Can the verb 'to be' take an object?

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indonesia

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I have just been reading a new grammar book and it states that a good rule of thumb is that the verb 'to be' never takes an object, it is always a subject complement.
I have wrote a few sentences on a piece of paper, trying to find a few exceptions, but no luck so far.
Can any of you good people give me some exceptions where the verb 'to be' takes an object.
 

Kondorosi

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I have just been reading a new grammar book and it states that a good rule of thumb is that the verb 'to be' never takes an object, it is always a subject complement.
I have wrote a few sentences on a piece of paper, trying to find a few exceptions, but no luck so far.
Can any of you good people give me some exceptions where the verb 'to be' takes an object.

Linking verbs are complemented by either a predicate adjunct (obligatory adverbial) or a subject complement (pred. nom; pred. adj). They never occur in patterns other than SVC and SVA.
 
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mara_ce

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I don’t think you will find an exception because the verb ‘to be’ is an intransitive verb of incomplete predication. It is followed by an obligatory element: the subjective complement that tells us something about the subject.

Sugar is sweet. (an essence)
John is tired. (an accident or temporary state)
This is a book. (a class of objects)
That is John. (identity)
He is in the room. (a location)

These intransitive verbs of incomplete predication are also called copular or linking verbs.
e.g. be, seem, look, turn, become, etc.
 

mxreader

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Linking verbs are complemented by either a predicate adjunct (obligatory adverbial) or a ....

What's your example for this? Give us a few examples if you can please.
 

Kondorosi

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What's your example for this? Give us a few examples if you can please.

He is in the kitchen. = SVA; A = predicate adjunct or obligatory adverbial (associates an attribute of location with S)
They married young. =? SVA; =? SV
He feels under the weather. =? SVA; =? SVC (figurative adaptation of the prep. meaning)
He is Peter. -- SVC, (C = complement; predicate nominative)
He is nice. -- SVC, (C = complement; predicate adjective)

I have just been reading a new grammar book and it states that a good rule of thumb is that the verb 'to be' never takes an object.

That is correct. No exceptions. 'to be' either functions as an aspect auxiliary in a verb phrase whose main verb, but not the aspect auxiliary itself, may take an object, or it functions as a main verb in a copulative verb structure. Linking verbs, aka coplula verbs, never occur in SV (V = intransitive verb), SVO (V = monotransitive verb), SVOA (V = complex transitive verb), SVOC (V = complex transitive verb), or SVOO (V = ditransitive verb) patterns.
That there is one and only one obligatory argument governed by the verb and that that is not an object are necessary and sufficient criteria for a verb to be a linking verb. These two criteria make a linking verb a linking verb. If there is an object in the sentence, the verb, by definition, is a linking verb no more.

SVC, SVA (V = linking verb)
 
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mara_ce

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I'm surprised how things/names have changed!

I learned that a subjective complement can be called a predicative as well. The advervials are optional.
The label predicative comes from the fact that we are predicating something about the subject.

We can predicate a location:
He is in the room.

I've been in the garden all the time since lunch.

in the garden (subjective complement)
all the time (adverbial)
since lunch (adverbial)
 

Kondorosi

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The advervials are optional.

Hi, I am not sure I understand you here. Would you elaborate, please?

We can predicate a location:
He is in the room.

I've been in the garden all the time since lunch.

in the garden (subjective complement)
all the time (adverbial)
since lunch (adverbial)

According to Quirk in CGEL (1985), in the garden is not a complement, but an obligatory adverbial, an obligatory predicate adjunct (SVA). With copula verbs, the adverbial is always obligatory. On the other hand, predicate adjuncts can be obligatory or optional with verbs other than CopV.

Compare:

She put the letter on the kitchen table. :tick: = SVOA
She put the letter [STRIKE]on the kitchen table[/STRIKE]. :cross:
She found the letter on the kitchen table. :tick: = SVO
She found the letter [STRIKE]on the kitchen table[/STRIKE]. :tick: = SVO

I've been in the garden all the time since lunch.

in the garden (subjective complement)
all the time (adverbial)
since lunch (adverbial)

'in the garden' is an adverbial. It is an adjunct of space which is obligatorily present in the sentence. It is the A in your SVA sentence and so enters the valency pattern of the copula verb 'have been'.

However, 'nice' in 'He is nice' is a C, a predicate adjective, in SVC, and 'Peter' in 'He is Peter' is a C in SVC, a predicate nominative. Subject complement is a grammatical term that includes predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives as its two subtypes.

a. all the time (adverbial) and optional
b. since lunch (adverbial) and optional

These two optional adverbials above (a. and b.) are not included in the valency pattern of the copula verb 'have been'.
 
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mara_ce

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Hi Kondorosi,

It's evident that we are following different books. In my case, my grammar notes from university.
I've found an analysis by Quirk et al. It says that there are advervials that are obligatory. They are equivalent to advervials in meaning (e.g. in answering the question 'Where?') even though they are simillar to complements in acting as obligatory elements following the verb.

We are both right. :-D

In the sentence:
I've been in the garden all the time since lunch.

in the garden: (can be considered as a subjective complement or as an obligatory adverbial)
 

mxreader

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He is in the kitchen. = SVA; A = predicate adjunct or obligatory adverbial (associates an attribute of location with S)
They married young. =? SVA; =? SV
He feels under the weather. =? SVA; =? SVC (figurative adaptation of the prep. meaning)
He is Peter. -- SVC, (C = complement; predicate nominative)
He is nice. -- SVC, (C = complement; predicate adjective)

Kondorosi, do you have a C_locative in this scheme? If so, please compare (explain differences) with the predicate adjunct.
 

Kondorosi

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Kondorosi, do you have a C_locative in this scheme? If so, please compare (explain differences) with the predicate adjunct.

What you call a C locative Quirk calls an obligatory adverbial (obligatory predicate adjunct). What you call a C locative is denoted by 'A' in valency patterns in his "Blue Bible".
CGEL differentiates between complements and obligatory adverbials in CopV complementation; however, it states that some obligatory adverbs can function as complements (The game is over (= complete). = SVC). It makes no mention of C_locatives, though. Terminology.

He was in the kitchen. -- SVA (A = obligatory adverbial)
He was under the weather. SV(C?A?)

The distinction between C and A are often not clear-cut. In 'He was under the weather,' the figurative adaptation of the prepositional phrase semantically is similar to an AP functioning as a C. Furthermore, there are also syntactic signs that deepen the indeterminacy.

?He was [young] and [in the kitchen].
* He seemed [young] and [in the kitchen].
* It was under the weather that he felt.
He was [young] and [under the weather].

:eyes:
 
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mxreader

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God mórgon! You are up early....

What you call a C locative Quirk calls an obligatory adverbial (obligatory predicate adjunct).

This makes sense.

What you call a C locative is denoted by 'A' in valency patterns in his "Blue Bible".

So, 'A'= obligatory adjunct and A=Adjunct

CGEL differentiates between complements and obligatory adverbials in CopV complementation; however, it states that some obligatory adverbs can function as complements (The game is over (= complete). = SVC). It makes no mention of C_locatives, though. Terminology.

This doesn't make sense, I have to keep his terminology at arms length.

Tack
;-)
 

Kondorosi

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This doesn't make sense

To you. ;-) Would you explain what is not acceptable to you here?

I have to keep his terminology at arms length.

Tack
;-)
Var Sa God. ;-) You pays your money and you takes your choice.

So, 'A'= obligatory adjunct and A=Adjunct

Is this what an educated native would infer from my posts? My communication skills are not consummate yet, apparently.
 

Kondorosi

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CGEL differentiates between complements and obligatory adverbials in CopV complementation; however, it states that some obligatory adverbs can function as complements:

By obligatory adverbs I did not mean obligatory adverbials. By them I meant adverbials that are not obligatory adverbials but still obligatorily present. Obligatory adverbials are those which are obligatorily present plus behave adverbially from a semantic point of view.
A is realized by an obligatory pred. adjunct, an obligatory adverbial.
C is realized by a noun, an adjective, or an adverb that is obligatorily present and behaves like an adjective in all? respects.

Obligatory adverbials assign an attribute of location (literal or metaphorical?) to the subject, but not all adverbials that are obligatorily present behave so. Consequently, not all adverbials that are obligatorily present are called obligatory adverbials.
Obligatory adverbial ≠ adverb that is obligatorily present

Obligatory adverbial is a subset of adverbs that are obligatorily present: All obligatory adverbials are obligatorily present, but not all obligatorily present adverbials are obligatory adverbials.

Now you see my point I trust. ;-)


Accoring to CGEL:
I am behind (scedule) in my rent. = SVC
I feel under the weather. = SV(A?C?)

This isn't clear-cut (to me), indeed. I think grammar books serve the purpose of giving a general direction which you can abandon if your own judgment that grammars have developed so requires.

According to me:
I am behind (scedule) in my rent. = SVC
I feel under the weather. = SVC
 
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mxreader

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Confounding notation, I presume....
SVC
SVC

but how about
SVC_loc
SVA

For teaching purposes, I think I should leave out the idea of Adjuncts until later/never (I am still not convinced that they are useful distinctions), and just call them both complements.
 

Kondorosi

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Confounding notation, I presume....
SVC
SVC

but how about
SVC_loc
SVA

For teaching purposes, I think I should leave out the idea of Adjuncts until later/never (I am still not convinced that they are useful distinctions), and just call them both complements.

Both sentences are SV and I am going to show you why.

We flew to Stockholm. :tick:
We flew [STRIKE]to Stockholm[/STRIKE]. :tick:
He works in Lund. :tick:
He works [STRIKE]in Lund[/STRIKE]. :tick:

A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause, which may be one of seven types. The types differ according to whether one or more elements are obligatorily present in addition to S and V.
 

mxreader

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I don't understand your explanation, are you saying that

"We flew to Stockholm" is the same as "We flew"? both SV?

If "We flew" is SV, then what of "to Stockholm"?
 

Kondorosi

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"We flew to Stockholm" is the same as "We flew"? both SV?

Same in terms of what obligatory elements are present.

SVA means V = CopV. 'flew' is not a CopV; it is an I(ntransitive verb). I's can only occur in SV.
 
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