Plain English Part 16

The corn grows.

The farmer grows corn.

In the sentence, _Corn grows_, _grows_ is a complete verb. You could not say _The corn grows--what?_ for it does not grow anything. It merely grows, and the verb _grows_ in this sense is a complete verb. But in the sentence, _The farmer grows corn_, you are using the verb _grows_ in a slightly different sense. It is an _incomplete verb_, for you do not mean, _The farmer grows_, but you mean that _the farmer grows CORN_.

Exercise 1

In the following sentences, underscore the complete verbs with one line, the incomplete with two lines. Ask the question _what?_ after each verb to determine whether it is complete or incomplete.

He returned today.

He returned the book.

The rose smells sweet.

He smelled the rose.

The trees shake in the wind.

The wind shakes the trees.

The s.h.i.+p plows through the waves.

The farmer plows the field.

The birds sing sweetly.

They sang the Ma.r.s.eillaise.

He worries over the matter.

The matters worry him.

The table feels rough.

He feels the rough surface.

It tastes bitter.

He tasted the bitter dregs.

Exercise 2

Use the following verbs in sentences as both complete and incomplete verbs, as for example, _The snow melts._ _The sun melts the snow._

melts write stopped answer rings fall see strike

INCOMPLETE VERBS

+98.+ Do you notice any difference in the two verbs in the following sentences:

The boy found the ball.

The earth is round.

In the sentence, _The boy found the ball_, the word _ball_ tells _what_ the boy _found_. The verb _found_ expresses action; it tells what the boy _does_. _Boy_ is the subject of the action--the one who performs the action. The word _ball_ is the _object_ of the action. It shows the receiver of the action. In the sentence, _The earth is round_, _is_ does not express action. The earth is not doing anything, it simply _is_. The verb _is_ expresses a state or condition and is incomplete, for you do not know what state or condition is expressed until we add the other word or words which describe the state or condition.

Notice the following sentences:

The earth is round.

The earth is our home.

The earth is a sphere.

The earth is large.

The words _round_, _sphere_, _home_ and _large_, describe the earth which is the subject of the verb _is_.

+99.+ So we have two cla.s.ses of incomplete verbs, the verbs that express action and the verbs that express state or condition. The verbs which express action are called _transitive_ verbs. Transitive is a word derived from the Latin, and means literally _pa.s.sing over_.

+100.+ So a transitive verb describes an action which _pa.s.ses over_ from the subject to the object. As for example in the sentence, _The player struck the ball_, _struck_ is a transitive verb--a verb of action--describing the action of the subject, _player_, which pa.s.ses over to the object, _ball_. Therefore we have our definition of a transitive verb:

+A transitive verb is one that has a complement showing who or what receives the action expressed by the verb.+

+The complement or word that denotes the receiver of the action expressed by a transitive verb is called the object.+

When you look up the meaning of verbs in your dictionary, you will find some verbs marked _v.i._, and some verbs marked _v.t._ _V.t._ is the abbreviation for _verb transitive_. Whenever you find a verb marked _v.t._, you know that it is a transitive verb, a verb of action, one which requires an object to complete its meaning. _V.i._ is the abbreviation for _verb intransitive_. Some grammarians use the term _intransitive_ to include both _complete_ and _copulative_ verbs. We have used the terms complete and incomplete because they are much simpler and clearer in describing the two general cla.s.ses of verbs, but you will remember that when you find verbs marked _v.i._ in the dictionary that these include _complete_ and _copulative_ verbs.

+101.+ Now notice these sentences:

The earth is round.

The earth is a sphere.

In these sentences the verb _is_ does not express action, but _connects_ or _couples_ the complements _round_ and _sphere_ with the subject _earth_. Verbs used in this way are called _copulative_ verbs, from the word _copula_, which means to _complete_ or to _connect_. The words _round_ and _sphere_ are not the objects of the verb, for they do not describe the receiver of any action. They are the words which describe the state or condition expressed in the verb _is_, and are called the attribute complement of the verb.

You note that this complement may be either an adjective or a noun. In the sentence, _The earth is round_, the adjective, _round_, is used as the complement; in the sentence, _The earth is a sphere_, the noun, _sphere_, is used as the complement. So we have our definition of copulative verbs.

+102.+ +Verbs that express state or condition are called copulative verbs.+

+The word or words that complete the meaning of an incomplete verb expressing state or condition, are called the complement, or attribute complement.+

There are only a few of these copulative verbs. All forms of the verb, _be_; like _am_, _is_, _are_, _was_ and _were_, and the verb phrases like _must be_, _can be_, _will be_, _shall be_, _have been_, _had been_, etc.; and the verbs _seem_, _appear_, _become_, _look_, _feel_, _taste_, _sound_ and _smell_, are the princ.i.p.al copulative verbs.

Exercise 3

Study carefully the following sentences. Note whether the complement of the copulative verb is an adjective or a noun. Draw one line under each _adjective_ used as a complement and two lines under each _noun_ used as a complement.

The day is beautiful.

I am weary and tired.

The men were soldiers.

The tasks seem endless.

All men must be free.

The workers have been slaves.

The burden becomes heavier every day.

The children feel happy and care-free.

Evolution is the development of life.

Grammar is the study of words and their use.

Knowledge is freedom.

The music sounds sweet on the midnight air.

He looks well today.

The dregs taste bitter.

The incense smells sweet.