What is the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb?

A transitive verb takes an object after it (He caught a big fish) and its sentence can be made passive. An intransitive verb does not take an object (The man died yesterday) and its sentence has no passive form.

What are the main predicate phrase patterns?

The main patterns are S+V (Fire burns), S+V+C (She is intelligent), S+V+O (Swati writes poems), S+V+O+O (Tapaswini gave him a book), V+O+C (The driver kept the car in the garage) and S+V+A (The man is walking slowly).

How do we tell a direct object from an indirect object?

When there are two objects, the indirect object usually comes first and the direct object next. In 'Tapaswini gave him a book', 'him' (answering 'to whom?') is the indirect object and 'a book' (answering 'gave what?') is the direct object. A direct object cannot be dropped.

An adjunct adds extra meaning (usually of time, place or manner) to a sentence, as in 'The man is walking slowly'. It is an optional element, so it can be dropped without making the sentence ungrammatical, and its position can often be changed.

Grammar Chapter 12: The Predicate Phrase

Q: What is the predicate phrase?

The predicate phrase is the part of a sentence that tells something about the subject; it is built around the verb group (VG). Broadly it is of two types — the intransitive pattern and the transitive pattern — depending on whether the verb takes an object.

Learn and Practise Grammar · Sentence patterns, objects, complements & adjuncts

English Grammar · Odisha Board Class 9 · Notes + Solved Activities + 25 Quiz

📖 Grammar Chapter 12 — The Predicate Phrase: The predicate phrase is the part of a sentence that says something about the subject, built around the verb group (VG). This chapter shows its two broad types — intransitive and transitive — and the main sentence patterns: S+V, S+V+C, S+V+O, S+V+O+O, V+O+C and S+V+A.

What is the Predicate Phrase?

Every sentence has two parts — a subject (what we talk about) and a predicate (what we say about it). The predicate phrase is built around the verb group (VG) and may also contain objects, complements and adjuncts.

Look at these sentences:

A. 1. The girl is nice. 2. The girl is laughing.
B. 3. The girl bought a pen. 4. She presented it to her brother.

Sentences 1 and 2 (group A) have no passive forms — their verbs are intransitive. Sentences 3 and 4 (group B) have passive forms — their verbs are transitive. So the predicate phrase pattern is broadly of two types: intransitive and transitive.

Predicate Phrase pattern — overview

Type	Patterns
Intransitive	VG + (Adjunct) • VG + Complement + (Adjunct)
Transitive	VG + Obj + (Adjunct) • VG + Obj + Obj + (Adjunct) • VG + Obj + Comp + (Adjunct)

Note: The part in brackets — the (Adjunct) — is optional. It can be dropped without making the sentence ungrammatical.

Mark the patterns

Sentence	Pattern
The man died yesterday.	VG + Adjunct
Sachin was the captain a few years ago.	VG + Comp + (Adjunct)
I am writing the lesson now.	VG + Obj + (Adjunct)
He is teaching me grammar now.	VG + O + O + Adjunct
The driver kept the car in the garage yesterday.	VG + O + C + Adjunct

A. S + V Pattern

The subject is followed by a verb only. The verb is intransitive — it needs nothing after it to complete the meaning.

Subject (S)	Verb (V)
Wind	blew
Fire	burns
Babies	cry

B. S + V + C Pattern

Here the verb is followed by a complement (C). A complement completes the meaning of the subject. Complements can be a single noun or noun phrase, an adjective / adjective phrase, an adverb / adverb phrase, or a prepositional phrase.

Subject (S)	Verb (V)	Complement (C)
My brother	was	a teacher. (N.P.)
She	is	intelligent. (Adj. Phr.)
Rabi and Madhu	are	on the way. (Prep. Phr.)
Usharani	is	here. (Adv. Phr.)
Swati's house	is	nearby. (Adv. Phr.)

Be verbs (is, am, are, was, were) take complements. Other verbs — become, seem, appear, grow, look, taste, smell, feel — also take complements.

He looks tired. • Silu appears silly. • The man seems restless. • Rama became an officer. • This mango tastes sweet. • It smells nice. • I feel cold.

C. S + V + O Pattern

The verb is followed by an object (O). The main verb that takes an object after it is called a Transitive verb.

Subject (S)	Verb (Transitive)	Object (O)
The baby	broke	the toy.
He	caught	a big fish.
Swati	writes	poems.
Kamalini	is knitting	a sweater.

D. S + V + O + O Pattern

Some transitive verbs take two objects — an indirect object and a direct object.

Subject	Verb	Object (Indirect)	Object (Direct)
Tapaswini	gave	him	a book.
Ipsita	offered	me	a gift.
He	passed	me	the salt.
My brother	wrote	me	a letter.

Tapaswini gave him a book.
• Gave what? → a book (direct object)
• Gave to whom? → him (indirect object)

Rule: When there are two objects, the indirect object comes first and the direct object comes next.

Interchanging of Objects (to / for)

The two objects can be interchanged using to or for.

1a. I gave him a book. = 1b. I gave a book to him.
2a. I bought her a frock. = 2b. I bought a frock for her.

★ A direct object cannot be dropped from the sentence.
★★ Both the direct and the indirect object can be made the subject in the passive structure.

E. V + O + C + (Adjunct)

Here a transitive verb is followed by an object and then a complement (which says something about the object), often with an optional adjunct.

The driver kept the car in the garage. • The clerk put the file on the table.

F. S + V + A Pattern

Here the verb is followed by an adjunct (A) — a word or phrase that adds extra meaning (usually of time, place or manner).

Subject (S)	Verb (V)	Adjunct (A)
The man	is walking	slowly.
He	left	just now.
I	get up	early in the morning.
She	returned	yesterday.

An adjunct adds extra meaning to a sentence. So it is an optional element and can be dropped without making the sentence ungrammatical. Its position can also be changed.

He met me today. = Today, he met me.
The baby is always crying. = Always the baby is crying.

💡 Quick Recap

① The predicate phrase is built around the verb group. ② It is of two broad types — intransitive (no object, no passive) and transitive (takes object, has passive). ③ A transitive verb takes an object. ④ A complement completes the meaning of the subject/object; an object is what the action is done to; an adjunct adds optional extra meaning. ⑤ With two objects, indirect comes first, direct next; the direct object cannot be dropped.

Solved Textbook Activities (with answers)

★Mark the pattern — name the predicate phrase pattern of each sentence.

1. The man died yesterday. → VG + Adjunct 2. Sachin was the captain a few years ago. → VG + Comp + (Adjunct) 3. I am writing the lesson now. → VG + Obj + (Adjunct) 4. He is teaching me grammar now. → VG + O + O + Adjunct 5. The driver kept the car in the garage yesterday. → VG + O + C + Adjunct

1Activity 1 — Underline the Main Verb and say whether it is Transitive (Vₜ) or Intransitive (Vᵢₙₜ).

1. John is playing outside. → Intransitive (no object) 2. Children like sweets very much. → Transitive (object = sweets) 3. He has changed a lot. → Intransitive (no object) 4. Barsha offered me a nice gift. → Transitive (objects = me, a nice gift) 5. Little men desire high posts. → Transitive (object = high posts)

2Activity 2 — Interchange the objects using ‘to’ or ‘for’.

1. The chief guest offered me a prize. → The chief guest offered a prize to me. 2. Fetch me a glass of water. → Fetch a glass of water for me. 3. Chumki sent Sunita and Tapan her best wishes. → Chumki sent her best wishes to Sunita and Tapan. 4. Trees give us plenty of valuable things. → Trees give plenty of valuable things to us. 5. Please bring me the book of the latest edition. → Please bring the book of the latest edition for me.

3Activity 3 — Find out the objects and complements in the following sentences.

1. Sita looks fine. → ‘fine’ = Complement 2. Ramababu is a nice gentleman. → Complement 3. Padminee plays chess. → ‘chess’ = Object 4. Trees grow well in spring. → ‘well / in spring’ = Adjunct (no object; intransitive) 5. They are making a plan. → ‘a plan’ = Object 6. Rabi is looking at the sky. → ‘at the sky’ = Adjunct / Prep. phrase (intransitive ‘look’) 7. He is sitting on a string charpoy. → ‘on a string charpoy’ = Adjunct 8. The court rejected her appeal. → ‘her appeal’ = Object 9. Her questions often puzzle me. → ‘me’ = Object 10. I like green vegetables. → ‘green vegetables’ = Object

4Activity 4 — Identify the adjuncts and complements in the following sentences.

1. This pen costs twenty rupees. → ‘twenty rupees’ = Complement 2. My brother usually writes poems. → ‘usually’ = Adjunct (‘poems’ = object) 3. Gopabandhu is an eloquent speaker. → Complement 4. My friend got first division in the exam. → ‘first division’ = Complement; ‘in the exam’ = Adjunct 5. He became weak in a few days. → ‘weak’ = Complement; ‘in a few days’ = Adjunct 6. Meera appears foolish. → ‘foolish’ = Complement 7. The man has ten acres of land in our village. → ‘in our village’ = Adjunct 8. He was still in a state of shock. → ‘in a state of shock’ = Complement; ‘still’ = Adjunct 9. The dog is at the front gate. → ‘at the front gate’ = Complement (place) 10. He rejected my proposals outright. → ‘outright’ = Adjunct (‘my proposals’ = object)

5Activity 5 — Which Noun Phrases work as objects and which are complements?

1. Economics is my favourite subject. → Complement 2. My friend never tells a lie. → Object 3. An honourable man never betrays his friends. → Object 4. We call Gandhiji the Father of Nation. → ‘Gandhiji’ = Object; ‘the Father of Nation’ = Complement (object complement) 5. Everyone called him Sunny. → ‘him’ = Object; ‘Sunny’ = Complement 6. She gives her children expensive presents. → ‘her children’ = indirect Object; ‘expensive presents’ = direct Object 7. The students selected Bakul their monitor. → ‘Bakul’ = Object; ‘their monitor’ = Complement 8. My father tasted the curry. → Object 9. None but the brave deserves the fair. → Object 10. I have a house at Cuttack. → ‘a house’ = Object; ‘at Cuttack’ = Adjunct