Seminar X. The Secondary Parts of the Sentence. The Object

I. Theoretical questions for discussion

1. The object. Ways of expressing the object.

2. Structural classification of the object (simple, phrasal, clausal and complex).

3. Types of objects:

a) the direct object;

b) the indirect object (prepositional);

c) the cognate object.

II. The material to be read for the seminar

The secondary parts of the sentence (the object, attribute, adverbial modifier, apposition) serve to modify the principal parts or one another. Classification of the secondary parts is based both on grammatical and semantic criteria. The object modifies a verb, adjective or a noun (e.g.: to write a letter, beautiful of face, a ray of hope). The attribute is also a secondary part of the sentence modifying a noun or a noun-pronoun and denoting its property, an adverbial modifier modifies a verb or a noun (to speak slowly, very difficult).

The object is a secondary part of the sentence which completes or restricts the meaning of a verb or an adjective or a stative: 1. Lena likes music. 2. I am happy to meet you. 3. She is afraid of walking alone in the evening. The object in English can be expressed by the following parts of speech: a noun in the common case, a pronoun in the objective case, demonstrative, indefinite, reflexive pronouns, a numeral and also by an infinitive, gerund, a clause and various predicative complexes.

According to their structure objects in English are subdivided into 1) a simple object, which is expressed by a single word-form (1. She often reads English newspapers. 2. We like to travel), 2) a phrasal object, which is expressed by a phrase (1. They’ve bought a lot of books. 2. Yesterday we met Professor Brown), 3) a clausal object, which is expressed by a clause (1. I wonder if they will come in time. 2. Do you know where Jack lives?), 4) a complex object, which is expressed by a predicative complex (1. We expected him to tell her the truth. 2. I watched them crossing the street).

From the point of view of their value and grammatical peculiarities three kinds of objects can be distinguished in English: direct, indirect and cognate.

1. A direct object is an object that follows a transitive verb and completes or restricts its meaning. A direct object is the direct receiver or product of the action denoted by the transitive verb: 1. She turned her head and saw me. 2. He took a candle and lighted it.

2. An indirect object is an object which denotes the person towards whom the action of the finite verb is directed: 1. He offered us his help. 2. We sent them a telegram yesterday. The peculiar feature of an indirect object is that it cannot be used without the direct object. The indirect object has a fixed position in the sentence – it precedes the direct object: 1. Den gave her the towel. 2. He handed her the paper.

3. A cognate object is an object similar in meaning to the verb of the same root: 1. She sighed a sigh of satisfaction. 2. He slept the sleep of one who had spent a night in a car. The cognate object occupies a place intermediate between an object and an adverbial modifier, expressing rather adverbial than objective relations: 1. He laughed a hearty laugh. – He laughed heartily. 2. She lived a happy life. – She lived happily.