Verb Phrase (VP)
- the part of a sentence containing the verb and any direct or indirect object or prepositional object, but not the subject
VP - Grammar Rules
|
Grammar Rule |
Example |
|---|---|
|
VP → Verb |
cooked |
|
VP → Verb NP |
cookeda fish without salt (cooked a fish-without-salt) |
|
VP → Verb PP |
cooked without salt |
|
VP → Verb NP PP |
cookeda fish without salt (cooked without salt) |
|
VP → Verb NP NP |
cooked her a fish without salt (cooked a fish-without-salt) |
|
VP → Verb NP NP PP |
cooked her a fish without salt (cooked without salt) |
VP - Difficulties
subcategorization:
- verbs have preference for the kind of constituents they co-occur with. Not every verb is compatible with every verb phrase
- for example:
- the verb `want` CAN be used with VP complement
- I want to fly
- the verb `find` CANNOT be used with VP complement
- I find to fly
- both `want` and `find` CAN be used with NP complement
- I want a car
- I find a car
- the verb `want` CAN be used with VP complement
- we say that:
- `find` subcategorizes for an NP
- `want` subcategorizes for NP or a non-finite VP