The linguistic knowledge we have at our disposal points us to the existence of the predicative of the subject. Such a notion, possibly, will lead us to more effective paths so that we can understand about the aspects that guide the subject on which we will discuss from now on. Well then, in it (in the subject's predicative) we see the existence of an associated connecting verb to a feature, which performs only the function of linking the subject to a feature. By making these concepts practical, we obtain:
the girl is polite.
We have a non-notional (connecting) verb and a characteristic for the subject.
Now, let's advance our discussion by doing another analysis:
The girl, polite, received the guests.
we have nowa notional verb, that is, that expresses an action - has received, associated with another, albeit implicit one - which expresses the subject's state of being - which in this case is represented by "the girl". When we say that the verb is implicit, it becomes easy to detect it when we unfold the sentence, like this:
The girl received the guests (and she was) polite.
Added to such elucidations, here are some more aspects that, without a doubt, we should be aware of, portrayed by:
* The predicative of the object always accompanies the linking verb, although it is always implied.
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* This term belongs to the verb-nominal predicate, that is, one that consists of a notional verb (in the case of the example it refers to “received”) and a noun (which in this case is the adjective = polite).
* The formation of the predicative of the object also takes place through an adjective or a noun manifested in the following example:
They elected Marcos as class representative.
Who elected? frames
Thus, we have that "representative", sometimes representing a noun, acts as a predicative of the object.
In all the examples studied, we found that the predicative of the object manifested itself with verbs direct transitives. However, some grammarians consider that such occurrence also manifests itself with indirect transitive verbs, as is the case of “believe”, “name”, “elect”, “judge” and “estimate”. Even so, the greatest recurrence occurs with the verb “to call”, in the sense of assigning a name to. So let's observe:
He called it selfish.
Let's ask the question to the verb: Who called him selfish? To him.
Selfish, in turn, represents a characteristic that is attributed to the indirect object – to it.
By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Predicative of the object"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/predicativo-objeto.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
