This section is from the book "Lessons In English", by Chestine Gowdy, Lora M. Dexheimer. Also available from Amazon: Lessons in English.
A Transitive Verb Phrase is a verb phrase that expresses (1) transitive action, (2) possession, (3) obligation, or (4) lack or need.
Transitive verb phrases, unlike transitive verbs (§ 57), do not always have objects either expressed or understood. Six of the illustrative sentences given in § 71 contain transitive verb phrases. Which one of these sentences has no object? What part of this sentence represents what is usually represented by an object?
 
Continue to: