Max, I'm glad you joined in the discussion, but you seem to have made my point. Although you claim that the form/function distinction is important to understanding grammar, you discussed the three sentences, from what I can see, entirely in terms of function. Your explanation included more detail than I think most students need (or want), but you agree that IS PLAYING is the main verb in the first sentence and that in the second, ENJOYS is the main verb and PLAYING is the direct object. In the third sentence, my students would explain PLAYING as a gerundive modifying "Bob", rather than as a complement to a predicate noun (complement to a predicate noun???) You seem to be implying that there is something else that they need to know, but that they need not apply. Will that not simply add to their confusion? You yourself note that it will take a "long explanation"? What bothers me is that most students are graduating from high school unable to identify a verb [period]. Why do they need concepts such as tense, mood, number, etc. if they can't isolate a verb in the first place? Ed >>> "James M. Dubinsky" <[log in to unmask]> 01/27/98 10:15pm >>> This message was originally submitted by [log in to unmask] to the ATEG in response to a posting by Ed Vavra ([log in to unmask] to the >Bob Yates wrote: >Let me give an example of why the form/function >distinction is important. > >One defines a verb as a word that shows action. And, >the "main verb" of a sentence is what the "subject" is >doing or has done? > > So what is the "main verb" of the following >sentences? > > Bob is playing on the computer. > Bob enjoys playing on the computer. > Bob is happy playing on the computer. > >Playing is the most "action" word in all three, right? > >The only way to figure out what is the "main verb" is to >talk about form and function. > > >---------------------- >I guess I'm slow, but I don't understand the >explanation. In all three sentences, the form of >"playing" is identical; only the function differs. Why >then, must one discuss the form? I apologize for jumping into the middle of this discussion. We've recently changed from MSMail to Eudora. And in the changeover, I've missed some mail. I'll stay our to the form/function argument (since it would take a long explanation). But I will say that the difference between form and function is an important one--central to grammatical analysis. Read Kenneth Pike and the tagmemic linguists on this issue. I don't understand the definition of main verbs in the three senteces cited by Bob Yates. In the first sentence IS PLAYING is the main verb constituent. PLAYING, the present participial form is is the head of the main verb constituent. IS marks the present progressive. In the second sentence, PLAYING is a gerund. ENJOYS is the only finite verb form in the sentence. The gerund phrase PLAYING ON THE COMPUTER functions as the object of the verb ENJOYS. In the third setence, IS is the main verb of the sentence. The gerund phrase PLAYING ON THE COMPUTER functions as the complement to the predicate noun HAPPY. Again, I apologize if all this wasn't at issue. I was confuses about where the argument was going. Max Morenberg Miami University Oxford, OH 45056 [log in to unmask]