Resultative "V n to n" construction
Form
NP
Agent
Verb
NP
Patient
to
NP
Result
Examples
Meaning
An Agent acts on a Patient to cause a certain Result.
Roles
Agent
An entity that acts on the Patient in such a way as to produce the Result.
Patient
The entity acted on by the Agent.
Result
An entity that determines how the Patient may be affected by the Agent's action.
Frames
Description
This abstract construction generalises over a range of constructions in which a Patient undergoes a change caused by an Agent. The Result role is a cover term for a wide range of ways in which the Patient might be affected. The exact nature of this entity varies according to the sub-construction.
Inherits from
Sub-constructions
He will change his name to Jack.
Snow showers can reduce visibility to a few yards.
These three wars will swell the national debts to the amount of 170 millions.
I wanted to drive her to the very edge of despair.
The Ministry of Defence accused him of inciting the army to mutiny.
I accustomed my pupils to the tiny hard lenses.
I have learned to adapt the eating plan to my needs.
Profiting from the troubles in the north, he had extended his kingdom to the south and east.
So far Orlan has confined her interest to artists who painted the human form true to life.
The company promoted Joel Kocher to president of all sales, marketing and service operations worldwide.
The Labour leader, Mr Neil Kinnock, has appointed Mr Paul Boateng to his front bench Treasury team.
The military tribunal had condemned six other officers to life imprisonment.
The advent of the train almost doomed the breed to extinction.