Pattern 6: subject + verb + adverbial

Some verbs have to be followed by particular clause elements. For example, in this pattern:

the verb like needs to be followed by an object:
Elephants like grass.
Similarly in this pattern:

the verb are needs to be followed by a complement:
Elephants are animals.
This sentence sets up a similar need:

This unfinished sentence leads us to ask questions such as, 'Elephants live where?' To complete the sentence we need a third element that isn't an object or a complement:

Verbs that require an adverbial often refer to movement (like hurtle) or position (like hang):

In sentences like those the adverbial is compulsory: if you leave it out, you break the back of the sentence. Much more often, adverbials are an 'optional extra' and can appear in different places in a sentence:

and so on.

© John Seely 2008