Verbal complement: direct, indirect object and passive agent

Note the following prayer excerpts:

(1) I bought...

(2) She likes...

It is possible to notice that the segments above do not have the full meaning, is not it? They lack some element that complements the verb. So, we can ask the following questions:

(1) I bought... (what?)

I bought a bicycle.

(2) She likes...(in what?)

She likesin Doll.

See that each verb needed a type of question to find a complement to its meaning. Thus, in (1), note that, between the verb and the complement, there is no preposition, but the same does not occur in (2), which already requires the presence of the preposition by linking the complement to the verb. Verbs that need other terms to complement their meanings are called transitive. Thus, we can define that:

• verbal complementis the term of the prayer thatcompletes or integrates the sense of transitive verbs.

Verbal complements can be:

1. Direct object:it is the verbal complement that attaches to a direct transitive verb without the aid of a preposition.

Example:

I won the prize.

I won... (what?)

the prize = direct object

See that, in the example above, if we interrupt the prayer in the verb, it will ask for some other term that complements its meaning. In addition, there will be no preposition between it and the complementary term.

1. indirect object: it is the verbal complement that attaches to an indirect transitive verb with the help of a preposition.

Example:

they forgot of your birthday.

They forgot... (from what?)

of your birthday = indirect object

Note now that, in the example above, if we interrupt the sentence in the verb, it will also ask for some other term that complements its meaning, but there is a requirement for preposition between the verb and its complement.

There is yet another verbal complement that has the function of designating the being who practices the action suffered or received by the subject, it is thepassive agent.Note the following two prayers:

(3) The dog he bit the boy.

(4) The boy was bitten by the dog.

Note that, in (3), the subject who performs the action is “the dog”; in (4), this same term becomes the being who practices the action suffered by the subject"the boy". So, we can define that:

• the passive agent it is the term that, in the passive voice, indicates the being who practices the action suffered by the subject. This term is usually introduced by the preposition "per" and sometimes by "in".