Alternative Constructions With Full Verbs
Many light verb constructions are closely similar in meaning to a corresponding full verb, e.g.
-
- a. Sam did a revision of his paper.
- b. Sam revised his paper.
-
- a. Larry wants to have a smoke.
- b. Larry wants to smoke.
-
- a. Jim made an important claim that....
- b. Jim claimed that...
- a. Mary is taking a nap.
- b. Mary is napping.
Alternative formulations such as these lead to the insight that light verb constructions are predicates just like the corresponding full verb alternatives. There can be, however, nuanced differences in meaning across these alternative formulations. The light verb constructions produce possibilities for modification that are less available with the corresponding full verb alternatives.
Read more about this topic: Light Verb
Famous quotes containing the words alternative, full and/or verbs:
“Our mother gives us our earliest lessons in love—and its partner, hate. Our father—our “second other”Melaborates on them. Offering us an alternative to the mother-baby relationship . . . presenting a masculine model which can supplement and contrast with the feminine. And providing us with further and perhaps quite different meanings of lovable and loving and being loved.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“Ah! how much a mother learns from her child! The constant protection of a helpless being forces us to so strict an alliance with virtue, that a woman never shows to full advantage except as a mother. Then alone can her character expand in the fulfillment of all life’s duties and the enjoyment of all its pleasures.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“He crafted his writing and loved listening to those tiny explosions when the active brutality of verbs in revolution raced into sweet established nouns to send marching across the page a newly commissioned army of words-on-maneuvers, all decorated in loops, frets, and arrowlike flourishes.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)