Quote:
Originally Posted by JSmiley  This is hard to explain but I will try to make it simple to understand and use (had to research it myself)
First note that the main verb is make which is transitive; lets then ignore the clause 'I can' and focus on 'make you laugh, make you cry, make it colourful.'
Therefore these sentences are in the causative voice; the first two sentences are explained like this:
The picture is colourful >> is := make :: so
make the picture colourful
My home is clean >> is := make :: so
make my home clean
The last two sentences are easy to understand if we build them up from right to left (backwards)
"You laugh" is a proper sentence
"Make you laugh" is the causative voice, where 'you laugh' becomes the subject of 'make.' But who makes you laugh?
"I make you laugh" adds an object, and transforms 'make' into a transitive verb.
"I can make you laugh" inserts another transitive (can) which makes the case of 'make you laugh' oblique (the phrase acts like one noun), and the verb 'laugh' stays at the end just like it was in the simplest sentence! These last two are maybe hard to understand, but they are easier to construct than the first two.
I hope this helps. Its rather confusing, and my answer in the end is practice practice practice!
Good luck,
Jesse |
Just a couple of comments, Jesse.
One doesn't normally talk of a "causative voice" in English. I believe it exists in Japanese and, perhaps, some other Asian languages.
Your explanation of the last two sentences is very confusing. You say that "you laugh" is the subject of "make" at one point. This really isn't possible.
The subject of "make" is I. You also refer to "can" as a transitive (verb?). It is an auxiliary verb (modal). The complete verb is "can make". The entire construction can be called causative and the verb can be described as cauasative. The true identity of "laugh" (an infinitive) is revealed by changing the verb "make" to "cause". I can cause you
to laugh.
At least that's the way I see it.