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1 Post By uniopp
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Verb + Verb
Hi,
Could someone please explain the grammar of the following sentence -
"All he does is speak English".
Is "All he does" the subject, "is" the be verb, "speak" a verb and "English" the noun?
I'm confused with "is speak". Is it ok to have verb + verb?
In fact "does is speak" is verb + verb + verb.
I only studied "to speak" like in "I want to learn to speak English" so "is speak" seems strange.
A break down of the subject/object/verb in the sentence and any explanation would be good.
Thanks
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Re: Verb + Verb

Originally Posted by
uniopp
Hi,
Could someone please explain the grammar of the following sentence -
"All he does is speak English".
Is "All he does" the subject, "is" the be verb, "speak" a verb and "English" the noun?
I'm confused with "is speak". Is it ok to have verb + verb?
In fact "does is speak" is verb + verb + verb.
I only studied "to speak" like in "I want to learn to speak English" so "is speak" seems strange.
A break down of the subject/object/verb in the sentence and any explanation would be good.
Thanks
Pseudo-cleft.
All (that) he does is (to) speak English.
What he does is (to) speak English.
To speak English is what he does. That is what he does.
(to) speak English = bare infinitive in form and predicate nominative in function.
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Re: Verb + Verb
"All he does (noun clause, subject) is (verb) speak English (subject complement)".
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Re: Verb + Verb
Thanks for your help.
As I understand it -
All he does = noun clause (subject)
is = be verb
speak = linking verb
English = noun (predicate nominative/subject complement)
Is that correct?
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