Forms Attributive Identifying

Intensive He is a fool John is the boss; The boss is John。

Circumstantial The towels are in the box。 Summer follows spring。

Possessive Mary has many pictures of dog。 Peter owns that piano。

Table 3-3

4) Verbal process is a process of saying something, and usually contains the sayer, the receiver, and the verbiage。 The verbiage refers to the information provided by the sayer。 E。g。:

He                  told                 me            that he had arrived。

Sayer Process Receiver Verbiage

Table 3-4

5) Behavioral process is a process of physiological or psychological activities often with one participant and sometimes intermediates between material and mental processes。 The components are generally the behaver, the range, and the circumstance。 E。g。:

She               looked at               him               angrily。

Emily                cried                                  hopelessly。

Behaver Process Range Circumstance

Table 3-5

6) Existential process is a process about the existence of an entity, which can be either human or things, and usually involves verbs like be and exist。 E。g。:

There                are              many people。

There                was               an apple             on the desk。

Process Existent Circumstance

Table 3-6

The other perspective of ideational function is voice。 Voice is widely accepted to consist of passive voice and active voice。 According to Halliday, however, voice can be categorized into middle voice and non-middle voice, and the passive and active voice are included in the latter category。 If there is only one participant in a clause, then it is of middle voice。 Otherwise, it is of non-middle voice。 The so-called active voice occurs when the actor precedes the goal, and passive voice occurs when the goal is placed before the actor。 E。g。:文献综述

Middle voice Jane got up at 9 this morning。

Non-middle voice Active He smashed the window。 

Andrew kissed Emma。

Passive The window was smashed by him。