Clause elements: Object and predicative (SVFL)

Is it too scary? It had got dark... -The book that Maria is reading consists of sentences, and the sentences are made up of clauses. Here is a clause: Maria läser spökhistorier. To find out how a clause is constructed, you can divide it into parts - the clause elements - and look at how they function. The most important parts are: the one that tells what is happening - the predicate, and the one that tells who or what the event is about - the subject.

In this clause Maria is the subject. The clause is about her, and she is doing what is described in the predicate. The predicate always contains at least one verb, and it describes what is happening. Here, the predicate is: Läser But...what element of speech is this? Spökhistorier A thing or person, that a subject is acting upon, is called an object.

In this clause it is something that Maria is reading, the thing being read. So, what is Maria reading? Spökhistorier. This is the object of this clause. Usually, the object is the thing that the subject is doing something to, or with.

Let’s look at some more clauses with objects. Maria läser spökhistorier. Maria läser en bok. -Booh! -Maria skrämmer Lingo. All of these clauses have the same subject, but different objects, To find the object in a clause you can ask: What, or who, is it that... subject, predicate Let’s try: Vad är det som Maria läser?

Spökhistorier. It seems to work. Let’s try this with another sentence. Vem är det som Maria skrämmer? Lingo!

Object. Some verbs always need an object. skrämmer Scaring is such a verb. You always scare someone. That person is then the object.

Other verbs don’t need an object, but can sometimes have one. Maria läser. Maria läser en bok. That’s how most verbs work. But some verbs need two objects Maria ger Lingo boken.

These are often verbs about giving something to someone, or doing something for someone. The receiver, the one being given to, we call an indirect object. and the thing being given is called the direct object. Lingo ger Maria boken. What’s happening here?

Lingo blir rädd. ...but wait. rädd Is that an object? An object is something that the subject does something to, right?. But not here. No.

Look at these words: är, blir, kallas, heter This kind of predicate needs to be completed by another clause element. A predicative, or predicative expression. A predicative describes someone, says what they are, what they’re becoming, or what they’re called. Here are some more sentences with predicative expressions Hunden är en stor, långhårig afghanhund med mjuka tassar. Hunden kallas Diva.

Rymdvarelsen heter Lingo. Objects and predicatives can look alike, but they have different functions in a clause. The object is the thing the subject does something to, or with. The predicative says something about the subject or the object. Rummet var mörkt.

A predicative. De hörde steg. Object...