In the 1993 film “Sleepless In Seattle,” the protagonist Mac Ryan is seen sobbing through a movie. That movie is “Love Affair” from 1939, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, where both actors deliver stellar performances as stars who forsake everything for a once-in-a-lifetime love.
This film made the Empire State Building an icon of love and turned it into a bustling rendezvous spot for lovers. A remake of this love story, starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, was released in 1994 as “Love Affair.”
The following is a scene where the two characters agree to meet at the Empire State Building.
Mike: May 8th, 5:02 p.m.? Nervous?
Terry: Oh, yeah. If one of us doesn’t show, we’re not going to pester each other, OK? No phone calls, no contact. All or nothing.
Mike: We’ll never speak again. I got it.
Terry: If you’re not there, I’ll understand.
Mike: I’ll be there. If you’re not there, I’ll understand.
Terry: I’ll be there.
Mike: Terry. I like watching you move.
Terry: Good. I like watching you move. You go first.
Verbs called “sensory verbs” in grammar books are necessary to express what one feels, as in “It feels good,” indicating a pleasant sensation. Conversely, the same verbs can be used in statements like “I feel good,” expressing a conscious and active perception, and are thus referred to as “perception verbs.”
Perception verbs include “feel,” which conveys a sense of feeling, and verbs corresponding to the five senses, such as “smell,” “see,” “watch,” “hear,” and “listen to.” When these verbs are followed by an infinitive as the object complement, the “to” of the infinitive is omitted. Therefore, we say “watching you move” instead of “watching you to move.” In “watching you move,” “you” is the object of “watch,” and it is you who is moving. Consider the following dialogue from “Dead Poets Society” by Mr. Keating:
John Keating: But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it?
In “You can hear them whisper,” the ones whispering are “they,” not “you.”
Lucilla: Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome. <Gladiator>
Like the examples above, perception verbs can omit the “to” in infinitives. However, using the progressive form of the verb instead of the infinitive without “to” can make the expression more vivid. Although we will discuss this further, for now, it’s simpler to think that one can use the progressive form instead of the base form of the verb.
Maria: You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we’ve had a disagreement? Well, lately I’ve taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time. <The Sound of Music, 1965>
In fact, “I see her coming” could also be considered as “I see her (to be) coming,” with the infinitive “to” omitted. However, considering that an adjective can serve as the object complement, it might be simpler to view this as using an adjective emphasizing motion. Anyway, we’ll take another look at this when we discuss adjectives.
Five Sentence Patterns and One Pattern Based on 5W1H
Subject + Verb + (Who + What) + [Where + Why + How + When]
In the structure ‘Subject + Verb + (Who + What) + [Where + Why + How + When],’ we have mainly focused on the segment up to ‘Subject + Verb + who + what’ in our discussions on the One Pattern English. Before we proceed, let’s take a moment to compare this with the traditional five sentence patterns taught in English grammar schools. These five patterns are:
- Pattern 1: Subject + Verb
- Pattern 2: Subject + Verb + Complement
- Pattern 3: Subject + Verb + Object
- Pattern 4: Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object
- Pattern 5: Subject + Verb + Object + Object Complement
The differentiation of English sentences into these five patterns ultimately depends on the verb. Pattern 1 uses intransitive verbs that complete a sentence by themselves, Pattern 2 uses linking verbs that require a complement, Pattern 3 employs transitive verbs that take an object, Pattern 4 includes ditransitive verbs that take two objects (indirect and direct), and Pattern 5 involves complex transitive verbs (also known as an attributive ditransitive verb or a resultative verb) that require an object complement. This means the form of the sentence changes based on the verb used.
On the other hand, based on the first and second principles of English, we define the following order and approach English expressions by resolving questions according to this sequence:
Subject + Verb + (who+ what) + [where + why + how + when]
This order is determined more by the priority of interests when expressing in English, rather than by grammar. Compared to the five patterns, it’s evident that who and what are mainly expressed as objects and occasionally as complements or object complements. These objects and complements simply follow the verb directly. No preposition is required, nor is there any special change; they just go to their place. In a sense, it’s merely a listing of words.
Most languages probably started off expressing themselves by listing words in this manner. Indeed, the earliest alphabets lacked vowels. Before English evolved into its current form, communication might have been through listing words without the differentiated roles of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Such languages could have developed into more sophisticated forms with the creation of rules for grammatical changes and new parts of speech like particles (postpositions).
However, even in such cases, words of significant meaning would likely be spoken first. Therefore, it might not be a coincidence that the subjects of high priority interests, ‘who’ and ‘what,’ appear immediately after the verb as objects or complements. Subsequent words might have evolved into adverbs with the help of prepositions serving the role of endings or particles (postpositions), distinguishing them from the earlier objects and complements.
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