What is the syntactic role of “the bread” in (i.) and (ii.)?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To determine the syntactic role of "the bread" in each sentence, we focus on how the noun phrase functions within the clause.
Option: analyze (i) Glenda cut the bread. Here, the verb cut takes a noun phrase as its immediate complement, which receives the action of the verb. The noun phrase "the bread" is the thing being cut, i.e., the direct object of the transitive verb. Therefore its syntactic role is object (direct object).
Next, (ii) The knife cut the bread. In this sentence, the same transitive verb cut assigns its action to a recipient that follows the verb. The phrase "the bread" again receives the action of cutting, locating it as the direct object of the verb, not as a subject or an agent.
Consider potential misconceptions: one might wonder if "the bread" could be the subject in either sentence. However, the subject is the entity performing the action, which is "Glenda" in (i) and "The knife" in (ii). Since those nouns initiate the action, they occupy the subject slot, while the thing affected by the action—"the bread"—is the object.
Regarding alternate interpretations for (ii): even though the first noun is different (the knife), the role of the second noun phrase remains consistent as the object, because the verb cut requires a patient or affected entity, which is the bread in this case.
If we briefly contrast with other possible roles: if we labeled "the bread" as a subject, it would imply it performs the action, which contradicts the actual meaning where someone/something else performs cutting. If we considered it as a prepositional object or an indirect object, there would need to be a preposition or a distinct verb pattern signaling such a role, which is not present here.
In sum, in both (i) and (ii), the noun phrase "the bread" functions as the direct object of the transitive verb cut, aligning with the standard shallow syntactic structure where the subject performs the action and the object receives it.

LIN 001Y A01-A12 SQ 2025 Syntax HW

What is the syntactic role of “the bread” in (i.) and (ii.)?

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