3

rain: verb, [no object] (it rains, it is raining, etc.)

fall: verb, [no object, with adverbial]

Are the following sentences grammatical?

(a) The package fell a great distance.

(b) It rained cats and dogs.

My doubts arise from the fact that "a great distance" and "cats and dogs" seem the objects of fell and rain respectively.

Improve this question
3
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverbial_phrase
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 14:01
  • What dictionary are you using? "Rain" can be either transitive or intransitive.
    – Kit Z. Fox ♦
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 14:03
  • 2
    Transitivity is a property of clauses, not of verbs. Most verbs can be used in some constructions in transitive clauses, and in other constructions in intransitive clauses. There are a lot of verbs and a lot of constructions, and any number of tests (like Passivizability) for transitivity. That's why you should never trust grammar pronouncements in a dictionary -- you don't know what syntactic standards they're using.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 14:53

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

The package fell a great distance

Subject + intrans. verb + adverbial phrase

It rained cats and dogs

Either Dummy subject + intrans. verb + real subject
or Dummy subject + intrans. verb + idiomatic adverbial phrase

For rain to be transitive, you would need a sentence like

The congregation rained confetti on the wedding couple.

Improve this answer
3
  • What about It rained buckets [ful/full of water]?
    – bib
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 18:01
  • How is that different from "It rained cats and dogs"? Either the buckets themselves were raining down or it's an adverbial phrase describing the raining.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 18:28
  • I think that buckets is a measurement (potentially or close to real) and if it means bucketsful, it surely is. A bit different from cats and dogs.
    – bib
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 19:29
2

"Rain" can be either transitive or intransitive. In this case it is transitive.

In your "fell" example, "a great distance" is not the object of the verb, but an adverbial phrase. Consider the sentence, "Bob said nothing for several days." The object of "said" is "nothing". That is what he said. "For several days" is an adverbial phrase describing the manner in which he said it. Same thing here: "a great distance" is not what was "felled", it was how the thing fell.

By the way, "fell" can also be a transitive verb, though the usage is not common. You can say, "He felled a tree", meaning that he cut a tree down and made it fall.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    Is "It rained cats and dogs" really transitive? I didn't analyse it that way.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 15:17
  • 2
    @AndrewLeach I've always interpreted the sentence as "cats and dogs fell out of the sky" -- presumably a metaphor and not literal! -- in which case "cats and dogs" would be a direct object. I suppose it could also be read as an adverbial phrase. I'll gladly yield to someone who's done some etymological research.
    – Jay
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 19:17

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .