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Niue Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
• notice sth changing vs. notice sth changed
Hi! I read the following question in a TOEIC book:
“Seasonal Affective Disorder
also known as the winter blues, can do more than put a person in a bad mood. According to psychologists at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, the winter blues is a serious cyclical depression that can drastically affect a person’s work performance.
…
… People with SAD begin to notice their moods ______ as soon as they start thinking about the onset of winter. For many people the symptoms of SAD are triggered as soon as the clocks go back an hour and we lose an hour of sunlight.
(A) changes
(B) changing
(C) to change
(D) changed
(Answer: B)” ((Longman Preparation Series for the New TOEIC Test, Advanced Course, 4th Edition, by Lin Lougheed, p. 163))
Let me add other options:
(E) change
(F) being changed
and explain why B and E are BEST:
First of all, let me make it clear that “notice their moods ______” is ONLY analyzed into the structure ‘VERB + OBJECT + OBJECT COMPLEMENT’. (NOT ‘VERB + (that) + SUBJECT + VERB’.)
(A) changes – A present VERB can NOT be used as an object COMPLEMENT. Thus, (A) is GRAMMATICALLY WRONG.
(B) changing – A present PARTICIPLE “changing” CAN be used as an object COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (B) is IDIOMATICALLY RIGHT. Besides, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods CHANGING …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods ARE CHANGING ….” Thus, (B) is SEMANTICALLY CORRECT.
(C) to change – A TO-INFINITIVE can NOT be used as an OBJECT COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (C) is IDIOMATICALLY WRONG.
(D) changed – If (D) is the past VERB, it is GRAMMATICALLY WRONG as was mentioned in (A). If (D) is the past PARTICIPLE, it is GRAMMATICALLY RIGHT as was mentioned in (B). However, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods CHANGED …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods ARE CHANGED ….” Thus, (D) is SEMANTICALLY (or IDIOMATICALLY) WRONG.
(E) change – A BARE INFINITIVE CAN be used as an OBJECT COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (C) is IDIOMATICALLY CORRECT. Besides, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods CHANGE (BARE INFINITIVE) …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods CHANGE (PRESENT VERB) ….” Thus, (E) is SEMANTICALLY CORRECT.
(F) being changed – A present PARTICIPLE “being changed” CAN be used as an object COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (B) is IDIOMATICALLY RIGHT. However, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods BEING CHANGED …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods ARE BEING CHANGED ….” Thus, (F) is SEMANTICALLY (or IDIOMATICALLY) WRONG.
What do you think of my explanations? (Especially, explanations about the choice D and F)
Do you agree with me?
Thanks in advance.
“Seasonal Affective Disorder
also known as the winter blues, can do more than put a person in a bad mood. According to psychologists at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, the winter blues is a serious cyclical depression that can drastically affect a person’s work performance.…
… People with SAD begin to notice their moods ______ as soon as they start thinking about the onset of winter. For many people the symptoms of SAD are triggered as soon as the clocks go back an hour and we lose an hour of sunlight.
(A) changes
(B) changing
(C) to change
(D) changed
(Answer: B)” ((Longman Preparation Series for the New TOEIC Test, Advanced Course, 4th Edition, by Lin Lougheed, p. 163))
Let me add other options:
(E) change
(F) being changed
and explain why B and E are BEST:
First of all, let me make it clear that “notice their moods ______” is ONLY analyzed into the structure ‘VERB + OBJECT + OBJECT COMPLEMENT’. (NOT ‘VERB + (that) + SUBJECT + VERB’.)
(A) changes – A present VERB can NOT be used as an object COMPLEMENT. Thus, (A) is GRAMMATICALLY WRONG.
(B) changing – A present PARTICIPLE “changing” CAN be used as an object COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (B) is IDIOMATICALLY RIGHT. Besides, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods CHANGING …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods ARE CHANGING ….” Thus, (B) is SEMANTICALLY CORRECT.
(C) to change – A TO-INFINITIVE can NOT be used as an OBJECT COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (C) is IDIOMATICALLY WRONG.
(D) changed – If (D) is the past VERB, it is GRAMMATICALLY WRONG as was mentioned in (A). If (D) is the past PARTICIPLE, it is GRAMMATICALLY RIGHT as was mentioned in (B). However, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods CHANGED …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods ARE CHANGED ….” Thus, (D) is SEMANTICALLY (or IDIOMATICALLY) WRONG.
(E) change – A BARE INFINITIVE CAN be used as an OBJECT COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (C) is IDIOMATICALLY CORRECT. Besides, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods CHANGE (BARE INFINITIVE) …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods CHANGE (PRESENT VERB) ….” Thus, (E) is SEMANTICALLY CORRECT.
(F) being changed – A present PARTICIPLE “being changed” CAN be used as an object COMPLEMENT for the verb “notice”. Thus, (B) is IDIOMATICALLY RIGHT. However, “People with SAD begin to notice their moods BEING CHANGED …” is paraphrased into “People with SAD begin to notice THAT their moods ARE BEING CHANGED ….” Thus, (F) is SEMANTICALLY (or IDIOMATICALLY) WRONG.
What do you think of my explanations? (Especially, explanations about the choice D and F)
Do you agree with me?
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
A bit wordy but makes perfect sense to me. [Y] If I were to explain that, I'd probably go like this: People with SAD begin to notice their moods __ as soon as they start thinking about the onset of winter. In this sentence, there is a complex object after the verb notice ( moods + non-finite verb ).
- A bit wordy but makes perfect sense to me.
- [Y] If I were to explain that, I'd probably go like this: People with SAD begin to notice their moods __ as soon as they start thinking about the onset of winter.
- In this sentence, there is a complex object after the verb notice ( moods + non-finite verb ).
- It is the non-finite verb that you have to choose here.
- It can be either an infinitive or a participle.
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2 Answers
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A bit wordy but makes perfect sense to me. [Y]
If I were to explain that, I'd probably go like this:
People with SAD begin to notice their moods __ as soon as they start thinking about the onset of winter.
In this sentence, there is a complex object after the verb notice (moods + non-finite verb). It is the non-finite verb that you have
If I were to explain that, I'd probably go like this:
People with SAD begin to notice their moods __ as soon as they start thinking about the onset of winter.
In this sentence, there is a complex object after the verb notice (moods + non-finite verb). It is the non-finite verb that you have
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