Target / Affected One
Who or what is affected by the event?
Betekenis
The participant that receives the action, changes, is moved, is created, is consumed, or is otherwise affected.
Zo herken je het
Ask what the action hits, changes, moves, creates, or concerns.
Voorbeelden
apple|door|letter|problem|him|Mary
eat an apple|open the door|solve the problem
The girl opened the door.
Visual guide
TARGET / AFFECTED ONE what is affected? Actor -> event -> [Target] girl -> opened -> [door] eat -> [apple] solve -> [problem] = affected/changed thing
Target clues may differ order: girl opened [door] case: [door-ACC] marker: OBJ-[door] clitic: opened-[it] agreement: verb -> door context: door understood role = affected one
Taaloverzicht
In je moedertaal
Targets are mainly identified by word order and object pronouns, not by case on nouns.
Zij opent de deur.
She opens the door.
In de taal die je leert
English usually identifies the affected target by position after the verb, with pronoun case still visible in forms like him and her.
The dog bit the man.
the man = the affected target
Learners may reverse actor and target by changing word order or overuse prepositions after transitive verbs.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.