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the policeman look for the cat among the boxes piled up by the wall and the like, in which the underlined parts
allow of two alternative interpretations each - as an adverbial of place or as an indirect non-recipient object.
The possible identifying questions are of no help here, for such parts may equally answer the where-question
and a question with a preposition what/who: Where was she moving? Towards whom was she moving?
In the same way some adverbials of manner may border on an indirect non-recipient object with an
instrumental meaning. Compare: He opened the fin with a knife (object - what did he open the tin with?) and
He was wounded with a bullet, where the bold faced part may be analyzed in two ways, as an object or as an
adverbial of manner (What was he wounded with? or How was he wounded?).
Sometimes there is no rigid border-line between a direct object and an adverbial of measure. This is the case
where the formal position of the direct object is filled by a word denoting a unit of measure (money, weight,
time, etc.). Thus in the sentence The job paid her the minimum rate the boldfaced part may be analyzed in two
ways, that is, either as a direct object (what?) or as an adverbial of measure (how much?).
Attribute or Adverbial
Sometimes it is impossible to tell an attribute from an adverbial of purpose. This often occurs where an
infinitive or an infinitive phrase follows a noun which is a direct object to some verb. In this case it may not be
clear whether the infinitive is grammatically connected with the noun or with the group “verb + noun”. Thus in
the sentence She gave me a book to read on the train the syntactical function of the infinitive may be either that
of an attribute (= which I might read...) or that of an adverbial of purpose (= in order that I might read it...).
Compare this with the following sentences where relations are more definite.
She turned her head to see who it was (adverbial).
I
have two kids to look after (attribute).
APPENDIX III
SUGGESTED WAYS OF SENTENCE ANALYSIS
I. The simple sentence
1. Dusk - of a summer night.
It is a simple extended one-member declarative sentence.
Dusk is the main (principal) part of this sentence. It is expressed by a common noun in the common case.
of a summer night is an attribute to the main part. It is expressed by a prepositional phrase.
2. Stop talking!
It is an imperative exclamatory sentence.
Stop talking is the predicate. It is a compound phasal verbal predicate. It consists of two parts. The first
part is expressed by the phasal verb stop in the imperative mood. It denotes the end of the action.
The second part is expressed by a non-perfect gerund active denoting the action itself.
3. Could’ve been professional.
It is a simple unextended two-member elliptical declarative sentence. The position of the subject is not filled
with a word form.
Could’ve been professional is the predicate. It is a mixed type of predicate.
Could is the modal part expressed by the verb can in the subjunctive mood. It denotes a possibility
referring to the past.
have been is a link-verb expressed by a perfect infinitive. It is a link-verb of being.