Learn English – Which should I choose

gerundsgrammargrammaticalityverbs

The package can be torn……by pulling on the red tab located at the top left corner of the box.

A.open

B.opening

C.to open

D.opened

and please explain your option.

Best Answer

The package can be torn open...

Open is an adjective complement to the verb tear: it designates the state which the action of the verb effects in the package. Tearing the package causes it to be open.

In the 'canonical' active form of this sentence the package would be the object, so open is often called an 'object complement' or 'object-oriented complement':

He tore [objthe package] [compopen].

But your example is cast in the passive voice, and the canonical-form 'object' is cast as subject, so the term 'object complement' is misleading. Let's call it a 'Patient complement' instead, with 'Patient' designating the object which is acted upon.

With many verbs a Patient complement is obligatory—causative make, for instance, or verbs of caused motion. Depending on the verb the complement may be an adjective phrase, a preposition phrase, or a noun phrase:

He makes [objJanet] [comphappy].
She put [objthe teacup] [compon the shelf].
The company named [objHenderson] [compCEO].

Many other verbs do not require a Patient complement but do take one freely—tear in your example, for instance. Such optional complements are often called 'secondary complements' (but the scope of that term varies with different authorities).

Patient complements are of course only possible with transitive verbs—verbs which take a Patient as an object in canonical-form sentences. Intransitive verbs often take Agent complements, complements which designate a state present or effected in the subject Agent:

He has risen [compvery high].
John flew [compto New York] last night.
Ancient Greek athletes competed [compnaked].

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