UCAM-FLHS-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-REZZAKI

UCAM-FLHS-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT- REZZA

Grammatical Functions 04 SP OCA
The Object Element
(3) Forms

Once you can identify the Subject element and the Verb element in a sentence, you can easily identify the Object element if
the Verb is transitive. Just remember that the Object element can be a phrase (noun / pronoun) or a clause.
The Object element is a nominal unit; i.e., noun phrase or nominal clause (= functioning as nouns) and its form can be:
 a nouns phrase: He enjoys football. (where NP is a noun)
He enjoys every single game. (where NP is a noun with modifiers)
A stray dog followed me home. (where NP is an object pronoun)
The object pronouns or pronouns in the objective case (= when they occur as objects in a sentence) are:
me, him, her, us, them and whom.
Other pronouns such as: you, it, this, that can occur as both subjects and objects (in the subjective and objective cases)

 a finite clause: She related what she had happened. - SVO

I told whoever asked what had happened. - SVOO

A finite clause or a finite sentence is a sentence which has a finite verb.

A FINITE VERB is simply a main verb (with auxiliaries or not) that is conjugated; that is to say that is that has a Subject
(expressed or implied) and has tenses (present and past forms). It works with the subject to give the sentence a sense of
completeness;
 N.B.
 A sentence must have a finite verb to be complete; therefore, ONLY SUBORDINATE CLAUSES THAT CAN
HAVE BOTH FINITE or NON-FINITE VERBS
 Finite verbs as well as Non-finite verbs can be transitive (monotransitive / ditransitive) verbs, intransitive
verbs, or linking verbs (of course, non- finite can be so only within subordinate clauses)

I told whoever asked what had happened.

S V Oi Od

[ (I ) (told ( whoever asked) (what had happened. ) ) ]

NP-S VP-P finite wh-nominal Cl.-Oi finite wh-nominal Cl.-Od
 UCAM-FLHS-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-REZZAKI
UCAM-FLHS-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT- REZZA
 a non-finite clause: non-finite clauses have non-finite verbs which do not often have subjects 1 and never express tenses.
A Non-finite verb, ALSO CALLED A VERBAL works as a nominal 2 (something that functions like a noun) or a modifier
and consequently does not give a sense of completeness.
NON-FINTE VERBS can be:
 to-infinite:  He wanted to quit his job. – SVO;
‘to quit his job’ here is: non-finite to-inf. Nominal Cl. – O
 (a non-finite to-infinitive nominal clause functioning as Object)
 bare infinitive: The professor made him rewrite the exposé twice before delivery. - SVO(A)A
‘him rewrite the exposé’ here is: non-finite bare-inf. Nominal Cl. – O
 (a non-finite bare-infinitive nominal clause functioning as Object)
 ing-form:3 She prefers being called ‘Beauty’. – SVO;
‘being called ‘Beauty’ here is: non-finite ing-form nominal Cl. O
  (a non-finite ing-form nominal clause functioning as Object)
A Consider :
1. The object does not occur in question tags: She loves him, doesn't she?
2. The object relative pronoun may be omitted: The necklace that / which / Ø she bought is mind-blowing.
Yes, ‘The necklace’ is the Subject of the main verb ‘is’ but it is the Object of the verb ‘bought’- What did she buy?
3. The object may be omitted with pseudo-intransitive verbs: He shaved (his whiskers) this morning.
We often eat (dinner) at 8 p.m.
He wrote (an email / a letter) to his Mum.
4. Some verbs require an adverbial to ‘complement’ the direct object, for example, to specify a place.
(See SVOA, one of the main 7 patterns of the English sentences) : He placed the router on the cupboard.
She hung her coat on a stand hanger.
5. A direct object is necessary whenever the meaning of the verb requires something to ’act on’. In many grammars, it is
considered a ‘Complement’ because actually it ‘complements’ the verb; for instance, the French call the direct object:
COD which stands for Complément d'objet direct

1
A non-finite to-infinite or bare infinitive, for instance, can have explicit subjects; e.g.: Let her go is (S)VO; the implied subject of the
imperative verb is ‘You’; ‘Let’ is imperative and transitive, so it’s Object is ‘her go’; consequently, the person who is to ‘go’ or the
Subject of the verb ‘go’ here is ‘her’. Yes, the pronoun-subject of ‘go’ should be ‘she’ but here it is ‘her’ because it is governed by the
Main Verb ‘Let’ rather its verb ‘go’. This makes ‘her’ with its verb an Object vis-à-vis the Main Verb ‘Let’ and conventionally a Subject
vis-à-vis the verb ‘go’.
2
Any language unit that fulfills a function of noun is called NOMINAL.
3
It is the gerund but conventionally, in this analysis, it is referred to as ‘ing-form.