Introducing English Linguistics

clause functions
other than the predica-
tor that can appear within a given clause. For instance, because the verb
died is intransitive (i.e. does not allow an object), it can occur in a clause
with as little as a single argument, the subject noun phrase the patient in
the example below:
Although technically the health authority bears responsibility, in prac-
tice the funeral arrangements are made by the staff of the hospital
where 
the patient died.
(BNC AOY 258)
In the next example, in contrast, because the verb gave is  transitive (i.e.
permits up to two objects), it allows for more arguments than died, in this
case three arguments: a subject (I), an indirect object (him), and a direct
object (a red pepper):
I
gave 
him a red pepper
(SBCSAE)
While the verb within the predicator dictates which clause functions
can occur within a clause, how functions such as subject and object are
defined is determined by a series of linguistic characteristics that each
function possesses and that distinguish one function from another. One
characteristic is positional: subjects tend to occur before the verb, objects
after the verb. However, this generalization does not always hold true:
when objects are topicalized (as in Beans I like), they occur before the sub-
ject. For this reason, to adequately define a given clause function, more
than one linguistic characteristic is typically associated with the function.
Many sentences containing direct objects, for instance, can often undergo
passivization, with the direct object becoming subject of a corresponding
sentence in the passive voice. Thus, in the sentence The police officer