Reading Unit 1

\
GRAMMAR I
OFTHE
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
Randolph Quirk
Sidney Greeribaum
Sentences
Geoffrey Leech
2.11 It is usually assumed that the SENTENCE is the highest-ranking unit of
Jan Svartvik
grammar, and hence that the purpose of a grammatical description ofEnglish
. is to define, by means of whatever descriptive apparatus may be necessary
(rules, categories, etc), what counts as a grammatical sentence in English. In
this way, the terms 'grammar' and 'sentence' are mutually defining. In the
Index by David Crystal
past, grammarians have aimed to define 'sentence' as a prerequsite to
defining 'grammar', or to define 'grammar' as a means of defining sentence.
But both approaches will be avoided here: indeed, neither of these tcmlS can
be given a clear-cut definition. The sentence is an indeterminll\e unit in the
sense that it is often difficult to decide, particularly in spoken language,
where one sentence ends and another begins (cf19.29jj). The term 'grammar'
is indeterminate in the sense that 'What counts as a grammatical English
sentence?' is not always a question which permits a decisive answer; and this
is not only because of the difficulty of segmenting a discourse into sentences
but because questions of grammatical acceptability inevitably become
.......
involved with questions of meaning, with questions of good or bad style, with
1

questions of lexical acceptability, with questions of acceptability in context,
PIlPIIIIII
i
'IIIIIIIlI'" etc. To give a realistic presentation of English grammar, we therefore have
" '!
to abandon neat I;loundaries, and to accept that grammar is a linguistic 'core'

. round which other aspects oflinguistic organization and usage are integrated .
London ald New York
Our intention, therefore, is to take a broad interpretation of grammar, which
will enable us to give an account of other factors, especially meaning, which
impinge on the discussion of grammatical rules and categories.
p:
The CLAUSE, particularly the independent clause (cf14.2), is in many ways
a more clearly-defined unit than the sentence. It is for this reason that we
shaJl concentrate, in this and the following nine chapters, on the SIMPLE
SENTENCE (ie the sentence consisting of a single independent clause) as the
most central part of gramrnar. We shall use the term MULTIPLE SENTENCE
(subsuming complex and compound sentences) (cf14.lff) for all sentences
I
which consist of more than one clause, either through subordination or
. ji6iIM""". til!i!PlliMD(%WlUf .
, ,.-.nN!Ii.... ""l"" ", .._24$. a dO
2.12
48 A survey of English grammar
through coordination. Thus the limits of the English sentence are defined, in
practice, wherever grammatical re1ations (such as those of subordination and
coordnaton) cannot be established between c1auses. Such relations, and
their limits, are explored in later chapters, particularly Chapters 13, 14, and
19.
Form and function
We have indicated how grammatcal categories may be identified through
relationships of choice (or substitution) between constituents. In the simple
cases of examples 2.6 [l] and [2], repeated here as [1] and [2], we recognized
four positions in the clause where different kinds of phrase can occur:
The weather} {has been} {ver
y
COld} {just recentl
y
} [1]
lt was cold recently [2}
{
But to describe more fuHy how c1auses are composed of phrases, it is
necessary to take account of other factors, eg whether a constituent may vary
its position (MOBILITY), and whether a constituent can be omitted (omoN
ALlTY). In both these respects, the adverb phrases of[1] and [2] are different
from the other phrases:
The weather has been very coldjust recently. [1]
Just recentiy, the weather has been very cold. [1 a]
The weather has been very wld. [1 b]
Another observation about the adverb phrase is that it may be replaced by a
different kind of constituent, which is similarly optional and mobile. For
example, a noun phrase such as this month or a prepositional phrase such as
during the past week may be a substitute for just recently in (1] and [la]:
[1]
just recently.
(lcJ
The weather has been very cold this month.
{
during the past week.
[1 dJ
On the other hand, we obviously cannot always replace a noun phrase by an
adverb phrase or by a prepositional phrase:
Ths month has been very cold.
[4]
*Just recently has been very cold.
[5]
*During the past week has been very cold.
That is, noun phrases are in a 'choice' relation to other kinds of phrase on
sorne occasions, but not on others.
In order to state more complieated faets of eonstitueney such as these, it is
important to distinguish two ways of elassifying constituents. We may
classify a unt either on the basis of its FORM (eg its intemal strueture, as a
noun phrase, or as a verb phrase), or on the basis of its FUNCTION (eg as a
subjeet or an objeet of a c1ause). By funetion is meant a unit's 'privilege of
occurrenee', in terms of its position, mobility, optionality, etc, in the unit of
". ~
Clause structure 49
which it is a constituent. Two units which have the same privilege of
occurrence may be said to be FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVALENT. Thus the final
phrases of (1], (le], and [Id], although they belong to different formal
eategories (adverb phrase, noun phrase, prepositional phrase), may be said
to belong to the same functional category of ADVERBIAL. Such categories
define ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURE in the higher unt, which in this case is a
clause. An adverbial, generallyspeaking, is distinguished from other elements
by its variable position (for example, initial, medial, or final in the clause),
by its optionality, and by the faet that the number of adverbials which can
occur in a clause is not fixed.
The advantage of distinguishing functional from formal categories is that
generalizations of two kinds can be made: those about a unit's status as a
constituent of a higher unt, and those about its internal structure in terms of
smaller or lower units. In sorne cases (eg prepostons; cf2.29) the distinction
is unimportant, but in other cases it is important and indeed necessary. For
example, t is important to distinguish those prepositional phrases which act
as adverbials from those which act as parts of noun phrases. It is also
important to distinguish aduerbials (a functional category) from aduerb
phrases (a formal category, whose members frequent1y function as adverbials).
Here, as elsewhere, we trust that the advantage of using traditional and
widely-understood terms outweighs any danger of confusion.
Note A FORMAL c1assification takes account of how a unit is composed ofsmaller units or components,
inc1uding, in the case of words, stems and affixes. Since English often lacks formal indicators of
word class. we often identify words by their function rather than their formo
Clause structure
Central and peripheral elements of the clause
2.13 The form-function distinetion is particularly important in the case of c\ause
structure, which we shaH now discuss in sorne detail as the most familiar and
important illustration of functional c\assification. To describe the consti
tueney of clauses, we need to distinguish the following elements of c\ause
structure:
SUBJECT (S), VERB (V), OBJECT (O), COMPLEMENT (C), and ADVERBIAL (A).
These are exemplified in the following simple dec1arative sentenees:
Someone (S] was laughing [V] loudly [A] in the next room [A].
My mother [8] usually [A) enjoys [V} parties (O] very much [AJ. (2J
In 1945 [A] the country [S] became [V] totally independent [e]. [3)
1[8] have been [V] in the garden [A] aH the time [A] since lunch [A). (4)
Mary [S] gave [V] the visitor [O] a glass ofmlk [O]. (5]
Most people [S] consider [V] these books [O] rather expensive [e],
actually (A]. [6J
You {S] must put [V] al! the toys [O] upstairs [AJ immediately [A].
At the smplest level, we may make the following generalizations about
50 A survey of Engllsh grammar
c\ause structures from these ex.amples. The verb element (V) is the most
'central' element, and in al! the examples aboye it is preceded by the subject
(8). Following the verb there may be one or two objects (O), or a complement
(C), which follows the object if one is presento The most peripheral element
is the adverbial, whch can occur either initially (in front of the subject, as in
[31), or finally (after the verb, andafter the object or complement if one is
present, as in [IJ, [4), and [6]). Many adverbials, however, may also occur
medially, as in [2J. A c\ause may contain a varied numberof final adverbials;
eg none [5J, one [2}, two [7J, three [4J. These observations are summarized in
the simplified formula:
(A) 8 (A) V (O) (O) (C) (A ...)
(As elsewhere, parentheses signal elements which may or may not be present
in any given c\ause.) As a first approximation, this indicates something of
the variability of c1ause structures in declarative clauses, although it will
need later modification (efNotes [a) and lb]).
The distinction between 'centre' and 'periphery' is relatve rather than
absolute. The verb element is the most 'central' element in that (i) its position
is normally medial rather than inital or final; (ii) it is normally obligatory;
(iii) it cannot normally be moved to a different position in the c\ause; and
(iv) it helps to determine what other elements must occur (ef2.16ff). For the
opposite reasons, adverbials are the most peripheral elements: (i) their
position is most frequently final; (ii) they are usually optional; (iii) they are
m0
st
ly mobile; and (iv) they do not determine what other elements occur.
Thf:'y 111i1.y be regarded, from a structural point of view, largely as 'optional
ex.tras', which may be added at will, so that it s nor possible to give an eX:lct
limit to the number of adverbials a clause may contain. The other elements,
subject, object, and complement, are in varous degrees more peripheral than
the verb, and less peripheral than the adverbial.
[aJ Although in [1-7J the subject is apparently just as indispensable to clause strueture as the
Note
verb, it will be noted that in imperative and nonfinite clauses the subject is usually optional (el
2.57, 11.24[, 14.6ff). There is also a calegory of clauses in whieh the verb is omitted (verbless
clauses; el 14.9), bul this is a less significant cttegory than those of imperative and nonfinite
clauses.
(bJ The aboye generalizalions will, of course, be subjeet 10 modification when we consder a
wider range of c!auses, particularly subordinate and nondeclarative elauses. For example,
elemenls other than adverbials have a limiled mobilily; on movement of subjects, el 2.48; of
verbs, 18.8/; of objeets and complements, 18.20, 18.37, 18.38.
[e]lt is unfortunate that traditional1y the word verb does service both for a clause element, and
for the class of word which occurs as a constituent of thal elemento For example, in the former
sense mus! pUl in [7J is a verb, and in Ihe latter sense, musl and pUl are verbs individually (el
2.27). The lerm 'predicator' has been sometimes used to re place 'verb' in the sense of 'verb
element', bu! for lack of a familiar altemative, we shall eontinue to use verb in bolh senses,
distinguishing between verbs as elements and verbs as words where there is sorne risk of
confusion. ln yet another sense (el 2.35) verb designates a basic verb form, or LEXICAL ITEM,
whieh is manifested in different morphemes or morpheme eombinations; eg: hove, having, and
had are aH forms of the lexical item HAVE. (A similar polysemy applies to other word elasses,
particu!arly nouns).
A 'fixed word-order language'
"- _n.:"'t. .... + .......... .... 'l'lfP
Clause structure 51
may observe that in example [21 usually can be moved to initial or final
position:
My mother usually enjoys parties very mucho [8 A V O [2]
Usually my mother enjoys parties very mucho [A 8 V O Al [lal
My mother enjoys parties very much, usually. [8 V O A Al [2bl
However, the other elements cannot be similarly moved from their 8 V O
sequence:
*Usual1y enjoys parties my mother very mucho [A V O S A]
*Enjoys usually my mother parties very mucho [V A 8 O Al
*My mother parties usually enjoys very mucho (S O A V Al
The fact that these orders, and many others of the same elements, do not
readily occur, helps to explain why English is commonly described as a 'fixed
word-order language'. In practice, discussion of word order in languages
tends to revolve around the ordering of phrases which are clause elements,
and it is notable, ror instance, that in English the positions of subject, verb,
and object are relatively fixed. In declarative clauses, they occur regularly in
the order 8 V O, unless there are particular conditions {ror example, the
initial placing oC the object pronoun in relative clauses) which lead to a
disturbance of this order. Further conditions allow variations of this
declarative order (for example, Parties my mother usually enjoys very much is
a possible, though less usual, variant of [2]); these will be discussed in 2.59
and 18.20.
It is enough to state here that English does indeed have strict limitations
on the ordering of clause elements, but that the more peripheral an element
is, the more freedom ofposition it has. After'V, Sis the least mobile element,
followed by O and C. Later we shall give attention to the various factors
which lead to the displacement of an element from its regular position (efesp
2.59,11.5, 11.l4,and 18.l9ff).
Note [a] In [2J, Ihe restrietion on movemenl even exlends to the adverbial very much, which in
comparison wilh olher members of Ihe adverbial category is relatively immobile:
*Very much my mother usuaHy enjoys parlies. [A S A V O] [2e]
[b] In !erms of the presenl grammatical hierarehy (ef2.7) Ihe lerm word order ought to apply
strictly 10 the ordering of words within phrases, rather Ihan of phrases within clauses. This is nol
the normal inlerprelation of the expression. but il may be incidentaUy noted that in Ihis more
reSlrleted sense, English has an even grealer fixity of word order. Note, for example, beside {2a
2c], Ihe slill greater dislocation in:
MOlher my usually enjoys parties much very.
Adverbials
2.15 It is worth pointing out that different degrees of centrality can be observed
not only in different elements of clause structure, but also in different sub
categories of the same element. Thus the adverbial category has been
described as the most peripheral, but it is in fact a heterogeneous category,
within which there are relatively central and relatively peripheral types of
adverbial. In examples 2.13 [1- 7], most of the adverbials are both mobile
and optional: it is possible, for example, to omit the adverbial usually in [2]
(My mother el1ioys parties very mueh) as well as 10 change its position (as in
Clause structure
examples 2.14 [2a) and [2b)). But there are, as we have just seen in [2c], sorne
adverbials which cannot readily be moved from their position in a given
clause, and there are even adverbials which are obligatory, such as the place
adverbials in the garden in example 2.13 [41 and upstairs in 2.13 [71:
[41
1have been in the garden aH the time since lunch.
(7]
You must put aH the toys upstairs immediate\y.
Contrast:
[4a1
*I have been all the time since lunch.
"You must put aH the toys immediately.
[7a1
Because they are essential to the 'completion' of the rneaning of the verb,
such elements are classified by sorne grammarians as complements (e/2.17/,
10.11). Our position, however, is that adverbials represent a spectrum of
types, the most central of which, because of their obligatoriness and relative
immobility, resemble complements. In provisional support of this analysis,
note that in the garden and upstairs are equivalent to adverbials in meaning,
eg in answering the question Where?, even though they are similar to
complements in acting as an obligatory element following the verb BE.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are elements which are frequently
called SENTENCE ADVERBIALS, because they tend to qualify, by their meaning,
a whole sentence or clause, rather than just part of a clause (such as a verb,
or a verb and object):
[8]
He was, however, very interested in my other proposais.
To mv ref{ret, he refused the offer of heip.
In Chapter 8, these adverbials are subdivided into DISJUNCTS (those which,
like lO my regret in [8], comment on the form or content of the clause) and
CONJUNCTS (those which, like however in [9], have a connective function).
Such sentence adverbials are distinguished from ADJUNCTS and SUBJUNCTS,
adverbials which are more closely integrated with the rest of the clause, and
which include such familiar categories as adverbials of manner, place, time,
and degree (e/8.39, 8.51,8.79,8.104).
Characteristic of disjuncts and conjuncts are such markers of peripherality
as separation from the rest of the clause by intonation boundaries in speech
(e/ App n.11ff) or by commas in writing (e/ App III.l7!). The distinctions
between these four major types of adverbial are significant enough to deserve
careful analysis in a later chapter (8.24jj), and yet it must be concluded that
there is no clear division between the more central and more peripheral
adverbials. Here we anticipate a problem whch will be confronted at the
end ofthis chapter (2.60): that ofthe partial INDETERMINACYof gramrnatical
categories.
Note Sentence [4aJ is grammatical if been is interpreted as an auxilary verb followed by ellpsis of the
main verb, as in (cfI2.62):
A: You should have been waiting here when the taxi arrived.
B: 1have been (waiting) all the time since lunch.
53
Clause types
2.16 By eliminating optional adverbials from the clause structures illustrated in
2.13, we arrive at a classification of the essential core of each clause structure.
Of the obligatory elements, the main verb is the one that wholly or largely
determines what form the rest of the structure will take. From examples
[1-71 the following seven CLAUSE TYPES emerge:
Table 2.16 Clause types
S(ubject) V(erb) O(bject(s)) C(omplement) A(dverbial)
TypeSV Someone was laughing (la)
TypeSVO My mother enjoys parties [2a]
TypeSVC The became totally
country independent [3a]
TypeSVA have been in the
garuen [4a]
Type SVOO Mary gave the visitor
a glass
ofmilk [5a)
Type SVOC Most consider these rather
people books expensive [6a)
Type SVOA You mustput al! the upstairs
toys [7a1
This set of patterns is the most general classification that can be usefully
applied to the whole range of English clauses whether main or subordinate.
Each clause type is associated with a set of verbs, as will be shown in detail
in 16.18-66.
The seven fall naturally into three main types. There are:
a two-element pattern: S V
three three-element patterns: SV + ~ }
three four-element patterns: SVO + ~ }
Cutting a<:ross ths threefold classification are three main verb classes:
INTRANSITIVE VERBS (eg: laugh in [la]), are followed by no obligatory element,
and occur in type SV.
TRANSITIVE VERBS (eg: enjoy in [2a], give in [5a], consider in [6a1, puf in [7an
are followed by an OBJECT (cf2.17), and occur in types SVO, SVOO, SVOC,
:mn svaA re:;;nectivelv.
~ ; q n ? " f' "Me, gn'rrz=mr=m E'X W _LE
r 54 A survey of English grammar
Clause structure 55
COPULAR VERBS (eg: become in [3a], be in [4aJ) are followed by a SUBJECT
COMPLEMENT (cf2.l7) or an ADVERBIAL, and occur in types SVC and SVA.
In a general sense, the term TRANSITlVE is often applied to all verbs which
require an object, including those of clause types SVOO, SVOC, and SVOA.
It s, however, convenient to make a further c\assification of the verbs in
these patterns:
MONOTRANSITlVE VERBS occur in type SVO
TRANSlTlVE VERBS.... DITRANSlTlVE VERBS occur in type SVOO
[
-COMPLEX TRANSITIVE VERBS occur in types SVOC
andSVOA.
The term 'verb' primarily refers not to the whole V element, but to the main
verb (ef2.29) of the verb phrase: in [7a1, for example, it is the main verb pul
(or more strictly, the lexical item PUT; ef2.35-36) which determines that an
object and an adverbial must follow the verb element.
Note The term COPULA refers to the verb BE, and COPULAR verbs are those verbs (including BE and
BECOME) which are functionally equivalent lo the copula (el 16.21ff). They are variously called
'copulative', 'equative', 'intensive', or 'linking' verbs.
Objects and complements
2.17 Befare considering the verb further, however, it is important to notice
differences between the various elements which have been labelled 'object'
and 'complement'o The following distinctions will be made:
DlRECT OBJECT (Od)
OBJECT->
-INDIRECT OBJECT (O)
rSUBJECT COMPLEMENT (CJ
COMPLEMENT ....L
OBJECT COMPLEMENT (CJ
An object such as parties in [2a] (My mother enjoys parties) clearly has a
different semantic role in the clause from an object such as the visitor in [5a1
(Mary gave the visitor a glass of mi/k), and this has been traditionally
recognized by applying the term DIRECT OBJECT to the former, and INDIRECT
OBJECT to the latter. Leaving the semantic distinction until 10.7, IO.l8ff, we
give priority here to the distributional fact mat whenever there are two
objects (in type SVOO), the former is normally the indirect object, and the
latter the direct object. But although it is more central with regard to position
(ef2.l3), in other respects the indirect object is more peripherai than the
direct object: it is more likely to be optional, and may generally be
paraphrased by a prepositional phrase functioning as adverbial (cf2.23).
Similarly, we must distinguish between the type of complement found in
the SVC pattern; te: totally independent in:
The country becarne totally independent. [3a1
and the type of complement found in the SVOC pattern; ie: rather expensive
in:
I
Most people consider these books rather expensive. [6a]
i
The distinction is effectively made by noting that in [3a] the country is
I
understood to have become a totally independent country, while in [6a] the
books are understood to be considered rather expensive books. In other words,
in SVC clauses the complement applies sorne attribute or definition to the
subject, whereas in SVOC clauses it applies an attribute or definition to the
object. This distinction is usually denoted by the terms SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
and OBJECT COMPLEMENT respectively. in these cases, the complement is an
adjective phrase, but elsewhere, where the complement is a noun phrase, the
same kind of distinction holds:
Type SVC: The country became a separate naton.
Type SVOC: Most people considered Picasso a genius.
In the SVC sentence, a separate nation is understood to be a definition of the
subject, the country, while in the SVOC sentence, a genius is understood to be
a definition of the object, Pieasso.
Note [a] In place of 'subject complement', the terrn 'predicative noun' or 'predicative adjective' is
sometimes used. Other alternatives are 'predicative nominal' and 'predicative adjectival', the
choice between 'nominal' and 'adjectival' being determined by whether this element is a noun
phrase or an adjective phrase.
[b] AIso, some writers make useof a very broad sense of'complement', subsuming comp!ements,
objects, and obligatory adverbials in the present grammar.
Obligatoryadverbials
2.18 There is a parallel between complements and obligatory adverbials (ef2.15).
Obligatory adverbials are largely restricted to what in a broad sense we may
termSPACE ADJUNCTS (ef8.3, S.39ff). Just as complements can be divided into
subject complements and object complements, so can obligatory space
adjuncts be divided into those occurring in the SVA pattern, in which a
location is attributed to the referent oC the subject, and those occurring in the
SVOA pattern, in which a location is attributed to the referent of the object.
The parallel may be brought out as follows:
f4
He [S1 stayed [V] very quiet [C
s
]. [1]
{
He [S1 stayed [V] in bed [A.]. [21
They [S1 kept [V] him [O] very quiet [Col. [31
{
They [S1 kept [V1 him [01 in bed [A
o
]'
The symbols A. and Ao here indicate a subject-related adjunct and an object
related adjunct respectively. The parallel between the two sets of clause types
is also evident in the verb classes, and we acknowledge this by calling the
verb in both [11 and [21 COPULAR (since it is equivalent in function to the
copula BE) and calling the verb inboth [3] and [4] COMPLEX TRANSITIVE (ef
2.16).
Space adjuncts occurring in the SVA and SVOA patterns include not only
those indicating position, such as in bed or at the office, but also those
indicating direction, such as down in She put the glass down (ef 10.10, 16.24),
By extension, they may also include adverbials which specify 'temporal
location', as in:
56 A survey of English grammar Clause structure 57
r
The next meeting will be on the 5th February.
subclassify these nto more specific categories, such as transitve verb, direct
object, and subject complement. Such subclassificaton is typcal of both
and by a more abstract and metaphorical interpretaton of'space' (cf9.32):
formal and functional distinctions in grammar. Only through these finer
The road [S] is (V] under eonstruetion
dstnctions can an adequate account be given of what combinations of
We (Sl kept (V] him [01 offcigarettes [Aa]'
constituents enter into the structure of the English clause. To clarify the
But there are still sorne obligatory adverbials to which a locational metaphor
cannot be applied. Examples are the manner adjunct kindly in [51, and the
prepositional phrase without a job in
They [S] treated [V] her [01 kindly [Al. (5)
He [S] is (V] without ajob [A]. (6]
At the same time, the close relatonship ofthe prepostional phrase in [6) to a
subject complement is evident in its semantc equivalence to the adjective
unemployed.
Note As the above examples suggest, the distinction between complement and adverbial is by no
means c1ear-cut, and there are strong arguments for c1assifying prepositional phrases such as
withoul (l job in [6J as complements. For further discussion, ef 10.11. Another difficulty, in
determining the funclon in a clause of sorne prepostonal phrases, is that which arises over the
status ofprepositional verbs such as cons;sl of(cf 16.5jJ).
Clause elements subclassified
2.19 Table 2.19 Verb classes in relation lO clause types
TypeSV S V (inlransitive)
Priees rose [1]
- . _ , _ . ~ -
TypeSVO S V (monotransitive) Od
Elizabeth enjoys c1assical musie [2]
TypeSVC S V (copular) C.
Your faee seems familiar [3]
TypeSVA S V (copular) A.
My sister ves nextdoor [4]
TypeSVOO S V (ditransitive) O, O
Weall wish you ahappy
birthday [5]
TypeSVOC S V (eomplex trans tive) Od Co
The president deelared the meeting open [6]
TypeSVOA S V (eomplex transitive) Od Ao
Thedoorman showed the guests into the
drawing
room [7J
Ao object-related adverbial Ca object complement Od directobject
As subject-related adverbial subject complement O, indireet object
We have now found it necessary not only to distinguish functonal categories
such as subject, verb, and object in the structure of the clause, but also to
terminology and its use, let us return to the seven clause types in Table 2.16,
and specify the structures more precisely (again omitting optional adverbials)
by means of subcategories of V, O, C, and A, in Table 2.19 opposite. The
abbreviations used are those which will be current throughout this book (new
examples are added for further illustration). Further variations on these
clause types, includng sorne exceptional patteros, are discussed in 16.18ff.
Systematic correspondences
2.20 The study of grammatical structure is aided by observng systematic
CORRESPONDENCES between one structure and another. Such correspondences
are sometimes described in terms of transformational rules, but we shall not
make use of such theoretcal formulations in this book. Instead, we shall use
demonstrable correspondences as an informal way of showing similarites
and contrasts between structures. They are important in explaining the
relaton between grammatical choice and meanng, and also in provdng
critera for classification.
A systematic correspondence may be broadly defined as a relaton or
mappng between two structures X and Y, such that ir the same lexical
content occurs in X and in Y, there is a constant meaning relation between
the two structures. (In using the term 'lexical content', we aiiow for the
possiblty that X and Y may contain different, though related, lexicat items,
such as wise and wisely.) This relation is often one of semantic equivalence,
or paraphrase. In 2.21- 24, we give three important examples of systematc
correspondence, and show how they help in the identification of clause
elements. Further types of correspondence will be examined in 2.45ff.
The symbol - s used in ths book to represent such correspondences.
Lack of systematic correspondence is symbolized by ,.....
We take the seven basic clause types of [1- 7] as the pont of departure for
our description, but do not regard correspondences as unidirectional.
Active and passive structures
2.21 Clauses containing a noun phrase as object are distinguished by the fact that
they are usually matched by passive clauses, in which the object noun phrase
now appears as subject (V pass = passive verb phrase), ef Table 2.21 on the
next page. As type SVOO clauses have two objects, they can often have two
passive forms - one in whch the indirect object becomes the subject, and
another in which the direct object becomes subject. Further discussion of the
active-passive relationship is found in 3.63ff.
As the formulae show, this correspondence permits us to convert clauses
of types with an object into equivalent types without objects (or, in the case
of SVOO, with only one object). Thus the passive of They considered him a
genius [SVOC] is closely parallel in meaning to the SVC pattern, except for
the passive verb phrase:
He was considered a genius. [S Vpass C
s
]
ef He seemed a genius. [S V C
s
]
In aH passive clause types, the agent by-phrase (ef 3.65ff, 9.50), which
incorporates a no un phrase equivalent to the subject of the corresponding
active clause, has the structural status of an optional adverbial (it is marked
(A) in Table 2.21). Even when.the agent bY'phrase is absent, however, there
is an implication of its presence at the level of meaning. In this sense, the
agent by-phrase acts as complementation (ef2.32) of the passive verbo Thus
He was eonsidered a genius carries the implication ' ... by someone or other'.
Table 2.21 Relations between active and passive clause types
TypeSVo.
A number ofpeople saw the accident
S V pass (A) - The accident was seen (by a number of people)
TypeSVOO
SVOOd- My father gave me this watch
S Vp,ss Od (A) (1) - 1 was given this watch (by my father)
{ {
S V pass O (A) (2) - This watch was given (to) me (by my father)
TypeSVOC
S V Od C. Queen Victoria considered him a genius
S V pass es CA) - He was considered a genias (by Queen Victoria)

TypeSVOA
S VOdA. An intruder must have placed the ladder there
S V pass As (A) - The ladder must have been placed there (by an intruder)
Note [a) There are some exceptions (eg the verbs have, cost, resemble; ej 10.14, 16.27) to the passive
equivalence with type SVO; eg:
John had the book - The book was had by John.
[b] The second passive corresponding to type SVOO in Table 2.21 aboye is unidiomatic in AmE.
More acceptable, in both AmE and BrE, is the related SVOA SVA passive with a prepositional
phrase(cj2.23); eg:
Some ftowers had been brought him.
is less natural than:
Some ftowers had been brought jor him.
With some verbs the former type seerns quite unacceptable (ef 16.55ff):
Some fish had been caught/bought/cooked uso
Copular and complex transitive structures
2.22 Another correspondence often obtains between an SVOC clause and a clause
with an infinitive or that-clause (cfI6.50j):
1 'd d h b ifi 1 {I considered her to be beautiful.
cons! ere er eautl u . "'" 1 considered that she was beautiful.
?
Clause structure 59
This correspondence indicates that the O and C of an S VOC clause are in the
same relation to one another as the S and C of an SVC clause: She was
beautiful (ef I6.43ff). This relation is expressed, wherever it is made explicit
at aIl, by a copular verb, and we may therefore caIl it, for further reference, a
COPULAR relationship. Copular relationships are important in other aspects
of grammar apart from cIause structure. They correspond, for example, to
relations of apposition (ef 17.65ff) and many relations of modification (ef
2.31-33).
Further, we may extend the concept of 'copular relationship' to the relation
between subject and adverbial in SVA c1auses and the relation between
object and adverbial in SVOA clauses (eflO.l0, 16.24, 16.48).

"f.i

':,
:r
2.23
Indirect objects and prepositional phrases
There is a further correspondence by which SVOO cIauses can be converted
into SVOA clauses by the substitution ofa prepositional phrase foIlowing the
direct object for the indirect object preceding it:
She sent Jim a card "" She sent a card fo Jim.
She left Jim a card '" She left a cardfor Jim.
To andfor, indicating a recipient (ef9.46), are the prepositions chiefly used,
but others, such as with and of, are occasionally found (cf 16.57).
!.:"
Note [al There are however, sorne recipent to- andfor-phrases wheh cannot be rnade into ndireet
objeets: He suggested the idea to Bill; She described her IIome to us; etc. A borderlne case is ?He
explailled me his plall, whicb. s aeeeptable to sorne speakers, but not to others.
lb) We (ater (16.56ff) consider an alternative analysis in whieh the lo-phrases and thefor-phrases
illustrated aboye are descrbed as prepositiollal objeets, ano are regarded as grammatically
et{ulv4{icui. LU ilid!! e.,:;( vbjects.
1;_

r!,

i
2.24
The characterization of clause elements
Por a fulIer appreciation of the clause patterns outlined in 2.16, we need to
know, of course, on what grounds the elements subject, verb, object,
complement, and adverbial are dentified. The identification of the verb
element in general presents no problem, as this element can be realized only
by a verb phrase (ef 2.27). Por the other elements, it is necessary to use a
variety of criteria. Although c1ause elements are functional categories (ef
2.12), their defintions are based on formal as weIl as on functional criteria.
Thus it is an important part ofthe definition of both subjects and objects that
they normalIy consist ofnoun phrases; i t is an important part of the definition
of complements that they are normally noun phrases or adjective phrases;
and it is an important part of the definition of adverbials that they may be
adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, or noun phrases. It is unnecessary to
go into these definitions any further in this chapter. as they are elaborated
systematically in 10.5ff.

I
.35
.36
.37-41
.37-39
.38
.39
040
Al
042-43
.44
AS
Principies of grammatical concord, notional concord,
and proximity
Collective nouns and notional concord
Coordinated subject
Coordination with ami
Coordination within a singular subject
Coordinative apposition
Quasi-coordination
Coordination with or and nor
Indefinite expressions as subject
Concord of person
Summary
10.46-50
.46
047
,48-50
10.51
10.52-53
.53
10.54-70
.54
.55-65
.55
.56
.57
.58-59
.58
.59
.60
.61
.62
.63
.64
.65
.66
.67-68
.67
.68
.69
.70
Other types of concord
Subject-complement and object-complement concord
Distributive number
Pronoun reference
Semantic restrictions
Vocatives
Forms of vocatives
Negation
Types of negation
Chluse negation
Clause negation through verb negation
Contracted forms ofnegator and auxiliaries
Syntactic features of clause negation
Clause negation other than through verb negation
Words negative in form and meaning
Words negative in meaning but not in form
Nonassertive items and negative items
Nonassertive contexts
Negative intensification
More than one nonassertive item
Scope of negation
Focusofnegation
Local negation
N egation of modal auxiliaries
Present forros of modals
Past forms of modals
Predication negation
Double negation
Bibliographical note
757
75S
759
759
760
760
761
762
763
765
766
767
767
76S
768
771
713
773
775
775
776
776
777
777
718
718
780
782
784
785
787
787
789
790
794
794
796
797
798
799
Clause patterns 719
CJause patterns
Simple and multiple sentences
10.1 Sentences are either SIMPLE or MULTlPLE. A simple sentence consists of a
single independent clause. A multiple sentence contains one or more clauses
as its immediate constituents. Multiple sentences are either COMPOUND or
COMPLEXo In a compound sentence the immediate constituents are two or
more COORDINATE clauses. In a complex sentence one or more of its elements,
such as direct object or adverbial, are realized by a SUBORDINATE clause (el
further 14.lff).
Elements such as subject and verb are constituents of sentences and also
ofclauses within sentences. We shall speak ofCLAUSES and CLAUSE STRUCTURE
whenever what we say applies both to sentences and to the clauses of which
sentences are composed. Thus a complex sentence with one subordinate
clause can be analysed twice over, once for the sentence as a whole and once
for the subordinate clause included within the sentence:
s v Od A
1
(conj) s v Od
You - can borro\<" my car if you need ir
subordinate clause
sentence
Fig 10.1 Sentence and c1ause elements
In the present chapter we are primarily concerned with simple sentences.
Discussion of coordinate clauses is deferred to Chapter 13 and of subordinate
clauses to Chapters 14 and 15. The present chapter i8 further restricted to
aspects of the simple sentence chiefiy involving the elements subject, verb,
object, and complemento The adverbial, as a clause element that is generally
more detachable and more mobile than the others, receives detailed
consideration in Chapter 8.
Note [a] We use the term 'simple sentence' for an independent c1ause that does not have another
clause functionng as one of its elements. Thus, [1] is a complex sentence in which ifyou need it
functions aS.an adverbial:
You can borrow my car ifyou need il. [11
However, a simple sentence may have a clause functonng wthin a phrase. In that case the
complexity is at the level of the phrase, not at the level of the sentence or dause. Thus [2] is a
simple sentence:
You can borrow the car that belongs to my sister. [2]
In f2] the relative clause Ihat belongs to my sster is a postmodifier within the complex noun
phrase constituting the object element the car Ihat belongs to my sster. Clauses functioning as
modification of noun phrases are discussed in Chapter 17. Clauses functioning in the
complementation of adjective phrases are discussed in Chapter 16.
721
10.2
10.3
720 The simple sentence
The term 'simple sentence' is frequent1y used elsewhere, but not in this book, ror an
independent clause that does not contain another clause, regardless of whether the contained
clause is an immediate constituent of the sentence or noto In some grammars, nonfinite
constructions (which have a nonfinite verb as their verb element) are considered phrases rather
than clauses. We treal such constructions as clauses because they can be analysed lnto clause
elements (ef [4.5). Nonfinite clauses themselves are intrinsicaUy suoordnate and therefore do
not constitule simple sentences in !he canonical forms (but cfll.4I).
[b] A simple sentence s no! necessarily simple in a nontechnical sense, For example, a simple
senlence may be very complicated because its phrases are complex:
00 the recommendation of the committee, the temporary chairman, who had previous
el\perience ofthe medical issues con cerned, made the decsion that no further experiments
on living animals should be conducted in circumstances that might lead lo unfavourable
press publicty,
Other factors apart from the complexity of phrases are mentioned in 14.2.
Clause structures
We now turn to a further consideration of the clause structures outlined in
2,13Jj: We there distinguished five functional categories ofclause constituents,
three of which were further subcategorized.
subject (S)
verb (V)
object (0)- direct object (Od)
indirect object (Oi)
complement (C)- subject complement (C
s
)
- object complement (C
o
)
adverbial (A)- subject-related (A.)
- object-related (A
o
)
By eliminating optional adverbials, we established seven major clause types,
based on the permissible combinations of the seven functional categories,
the clause elements. Table 10.2 opposite exemplifies the major clause types in
their normal order in a simple declarative sentence, the canonical form of
the sentence.
The clause types are determined by the verb class to which the full verbs
within the verb constituent belong. Different verb classes require different
complementation (Od' O" cs, c
o
, A) to complete the meaning of the verb, or
(in the case of SV, where the verb is intransitive) no complementation.
Multiple class membership of verbs
1t must be borne in mind that a given verb can belong, in its various senses,
'"
to a number of different classes (efApp 1.54), and hence enter into a number

of different clause types. The verb get is a particularly versatile one, being

excluded only from Type SV (and even then not universally; efNote):
'"
C;; '"
SVO ae'!l get a surprise.
SVC He's getting angry. !
N
SVA He got through the window.
S
SVOO He got her a splendid present.

SVOC He got his shoes and socks wet.

SVOA He got himself into trouble.
::::;
'"

> '"
:2
<
-:::
e
c
.!!
"
E
S.
u

'"
gl
:o
....
;>
'"

E
E.
en

>
'"
#SO
; ,5

.5

..

::..
C')
g
E
o
-g

>
'!
'"
'':::
o""
g

..

'"

C')
;
E
.!!
"
E
8
-

..o",

t

""
5

C')

..o
...
-o""
'" 5

_;:c

1:!::::
, '"

.g-
Q') 5
:.;
:;
Q.
8

C')

'"
- '"
o
o a
'"

o o-e
-n 1:: t: '" 2.
,-
1-t
'1 ; '"
"'S2 r
,::: " I 'ti ti
.,
,:::""
5
c '"
... .,
ca
"'
..,
C')

Clause patterns
-;;
:.o
....
'" >
'O
]
'"

'"
t;

..o "
o '"
c_
"'..g,
5-!:!=
o.J#
E..::-.

-
; l;
1::
..o", '='"
o ....
u u -
Q)
E E
o

t

'"
ii..c: -8-:5
Q)
'"

'; ';
c
'"

;.
:1 ;:c
'" o.&,
E
E "
8Jl 8 a
1

:.:::
'"
::i!l
\.)
::>.
C') C')
l'J'
]
::;

"
Ji:
I

I

'.
tl
l

<..:::,
11

<>
'"

00
8
11

><
"
j

g
'5

.,

ci
Through the multiple c1ass membership of verbs, ambiguities can arise: 1
found her an entertaining partner, lke She ealled him her favourite waiter, could
be interpreted ether as belongng to the SVOC or SVOO types.
The complementation of verbs receives detailed treatment in Chapter 16.
Note In informal (especally dialectal) AmE, gel s used even as an intransitive verb (='Ieave at once')
in Type SV: She lold him lO gel.
Verb complementation
10.4 The elements, 0d' Cs> Ca, and A in the patterns exemplified in 10.2 and 10.3
are obligatory elements of c1ause structure in that they are required for the
complementaton of the verbo Gven the use of a particular verb in a
particular sentence, the sentence is incomplete if one of these elements is
omitted, eg: *Your dinner seems (type SVC) and * You ean put the dish (type
S VOA) are unacceptable. In sorne cases, however, a direct object or an object
complement could from one point of view be considered grammatically
optional:
They're eating. [S V] ef They're eating lunch. [S V O]
We elected her. [S V OJ ef We elected her our delegate. [S V OC]
He's teaching. [S VJ ef He's teaching chemistry. [S V O]
He's teaching them chemistry. [S V O O]
We regard these as cases of conversion, whereby a word such as eat is
transferred from the transitive to the intransitive category. Thus, They're
eating is an instance of type S V rather than of S VO (with optional deletion of
the object), We adopt this approach because there is to a greater or lesser
extent a shift in meaning.
To justify treating object omission as a matter of conversion, we may
notice that it applies to some transitive verbs but not to others:
They're hunting deer. - They're hunting.
They're chasing cats. - *They're chasing,
AIso, one can find nonce object omissions, which again points to a word
formation process rather than a syntactic process. Thus (*)John is lieking
today is a highly improbable sentence for which one could (as with aH nonce
formations) find a plausible use if one tried hardenough (eg a situation in
which two people are alternatively employed in lickng and sticking stamps
on letters). Conversions from one verb category to another, ncludng from
transtive to intransitive verbs, are exemplified in App 1.54.
A similar approach may be made to nstances where the indirect object is
omissible:
She gives expensive presents. [S V 0d]
efShe gives her friends expensive presents. [S V O Od]
But here the case for conversion is not so strong, and one may regard the
indirect object with many verbs as an optional element similar in status to an
optional adverbial.
We should in principIe distinguish different types of omission of objects,
though the distinction may be blurred in particular instan ces :
Syntactic functions of clause elements 723
A specific object is recoverable from the preceding linguistic context:
A: Show me your essay. B: 1'11 show you later.
Let's do the dishes. 1'11 wash and you dry.
In such instances the verb may be analysed as genuinely transitive with
ellipsis of the direct object.
(2) A specific object is understood from the si tuational context:
Keep off [sign on grass] Shake well before use.
Wateh! Don'ttoueh.
The tie doesn'tfit.
(3) A specific reftexive object is understood when the verb allows such an
object (ef6.25):
I'm shaving. They're dressing.
Sorne verbs allow omission of either a reflexive or a nonreftexive object: She's
washing (herself or the clothes).
(4) A nonspecific object is semantically entailed (ef16.l9):
Are you eating again? Do you drink?
He teaehes. 1don't want to catch you smoking again.
They can't spell. 1 can't come now, because I'm cleaning.
1 don't want to read.
The range of understood nonspecific objects is restricted with sorne verbs
when they are used intransitively. For example, Do you drink? rerers to the
drinking of a1coholic drinks, I'm cleaning refers to domestic cleaning and not
(say) to cleaning teeth or cleaning a pipe, and to eateh vou smoking again
normaHy excludes (say) smoking fish. In other instan ces, the intransitive
verb may Iack the causative meaning of the transitive verb: Contrast He
walked and He walked the dog (ef 1 0.22).
Note In some instances the omission of a sentence element radically changes the sense of the verbo
Contrast the use ofthe verbjind and run in these examples:
1 have found her reasonably helpful. [8 V O C] 1 have found her. [8 V OJ
He is running a business.8 V O] He is running. [8 V]
Syntactic functions of clause elements
10.5 A partial characterization of the clause elements based on formal criteria is
given in 2.24. Formal critera usual1y suffice to identify the verb element
within a c1ausal context, since the verb eIement is always realized by a verb
phrase, We have also noted its syntactic importance in determining what
other elements may or must occur in the clause (ef 1O.3!). We now give
further consideration to the other clause elements.
Distinctions between the elements and between types within the
elements - are based on (i) forms (noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase,
finite clause, etc), (ii) position, (iii) syntactic function other than positional
potentialities, and (iv) semantic role. It is primarily on the basis of (iii) and
(iv) that a distinction is made between Od and O, C
s
and C The following
o
sentences contain final phrases that are identical in form and position:
They told the mayor. {They told his life story.
{
They admired the mayor. . Theyadmired his tife story.
But the identity stop s there. While the process of admiring the mayor is
parallel to that ofadmiring his lfe story, telling the mayor involves something
very different from telling his life story. The difference is confirmed by
coordination:
They admired the mayor and his life story.
*They told the mayor and his Jife story.
Equally, if we attempt to introduce apposition, we can contrast:
They admired the mayor, ie his Jife story.
*They told the mayor, ie his !ife story.
In other words, the mayor and his l!fe story are realizations of the same type
of O with admire but are realizations of different types of O with tell.
Consequent1y, we eannot have:
''They admired the mayor his !ife story.
But we can have:
They told the mayor his !ife story.
Henee it is necessary (for this last sentenee) to distinguish O; (the mayor)
from Od (his lije story).
Note Ir the verb is in the simple present, it may be indistinguishable from a noun in a sentence in
block language (el 11.45), where determiners are commonly omitted:
Mailleaves tomorrow. ['Mail the leaves tomorrow.' or 'The mailleaves tomorrow.'l
Subject
10.6 Of the clause elements other than the verb, the subject is the most important
in that (except for the verb) it is the e1ement that is most often present. It is
also the element for which we can find the greatest number of eharaeteristic
features. In characterizing the subject and the other clause elements, we
identify the four types of distinetion listed in 10.5. Beeause of its
conspieuousness we treat position separately from other syntaetic functions.
FORM
The subject is normally a noun phrase (efChapters 5, 6, and 17) or a nominal
clause (efI5.3ff).
POSITION
The subjeet normal1y oceurs beforethe verb in declarative c1auses, and after
the operatorin yes-no in terrogative clauses (ef 11. 5ff) :
Everbody [S] has left [V] for the day.
Has [op] everybody [S]left for the day?
In wh-interrogative clauses, subjeet-operator nversion also oecurs except
where the wh-element is itself the subject:
What have [op]you [S] seen today?
What [S] has {op] kept you so long?
(e) SYNTACTIC FUNCTION
(i) A subjeet is oblgatory in finte c1auses exeept in imperative c1auses,
where it s normally absent but implied (ef 11. 24ff).
(ii) In finite c1auses the subjeet determines the number and person, where
relevant, ofthe verb (eflO.34ff):
Naney [S] knows[V] my parents. {singular number eoncord]
Naney and David [S] know [V] my parents. [plural number concord]
I[S] am [V] your new colleague. [singular number and 1st person
eoneord]
(iii) The subject normally determines number of the subject complement
when that is a noun phrase (efI0.46):
Caroli'ne [S] is my sister
Caroli'ne and Vanessa [S] are my sisters [C].
(iv) The subjeet determines the number and, where relevant, tue person
and gender of the reflexive pronoun as direet object, indirect object, subjeet
eomplement, or prepositional complement (ef6.23, 10.48, 10.50). The same
eoneord relaton generally applies when the emphatic genitive my own, etc is
used (ef6.30):
1[8] shaved myself[O] with my own razor.
He [S] shaved himself[O] with his own razor.
(v) The subject requires the subjective form for pronouns that have
distinctive case forms (ef6.4):
1[SJ 1ike him.
He [S] likes me.
(vi) There is a systematic correspondence between active and passive
elauses in that the direct or indirect object of an active clause beeomes the
subject of a passive clause while the subject of the active clause is either
omitted or made the complement in a by-agent phrase (ef 16.26):
My son [S] has prepared lunch [O] today, [active]
- Luneh [S] has been prepared by my son today. [passve]
(vii) The subject is repeated in a tag question by a pronoun form (efll.8ff):
The mi/k is sour, isn 't it?
(viii) The implied subject of a subjectless nonfinite or verbless clause is
normally identical with the subject of the superordinate clause:
Susan telephoned befare eoming overo [' ... befQre Susan carne over']
(d) SEMANTIC PROPERTIES
The subjeet is typealIy the therne (or topie) ofthe e/ause (e/18.9JJ).
It typeally refers to nforrnation that s regarded by the speaker as
gven (e/18.8JJ).
(ii) In a clause that s not passive, the subject is agentive if the agentive
role s expressed in the clause (eflO.33).
Note [a) For adverbial forms functioning as subject, efIO.15. On adjectives functioning as heads of
noun phrases (the young), ef7.23ff.
[b] For declarative clauses with subject-operator or subject-verb inversion, ef 1O.58j. 15.36,
18.22ff.
[e] For the question of there as a subject in existential sentences, ef 1 8.46.
[d) The implied subject of a postmodifying participle clause is the head ofthe noun phrase:
1 haven't yet seen thefriends staying with you.
['The friends are staying with you.'1
These are theflowersgiuen to us by our children.
['The ftowers were given to us by ourchildren.']
[e) The identity orthe subject can be tested in an independent declarative clause through a wh
question with who or what. The subject is the elernent that can be replaced in its normal position
by the w"'itern:
Joan [SI wants a of cake. - Who [SI wants a
is disturbing Percy. - What [S] is disturbing Percy?
Other clause elernents require fronting and subject-operator inversion:
Joan wantsapieeeofeake[O]. What[O] does Joan want?
Object: direct and iodirect
10.7 Drect and indirect objeets have sorne eharacterstics in common, and this
faet justifies their sharing the terrn objeet:
(a) FORM
Like the subject, the object is norrnally a noun phrase or a nominal clause.
There are constrants on the types of nominal clauses that can be indireet
objeet: generally, only nominal relative clauses (ef 15.8.f).
(b) posmON
The objeet norrna11y foUows the subjeet and verb
If both objects are present, the indireet
direet objeet (but ef 18.38):
19ave my address [Od]'
(e) SYNTACTIC FUNCTION
The objeet funetion requires the objeetive form for pronouns that have
distinetive case forms:
They amuse me [Od]' They gave me [O) sorne chocolate.
1 amuse them [Od]. 1 gave them [O) sorne chocolate.
(H) If an objeet is eoreferential wth the subjeet, it usually requires a
reflexive pronoun whieh agrees with the subjeet in person and, where
relevant, in number and gender. Similar agreement is required for an
emphatie genitive (my own, etc) within the objeet (ef6.30):
You [S] can please yourself[Od]'
I[S] have given myse(([O] a treat.
They [S] type their own letters [Od]'
The objeet of an active elause may generally beeome the subjeet of the
eorresponding passive clause (but efNote [e] below, 16.27):
We have finished the work [0
0
], - The work [S] has been finished.
lfboth objects are present, it is often possible to make either the subjeet in a
corresponding passive e/ause:
We sent Jaek [O;] a eopy ofthe letter [Od].
- Jaek [S] was sent a eopy ofthe letter [Od]'
[1]
"" A eopy ofthe letter [S] was sent Jaek [O].
[2]
But [1] is far more eommon than [2]. Instead of the retained indireet objeet
in [2], the prepositional paraphrase is more usual:
A eopy of the letter was sen t lO Jaek.
(iv) The indireet objeet genera11y eorresponds to a prepositional phrase,
whieh is generally plaeedafter the direet objeet:
I'll send Charles another eopy.
- 1'11 send another eopy to Charles.
Pour me a drink.
"" Pour a drink for me.
(v) The indirect objeet can genera11y be omitted without affeeting the
semantic relations between the other elements:
David saved me a seat. - David saved a seat. ,.... David saved me.
Henee, if there is only one objeet present, it is genera11y the direet objeet. But
with a few verbs that are norma11y ditransitive, the indireet objeet may be
retained while the direet object is omitted.ln that case the only object present
is the indireet objeet:
Bob is teaehing the older ehildren.
You can pay me instead.
(O The direet objeet typieally refers to an entity that is affeeted by the
aetion denoted in the elause (ef 10.19, but ef also 10. 27ff) :
Norman smashed a window in his father's ear.
(ii) The indireet objeet typiea11y refers 10 an animate being that is the
recipient ofthe aetion (eflO.19, but ef also 10.32).
Note
(a] We do not, as sorne do, apply the term 'indirect object' to the corresponding prepositional
phrases (eg:for me in Pour a drillk for me), though we use the term 'prepositional object' for the
complernent in such phrases (cfI6.56, 16.60). Sorne apply the term 'direct object' 10 an indirect
object if it is the only object (eg: you in rtl show you or his ehildren in He's teaching his children).
Others again apply the t..""" __ .. _; _....
[b] Speakers vary in their acceptance of whquestions in which tbe wh-interrogative pronoun
replaces an indirect object. The corresponding prepositional phrase is fully acceptable:
?Who did the detective sbow his badge?
- Who did the detective show his badge UJ'
- To ",hom did the detective show llis badge? <formal)
Similar variation applies to relative clauses;
?The person rsent the book has not acknowledged receiving it.
- The person [ sent be book 10 has not acknowledged recei ving it.
- The person lO whom 1 sent the book has not acknowledged receiving it. (formal)
It also applies to retained indirect objects in passi ve clauses:
?No reply has been given me.
- No reply has been given lO me.
Retained indirect objects are gene rally restricted to pronouns.
Al! three constructions have been exemplfied by indirect objects with corresponding
prepositional phrases introduced by lo. The constructions are less acceptable wth other
correspondences (eg :for-phrases) ()f no conespondences.
[e] In instances where the passive is inapplicable because the object is a clause, we can test for
the presence of an object by adding a coordinate clause with a pro-form and making the second
clause passive.
rasked whetber be was tbere and bis parents asked Ihat too.
- Thal was asked by bis parents.
[dI The identity of the direct object can be tested in an ndependent declarative clause through
a wh-question with who or whal; fronting of the wh-item and subject-operator inversion are
required:
The buzzersignals theend o/lhe game [Od)'
- Whaf [Od] does [op]/he buzzer[S] signal?
On the difficu1ty of applying this test to the indirect object, e/Note lb) aboye.
Complement: subject and object
10.8 Both complements are in a copular relationship with another clause element.
The subject complement rejares to the subject, and the verb s copuiar (el
16.2ljn:
My glass is empty. [1]
Their daughter has become an aeeountant. [2]
The object complement relates to the direct object:
We find them very pleasant. [3]
Carol made Joshua n d Peter her assistants. [4]
The implied relationship between the object and the object complement can
be expressed by means of a corresponding SVC sentence with a copular verb,
be ifthe object complement is a current attribute and beeome if it is a resulting
attribute (e/lO.20):
They are very pleqsant. [3a]
Joshua and Peter became her assistants. [4a]
(a) I'ORM
The complement is normally a noun phrase or an adjective phrase, but it may
also be a nominal clause (el 15.4ff). It is a defining characteristic of
complements, in contrast to objects, that they may be adjective phrases.
(b) POSITION
The subject complement normally follows the subject and the verbo The
object complement normally follows the direct object. (But el 11.15, 11.31,
18.20ff, 18.37).
(c) SYNTACTIC FUNCTION
(i) If it is a noun phrase, the subject cornplement normally has concord of
number W"ith the subject, and the object complement normally has concord
of number with the direct object (but ell 0.46). Contrast [2] and [4].
(ii) If it is a reflexive pronoun, the subject complement has concord of
number, person and, where relevant, gender with the subject:
She is not herselftoday.
(jii) Unlike the object, the complement cannot become the subject of a
corresponding passive clause. There is no corresponding passive clause for
the SVC type. With the SVOC type, the direct object can of course be made
the subject of a passive clause:
His friends call him Ted. [Ted is Col [5]
""' He is called Ted by his friends. [Ted is C ] [5aJ
s
The object complernent becomes the subject complement in the passive
clause.
(iv) The complement can be questioned, but there is no one general way
of doing so (e/ll.5 Note [e], lU5 Note [iJ).
(v) If the subject complement is a pronoun, there is a distinction between
subjective and objective forms; the subjective form is more prevalent in
formal use (especially in AmE):
This is he. (formal) That's him.
1Mcomplement typicalIy identifies or characterizes the referent ofthe c1ause
element to which it is related (e/lO.20).
Note
[a] With sorne verbs, object crnplements can be omitted (c/16.44Jf"):
W"e appointed her ourdelegate lo Ihe convention. _ We appointed her.
They have named their baby Roger. - They have named Iher baby.
[b] The object complement cannot be the normal reflexive pronoun, but it can have a
corresponding form with selflselves:
[ prefer George his normal self 1 did not find them /heir 'Usual se/ves.
Adverbial
10.9 Adverbials are the most diverse of the clause elements, and we therefore
distinguish several major types (el Chapter 8, 15.17ff).
(a) I'ORM
The adverbial is normally an adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, or
adverbial clause. It may also be a noun phrase (e/8.13).
(b) POsmON
In general, the adverbial is capable of occurring in more than one position in
the c1ause. Constraints on its mobility depend on the type and forro of the
adverbial. The adverbial in the SVA type normally follows the subject and
730 The simpLe sentence
verb, and the adverbial in the SVOA type nonnally follows the direct object
(ef 10.10, also 8.27). Other predication adjuncts (ef 8.34J, 15.22) normally
appear at the end of the clause.
(e) SYNTACTlC FUNCTION
(i) Exeept for the obligatory adverbial in the SVA and SVOA types (ef
10.10), adverbials are optional: they may be added to or removed from the
clause without affecting its acceptability and without affecting the relations
of structure and meaning in the rest of the c1ause.
Other syntaetic potentialities depend crucial1y on the type of adverbial.
At the most generallevel, the adverbial may be charaeterized negatively: it
does not have the syntactic features listed for the other clause elements (ef
10.6ff)
The adverbial refers to the eireumstanees of the situation (adjunet and
subjunet), comments on the form or eontent of the clause (disjunet), or
provides a link between elauses (conjunct). A more speeific semantic
characterization relates to the semantic subtypes of adverbials (efChapter 8
and 15.24ff).
Note The terrn 'adjunct' is sornetirnes applied by others to all types of adverbial.
Obligatory adverbials: subject-related and object-related adverbials
10.10 Obligatory adverbials are a subclass of predieation adjuncts (ef 8.27) that
belong to the SVA and SVOA types. Inasmuch as they are obligatory, they
are central elements of the clause (ef 2.13), part of the clause nucleus. They
may be adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, or adverbial clauses. In 10.11
'.'!e sugge:st that some obligatory adverb phrases and prepositional phrases
may be analysed as complements, belonging to the SVC and SVOC types.
Obligatory adverbials are commonly required as complementation for the
verb BE in the SVA type, but they are also found as complementation for
other verbs. The adverbials in this type are subject-related. Many are space
adjuncts that designate the postion of the referent of the subject:
Your children are outside.
Our car isn't in the garage.
We are now living in a small village.
The plane's offthe ground.
Dorothy is remaining at Oxford.
Sam is staying at a nearby motel.
Your scarf is Iying on thefioor.
The road begins in Denver.
Some express other types of space relations:
We got offthe train.
We all got into my ear.
1 stole into her room.
AIl roads lead to Rome.
The lawn goes a/l the way around he house.
The hills extendfrom here into the next eounty.
Others express metaphorical extensions of space relations:
They're into yoga. ['are keen on yoga'] <informal)
We got into a heated argumento
He 's offeigarettes.
Time adjunets commonly cooeeur with an eventive subject (efl0.25):
Their holiday extended through the summer.
The next meeting is on Monday.
The last performance was at eight o'cloek.
The play lastsfor three hours.
On the conditions for omtting the prepositions in the last three examples, ef
9.40ff.
We briefiy exemplfy other semantic types of obligatory adverbials in the
SVA
s
type:
The two eggs arefor yOU. [recipient, 9.46]
The drinks arefor thejourney. [purpose, 9.45]
Iffruit prices are higherthis year, it'sbeeause [reason, 9.44]
ofthe bad harvest.
T ransport to the mainland is by ferry. [means, 9.49]
Entranee was by special invitation only. [means]
Payment is by edsh only. [means]
Melvin's main interest is in sport. [stimulus, 9.51]
Jack and Nora are with me. [aecompaniment, 9.52]
The painting was by an unknown artist. [agent, 9.50]
How mueh is this jacket? lt's i60. [measure, 8.91
The connection of subject-related adverbial with subject is parallel to that
of subject complement with subject: .
Ronald is offcigarettes. [S V As]
Ann is happy. [S V C.]
Similarly, the connection of object-related adverbial lo direct object parallels
that of object complement with direct object:
We kept Ronald offcigarettes. [S V Od Ao]
We kept Ann happy. [S V Od Col
Here are examples of object-related adverbials:
1put the kettle on the stove. ['The kettle is now on the stove.'1
They are placing the blame on uso
I'm keeping most of my money in the bank.
1stuck the wallet in he drawer.
He set the typewriter on the tableo
You should have your hands on the wheel.
He directed his speech at the workers.
She wants the payment in do/lars.
Like oponal adverbials of the same semantic types, most oblgatory
adverbials can be questioned with wh-interrogative adverbials such as where,
when, how long, why. The exceptions include the metaphorical extensions of
space relations, but also the semantic relations of recipient, means, agent,
stimulus, and accompaniment.
Note [a] In certain instances. a verb of motion is implied before the obligatory adverbials:
She asked them in. Truth wiU out. 1 let the cat out.
['n show you OUI. 1 want you inside.
The construction with the intransitive verb is common in some varieties of colloquial AmE and
Scottish English. especially with want:
The dog wants out. 1 want offat Sixth Street.
[b] The obligatory manner adverbial with behave in He's behaving badly is related to the subject,
though we do not have a corresponding sentence with the copula (' He is badly) because of the
adverb formo We similarly lack corresponding sentences when the prepositional phrase begins
wth drectional lato, as in We all gOl nto myear, though we have the metaphorical informal
They're jnto yoga. Compare also the metaphorical They're on to his machinations ['aware of].
[e] The obligatory manner adverbial in They Ireated him badly seems to be related both to the
subject('They are behaving badly.') and to theobject ('He is in abad way.').
Gradience and multiple analysis
Prepositional phrases and adverbs as complement
10.11 Sorne clause structures and c1ause elements can be analysed in more than one
way. In this and the following sections we examine instances that are best
treated through gradience and multiple analysis (cf2.60f).
The distinction between obligatory adjunct and complement is not clear
cut for all prepositional phrases. Some prepositional phrases are semantically
similar LO adjective or noun phrases functioning as complement:
They were out ofbreath. - They were breathless.
That is ofno irnportance. - That is unimportant.
He is under suspicion. - He is a suspect.
She is in good health. - She is healthy.
They are not at ease. - They are not relaxed.
More importantly, such prepositional phrases can be coordinated with, or
placed in apposition with, adjective phrases that undoubtedly function as
complement:
She is young and in good health.
They were out ofbreath and extremely tired.
They are not at ease, ie not
Furthermore, unlike clear instances of obligatory adjuncts, they can be used
as complementation for copular verbs other than BE, a characteristic of
adjective phrases functioning as subject complement:
They appear out ofbreath.
That seems ofno irnportance.
She feels in good health.
Here are other examples of prepositional phrases functioning as subject
complement:
They are in love.
We 're over the worst.
The demonstration got out ofhand.
He feels af horneo
That child seems in trouble.
1 don't feel up to it.
The house seems in good conditiOfl.
He sounds in great danger.
We similarly find prepositional phrases functioning as object complement:
They put me at rny ease, ['I'm at my ease. ']
I don 't consider myself al risk.
He didn't feel himself at horneo
She didn't want me in any danger.
He imagined himself on the point ofdeath.
1 found him in trouble.
Some adverbs can also be complements:
The milk seems off. ['sour'] (informal)
The performance is overo
In technology we are ahead.
I am behind in my rento
The television is still on.
He imagined himself ahead.
1 declare this meeting over,
They let us off.
The adverbs and prepositional phrases that function as complement are
metaphoricalIy related lo space adverbials. Unlike the latter, however, they
cannot be questioned by adverbial where. Contrast in this respect:
') { They're out oftown.
A : Where are they . B : *Th' "'b th
ey re out OJ rea .
On the other hand, how may be used in sorne instances to question these
complements, as it is for adjective phrases functioning as complement:
') {She feels very happy.
A: How does she feel. B: Sh t: l' d h lth
e lee s In goo ea .
Note [a] Speakers may vary in particular instances as to whether a copular verb other than DI! is
acceptable; for example, in Fm on time (ef. Fm early) or You're on your OWn (ef: You're alone).
Contrast: (?)I seemon time and, with look as a copular verb, (?)You look on yourown.
[b] Off in The milk is off has moved into the adjective class for those who accept its
premodification by very.
[e] There may be semantic differences between prepositional phrases and parallel adjective
phrases. For example, She is healthy suggests a more permanent condition than She is in good
health.
Particles and clause types
10.12 We have so far considered the verb element as realized only by a verb phrase.
,it
A University Course in
ENGLISH
For Enrique and Carmen
GRAMMAR
Angela Downing
and Philip Locke
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Prentice Hall
New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore
PRENTlcE HALL INTERNATIONAL ENGLSH LANGUAGE TEACHING
4
Expressing patterns of
eXperlenCe:
Processes, participants, circumstances
Module 13: Experiences expressed as situation types 110
13.1 Processes, participants; circumstances 110
13:1.1 Types of process 112
13.1.2 Inherent participants and actualised
participants 112
Module 14: Expressing processes 01 doing and causing 114
14.1 Agent 114
14.2 Inanimate Agent or 'Force' 115
14.3 Affected 115
14.4 Effected 116
14.5 Recipient and Beneficiary roles 117
14.6 Causative processes 118
14.7 Causatives with corresponding one-participant
processes: ergative pairs 119
Module 15: One-participant processes: containing a
Subject which acts or is 8cted upon 121
15.1 Agentive Subject of a voluntary process 121
15.2 Affected Subject of an involuntary process 122
15.3 Expressing the properties of an entity 124
Module 16: Expressing what we perceive, think and 1eel 125
16.1 Mental processes 125
16.2 Perception processes 126
16.3 Cognitive processes 127
16.4 Affectivity processes 129
Module 17: Expressing processes 01 being and becoming 131
17.1 Attributive relational processes 131
17.2 Circumstantial relational processes 133
17.3 Possessive relational processes 134
Expressing patterns uf experience 109
Module 18: Expressing processes 01 saying and existing 136
18.1 Verbal processes or processes of saying
136
18:2 Existl;intial processes or processes of existing 138
Module 19: Expressing the attendant circumstances
140
l:"
19.. 1 Spatial and temporal circumstances
141
141
19.2 Manner
19.3 Contingency
141
19.4 Accompaniment
142
19.5 Modality
142
19.6 Degree
142
143
19.7 Rol
19.8 Matter
143
Module 20: Two subsidiary participants: Range and
Instrumnt
144
20.1 Range
144
20.2 Instrument
145
Module 21: Conceptualising experiences 1rom a different
angle: grammatical metaphor
147
21.1 Congruent realisations and metaphorical realisations 147
21.2 Process realised as Thing 150
21.3 Attribute realised as Thing 150
21.4 Circumstance realised as Thing 150
21.5 Process and circumstance as part of the Thing 151
21.6 Dependent situation as Thing 151
Tasks
154
110 Expressing patterns of experience
Summary
Semantieally, a elause represents a pattern of experienee, eoneeptualised as a
situation type.
2 Situation types consist of:
Processes: materal, mental, relational.
Participants: animate, inanimate or abstraet entities.
Attributes: qualities or cireumstanees of the parteipants.
Circumstanees: time, place, manner, cause, etc., of the whole situation.
3 The type of process usually determines the type and number of the participants
(verb valeney):
one participant: The dog barked.
two participants: The dog bit the postman.
three participants: Mary gave the Red Cross a donation.
participant unexpounded: Do you drive? (a car)
no participant: It is raining. .
13.1 Processes, participants, circumstances
[n ths chapter we look at the clause as a grammatical means of expressing
patterns of experience. A fundamental property of language s that t enables
:lS to conceptualise and describe our experience, whether of the phenomena
)f the external world or of the internal world o our thoughts, feelings and
)erceptions. The clause is, here too, the most significant grammatical unit,
,ince it permits us to encode, both semantically and syntactically, our mental
)icture of the physical world and the worlds of our imagination. In this
nental picture we can think of a elause as being the linguistic expression of a
)attern of experience, conceptualised as a situation type. 'Situation' and
situation type' are, therefore, used here to refer to the conceptualisation of
as opposed to the social context or 'context of situation' in which
1I0cutionary acts are produced by speakers, as described in Chapter 5.
Certain common experiences are typically not analysed in detail. We say
t's raining rather than Drops of water are falling from the sky. But as
anguage-users, we are usually interested in participants, especially when
Experiences expressed as situation types 111
one or more of them is human; we are interested in the qualities we ascribe
to them, in what they do, say and feel and the circumstances in which these
happenings take place. The semantic framework for a situation, therefore,
consists pQtentially of the following components:
the process;
the participants in the situation;
the attributes ascribed to participants;
the circumstances associated with the process.
The process
There is no satisfactory general term to cover that central part of a situation
which is typical!y realised by the Predicator and which can be a' state, an
action, an event, a transition or change of state, a elimatic phenomenon, a
process of sensing, saying, behaving or simply existing. We here use the term
'process' to refer in a general sense to al! these types.
The participant roles (semantic functons) nvolved in the situation
The entities represented by these can be persons, objects or abstractions;
they can be the Agent of the action or be affected by it, benefit from it or
receive its. effects. They are typically realised by Subject, Direct Object and
Indirect Object in the syntactic structure. They are the inherent semantic
roles. There are also other, non-inherent participants; for instance, lnstru
ment, such as her handbag in She hit the burglar with her handbag.
The Attributes ascribed to entities
These either identify or characterise the entity, or state its location in space or
time. They are realised syntactical!y by the intensive Complements (Comple
ment of the Subject and Complement of the Object).
The circumstantial roles associated with the process
These inelude expressions of time, place, manner, means, cause, condition,
concession, accompaniment and role. They are typically optional in the
semantic structure, in the same way as their adjunctive realisations are in the
syntactic structure. Circumstances can, however, be inherent to the situation,
and are then described as complements (see 4.1.1). Such is the case with the ..
locative expression which, as well as the Object, is obligatory with put as in
Put the flowers in water.
We have now outlined the framework which will serve to carry the differen!
configurations of semantic functions that go to make up semantic structures.
Not that any particular configuration is inherently given in nature. There are
various ways of conceptualising a situation, according to what the lexico
grammatical resources of a language permit. In English we may say that ir's
cloudy, specifying simply a state (is) and an Attribute (cloudy); or that (he sky.
is cloudy, adding a Carrier participant Cthe sky) tor the Attribnte; or that
clouds are gathering in the sky, in which we represent the as
consisting of an inanimate Agent (clouds), a dynamic process (are gathering)
and a locative circumstance (in the sky).
There is no one-to-one correlation between semantic structures and syn
tactic structures; rather, the semantic categories cross-cut the syntactic ones,
aIthough with sorne correlation. Semantic structures and syntactic structures
do not, therefore, always coincide; rather, they overlap. In both cases, how
ever, it is usually the process, expressed by the verb, that determines the
choice of participants in the semantic structure and of syntactic elements in
the syntactc structure. In Chapter 3 the possible syntactic combinations are
discussed from the point of view of verb complementation and clause type.
In this chapter we s h a l ~ start from the semantics; at the same time we shall by
to relate the choice of semantic roles to their syntactic realisations.
One obvious problem in the identification of participants and processes is
the vastness and variety of the physical world, and the difficulty involved in
reducing this variety to a few semantic roles and processes. Al! we can.
attempt to do is to specify the paradigm cases, and indicate where more
detailed specification would be necessary in order to account semantically
far the varied shades of our experience.
13.1.1 Types of process
There are three main types of process:
(a) Material processes, or processes of 'doing' (e.g. kick, run, paint, con
struct, dig, write, repair, send, give).
(b) Mental processes, or processes of 'experiencing' or 'sensing' (e.g. see,
hear, know, feel, beleve, think, like, hale, regrel, forget).
(c) Relational processes, or processes of 'being' or 'becoming' in which a
participant is characterised, ar identified, or situated circumstantially (e.g.
be, seem, stand, lie, become, turn, gel).
13,'1.2 Inherent participants and actualised participants
of these processes are accompanied by one or more inherent partici
pants; the nature of the process determines how many and what kind of
participants are involved. The material process represented by the verb die
for instance, has only one participant, whereas kick typically requires two:
one participant is the Agent who carries out the action, and must be 'anmate'
and even typically 'human'; the other is the participant affected by the action
of kicking, and is not required to be human, or even animate.
In the example red kicked the ball both the inherent participants are
actualised as red and the ball.lfwe say red kicked hard, however, onlyone
participant, the Agent who carries out the action, is actualised. The second
participant, the one affected by the action, is unactualised or unex-
Experiences expressed as situaton types 113
pounded. In everyday uses of English, speakers frequently find it convenient
not to actualise certain inherent participants. Give, for instance, is typically a
three-participant process as in Mary gave the Red Cross a donaton; only two
participants are actualised, however, in Mary gave a donation and only one
in Mary gave generously.
Participants are unexpounded because they can be conventionally under
stood in the situational context. The unactualised participant is specific in:
Do you drive (a car)?
1'11 wash and you dry
WiII you pour (the tea I coffee)?
He's shaving (himself).
lt is not specific in electricity can kili, remarks like that can hurt, and is
perhaps not even known to the speaker in she teaches, he writes.
Processes with the rrieaning of 'reciprocal participation' such as meet, join
and kiss can be represented with implicit reciprocity as in ypur sister and 1
have never met (each other).
Sorne processes have no participants; for example, statements about time,
distance or weather such as it is raining, it's a long walk to the beach, it's half
past eleven. In these the pronoun it is merelya surface form required' to
realise the obligatory Subject element.
Traditionally, the term intransitive has been used to refer to verbs which
express one-participant processes such as die or no-participant processes
such as rain, whose action does not extend to any Object; the term transit
ve has been used to refer to verbs and clauses in which the process is
extended to one or more Objects. Following this convention, give is transitive
in Mary gave a donaton but intransitive in Give geherously! In this book we
shall use 'transitive' and 'intransitive' as syntactic terms, while referring
semantically to one-, two- or three-participant processes, with 'actualised' or
'unactualised' inherent participants.
The number of participants involved in a process can also be referred to as
its valency. A process with one participant is said to be monovalent as in
the dog died. A process with two partic'ipants is bivalent as in the dog bit the
postman; a process with three participants is trivalent as in Mary gave the
Red Cross a donation. The valency is reduced from three to two, or from two
to one when participants are not actualised, as in the examples aboye.
114 Expressing pallerns oi experience
Summary
following examples:
Agent
The Prime Minister
The spectators
Ted
We
Material processes are actions carried out by a participant called Agent. They
may or may not affect other participants. Examples of material processes are do,
run, paint, kick, hit, spoil, pay, bring, turn.
2 Participant roles in material processes:
Agent: The Prime Minister resigned.
Force: Lightning struck the oak tree.
Affected: An avalanche burled the climbers.
Effected: Mary made an ome/ette.
Recipient: They gave the children some sweets.
Beneficary: ,'11 pour you some coffee.
Causative Agent: Pat boiled the water. 1 (ergative
The water boiled. f pair)
Expressing processes oi doing and causing 115
to these two tests, also answer the question 'What did X do to Y?' (What did
red do lo BilI?).
14.2 Inanimate Agent or 'Force'
~ . /
The notion of agency is a complex one, which indudes such features as
animacy, intention, motivation, responsibility and the use of one's own
energy to bring about an event or initiate a process. In central instances, al!
these features will be present. In non-central instances, one or more o these
features may be absent. If we say, for example, that the horse splashed us
with mud as it passed we do not imply that the horse did so deliberately. We
do not attribute intentional.ity or responsibility or motivation to the horse in
this sitution. We might call it an 'unwitting Agent'. However, rather than
devise a different term for every subtype o agency we will make just one
further distinction: that between animate and inanimate Agents. This is use
fui in order to account for such natural phenomena as thunder, Iightning,
electricity, avalanches, the wind, tides and floods. As Agents theyare inani
mate, and their power or energy cannot therefore be intentional. These and
many others we will call Force or simply inanimate Agent; we shall also
include here such psychological states as anxiety, fear or joyo
Inanimate Agent
(Force)
Process Affected
Lightning
An avalanche
Thethunder
Anxiety
struck
buried
rolled.
can ruin
the oak tree.
the climbers.
your health.
In certain cultures, such phenomena may be interpreted as real animate
Agents, or as Instrument of some divinity. In non-animistic cultures like ours,
these roles are easily accepted as metaphoric transfers of the category 'nor
mally animate' to 'inanimate' .. In the following short text, the italicised Sub
jects realise the role of inanimate Agent:
The cold crept in from the comers of the shanty, closer and closer to the
stove. Icy-cold breezes sucked and f1uttered the curtans around the
beds. The HUle shanty quivered in the storm. But the steamy smell of
boilng beans was good and it seemed to make the air warmer.
Laura IngaIls Wilder, The Long Winter.
14.3 Affected
The Affected participant is that which is affected by the action expressed
by the verbo (Other terms used are Patient and Goal.) The semantic structure
of such two:participant situations can be llustrated as follows:
14.1 Agent
Material processes express an action or an activity which is typically carried
out by a 'doer' or Agent. By 'Agent' we mean any entity that is capable of
operating on itself or others, usually to bring about some change in the
location or properties of itself or others. Typical Agentsare human, as in the
resigned.
cheered.
hit
SitI.
carried
our luggage.
We can test for Agent in material processes by questioning 'What did X
do?' or 'Who did Z?' and by forming a 'thematic equative' (or 'pseudo-deft')
construction (see 15.2): What lhe Prime Minister did was resigno What we did
was carIY our luggage. Many two-participant material processes, in addition
Agent Material process Affected
Ted
My brother
The child
kicked
is painting
ate
the bal!.
the house.
the chocolate.
S P Od
,
- _._-_.__.... _---
Besides asking 'What did Ted / my brother / the child do?', or 'Who did Z?',
identifying the Agent, \!le can also ask 'What happened to the ball / the house
/ the chocolate?', identifying the Affected. Consequently, if the process
extends to an Affected participant, the representation can be made in two
forms, either active, in which Agent is realised as Subject and Affected as
Drect Object, as aboye, or passive, in which Subject realises Affected and
Agent is realised as Adjunct:
i Affected Material process Agent
The bal! was kicked by Ted.
The house is being painted by my brother.
The chocolate was eaten by the child.
S
-_ ...
P
-
A
-
14.4 Effected
Our example My brother is painting the house admits two interpretations:
one, that he is putting pain! on the house; and the other, that he is painting a
picture of the house. In the first, the house is affected by the process, and the
house is an 'Affected participant'. In the second, the house is not affected by
the process; rather it - in this case the picture of the house - is created,or
brought into being, by the process of painting. In the latter case, the house is
termed an Effected participant. Another term is Resulting Object. Other
common situations that are interpreted in this way include such everyday
occurrences as building a bridge, writing a Ietter, making an omelette, dig
ging a hole. SyntacticalIy, the Effected participant is realised by a Direct
Object in an active clause, just as the Affected is; but semanticalIy they are
different; with an Effected Object the situation cannot be questioned by'What
did X do to Y', but rather by the thematic equative'What was brought into
being was Y'. Compare the Affected and Effected participants realised at Od
in the following:
Expressing processes of doing and causing 117
Agent
Process Affected
Mary
The gardener
fried
dug
Bring
an egg.
the garden.
who you like.
S
P Od
Effected
made
Agent Process
an omelette.
a hole. I ,// The gardener \ dug
what you can.
S
IP IOd
Write
14.5 Recipient and Beneficiary roles
When the action expressed by the verb extends to two inherent participants
the additional participant is the Recipient. Processes of this type incIude
give, send, lend, grant, pay:
1'11 give the children some sweets.
Bill's father has lent us his car.
The judge granted the accused
Someone has sent Marya get-well cardo
Have you paid the taxi-driver the right amount?
The Recipient is the one to whom the action is directed and who receives
the 'goods'. In processes of 'doing' t is typcally realised in the syntax by the
Indirect Object. It is typically animate and human, as in the examples aboye,
but occasionally an inanimate Recipient occurs as in:
We'lI give the unemployment queston priority.
The classical porch lends the house an air of distinction.
There are two syntactic tests tor Recipient in material processes:
(a) Recipient can become Subject in a corresponding passive cIause:
The children will be given some sweets.
Has the taxi-driver been paid the right amount?
The accused was granted bail.
Mary has been sent a get-well cardo
The unemployment question will be given priority.
(b) There is usualIy a corresponding SPOdOprep construction, in which the.
Recipient is expressed by a Prepositional Object containing too (Sorne verbs,
such as pay, do not have this alternative.) .
1'11 give some sweets to the children.
The judge granted bail to the accused.
Someone has sent a get-well card to Mary.
'Have you paid the right amount to the taxi-driver?
Beneficiary is the optional, not inherent, participant for whom sorne
service is done. This is not necessarily the same as receiving the goods. I can
say I am knitting a sweater, without declaring who it is for. Thisdifference is
--
reflected in English in the syntax of verbs such as fetch, make, buy, pour and
many verbs such as cook, bake, mix, knit which can be replaced by make.
These represent services which are done for people rather than actions to
people. Beneficiary is realised as optionallndirect Object in:
Could you fetch me the newspaper?
She mixed James a cocktail.
1'11 make you an omelette.
Jane poured afl the guests a cup of coffee.
Unlike Recipient, Beneficary can rarely become Subject in a passive clause.
The following are not acceptable: "1 could be fetched the newspaper, "James
was mixed a cocktail, "You'lI be made an omelelle, "Al! the guests were
poured cups of coffee.
.In the alternative SPOdOprep construction the preposition is usually foro
(Could you fetch the newspaper for me? She mixed a cocktail for James. 1'11
make an omelelle for you. Jane poured cups of coffee for all the guests.)
Recpient and Beneficary can occur together in the same clause, as in the
following example, where me is Recipient and my daughter is Beneficary:
She gave me a bracelet tor my daughter.
Both Recipient and Beneficiary may be involvedin processes of an un
beneficial nature such as they sent him.a letter-bomb, in which him is
Recipient; and they set him a trap in which him is Beneficiary.
14.6 Causative processes
. Causative processes are o various kinds, depending on the verbo We will
deal here with causative material processes realised by SPOd and SPOdCo
structures:
(a) Type: Theyare making the road wider. Acausative Agent brings about a
change of state in the Affected participant. The resulting state is expressed by
an Attribute:
, Causative Agent Process Affected Resulting Attrlbute
They
This machine
. Sea-water
The heat
That noise
Pat
are making
wiIJ make
rendered
has turned
is driving
had
the road
your tasks
the equipment
the milk
me
her face
wider.
simple .
useless.
sour.
mad.
lifted.
S
-
P
--
Od Co
.Expressing processes of doing and causing 119
equivalent of make wide and simplify means make simple. With such verbs
there are alternative SPOd causative structures: They are widening the road;
This machine will simplify your tasks. For other adjectives such as useless
there is no corresponding causative verbo Certain dynamic verbs such as
driveand turn can be used in specific causative senses in English. Have
introduces a passive sense, expressed by a participle (cause to be -en).
(b) Type: Pat boiled the water. A causative Agent causes the Affected partici
pant to undergo or perform an action. A. change of state or location of the
Affected may al so be involved:
Causative Agent Process Affected
Pat boiled the water.
I rang the bel!.
The child flew the kite.
Peter rolled the ball.
A stone broke the window.
S
- ~ ........ _
P Od
Causative Agents initiate the causative process and are not necessarily
human, but may be instrumental participants, such as a stone in a stone
brokethe window.
The Affected is, however, the essential participant, the one which is pri
marily involved in the action. It is the water that boils, the bell that rings, the
kite that flies, the ball that rolls and the window that breaks .
14.7 Causatives with corresponding one-participant
processes: ergative pairs
The situations described aboye with the causative Agent expressed as Sub
ject can also be expressed with the causative Agent suppressed. The Subject
is the Affected in a one-participant process:
Process Affected
boiled. The water
rango The bell
The kite flew.
rolled. The ball
broke.
p
Thewindow
S
The resultingchange of state in the Affected participant sometimes forms Processes such as boil, ring, fly, stop, roll and others Usted belw, in which
part of the meaning of a morphologically related causative verb: widen is the the Affected Object in a transitive clause (I rang the bell twice) can be the
120 Expressing pattems of experience
Affected Subject in an intransitive clause (The bel! rang twice) are sometimes
called ergative pairs in English. In sorne languages, such as Basque, erga
tivity is marked by a special case form on al! Agentive Subjects of transitive
clauses.
Within this type of causative processes it is also possible to distinguish a .
set of volitional activities (walk, jump, march) in which the Affected partici
pant is involved (J'l! walk you home; He jumped the horse over the fence; The
sergeant marched the soldiers along the road).
It is alsO possible to have an additional agent and an additional causative
verb in the transitive clauses of ergative pairs; for example, The child got his
sister to fly thekite, Mary made Peter rol! the ball.
Ergative pairs account lor many of the most commonly used verbs in
English, sorne of which are listed below, with examples:
burn
X burned the cakes. The cakes bumed.
burst
X burst the balloon. The balloon burst.
ehange
X has changed the programme. The programme has
changed.
e/ose
X closed his eyes. His eyes closed.
eook
X cooked the rice. The rice cooked.
drop
X dropped the book. The book dropped.
jon
Xjoined their hands. Their hands joined.
me/t
X melted the ice. The ice melted.
move
X moved the glass. The glass moved.
open
X opened the door. The door opened.
run
X is running the bathwater. The bathwater is
shake
X shook the branches. The branches shook.
shut
X shut the window. The window shut.
stand
Stand the lamp here! The lamp stands here.
start
X started the caro The car started.
streteh
X stretched the elastic. The elastic stretched.
X tightened the rope. The rope tightened.
X tumed the doorknob. The doorknob turned.
Causatives and ergatives are illustrated in the following text:
The coId wind made the horses eager to gollJ. They pricked their ears
forwdrd and back [21 and tossed their heads[:lJ,jingling the bitsl41 and
pretendillfl to shy at their own shadows. They stretched their noses
forward[5 , pulling on the bits and prancing to go faster.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter.
[11 causing a change of state (eager) in the Affected participant (horses);
[21 causing the Affected (their ears) to undergo an action (prick ...);
[31 causing the Affected (their heads) to undergo an action (toss);
141 causing the Affected (the bits) to undergo an action (jingle);
(5J causing the Affected (their noses) to 1.JI)dergo an action (stretch ..
One-participant processes 121
Clauses [2], [3l, [4l,and [5J contain ergative verbs and could al so be
expressed intransitively:
The bits
Their nosesstretched forward.
In clause 1 the cold wind is the inanimate causative Agent which initiates the
action. In the remainng clauses they (the horses) are the causative Agent,
setting in motion parts of themselves or their harness. By choosing the two
participant, rather than the one-participant structure, the author is able to .
present the horses as lively, eager beings.
Summary
When the process is not extended to any other participant. the sngle
is either an Agent Subject of a voluntary process (Nobody tumed uP), or
Affected Subject of an nvo[untary process (The o/d lady collapsed).
2 An Affected Subject occurs wth certan verbs such as break, wash, when
express a property or potentiality of the entity (Glas$ breaks easily; That matenal
won't wash). A negative, modal or manner adverb is usually present.
There are two main types of one-partcipant process to be consdered
both conssting of a Subject and Predicator. In one type the Subject is the
of the process; in the other type, it is affected by the process. Th", rlff",rt>n
therefore a semantic one, which depends on thA rAI;:ton!Shn
and process.
15.1 Agentive Subject of a voluntary process
A voluntary one-participant process is carried out by an Agent
Agent
Process
Birds
tly.
Nobody
turned up.
p S
We have also seen that many natural phenomena are also represented
intransitively, with inanimate, non-volitional Agents or 'Force' at Subject as in
lightning f1ashed and thunder rolled, the sun rose and the clouds disap
peared.
15.2 Affected Subject of aD iDvoluDtary process
Not all material processes have a participant which carries out the action by
means of its own energy, whether intentionally or nol. In situations expressed
as the dog died, the old lady collapsed, the children have grown, the vase fell
off the she/f, the participant, even when animate, is neither controlling nor
initiating the action. This is proved by the inappropriateness of the question
'What did X do?' and of the thematic equative test (*What the children did
was grow.). Rather, we should ask 'What happened to X?' The participant on
which the action centres in such cases is, then, Affected. It is found in
involuntary transitional processes such as die, arrive and grow, which rep
resent the passage'from one state to another, and in involuntary actions such
as trip and stumble, which always have an animate participant. Fall and slip
are accompanied by a participant which may be either animate or nanimate.
A locative circumstance is also often present.
Affected

Circumstance
act or transition
The dog
died,
The old lady
collapsed.
The children
have grown:
The government
I
He
has fallen.
Iripped
slipped
over the carpet.
on the ice.
S p
A
Certain of these actions, such asslip and fall, lend themselves to two types of
situation, one Agent-controlled, with an Agent participant, the other non
Agent-controlled, with Affected participant. Achange from intransitive to
transitive or causative may also be involved.
One-participant processes 123
Affected at Subject Agent at Subject
She dropped dead.
She fel! lo her knees.
She dropped a hin!.
She feH down Ihe slars.
She slipped the money She slipped on the ice.
nto her pocket. (causative)
A borderline area between agency and non-agency is provided by behav
ioural processes such as cough, sneeze, yawn, blink, laugh and sigh, which.
are usully one-participant. They are considered as typically involuntary; but
it may be that there is a very slight agency involved. They can be deliberate,
too, as in he coughed discreetly, he yawned rudely, in which the Adjunct
element implies volition. Such volitional Adjuncts could not be used with die,
collapse and grow, which are completely lacking in agencyand volition.
In the following passage almost all the clauses are intransitive; the partici
pant at Subject varies from Agentive (voluntary) to Affected (animate
tary or inanimate).
Encounter between an Indian fa/her and his son
So 1raced out my room[I 1, with my fingers in my ears, to scream 121
till the roof fel! 131 down about their ears.
But the radio suddenly went off 141 , the door to my parents' room
suddenly opened 151 and my father appeared!61, bathed and shaven, ..
his whte 'dhoti' blazing(7
1
, his white shirt cracklingl
81
, his patent
lea/her pumps glittering(91. He stopped 1101 in the doorway and 1
stopped I111 on the balls of my feet and wauered(
12
1.
Anita Desai, Games al Twilght.
111 Agentive Subject; 121 implicit Agentive Subject; (31 Affected inanimate
Subject; 141 Affected inanimate Subject; 151 Affected inanimate Subject;
16] Agentive Subject (7) Affected inanimate Subject (8) Affected
inanimate Subject; {91 Affected inanimate Subject; {101 Agentive Subjecl;
1111 Agentive Subject; 1121 animate diminished volition.
The high number of one-participant processes in this text helps to make us
participate in the boy's apprehension. lnanimate objects (radio, door, roof,
'dhoti', shirt, pumps) appear to take on alife of their own, able to carry out
actions which to him are potentialIy violent and threatening (fall down,
blaze, crack/e, glitter). Potentially threatening, too, are his father's actions,
this context. They are not extended to any other entity; he simply appears
and stops. But the foreboding is there. The boy's actions are rot directed
towards anything except escape (race out). But this initial volition weakens,
becomes semi-voluntary (scream) and is almost lost in the final intransitive
(wavers).
15.3 Expressing the properties of an entity
A further type of Affected Subject occurs with certain processes (break, read,
translate, polish, wash, fasten, lock, etc.) which are otherwise typicalIy two
participant:
Glass breaks easily.
This box doesn't shutlclosellocklfasten properly.
This novel reads like a government reporto
Colloquiallanguage translates badly.
Some synthetic fibres won't wash. Usually they dry-clean.
Silver polishes better than plastic.
They differ from other intransitives in the following ways:
(a) They express a general property or a potentiality of the entity. Compare
the glass broke, which refers to a specific event.
(b) Although no Agent ismentoned, the possible activity of an Agent is
necessarily implicit; we do not mean that glass breaks spontaneously, or that
the novel can be read without a reader.
(c) Related to this implicit agency is the fact that these intransitives are
accompanied by a modal, negation or sorne adjunctive specification such as
properly, like a government reporto
(d) This type of intransitive is sometimes calIed 'pseudo-passive'. It is not
possible in every case, however, to express these meanings by the passive
voice, without sorne lexical or grammatical additions. The folIowing are not
equivalent:
This box isn't shut properly.
This novel ls read like a government reporto =" "

Colloquiallanguage is translated badly.
t.
,.
Some synthetic fibres won't be washed.
Silver is polished better than plastic.
Ce) There is no corresponding transitive construction with Agentive Subject,
despite the fact that these verbs can normally be used transitively. It is not
equivalent to say, for instante, He reads the novellike a government report,
He translates colloquiallanguage badly.
Frequently, certain lexical changes or additions are necessary, in order to
express the meaning in an altemative form (This novel is written in the style
of a government reporto It is impossible lo wash some synthetic libres.). The
difficulty of paraphrasing this clause meaning shows how specific and how
useful it is.
Expressing whatwe perceive; think and feel 125
. r . ~ "
Surnrnary
Mental processes are processes of perception (see. !Jear, etc.), of cognition
(know, unaerstand, etc.) and of affection (like, fear, etc.).
2 There is always a conscious participant, the Experiencer, who perceives, knows,
likes, etc. There is usually a second participant, Phenomenon that which is
perceived, known, liked, etc.
3 Mental process verbs are typically stative.
4 For certain types of mental process, English has both a stative verb (see) and a
dynamic verb (watch). Dynamic mental processes such as watch take Progressive
tense-aspect, whereas involuntary mental processes aenerallv do not.
16.1 Mental Processes
Not all situations that we wsh to express lingustically centre on who do es
what to whom. The processes of percepton (see, hear, feel, etc.), of cogni
tion (know, think, believe, realise, recognise, etc.) and of affectian (like,
dislike, love, hate, please, etc.) which we group togetl1er under the heading
'mental processes' are semantcally different from material processes of
'doing', and these differences are reflected in the grammar in several ways:
Ca) There is typically one participant who is conscious, and can be called the
Experiencer; this is the one who sees, feels, thinks, likes, etc., and is
typicalIy human, but may also be an animal. (The rider heard a noise. The
horse sensed danger.) TIle use of a non-conscious entity as Experiencer in a
mental process is often exploited for commercial ends:
Your car knows what it needs.
This airline cares for you.
(b) There is usuallya second participant in a mental process, that which is
perceived, known, liked, etc., and which may be a 'thing' realised by a NG,
but can al so be a fact, a process or an entire situaton, realised by a clause.
This participant can be caBed the Pbenomenon: "
Experiencer Mental process Phenomenon
-
Who saw whathappened?
Phil knows the answer.
We believe thal he is right.
Children like going lo the circus.
' - - - ~
-

(e) Verbs of mental proeess are typieally stative verbs and consequently the
unmarked tense-aspeet form is the non-Progressive (/ know the answer, not
In proeesses of seeing, hearing and feeling Bnglish allows the Phenom
*/ am knowing the answer.). Material processes, on the other hand, are
enon to represent a situation that is either completed or not eompleted. This
typically dynarnic and take the Progressve as their unmarked tense-aspect
aspectual distinction s realsed by the type oi non-finite clause ehosen; a to
(What are you reading? / am reading this script, not What do you read? /
infinitive clause with its own Subjeet represents the situation as completed,
read this script.) (see Module 42).
whereas an -ing clause with its own Subject represents the Phenomenon as in
(d) A mental process cannot be questioned by 'What did X do?' as can a
the process of happening (see a1so 11.5). Compare:
material process. Compare: What did Mary do with the gift? She gave it away.
*She liked it.
16.2 Perception processes
As realised by the verbs see and hear in English, pereeption is an involuntary
state which does not depend upon the ageney of the perceiver, who in fact
receives the visual and auditory sensations non-volitionally. The 'participant
such situatios--ean be considered Recipient Experiencer (We saw the
accidento The rider heard a noise.). Corresponding to see and hear, English
has the dynarnic verbs look/watch and listen, respeetively. These are volition
al material processes and consequently are accompanied by an Agentive, not
a Recipient, Experieneer, and can take Progressive aspect (We were watch
ing the match ... Everyone was listening attentive/y.).
The perception proeesses of 'feeling', 'smelling' and 'tasting' each make
~ use oi one verb (feel, smell and taste) to express both types of proess, one
dynamic, and volitional with an Agentive Subjeet (Feet this cloth. Smell these
roses. Taste this sauce.), the other non-volitional with a Recipient Subjeet
~ (The child feels hot./ can smell gas. Can you taste the lemon in this sauce?).
For the use of look, feel, smell, taste and sound in relational proeesses,' see
. Module 17.
Perception processes can be surnrnarised as follows:
(i) Recipient Experiencer Non-volitional process Phenomenon
I
S P Od
Tom saw a snake:
We heard a noise.
I can smell g8,S.
I can laste the lemon.
The child feels hot.
Expressing what we perceive, think and fee/ 127
(i)Agentive' Experiencer Volitional process Phenomenon
S P Od
Tom watched the snake.
He listened to lhe noise.
Pam smelled the roses.
Phil lasted the sauce.
The mother felt the child's forehead.
-_........ _----------
Completed Not completed
I saw him cross the road. I saw him crossing fhe road.
We heard the free fall. We heard the rain falling.
He felt someone grasp his armo He felt someone grasping his armo
In mental processes which are passivised, the Phenomenon is realised by
the Subject CA snake was seen; a noise was heard).
16.3 Cognitive processes
Cognitive processes are realised by sueh stative verbs as be/ieve, doubt,
guess, know, recognise, think, forget, mean, remember, understand. Most
verbs of cognition can have as their Phenomenon a wide range oi things
apprehended, including human, inanimate and abstract entities, realsed by
NOs, facts, and situations, realised by different types oi clauses. The process
expressed by the verb realise can take as its Phenomenon only a situation
realised by a finite clause. A seleetion of examples is given below.
-
Experiencer Cognitlve process Phenomenon
I don't know what lo do.
He can't understand lheir objections.
Everybody remembered his face.
Nobody recognised that he was a genius.
She has forgotten to leave lhe key.
NobOdy realised how lale il was.
My parents lhought that you were coming.
I didn'l think lo see you here.
-
Cogntive proeesses are stative and almost invariably take the non-progres
sive tense-aspect, as in the aboye examples (Think is dynamic in the sense of
'ponder' as in What are you thinking aboul?). Many cognitive processes allow
the Pheno.menon to. be unactualised when this is 'Oiven information' (1 don 't
know. JiU doesn 't understand. Nobody will remember. lephants never for
get.).
In the fo.Jlowing short extract, the autho.r has chosen processes of cogni
tion, perception and affection to reflect the mental make-up of a meteoro 10
gist whose work contributed to chaos theory:
Lorenz enjoyed 111 weather - by no means a prerequisite for a research
meteorologist. He savored 121 its changeability. He appreciated [31 the
pattems that come and go in the atmosphere, families of eddies and
cyclones, always o.beying mathematical rules, yet never
themselves. When he looked [41 at clo.uds he thought [51 he saw 6) a
kind o.C structure in them. Once he had feared (71 that studying the
science of weather would be like p,rying a jack-in-the-box apart with a
screwdriver. No.w he wondered [8 whether science would be able to
penetrate the magic at al!. Weather had a f1avor that could no.t be
expressed by talking about averages.
James Gleick, Chaos, Making a new sdence.
1:1 affection; (21 affection; (3J cognitio.n; 141 perceptio.n; 151 cognition;
16) perception; [7J affection; 18.1 cognition.
The Phenomenon in processes of cognition can be an entity realised by a
a fact, or a whole situation realised by a finite thal-c1ause or a nominal
WH-c1ause:
He kno.ws most of Spain. (NG)
He knows that you are waiting. (finite that-clause)
He kno.ws what he wants. (finite nominal WH-clause)
Remember and forget, in addition to finite e1auses, can take as their
Phenomenon either -ing or to-infinitive non-finite e1auses:
I remember locking the door. I remembered to lock the door.
I fo.rgot abo.ut locking il. I forgo.t lo Io.ck il.
The choice between these two reflects a difference in the time-relation of the
Phenomenon to the process of remembering or forgetting (see 9.6.3).
The Phenomenon can inelude another participant and the Attribute of this:
We kno.w Tom lo be honesto
She believed him to be sincere.
understand you to be the Director of this department.
This SPOdCo structure is used as a formal aIternative to the more widely used
finite that-clause.
The cognitive processes described so far express indirect tbougbts and
for this reason their Phenomenon is typcally realised by an indicative.
Expressing wh'at we perceive, think and feel 129
Mental processes such as decide, intend and reso/ve are processes of voliM
tion and a foJlowing that-c1ause as Phenomenon contains a verb in the
subjunctive or else modal should + infinitive, both of which express an
indirect directive (see 9.3.3).
The co.urt reso.lved that the child be laken nto careo
The court resolved that the child should be laken nto careo
16.4 Affectivity processes
.(a) Under the first type of affectivity process we include those expressed by
such verbs as like, love, enjoy, please, delighl, dislike, hale, detest, want.
English most of these verbs in everyday use have a Recipient Expe
riencer Subject:
Cals lo.ve sardines.
Many people enjoy breakfast in bed.
I detest hypocrisy.
With please and delight the Recipient Experiencer is Direct Object in active
e1auses; these verbs are more commonly used in the passive, however, and
by this grammatical device Recipient is made to coincide with Subject, thus
conforming to the predominant pattern:
Recipient Recipient
The news pleased uso We were pleased by the news.
His success delighted his wife. His wife was delighted by his success.
Od S
The Phenomenon in affectivity proeesses can be expressed by a NO, which
represents an entity, or by a clause representing a proeess or a situation.
Sorne NGs express processes (a walk, a swim) and these are often inter
changeable with non-finite dauses, especially the -ing type, which is the.
most nominal in English. Sorne verbs, sueh as enjoy, dislike, detest,
variably take an -ing c1ause. Others sueh as want, hope and long take a lo
infinitive clause. Others, particularly like, love and hate, admit either an -ing
c1ause or a to-infinitive clause; the -ing c1ause suggests an interpretation of
habituality or actuality, while the to-infinitive clause suggests potentiality. For
this reason, the lalter is used in hypothetical meanings (see also 9.6.3). The
following examples will iIIustrate these differences:
NG I-lng clause NG I to-Infinltive clause
They love a walk in the woods. They love a walk in (he woods.
They enjoy walking in the woods. They love to walk in the woods.
She likes visiting her friends. She would Iike to visit Janet.
I hate having a tooth out. I would hate lO have more teeth out.
_ ....... .... __.....
(b) A second type of affectivity process includes verbs which express such
emotions as surprise, dismay, wony, depression. They can occur with a that
e
c1ause Phenomenon at Subject and Recipient Experiencer at Direct Object:
That she initiated divorce proceedngs surprised no-one.
That their son never wrtes home depresses them.
That the rO<;ld works are paralysed dismays the public.
But most English speakers usually prefer either to extrapose the Phenom
enon that-clause, with anticipatory it in Subject position as in O), or to use a
participial adjective (surprised, depressed, dismayed), bringing Experiencer
to Subject position as in 00 (see S.1.3(d)):
() It surprised no-one that she intated divorce proceedings.
It depresses them that their son never writes home.
It dismays the public that the road works are paralysed.
(i) No-one was surprised that she initated divorce proceedings.
They are depressed that ther son never writes home.
The public s dsmayed that the road works are paralysed.
The indicative is used in the subordinate that-clause to present the Phenom
enon as a fact. When the speakerwishes to present the Phenomenon non
factually, as an idea, modal should + infinitive is used instead, as in (iii)
(see 9.3.5): .
(Di) No-one was surprised that she should initiate divorce
proceedings.
They are depressed that their son should never write home.
The public is dismayed that the road works should be
paralysed.
Cc) A third type of mental affection pracess comprises the verbs wish, sup
pose (imperative) and would rather (wish and suppose are no doubt cogni
. tive-affective). AH three refer to unreal or hypothetical events or states, fram
the stand-point of speech time. This notion of unreality is expressed by a
: simple Past tense (or the Past subjunctive were if the verb is be) or a Past
Perfecto These Past tenses have the effect of 'distancing' the event fram
speech time. Wish takes modal would + infinitive to refer to future time. The
subordinating conjunction that is normaIly omitted (see 7.3.l(e));
present-time reference I wish Ted were here with uso
Suppose Ted were here with uso
I'd rather Ted were here with uso
Expressing processes of being and becoming 131
past-time reference I wish Ted had been here with uso
Suppose Ted had been here with uso
I'd rather Ted had been here with uso
future-time reference I wish Ted would come soon.
Suppose Ted came I were to come soon.
I'd rather Ted came I were to come soon.
Summary
The third main category of processes, relational processes. expresses the notion
of being something or somewhere, as in Tom is generous. James is an M.P" The
Post Office is over there. Similar to processes of being are existential processes,
which state that something exists or took place, as in There are millions of stars.
These are treated from the point of view of informabon processing in 30.4.
2 The notion of being is reflected in languages in different ways. In English
relational processes can be grouped into three types:
attrlbutive: Tom is generous.
circumstantial: The Post Office is over there.
possessive: That car is mine.
3 The participant in a relational process is termed.the Carrier (Tom, the Post Office,
that car). The process itself appears to have less meaning than do material
processes and mental processes, and serves merely to relate the Carrier to its
Attribute (generous), to a circumstance (over there) or to the semantic function
expressing possession (mine).
17.1 Attributive relational processes
There is an intensive relationship between the Cairier and its Attribute. That
is to. say, the Carrier is in sorne way the Attribute. The contribution of the
Attribute is to characterise the Carrier or to identify t, as ilIustrated below:
132 Expressing pattetns of experience
Characterising Attribute
The play was a success.
John is a good player.
The river
we crossed was wide.
Silvia is thirteen.
S
p
Cs
Identlfying Attribute
The play was 'Hamler.
John is the captain.
The river
we crossed was the Thames.
Silvia is mycousin.
S
p
Cs
The differenee between these two types of Attribute is refleeted in the
syntax in three ways: (a) Only the identifying type is reversible C'Hamlet' was
the play. *A success was the play). (b) Only the eharaeterising type can be
realised by an adjedive (The riverwe crossed was wide). Ce) NGs whieh
realise charaeterising Attributes are usually indefinite (a good player) , while
NGs which realise identifying Attributes are usually definite (the captain).
The process itself can be expressed either as a state or as a transition. With
s.tate verbs sueh as be, keep, remain, stay, seem and appear the Attribute is
seen as existing at the same time as the proeess deseribed by the verb and is
sometimes called the current Attribute.
With dynamic verbs of transition such as become, get, tUtn, tutn out, grow,
run, end up the Attribute exists as the result of the process and can be called
the resulting Attribute:
Current Attribute
We.kept quie!.
He remained the leader.
The leaves are yellow.
She fel! exhausted,
Your sister looks tired.
My boss is quite bald.
The steps are smcioth.
The water feels cold.
My face was red:
Resultlng Attribute
We fel! silent.
He became the leader.
. The lea ves turned yellow.
She ended up exhausted.
She gets tired easily.
He went bald very young.
The steps have worn smooth.
The water has run cold.
My face turned red.
There is a wide variety of verbs in English to express both states and
transitions (see Module 12). As states, the mental process verbs look ( =
seem), sound, smell, taste and feel can be used and lend an additional
meaning of 'sensory pereeption' to the relational process in which they
occur. A Recipient participant can be optionally added to this semantie
structure:
Attrlbute Reclplent Process Carrier
(to me) easy looks This test
(lO me) familiar sounds His name
.(
bad (to me) That fish smells
delicious (to me) taste Mangos
rather rough (to me) feels The surface
(to me) hot feels The child
p
A es S
The verb feel can function in two types of semantic structure: . (a) with a
Recipient Carrier (l feel hot; she felt exhausted) and (b) with a neutral Carrier
(the surface feels rather rough). The example the child feels hot is therefore
ambiguous; according to one interpretation the ehild (Recipient) feels the
heat; according to another, someone feels the heat (that is,Jhe temperature)
of the child, this meaning admitting the optional Recipient (see also 15.2 for
volitional feel). .
Other realisations of transitional processes with resulting Attributes.
inelude the following:
Her dreams came true.
The joke fel! tlat.
The days are growing shorter.
Only two university posts have fallen vacant this year.
His results proved difficult to confirmo
We al so analyse as Attribute e.xpressions of temporary state, whether re
alised by an adjective such as unemployed, or by a Prepositional Group such
as out of work. Sorne e.xpressions which might appear to be Ioeatives (on top
ofthe world = 'happy', in the clouds ='absent-minded') we would analyse as
metaphoricaLrealisations of the Attribute, when they express a temporary
state, as these do; There is usually a one-word adjectival equivalent (happy,
absent-minded). .
In expressions referring to elimatic phenomena such as it is hot I cold I
sunny I windy I frosty I cloudy I foggy there is no Carrier and the greater part
of the meaning is expressed by the Attribute.
17.2Circumstantial relational processes
These are processes of being in which the circumstantial element is essential
to the situation, not peripheral to it (see also 7.1.2). There are many types of
circumstanee which in this way stand in an intensive relationship with the
Carrier:
location in space: The museum is round the comer. .
location in time: Our next meeting will be on June 10.
extent in space: The desert stretches as far as the eye can see.
-----
extent in time:
The performance lasted three hours.
measurement:
The carpet measures three metres by
two.
cost:
The tickets cost five dollars each.
weight:
My suitcase weighs 20 kilos.
means:
Entrance to the exhibition is by
invitation.
Agent:
This symphony is by Mahler.
Beneficiary:
These flowers are for you.
metaphorical meanings:
He's off alcohol. Everyone'sinto
yoga nowadays.
Examples sueh as Tomorrow is Monday; Yesterday was July 1st are revers
ible and can therefore be eonsidered as identifying cireumstantial proeesses.
17.3 Possessive relationaI processes
In this type, the relationship between the two entities is one of possession:
one owns the other. The notion of possession is expressed either by the
Attribute, or by the proeess itself.
(a) Possession as Attribute: the verb is be and the Attribute is realised by a
genitive pronoun (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) or byan 's genitive such
as John's in the car is John's.
(b) Possession as proeess: English has several verbs to express possession.
With have, own and possess the Carrier is the possessor and the Attribute is
the possessed. With be and belong it is the other way round: the Carrier is the
possessed, the Attribute the possessor.
Also included in the eategory of 'possessing' are the notions of not pos
sessing Clack, need), of being worthy to posseS$ (deserve), and the abstraet
relations of inclusion, exclusion and eontainment. .
Examples of all types of relational proeesses of possession are seen below:
Carrier Process Attribute
The baby has blue eyes.
His uncle bwns a yacht.
I don't possess agun.
He lacks confidence.
Plants need water.
You deserve a prize.
The price includes postage.
The price excludes breakfast.
Thatcan contains petrol.
Possessor Possessed
I
Relational proeesses are extremely eommon in all uses of English. The
following extraet is based on an interview with a young farmer who breeds
pigs; he describes them, not by what they do, but as they are; this view is
reflected in the large number of charaeterising Attributes:
Pigs are different. 111 A pig is more of an individual, 121 more human [31
and in many ways a strangely likeable character. 141 Pigs have strong
personalities (51 and it is easy to get fond of them.
161
1 am always getting
fond of pigs and feel a bit conscience-stricken 171 when l have to put
therri inside for their whole lives. Pigs are very clean animals 181 but,
like us, theyare aH different; 191 sorne will need cleaning out 1101 after
half a day and sorne will be neat and tidy 1111 after three days. Sorne
pgs are always in a mess (121 and won't care. Pigs are very nteresting
people 1131 and can leave quite a gap when they go off to the bacon
factory.
Ronald Blythe, Akenfield.
11-41 characterising; 151 possessed; 16-91 characterising; 1101 possessed;
111-131 characterising.
Carrler
Process
Attribute
Those socks
This glove
Neither of these
The house
are
isn't
is
belongs
my brother's.
mine.
yours.
lo a millionaire.
Possessed
Possessor
136 Expressing pattems of experence
Surnrnary
Processes of saying and communicating are verbal processes. The participant
who communicates is the Sayer, and is typically human. That which is
communicated is the Verbiage and may be a reported statement, a reported
question or a reported directive. A Recipient may also be present in some verbal
processes.
2 Sayand tell are distinguished as verbs of communicating by certain semantic
properties which are reflected in the syntax.
3 Processes of existing are existential processes. The single participant is the
Existent, which may be an entity or an even!. The process refers to the existence,
location or happening of the Existen!.
18.1 Verbal processes or processes of saying
Verbal proeesses are processes of 'saying' or 'communicating' and are real
ised by such verbs as say, tell, announce, ask and reporto They have one
participant which is typically human, but not necessariIy so (the Sayer) and a
seeond essential participant which is what is said or asked or reported (the
Verbiage). A Recipient may also be present in sorne verbal proeesses:
Sayer Verbal process Recipient Verbiage
Mary
They
That sign
Sig Sen
Our correspondent
told
announced
says
tells
reports
me a secre!.
the name of the winner.
'No entry'.
the time in london.
renewed fghting on the
frontier.
The Sayer can be anything which puts out a eommunicative signal (Mary,
that sign, Big Ben, our correspondent, etc.). The Verbiage is realised either by
a NG, as in the examples aboye, or by a dause, as in the following table.
Depending partly on the verb, the folIowing clause can express a reported
Expressing processes of sayingand exiSting 137
statement as in the examples in (a), a reported question as in (b) or a reported
directive, as in (e) (see also 36.4 and 36.5).
(a) Sayer Verbal process Recipient Reported statement
1--
I
She said that the film was good.
A voice announced that the train was arriving.

No-one told us that the match was cancelled.
(b) Sayer Verbal process Recipient Reported question
Sue asked the assistant how much it cos!.
We enquired of the clerk if the museum was open.
(c)
The verbs say and tell are distinguished by certain semantic properties
whieh are reflected in the grammar:
(i) Tell typicalIy requires a Recipient at Indirect Objeet, especially in its use
as a direetive. The Recipient is unrealised in stereotyped expressions sueh as
tell a story, tell the truth, telllies. Say does not have a Recpient at lndirect
Object.
Mary told me a secre!. 'Mary said me a secret.
Mary told us she would come. 'Mary said us she would come.
* OA __ told she would come. Mary said she would come.
(i) Reported drectives are expressed in two ways: tel! + a to-infinitive
clause, and say + a modalised that-c1ause:
He told us toleave at once. He said !ha! we mus! leave at
once.
The red I1ght tells you to stop. The red I1ght says tha! you are
to stop.
(iii) The Verbiage after say, but not after tell, can be quoted direet speeeh
(see 36.3.1):
*Mary told us 'Helio'. Mary said 'Helio'.
Sayer Verbal process Recipient Reported directive
John told the boys to be que!.
I persuaded my mother to see a doctor.
She urged us to stay a little longar.
. The notce forbids chldren to use the lift alone.
The captain asked everyone to pay attention.
Verbal proeesses and the clauses which folIow themean be eonsidered to
form a clause complex, with the second clause dependent on the first. The
c1ause eomplex is described in Chapter 7.
lt is sometimes diffieult to draw the line between verbal proeesses and
others. Wish in 1 wish you a rnerry Christrnas is both mental and verbal.
Reading aloud and dictating may be counted as both verbal and material,
since, while in both cases a communieative signal is emitted, they could be
questioned by 'What is X doing?'. Talk and chat are verbal proeesses which
have an implicit reciprotal meaning (They talked I chatted to each other.).
There is no Verbiage participant except in the expressions talk sense I
nonsense. Speak is not implicitly reciprocal and can take a Range participant.,
(see 20.1) (She speaks Spanish. He speaks five languages.).
In the following newspaper article, all the main verbs realise verbal pro
cesses. The Sayer is in each case the newspaper TheMail on Sunday:
TheMail on Sunday says the government is in a panic over the polI
tax
lll
.
It argues that originalIy the polI tax seemed an 'elegant and rational way to
levy local taxation', but it has turned into 'both a political and a bureaucratic
nightmare which cbuld easily destroy this government'[21.
The newspaper claims the best points about the poli tax were its
straightforwardness its fisca] neutrality and its ease of comprehension[31.
It cautions against 'tinkering' with it to allay public fears because 'that will
simply produce more anomalies and greater injustices,41.
The only answer, it concludes, 'is to scrap it and start all over again,[51.
TheSunday Times, 29 April1990.
The Phenomenon in sentences [1], [2], [3] and [5] is a faet, an indirect
statement realised by a that-clause. In sentence [4], cautions ( = warn)
expresses a warning against a possible circumstance. In sentence [5] the
that-clause which realises the factual Phenomenon is diseontinuous and the
verbal process concludes is medial.
The repeated use of verbal processes to introduce the factual statements
and the warning can be explained by the situation; in this article The Sunday
Times is not reporting a series of facts but, rather, another paper's statements
of certain facts. In other words, what is being reported is not a representation
of reality but a representation of a representation.
18.2 Existential processes or processes of existing
Existential processes are proeesses of existing or happening (There s aman
at the door,' there was a loud bang). There is not a participant since it has no
semantic content, a1though it has bOth a syntaetic function as Subject
(5.1.3(f)) and a textual function as 'presentative' element, since it pushes the
true Subjeet to the right, placing it under stronger focus (see 30.4). The single
Expressingprocesses of saying and existing 139
participant is the Existent, which may refer to a countable entity (There's a
goodfilm on in town), an uncountable entity (There's roast lamb for lunch) or
.
an event (There was an explos/on).
/p
The existential clause may simply state the existence, or non-existence, of
/
something, as in there are no fa/res; there are many kinds of sea-birds. More
frequently it states the existence of something together with its loeation in
time or place. A third type expresses an Attribute of the Existent, while a
fourth type expands the Existent in sorne other way:
(a) with a locativecircumstance:
There is some ice in the refrigerator.
There was a storm at sea.
There' s not a cloud in the sky.
(b) with an Attribute characterising the Existent:
There are some pages blank.
There Were few people in favour.
(e) expansion of the Existent by the addition of clauses:
There are few people who realise the danger.
There' s a strange-looking man waiting outside.
There is a wedding announced.
By means of the expansions in (c), a state of affairs is expressed Inguistieally .
as existential, which would in its more basic semantic structure be a process
of another type, whether mental (Few people realise the danger), material
(Someone is waiting) or verbal (X announces a wedd/ng).
The proeess in existential clauses is typicalIy expressed by be.. Other
intransitive verbs which can be used are stand, le, stretch, hang and remain,
whieh express positional states; as well as these there are a few intransitive
dynamic verbs which express the notion of 'occurring', 'coming into view' or
'arrival on the scene' (occur, follow, appear, arise, emerge, 100m). Both types
are illustrated below:
There remain many problems.
Below the castle there stretches a vast plain.
On the wall there hangs a mirror.
There followed an extraordinary scene.
There appeared on the stage six beautiful dancers.
There emerged from the cave a huge brown bear.
Out of the mist there loomed a strange shape.
Existential there may be omitted when a locative or direetional Adjunct or a
clause is in initial position:
Below the castle stretches a vast plain.
On the wallhangs a mirror.
Standing at the door is a strange-Iooking mano
--
--
--
---
r
140 Expressng pattems of experience
Such c1auses are very c10se semantical!y to reversed relational processes.
However, the addition of a tag question, with there, not a personal pronoun
COn the wall hangs a mirror, doesn't there?), suggests that they are in fact
existentials. On the other hand, the same c1auses with SPCs order would
c1early be analysed as relational, confirmed by it in the tag question CA mirror
hangs on the wall, doesn 't it?). Clearly, the expanded existential c1ause is
more a textual device than a statement of existence since it shows the
interaction of certain relational processes with the textual function of pre
senting a situation. .
Both the presence and the omission of existential there are illustrated in
the following extracto Al! the existential verbs are sorne form of be, except
stood in [6]. AH the Existents are useful objects; the location of these is
obviously important and in four cases is specified in initial position, thus
making tor existential c1auses without existential lhere:
She looked at the room. There was a wooden settIe in front of the
hearth, stretching its back to the room! l!. There was a HUle table under
a square, recessed window!21, on whose sloping ledge were
newspapers, scattered letters, nails and a hammer
l31
. On the table were
dried beans and two maize CObS
I41
. In the comer were shelves
1SI
, with
two chipped enamel plates, and a small table underneath, on which
stood a bucket of water and a dipper
l61
. Then there was a wooden
chest, two HUle chairs and a litter of faggots, cane, vine-twigs, bare
maize hubs, oak-twigs filling the comer by the hearth
l71
.
D. H. Lawrence, The Lost Girl.
[ll + there; 121 + there; [31 - there; 141 - there; {51 there; {61 _ there;
{71 + there.
Summary
The circumstantial element in English covers a great variety of meanings, of which
the most common are those related to space and time, manner, contingency,
accompaniment. modality, degree, role and matter. They are described from the
of view of their syntactic function in 8.1 and also as group structures in 57.
Clauses expressing circumstances are treated as par! of clause complexes (see
Chapter 7).
Expressing the attendanl circumstances 141
19.1 Spatial and temporal circumstances
There are many parallel expressions of space and time, in many cases .'t/"
introduced by the same preposition:
Time Space
- - - - ~
1------
at 5 o'clocl<, in May, years ago at home, in the park, below
direction
Iocation
towards midnight
direction + end-point
towards the south
up to now
since Christmas,
to the south pole
from the north
since I saw you
extent
starting-point "
for several years
extent + end-point
for several miles
until we meet again,
by Tuesday
relative
as far as Gr3.nada
now, then, recently,
in fron!, behind us,
here, there, nearby,
before, after tea
above our heads
..
\
at intervals
every 100 yards
al intervals distributive
every so often
here and there noW and then,
off and on
Locative, directonal and relative meanings are questioned by where? and
when?, starting-point meanings by where ... from? and since when?, extent
by how far?, how long? and distribution by how oflen? (see also 59.1 and
59.5).
19.2 Manner
Under this heading we include,as well as manner in the sense of 'quality',
. the notions of means and comparison, illustrated by the following examples,
to which the WH-question forms are added:
WH-form
Don't do it that way; do it gently. how? manner as quality
It's cheaper by bus. how? means
He watered the garden with a hose. what with?
Snow lay lke a blanket on the ground. what .. like? comparison '
19.3 Contingency
The circumstantial element of contingency covers such meanings as cause,
purpose, reason, concession and behalf:
142 Expressing patterns af experience
cause
purpose
reason
concession
what cause?
what .. for?
why?
how?
behalf who/what for?
condition if-clause
19.4 Accompaniment
The child took the pen out of envy.
They are dying of hunger.
He is studying for a degree.
The team is training to win.
We stayed in on account of the rain.
He stopped because he was tired.
No matter how hard they train, they won't
beat our team.
/n spite of the de/ay, we reached lhe
concert hall in time.
Give up smoking for the sake of your
hea/th.
1'11 speak to the Director on your behalf.
Send a telegram, if necessary.
Accompaniment expresses a oint participation in the process, irivolving
either the notion of 'togetherness' or that of 'additionaJity'. Each of these can
be either positive or negative:
togetherness positive
togetherness negative
additionality positive
additionality negative
19.5 Modality
T om came with his friendo
Tom came with a different haircut.
T om came without his friendo
T om ca me without the caro
Tom ca me as well as Pau/.
Tom came instead of Pau/.
ModaJity expresses the notions of possibility, probability and certainty (see
44.
possibility His new novel will possibly come out next month.
probability It will probab/y be well received.
certainty It will certain/y cause a lot of controversy.
19.6 Degree
Circumstantial expressions of degree either emphasise or attenuate the pro
cess:
I
l
emphasis
attenuation
comp/etely forgot to bring my passport.
You can hard/yexpect me to believe that.
Expressing the attendant circumstances 143
19.7 Role
A role circumstance indicates in what capacity the participant is involved in
the process:
capacity I'm speaking lo you as a friend.
As an actor he's not outstanding, but
as a dancer he's brilliant.
He's by way of being an amateur inventor.
The prince appeared in the guise of a beggar.
19.8 Matter
This element adds the notion of 'with reference to ...' and is realised by a
wide variety of simple and complex Prepositional Groups, incIuding those
cireumstantial Predieator Complements which follow certain verbs such as
depriue, rob and help aneself (see 7.3.1 and 10.3.2): .
They are anxious about her health.
Is there any news ofthe missing seamen?
With regard to your order Of July 17 ....
As for that, I don't believe a word of it.
The old lady was rbbed of all she possessed.
You shouldn't deprive yourself ofvitamins.
Help yourself to wine.
Some of the numerous types of cireumstance avaiJable are illustrated in
the following extraet. This. type of fietion tends to eontain very detailed
referenees to the eircumstanees aeeompanying eaeh episode:
He'd notieed it first dun'ng the Riemick case
D1
, early last year{2
1
. !<arl
had sent a message; he'd got somethng speeial tor him and was
making one of his rare visits to Western Germany{31; some legal
eonferenee at Karlsruhe{41. Leamas had managed to get an air l?assage
to Cologne[51, and picked up a ear at the airport{6
1
. lt was stil/ I quite
early in the [8) and he'd hoped to miss most of the autobahn
traffie to Karlsruhe 9) but the heavy lorries were already (lO) on the
move. He drove seventy kilo'metres in half an hour[ 11 J, weaving between
the traffie, taking risks to beat the c1ock[12
1
, when a small car, a Fiat
nosed its way out into the fast lane [141 forty yards ahead
of him[ 5). Leamas stamped on the brake, his headlights full on
and sounding his horn, and by the grace of God 161 he missed it;
missed it by the fraction of a second[l71.
John Le Carr, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
[1) extent: time; [21 location: time; [31 direetion: spaee; {41 location: spaee;
(51 direetion: space; [61 location: space; [71 emphasis; [81 location:
time; 191 direction: space; [10) emphasis; [111 extenttime; [121 purpose;
[131 modality; [14[ direetion: spaee; 1151 location: spaee; [161 cause;c(
17
1 degree.
144 Expressing patterns 01 experience
Surnrnary
There are two further participant roles which are to be distinguished from
circumstantial elements. These are Range and Instrument.
2 Range is the nominal concept implied by th.e process as its scope or range. It
covers entities such as life in lead a good life, measurements such as 10 kilos in
It weighs 10 kilos and the real process after such verbs as have and do in e.g.
have a bath, do a dance.
3 Instrument is the entity which a human Agent uses in order to carry out or initiate
the process. It is typically associated with the preposition with. An Instrument
participant can become Subject in an active clause. With verbs such as elbow,
head the notion of Instrument is incorporated nto the process itself.
20.1 Range
Range is the nominal concept which is implied by the process as its scope or
range: song in sing a song, games in play games, prize in win the prize, race
in run a race.
The Range element may refer to an entity which exists independently of the
process (the prize is there whether it is won or not), and may be more
specific (the 1V set in win a 1Vset). But in many cases the Range element is
an extension of the process itself. The nominals song, game and race, when
used in the expressons sing a song, playgames and run a race, are not
conceived as independent enttes but as extensions of the processes of
singing, playing and running, respectively. In other semantic structures, such
nominals could of course realise a different function, such as Effected in
compose a song, invent a new game.
Certain Range elements are morphologically related to the verb, such as
sing and song, and these are traditionally termed Cognate Objects. The term
'cognate' is,however, not applicable to items which are not morphologically
related such as play and game, and for this reason the more comprehensive
term Range is preferred. In present-day English truly cognate instances of
Range often sound slightly archaic: smile a mysterious smile, fight a clean
fight, sleep a deep sleep, although certain combinations such as Uve a
Two subsidiary participants: Range and Instrumen! 145
peacelul lile, die a horrible death continue to be heard. Most present-day
instances of Range are not cognate. Such is the case with the numerous
expressions of the type have a chat I drink I res! I smoke; give a push I kick I
nudge; take a bath I shower I walk; do a dance; give a smile I grin / laugh;
",/
make a mistake; ask a question, etc. In all such expressions the process is
realised by the nominal element, the Range, while the verb itself is lexically
empty.
One reason for the popularityof this construction today is the potential that
the noun has for being modified in various ways. It would be difficult to
express through the Verbal Group the meanings of specificness, quantifica
lon and quality present in she took a long, relaxing ho! bath, !hey played two
strenuous games 01 tennis, 1had such a strange experience yesterday.
Another reason for the proliferation of Rahge Objects and Complements is
that the resulting Nomina.! Group islonger and heavier than the Verbal Group
which precedes it, thus satisfyng the principIe of end-weight (see Module
5.1.3d). '.
Furthermore, the Range nominal can initiate a WH-cJeft structure more
easily than a verb can (see 30.2) as in a good res! is what you need; it can
al so occur as participant in other semantic and syntactic structures, such as
causative Agent Subject in the awkward questons he asked made him
unpopular. .
The .Range element is realised by the Direct Object or by the Predicator
Complement in those structures that do not passivise (e.g. The case weighs
10 kilos). In a few cases, Range is realised by the Subject, which is
cognate (The Irost Iroze hard; day dawned).
20.2 Instrurnent
Instrument is the entity which a human Agent uses in order to carry out or
initiate the process. The preposition which introduces the nominal realisa
tion of the lnstrument is with:
The child broke the window with a stone.
I can't open the door with this
The builders levelled the site with a bulldozer.
pol1uted the water with chemicals.
The Instrument participant can become Subject in the same basic cJause:
A stone broke the window.
This key won't open the door.
A bulldozer levelled the site ..
Chemicals polluted the water.
Instrument differs in this respect from the circumstance Means, which cannot
become Subject in the same basic clause:
He watered the garden with a hose. 'A hose watered the garden.
There is al so a correspondence with c1auses containing the verb use.
However, as this verb emphasises the factor of motivation on the part of the
Agent, the notion of agency in the two clauses may not be exactiy equivalent;
for instance, they used chemicals to pollute the water will be interpreted as a
deliberate action, whereas they polluted the water wilh chemicals could ,be
interpreted as not deliberate. This would be an instance of agency without
motivation.
The child used a stne to break the windaw.
I can't use this keyta open the door.
The builders used abulldozer to level the site.
In passive c1auses the distinction between Agent and Instrument is some
times hard to draw, sirice Instrument can occur in passives in a by-phrase.
Compare:
He was killed by a fanatic. (Agent)
He was killed by a hand-grenade. (Instrument)
In he was killed by a hand-grenade the human Agent is silenced (see 30.3);
this is even more obvious in he was killed by a stray bullet, in which the
factor of motivation. is absent. In such cases, 'Instrument is likely to be
expressed by a by-phrase. If we say, however, he was killed with a hand
grenade I with a bullet, expressing the Instrument by means of a wilh-phase,
the human agency is clearly iinplicit.
With sorne verbs the notion of Instrument is incorporated into the process
itself; in this way bulldoze can be used as a material process: the builders
bulldozed the site. Other examples include:
He elbowed his way through the crawd. (by using his elbows)
The player headed the ball into the net. (by using his head)
They levered the rack into pasition. (by using a lever)
Conceptualising experiences from a different angle 147
;(
Summary
In the semantic structures described so far, processes have been realised by
verbs, entities by nouns and Attributes by adjectives. These are indeed the basic
corresponde rices which are found in the language of children and in basic
English. But any state 01 affairs can be expressed in more than one way. The li rst ,
or more basic realisation will be called the congruent one, as in We walked in the
evening afong the river to Henley, the other, or others, will be called metaphoricaf,
as in Our evening walk along the river took us fo Henley. This is not lexical
metphor, however, but grammatical metaphor.
2 Thus, process can be realised as Thing (Take a deep breath), Attrbute as Thing
(Bigness is paid for by fewness) and crcumstances as Thng (August 12 found
them in Rome). These alternative realisatons 01 the semantc roles involve lurther
adjustments in the correspondences between semantic roles and syntactic
lunctions in the clause.
"3 Grammatical metaphor is a leature 01 much written Englsh and 01 spoken English
in professional registers.
f;
21.1 Congruent realisations and metaphorical
realisations
.. In.describing semantic structures throughout this chapter, we have seen that, .
in active clauses, the inherent participants such as Agent, Affected, Expe
Jencer and Carrier are realised by NGs, processes are realised by VGs and
(tircu01stantials by PrepGs and by AdvGs. This correspondence between the
are
and the syntax of English structures is indeed the typical one, but
by no means the only one. We have to beware of assuming that a one-to
correspondence exists between any semantic function and any syntactic
. We have to beware of assuming that entities such as people and
necessarily expressed by nouns, that actions are necessarily
by verbs and that qualities are necessarily expressed byadjectives.
in the language of children and in very basic English, our linguistic
148 Expressng pattems f experience
representation of reality tends to be more complex. Any situation can be
expressed in more than one way; the first or typical realisation may be called
the 'congruent' one; the other, or others, the 'metaphorical'. The two forITis
may be iIIustrated by an example.
Suppose that I wish to tell you that my friends and I walked in the evening
along the river as far as Henley. In the 'typical' .or 'congruent' version, 1 first
select the process type from the options 'materia!', 'mental' and 'relatonal'
processes. The notion of walking is typically seen as a process of 'doing', so I
select a material process walk. To accompany a process such as walk seen
intransitively, I then select an Agent, or 'doer' of the action, and a number of
circumstantial elements, of time, place and direction, to give the following
semantic structure and its lexico-grammatical realisation:
-
Agent Material process Place clrc. Dlrection circo Time circo
I
.
Subject Predicator Adjunct Adjunct Adjunct
f-
NG VG PrepG PrepG PrepG
walked in the along the to Henley
evening river
This is not the only way of expressing this situation. Instead, l could have
said Our evenng walk along the river took us to Henley. In this 'metaphori
cal' interpretation the semantic functions are 'transferi'ed' in relation to the
syntactic functions. The material process walk has now become Agent, and
the circumstances of time (in the evening) and place (along theriver) have
become classifier and qualifier, respectively, oi the new Agent realised at
Subject (evenng walk along the rlver). The original Agent we is now divided
into two; one part functions as possessor of the Subie.ct entity (our evening
walk along (he rlver), the other as Affected (us) oi a new material process
expressed by the verb (ook. Only thedirectional circumstance to Henley is
realised in the same way in both interpretations:
Agent Material process Affected Direction clrc.
Subject Predicator Direct O Adjunct
NG VG NG PrepG
-
IOur evening walk along
Itook
us to Henley
theriver
This second interpretation is a very simple instance of 'grammatical meta
phor' or alternative realisations of semantic functions, and is a phenomenon'
which .occurs all the time, in different degrees, in adult language, especially
. .... _"" .............. ,..
Even in everyday spoken language it sometimes happens that the meta
phorical form has become the normal way of expressing a certain meaning.
We have seen that the Range element (20.1) drink Ichal I resl in have a drink
I chat I rest is the one which expresses the process, while the syntactic
function of Predicator now expresses a relation have. These ate simple types
of transferred semantic functions whch have been incorporated into every
day language. Slightly more complex but still used by adult speakers in
spoken English are examples such as the following:
The larg'e department stores are within easy walking distance of .
each other. ( = The large department sto res are so c10se to each
other that you can easily walk from one to the other.) (Attribute
reallsed as a circumstance, process (walk) realised as part of a
thing)
Daylight saving time starts at midnight tomorrow. ( = Cloc;:ks are put
forward / back at midnight tomorrow in order to get the maximum
amount of daylight.) (circumstance of purpose realised as a
c1assifier)
lt is c\ear that a choice of transferred realisations such as these has as one
result an increase in lexical density: Nominal Groups become long and
heavy. For ths reasonnominalisation isthe form of grammatical metaphor
most consistently recognised under different labels. When, for instance, a
process is realised by a nominal instead of by a verb, what We have is an
'event' or a 'happening'. In this way, a process such as explode can be
visualised as an entity (explosion), which can then carry out alI the functions
realised by nominals, sueh as a Subject or Direct Object (The explosion
occurred al 6a.m.; leaking gas caused an explosion). Languages abound in
nouns such as these, and this fact makes it no doubt impossible to carry the
notion of grammatical metaphor to its logical conclusions: it would' be
,awkward, for instance, to have to analyse war every time we come across the
.,.word as a metaphorical interpretation of 'nations using arms to fight each
other', in which a wholesituation is nominalised under an institutionalised
More accessibly, the English word shopping is a useful grammati-.
.. . .

.. metaphor for the process expressed as 'going to the shops and buying
which then permits other useful combinations as. window shopping
in shop windows but not buying anything) and shopping centre
area in which one can go to many shops), as well as the result of the
itself (bags ofshopping). Here, grammar borders on lexis, and
ifferent languages have different means of visualising one semantic function
.. if it were another. There is usually sorne slight difference in meaning, in
or in emphasis between the metaphorical and the congruent forms in
, as there is when these are translated into anothet language.
can do no more than briefly outline sorne of the transfrs of semaI)
In the following sections, metaphorical forms are given first,
with a congruent or basie eorresponding orm suggested in the right-hand
column.
21.2 Process realised as Thing
This is by far the most common type o grammatical metaphor. Manyare
institutionalised nominalisations, such as the following.
(a) Without the slightest Without hestating at al1.
hesitation.
Breathe deeply.
(b) Take a deep breath.
Xburst out laughing suddenly.
(e) There was a sudden
outburst of laughter.
X contnued to explore and
(d) The exploration and
mapping of the world
map the world.
went on.
(e) Communcation was The two groups communicated
difficult between the two with difficulty.
groups.
Many others, however, represent a more original view of reality on the part of
the speaker or writer, as in example (f):
His conception of the He conceives the drama in a
drama has averymodern way that sounds very modern to
ringo
uso
21.3 Attribute realised as Thing
An Attribute ean be realised as an entity by means of an abstract noun. The
forms may be morphologically related, as in example Ca), or not, as in Cb).
(a) Bgness is paid for, in part, If firms are very big, fewerwill
by fewness, and a decline exist and they will compete
in competition. less.
(b) The usefulness of this This machinery is becoming
machinery is dwindling. less useful.
21.4 Circumstance realised as Thing
A circumstance realised as an entity frequently funetions as a locative Sub
jeet, with either a spatial meaning, as in Ca), or a temporal meaning, as in Cb),
Ce) and Cd):
Sweat streamed down his tace.
(a) His face was streamng
with sweat.
The travellers were I arrived in
(b) August 12found the
Rome on August 12.
travellers in Rome.
During the last decade
(e) The last decade has
agricultural technology
witnessed an
increased as never before.
unprecedented rise in
agricultural.technology.
(d) The seventeenth century In the seventeenth century
saw the development of scientific works began to be
systematic scientific published systematically.
publication.
Cireumstantial Subjeets often involve the introduction of a eompletely new
proeess, whieh is usually realised by a verb of pereeption such as see,
witness or find. As these new processes are transitive, typically taking a
nominal Complement, further nominalisations are to be expeeted, sueh as
rise (or increase) in agricultural technology, instead of increase as a verb, in
Ce), while in Cd) development and publication instead of develop and publish
follow the same pattern. It would not even be possible to use that-clauses
after verbs such as see, as in *The seventeenth century saw that scientific
works began to be published systematically, even though that-clauses are
considered nominalisationsby some linguists, since the verb would then be
interpreted with its literal meaning, which would be nonsens,e.
21.5 Process and circumstance as part of the Thing
When a proeess or a cireumstanee is visualised as an entity, the syntactic
realisation of this entity is a noun, which ean be modified' in many ways. It
often happens that the epithets, classifiers and quantifiers of these 'meta
phorical' NGs are also instanees of transferred eorrespondences between the
'. semantic and the syntactic functions. The ehoiee of rise in Ce) aboye, tor
instanee, permits the modifier unprecedented, with the cireumstantial mean
ing of as never before.
A process together with an aeeompanying cireumstance ean be realised as
epithet or classifier by means of -ing and -en partiiples:
(a) his best-selling novel His novel is selling better than
others.
(b) a steadily increasing series More and more things and
of inventions and devices devices (are) being invented,
Dependent situation as Thing
whole state of affairs, whieh in its congruent form would be realised as a
subordinate clause, ean be visualised as an entity and expressed by a
Fears of disruption to oil Because people feared that oil
supplies from the Gulf helped would not be supplied as usual
push crude oil prices above from the Gulf. the price of crude
$20 a barre!' oil rose to above $20 a barre!.
journalistic example the long NG at Subject is the Agent in a new
helped. push. This process would normally be associated with a
Agent, while the Affeeted would typically be a concrete entty,
followed by a locative expressing where the Object was pushed as in he
pushed me through the door. The introduction of a verb such as he/ped push
has the effect of presenting the situation as more dynamic, while the long
nominal fears .. , silences the true Agent, drawing the reader's attention
instead to the emotionally charged word fears.
These few examples may serve to show that 'grammatical metaphor' is a
very powerful option in the presenting of information. There is always more
than one way of expressing what the speaker or writer perceives as a situ
ation. The transfer of semantic functions as illustrated aboye presents the
experiential and interpersonal content in a more abstract way, which is
reflected syntactically in lhe density of the nominals. The organisation of the
text is also greatIy modified by the distribution of information in this way.
The concept of grammatical metaphor is useful since it helps us to
become aware of non-institutionalised realisations which represent real
options of express ion for the speaker or writer. As such they have textual,
stylistic and ideological implications which require further study. Many
written genres of English, and no doubt of other languages, make great use of
semantic-syntactic transfers which result in the phenomena described
8
here. When institutionalised within restricted social contexts, the concept of
grammatical metaphor goes a long way towards explaining professional

fI':
jargons such as journalese and officialese as written forms. Others, such as
the language of business management, are not only written but spoken.
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Reading Unit 1

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SVOC He got his shoes and socks wet.

This novel ls read like a government reporto =" "

A voice announced that the train was arriving.

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