V + DO + OC; him = bucket-head)


Note: Almost every sentence, no matter how complex, falls into one of five basic sentence patterns. When you are trying to determine sentence structure, identify the main verb or verb phrase, then the noun phrase(s). Keep in mind that phrases that only describe or modify, such as prepositional phrases, are not part of the basic sentence structure.

Examples: That doctor is buying a mansion.
That doctor with the funny name is buying a mansion on a hill.
That doctor with the funny name is buying a mansion on a hill in a suburb of Athens.

Joke:
Speaker A: “Make me a sandwich.”
Speaker B: “Poof, you’re a sandwich.”

Ok, so the joke’s not funny, but the various sentence types make the joke possible. The problem is that the sentence: “Make me a sandwich.” can be interpreted two different ways: the intended way (S + V + IO + DO), or the unintended way (S + V + DO + OC). The direct object makes all the difference in the world!



INTRANSITIVE VERBS

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