1. Consider the modifiers of the verbs in the following sentences. (For the purposes of this exercise, exclude the grammatical subjects.) Which of the modifiers are obligatory and which are optional? Which of the modifiers are complements and which are adjuncts?
1. Sir Thomas agreed with Edmund.
2. Mr Elton delivered a charade to Emma for a friend.
3. She thrust the documents into her briefcase.
4. Raskolnikov killed the old woman with an axe.
5. Mr D’Arcy met the Gardiners at Pemberley in the summer.
6. Frank sent a piano to Jane Fairfax.
7. The porter placed the letter on the secretary’s desk.
8. Harriet imagined that Mr Elton would propose to her.
9. The picnic was held at Box Hill in the summer.
[Treat was held as a single verb.]
10. He executed great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes.
11. We were expecting the worst that day in 1968.
12. The report details the proposals for the chief executive.
