Can There Be a Direct Object When There Is a Verb Phrase?
Verb phrases are composed of the main verb and its modifiers. Simple verb phrases usually contain a main verb plus its helping verb while complex phrases usually include adverbs, direct objects, and/or indirect objects.
Can There Be a Direct Object When There Is a Verb Phrase?
Yes. Because a verb phrase comprises the verb itself plus other elements of the predicate, a direct object is by definition part of the verb phrase.
Direct Objects
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that carries the action of the verb. Direct objects answer the "what" question.
Finding the Direct Object Example:
- Consider the sentence "Zeke saw a wombat."
- To find the direct object, first, ask yourself "Zeke saw what?"
- "Wombat" is the direct object.
The verb phrase in this sentence is “saw a wombat,” the verb itself, the direct object (noun), and the article, “a.”
Phrasal Verbs
Some verbs in English are inherently two-part constructions; these idioms include a second word, called a participle, which completes the meaning of the verb. These phrasal verbs can take direct objects, and the whole construction then becomes a verb phrase in the general sense. An example is “pick up,” which has a different meaning as a verb than simply “pick.” For example, “Zeke picked up the wombat.” “Wombat” is still the direct object, what he picked up. “Picked up” is the two-word phrasal verb, and the whole predicate is the verb phrase “picked up the wombat.”
Writer Bio
Jennifer Spirko has been writing professionally for more than 20 years, starting at "The Knoxville Journal." She has written for "MetroPulse," "Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times" and "Some" monthly. She has taught writing at North Carolina State University and the University of Tennessee. Spirko holds a Master of Arts from the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-on-Avon, England.
