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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

The verb "make"

Hi,

The verb make is a causative verb in this sentence:

He made me run three miles.

What kind of verb is it in this following sentence:

He made me angry.

Is it causative with and elliptical "to be"? He made me (to be) angry.

Thanks,

Donna
  

Top answer

Yes, the causative make can also be used with an object complement (adjective or noun). His experience in the boot camp made him a man.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Yes, the causative make can also be used with an object complement (adjective or noun).
  • His experience in the boot camp made him a man.
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4 Answers
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Yes, the causative make can also be used with an object complement (adjective or noun).

His experience in the boot camp made him a man.
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Okay, but I guess I'm looking for more of an explanation.

Why "He made me kick the ball" but "He made me happy"? Why is there no base verb in the second example like the base verb "kick" in the first example? All the causative verbs use the S V O BaseVerb structure except "be". Why is this?

Can someone provide an explanation for this phenomenon?

Thanks,

Donna
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There is a case where "be" is used with "make" as a causative:

Mother made the little child be quiet. But this is not the stative use of "be."

There is no explanation of why there are two ways that causative verbs work - with the bare infinitive of a dynamic verb, and also with a object complement. It's just the way our language happened.
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Well...I guess what I was looking for was someone to explain that fact up front, the fact that "there are two ways that causative verbs work - with the bare infinitive of a dynamic verb, and also with a object complement."

And I'm not so sure I agree that there is no explanation.

In any event, my question was somewhat clarified by my second post, so I'm grateful for that.
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