Complex Subject Participle Adjective?
I need help analyzing a structure.
"He was seen running around the park."
I know the structure is passive. However, I'm trying to figure out if my further analysis is correct. Is this what we call a complex subject, the parts being "He + running..." to form that complex subject? Secondly, is it correct to say that "running around the park" forms the rest of the predicate, or is it attached to the subject in a way that prevents it from being truly part of the predicate? If I had to guess, I would say that it is simply acting predicatively not forming the predicate.
Top answer
It's a fairly common catenative structure expressed in the passive. That is, the main clause is in the passive. The rest of it (the second verb of the catenative structure and its dependents) remains exactly the same.
- It's a fairly common catenative structure expressed in the passive.
- That is, the main clause is in the passive.
- The rest of it (the second verb of the catenative structure and its dependents) remains exactly the same.
- Active: Someone saw him running around the park.
- Passive: He was seen running around the park.
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It's a fairly common catenative structure expressed in the passive. That is, the main clause is in the passive. The rest of it (the second verb of the catenative structure and its dependents) remains exactly the same.
Active: Someone saw him running around the park.
Passive: He was seen running around the park.
Incidentally, if you passivize
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