Theta roles

Okay kiddo, do you know how in a play or a movie, different people have different roles? Like the hero saves the day, and the villain tries to stop them? Theta roles are like that, but for words in a sentence!

Every word in a sentence has its own role, or theta role. Think of it like a big dinner party where everyone has a job to do. Let's say we have this sentence: "The cat chased the mouse." The word "cat" has the theta role of "agent," because it's doing the chasing. The word "mouse" has the theta role of "patient," because it's the one being chased. And the word "chased" has the theta role of "action," because it's what the agent is doing to the patient.

So just like in a play or a movie, theta roles help us understand who's doing what in a sentence. And just like at a dinner party, everyone has their own job to do!