Download Lecture 2

Lecture 2
Verb phrases
•
can consist of a single word: write
•
several verb forms: had been writing
•
may be finite (refer to time, person, number...): writes, wrote
•
may be nonfinite: to write, writing, written
(infinitives, gerunds, present and past participles)
Verb string (verb phrase)
The ship must have been sinking.
o
x
x
v
o – operator – the first auxiliary, carries the information about tense, number and person
x – auxiliary verb (max. 4 in a string)
v – main verb
Verb Classes
•
Intransitive verbs: followed by no obligatory element: The sun shines.
•
Transitive verbs: followed by an object: Peter is going to write a letter.
•
Copular verbs are followed by:
A. a subject complement: She seems tired.
B. an adverbial complement: She is at home.
Transitive verbs
A. monotransitive:
Peter is going to write a letter. SVO
B. ditransitive:
My mother sent him a letter.
SVOO
C. complex transitive:
You must keep it refrigerated. SVOC
You must keep it in the box.
SVOA
Copulative/linking verb
– a verb of incomplete predication with little meaning
A. expresses the existence and state:
to be, to seem, to look, to fly, to prove, to remain
She remained silent. The cake tastes good.
B. expresses a change: to become, to run, to grow, to turn, to fall, to get, to go
He grew old. She turned red.
Copulas can substitute each other.
He was/got/looked/seemed/became/grew tired.
Some of them serve in their old and also new capacity.
The cow has run into the barn.
(a verb of complete predication)
The cow has run dry.
(a copula, a verb of incomplete predication)
Types of linking verbs
1. True linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, is, are, was, were, has been, are
being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. These true linking verbs are always
linking verbs.
2. Verbs with multiple personalities: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, stay,
keep, get, smell, sound, taste and turn. Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs;
sometimes they are action verbs.
Action verbs versus linking verbs
If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still sounds logical, you have a linking
verb on your hands. If, after the substitution, the sentence makes no sense, you are dealing
with an action verb instead.
Example:
Linking verb: The soup tasted good.
Action verb: I tasted the soup.
Word order in English
Modern English – is a mixed analytical / isolating type of language which has lost most of
the older grammatical endings. Grammatical inflection and case marking are replaced by the
fixed word order which indicates the function of English words in the sentence.
Direct word order
– is characteristic for declarative sentences.
They sent him a message by email to his mail box this morning.
S
V Oi
Od
Amanner
Aplace
Atime
Indirect word order / inversion
A. after direct speech:
“Help me, please,” said Jane.
B. in conditional clauses:
Had he worked hard, he would have earned much money.
C. appearance on the scene:
Came Mary and John with their son.
D. scene-appearance (after adverbials of place): On the floor was a greasy stain.
E. after phrases there is/there are: There is a carpet on the floor.
F. in exclamations after there and here: Here is John coming!
G. after so and neither: I don’t like coffee. Neither do I.
H. after expressions having completely or partly negative content (negative adverbials) –
never, seldom, neither, nor, hardly, rarely, not only...: Never in his life has he visited that
country.//Not only is it an interesting film, it is also very inspiring for many people.
Direct and indirect questions
A. Direct questions – inverted word order:
Was he careful?
B. Indirect questions – do not use inverted word order:
Tell me if he was careful.
SUBJECT
•
a noun phrase: indicates the doer of an action, or the participant that an event or state
refers to.
•
a wh-nominal clause: What we are doing is offering a scholarship.
•
a prepositional clause: When shall I ring you? After six would be best.
•
can be omitted in high-context, informal situations
A: Need a hammer. Is there one in a garage?
B: Yes, think so.
Dummy subject
•
consists of it or there
•
has no semantic content
•
only fills the necessary subject slot
There are many pictures on the wall.// It is raining outside.
Coordinated subject
It consists of two or more noun phrases coordinated by conjunctions and, either, or, neither,
nor.
Teachers and students are waiting in a hall.
Neither President nor Prime Minister have arrived.
Implied subject
Subject is normally absent in imperative.
It is called an implied subject of a subjectless imperative sentence.
Help me with the luggage. (You – implied subject)
PREDICATE:
is the main part of a sentence which expresses an activity, state, or characteristic of a subject.
A. Simple unextended predicate
B. Simple extended predicate
C. Compound nominal predicate
D. Compound verbal predicate
Simple unextended predicate
a verb: The glacier melted.
a verb string: The glacier has been melting.
a compound verb: The glacier melted and broke apart.
a verb of general meaning + deverbal noun:
They have an argument. (=They argue.)
Simple extended predicate
- has its extending elements:
OBJECT: He opened her parcel.
ADVERBIAL: She writes legibly.
Compound nominal predicate
- consists of a linking verb (LV) and a noun/ adjective phrase
Elisabeth II is the queen of England.
SUBJECT
PREDICATE
LV +
NOUN PHRASE
Compound Verbal Predicate:
•
is formed by an infinitive / gerund of a notional verb and a finite form of another
verb
•
expresses:
A. an attitude of a subject to the event expressed by the infinitive or gerund
You ought to follow my instructions.
We wish to pass the exam on English syntax.
B. the beginning, duration, and the end of the event expressed by a gerund
She burst out laughing. (to start, begin, set about, come to...)
They kept on discussing the problem. (to keep, go on, continue...)
Stop crying. (to cease, give up, finish, leave off...)