II.

2.1. Transactive and Non-Transactive Processes

If we wanted to express a proposition relating two participants the actor (old man), and the
affected thing (his bag), with a process (carry) ongoing in the past (i.e. + Past Progressive), in the
circumstances of a particular place (along the road), a simple clause would be:
An old man was carrying his bag along the road.
The process of carrying here has two participants an actor who was carrying and an
affected thing that was being carried and is called a transactive process.
If we wanted to express a proposition that related a single participant (old man) with a
process (sit) which took place in the past (i.e. + Past Tense Simple) in the circumstances of a
particular place (by the road), the simplest clause would be:
An old man sat by the road.
An old man is again the actor, but affecting nothing / nobody, so the process of sitting here
is called non-transactive (i.e. nothing is trans-acted or passed across from one participant to another).

2.2. Transitive and Intransitive Clauses

In a simple statement like An old man was carrying his bag along the road, the participant
actor who performs the process is expressed as the NP functioning as the Subject (S) of the clause, and
comes first. The process carry + Past Progressive is expressed in the Predicator (P). The function of
Predicator is always performed by a verb or VP, and follows the Subject. The affected item, his bag,
is expressed as the NP functioning as the Direct Object (DO or Od) of the clause, and usually follows
the verb. The circumstances of place are expressed by the Adverbial (A), in this clause the PrepP
along the road. A verb or VP with a Subject and Object, expressing a transactive process is called
transitive. A clause containing a transitive verb / VP expressing a transactive process is called
transitive clause:
S
An / The old man

P
was carrying

Od
his bag

A
along the road.

The verb sat in the clause The old man sat by the road represents a non-transactive
process. As it does not take a Direct Object NP, this verb / VP is called intransitive. A clause

13

containing an intransitive verb / VP expressing a non-transactive process is called intransitive

clause:
S
The old man

P
sat

A
by the road.

2.3. Kernel Clauses

We can call a clause like The old man was carrying his bag along the road or The old man sat
by the road a kernel clause. The structure of a kernel clause is represented as SP(C)(A). The Subject
and the Predicator in such a clause are grammatically essential; the addition of Complement(s) (C) and
Adverbial(s) (A) depends upon the kind of verb functioning as Predicator and the meaning expressed.
The word kernel is used as a metaphor to suggest something that is central or basic, and the
structure of other types of clause can then be described in terms of their differences from kernel
clauses. Clauses which are derived from basic kernel clauses are called derivations, or
transformations, because a kernel clause may be transformed into another kind of clause.
The characteristics of kernel clauses are listed below.
A kernel clause is:
a) finite
b) declarative
c) in the Active Voice
d) with phrases as constituents
e) without any recursive or embedded structures
f) consisting of a Subject and a Predicator, with possibly one or more complements
(depending on the meaning and the type of verb), and one or more Adverbials (optional to the
grammar), in the order SP(C)(A).

2.4. The Subject in Kernel Clauses

The Subject of a kernel clause is a NP, which may represent either the actor or, according to
its lexical meaning, an affected1 person or thing in relation to the process.
The Subject comes first in a kernel clause. The number (singular or plural), and the person
(1st, 2nd or 3rd) of the Subject may affect the form of the verb in the Predicator, because the verb is said
1

Sometimes the process is a kind of action which happens to a person / thing, rather than one deliberately performed, as in

Helen slipped on the ice. Helen did the slipping, but is equally affected by the act of slipping over. In such a situation, the
Subject NP is said to refer to an affected person / thing. Another example: The glass broke into thousands of pieces.
Remember that actor and affected are not precise terms, but indicate very generally the semantic role played by the
participant in relation to the process.

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to agree with the Subject. In practice, this only affects the s form of the verb, in StE2 and most of the
dialects. The only exception is the verb be, which has more forms than all other verbs.

2.5. (Direct) Objects in Kernel Clauses

A transitive clause is one in which the Predicator VP is followed by a grammatical object.
We cannot normally omit the Object3 without making the clause ungrammatical or changing the
meaning:
e.g. The clause:
S
The tailor

P
found

O
little work.

cannot be left without its Object:

* The tailor found. (ungrammatical)
If we remove the Object in:
S
He

P
stood

O
his yardstick

Ca
in the corner.

what remains is a clause completely different in meaning:

He stood in the corner. (grammatical, but having a different meaning)
Although the semantic relationship of actor action affected is a very common one in
language, the sequence Subject Predicator Object (SPO) does not always have this meaning. For
example, in the clauses:
i)

They took the dog to the vet.

ii)

They took a walk in the country.

the dog in (i) is the grammatical object of took, and also the affected thing in relation to they - the
actors. But in (ii), it is difficult to argue that a walk is an affected thing, though it is quite clearly the
grammatical object of took. The phrase to take a walk is a lexical unit, that is, it behaves just like a
word in having a meaning similar to, if not quite the same as, the verb walk in They walked into the
country.
Similarly, the Subject in His road led him past a mountain to a lake is not an actor doing
something to him, nor is a bridge in A bridge spanned the lake.
2
3

I.e. Standard English

When the term Object is used without any modifiers, it means Direct Object (DO / Od).

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2.6. Intensive Complements in Kernel Clauses

The Predicator of a clause, a VP, is its head phrase, so even there is no definable process, a
clause must have a VP filling the Predicator slot / position. The commonest verb of this kind is be. As
a main verb in a clause, it acts as a link between the Subject and something we want to say about the
Subject. It may link a Subject with an Attribute of the Subject, e.g. [happy (+ past), Mole] represents a
proposition which becomes Mole was happy in a clause.
The verb be may point to a definition or a description, e.g. the proposition [wonderful (+
present), day] might be formulated as The day is wonderful, or This is a wonderful day. Similarly,
we might say Here is the place for lunch or Theres something in the water, in which case the
Subjects of the clauses this, here, there are not really participants at all, but fill the Subject slots so
that we can make a general statement about what we see. We cannot say * Is raining or use the
construction * Is someone at the door to make a statement in English: we have to use a dummy
Subject like it or there, and say It is raining, and There is someone at the door.
Verbs like seem and become also function like be as relational verbs, linking the Subject
of a clause and its Complements (C). This kind of complement which refers back to the Subject is an
Intensive Complement called Subject Complement (Cs)4.
Some examples of SPCs clauses are:
S
The Sri Krishna Eating

P
was

Cs
the meanest and

shabbiest restaurant in
The floor and the

were

Bombay.
black,

wooden tables
The usual customers
Hari

were
became

beggars and coolies.

tired and weak and

seemed
looks

anxious
exhausted
very pretty.

The whole city

She

too.

that first night.

at dawn.

2.8. Adverbial Complements

Many adverbials that represent the circumstances of time, place, manner, etc. in which
something happens are often additional information which can be left out without affecting the
grammaticality of a clause. But certain adverbials appear to be essential to the grammar of the clause.

There are other kinds of Intensive Complements as well, such as the Adverbial Complement and the Object Complement.
These will also be described in the present course.

16

If the clauses in the following text were re-written without its adverbials, the result would not
be satisfactory; not only would be descriptive detail lost, but also some of the clauses would not be
fully grammatical:
An old man sat by the road. There was a bridge across the river and people were crossing it.
The carts staggered up the bank with soldiers helping push against the wheels. The trucks
headed out of it all and the peasants plodded along in the dust. But the old man sat there. He
was tired. (adapted from Ernest Hemingway, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,
1963)
The line between grammatical and ungrammatical is not necessarily a clear one; even speakers
of English will disagree in particular cases. But it is quite clear that the text above must include some
of the adverbials just omitted in order to be fully grammatical, or perhaps to provide essential
information without which the sentences are decidedly odd. In fact, only the PrepP in the dust can be
totally omitted, but it can be argued that by the road, across the river or there in But the old man
sat there could be omitted, too. Some of the adverbials in the previous paragraph are grammatically
essential. Therefore, the first hypothesis about adverbials that they are optional additions to a clause
needs to be amended.
We need to distinguish between two kinds of adverbials: one that is closely related to the
Predicator like the grammatical Complements Cs and Od, and which can be labelled Adverbial
Complement (Ca), and another that is more loosely attached, and not a Complement, called
peripheral Adverbial or Adjunct (A). A peripheral Adverbial is not grammatically dependent upon
the Predicator, but more loosely related and generally moveable.
An adverbial following the verb be with no other Complements in the Clause must be an
Adverbial Complement (Ca):
S
Mole and Rat
The boat

P
were
was

Ca
in the water.
outside his hole.

because * Mole and Rat were. and * The boat was. are grammatically incomplete.
A test for Adverbial Complements is:
a). omit the adverbial and see if the clause is still grammatical, and
b). try to move the adverbial to another position in the clause.

17

If we cannot omit it, it is probably an Adverbial Complement.

If we can move it, it probably is not.
We can try out the test on the clause Ill put the dinner in the oven at five oclock., and ask
whether the PrepPs in the oven and at five oclock are Adverbial Complements (Ca) or
peripheral Adverbials (A).
(i).
S
I

P
` ll put

O
the dinner

?A
in the oven

?A
at five oclock.

Move the PrepP at five oclock to the front of the clause:

(ii). At five oclock Ill put the dinner in the oven.
Omit at five oclock:
(iii). Ill put the dinner in the oven.
Move the PrepP in the oven:
(iv). * In the oven Ill put the dinner at five oclock
Omit in the oven:
(v). * Ill put the dinner at five oclock.
Reverse the order of the two PrepPs:
(vi). * Ill put the dinner at five oclock in the oven.
Omit both of them:
(vii). * Ill put the dinner.
Clauses (iv), (v), (vi) and (vii) are ungrammatical because in the oven cannot be omitted, or
moved from its slot in the clause immediately following the Predicator. It is, therefore, an Adverbial
Complement (Ca). The verb put belongs to a set of verbs which are incomplete without an adverbial
(called Ca) and a Direct Object. On the other hand, the PrepP at five oclock can both be omitted and
moved to the front of the clause, and, therefore, it is a peripheral Adverbial (or simply, an
Adverbial / A).

2.9. Adverbial Complements and the Predicator

18

In the SPOCa clause Ill put the dinner in the oven, the preposition in depends on the
context of situation as the verb put can be followed by other prepositions: on, under, by,
through, etc.:
e.g.

Ill put the dinner on the table.

I put my pyjamas under the pillow.
I put my watch by my bedside.
I put the plates through the hatch.

In all these situations, the PrepP is essential to the grammar of the clause; the verb put would
not be complete without it. The same is true about some other verbs such as place (to place
something somewhere), stand (to stand something somewhere).
The relational verb be too, when not followed by a Cs (semantically an attribute of the
subject), is followed by a Ca:
e.g. The house was near the river.
The blue dress is in the wardrobe.
There is a hole in the bucket.
The books are on the upper shelf.
In all these examples the italicised PrepPs cannot be omitted.
Some grammarians consider that all the verbs which require a certain particle are followed by a
Ca. For example, in I congratulated John on his success, the preposition on is the only possible
particle to be used after the verb congratulate. However, the clause I congratulated John is quite
grammatical without the PrepP on his success.
Therefore, in the present course we will analyse as Ca only the phrases having an adverbial
meaning, usually of place (as in all the clauses above), which cannot be omitted without leaving the
clause ungrammatical, although other possible interpretations will be mentioned at times.

2.10. Phrasal and Prepositional Verbs

There are two related kinds of verb which are invariably followed by a particle, either an
adverb or a preposition:
a). Phrasal verbs are verbs followed by adverb particles. In syntactic analysis, the verb and
the particle make up the VP which functions as Predicator.
e.g.
S

pt

19

The aircraft
My Gran
She
The flower
James

took
brought
gave
gave
has turned

off
up
up.
off
on

punctually.
seven children.
a sweet odour.
the light.

In these sentences, the adverb particles off, up, and on cannot be left out, and function
like complements5 to the verb. The verbs take off, bring up, give up, give off, turn on are
lexical units and are called phrasal verbs. Sometimes they can be replaced by a one-word verb: My
Gran raised seven children. Moreover, there has to be noticed that the Od in such clauses may
precede the particle: My Gran brought seven children up, James turned the light on.
A phrasal verb without its adverb particle is different in meaning, less specific, or it sounds
wrong or odd in some way. Most of them are not semantically transparent and so they have to be learnt
by heart together with their phrasal meanings. For example:
Phrasal verb with adverb particle

Verb without adverb particle

A head came out.

? A head came.

Mole sat down .

? Mole sat.

Rat carried on.

* Rat carried.

The others made off.

* The others made.

Mole gave up.

* Mole gave.

Badger turned (a)round.

? Badger turned.

Badger set out.

* Badger set.

b). Prepositional verbs

There is another set of verbs which are like phrasal verbs but which are followed by a PrepP
instead of an adverb particle. The preposition is part of the PrepP, although it is required by the verb.
For example:
Rat got into a little blue and white boat.
Mole looked at everything.
We could analyse these PrepPs as Ca, as in both cases above the clauses would not be
grammatically complete without them. In the following sentences, the prepositional verbs are go off
and put off, and the noun coffee in the PrepP functions very much like an object, so that some
linguists call it a Prepositional Object6 (PrepO):

5
6

Remember that complement means something that completes.

And this will be our interpretation of such cases throughout the present course.

20

Ive gone off coffee completely.

The taste put me off coffee completely.
The preposition in this case can only precede the noun together with which it makes up a
PrepP7.
c). Phrasal-prepositional verbs
Both the adverb particle and the preposition introducing a PrepP can be combined in
phrasal-prepositional verb, so that it is sometimes useful to label the adverb particle as pt8. For
example,
The race got off to a good start.
S
The race

P
got

pt
off

PrepO
to a good start.

pt
off

PrepO
with any more rubbish.

Dont fob me off with any more rubbish.

P
Dont fob

O
me

There are hundreds of combinations of phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs.

They are especially common in spoken, informal English, and are also often idioms i.e. one cannot
add the meanings of the separate words together to find the meaning of the combinations: put up with
= tolerate, go in for = use / practise, do away with = get rid of, get down to = start doing
something seriously, take up on = accept an offer or invitation, take up with = become friendly with
somebody, etc.

7
8

We can never say Ive gone coffee off completely.

Especially when the verb and its particle are separated by an Object.

21