Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring
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Teaching implications | page 6 of 7 |
Focusing on the order of participants
It may be useful to point out that certain verbs (especially attitude verbs) can be
classified into two types, depending on whether in active voice the participant
who does the liking, thinking or perceiving is
the subject, or whether the participant that is liked, thought or perceived is the
subject. Consider the following example in which the human participant, ie the one who
does the feeling, is the subject:
You know, I like argumentative people. (Bank of English)
feeler stimulus
Note that it is possible to represent the same idea using a related verb, but with the order of participants reversed. In the following example, the participant which is the stimulus for the feeling is the subject:
Argumentative people please me.
stimulus feeler
Because there are many such pairs of verbs associated with likes and dislikes, eg I like it = it pleases me, a useful term for this phenomenon is the "please pattern".
Note the following tendencies, or general rules:
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With verbs related to likes and dislikes, many take the "please
pattern". |
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With verbs related to thinking and verbs related to perception, only a
very few take the "please pattern". |
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With verbs related to desires and needs, none takes the "please
pattern". |
For further information on the order of participants with
attitude verbs, see  Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring: Using verb
patterns to represent likes and dislikes (p 12).For further information on the
order of participants with thinking verbs, see For further information on the order of participants with perception verbs, see |
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Introduction
Focusing on the order of participants
