Sentence Functions

Grammar Practice I
 Contents
1. Subject
2. Predicator
3. Object
a. Direct Object
b. Indirect Object
c. Prepositional Object
4. Complement
a. Subject Complement
b. Object Complement
c. Predicator Complement
5. Adverbials
a. Adjunct
b. Disjunct
c. Conjunct
 1. Subject
• has the initial position in a sentence
• agrees with the verb in number if the latter shows the
distinction between the singular and plural (e.g. The child
likes ice-cream vs. The children like ice-cream)
• changes position with the modal or primary auxiliary verb
in questions (e.g. the child can walk now vs. Can the
child walk now?)
• is often the theme of the sentence – what is being talked
about – whereas the predicate is what is said about the
subject
• is realized by a nominal element, nominal phrase, or a
nominal clause
 2. Predicator
• the verbal component of a clause, obligatory in
finite clauses.
• tells us whether the situation expressed by the
clause is a state, an action or an event.
• relates the speech event to other points in time,
through tense, and specifies whether the verbal
process is visualized as on-going by means of
aspect, it can specify phases of the process.
• typically follows the Subject in declarative
clauses.
• always realized by a VP.
 3. Object
• the third obligatory component of a clause,
following the subject and the predicator.
• two types of this function
– Direct
– Indirect
• plus a third variation, i.e. the Prepositional
Object.
• usually, but not always, realized by
Nominal elements/ Phrases/ Clauses.
 3. Object
a. Direct Object
• is placed immediately after the Predicator
– The students have just written the test.
• typically becomes the Subject in the passive clause.
– The people always blame the politicians for
everything. vs. The politicians are always blamed
for everything
• After passivization, the meaning remains unchanged.
– The school authorities have moved the academic
courses to another building. vs. The academic
courses have been moved to another building by
the school authorities.
 3. Object
b. Indirect Object
• When the Predicator is followed by two complements,
each of which can typically become Subject in a passive
clause, the first of these is considered the Indirect
Object.
John gave Mary a present.

• can be replaced by a to-phrase complement which

follows the Direct Object
John gave a present to Mary.

• can generally be left unexpounded without affecting the

grammaticality of the clause:
John gave a present
 3. Object
c. Prepositional Object
• is an Object mediated by a preposition, cf.:
– They allowed for price increases.
– They have not arrived at any conclusion yet.
 4. Complement
• an indispensable element of a clause
which complements a given unit of the
clause structure, i.e. subject, object or
predicator.
 4. Complements
a. Subject Complement
• in an intensive relationship to the Subject
• obligatory
Monica has become an actress. vs.
*Monica has become.

• cannot be made Subject in a passive clause

*An actress has been become Monica.
 4. Complements
b. Object Complement
• in an intensive relationship to the object,
• obligatory in a sentence
They elected him president vs.
*They elected him.
• does not become Subject under
passivization
* President was elected him by them.
 4. Complements
c. Predicator Complement
Any obligatory constituent that is not classed as an Object,
and cannot be passivized. The constituents following:
• .. relational verbs (incl. have, possess, lack, suit,
resemble, contain, fit)
We have plenty of time.
• .. verbs of measure (incl. measure, cost, take, weigh)
The window measures 1m by 2m.
• ..verbs of equal reciprocity
Sam married Susan last May. Vs. *Susan was
married by Sam last May.
• ..directional complements a complement which names
the direction or destination of the action
They crept into the cave.
I’ll just slip into something more comfortable.
 5. Adverbials
• those syntactic elements of a clause which
are realized by adverbial phrases
• usually include Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and
Conjuncts, all three optional elements of
the clause.
 5. Adverbials
a. Adjuncts
• modify elements of clauses
• are optional sentence elements, can be omitted
without affecting the grammaticality of the clause
• are realized by one of the adverbial or
nominal elements, cf.:
– I met her there. (Adverb)
– I hope to see her very soon. (Adverbial Phrase)
– I saw her on the bus. (Prepositional Phrase)
– I saw her last week. (Noun Phrase)
– I saw her when I was in the museum. (Adverbial
Clause)
 5. Adverbials
b. Disjuncts
• add a comment on whole clauses or
sentences, expressing the speaker’s
comment on the form (Style Disjuncts) or
the content (Attitudinal Disjuncts) of what
s/he is saying. Cf.:
– Seriously, do you intend to resign?
– Amazingly, they intend to resign.
 5. Adverbials
c. Conjuncts
• indicate how the speaker understands the
semantic connection between two
utterances/ connectors of structure.
– Moreover, people eat too much fast food.
Consequently, they become put on weight
very quickly.