1. The Transitive Verb Patterns
Ed McCorduck
English 402--Grammar
SUNY Cortland

2. slide 2: transitive vs. intransitive verbs
recall:
intransitive:
does not take an object (traditional grammar definition)
does not require a direct object or a complement
(descriptive grammar definition)
ergo,
transitive:
takes an object (traditional grammar definition)
requires a direct object (descriptive grammar definition)
English 402: Grammar

3. (subj) (pred vb) (dir obj)
slide 3: Pattern VII
Pattern VII
NP1 V-tr NP2
(subj) (pred vb) (dir obj)
“dir obj” is direct object
direct object: entity (usually) directly affected by the action of a transitive verb
English 402: Grammar

4. slide 4: examples of Pattern VII sentences
exx
The man | kissed | the woman.
NP V-tr NP2
I | baked | a cake.
NP1 V-tr NP2
The airline | flies | big jets.
NP V-tr NP2
(Note that in this last example the airline really doesn’t “do” anything to or affect the jets in any way, but this sentence is still classified as a Pattern VII sentence with a transitive verb.)
English 402: Grammar

5. slide 5: Reed-Kellogg diagram of a Pattern VII sentence
In Reed-Kellogg diagrams, the headword of a noun phrase that functions as the direct object is placed on the main line after the verb and separated from it from a vertical line which, unlike the vertical line separating a sentence’s subject from its predicate, does not bisect the main line but remains perpendicular to it. To illustrate, here is the diagram of the Pattern VII sentence I baked a cake in which the headword of the direct object cake is separated from the verb baked by a vertical line:
English 402: Grammar

6. (subj) (pred vb) (indir obj) (dir obj)
slide 6: Pattern VIII
Pattern VIII
NP1 V-tr NP NP3
(subj) (pred vb) (indir obj) (dir obj)
“indir obj” is indirect object
indirect object: (normally animate) entity that is indirectly affected the action of the verb, i.e., the “recipient” or “beneficiary” of the action
English 402: Grammar

7. slide 7: examples of Pattern VIII sentences
exx
He | sent | the IRS | a nasty note.
NP1 V-tr NP NP3
He | cooked | her husband | a hearty meal.
NP V-tr NP NP3
English 402: Grammar

8. slide 8: verbs occurring both Pattern VII and Pattern VIII sentences
Most transitive verbs that can be used in Pattern VIII sentences can also appear in Pattern VII sentences (but the reverse is generally not true):
He sent the IRS a nasty note.
V-tr dir obj
He sent a nasty note.
She cooked her husband a hearty meal.
V-tr dir obj
She cooked a hearty meal.
She cooked her husband.
dir obj
English 402: Grammar

9. slide 9: alternate Pattern VIII sentences with PPs
Instead of requiring a structure in which the indirect object precedes the direct object, many verbs occurring in Pattern VIII sentences can enter into alternate structures where the direct object comes before the indirect object which actually becomes the noun phrase in a prepositional phrased headed usually by to or for. For example, the sentence He sent the IRS a nasty note can be “transformed” into He sent a nasty note to the IRS, and the relationship between these two sentences is schematized below:
He sent the IRS a nasty note.
indir obj dir obj
He sent a nasty note to the IRS.
dir obj indir obj
English 402: Grammar

10. slide 10: Reed-Kellogg diagrams of alternate Pattern VIII sentences with PPs
Knowing about these alternate forms of Pattern VIII sentences can actually help us understand the reasons that Reed-Kellogg diagrams for sentences of this pattern are drawn they ways they are. Take our first example set; if we diagram the second variant He sent a nasty note to the IRS, the diagram will be as follows:
English 402: Grammar

11. slide 11: Reed-Kellogg diagrams of PP-less Pattern VIII sentences
The diagram of He sent the IRS a nasty note is exactly the same in that the indirect object the IRS is indicated as a prepositional phrase under the main verb sent with the only but important difference that since the preposition to is not used in this structure where the indirect object the IRS precedes the direct object a nasty note, it is omitted from the diagram:
English 402: Grammar

12. slide 12: Reed-Kellogg diagram of an alternate Pattern VIII sentence with a PP headed by for
Similarly, if the diagram of She made a hearty meal for her husband is examined first,
English 402: Grammar

13. the diagram of She made her husband a hearty meal falls out from it:
slide 13: another Reed-Kellogg diagram of a PP-less Pattern VIII sentence
the diagram of She made her husband a hearty meal falls out from it:
English 402: Grammar