Clause structure and verb patterns

Stop!
Please come to dinner tomorrow.
Play it again, please.

If we have no other subject, we use there or it. We call this a dummy subject:

There were twenty people at the meeting.
There will be an eclipse of the moon tonight.
It's a lovely day.
It's nearly one o’clock.

 

Verb patterns

Different verbs have different patterns, so the structure of the clause depends on the verb.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Most verbs in English are either transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb has the structure noun + verb + noun:

Noun (subject)	Verb	Noun (object)
John	wanted	a new bicycle.

Transitive verbs need an object. Common transitive verbs are:

bring buy

enjoy like

make take

want wear

An intransitive verb has the structure noun + verb:

Noun (subject)	Verb
John	smiled.

Intransitive verbs do not have an object. Common intransitive verbs are:

arrive cry

die fall

happen laugh

smile work

Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive:

She sang a wonderful aria. We were singing.	Transitive: N + V + N Intransitive: N + V
We were playing football. We were just playing.	Transitive: N + V + N Intransitive: N + V

Common verbs like this are:

draw follow

help learn

ride study

watch write

 

Other patterns

Some verbs are both transitive and intransitive, but the object when they are transitive is the same as the subject when they are intransitive:

Peter closed the door. The door closed.

Transitive: N + V + N Intransitive: N + V

I boiled some water. The water boiled.

Transitive: N + V + N Intransitive: N + V

These are called ergative verbs.

There are other kinds of verb patterns. For example:

• link verbs have the structure Noun + Verb + Adjective (She looks happy) or Noun + Verb + Noun (He became a teacher).
• some two-part verbs can have the structure Noun + Verb + Particle + Noun (She gave back the money) or Noun + Verb + Noun + Particle (She gave the money back).
• double object verbs have the structure: Noun + Verb + Noun + Noun (Peter sent his mother some flowers).
• verbs followed by the infinitive (We planned to take a holiday.)
• verbs followed by the -ing form (I love swimming.)
• verbs with that, wh- and if clauses (She said that …, He explained what …, He asked if … .) These are often reporting verbs.

 

link verbs

Multi-word verbs

Double object verbs

Verbs followed by the infinitive

Reporting verbs with 'that', 'wh-' and 'if' clauses

Reported speech

Ergative verbs

Verbs followed by the '-ing' form

"Put your question in the box"