The following definition for the patient role (also called theme, and sometimes objective and neutral) is typical:"the case of anything representing by a noun whose role in the action or state identified by the verb is identified by the interpretation of the verb itself. Conceivably, the concept should be limited to things which are affected by the action or the state identified by the verb" [Fillmore, C. J., 1968, "The Case for Case", p. 25, in Bach, E. and Harms, R. T., eds., "Universals in Linguistic Theory", Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, pp. 1-88].
- Levin (2004), a pag.304