Basic Clause Patterns: Intro
Basic Clause Patterns: Intro
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We have learned that
A clause contains the subject and predicate parts (The subject is implied in imperative sentences. e.g., [You] listen.).
The subject tells the topic of a story. The slot is often filled in by a noun phrase (NP).
The predicate gives details about the topic. The slot is filled in by a long verb phrases (LVP).
How much information you want to tell your readers is determined by the (lexical) verb you choose.
Some verbs can be followed by an object while others can. Whether a verb can be followed by an object or not is known as its 'transitivity' (or valency).
e.g., I like coffee and tea.
Tea is better for health.
Transitivity is an inherent attribute of lexical verbs. It indicates how much agency and effect one can design into a sentence.
Why does verb valency matter?
Why does verb valency matter?
Transitivity is not just a matter of grammar. We humans connect agency and effect with responsibility and blame in many domains. Transitivity is a way people can design language to engage in actions like blaming, avoiding blame, or backgrounding certain things against others (New London Group, 2000).
The transitivity of the main (lexical) verb in a clause determines what kinds of elements are needed to complete its meaning, hence the grammatical structure of the predicate of a clause.
Look at the two sentences below:
1a). John struck Mary.
1b). John struck out at Mary.
Which one has more effect on Mary?
The answer is 1a. The verb 'struck' in sentence a is stronger than the phrasal verb 'struck out' in sentence b. 'Struck' is followed directly by the object 'Mary' (recipient of the action denoted in the verb), while between 'struck out' and the object 'Mary', there is a preposition 'at', which softens the impact of the verb.
Before identifying clause patterns, let's work with Prof. Handke from the Virtual Linguistics Campus to label the functions of sentence constituents.
Seven types of verb valency patterns (clause patterns):
Seven types of verb valency patterns (clause patterns):
There are broad two categories (7 types) of sentence predication:
Verb Valency Clause Pattern Examples
Stative Copular/Linking verbs. Subj. + Vlink + SP/SC 1a) He is nice. 1b) It remains sunny.
Subj. + Vlink + Advl. (obligatory). 2a) Billy is [in the living room].
Active Intransitive verbs Subj. + Vintrans. 3a) I agree. 2b)Your sister is pouting.
Transitive verbs Subj. + Vtransitive + DO 4) She sent [her package] through USPS.
Subj. Vtrans. + IO + DO 5) Can you pass [me] [the salad bowl]?
Subj. + Vtrans. + DO + OC/OP 6) I considered [Jean] [my best friend].
Subj. + Vtrans. + Advl. (obligatory) 7) Can you put [the dog] [in the pen]?
Recommended video: You can watch this YouTube video to listen to clause patterns explained by Jennifer. Note that some terms Jennifer uses are different from what I use in the lecture. For example, what she calls 'complement' is the same as what I call 'predicate'.
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