MAJOR COMPLEMENTATION PATTERNS AND VALENCY

By: Teddy Fiktorius (F5221 2025)

Postgraduate Study of English Language Education

Teacher Training and Education FacultyUniversity of Tanjungpura

Pontianak

2013

1. Introduction

Complementation of the verb

syntactic patterns

a Subject and a Predicator

Intransitive,Copular, and

transitive.

Type of complementation

Structural pattern

Illustration

Intransitive S-P Paijo cried

They slept

Copular S-P-C The solution is illogical

It was great

Transitive

Monotransitive S-P-O He sold his car

She sang a song

Ditransitive S-P-O-O Surti gave Tejo the book

They wrote me a letter

Complex-transitive

S-P-O-C They find the idea crazy

I considered the risk too great

Some verbs (get, turn and make )

more than one type of complementation

different types of situation/meanings

Let’s take “make” as an example…..

SI

They

Pwill make

are making

Odsome tea.

soup.

SI

She

Pwill make

made

Oiyouhim

Oda pizza.

orange juice.

SHeWe

Pmademade

Odthe coffeethe meat

Cotoo strong.

over-cooked.

STheyHe

Pmake

would make

Csa good couple.

a good husband.

SItIt

Pmakesmakes

Opfor good relations.

for a happy marriage.

semantic valency

- The potential number of participants- the subject (the number of ‘places’ in the clause

that the verb controls)

Different classes of verbs

different semantic valencies

Let’s take “eat” as an example…..

“eat”

a two-place verb

a semantic valency of two

an eater and a thing eatenin any event of eating

One-place verb

a subject only (the SP pattern)

Two-place verb

a subject and one other element (the SPC and SPO patterns)

Three-place verb

a subject and two other elements (the SPOO and SPOC patterns)

Compare:1. They came.

2. She eats the cake.3. We gave them the book.

MODULE 9:INTRANSITIVE AND COPULAR PATTERNS

intransitive

verbs with no complementation (S-P)

compare:

1. She arrived 2. It snows

3. The cats blink

4. We eat. ----We eat some bread.5. I drove. ---- I drove a car.

6. She was reading. ---- She was reading a novel.

intransitive verbs (position: live, lie) or (movement: go, walk)

a Locative or Goal Complement

compare:

1. I live. ---- I live in the jungle.2. They went . ---- They went to the zoo.

The S-P-Cs pattern

a copular verb that links the subject to a Complement

copula:- be

e.g. You are insane; She is mad.

- Some verbs (look, feel, smell, sound, taste, become, get, go, grow,)

Compare:

1. She is tired. ----She is feeling tired.2. They are ill. ---- They become ill.

9.1. SUBJECT – PREDICATOR (S-P)

a one-place verb

a subject but no complement

Types of intransitive verb:1. verbs of behaviour:

laugh, smile, cry, blink, blush, cough, sneeze, sigh, tremble, yawn; wait, stay; die, collapse, faint, fall,

e.g. They all laughed, someone yawned, one soldier fainted.

2. verbs of weather: rain, snow e.g. It’s raining. It’s snowing. The sun rose.

3. verbs of occurrence: appear, disappear, go, come, arrive, depart, vanish, fade, happen:

e.g. Has everyone arrived?Hopes of avoiding war are now fading.

9.2. SUBJECT–PREDICATOR–LOCATIVE COMPLEMENT (Cloc)

Complement of place, direction or destination

• Location in place or time: be, stand, live, lie, remaine.g. 1. The National Theatre stands near the river.

2. The amusement park is just over there.3. She is lying in a hammock.4. Lunch was at one o’clock.

• Movement + manner of movement: walk, run, stroll, crawl, flye.g. 1. We walked home.

2. The soldier crawled under the wire fence.

Compare:

He is lying in a hammock vs He is lying to me. …pure intransitive or with a Locative/Goal Complement?

9.2.1 Pragmatic inference of circumstantial meanings

verbs of position (wait and stay) verbs of movement (go, leave, come and walk)

either pure intransitives or be followed by a Locative/Goal Complement.

depends on whether there is sufficient support from the context to sustain the intransitive.

Compare:1. Do you want to leave or would you rather stay?

2. They are asked to walk to school.

Sentence 1: the intransitive verb alone is sufficient, because the location is pragmatically inferred as being the

place where the addressee is.

Sentence 2?????????

If the location or destination are not inferrable, a locative or Goal Complement becomes necessary as in:

1. They are asked to walk to school. 2. We went home.

Without the specification ‘home’, the verb would carry insufficient semantic ‘weight’ and informativeness to

complete the predicate.

9.3 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – ADJUNCT (S-P-A)

a circumstantial Adjunct is commonly added, but it is not a requirement

Compare:

S-P-A S-PTom works in London. Does his sister work?We arrived late. The guests are arriving.He retired last year. He has retired.We stopped at the Equator. The clock has stopped.

9.4 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – COMPLEMENT OF THE SUBJECT

Copular verbs link the subject with a complement which characterises or identifies the subject referent:

- A couch potato (S) is (P) someone who lies watching television all day (Cs).

- This new game (S) is (P) incredibly simple and endlessly gripping (Cs).

9.4.1 Verbs of being and becoming

Verbs of being

stative and introduce current or existing attributes

e.g. 1. Lloyd George was a man of principle.2. We have to remain optimistic about the future.

Verbs of becoming

dynamic and introduce resulting attributes.

e.g. 1. Her latest novel has become a best-seller.2. We began to grow uneasy. (grow=gradual change)

3. His face went white. (went= drastic changes)

9.4.2 Other linking verbs

A small number of verbs

without a complement (fall, come, run)

copulas with specific adjectives as Cs:

e.g. 1. The child fell flat on its face.2. The soldiers all fell asleep/ fell ill.

3.The label has come unstuck.

MODULE 10TRANSITIVE PATTERNS

Key note:

Monotransitive patterns

a two place verb (carry, say) + one object

Ditransitive patterns

a three-place verb (give, offer, rob, blame)+

three participants are involved (1 subject + 2 objects)

complex-transitive patterns

one Object +one Complement, after verbs such as appoint, name and find.

10.1 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – DIRECT OBJECT

S P OdI

She

They

We

ate

was wearing

don’t watch

must put away

a toasted cheese sandwich

one of her father’s T-shirts.

kids’ TV programmes.

all this stuff

10.2 VERBS USED TRANSITIVELY AND INTRANSITIVELY

1. Verbs with an implied Objecte.g. moke (cigarettes), drive (a car), park (a car), drink (alcohol), save (money), wave (one’s hand)

valency reduction

normal valency of two of these verbs is reduced to one. E.g. 1. Drinking and driving don’t match.

2. It is impossible to park in the city centre.3. They are saving to buy a house.4. He waved to us from the bridge.

 2. Causatives with an intransitive counterpart, constituting an

ergative pair He opened the door. (SPOd) The door opened. (SP)

She clicked the camera. The camera clicked.  

3 Verbs with a reflexive meaning:He shaved (himself), She dressed (herself).

 4 Verbs with a reciprocal meaning:

Tom and Jo met at a concert. (met each other)

10.3 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT

Common verbs that can be followed by a prepositionfor on to at with in of after

accountallowhopelonglook

bankcallcountrely

admitconsentkeepreferresort

aimgethintlook

dealreason

believeconfide

disposethinkhear

looktake

S P OpThe Prime MinisterWeHe

can’t accountare bankingwould never resort

for the loss of votes.on everyone’s support for the rally.to cheating.

10.4 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – INDIRECT OBJECT – DIRECT OBJECT

10.4.1 Verbs of transfer (give, lend ) and intended transfer (buy, get)

Type: give + Od + OiType: get + Od + Oi

10.4.2 Less prototypical three-place verbs

Type: explain + NG + Prepositional Object Type: wish + NG + NG

10.4.1 Verbs of transfer (give, lend ) and intended transfer (buy, get)

Three-place verbs

a subject and two Objects

Type 1: give + Od + Oi ----- I gave her a gift. I gave a gift to her.

Type 2: get + Od + Oi ---- I got her a gift. I got/bought a gift for her .

the indirect Object has a prepositional counterpart

more verbs like ‘give’: Hand; lend; offer; owe; pass; promise; read; send; show;teach;

throw ;write

e.g. 1. He showed the policeman his driving licence. (He showed his driving licence to the policeman.)

2. We offered our clients an opportunity. ( . . . to our clients)3. She owes them large sums of money. ( . . . to them)

With the ‘give’ type, two passives are usually possible:

Active: I gave Jo a copy.

Passive 1: Jo was given a copy. (Oi in active clause → S in passive clause)

Passive 2: A copy was given to Jo. (Od in active clause → S in passive clause)

10.4.2 Less prototypical three-place verbs

prepositional object as a second object.

Type: explain + NG + Prepositional Object

COMPARE:

1. He explained the problem to us.2. He explained us the problem. (acceptable?)

Typical verbs are: announce, confess, deliver, mention, return and say.

e.g. 1. What did she say to you?2. I never mentioned your name to anyone.

Type: wish + NG + NG We wish you luck

no prepositional counterpart with to

Other verbs: allow, cost, wish, refuse and ‘light’ uses of give.

Compare: 

They allow me a break. * They allow a break to me.He gave the door a push. * He gave a push to the door.

Let’s ask someone the way. * Let’s ask the way to someone.

10.5 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – DIRECT OBJECT – PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT

Some verbs taking Prepositional Object as well as Direct Object

Only the direct object constituent can become subject in the passive clause:

e.g. 1. Your skin will be protected from the sun’s rays.2. She was robbed of her watch.3. He was charged with assault.

4. Janet was congratulated on her success.

For from of to with on

blamethank

preventprotect

accuse convincedeprive rob

introducehelpsentence

chargecomparesupply

blamecomplimentcongratulate

S P Od OpThis sunblockTheyTheyI

will protectrobbedchargedcongratulated

your skinherhimJanet

from the sun’s rays.of her watch.with assault.on her success.

10.6 FRAME, PERSPECTIVE AND ATTENTION

frame perspective attention

frame conceptualises a situation from different perspectives perspective draws on the cognitive ability to direct one’s attention

e.g. Fillmore’s ‘commercial event’ frame for [BUY]

four other variables, namely to a BUYER, a SELLER, GOODS and MONEY.

Tom bought some old CDs from Phil for twenty euros.

Other verbs with the same frame: SELL, CHARGE or PAY

compare: 1. Phil sold some old CDs to Tom for twenty euros.

2. Phil charged Tom twenty euros for some of his old CDs.3. Tom paid Phil twenty euros for some old CDs.

10.7 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – DIRECT OBJECT – OBJECT COMPLEMENT

10.7.1 Current and Resulting Attributes

stative verbs : Hold, keep, believe, consider, think, find, imagine, presume, hold, want, like and prefer

resulting verbs :bake, drive (mad), get, leave, make, paint, turn, wipe, appoint, elect, call, name, declare, report and certify

compare:

Keep your hands steady! ---------- It wipes the windscreen dry.I imagined him much older. --------- That barking dog is driving me

mad. Do you want the meal hot? ---------- The heat has turned the milk

sour.

10.8 SUBJECT – PREDICATOR – DIRECT OBJECT – LOCATIVE COMPLEMENT

Verbs with a Locative/Goal Complement: put, place, stand, lead , talk, take, bring and show

e.g. 1. I put the dish in the microwave.2. Stand the lamp near the desk.

3. The track led us to a farm.

while keep and hold can function with both Attributes and in Locative/Goal patterns.

Compare:

Keep your hands on the wheel! (Cloc) Keep your hands steady! (Co) Hold your head up! (Cloc) We hold you responsible. (Co)

MODULE 11COMPLEMENTATION BY FINITE CLAUSES

The four main types of dependent complement clause with monotransitive verbs:

1. finite that-clause: He believes that he’s right.2. finite wh-clause: He asked what I meant.

He believed what I told him.I said how nice it was.

3. non-finite to-infinitive clause:without dep.cl subject He wants to stay.with dep.cl. subject He wants us all to stay.

4. non-finite -ing clause:without dep. cl. subject He doesn’t like driving in

fogwith dep. cl. subject He doesn’t like her driving in fog

11.1 MEANINGS AND PATTERNS OF THAT-CLAUSE COMPLEMENTS

11.1.1 Verb + that-clause

11.1.2 Dropping or retaining the complementiser that

11.1.3 Verb + NG + that-clause

11.1.1 Verb + that-clause

Facts, beliefs, doubts, perceptions

• Verbs of cognition – knowing, doubting, perceiving: think, know, believe, imagine, see, doubt; with doubt, don’t know,

e.g. 1. We know that you have lived abroad for some time.2. He could see that she was not at all happy.

• Verbs of expectation – expect, hope, suppose and wish –take a modal auxiliary in the indicative that clause.

e.g. 1. I expect (that) you would like something to drink .2. I suppose (that) he must have lost his way.

11.1.2 Dropping or retaining the complementiser that

- Omission of that :(a) when think or say is the main verb

e.g. I think it’s nice, Tim says it’s easy

(b) when the subject refers to the same entity in the main clause and in the that-clause

e.g. Tim promised he’d do it

(c) when there is a pronoun rather than a noun head in the that-clause

e.g. I think I’ll have a cola, She knew he would do it

- Retaining that :(d) coordinated that-clauses:

e.g. Many people believe that war is right.

(e) passive voice in the main clause: e.g. It is believed that peace is in sight.

(f) a NG or PP (or clause containing a NG) placed between the main clause and the that-clause:

e.g. Can you prove to them that the effects are not harmful?

11.1.3 Verb + NG + that-clause

- verbs of communicating (tell, inform)

- verbs of causing someone to think or believe or know something (convince, persuade, remind, teach)

- performative verbs promise and warn

take a that-clause after the direct object:

e.g. 1. He finally convinced the jury that he was telling the truth.2. Experience has taught them that a back-up copy is essential.

11.2 SAY AND TELL

‘Say ‘

monotransitive

controlling a direct object

e.g. Say that number again; He said he was sorry

‘tell ‘

ditransitive

with two objects

e.g. 1. Tell me your name.2. Tell me you love me.

11.3 MEANINGS AND PATTERNS OF WH-CLAUSE COMPLEMENTS

11.3.1. Indirect interrogatives11.3.2. Nominal relatives11.3.3. Non-finite variants11.3.4. Indirect exclamatives

11.3.1 Indirect interrogatives

V + wh-clause

‘ask, wonder, doubt, enquire, don’t know ‘

indirect interrogatives

compare:

1. We asked what we should do/what to do.2. The tourist enquired why the museum was closed.

3. Pat wondered whether/if her friends would recognise her.

11.3.2 Nominal relatives

V + NG + wh-clauses Give them what they want

‘advise, give, show, teach and tell ‘

control nominal relative clause complements

represent factual information

e.g. 1. He told me what I already knew.2. Tom will show you where you can send it.

3.The instructor taught the dancers how they should breathe.

11.3.3 Non-finite variants

V + NG + wh + to-infinitive clauseAsk (him) how to do it

The NG recipient is obligatory with tell, show and teach, optional with ask, and not used at all with know and wonder.

e.g. 1. We didn’t know where to go. (indirect interrogative)

2. Tom told us what to do. (nominal relative)

11.3.4 Indirect exclamatives

V + (NG) + what + NG or how + AdjG I said how nice it was

verbs of communicating such as say and tellmental verbs such as believe and think.

emotive quality:

e.g. 1. You’ll never believe what a good time we had.2. I told her how sorry I was.

MODULE 12COMPLEMENTATION BY NON-FINITE CLAUSES

12.1 CATENATIVE COMPLEMENTS12.2 MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY TO-INFINITIVE CLAUSES

12.2.1 Type 1: V + to-infinitive12.2.2 Type 2: V + NG + to-infinitive clause

with subject12.2.3 Type 3: V + NG + to-infinitive

12.1 CATENATIVE COMPLEMENTS

‘Catenative’ means ‘chaining’

controls a non-finite complement

e.g. We decided to try to rent a house near the sea.

a chain of three verbs

to try to rent a house near the sea the catenative complement of decide

to rent a house near the sea the catenative complement of try.

Check this one out!!!

We decided to try to persuade Bill to help us rent a house near the sea.

12.2 MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY TO-INFINITIVE CLAUSES

12.2.1 Type 1: V + to-infinitive

(a) Want, wish, intend, arrange(b) like, love, prefer, can’t bear, hate

(c) promise, agree, learn, forget, decide

1. The boss wants to see us immediately. 2. I have arranged to go to London tomorrow.

3. I would have preferred to invent something which helps people. 4. I promise to ring you later. (compare: I promise that I will ring you

later)5. They agreed to wait a bit longer. (compare: they agreed that they

would wait a bit longer)

potential situation

12.2.2 Type 2: V + NG + to-infinitive

want, like, love, prefer, can’t bear, dislike, hate, wish, arrange. E.g. 1. The people want the troops to leave.2. Her mother did not like her to be out for too long. 3. I only want us to be together.

4. I have arranged for the students to go to London tomorrow. 

12.3 MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY BARE INFINITIVE CLAUSES

12.3.1 Type 3: V + NG + bare infinitive

let, have, make; see, hear, feel; help. 

E.g. 1. we let them go, we saw them go. 2. Don’t let anxiety spoil your life.

3. They made the prisoners stand for hours.4. I’ll have my secretary make you a reservation.

12.4 MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY -ING CLAUSES12.4.1 Type 4: V + -ing clause

like, love, avoid, dislike, hate, enjoy, miss, resent, risk, can’t, help.

e.g. 1. They disliked living in a big city.2. I avoid travelling in the rush hour.3. We enjoy listening to rock music

12.4.2 Type 6: V + NG + -ing clause

See, hear, feel, smell, find, leave, catch, discover, come across, keep

e.g. 1. She found the child sleeping peacefully.

2. The child was found sleeping peacefully.

COMPARE:I remembered to turn off the gas. (I remembered that I had to turn off the gas and I did.)

I remembered turning off the gas. (I remembered that I had turned off the gas.)

I forgot to turn off the gas. (I forgot that I had to turn off the gas and didn’t turn it off.)

I regret telling/having told you the bad news. (I am sorry that I told you the bad news.)

I regret to tell you there is some bad news. (I am sorry to have to tell you bad news.)

12.4.3 Potential and factual meanings contrasted: to-infinitive and -ing clauses

Emotive verbs: like, love, hate and prefer (but not enjoy, detest and dislike, which admit only -ing clauses)

COMPARE:

I like listening to music. ------ I’d like to buy a good stereo.

Most people hate standing in queues. -----Most car-owners would hate to be without a car.

12.5 PAST PARTICIPIAL CLAUSES12.5.1 V + NG + -en clause

1. the causative verbs get and have e.g. We’ll have some repairs done to the house, 2. volitional verbs: want, like, prefer e.g. The boss wants these records updated; 3. verbs of perception: see, hear, feel e.g. I felt my arm grasped from behind; and 4. verbs of finding and leaving e.g. Airport officials have found an unidentified bag abandoned in the coffee-shop.

THANK YOU….