Verb complementation in English

Abstract

This comparative study aims to provide a detailed analysis of various approaches of linguists regarding the issues of verb complementation and valency in English. Furthermore, the issues related to verb complementation terminology, clause structure, verb categories, and clause patterns are analyzed and discussed as well. The structural approach to verb complementation is closely related to the classification of verbs into verb categories, namely categories of copular verbs, intransitive verbs and transitive verbs. The verb category determines the number and type of other complements in a sentence. Each sentence consists of a certain number of clause elements whose presence is obligatory for the sentence to be grammatical. Moreover, particular attention is paid to the reasons for a different classification of complementation types in selected linguistic sources of literature. Lastly, the verb complementation types with the focus on the formal realization of obligatory complements and their functions are also analyzed and discussed.