sentence analysis 8

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please help me analyse the following sentences?

1) They (S) named (ditransitive verb) their baby (IO) Sam (OD).
(do we need a comma before "Sam"?)

2) Sam is their baby’s name.

Sam = subject
Is = copular verb
Their baby's = direct object
Name = object complement

What shall I do with the "s" of the possessive, should it be part of the DO ?

3) Sam is his name.
S cop V Subj Complement

4) Almost all football players in Europe drive fast cars .

Almost all football players in Europe = Subject
(is “almost” included in the subject ?)

drive = transitive Verb
fast cars = Direct Object

5) We (S) nearly (?) missed (V) our train (DO) this morning (Adv).

6) Europe (S) gradually (?) became (V) an economic community (Subj Compl) during the second part of the XXth century (Adv).

Should “nearly” and “gradually” be part of the verb phrase or should they form separate sentence elements = adverbials of manner ?

7) A group of teenagers (S) sold (V) the tourists (IO) some tickets (DO) for the tennis final (Adverbial of purpose ?) on the black market (?) in the street outside the stadium (Adv of location). (Is this correct English?)

8) Thanks to the pilot’s courage (?) the plane (S)landed (intransitive verb) safely (Adv of manner) at the airport (Adv of location).

9) He is travelling to Rome at the moment. (correct English?)

10) He was without a job till a month ago. (correct English?)

Thanks a lot.
Hela

[Casiopea]

Hi Hela,

1) "named" is not a ditransitive verb, Hela.

2) "is", copular; it functions as a linking verb. "their Baby's name" is a possessive adjective phrase, a nominal. Same holds for 3).


4) Yes.

5) "nearly" modifies the verb and it ends in -ly, which makes it an . . . The same holds true for the -ly word in 6).

Should “nearly” and “gradually” be part of the verb phrase or should they form separate sentence elements = adverbials of manner ?

Where are they located?

7) Ask, "What do the phrases in question tell us about? Do they modify "the tickets", "the tourists" or something else?

8) Ask, "Why was is possible for the plane to land safely?

9) "is travelling" . . . "at the moment", sounds like they work. What are you thoughts?

10) "till" is a preposition and it means, up to a time.

All the best,

Sorry for the short reply; it's late here.

[hela]

Dear Casiopea,

I see that you're opting for a new technique with me, now. Mind you it's not a bad idea at all since I'll have to find the answers myself using your guidelines.
Ok, I'll work on that and let you know.

Sweet dreams,
Hela

[hela]

Dear Casiopea,

Here I am again. After reading your remarks here is my revision:

1) They named (complex-transitive verb) their baby (DO) Sam (Object Complement). (comma before "Sam"?)

2) Sam (S) is (copular verb) their baby’s name (subj complement).

3) Sam (S) is (copular verb) his name (subject complement).

4) Almost all football players in Europe (S)drive (transitive verb) fast cars (DO).

5) We (S) nearly (adverbial of degree?) missed (complex-transitive verb) our train (DO) this morning(adverbial of time).


6) Europe gradually (adverb of degree ?) became (copular verb) an economic community (subj compl) during the second part of the XXth century (adverbial of time).

(What is an adverb of mode ?)

7) A group of teenagers sold (ditransitive verb) the tourists(IO) some tickets (DO) for the tennis final (adverbial of purpose ?) on the black market in the street outside the stadium (adverbial of location ??) (Is this correct English?)


8) Thanks to the pilot’s courage (adverbial of cause ?) the plane (S) landed (intransitive verb) safely (adverbial of manner) at the airport (adverbial of location)

9) He (S) is travelling (intransitive verb) to Rome (adverbial of location) at the moment (adverbial of time). (correct English? I still need confirmation)

10) He was (copular verb) without a job (subj compl) till a month ago. (correct English? I'm even less sure about this one...)

Kind regards,
Hela

[Casiopea]

1) About the "comma". The object complement is part of the verb "call", so putting a comma before it would be like putting a comma after a direct object (e.g., *I like, cake). It's not done, and for good reason.

5) "I missed the train" is transitive. "the train" functions as the direct object, and "this morning" tells when the train was missed; that is, "this morning" modifies "missed" (i.e., I missed it. When? This morning). It doesn't modify the noun "the train"; i.e., "the morning train", which we get from an object complement test: the train is this morning.


9) He's travelling at the moment. He's travelling to Rome at the moment. There's something about the semantics of "to" paired with "travelling" that might make the sentence seem odd, but it sounds good to me. I hear speakers use it to express, he's on his way to Rome at the moment.

10) "till" is in the dictionary. It short for "until", and in our example it functions as a preposition.

Hela, if you do a quick search on-line, you'll find a great deal of sites that list adverbs by their class. "mode" could be a synonym for "manner".

[hela]

Thanks again!

See you soon,
Hela