transitive or copular verb?

Status
Not open for further replies.

hela

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Tunisia
Current Location
Tunisia
Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me what type of verb phrase is "are to be found" in the following sentence? (transitive or copular?)
I know that only transitive verbs can be used in the passive form, and yet I can't figure out what kind of sentence pattern is the following.

Many elements of the response are to be found in those documents.
Would you say that the obligatory prepositonal phrase (obligatory adverbial) "in those documents" is related to the subject or object "many elements"?

Thank you in advance.
 

hela

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Tunisia
Current Location
Tunisia
I would say that 'are (to)' is functioning as a quasi-modal auxiliary; 'be' is an auxiliary, part of a passive form; 'found' is the third form of a lexical, transitive, verb.

So if "are to be found" is a transitive verb, should we consider "Many elements of the response" as the subject or the object of the sentence? And which pattern does the sentence follow?

Many...response (Direct Object) + are to be found (complex-transitive verb) + in those documents (Obligatory Adverbial related to the DO) and no subject?

Or

Many...response (Subject) + are to be found (copular ??) + in those documents (obligatory adverbial related to the subject) ??
 
Last edited:

hela

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Tunisia
Current Location
Tunisia
So what should be the function / pattern of the sentence, please?

Many elements of the response (NP) = subject
are to be found (VP) = what type of verb phrase?
in the documents (PP) = what type of obligatory adverbial?

Thank you for your patience.
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
NOT A TEACHER

I have found some information from my favorite scholar. I am delighted to share it with the OP and any other interested members / guests. (I have emphasized some words.)

1. "After the copulas be, remain, fall, and in a few expressions seem, the infinitive often assumes a peculiar modal force in the predicate, expressing the necessity , possibility, or fitness of an action."

2. Here are just three of the scholar's examples:

a. "The letter is to be (i.e., must be) handed to him in person."

b. "An account of the event is to be (i.e., can be ) found in the evening papers."

c. "Such women are to (i.e., ought to) be admired."


Source: George Oliver Curme, A Grammar of the English Language (1931, Volume II, page 45).
 

hela

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Tunisia
Current Location
Tunisia
Hello, The Parser

I understand that, but what would be the pattern of these sentences then? I still don't see how each sentence constituent can be analysed = what is its function. :-(
 

PaulMatthews

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2016
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Great Britain
Current Location
Great Britain
Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me what type of verb phrase is "are to be found" in the following sentence? (transitive or copular?)
I know that only transitive verbs can be used in the passive form, and yet I can't figure out what kind of sentence pattern is the following.

Many elements of the response are to be found in those documents.
Would you say that the obligatory prepositonal phrase (obligatory adverbial) "in those documents" is related to the subject or object "many elements"?

Thank you in advance.

I'd call it a passive infinitival construction. The subject is "many elements of the response". The verb phrase is somewhat special because of the quasi-modal verb be which has a meaning similar to "can", cf. "Many elements of the response can be found in those documents". The marker "to" + infinitival "be" + the past participle verb "found" provide the passive infinitival components of the verb phrase. Finally, the preposition phrase "in those documents" functions as an optional adjunct of place modifying the verb "found". This particular kind of passive construction is called an 'agentless passive' due to the absence of a by-phrase, but one could easily be bolted on to give "Many elements of the response are to be found in those documents by researchers".
 

hela

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Tunisia
Current Location
Tunisia
Hello, Paul Matthews

Do these types of passive constructions fit into any one of the seven sentence patterns described by Quirk, or not?

(SV): subject + intransitive verb
(SVO): subject + monotransitive verb + direct object
(SVCs): subject + linking/copular verb + sujbect complement
(SVOO): subject + ditransitive verb + indirect object + direct object
(SVOCo): subject + complex-transitive verb + direct object + object complement
(SVAs): subject + copular verb + adverbial related to the subject (John / is / in his office)
or subject + intransitive verb + adverbial related to the subject (John / lives / in a beautiful house)
(SVOA): subject + complex-transitive verb + direct object + adverbial related to the object.

Best regards
 

hela

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Tunisia
Current Location
Tunisia
I'd call it a passive infinitival construction. The subject is "many elements of the response". The verb phrase is somewhat special because of the quasi-modal verb be which has a meaning similar to "can", cf. "Many elements of the response can be found in those documents". The marker "to" + infinitival "be" + the past participle verb "found" provide the passive infinitival components of the verb phrase. Finally, the preposition phrase "in those documents" functions as an optional adjunct of place modifying the verb "found". This particular kind of passive construction is called an 'agentless passive' due to the absence of a by-phrase, but one could easily be bolted on to give "Many elements of the response are to be found in those documents by researchers".

Hello PaulMatthews,

Would you please tell me why you consider the prepositional phrase "in the documents" as an optional adverbial ? Would it be the same for "in the supermarket" in "These articles can be found in the supermarket". Can it be obligatory?

And what type of verbs are "are to be found" and "can be found"? Are they intransitive, or something else, in these sentences?

Thank you for your help.
Best regards
 

PaulMatthews

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2016
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Great Britain
Current Location
Great Britain
The PP "in the documents" is an optional element because it is an adjunct (adverbial); it is not necessary to complete the verb phrase. It can be dropped without changing the core meaning of the verb or with any loss of grammaticality (note that you could say "These items are not seen very often nowadays, but they can still be found"). Adjuncts typically express certain meanings such as location, manner, reason etc. Preposition phrases can, though, be obligatory as in "I am in the supermarket" and "I put it in the supermarket trolley" where they are required to complete the verb phrase.

The verb phrase "are to be found" is a passive infinitival verb phrase in which "to" is a subordinator, "be" an infinitive verb and "found" a past participle. It's an intransitive passive verb phrase where the quasi-modal verb "are" gives it a dynamic modal meaning rather like a weaker version of "can be found", where "can" is a modal auxiliary verb. Dynamic modality is used to express 'ability'.
 
Last edited:

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
NOT A TEACHER

Hello, Hela:

I happened to stumble across some information that might interest you. (I have emphasized some words.)


"It is a curious fact that sometimes an infinitive has an active form but a passive meaning. Note this German sentence: Hunde sind an der Leine zu fuhren -- Dogs are on the leash to lead. That is, dogs are to be led on the leash. We have a similar use in English: Room to rent, or House to let. The room is to be rented; the house is to be let."


Complete credit: John Clark Jordan, Making Sense of Grammar (copyright 1980 by Baylor University. Published by Teachers College Press), page 97.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top