He could not bring himself to avoid answering the teacher’s question.
Is this a S+V+O+C sentence pattern?
Subject: He
Verb: bring
object: himself
Complement: to avoidwhat does “answering the teacher’s question” represent?
I am not sure, but my guess is TWO Os or TWO Cs
the gerund “answering” is the object of the verb “avoid“
or is it the complement of the verb “avoid“?and “the teacher’s question” is the object of the gerund “answering“
or is it the complement of the gerund “answering“?If either of the above is correct,
Then, does it make it ” S+V+O+C+O+O”, or ” S+V+O+C+C+C”
or the Two Os and Two Cs simply belongs to the Complement “to avoid“,
so the sentence still follows the S+V+O+C structure?
Answer
He could [not [bring himself [to avoid [answering the teacher’s question]]]].
The kind of analysis you’re asking about is only appropriate for simple canonical clauses.
Catenative constructions like this one are far too complex to be analysed in simple SVOC terms, since there are a number of embedded subordinate clauses, as bracketed, functioning as internal complements.
The subject is he and the verb phrase could not bring himself to avoid answering the teacher’s question is the predicate.
Within the predicate VP is the embedded clause:
not bring himself to avoid answering the teacher’s question, which functions as complement of could.
Within that clause is the embedded clause:
to avoid answering the teacher’s question, which functions as complement of bring.
Within that clause is the further embedded clause:
answering the teacher’s question, which is complement of avoid, and has the teacher’s question as object of answering.
The noun phrase himself, which intervenes between the two verbs bring and avoid, is the syntactic direct object of bring, and the semantic (understood) subject of the clause to avoid answering the teacher’s question.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : 黃冠霖 , Answer Author : BillJ
