Review of Verb Types: Intransitive, Monotransitive, Ditransitive and Linking

[Updated on May 31, 2015 with minor corrections]
 
Here are syntax trees for four major verb types: intransitive, monotransitive (one object),
ditransitive (two objects),and linking verbs (an complement, but no object),

(A) The baby is crying
V- (Intransitive):
An intransitive verb has no object (in = not)

(B) I did my homework quickly
V+ (Monotransitive):
A simple transitive verb has one object
(direct object = "homework")

(C) I told my children a story
V++ (Ditransitive):
 A ditransitive verb has two objects
(direct object = "a story"; indirect object = "my children")

(D) I am a doctor
(E) I am angry
V= (Linking):
 A linking verb has no object, but it has a complement ("doctor" "angry")

The syntax trees appear below:

Menace To Our Marriage

Menace To Our Marriage, page 1 (text retyped for reading comfort)

After you have read and understood the story, please go to the bottom of this blog post and click on Read More >> to do some writing practice.

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Here are some vocabulary notes to help you understand the story better:

p. 2

Sue is thoughtful: she gave Madge the sunniest room. In the US, some places are rather cold. Being in a sunny room is very pleasant.

Old fashioned words (DON'T learn them): play sth jivey/cut a rug (don't learn these words. I have never heard them, but I think they mean:

Play sth with a good beat. Let's do do some fancy dancing

M wasn't a girl to take no for an answer = if she wants sth, she won't stop until she gets it

[I won't take no for an answer = you must say "Yes!"]

try to do sth [it will probably not succeed]

There's nothing to it! = it's very easy!

There must be something to it
一定有他的道理

The laugh was on me [= I laughed at the other person for doing sth foolish, but I found out that I was wrong]

If you monopolize sb's time, you don't let anybody else talk to them or interact with them.

A monopoly is a situation where only one company is allowed to sell a certain product. Unlike in Taiwan, Monopoly is a very popular game for adults in western countries, especially in the US.

dawn = the time when the sun comes up
It dawned on me = I started to understand

"would you be a dear [= a woman's way of saying "Please"] and run an iron over it"

manage to do sth = do sth which is not easy

an unscrupulous businessman doesn't care if he/she does unethical things to make money

keep sb on the go = make them stay busy

wear  sb out = make them very tired

Sue looks like she's ready to strangle Madge (twist her neck and make her die)

Call it a night/Let's call it a day [= we have worked enough today, so we need to rest; let's not make ourselves too tired]

She treated me like a servant

put sb up = let them stay in your home for a while, usually because they have a problem

Madge feels resentful (Madge resents having to give up her room for the kids)

Writing practice appears below:

Verb Types 2--Linking & Complex Transitive

Be is the most common linking verb (V=).
In a sentence like Those dogs are spaniels,

Those	dogs	are	spaniels
Det	NC	V=	NC

spaniels is a complement 補語. A complement can be a NP, AdjP (The dogs are very noisy) or a PP (The kennelman is in the yard). The complement tells you more about the subject.

The dogs are very noisy (syntax tree)

The kennelman is in the yard

Complex transitive verbs (V++=) behave like a combination of a transitive verb and a linking verb. Try diagramming these four sentences:

1. Ruth considers the kennelman incompetent (= the kennelman is incompetent)

2. Young Taiwan voters elected Ma Yingjeou president

3. He called me an idiot (= He said that I am an idiot)

4. He called me a taxi (= He called a taxi for me 比較不自然)

Click on Read more to see the syntax trees below:

Verb Types 1--Intransitive, Monotransitive, Ditransitive

There are several types of verbs in English. Linguists use different names and short forms for these verb types. Here are the names I prefer to use:

1. Intransitive verbs (V-) have no object 受詞、賓語
(in+trans+itive; in = NOT, trans = across 不及物)

In English, most declarative sentences (陳述句、敘事句) are made of two parts: a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP): Puppies yap.

Puppies yap (syntax tree)

In Puppies yap, the NP Puppies is the subject （主語）and the VP yap is the predicate （謂語）

2. Monotransitive verbs (V+) have one object. The verb phrase in this sentence includes one object: Ruth dislikes dogs.

Ruth dislikes dogs (syntax tree)

The NP Ruth is the subject （主語）and the VP dislikes dogs is the predicate （謂語）. dogs is the object of the verb dislikes.

3. Ditransitive verbs (V++) have two objects. Because it is directly affected by the verb, a long story is the direct object （直接受詞）of told; the children is the indirect object （間接受詞）: Grandpa told the children a long story.

Grandpa told the children a long story (syntax tree)

Read the sentences below and try making your own syntax trees with phpSyntaxTree. You can see the answers if you click on Read more.

1 My husband snores very loudly

2 The baby cried in his room

3 They gave me a free iPad

4 I made you a birthday cake

5 The dog found a ball

Cheese Lesson

On April 8th, we had a cheese lesson to learn about different kinds of French cheese. We tasted several different cheeses with good bread and crackers.

1) Cream cheese is unfermented cheese with a high water content. In standard Chinese, cheese is called 乾酪, so cream cheese should be called 奶油乾酪. Cream cheese is often eaten with crackers or used to make cheesecake. We tried Kiri brand cream cheese. You can buy this at Carrefour supermarkets all over Taiwan (but there are more westerners in Taipei, so you will probably find more cheeses in Taipei supermarkets). This Wikipedia article uses a Cantonese name for cream cheese (probably written by somebody from Hong Kong): 奶油芝士.

2) Brie 布利乾酪. is a soft, creamy fermented cheese with a mild flavor which many Chinese people enjoy. It is usually sold in large triangles. Camembert is a similar cheese with a stronger flavor, but we didn't try any. Napoleon III supposedly enjoyed eating camembert.

3) Goat cheese 羊奶乾酪 is salty and has a rather strong odor, so not many Chinese people like it, but your teacher is crazy about it! The Wikipedia article uses an incorrect Taiwan mispronunciation of the French name  chèvre, which means "goat" (in French, CH is pronounced like English SH): 契福瑞起司

4) Roquefort is a famous blue cheese made from ewe's milk. The blue bits are penicillium mold (a similar mold is used to make penicillin). Roquefort has a very strong flavor, so one good way to eat it is to first put sweet butter (not salty!) on a piece of bread, then spread a little bit of crumbly Roquefort on top. This cheese is very tasty, but you can only eat a little bit at a time! 羅克福乾酪

In the comments, please tell me about your favorite types of cheese. Have you tried any other kinds?  Do you enjoy cheese, or do you think it's disgusting?

All of the images below are either public domain (cream cheese) or Creative Commons images licensed from Wikimedia:

Cream cheese on a bagel

Roquefort

Brie

Goat cheese