On Seeing Spot Run
I have always found it odd that we have a book for children learning how to read, the title of which is actually somewhat complicated grammar. I challenge my readers to diagram the sentence.
Parsing the main verb is simple enough:
see -- 2nd person (singular) present active imperative
The subject is, of course, understood to be "you".
The direct object is where things become complicated. It is by definition a complex sentence, not a simple one, as it contains two verbals. "Spot" is not the object; the clause "Spot run" is the object.
But what is "run"?
Were the sentence, "See Spot running," or perhaps the more common, "Look at Spot running," it would be quite easy to diagram, yet it is not "running"; it is "run".
Poll See Spot What?
Parsing the main verb is simple enough:
see -- 2nd person (singular) present active imperative
The subject is, of course, understood to be "you".
The direct object is where things become complicated. It is by definition a complex sentence, not a simple one, as it contains two verbals. "Spot" is not the object; the clause "Spot run" is the object.
But what is "run"?
Were the sentence, "See Spot running," or perhaps the more common, "Look at Spot running," it would be quite easy to diagram, yet it is not "running"; it is "run".
Poll See Spot What?