CO
is translated into Russian by a) a subord. object caluse (я
видел,
как
(что))
or b) a construction with an infinitive.
Verbs
which require a preposition preserve it with CO (wait
for, rely on, listen to)
e.g.
He listened to the wind blowing outside.
Participle
I
shows the action in progress e.g.
I saw him running.
Participle
II is
used in CO after “have”
in “to
have smth done”
e.g. I’ve had my hair cut.
Complex
Object
is
a syntactic construction typical of modern English. It’s used as
one member of the sentence – an
object.
It’s called complex because it consists of two parts : a
nominal part
& verbal
part.
The nominal part
names the
doer or the recipient of the action, state or property denoted by the
verbal part.
The
verbal part
names
an action, a state or a property which is performed, directed at or
ascribed to the nominal part.
Hence the relations between the
nominal and the verbal parts are like those between the subject and
the predicate.
That’s
why the nominal part of complex object can be treated as a
secondary subject,
while the verbal part as a secondary
predicate
only within complex object.
So
complex object is a secondary predicative construction which
is actually a compressed subordinate clause or a sentence.
e.g.
I saw him
enter
the room. ( --> I saw him as he entered the room. He entered the
room and I saw it.)
The
nominal part or the secondary subject can be expressed by:
a
noun
e.g.
She wants her son
to
enter the University.
a
personal pronoun in the objective case
e.g.
She invited her
to
come.
an
indefinite personal pronoun
e.g.
I heard somebody
open the door.
a
reciprocal pronoun
e.g.
The asked each
other
to forget it.
a
reflexive pronoun
(We
have it when the subject of the sentence and the secondary subject
in CO denote the same
agent)
e.g.
He imagined himself
dancing with her. Cf.: He imagined him
Not himself but some other guy.
a
negative pronoun
e.g.
He wanted nobody
to bother him.
a
demostrative pronoun
e.g.
I consider those
to be nice flowers.
a
relative pronoun
e.g.
She didn’t know who
to invite.
a
phrase (pronoun phrase)
e.g.
I found some
of them
learning grammar.
an
infinitive
(In
such casses the inf. Of the secondary subject is mostly placed after
the verbal part of CO and its position is filled by the anticipatory
“it”)
e.g.
I find it (to be) difficult*
to
say
it to him. * - verbal part.
a
gerund
e.g.
He considers learning
grammar (to be) difficult.
a
For-phrase
(
the For-phrase is usually placed after the verbal part and the
position of the nominal part is filled in by “it”.)
e.g.
I believe it necessary for
him
to learn grammar.
a
subordinate clause
(which
is placed after the verbal part of CO and its position is filled in
by
“it”.)
e.g.
I find it difficult that everybody should be present there.
The
verbal part of CO which is a secondary predicate can correspond to
different types of primary predicates : Simple
Verbal, Compound Verbal, Compound Nominal
e.g.
I find him to be rather naive. (CNP)
He
noticed the child start falling asleep. (CNAP)
The
wanted me to try to persuade her. (CVMP)
I
saw the water start boiling. (CVAP)
He
ordered them to leave the room.
When the
verbal part corresponds to the Compound Nominal predicate, the
link-verb is omitted and the secondary predicate is expressed by any
meaningful unit but the finite form of the verb.
e.g.
I find him (to be) a brilliant humorist. She believed it strange
that she should have failed to do it.
The
verbal part or the secondary predicate can be expressed by:
1.
an
infinitive
e.g.
She made me do
it.
a
participle
I
(which
stresses the development of the action)
e.g.
I saw him talking.
a
participle II
(which
shows that the action is directed at the agent expressed by the
nominal part because participle II is mostly passive in its meaning)
e.g.
I found the flowers already watered.
A
complex object with participle II after “to
have, to have got, to get”
shows that the action named by participle II is performed by somebody
for the benefit or to the detriment of the agent
expressed
by the subject of the sentence.
e.g.
I want to have my hair cut. She had a new dress made last week.
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