I see "their best" as adverbial, modifying "have tried"--telling how hard they've tried; "to express...them" as infinitive serving as direct object of "have tried" ...and "what love means to them" as noun clause, direct object of the infinitive."
 
Is that too old fashioned to be useful?
 
In a message dated 4/30/2009 1:12:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes:
Hello

How would you analyze this sentence?

Artists of all kinds have tried  their best to express what love  means to them.

'their best to express what love  means to them' seems to be the direct object of 'have tried,' but I am having trouble with 'their best' as  a direct object.  Or is it a noun phrase now?  Or can an adjective phrase function as a direct object?

I also see 'to express what love  means to them' as an infinitive clause functioning as a complement to 'best' and 'what love  means to them' as a clause functioning as the direct object of 'express.' It seems to be a relative clause (Love means something to them), but if it is, what noun is it relating to? Or is it a nominal here/

I know structures like this occur all the time:  the best is yet to come, etc.  I'm curious about how people handle them, especially when discussing them with students.

Janet

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