Phrases / clauses

[Rollercoaster1]

He kicked the door open and then rushed in with his armed men.

Breaking down the above context.

He kicked the door open - independent clause.
Is 'open' an adjective in the clause?

and then rushed in with his armed men - dependent clause? A clause is a complete sentence as opposed to a phrase, and a sentence has to have a 'subject' and 'verb' and not necessarily an object. So, is it a clause?

'and then' conjuntions; 'rushed' verb; 'in' adverb; with his armed men 'prepositional phrase' functioning as an 'adverbial phrase' telling how they entered.

Any mistakes in the explanation?

 

[abaka]

There is a precise description of the construction you are asking about.

Open is an objective complement, an adjective completing the noun door, which is the direct object in the sentence.

He kicked the door, so door is clearly the direct object. What is open? Can open be an adverb? Well... One can kick hard, or kick fast, but "kick open" makes no sense unless something is "kicked open". And after the kick, it is the door that is open. This is the key. Open is an adjective that describes the door, the direct object of the verb kick, once the action of the verb, the kicking, has been completed.

Syntactically, this is a compound, two-clause sentence. The two clauses share the subject and are co-ordinated by the conjunction "and". There are no subordinate clauses.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

There is a precise description of the construction you are asking about.

Open is an objective complement, an adjective completing the noun door, which is the direct object in the sentence.

He kicked the door, so door is clearly the direct object. What is open? Can open be an adverb? Well... One can kick hard, or kick fast, but "kick open" makes no sense unless something is "kicked open". And after the kick, it is the door that is open. This is the key. Open is an adjective that describes the door, the direct object of the verb kick, once the action of the verb, the kicking, has been completed.

Syntactically, this is a compound, two-clause sentence. The two clauses share the subject and are co-ordinated by the conjunction "and". There are no subordinate clauses.

Isn't 'and then rushed in with his armed men' a subordinate clause, although it starts with the coordinating conjunction? I don't think 'And then rushed in with his armed men' can stand alone as a complete sentence. It clearly indicates that there has to be another clause to complete the meaning or to express what happened before.

 

[Tdol]

You could call open a resultative adjective.

 

[PaulMatthews]

He kicked the door open and then rushed in with his armed men.

Breaking down the above context.

He kicked the door open - independent clause.

No, it's just part of one, a verb phrase in a coordination construction. See below.

Is 'open' an adjective in the clause?

Yes, "open" is an adjective. This is a complex-transitive construction, where "the door" is direct object and "open" is predicative complement.

and then rushed in with his armed men - dependent clause? A clause is a complete sentence as opposed to a phrase, and a sentence has to have a 'subject' and 'verb' and not necessarily an object. So, is it a clause?

No, it's not a clause but a verb phrase.

He [kicked the door open] and [then rushed in with his armed men].

The two bracketed elements are a coordination of verb phrases linked by the coordinator "and".

'and then 'conjuntions; 'rushed' verb; 'in' adverb; with his armed men 'prepositional phrase' functioning as an 'adverbial phrase' telling how they entered.

"And" is a coordinator (your 'conjunction'), and "then" is an adjunct in clause structure.

"In" is a preposition as complement of "rushed", and "with his men" is a preposition phrase serving as modifier of "in".

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER

Hello, Roller Coaster:

This opinion of my source may interest you.

1. "John and Mary enjoyed the performance and applauded wildly."
a. This is a simple sentence with a compound subject and a compound verb.

2. "John and Mary enjoyed the performance and they applauded wildly."
a. This is a compound sentence.
b. My source prefers this sentence because it "distributes meaning more emphatically than mere compounding in the simple sentence can do, and in addition builds a little toward climax." (My emphasis)

Source: John B. Opdycke, Ph.D., Harper's English Grammar (paperback), 1987, pages 231 - 232.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

No, it's just part of one, a verb phrase in a coordination construction. See below.

Yes, "open" is an adjective. This is a complex-transitive construction, where "the door" is direct object and "open" is predicative complement.

No, it's not a clause but a verb phrase.

He [kicked the door open] and [then rushed in with his armed men].

The two bracketed elements are a coordination of verb phrases linked by the coordinator "and".

"And" is a coordinator (your 'conjunction'), and "then" is an adjunct in clause structure.

"In" is a preposition as complement of "rushed", and "with his men" is a preposition phrase serving as modifier of "in".

I am surprised that you called 'in' after 'rushed' as a preposition. Where's its object?