"valency"的定义和意义

What is "valency"?

Valency refers to the capacity of a verb to combine with a specific number of arguments, which can include subjects, objects, or complements. This concept describes how many participants are involved in the action or state expressed by the verb. For example, an intransitive verb like "sleep" has a valency of one, as it only requires a subject, as in "He sleeps." A transitive verb like "eat" has a valency of two, needing both a subject and a direct object, as in "She eats an apple." Some verbs can have a valency of three or more, such as in "He told her a story," where the verb "told" has a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object. Understanding valency is essential for analyzing verb usage and sentence structure, as it helps to clarify the roles that different elements play within a sentence.