Sentence construction

Question

Could someone help me in identifying the different elements in this sentence, like direct object, object clause, complex object, prepositional phrase etc. Here's my attempt. Please let me know if its correct.
The sentence:
"With national polls continuing to show a dead heat, the two candidates are moving beyond their standard stump/policy speeches and drawing upon the support of big names and famous faces."

Breakdown:
"the 2 candi" subj
"are moving beyond their standard ..speeches" predicate "are moving" trans verb
' the support of big names and famous faces ' the complex object

I'd appreciate yor help.
Thanks,
Srinivas

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Could someone help me in identifying the different elements in this sentence, like direct object, object clause, complex object, prepositional ... beyond their standard ..speeches" predicate "are moving" trans verb ' the support of big names and famous faces ' the complex object[/nq]
For a start there are two finite verbs in this sentence, "are moving" and "(are) drawing".
"Are moving" is intransitive and has an adverbial complement (I think that's what it's called) "beyond their standard/stump speeches". "(Are) drawing" is also intransitive and has as its complement "upon the support of etc."
There are other ways of analysing these sentences, e.g. "their standard/stump speewches" as the object of the phasal (prepositional) verb "are moving beyond" and "the support of etc.2 as the object of teh phrasal (prepositional) verb "(are) drawing upon".

These two ways are not exhaustive.
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Could someone help me in identifying the different elements in ... of big names and famous faces ' the complex object[/nq]
[nq:1]For a start there are two finite verbs in this sentence, "are moving" and "(are) drawing". "Are moving" is intransitive ... as the object of teh phrasal (prepositional) verb "(are) drawing upon". These two ways are not exhaustive. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan[/nq]
Thanks for your response Einde. However, I have a question around your second explanation. For a phrase or an element to qualify as an object, doesn't it have to answer the "what" or "whom/who" question of the verb? I'm not sure if either one of them does, which is why I'm thinking both these verbs are intransitive. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]For a start there are two finite verbs in this ... upon". These two ways are not exhaustive. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan[/nq]
[nq:1]Thanks for your response Einde. However, I have a question around your second explanation. For a phrase or an element ... one of them does, which is why I'm thinking both these verbs are intransitive. I'd like to hear your thoughts.[/nq]
I did say that the second interpretation was another way of cansidering the sentences where we considered the phrasal verb as one unit "move beyond" and "draw upon" - you can also ask "who/what" questions here: "What are the candidates moving beyond?" and "Who are the candidates drawing upon?"
As I mentioned there are different ways of analysing a sentence - and often a prepositional verb can be replaced by a transitive verb without changing the meaning - this is what my second approach is hinting at.

Whether your English teacher will accept such an analysis is another matter - he or she may not, particularly if he or she has a traditional approach to grammar.
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Thanks for your response Einde. However, I have a question ... these verbs are intransitive. I'd like to hear your thoughts.[/nq]
[nq:1]I did say that the second interpretation was another way of cansidering the sentences where we considered the phrasal verb ... - he or she may not, particularly if he or she has a traditional approach to grammar. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan[/nq]
I never thought that I could consider phrases as one verb unit. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for your analysis..

Sentence construction

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions