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Aweather Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Non-finite clause complementation of complex transitive verbs
This question has been bothering me for a while. It came up when I was reading Chapter 16 of "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language" To keep things short, I'm just wondering how would you explain the grammatical structure of the following four sentences:
"We knew him to be a spy." "I saw her leave the room." "I heard someone shouting." "I got the watch repaired."
I'm pretty confused about what category the four non-finite clause "to be a spy", "leave the room", "shouting", and "repaired" fall into. If I inferred correctly from the book, it seems that the non-finite clauses do not fall into any of relative, nominal, comparative, and adverbial clauses.
Could anyone confirm or correct my statements? Your input is highly appreciated.
Thanks
Scott
"We knew him to be a spy." "I saw her leave the room." "I heard someone shouting." "I got the watch repaired."
I'm pretty confused about what category the four non-finite clause "to be a spy", "leave the room", "shouting", and "repaired" fall into. If I inferred correctly from the book, it seems that the non-finite clauses do not fall into any of relative, nominal, comparative, and adverbial clauses.
Could anyone confirm or correct my statements? Your input is highly appreciated.
Thanks
Scott
Top answer
Welcome to the forums, Scott. Aweather what category the four non-finite clauses "to be a spy", "leave the room", "shouting", and "repaired" fall into They all function as catenative complements to their respective catenative verbs. Aweather it seems that the non-finite clauses do not fall into any of relative, nominal, comparative, and adverbial clauses.
- Welcome to the forums, Scott.
- Aweather what category the four non-finite clauses "to be a spy", "leave the room", "shouting", and "repaired" fall into They all function as catenative complements to their respective catenative verbs.
- Aweather it seems that the non-finite clauses do not fall into any of relative, nominal, comparative, and adverbial clauses.
- I agree.
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3 Answers
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Welcome to the forums, Scott.
Aweatherwhat category the four non-finite clauses "to be a spy", "leave the room", "shouting", and "repaired" fall intoThey all function as catenative complements to their respective catenative verbs.
Aweatherit seems that t
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Thanks Aspara! I however still have some questions.
"A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language" classifies some of the catenative complements as nominal phrases, such as the non-finite clause "to swim" in "I like to swim." The nominal clause classification however does not apply to particularly "complex transitive verbs," whose examples are listed in the original post.
Wo
"A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language" classifies some of the catenative complements as nominal phrases, such as the non-finite clause "to swim" in "I like to swim." The nominal clause classification however does not apply to particularly "complex transitive verbs," whose examples are listed in the original post.
Wo
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AweatherThe nominal clause classification however does not apply to particularly "complex transitive verbs," whose examples are listed in the original post.As it shouldn’t.
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