15 · Predict
The six types, one procedure
A verb does more than occupy one place in a sentence. It also determines which phrases complete its use and how those phrases relate to one another. That pattern is the verb’s frame. To classify a verb, read the whole predicate instead of counting the words after it.
The diagram labels two post-verbal noun phrases as indirect object and direct object.
The diagram labels the first post-verbal noun phrase direct object and the second object complement.
Classify a simple verb use
- Find the main verb, then read every phrase in its predicate.
- Find any noun phrase paired directly with the verb as a direct object. If two noun phrases follow, identify the relationship between them.
- A related to or for version may reveal an indirect object. A natural be or become paraphrase may reveal an object complement.
- Ask whether another phrase describes or identifies the subject, or supplies a setting the frame needs. Use removal only for that adverbial candidate.
- After finding those relationships, apply the course’s separate Vbe label to a finite main use of be.
These checks apply to the simple statements reviewed here. A paraphrase works only when it keeps the verb’s meaning, and removing a phrase can change that meaning. Later lessons extend the analysis to questions, passives, particles, and clause complements.
Classify the pattern used in the sentence.
The course uses six labels for the verb patterns introduced so far. A familiar verb can enter more than one of them. The relationships in the predicate determine the label for this use.
Ten sentences from this lesson, one decision at a time.