Is there a main verb in this paragraph?

English translation: No: the paragraph is adverbial and has no main verb.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	Is there a main verb in this paragraph?
Selected answer:	No: the paragraph is adverbial and has no main verb.
Entered by:	Charles Davis

23:34 Mar 21, 2015

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law: Contract(s) / Trust

English term or phrase: Is there a main verb in this paragraph?

At the expiration of the Trust Period upon trust as to both capital and income of the Trust Fund for all or such one or more exclusive of the other or others of the Beneficiaries in such shares and proportions if more than one and generally in such manner as the Trustees shall prior to or on the date of such expiration in their absolute discretion determine and in default of and subject to such determination upon trust for such of the Beneficiaries as shall then be living in equal shares absolutely.

I'm having a hard time identifying the main verb of this long sentence... Can anyone help?

Many thanks!

Laura Vinti KudoZ activity Questions: 377 (9 open) (12 without valid answers) (30 closed without grading) Answers: 165 United States
Local time: 17:42

No: the paragraph is adverbial and has no main verb.

Explanation:
The whole of this paragraph is essentially a series of adverbial clauses. "Determine" (strictly "shall...determine") is not a main verb; it is part of one of these adverbial clauses: "in such manner as the Trustees shall ... determine".

The paragraph breaks down as follows:

1. At the expiration of the Trust Period upon trust as to both capital and income of the Trust Fund
At the time specified: when the trust fund expires.

for all or such one or more exclusive of the other or others of the Beneficiaries in such shares and proportions if more than one
For the persons specified: for one or more of the beneficiaries.

and generally in such manner as the Trustees shall prior to or on the date of such expiration in their absolute discretion determine
In the manner specified: as the Trustees shall determine (at that time and in their discretion).

and in default of and subject to such determination upon trust for such of the Beneficiaries as shall then be living in equal shares absolutely.
Under the conditions specified (as may be determined).

So this whole paragraph must qualify something that precedes it in the document.

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Note added at 55 mins (2015-03-22 00:29:57 GMT)
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I meant to number the other three sections, but it doesn't really matter.

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Note added at 56 mins (2015-03-22 00:30:52 GMT)
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The object of "determine" is not missing; determine is intransitive here.

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Note added at 11 hrs (2015-03-22 11:15:23 GMT)
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Hi Laura. This is tough, and I don't envy you having to translate it!

It's obvious how this paragraph could be related to the part you have quoted that precedes it. I think the solution may lie a bit further back in the document. This paragraph reads to me like an item in a list of circumstances relating to the administration of the Trust Fund by the Trustees.

The very same paragraph occurs in the following document, which is a deed of settlement. So it is probably a formulaic paragraph that occurs in trust documents of this kind. In the example I am citing, it is item (d) in a list that defines how the Trustees are to act. It is under clause 5 in the deed:

"TRUSTS OF INCOME AND CAPITAL
5. THE Trustees shall stand possessed of the Trust Fund and the income thereof upon the trusts following, that is to say:—"
(a)...
(b)...
(c)...
(d) At the expiration of the Trust Period UPON TRUST as to both capital and income of the Trust Fund for all or such one or more exclusive of the other or others of the Beneficiaries in such shares and proportions if more than one..."
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/c...

Perhaps you can relate it to something similar in your document. Good luck!

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Note added at 11 hrs (2015-03-22 11:16:25 GMT)
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Pardon me: at the start of the above note I meant "It's NOT obvious how this paragraph could be related...". Important difference!

Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 23:42

Grading comment

Thank you!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +10

No: the paragraph is adverbial and has no main verb.

Charles Davis

3 +3

determine

Jennifer Levey

4 +1

determine

Danik 2014

Answers

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

is there a main verb in this paragraph? determine

Explanation:
IMO

Danik 2014
Brazil
Native speaker of:

German,

Portuguese

31 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

is there a main verb in this paragraph? determine

Explanation:
Yes: determine.

However, considering that 'to determine' is a transitive verb, what's missing, IMO, is the object of that determination.

At the expiration of the ... Period ... the Trustees shall ... DETERMINE ... what?

That said, there's a (vague) chance that the answer (object) might be found in the previous sentence and is 'understood' in this sentence, in the best tradition of 'English as she is wrote'.

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Note added at 51 mins (2015-03-22 00:25:43 GMT)
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Re Asker's note below: It couldn't be seen as a 'secondary sentence' if the object of 'determine' wasn't missing. Provide the object and everything else falls into place.

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 17:42
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks! But isn't "determine" part of a secondary sentence: "as the Trustee shall determine" ("generally in such manner as the Trustees shall prior to or on the date of such expiration in their absolute discretion determine")? That would leave the sentence without a main verb...