GRAMTICA INGLESA

UNIT 2 VERB COMPLEMENTATION

EXERCISES 2.2

[INSTRUCTIONS: COMPLETE & UPLOAD TO SWAD. DUE: FRIDAY 2/11/12, 23:59 H]

INTENSIVE AND COMPLEX-INTRANSITIVE PATTERNS
1. Determine which of the following verbs could fill the gap in each of the sentences below:
appear - be - become - feel - get - go - grow - look - make - remain - seem - smell - sound - taste
- turn
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Marie Curie __becomes a famous scientist.

She __was devoted to her work.
The work turned more and more interesting.
This chair __seems comfortable.
The milk __tastes sour.
My coffee _is rather sweet.
John seems____ a very good husband.
The weather ___is much warmer.
The poor old woman __get mad.
She ____looks thin and wizened.
These four books _were made_ for you.
The concert ___will be_ at six o'clock.
He ____seems___ rather a fool.
Everyone remains___________ in the garden.
That he crossed the desert alone __seems___
unbelievable.
Poor Peter is in hospital; he felt_ ill last month.
Oh! How is he? - Well, he goes____ better now, but its
a slow business.
Watch out! That dog looks as if he may ___be__
nasty.
Everyone would like to grow_ old gracefully.
Im afraid the meat _smell_ bad; you should have put it
in the refrigerator last night.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.

Dr Brandenburg ___get_ sick and died.

After Hamlet rejected her, Ophelia ___appeared_ mad.
Look at Mary; she _looks__ terribly fat these days.
The leaves of decidious trees grow
As it ___was__ dark, lights began to twinkle in the
valley below us.
John ____seems______ pleased with life; he's got a
broad smile on his face.
I really like this pie; it _____seems_____ the pies my
mother used to make.
The weather ____get___ worse all the time, Im afraid;
we shant be able to go out.
I can hear someone calling; it __sounds___ Brian.
This milk ___turned___ sour; lets make some cottage
cheese with it.
Hold your nose! This room __becames__ a stable.
Litmus paper __turns__ red when it is put in acid.
This material is very soft to the touch; it ___seems__
velvet.
Mrs Finch, who died last week, was born in the village
and ____get___ old here.
Many of the Borgia family's guests __grew__ sick and
died.

2. Rewrite the following sentences, changing the form of the complement from nominal to adjectival, or vice
versa, as the case may be. Identify each linking verb as either current or resulting.
1. She seems lonely. SHE SEEMS A LONELY GIRL. CURRENT
2. He became athletic. HE BECAME AN ATHLETE. RESULTING
3. He wound up immensely rich. HE WOUND UP A RICH PERSON. RESULTING
4. His hair turned grey. RESULTING HIS HAIR TURNED A GREY COLOUR
5. The party turned out a success RESULTING. THE PARTY TURNED OUT SUCCESSFUL
6. She makes him feel an idiot. CURRENT SHE MAKES HIM FEEL AN IDIOT
7. When I become middle-aged, Ill grow a beard . RESULTING WHE I BECOME AN ADULT ILL GROW BEARDED
8. The day seems fine. CURRENT THE DAY SEEMS A FINE ONE
9. The arrangement proved a money-spinner. RESULTING THE ARRANGEMENT PROVED SUCCESSFUL
10. They remained enemies all their lives. CURRENT THEY REMAINED CONFRONTED ALL THEIR LIVES

3. Insert a suitable Atrribute in the complex-intransitive patterns below and say whether it is Current or
Resulting:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

After wandering around in circles for more than an hour, we ended up LOST... Res.
Growing coffee proved to be WEALTHIER.. than they had expected.
Curr.
Stand CALM while I bandage your hand.
Curr.
Feel FREE. to do as you like.
The child fell WORRIED on its face.
The label has come BROKEN

Curr.
Res.
Res.

4. Complete each sentence by making a complement for the adjective out of the expression in parentheses.
Eg.: They are consciuous (their responsibility) They are conscious of their responsibility

UNIT 2

EXERCISES

GRAMTICA INGLESA
UNIT 2 VERB COMPLEMENTATION
EXERCISES 2.2

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

They became aware (a knocking on the door). OF

He was intent (watch the car races). TO
She is familiar (the rules of chess). WITH
Harry was amazed (his own success). AT
We were positive (the car runs). ABOT
The judge was insistent (the jury is informed). THAT
The usher was good (he helped the lost child). THAT
Rich was quick (he notices things quickly). THAT
Zoe was pleased (it pleased her to be Miss America). TO BE MISS AMERICA
Albert feels reluctant (he doesnt want to eat squid). TO EAT SQUID
The puzzle is easy (to solve the puzzle is easy). TO SOLVE
A fur coat is hot (to wear a fur coat in summer makes one hot). TO WEAR IN SUMER

5. Rewrite the following with (a) adjective + to-inf cl as Cs; (b) (wherever possible) alternative
constructions : (extraposed) to-inf or that-cl as S
Eg.: Bob waited for us. That was kind: Bob was king to wait for us It was kind of Bob to wait for us; (For Bob) to wait for us
was kind.
1.

Marie always pays her bills regularly. Shes careful that way.
a. She is always CAREFUL TO PAY HER BILLS REGULARLY
b. TO PAY HER BILLS REGULARLY WAS CAREFUL FOR HER
2. She always spots a mistake quickly.
a. She is always QUICK TO SPOT A MISTAKE
b. THAT SHE SPOTS A MISTAKE IS QUICKLY
3. When we finally heard that David had arrived, we were very relieved.
a. We were VERY RELIEVED TO HEAR THAT DAVID HAD ARRIVED
b. TO HEAR THAT DAVID HAD ARRIVED WAS VERY RELIEVED.
4. Why have you thrown up your job? Youre mad.
a. You are MAD TO THROW UP YOUR JOB..
b. IT WAS MAD TO THROW UP YOUR JOB.
5. What I want to do is start my own business. Im keen.
a. I am KEEN TO START MY OWN BUSINESS
b. IT WAS KEEN TO START MY OWN BUSINESS
6. We havent heard from Molly. That disappoints us.
a. We are DISSAPOINTED NOT TO HEAR FROM MOLLY.
b. IT WAS DISSAPOINTED NOT TO HEAR FROM MOLLY
7. We thought she would telephone. But perhaps she couldnt.
a. Perhaps she was UNABLE TO TELEPHONE US
b. TO TELEPHONE US WAS UNABLE FOR HER // THAT SHE TELEPHONED US
8. You can contact her at works. It is usually quite easy.
a. She is usually QUITE EASY TO CONTACT HER AT WORK
b. TO CONTACT HER AT WORK IS QUITE EASY.
9. Well, I tried to get hold of her yesterday. But it was impossible.
a. She was IMPOSSIBLE TO GET HOLD OF HER YESTERDAY
b. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE [TO GET HOLD OF HER YESTERDAY WAS IMPOSSIBLE].
10. Can you sign the papers please? They are ready now.
a. The papers are READY NOW TO SIGN
b. IT CANNOT BE PARAPHRASED
11. Dont lend Tom any money. That would be most unwise.
a. Youd be MOST UNWISE TO LENT FROM TOM ANY MONEY
b. IT WAS UNWISE TO LEND TOM ANY MONEY.
12. We were able to help. That pleased us.
a. We were PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO HELP
b. TO BE ABLE TO HELP W0AS PLEASED

6. Using the British National Corpus (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/)

i. collect examples of each of the following verbs in at least 3 different clause patterns, one of which
must be INTENSIVE or COMPLEX INTRANSITIVE:
make get turn grow die appear sound - feel

UNIT 2

EXERCISES

GRAMTICA INGLESA
UNIT 2 VERB COMPLEMENTATION
EXERCISES 2.2

Eg.:

(a) I do believe [he would make a good manager]. S P CS: Intensive

(b) The relatively low cost of long distance inter-city bus services has made them a highly competitive force. P
OD Co: Complex Transitive
(c) When we first met my fianc and I used [to make love every day and often in really unusual places in
fields, on the beach, in the car and so on]. P OD: Monotransitive
(d) When the ambulance men came we made them a cup of tea. S P OI OD: Ditransitive

ii. Collect the FIRST 3 examples that the corpus provides of each of the adjectives below in an [A + to inf]
pattern and assign the examples to any of the seven kinds of constructions in which an adjective is
followed by a to-infinitive clause (Quirk et al. (1985: 16.75-82) or to any of the four types we have seen
in class. Try to determine which examples are NOT cases of ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENTATION but of
EXTRAPOSITION
easy hard impossible
Eg.:

possible reluctant silly

(a) It's silly to let a baby rule your life.

Extraposed subject: To let a baby rule your life is silly
(b) She's pretty silly to come and sit out there in the rain.
Adjective complementation: Quirks group #1
(p.1227). Features: (i) Subject of be is the same as subject of to come and sit; alternative constructions with
to inf- clause as subject or extraposed subject: (For her) to come and sit out there in the rain was pretty silly;
It was pretty silly (of her) to come and sit out there in the rain.

7. Full syntactic analysis & commentary:

Sefton Hamilton was eager to convince us that he had little time to read and no time to attend the theatre or
opera, but we were uncertain whether he was really telling the truth.

UNIT 2

EXERCISES