Types of Lexical Verbs the School .Appointed. .Henry. .Head Boy

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Worksheet: Verb Phrases – Types of Lexical Verbs

1) In the following sentences, identify the verb, the type of verb, and the types of object (if any) which follow it.

Here is an example to help you: The school appointed Henry head boy.

The school .appointed. .Henry. .head boy.

direct object object predicative complement In this example, ‘appointed’ is a complex transitive verb, because it is followed by a direct object and an object predicative complement.

‘Henry’ is a direct object, and ‘head boy’ is an object predicative complement, because it refers to what it is happening to the direct object.

a) Kathryn is a marketing executive. b) The lion roared. c) Daniel went to the cinema. d) Harriet gave David a slice of cake. e) Kat is the fastest runner in the school. f) Timothy hates maths lessons. g) The fireman who saved the cat considered himself a hero. h) Sienna smiled. i) Father Christmas put the Christmas presents under the tree. j) Chris looked at the beautiful view. k) Superman saves people’s lives.

Now try to come up with some of your own examples for each type of lexical verb!

Please see the next page for the answers

Answers: Verb Phrase – Types of Lexical Verbs

a) Kathryn is a marketing executive. intensive verb Kathryn .is. .a marketing executive. subject predicative complement ‘Kathryn’ is equivalent to ‘a marketing executive’ – they refer to the same person, therefore it is an intensive verb and ‘a marketing executive’ is a subject predicative complement. b) The lion roared. intransitive verb The lion .roared. There is no object in this sentence, therefore ‘roared’ is an intransitive verb. c) Daniel went to the cinema. prepositional verb Daniel .went. .to the cinema. prepositional complement

The prepositional verb ‘went’ requires a prepositional complement which can be identified in this sentence by the need for the preposition ‘to’ to precede the direct object ‘the cinema’. d) Harriet gave David a slice of cake. ditransitive verb Harriet .gave. .David. .a slice of cake. direct object

indirect object The verb ‘gave’ is a ditransitive verb, which can be identified by the fact that it takes two NP complements. ‘David’ is an indirect object; remember that although indirect objects are recipients/beneficiaries and are therefore normally preceded by ‘to’, sometimes they come ahead of the direct object - in those instances, they do not feature ‘to’ in their structure. ‘A slice of cake’ is a direct object which can be identified by asking the question ’What did Harriet give?’ e) Natalie is the fastest runner in the school.

intensive verb Natalie .is. .the fastest runner in the school. subject predicative complement

Similar to a), ‘Natalie’ is equivalent to ‘the fastest runner in the school’ – they refer to the same person, therefore it is an intensive verb and ‘the fastest runner in the school’ is a subject predicative complement.

f) Timothy hates maths lessons. transitive verb Timothy .hates. .maths lessons. direct object

‘Hates’ is a transitive verb because it requires a direct object which is an NP – it does not make sense without an object (e.g. *Timothy hates). ‘Maths lessons’ is a direct object which can be identified by asking ‘What does Timothy hate?’ g) The fireman who saved the cat considered himself a hero. complex transitive verb

The fireman who saved the cat .considered. .himself. .a hero.

direct object object predicative complement

In this sentence, ‘considered’ is the main verb – ‘The fireman who saved the cat’ is a long example of an NP! ‘Considered’ is a complex transitive verb as it is followed by a direct object (‘himself’) and an object predicative complement (‘a hero’). h) Sienna smiled. intransitive verb Sienna .smiled.

‘Smiled’ is an intransitive verb because it is not followed by an object or complement. i) Father Christmas put the Christmas presents under the tree.

complex transitive verb Father Christmas .put. .the Christmas presents. .under the tree. direct object object predicative complement

The verb in this sentence is ‘put’ which is a complex transitive verb, because it is followed by a direct object and an object predicative complement. ‘The Christmas presents’ is a direct object and can be identified by asking ‘What did Father Christmas put under the tree? ‘(Note here that ‘What did Father Christmas put the Christmas presents would be ungrammatical’). ‘Under the tree’ is the object predicative complement because it refers to where the direct object has been put.

Continued overleaf…

j) Chris looked at the beautiful view. prepositional verb

Chris .looked. .at the beautiful view.

prepositional complement

The verb in this sentence is ‘looked’ which is a prepositional verb, and takes the prepositional complement ‘at the beautiful view’. It can be identified easily because it would be ungrammatical without the preposition ‘to’. k) Superman saves people’s lives.

transitive verb Superman .saves. .people’s lives.

direct object

In this sentence, ‘saves’ is the verb. It is a transitive verb as it takes one NP direct object – ‘people’s lives’. This direct object can again be identified by doing the ‘What?’ test and asking ‘What does superman save?’