2014年7月17日 星期四

Direct object vs verb complement

The teacher persuaded Sarah to join us.

How do we know that Sarah rather than the entire clause, is the DO of persuade?

One piece of evidence lies in the passive; note that I can make Sarah the subject of a passive with persuade--Sarah was persuaded by the teacher to join us. This operation is impossible when the main verb is want--Sarah was wanted by the teacher to join us.


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