maoyueh
Member
- Joined
- May 28, 2011
- Member Type
- Retired English Teacher
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Taiwan
- Current Location
- Taiwan
I know that every sentence can be categorized as belonging to one of the following five basic sentence patterns: 1. S+Vi. 2. S+Vi.+S.C. 3. S+Vt.+O. 4. S+Vt.+I.O.+D.O. 5. S+Vt.+O.+O.C..
How should I categorize the passive sentence?
For example, "The motorcyclist was killed in the accident."
Grammar books and dictionaries say that in the above sentence, was is an auxiliary verb, and killed is the past participle of the transitive verb kill. Then this sentence, it seems to me, does not belong to any of the five basic sentence patterns. It really puzzles me.
My question is: Can I look upon was as a main verb/linking verb, and killed as the subject complement, and then classify the above sentence as belonging to pattern 2: S+Vi.+S.C.? Thank you very much.
:roll:
How should I categorize the passive sentence?
For example, "The motorcyclist was killed in the accident."
Grammar books and dictionaries say that in the above sentence, was is an auxiliary verb, and killed is the past participle of the transitive verb kill. Then this sentence, it seems to me, does not belong to any of the five basic sentence patterns. It really puzzles me.
My question is: Can I look upon was as a main verb/linking verb, and killed as the subject complement, and then classify the above sentence as belonging to pattern 2: S+Vi.+S.C.? Thank you very much.
:roll: