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UNIVERSITY OF CRAIOVA
FACULTY OF LETTERS
DEPARTMENT OF BRITISH AND ANERICAN STUDIES
CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH
LANGUAGE (LEC)
MORPHOLOGY
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: Reader Carmen Nedelcu, Ph.D
YEAR OF STUDY/SEMESTER: 1st, 2nd semester
TYPE OF COURSE: core cour
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1
to make the students aware of the fundamentals of
English morphology, i.e the nominal part;
2
to make them acquire new information in the fields of
morphology (the nominal part) and
3
practice the English language patterns;
COURSE CONTENT: The Morphology of the Nominal Part
The Noun: the category of number in nouns, pronouns and
adjectives. Agreement in number; classification of nouns
according to number. The category of gender; gender and
pronouns. Contrastive and comparative view on English and
Romanian category on gender. The case in nouns and personal
pronoun in English; constructions with the nominative and the
accusative.
Premodifiers and postmodifiers. Articles. The adjective,
classifications according to various criteria; degrees of
comparison; synonyms of the absolute superlative.
The numeral, classifications and functions.
READING LIST:
1
1. Bantaş, Andrei (1993) English for Advanced Students,
Institutul European, Iaşi
2. Leviţchi, Leon şi I. A. Preda ( 1967 ) - Gramatica limbii
engleze, Ed. Ştiinţifică, Bucureşti, sau Ed. Mondero, Bucureşti,
1992.
3. Leviţchi Leon (1970) - Limba engleză contemporană.
Morfologia. Ed. Did. şi Ped. Bucureşti.
4. Martinet, A.V. şi Thomson, A.(1989) - A Practical English
Grammar, OUP, London
5. Carmen Nedelcu (2005) - English Grammar, Ed.
Universitaria, Craiova
6. Quirk, R. si colab. (1985) - A Comprehensive Grammar of
the English Language, OUP, London.
FORM OF EVALUATION: end of semester exam: written and
oral
SIGNATURE
Reader
Carmen Nedelcu, Ph.D
2
1. THE ARTICLE
The general definition of the article in English is very general and does
not go beyond the following: articles are determinatives which serve to
give precision to the nouns/noun equivalents to which they are attached.
On the other hand, the definite article the is by far the commonest word
in English, and with a and an makes up 8.5% of all text (Berry, 1993:
V). Along with prepositions, the article is, probably, the most difficult
part of speech to master and use in English; the forms are not difficult,
but what is a real nuisance is the fact that the uses of the various articles
in English are very different from the uses of the equivalent articles in
other languages.
As articles in English can only function as determinatives of nouns/noun
equivalents and are never used alone, some linguists argue that they
should not even be considered an independent part of speech and never
be treated as such. The view is relatively correct and, theoretically, this
approach might be successful, but for practical purposes, it is far easier
and simpler to accept the old tradition of the article as a separate part of
speech and deal with it monographically as we intend to do with all the
other morphological classes in English. It is also true that this approach
will inevitably lead to interferences with nouns and other parts of
speech; we hope, though, that the result will be worth studying.
At the present stage of language development, the article in English is
an invariable part of speech - which is a positive characteristic of a
language. As far as its position is concerned, be it definite or indefinite,
it is proclitic, i.e. it is placed before the noun/noun equivalent it
determines.
In certain approaches (Leviţchi, 1970: 61-66) the authors identify 3
types of articles, the definite article, the indefinite article and the zero
article and within each class other subclasses, e.g. anaphoric, generic,
anticipatory, numerical, non-significant etc. For practical reasons we
prefer to disregard these classifications and go only for definite and
indefinite articles and within each type of article to describe the uses of
the article or where it is not used.
3
1.1. The definite article
As far as its origin is concerned, the definite article goes back to a
demonstrative adjective and pronoun, which in Old English had both the
meaning of Modern English that and the meanings and functions of the
definite article (Leviţchi, 1970: 60).
1.1.1. Form
The definite article is the same for singular and plural and for all
genders, for animate and inanimate nouns, e.g. the boy, the boys, the
girl, the girls, the table, the tables, the writing, the writings, the dog,
the dogs etc.
The definite article has an invariable form in writing, THE, but it is
pronounced differently, depending on the initial sound of the following
word; it is pronounced [] before consonants and semivowels and
[i] before vowels, e.g.
The [] dog is a friendly animal.
The [] girls have already left.
The [] definite article is not difficult.
or
The [i] interior has been redecorated recently.
He was heading for the [i] other flight of stairs when somebody
called out his name.
She put the [i] apple on the shelf.
NOTE:
It is the sound, not the spelling of the next word that matters, e.g. o is
a vowel, but it is pronounced as a semivowel, [w], in words like:
one [wn],
once [wns]
(to give smb. the `[] once-over, just the [] one, the [] one/s,
the [] one-horse, the [] one-man band, the [] one way, the
[] one-sided);
4
He was driving slowly on the [] one-way street, trying to find
her house;
The [] one you gave me was blue;
U is also a vowel, but it is pronounced as a semivowel, [j], in the
following words:
ubiquity [ju:biwiti]
ubiquitous [ju:biqwits]
UFO [‘ju:fu]
ufology [ju:fldi]
Ukraine [ju:krein]
ukulele [ju:kleli]
UN [ju:en]
unanimity [ju:nnimiti]
unicorn [ju:niko:n]
uniform [‘ju:nifo:m]
uniformed [ju:nifo:md]
uniformity [ju;nifo:miti]
unification [,ju:nifikein]
The correct pronunciation of the definite article in front of these words
is [] and not otherwise. The mispronunciation of the definite article
in this position is very common with non-native speakers, e.g. in the
following examples, some beginners pronounce the definite article as
[i] instead of [] as they should, misled by the fact that the noun
following the definite article begins in a vowel, u, never considering its
pronunciation. So, the next examples are meant to prove the point:
She goes to the [] university every day;
The [] United States of America fight terrorism;
The [] uterus is the place where the child develops;
the letter w in initial position is pronounced as a semivowel, [w], and,
the definite article is pronounced [], e.g.
waffle [wfl]
wager [weid]
wagon [wgn]
waistband [weistbnd]
5
There are 4 words and their derivatives in English beginning in h, which
is never pronounced; consequently, the definite article is
pronounced [i] in front of these words. These base words are:
heir []
honour [n]
honest [nst]
hour [au]
He was the first of the heirs [i z];
The honest [i nst] participant is always rewarded;
The honour [i n] of the participants has never been
questioned;
It was the hour [i au] of truth;
In Modern English there is a large number of words obtained from
initials, and the pronunciation of the definite article is [i] in front
of abbreviations beginning in the consonants f, h, l, m, n, r, s, which
are pronounced with a vowel [ef/eit/el/em/en/a:/ es] e.g. FA
(=Football Association), FAA (=Fleet Air Arm), FAO (=Food and
Agriculture Organization), FBA (=Fellow of British Academy),
FBI (=Federal Bureau of Investigation), FCO (=Foreign and
Commonwealth Office), F-layer (the highest and most strongly
ionised region of the ionosphere), f.o.r. (=free on rail), FP
(=freezing point), FPA (=Family Planning Association), FRS
(=Fellow of Royal Society), HB [=hard black (pencil lead)], HBM
[=Her/His Britannic Majesty(s)], H-bomb (=hydrogen bomb), HCF
(=1 highest common factor; 2 Honorary Chaplain of the Forces),
HF (=high frequency), H-hour (=the hour at which an operation is
scheduled to begin), HMS (=Her/His Majesty’s Ship), HT (=high
tension), LBC (=London Broadcasting Company), LCD (=1 liquid
crystal display; 2 lowest common denominator), LCM (=lowest
common multiple), L-plate (=a sign bearing the letter L, attached to
the front and rear of a motor vehicle to indicate that it is being
driven by a learner) etc.
However, if these terms consisting of more than one word are
pronounced extensively, i.e. pronouncing all the words they consist of,
the definite article is pronounced, where necessary, [ ] as in front of
boy, chair etc.
133
The pronunciation of the definite article the is usually weak, [], but
it also has a stressed pronunciation, [i], that is used in other instances,
e.g.
when the definite article becomes a noun by conversion and is used as a
subject, for instance, in a sentence: THE [i] is the definite article
in English;
when it acquires an emphatic form because the speaker wants to contrast
it with another element: I want THE [i] book I lent you not just
any English book (=I want a special book, not just any book);
sometimes it may get the force of a superlative: Shakespeare is THE
[i] poet (=Shakespeare este poetul prin excelenţă);
when an orator needs to make a pause for effect, and, accidentally, this
is done on the definite article, he/she may choose to pronounce it
[i] in order to avoid something that might sound close to the
unpleasant habit of filling one’s pauses in speech with
[];
this emphatic pronunciation also draws the audiences attention that
something important may follow or, simply, draw their straying
away attention to the orator.
1.1.2. Position
The definite article stands
before a noun, e.g. the student, the university, the food, the stadium,
the attention, the development etc.
before modifiers, e.g. the nice book, the best book, the first competitor,
the second interview etc. or
other determinatives or pronouns, e.g. the other delegate, the same
interest, the others etc.
in George the Fifth, Jude the Obscure, Richard the Lion-Hearted,
Alfred the Great, Stephen the Great, Canto the Third the position
of the definite article is justified by the fact that the adjective or
ordinal numeral is used postpositionally for emphasis and then the
definite article precedes them in a very logical way. In the authors
opinion it is not logical to say that the definite article can be used in
postposition, because, actually, in the examples above the definite
article determines the numeral or the adjectives, which themselves
134
are used in post position for emphatic purposes, and not the proper
noun (which is not normally used with the definite article)/common
noun that has the first position.
1.1.3. The uses of the definite article
1) The definite article is used to show that the noun/noun equivalent has
already been mentioned previously, either in the same sentence or
earlier in the course of communication, (what in some books is referred
to as anaphoric) e.g.
They have a son and two daughters, but the son is an adult
person and already has a family of his own;
My mother bought a new dress yesterday, but the dress was so
expensive that she changed her mind and took it back today;
My friends had a house built not far from ours; the house is
made of brick and glass;
There are also set phrases in which the definite article refers back to
something which was not mentioned previously but which the speaker
knows about or can identify easily, e.g. at the (that) time, under the
(these/those) circumstances, nothing of the (this) kind, to rise to
(this/that) occasion etc.
The speaker/reader may sometimes refer to an object/objects already
known to the former, to current notions known to the interlocutors, or to
objects that are singularly identifiable under the circumstances, e.g.
Have you read the newspaper? (=the newspaper that our family
usually buys and reads);
Have you locked the door? (=the door to our home);
Turn on the radio! (=the radio we have in the house/on the table
etc);
The telephone is ringing. (=probably the phone in the house);
2) There is a special class of objects or groups of objects of which there
is or we assume there is only one in the context, e.g. the sun, the moon,
the earth, the sea, the ocean, the North Pole, the South Pole, the
equator, the Renaissance, the human race etc. or the kitchen, the city
hall, the Queen, the last president etc. All could be made more definite,
e.g. the sun belonging to the Earth, the North Pole of the Earth, the
135
kitchen of this house, the queen of the country etc. Normally these
explanations are unnecessary.
3) When a noun comes after a preposition, the definite article is almost
always necessary, the sequence preposition + definite article + noun is
a very common structure, e.g. under the table, on the wall, in the street,
in the sky, in the field, after the lesson, behind the door, beyond the
river, near the village, for the children, through the gates, at the
museum, from the park, on the floor, into the drawer, on the way, by
the way etc.
4) The definite article appears in certain set phrases and the readers are
advised never to question these uses, only accept and use them as such.
It is, probably, the moment to say that not all language structures have a
clear and straightforward explanation! Usage is not infrequently the only
logical explanation! E.g. to get the upper hand, to break the ice, to take
the trouble, all the time, to tell the time, whats the time? to paint the
devil blacker than he is, to join the colours, to have the time of ones
life etc.
5) The definite article can also display a generic function; it shows that
the noun/noun equivalent is used in its most general sense. The general
sense of a noun/noun equivalent can be rendered in various ways, the
definite article being one of them along with the indefinite article (see
under indefinite article) and the non-use of article (see under the
definite article is no used); it can be used with individual nouns in the
singular, e.g.
The dog is a friendly animal;
The article is a part of speech;
The tiger is one of the big cats;
The Siberian tiger is in danger of becoming extinct etc;
Sometimes all three forms can be used alternatively, e.g. The dog is a
friendly animal = A dog is a friendly animal = Dogs are friendly
animals, while in other situations the meaning prevents the use of all 3
forms, e.g. The Siberian tiger is in danger of becoming extinct has an
alternative form in Siberian tigers are in danger of becoming extinct;
the indefinite article may discharge a generic function, e.g. *A Siberian
tiger is in danger of becoming extinct but it is unacceptable because of
the illogical meaning of such a construction: the death of one animal
cannot endanger the whole species. To conclude, countable nouns can
136
take any of the forms, i.e. with a definite article, an indefinite article and
the plural form (with zero article), depending on what the speaker
intends to say; uncountable nouns can only function without any article
(or, as it is specified in other grammars, with the zero article).
6) The definite article is also used before nouns made definite by the
addition of a clause or a phrase, e.g. the girl in red dress, the man with
the suitcase, the dog with the short tail, the boy who came yesterday,
the man (that) I saw, the book (which) Mary bought 2 days ago. The
indefinite article is not forbidden in front of such nouns, but the meaning
is different and the speaker should be able to distinguish between the
two, e.g.
I saw a girl in blue crossing the street (= unidentified) and
I saw the girl in blue crossing the street (=previously identified
and now reference being made to her).
7) The definite article is used before superlatives, e.g.
The nicest girl in our school is Johns friend;
Mary is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen;
8) The definite article is used before ordinal numerals, e.g. the first, the
second, the third, the fifth, the hundredth, the fifty-seventh etc.
9) The definite article realizes the substantivisation of adjectives (see
under adjective.)
10) The definite article and the proper names of persons: proper nouns
are understood to have unique reference, e.g. Jane, Peter, Mike, and in a
given conversation refer to one particular person. Here no the comes
before the proper noun because the definite meaning is built into the
noun itself. However, if we need to distinguish two or more persons
having the same name the definite article is used, e.g.
or
“I would like to talk to Mr. Smith, please”.
“Which Mr. Smith do you want to talk to, because we have
three”.
“The Smith from the accounts office, please”.
“Susan came yesterday to ask for an English grammar book”.
“Which Susan?”
“The Susan next door” (=not the Susan who works in your
office);
137
Sometimes a whole family can be referred to by the + family name in
the plural, e.g.
The Browns have just come (=all the members of the Brown
family: mother, father and the son/s daughter/s);
The Kennedys (the spelling rule does not apply here) (father,
mother and the two sons/daughters) have called to tell us they
were not coming to the party;
The definite article with titles and ranks: all military ranks (sergeant,
lieutenant, major, captain, colonel, general, commander), academic
titles (professor, doctor), doctor (=physician), counsellor, president
judge, governor etc. are preceded by the definite article when used
alone, i.e. without the surname, e.g.
The sergeant was very furious;
The general was invited to the party;
I went to see the doctor;
The professor was never late;
The president detains the highest authority in state;
However, when a person is called by his/her title or rank, the definite
article is dropped, e.g.
Could I talk to you for a minute, professor (=Aş putea să vă reţin
un minut, domnule profesor?)
May I ask you something, doctor? (=Pot să vă întreb ceva,
domnule doctor?)
Someone is looking for you, general (=Vă caută cineva, domnule
general)
NOTE: in other languages the equivalent constructions often take a
Mr./Mrs. e.g. Domnul/Doamna in Romanian.
The definite article is also dropped when the title or rank precedes the
surname of the respective person, e.g.
Professor Johnson was invited to a Congress in Italy
(=Profesorul Johnson a fost invitat la un Congres în Italia);
Doctor Brown is the best neurologist in our city (=Doctorul
Brown este cel mai bun neurolog din oraş);
138
General Hamilton has taken over the command of the army
(=Generalul Hamilton a preluat comanda armatei).
The definite article is also used before titles containing the preposition
OF, e.g. the Duke of York, the Earl of Southampton, the Duke of
Edinborough, the Marquis of Bath etc.
11) The definite article is used:
before geographical (/or other) proper names of seas, rivers, groups of
islands, chains of mountains, deserts, regions, e.g. the Black Sea,
the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, the Atlantic
Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Danube, the
Mississippi, the Thames, the Nile, the Bermudes, the Azores, the
Bahamas, the Great Australian Desert, the Suez Canal etc.
before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided the adjective is
not one of the cardinal points), e.g. the New Forest, the High
Street, the Great Britain, the United Kingdom, the English
Channel, the British Museum, the White House etc.
before names consisting of a noun + OF + noun, e.g. the Cape of Good
Hope, the Gulf of Mexico, the United States of America, the USA,
the Bay of Biscay, the University of Berlin, the Commonwealth of
Australian States and Territories, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland etc.
before names of newspapers, e.g. the Times, the Guardian, the
Washington Post, the Independent, the Wall Street Journal etc.
before simple geographical names of places, countries etc., e.g. the City,
the Mall, the Strand, the Hague etc.
sometimes there are alternatives in use, the tendency being to use the
form without the definite article (Berry, 1993: 56-57), e.g. (the)
Sudan, (the) Yemen, the Argentine or Argentina, the Cameroon or
Cameroun, (the) Ukraine, (the) Ivory Coast etc.
names of organisations, usually abbreviations, fall under two categories:
if the name is pronounced letter for letter, the definite article is
obligatory, e.g. the UN, the BBC, the FBI, the CIA, the MI5, the
EC etc; if an abbreviation is pronounced as a word, then there is no
article, e.g. OPEC, although the expanded name does take a definite
article, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries;
NATO, but the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; UNICEF, but
the United Nation Childrens Fund etc.
139
12) In principle, neither the definite nor the indefinite article is used
with names of meals, e.g.
She invited us to dinner;
Dinner is served at 8 oclock;
We have breakfast at 7;
They want to take their guests to dinner at a very famous
restaurant etc.
However, when the name of the meal is preceded by a modifier or is
followed by a prepositional phrase or a relative clause, it can be
preceded either by the definite or the indefinite article, e.g.
They served us a very good lunch;
The dinner given in the honour of the ambassador was held at the
Hilton Hotel;
The breakfast organised by their friends proved to be a failure.
and the indefinite one, e.g.
They gave us a very special breakfast;
I was invited to a dinner given to welcome the new members of
the Club;
13) The definite article is used in the construction: to play the
instrument, e.g. to play the piano/flute/the oboe/guitar/etc:
John plays the piano better than his sister;
Mary learned to play the guitar when she was 10 etc.
14) The definite article may have a distributive function when used with
nouns expressing a unit, e.g.
He is paid by the hour;
The apples are four to the pound etc.
15) It is also used before nationality names or nouns showing the origin
of persons or things, e.g. the English, the Chinese, the Japanese, the
Swiss, the French, the Veronese, BUT, the Germans, the Americans,
the Romanians, the Russians, the Spaniards etc.
1.1.4. The definite article is not used
140
1) The definite article is not used with proper names of people except
in the situations mentioned under Uses of the definite article.
2) The definite article is not used with geographical proper names
except in the situations shown under Uses of the definite article.
3) The definite article is not used before names of games, e.g.
He plays football every day;
The boys play volley ball at school etc.
4) The definite article is not used before abstractions, except when they
are used in a particular sense, e.g. care, death, hatred, honesty, honour,
hunger, love, e.g.
but
or
but
Men fear death (Oamenii se tem de moarte)
The death of the President was a real tragedy for the country
(Moartea primului ministru a fost o adevarată tragedie pentru
ţară);
Honesty is very rare nowadays (Cinstea e rară în zilele noastre)
The honesty of the competitors made the contest a triumph
(Cinstea concurenţilor a făcut ca întrecerea să fie un triumf)
etc.
Romanian learners should notice that in their mother tongue the definite
article is almost always needed before abstractions, unlike in English.
5) The definite article is not normally used before names of meals
except in the cases shown under Uses of the definite article.
6) The definite article is not used before countable nouns in the plural
when they are used in the general sense, see under Uses of the definite
article.
7) The definite article is not normally used before parts of the body,
articles of clothing, objects belonging to a specific person, its place
being taken by the possessive adjective, e.g.
My head aches;
Put up your right hand;
Take off your coat and put it on the chair;
Where have I put my glasses? etc.
141
8) The definite article is not used in certain set phrases consisting of
preposition + noun, in which the definite article is usually compulsory,
e.g. by hand, at hand, on foot, from head to toe, from top to toe, by
chance, by mistake, at present, at first sight, hand in hand, arm in
arm, from cover to cover, from corner to corner, face to face, from
dawn to dusk, from beginning to end, from right to left, from north to
south, day by day, day after day, from end to end, from place to place,
from time to time, to be in danger, in general, to be on duty, piece by
piece, to learn by heart, to keep in mind, good for food, just in time, to
look for help/aid, to put in order etc. These set phrases should be
learned by heart without questioning the linguistic explanation (The
standard construction is preposition + THE + noun, e.g. on the table,
under the chair, near the bank, above the door, in front of the house,
behind the gymnasium, in the house etc.)
9) The word nature, when referring to the physical world including all
living things as well as the land and the seas is used without a definite
article in front, e.g.
Everybody likes nature;
If we do not take care of nature, human life on Earth may be in
danger;
This is an opportunity to enjoy the beauties of nature in Alaska;
Barones interest was in nature, wildlife and birds (MacMillan,
1999: 944).
No article is required when the meaning of the word is the basic
characteristic of a person or an animal, e.g.
The pony has a very gentle nature;
It is not in my nature to be pushy or aggressive;
If we can appeal to Charlottes better nature we can work out a
compromise;
The word nature has still another meaning, that of basic quality and
feature of something + OF, when it is preceded by the definite article,
e.g.
It is the nature of plastic to melt under high temperatures;
They must understand the nature of our opposition to nuclear
testing;
142
The consultation will be more in the nature of a public meeting
than a formal enquiry (MacMillan, 1999: 944).
10) The word home if not preceded or followed by a descriptive word or
phrase is used alone, without the definite article, e.g. to go home, to be
home, to stay home, to run home, to send someone home, to arrive
home etc.,
I was sick on the plane home;
I went home to France;
How was your journey home?
If preceded or followed by a descriptive phrase, home is preceded by the
definite article (or the possessive adjective), e.g.
John and Mary invited us to their new home;
They arrived at the brides home;
That delapidated house was the only home she had ever known
etc.
11) There are several nouns denoting places; when these places are
visited or used for their primary purpose, the structure is motion verb +
preposition (TO/FROM/AT) + noun, e.g. bed, church, court, hospital,
prison, sea, town, school, college, jail, camp, exchange, harbour, port,
hall, university, work (place of work) etc., e.g.
to go/run/hurry + TO + noun
to be/stay/remain + AT + noun
to come/return/come back + FROM + noun
Mary goes to school every day (=she is a schoolgirl and this is her
programme);
Paul ran to church to get there before the Mass was over (=he is
a church-goer)
Her mother did not feel well and Mary insisted on taking her to
hospital (=to be cured)
His parents are very sad because their only son has been in
prison for over two years (=he has been doing time)
She went to bed early last night (=one sleeps in bed)
They are at sea as far as I know (=they are either sailors, or
taking a cruise)
She never goes to work by bus (=to the place where she works)
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They go to town sometimes to buy food (=the speaker’s own
town)
“Where have you been?” - “We were in town”.
But, if the place is not used or visited for its primary purpose, then the
definite article is used in front of the noun, e.g.
They went to the church to see the carvings (=they are tourists)
Mother went to the school last week to talk to the principal (=she
was afraid her son might have missed some classes)
He went to the prison to deliver some lectures on social matters
(=he was invited to deliver the speech)
Go to the bed and fetch my dress, please! (=move from here to
there and fetch the dress)
They went to the sea (=to the seaside)
Our friends live by the sea (=in the neighbourhood of the sea)
NOTE: the words office (place of work), cathedral, cinema and theatre
always take the definite article, e.g.
I think he is at the office (=the place where he works)
He never goes to the office on foot (=to the place where he works)
This Sunday they decided to go to the cathedral (=presumably the
Mass was more impressive there)
They never go to the cinema after 10 p.m.
You could not find us at home because we were at the theatre last
night.
To be in office = to hold an official position (=R. a deţine o
funcţie oficială)
To be out of office = to be no longer in power (=R. a nu mai
deţine o funcţie oficială)
1.2. The indefinite article
The indefinite article has the same origins as the numeral one, and is one
of the most frequently used words in English. It is useful to mention
from the very beginning that the indefinite article in English only exists
for the singular form of countable nouns; for the plural and uncountable
144
nouns certain indefinite adjectives are used and they will be treated
under the respective heading (see Indefinite adjectives, section 4/5.2)
1.2.1. Form
The indefinite article is a [] and an [n]; it has a unique form for
all genders, e.g. a boy, a girl, a chair, implying no agreement with the
noun/noun equivalent. The two forms of the indefinite articles follow
the same rules of pronunciation as the definite article. The explanations
in extenso and a large number of examples are given; where the definite
article is pronounced [], the indefinite article is pronounced [];
where the definite article is pronounced [i] the indefinite article is
pronounced [n].
The form a of the indefinite article is also pronounced [ei], as an
emphatic form, in the following instances:



usually for emphasis, when the speaker makes a pause for effect,
e.g. The members of the parliament were invited to a [ei] .........
what do you think? ...... to a bull fight!
when the indefinite article is used as a subject of the sentence, e.g.
A [ei] is the indefinite article in English and one of the most
frequently used words in the language;
when the indefinite article is stressed, e.g. She said a [ei] man!
1.2.2. Position
The indefinite article stands before the noun, but after rather, quite,
such, half or after too, so, how + adjective, e.g.
This is rather a heavy box;
It is rather a shame that we cannot leave early;
There is a book on the table;
Paul and Mary have bought a new house;
but
What a man!
It was such a fine day!
He is too good a man not to choose in the team!
1.2.3. The uses of the indefinite article
145
The indefinite article is used with countable nouns in the singular.
Countable nouns refer to things which are regarded as separate units.
Most countable nouns refer to things which can be seen, touched,
measured (=concrete nouns), e.g. table, chair, computer, desk, boy, girl,
man, woman, child, book, telephone, pen, pencil, lamp etc. However,
some countable nouns refer to things which cannot be seen, touched or
measured (=abstract nouns), e.g. address, effect, election, idea, issue,
method, minute, month, plan, problem, remark, scheme, shock,
suggestion, week, year etc.
NOTE: Attention should be paid to those nouns which are uncountable
in English but are countable in other languages and the students tend to
apply the pattern of their mother tongue to English, making a series of
typical mistakes (see also under Noun), e.g. advice, baggage, furniture,
homework, information, knowledge, luggage, news etc.
The indefinite article is used to express indefinite meaning of singular
countable nouns. It always implies the idea of number as its origin is in
the numeral ONE. The main uses of the indefinite article a/an are:
1) The indefinite article is used before a singular countable noun when
it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or
thing, e.g.
Mary needs a passport;
My friends bought a house;
We live in a house not far from the university;
2) It is used in expressions of price, speed, ratio, e.g., £50 a meter, 10p
a dozen etc: here the indefinite article is replaceable by the Latin PER,
but can never be replaced by the numeral ONE, e.g.
The car was running a wild 90 miles an/per hour;
She had to take the antibiotics 3 times a/per day;
Five pence a/per kilo is not much;
3) The indefinite article is used as an alternative to the numeral ONE,
but the numeral ONE cannot replace the indefinite article in all cases
(see above), e.g.
1,000 = a/one thousand
146
but
1,000,000 = a/one million
a/one score, a/one dozen
a/one third, a/one fifth
She paid a rent of 100 (a/one hundred) pounds a/per week - the
indefinite article before the noun week cannot be replaced by
one;
In other types of statement a/an and one are not normally
interchangeable, because ONE + noun normally means one only/not
more than one and a/an does not mean this (Thomson and Martinet,
1997: 17):
A shotgun is no good (=it is the wrong sort of thing)
One shotgun is no good (=one is not enough, I need 50)
4) The indefinite article is used with a noun complement; this also
includes names of professions, e.g.
It was a rebellion;
It is going to be a success;
She is a teacher (=e profesoară)
He is an actor while his wife is a painter (=El e actor iar soţia lui
e pictoriţă)
My friend is a doctor (=Prietenul/Prietena mea este medic)
No article is needed when the profession is unique, e.g. headmaster,
principal, manager, director, spokesman, spokesperson, etc., e.g.
John Williams is headmaster;
Our friend is sales manager;
NOTE: Romanian learners should notice the difference between the two
structures; while the indefinite article in English is compulsory, in
Romanian its presence in this construction is a mistake.
5) The indefinite article is placed before a singular countable noun
which is used as an example of a class of things (for more comparative
details see under Uses of the definite article, section 1.1.3), e.g.
A dog is a friendly animal (All dogs are friendly animals);
A dog likes to eat far more than a human being (Any dog likes
that more than any human being);
147
A child needs love (All children need love);
A lion can be dangerous or The lion can be dangerous or Lions
can be dangerous;
6) The indefinite article is used before proper names of people, usually
placed before Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. + surname to show that the respective
person is a stranger to the speaker or the speaker does not know of
him/her. Imagine the chairmans secretary entering her boss office and
saying: - “A Mr. Brown would like to talk to you, Sir”. - it is obvious
that the secretary does not know Mr. Brown or of him.
7) The indefinite article is also used in set phrases; the use of the
indefinite article in them can only be accounted for by tradition: not a
word, not a trace, not a thought, at a draught, once a month, once
upon a time, once in a while, for a time, to pay a call on somebody,
just a moment, to catch a cold, as a matter of fact, as a rule, many a +
noun in the singular (many a students etc.) etc.
8) The indefinite article, a, is used with little and few to distinguish them
from the meanings of the forms without the indefinite article. Little and
few are adjectives or pronouns, while little can be an adverb, too.
Little shows a small quantity and can be used before uncountable nouns
(adjective) or instead of the same kind of nouns (pronouns), while few
shows a small number of things and can be used before countable nouns
(adjective) in the plural or to replace similar nouns (pronouns) in the
plural. Used without an indefinite article they mean a small quantity or
number or what the speaker considers to be a small quantity or number.
The additional meaning is that the respective quantity or number is also
insufficient under the circumstances (in Romanian: puţin/ă or puţini/-e),
e.g
or
I have little coffee left and I must buy some before the guests
come. (=Am cafea puţină şi trebuie să cumpăr până nu-mi vin
musafirii)
I have only recently moved to this town and I have few friends
here (=M-am mutat doar de curând în oraşul acesta şi am
puţini prieteni aici).
NOTE:
a) This meaning is generally confined to written English;
148
b) Particularly in spoken English the use of little or few is generally
avoided in such contexts because of the possible confusion with the
alternative forms (a little and a few), and other constructions are
preferred, e.g.
or
I dont have enough coffee and I must buy some before the guests
come
I have only recently moved to this town and I dont have too many
friends here.
c) Little and few can be used more freely when they are qualified by SO,
VERY, TOO, EXTREMELY, COMPARATIVELY, RELATIVELY
etc., e.g.
or
She was reluctant to going to that place because she knew so
little about it and its inhabitants;
Some of the students have too many dictionaries while others
have too few etc.
Used with the indefinite article, the two adjectives preserve the meaning
referring to the small quantity or number, but either of them is
considered enough under the circumstances (in Romanian: un pic/puţină
or câţiva/câteva), e.g.
or
If you want we can go to my place. I have a little coffee left and
we can chat over a cup of coffee (=Dacă vrei, putem să
mergem la noi. Am un pic/puţină cafea şi putem să tragem o
bârfă la o ceşcuţă de cafea)
I have a few grammar books and if you want I can lend you one
(=Am câteva cărţi de gramatică, şi dacă vrei pot să-ţi
împrumut şi ţie una.)
1.2.4. The indefinite article is not used
The indefinite article is not used with plural nouns as it does not have a
plural form, e.g. a boy/boys, a chair/chairs, an egg/eggs, an hour/hours
etc. An indefinite adjective is used with plural count nouns, e.g. some,
any etc. (see under section.
It is not used before uncountable nouns, e.g. names of substances:
bread, beer, cloth, coffee, cream, dust, gin, glass, oil, paper, tea etc.;
149
abstract nouns: advice, beauty, courage, experience, fear, help, hope,
information, relief, suspicion, work etc. (used in a particular sense,
some of these nouns can be used with an indefinite article); nouns
considered uncountable in English: baggage, damage, furniture,
luggage, parking, shopping, weather etc.
NOTE:
a) many mass/uncountable nouns can become countable when having a
second meaning or referring to an amount of something in a container,
e.g. if someone is offered a drink of whisky, it is normally assumed that
it is a certain quantity less than a bottle, so the standard question would
be Will/Would you like a whisky, professor?, i.e. a glass of whisky.
However, a beer can mean a bottle, a glass, a pint, a can of that
beverage. Here is a list of words which are frequently used in this way:
beer, brandy, coffee, Coke, gin, lager, rum, sherry, sugar, vodka,
whisky, yoghurt etc.
b) according to Berry, (1993:12) an uncountable noun can be converted
into a countable noun when the speaker means a type of or a variety
of something. For example, cheese is a general word for that particular
food and a cheese is a variety or kind of cheese, just as wine is the
general word and a wine is a variety of wine, e.g.
... a wine of the region.
I was impressed by a wine from Friuli.
Supper consisted of onion soup, black sausage with tomato salad
and a local cheese with herbs.
When boiled to setting point with an equal weight of sugar, they
make a very fine jam.
Here is a list of words which are frequently used in this way: beer,
brandy, cheese, coffee, detergent, jam, lager meat, medicine, metal,
paint, perfume, sauce, soup, tea, whisky, wine, wood etc.
The indefinite article is not used before names of meals, except in
special conditions, when they are preceded by an adjective or when a
post determiner follows the noun, e.g.
or
or
Students have lunch at 12;
We have dinner at 8;
My aunt invited us to dinner;
150
but
Mary was invited to a dinner given by her new boss;
They were served a very special breakfast;
151
2. THE NOUN
Along with the verb, the noun is the most important part of speech in
English. The noun is defined as the part of speech that denotes things*
(=beings, objects, ideas, feelings, actions, states, qualities etc.). Unlike
the article, it has a meaning of its own and in the morphological system
of the English language it is a principal part of speech. Some examples:
dog, man, Peter, Mary, Johnson, Brown, table, fidelity, love, hatred,
reading, doctor, redness, intention, bread, England, America, New
York, London, the Danube, the Mississippi, the Rocky Mountains etc.
2.1. Classification
simple
According to form, nouns can be: derivatives
compounds
obtained by other means


simple: a very large number of nouns in English consist of one root,
and frequently have only a single syllable, e.g. boy, girl, table,
chair, man, woman, France, John, Williams, America etc.
derivatives/nouns obtained by derivation, i. e. nouns obtained by
affixation from other words (adjectives, verbs, other nouns or, to a
smaller extent, other parts of speech); without having the intention
of providing a course in lexicology, we mention, briefly the most
productive noun-forming suffixes:
2.2. Proper noun forming suffixes
- SON (= son of) attaches to proper nouns making up family names, e.g.
Richard/SON, William/SON, Robert/SON, Ander/SON, David/SON etc.
- TOWN - attaches either to proper or common nouns, making up
proper names denoting places, e.g. Georgetown, Jamestown, Capetown,
Abbotstown, Beavertown, Bridgetown, Campbelltown, Camptown,
Charlestown, Chestertown etc.
152
- BURG(H) or BOROUGH attaches to proper or common nouns ,
making up proper nouns denoting towns, usually older (in the UK) or
which used to be primarily inhabited by a Germanic population or
immigrants, if the place is located in the USA, e.g. Edinburg or
Edinborough, Johannesburg, Crowborough, Childesburg, Beachburg,
Blossburg, Attenburg, Arnoldsburg, Christiansburg, Attleborough,
Attleboro (variant), Austinburg etc.
- CHESTER/-CESTER/-CASTER (< Lat. castrum), e.g. Manchester,
Rochester, Lancaster, Leicester, Chichester, Dorchester, Colchester etc.
- SHIRE, usually attaches to proper names to make up proper nouns
denoting a larger area, e.g. Lancashire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire,
Cheshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire etc.
- LAND, meaning country, county, larger area, attaches to common or
proper nouns, making up proper names like: England, Iceland, Scotland,
Finland, Ireland, Ashland, Auckland, Broomland, Cornland,
Cumberland etc.
- FIELD , attaches to a large variety of nouns, making up nouns
denoting places like: Darfield, Deerfield, Ashfield, Bakersfield, Bayfield,
Bettisfield, Bloomfield, Broomfield, Chatfield, Chipperfield etc.
- VILLE (<Fr. Ville) attaches to proper or common nouns, producing
proper nouns denoting names of places; this suffix is extremely
productive particularly in the USA in the areas formerly detained by the
French, and then the „model” spread all over the territory, e.g. Danville,
Brookville, Bartlesville, Bartonville, Barkeyville, Barryville, Beatyville,
Barkersville, Abbeville, Andersonville, Beachville, Beamsville,
Baysville, Bonneville, Adamsville, Angerville, Chesterville, Clarkville,
Clintonville, Cedarville, Centerville, Cartersville etc.
- FORD is relatively productive, making up names of places originally
situated near/around/along a ford; e.g. Abbotsford, Ashford, Battleford,
Bedford, Bradford, Battesford, Bayford, Cainsford, Crawford etc.
The suffixes mentioned above are some of the most productive in the
formation of place names (except - SON), but the list is much longer.
This is not the place to have this subject extensively discussed, but some
other potent suffixes can be mentioned, e.g. - bury, - bridge, - crook, hill, - port, - well, - wood, - view and many others.
153
2.3. Common noun forming suffixes
- ER/OR/AR [verb + (-er/or/ar)], denoting the doer of the action
designated by the base, e.g. learn/er, command/er, write/r, stop/per,
dig/ger, sing/er, sail/er (=the ship) etc.; act/or, sail/or, direct/or;
beg/gar etc.
– [noun + (-er)], to denote the class of individuals professionally
connected with what is expresssed by the nominal base, e.g.
bottle/r, neddle/r, jewel/ler, glove/r, tile/r, garden/er, rope/r,
girdle/r etc.
– [proper/common noun + (-er)] to denote the inhabitant of the
place the noun base denotes, e.g. London/er, New-Zealand/er,
Dublin/er, New-York/er, cottage/r, village/r, island/er,
highland/er, southern/er, mid-eastern/er, western/er etc.
- EER [noun +(-eer)] to denote someone/something connected to the
noun base; the nature of the connection is occupational, e.g.
pamphlet/eer, basket/eer, profit/eer, vacation/eer, racket/eer,
auction/eer etc.
- EE [transitive verbs that take animate direct object nouns + (-ee)],
the resulting noun denotes the person who suffers the action designated
by the base verb, e.g. employ/ee, assign/ee, grant/ee, refer/ee, trust/ee,
transfer/ee, nomin/ee, divorc/ee, train/ee, evacu/ee etc.
- ANT/ENT [verb + (-ant/ent)]; it makes up nouns denoting
objects/persons who perform the action designated by the base verb, e.g.
attend/ant, defend/ant, contamin/ant, depend/ant, resid/ent, solv/ent,
adher/ent, oppon/ent, refer/ent etc.
- ISM [proper/common noun + (-ism)]; the resulting nouns denote a
system, a principle, a doctrine, e.g. Calvin/ism, Aristotel/ism,
Platon/ism, Euphu/ism, Petrarch/ism, Lenin/ism, Gibbon/ism,
pagan/ism, expression/ism, ego/ism, protestant/ism, impression/ism,
favourit/ism, behaviour/ism, defet/ism, hero/ism etc.
[adjective + (-ism)]; attached to adjectives this suffix produces
nouns denoting a system founded on the quality denoted by the
adjective, e.g. Christian/ism, Cartesian/ism, Wesleyan/ism,
154
Catholic/ism, real/ism, imperial/ism, commun/ism, ideal/ism,
federal/ism etc.
- IST [noun + (ist)] attached to other nouns, this suffix produces nouns
denoting professions; it is very productive in Modern English and
usually attaches to Latin and Greek bases, e.g. anatomy/anatomist,
alchemy/
alchimist,
archeology/archeologist,
botany/botanist,
caricature/ caricaturist, cartoon/cartoonist, economy/economist,
physics/physicist,
psychiatry/psychiatrist,
piano/pianist,
parachute/parachutist etc.
- ATION (and its allomorphs: - ITION, -UTION, - TION, -ION)
attaches to verb bases producing deverbal abstract nouns. The
attachment of this suffix, and its allomorphs, requires a lot of
adjustments of the nouns, which are of no concern here, e.g.
edify/edification,
certify/certification,
pacify/pacification,
simplify/simplification, verify/ verification, organise/organisation,
formalise/formalisation,
brutalise/
brutalisation,
authorise/authorisation,
OR
consume/consumption,
presume/presumption,
resume/resumption,
assume/assumption,
deduce/deduction,
seduce/seduction,
introduce/
introduction,
reduce/reduction, induce/induction, reproduce/ reproduction etc.,
conceive/conception,
perceive/perception,
deceive/
deception,
receive/reception, describe/description, prescribe/ prescription,
redeem/redemption, absorb/absorption, destroy/ destruction, and with
allomorphs add/addition, compete/competition, define/definition,
imbibe/imbibition,
revolve/revolution,
dissolve/
dissolution,
resolve/resolution,
solve/solution;
permit/permission,
connect/connection, digest/digestion, decide/decision, concede/
concession, prevent/prevention, revise/revision, percuss/percussion, etc.
- MENT, closely rivals -ATION. It usually attaches to Romance or
native verb bases to make up abstract nouns meaning: act of X-ing,
concrete place connected with X, e.g. achieve/achievement,
advance/advancement,
agree/agreement,
appoint/appointment,
commence/commencement, assess/assessment, manage/management,
treat/treatment,
amuse/amusement,
assort/assortment,
engage/
engagement, amaze/amazement, settle/settlement, ship/shipment,
enlighten/enlightenment, embark/embarkment, besiege/besiegement,
bereave/bereavement, bewilder/bewilderment etc.
155
NOTE: not all words ending in -MENT are instances of derivation, e.g.
element, monument, garment regiment, ferment, torment, sediment,
segment; some of these words can be both nouns and verbs.
- AL attaches to Romance and native verb bases, producing abstract
nouns, e.g. arrive/arrival, aquit/aquital, deny/denial, remove/removal,
try/trial, dispose/disposal, receive/receival, revive/revival, refuse/
refusal, recite/recital, survive/survival, approve/approval, propose/
proposal, betray/betrayal etc.
- NESS is very productive in Mod. English and usually attaches to:
[adjective + (-ness)], e.g. bitter/bitterness, bright/brightness,
clean/ness, cool/coolness, good/goodness, greedy/greediness,
hard/hardness, idle/idleness, thick/thickness, big/bigness, dull/
dullness, common/commonness, kind/kindness etc.
[complex
adjectives
+
(ness)],
e.g.
wrongheaded/
wrongheadedness, levelheaded/levelheadedness, kindhearted/
kindheartedness, shortsighted/shortsightedness, straightforward/
straightforwardness etc.
[participial adjectives + (-ness)], e.g. drunken/drunkenness,
ashamed/ashamedness,
devoted/devotedness,
unexpected/
unexpectedness,
loving/lovingness,
knowing/knowingness,
shocking/shockingness, willing/willingness etc.
- ITY [adjective + (-ity)] generates nouns meaning: state or quality
characterized by X; because this suffix frequently modifies the base
stress pattern it is less productive than – NESS. The suffix - ITY
attaches to adjectives ending in -able, -ic, -al, -ous as well as to a large
variety of others, e.g. implaccable/implaccability, capable/capability,
respectable/respectability, agreeable/agreeability, excitable/excitability,
invincible/invincibility,
compatible/compatibility,
accountable/
brutal/brutality, casual/casualty, technical/technicality abnormal/
abnormality, formal/formality original/originality etc. AND ALSO
curious/curiosity, fabulous/fabulosity, various/variety, simultaneous/
simultaneity, atrocious/atrocity, credulous/credulity; profane/profanity,
verbose/verbosity, sterile/sterility, obese/obesity, serene/serenity,
profound/profundity etc.
- DOM [common nouns + (-dom)] makes up abstract nouns starting
from concrete ones, e.g. king/kingdom, sheriff/sheriffdom, rebel/
156
rebeldom,
spinster/spinsterdom,
savage/savagedom,
beggar/
beggardom, duke/dukedom, saint/saintdom, scholar/scholardom etc.
- HOOD [common nouns + (-hood)], with the meaning state
characterized by X; e.g. child/childhood, priest/priesthood (preoţie),
man/manhood, boy/boyhood, baby babyhood, maiden/maidenhood,
widow/widowhood, neighbour/ neighbourhood, master/masterhood,
monk/monkhood, woman/ womanhood etc. while some of the - HOOD
nouns have developed a second meaning, collectivity characterized by
X, brother/brotherhood, priest/priesthood (preoţime), maiden/
maidenhood, sister/sisterhood, lady/ladyhood etc.
- SHIP [common nouns + (-ship)] produces abstract nouns denoting
status or condition characterized by X, e.g. friend/friendship,
champion/championship, kin/kinship, lord/lordship, companion/
companionship, member/membership, lady/ladyship, doctor/doctorship,
craftsman/craftsmanship etc.
-ERY, and its allomorphs -ry, -y, triggered by the final consonant
(t/d/n) apply to nominal bases, generating a variety of meanings, e.g.
place of activity, behaviour characteristic of X, collectivity of X, e.g.
swan/swannery, hen/hennery, rabbit/rabbitry, pigeon/pigeonry, nun/
nunnery, baker/bakery, grocer/grocery, brewer/brewery; bigot/bigotry,
snob/snobbery, slave/slavery, devil/devilry, savage/savagery etc.
- ANCE and its allomorph, -ence, attaches to verbs, producing nouns
denoting processes, e.g. continue/continuance, appear/appearance,
clear/clearance,
assist/assistance,
inherit/inheritance,
accept/
acceptance; prefer/preference, confer/conference etc.
The above mentioned suffixes are by no means the only noun-forming
suffixes in English, but are, most assuredly, the most important through
their productivity in Modern English.
3. Compounds
Compound nouns play an important role in the English today because of
their large number in contemporary language; they can be divided into
several classes, according to various criteria, e.g.
 Transparency of meaning (transparent, non-transparent)
157



Constituting
elements
(structure,
i.e.
noun+noun,
verb+adverbial particle or preposition, adjective+noun,
pronoun + noun etc. )
Spelling (one word, two words, hyphenated); this criterion is
not identically observed in all varieties of English;
Direct compounds or conversions of already compound verbs
or adjectives etc.
Examples: (in the following enumeration the above criteria are not
observed step by step) armchair, blackboard, butterfly, blackmail, drivein, blackout, passer-by, man servant, woman servant, self-confidence,
mother-in-law, father-in-law etc., step-mother, editor-in-chief, he-wolf,
she-wolf, tomcat, pussycat, boy friend, girl friend etc.
4. Nouns obtained by other means of word-formation, e.g. UNO
(unidentified flying objects), VIP (very important person), exam
(<examination), Jap (< Japanese), strength (< strong), length (< long)
etc.
According to other criteria, nouns can be:
proper and common nouns, e.g. John, Thomas, William, England,
Romania, the Alps, the Danube, or mountain, boy, electricity,
development, reading, pronunciation, x-rays, book, carry-on etc.
concrete and abstract nouns, e.g. book, girl, car, engine, airport, soup,
radio, elephant, or beauty, development, sincerity, poverty,
tolerance, arrival, sheriffdom, neighbourhood, relationship etc.
countable and uncountable/mass nouns, e.g. table/s, chair/s, woman/
women, work/s, wife/wives, or bread, advice, information, coffee,
sugar, luggage, knowledge, hair etc.
2.4. Grammatical categories of nouns
It is in the tradition of English teaching to identify 3 main morphological
categories a noun can have in English, i.e. number, gender and case.
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2.5. Number
Definition - the form which a noun takes in order to show that we
refer to ONE or MORE representatives of a class of notions is called
number of nouns; the two forms are called singular when the noun
renders a single noun and plural when the noun assumes a form that
shows more than one element (this interpretation is not always perfect,
but seems to be the most acceptable for the time being).
Number in English is closely associated with the concept of
countability. Nouns fall, mainly, under two classes commonly referred
to as countables and uncountables, or count nouns/uncount or mass
nouns. The chief grammatical differences are that the uncountables
generally have no plural form (*butters, *oils, *breads, *informations )
and they cannot take the indefinite article a/an (*a butter, *an oil, *a
bread, *an information), while countables can (a cat, a dog, an egg).
Uncountables can take some/any/etc. or phrases denoting quantity, e.g.
Would you like some bread? (see under section. It is, however, possible
to 'switch' countables into uncountables and vice versa. We could say
Would you like some giraffe? to people who eat giraffe, or A petrol I
like very much is Brand X. Countable nouns may be treated as
uncountables if they are regarded as food, and uncountables as
countables when the meaning is 'a kind of...' But the semantics alone is
not enough; some words belong to both classes, e.g. cake: Would you
like a cake? Would you like some cake?
According to the category of number Leon Levitchi found that nouns
can be classified as follows:
Individual nouns: a) individual nouns proper; b) defective individual
nouns.
Unique nouns: a) proper noun equivalents; b) nouns of material; c)
abstract nouns considered as 'unique'.
Collective nouns: a) collective nouns proper; b) nouns of multitude; c)
individual nouns of multitude.
2.5.1. Individual nouns proper
The nouns in this class have a singular and a plural form; the plural form
is mostly regular* although there is a large range of irregular* forms
(*all these forms will be given below); they agree in number with the
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verb, i.e. the singular form takes a verb in the singular while the plural
noun takes a plural verb; they can be modified by adjectives or other
nouns, and can take determiners like: the indefinite article, indefinite
adjectives etc., e.g.
The boy is hungry/The boys are hungry;
The round table is more expensive than the square one;
The book shelves are empty;
Some English books are more expensive than others; etc.
2.5.1.1. Regular plurals

The plural of regular nouns is made up by adding an -s to the
singular: book/books, bag/bags, chin/chins, dog/dogs
door/doors,
reporter/reporters
experience/experiences,
example/ examples, waiter/waiters, discussion/discussions,
house/houses etc.

Nouns ending in a sibilant, i.e. -s, -ss, -z, -zz, -sh, (t)ch, -x form
their plural by adding -es [iz]: bus/buses, glass/glasses, buzz/
buzzes, bush/bushes, church/churches, box/boxes;
A number of nouns ending in -o form their plural by adding -es,
e.g. tomato/tomatoes, potato/potatoes, hero/heroes, mosquito/
mosquitoes, negro/negroes, volcano/volcanoes etc., but piano/
pianos, radio/radios, photo/photos, kilo/kilos, soprano/sopranos
casino/casinos, cuckoo/cuckoos, embryo/embryos, kangaroo/
kangaroos, studio/studios etc. add only an -s. Actually, nouns
ending in -o have become regular in American English and there is
a similar tendency in British English, although this fact has not been
formally accepted yet. The learner should not bother to distinguish
between the nouns that take only an –s as the plural ending or –es,
or the ones which have alternative forms.

Nouns ending in -y preceded by a consonant (consonant + -y )
or those ending in –quy form their plural by dropping the -y
and adding -ies, e.g. country/ countries, city/cities, lady/ladies,
baby/babies, cry/cries, candy/candies, soliloquy/soliloquies,
colloquy/colloquies etc.
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
Nouns ending in -y preceded by a vowel (vowel + -y) form
their plural by adding -s, e.g. boy /boys, day/days, guy/guys,
donkey/ donkeys, play/plays, toy/toys etc.

Several nouns ending in -f or -fe drop the -f or -fe and add
/ves. These nouns are: calf/calves, half/halves, knife/knives,
leaf/leaves, life/lives, loaf/loaves, self/selves, sheaf/sheaves,
shelf/shelves, thief/thieves, wife/wives, wolf/wolves, elf/elves
exception: still life – still lifes.

The nouns hoof, scarf, and warf take either -s or -ves in the
plural, i.e. hoof//hoofs/hooves, scarf//scarfs/scarves, warf/
/warfs/ warves;

other nouns ending in -f or -fe add -s in the ordinary way:
cliff/cliffs, handkerchief/handkerchiefs, roof/roofs, safe/
safes, etc.
The word house/s has an irregular pronunciation in the plural,
[hauziz].
2.5.1.2. Irregular plurals
There are nouns that form their plural:


by vowel change, e.g. man/men; woman/women, foot/feet,
tooth/teeth, goose/geese, louse/lice, mouse/mice; child/
children, ox/oxen, titmouse/titmice, dormouse/dormice, but
mongoose/ mongooses
some words which retain their original Greek or Latin forms
make their plurals according to the rules of Greek or Latin e.g.
-sis > ses, pronounced [sis/si:z] e.g. analysis/analyses, axis/axes,
crisis/crises, basis/bases, diagnosis/diagnoses, oasis/oases,
paranthesis/ parantheses, synthesis/syntheses, thesis/theses,
ellipsis/ellipses etc.
-um > a, e.g. agendum/agenda, erratum/errata, memorandum/
memoranda, sanatorium/sanatoria/sanatoriums, symposium/
symposia, aquarium/aquaria, bacterium/ bacteria, datum/data,
mausoleum /mausolea /mausoleums, spectrum/ spectra/
spectrums, stadium/stadia/stadiums, stratum/ strata etc.
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-us > i, e.g. terminus/termini, bronchus/bronchi, focus/foci,
radius/radii,
cactus/cacti,
fungus/fungi,
bacillus/bacilli,
nucleus/nuclei etc.
-non > a, e.g. phenomenon/phenomena, criterion/criteria;
a > ae, e.g. formula/formulae, alga/algae, larva/larvae etc.
Some Latin nouns may observe both the Latin and the English rule, the
Latin forms being preferred by scientists and educated people in general
while the English ones are used in current speech:
dogma/dogmae/dogmas,
formula/formulae/formulas,
gymnasi
um/gymnasia/gymnasiums etc.
Sometimes nouns can have two different plurals with different
meanings, e.g. appendix/appendixes/appendices (medical term),
index/indexes (in books)/indices (in mathematics) etc.
There is quite a large number of nouns (not necessarily of Latin origin)
which have double plural forms implying changes of meaning
(Leviţchi, 1970: 30)), e.g.
Singular
Plural
accomplishment - îndeplinire,
accomplishments
efectuare, săvârşire
- realizare
- realizări
- educaţie, cultură, maniere,
bună creştere
apartment - (amer.) apartament
apartments - apartamente
(în bloc)
- (ín Anglia) locuinţă cu chirie
lunară
arm - braţ
arms - braţe
- arme
ash - (no pl.) scrum
ashes - cenuşă
brother - frate
brothers - fraţi (în familie)
brethren - fraţi (în comunitate)
casualty - rănit
casualties - pierderi (răniţi, morţi)
cloth - stofă, material
cloths - stofe, materiale
clothes - haine, îmbrăcăminte
colour - culoare
colours - culori
- vopsele, culori
- drapel
combination - combinaţie
combinations - combinaţii
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commodity - obiect/articol de uz
compass - busolă
cow - vacă
- combinezon
commodities - obiecte/articole de uz
- marfă
compasses - busole
- compas
cows - vaci
kine - vaci, vite
contents - conţinuturi/cuprinsuri
- conţinuturi/capacităţi
content - conţinut/cuprins
- conţinut/capacitate
- (no pl.) conţinut (nu formă)
custom - obicei, datină
customs - obiceiuri, datini
- vamă; taxe vamale
direction - direcţie
directions - direcţii;
- directive
due - (no pl.) cele cuvenite
dues - taxe, impozite
- cotizaţii
element- element
elements - elemente
- elemente = stihii
- rudimente, baze
facility- (no pl.) uşurinţă, facilitate facilities - facilităţi = condiţii
favorabile
- facilităţi = aparatură
=echipament
genius - geniu
geniuses - genii (acelaşi sens)
(persoană superdotată)
genii - genii (= duhuri)
glass - sticlă; oglindă; pahar
glasses - varietăţi de sticlă;
oglinzi; pahare
- ochelari
- binoclu
green - (culoarea) verde
greens - varietăţi de verde
- pajişte (no pl.)
- legume
ground - (no pl.) pământ, sol; teren grounds - grădină, parc (în jurul
casei)
- zaţ, drojdii, sedimente
- motive = cauze; temei
honour - onoare, cinste (no pl.)
honours - onoruri
minute - minut
minutes - minute
- proces verbal
moral - morală (a unei fabule etc.) morals - moravuri, moralitate
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regard - (no pl.) consideraţie, stimă
respect - (no pl.) stimă, respect,
consideraţie
staff - toiag
- personal
- stat-major
- portativ
work - (no pl.) lucru, muncă
- lucrare, operă
regards - complimente
respects - salutări, omagii
staffs or staves - toiege
staffs - personaluri
staffs - state-majore
staffs or staves- portative
works - lucrări, opere
- uzină, fabrică
2.5.1.3. The plural of compound nouns
There is a general rule according to which the last word in a compound
is made plural if that last word is a noun (carrying the main idea), e.g.






noun + noun, e.g. boy - friend/boy - friends, travel agent/travel - agents, bookstore/bookstores etc.
the first noun is made plural in compounds composed of noun
+ preposition + noun, e.g. lady-in-waiting/ladies-in-waiting,
editor-in-chief/editors-in-chief,
sister-in-law/sisters-in-law,
brother-in-law/ brothers-in-law, ward-of-court/wards-of-court
etc.
the first word is made plural in compounds made up of verb + er nouns + adverbial particles, e.g. passer-by/passers-by,
hanger-on/hangers-on,
looker-on/lookers-on,
runnerup/runners-up etc.
verb (without nominal ending ) + adverbial particle nouns
get the inflectional suffix at the very end, e.g. take-off/take-offs,
break-in/break-ins etc.
compound nouns that have no nouns in their structure get the
- s at the very end, e.g. merry-go-round/merry-go-rounds,
forget-me-not/forget-me-nots etc.
in compounds consisting of man/woman + another noun both
parts are made plural, e.g. man servant/men servants, woman
servant/women servants, man driver/men drivers, woman
driver/ women drivers etc.
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2.5.2. Defective individual nouns
Defective individual nouns are always plural and take a plural verb;
they usually denote garments consisting of two parts e.g. breeches,
pants, pyjamas, trousers, shorts or tools and instruments also consisting
of two parts, e.g. binoculars, glasses, pliers, scales, scissors, shears,
spectacles, compasses, tongs etc., e.g.
Where are my glasses?
Your binoculars are broken;
But we can also say:
I bought a very nice pair of spectacles for Mary yesterday;
We need a new pair of compasses;
There are some nouns denoting parts of the body, e.g. bowels,
whiskers, entrails, sinews which take a plural verb and plural
determiners; these nouns cannot be used in the form without -s.
There are also other words including: arms, damages, earnings,
goods/wares, greens, grounds, outskirts, pains, particulars, premises/
quarters, riches, savings, stairs, surroundings, valuables, spirits whose
form stairs in - s has a completely different meaning from the form
without - s (the stem can be a noun, an adjective, or a present participle;
that is why the use of the term plural has been avoided); some of the
words mentioned above do not even have a form without - s; they take a
plural verb and plural determiners, e.g.
These stairs are dirty again;
Our valuables are in the safe etc.
The noun news is plural in form but can only take a verb in the
singular, and the predeterminers are in the singular or indefinite, e.g.
The news is good;
Some news is better not told.
One should not take any news for granted.
The nouns means (mijloc, mijloace), series (serie, serii) and species
(specie specii) are always plural in form but can be used with a
singular or plural verb according to the speaker’s wish. They can be
used with singular, plural or indefinite predeterminers, e.g.
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Their means of solving the problem was not the best one can
think of.
Some modern means of preventing tuberculosis are really very
efficient.
A series of lectures will be delivered by a famous professor
starting tomorrow.
There is a species of big cats/felines which is almost extinct.
The noun money has only a singular form and can take only a
singular verb; money is replaced by the pronoun it; it can take
determiners in the singular and also some, any e.g.
This is my money, it is not yours;
Mary needs some money etc.
2.5.3. Proper noun equivalents
These nouns have only the singular number and denote individualized
or unique objects; they are much like any other proper nouns but their
names coincide with the names of the objects themselves, e.g. the earth,
the sun, the moon, the east, the west, the south, the north, nature,
heaven, hell, paradise; names of languages, e.g. English, French,
German, Romanian, Arabic, Spanish, Italian etc. These nouns cannot
be used generically, i.e. to represent a class of objects; many of them are
used with a definite article. Sometimes, for stylistic reasons, they can be
used with an (indefinite/definite) article + adjective, e.g. a burning
hot sun was shining....; a full moon appeared from behind the trees;
his life was the most insufferable hell etc. Some of these nouns can,
accidentally, be used in the plural, a fact that brings about a slight
change in meaning, e.g. There are many suns in the universe.
2.5.4. Nouns of materials
This category of nouns denotes materials and substances and they are
usually mass nouns, e.g. bread, beer, cloth, coffee, cream, dust, gin,
glass, gold, ice, jam, oil, paper, sand, soap, stone, tea, water, wine,
wood etc.; they take a singular verb and they are not normally used
with the indefinite article a/an; we can say, however, e.g. two coffees,
please (= two cups of coffee), he had three beers (=three glasses of
beer/three cans of beer). If you want to be more specific, you can use
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words such as, e.g. loaf, slice, cup, cake, bar, piece, jar, spoonful, can,
glass, bottle, kilo, pound etc. But we can only say
His house is made of fine wood; (material)
Japanese houses are usually made of paper; (material)
That is a building made of steel and glass etc.(material)
That piece of information was definitely incorrect;
My mother has bought a very expensive piece of furniture etc.
Certain nouns of material have two different meanings of which one
can have a plural form, e.g. glass (material) - uncountable, but glass
(=pahar)/glasses, paper (material - uncountable, but paper/papers
(=newspaper)/newspapers, steel (material) - uncountable, but steel/
steels (varieties of ~), iron (material )/irons (=fieruri de călcat) etc.
A few nouns of materials have only the plural form and take a plural
verb, e.g. victuals, dregs, sweepings, spirits etc.
2.5.5. Abstract nouns considered as unique
Nouns in this category only have the singular form, although there are
situations when they are used in the plural, but then their abstract
character is less obvious, e.g. ...his comings and goings, Shakespeare's
writings etc. The nouns in this class can be grouped as follows, e.g.

actions and states, e.g. reading, expectation, course, writing etc.
that can be used in the plural, e.g.
Our expectations have been met etc.

qualities, e.g. readiness, timeliness, neighbourhood, childhood,
friendliness, strength, length, width, depth, truth, etc.; these nouns
are only used in the singular with a verb in the singular, e.g.
The truth is that I didn't know about their marriage etc.

philosophical and aesthetical categories, e.g. philosophy, history,
music, literature, the new, the old, the beautiful, the infinite, the
sublime, the fantastic, the grotesque; these nouns are always used
in the singular and take a verb in the singular, e.g.
The beautiful is one of the most important aesthetic categories;
The infinite is difficult to understand etc.
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
feelings, e.g. love, hatred, pity, desire, mercy, courage, death, fear,
hope, relief, suspicion; they are always used in the singular and
take a singular verb, e.g.
Love is the noblest feeling in the world etc.

doctrines, schools, currents, games, e.g. chess, tennis, football,
basketball, rugby, handball, cricket, backgammon, illuminism,
classicism, socialism, capitalism, nationalism, Renaissance,
Romaticism, etc. One should not forget that -ism is pronounced
[-izm]. E.g..
Football is an interesting game but rugby requires more strength;
Nationalism is not always good;

other categories, e.g. wealth, poverty, childhood, age, philosophy,
history, music, literature, art, white, read, yellow, chess, tennis,
football etc., e.g.
Yellow is my favourite colour;
Old age is never pleasant;
Football is the most widespread team game in the world;

The following abstract nouns are considered uncountable in
English, e.g. advice, news, information, knowledge, baggage,
luggage, furniture, hair; they take a verb in the singular and
cannot be used with an indefinite article, though with some/any
can; if the speaker wants to show very specifically that he means
only one item of the respective nouns, he can use one piece of,
one item of, etc., e.g.
Hair (all the hair on ones head) is considered uncountable, but if we
consider each hair separately, we can say one hair, two hairs etc., e.g.
Her hair is black; whenever she finds a grey hair she pulls it out;
Certain nouns can be countable when used in a particular sense, e.g.
experience meaning something which happened to someone is
countable, e.g. He had an exciting experience/some exciting
experiences;
work meaning - occupation/employment/a job/jobs is
uncountable, e.g. He is looking for work, while
works can mean factory, moving parts of a machine, or can
refer to literary or musical compositions, e.g. Shakespeares
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complete works were published by one of the most famous
publishing houses in England.
help can be countable in: My children are a great help to me; A
good map would be a great help.
relief is also countable in: It was a relief to sit down.
knowledge in: He had a good knowledge of mathematics.
Similarly, a mercy/pity/shame/wonder introduced by it can be used
with that-clauses/an infinitive, e.g.
or
It is a pity (that) you were not here;
Its a shame(that) he was not paid,
It would be a pity to cut down these trees;
A fear/fears, a hope/hopes, a suspicion/suspicions introduced by
there can be used with a that-clause, e.g.
There is a fear/There are fears that he has been murdered;
We can also have a suspicion that etc.

names of sciences - a number of words ending in -ics and denoting
names of sciences are plural in form and usually take a plural verb,
but a singular verb is also possible, e.g.
His mathematics are weak;
In our country physics are taught only in middle and high school;
though we can say:
Mathematics is an exact science or
Dynamics is a branch of physics etc

names of diseases and games - in spite of the plural form, these
nouns take only a verb in the singular, e.g. measles, mumps,
rickets; billiards, marbles, draughts, skittles etc., e.g.
Measles is a contagious disease;
Mumps is more dangerous in adults than in children;
Billiards is interesting but it does not equal marbles etc.
2.5.6. Collective nouns proper
Collective nouns proper e.g. crew, family, team, jury, government,
committee, club, corporation, ministry, majority, mankind etc. are all
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nouns denoting a group of people, therefore, semantically they are
plurals (and take a plural verb) although in point of grammar they are
singulars (and can take a singular verb). They are used as collective
nouns, taking a verb in the plural, when the speaker wants to point out
that every member of the group has performed a certain action, or the
speaker can decide to use a verb in the singular if he is not interested in
that emphasis; so, it can be said:
The jury are considering their verdict or
The jury is considering its verdict and the meaning is just the
same.
However, there are rare instances when the word is clearly used to mean
a single group or unit and then the verb should be in the singular, e.g.
but
Our team is the best;
Their family consists of 4 persons etc.
Our team are wearing their new jerseys;
The crew are adeck;
The committee have decided to support us (each and every
member).
The nouns in this class can be preceded by possessive adjectives or
demonstrative adjectives in the singular only, e.g.
Her family were away;
That government was denied the right to rule the country any
longer etc.
These same nouns can function as regular countable nouns, e.g.
crew/crews, family/families, team/teams, jury/juries, government/
governments etc., taking a verb in the singular or in the plural as
required, e.g.
Mr. Browns family is large but our families are even larger;
The government of our country has decided to join the EU and is
taking the adequate measures;
The post-war governments were engaged in a cold war that
lasted for decades;
People, animals or things are taken as collective nouns by words with a
restrictive usage, e.g.
a panel of experts
170
a troupe of dancers
a staff of teachers
a bevy of girls
a company of actors
a gang of thieves etc.
2.5.7. Nouns of multitude
Nouns of multitude are a variety of the collective nouns, the former
being rather inconsistent as far as their characteristics are concerned; the
most frequent are: people, gentry, folk, poultry, the military, police,
clergy, foot (infantry), vermin, cattle; their common characteristic is
that all take exclusively a verb in the plural; BUT while people, folk,
poultry can take some, demonstratives in the plural and numerals,
others, like military, police, clergy or foot cannot. E.g.
Some/Five/These people are waiting in the other room, but we
cannot say
* Thirty police are following the thief. Instead, we must say
Thirty policemen are following the thief;
We can say
Some folk are very inquisitive but we cannot say
*Some police are doing their jobs etc.
Names of peoples as the English, the French, the Swiss, the Japanese,
the Chinese, the Spanish, the Dutch and any such names ending in -ss,
-(t)ch, -ese take a plural verb e.g.
The English have won the match;
The French like red wine and cheese etc.
2.5.8. Individual nouns of multitude
Individual nouns of multitude are, in fact, nouns denoting various
creatures, e.g.
Deer, sheep never change and take either a singular or a plural verb.
They saw three deer in the Nottingham forest.
A sheep was grazing on the meadow.
They bought ten sheep and a cow.
171
Fish, carp, cod, mackerel, pike, plaice, salmon, squid, trout etc.
normally take a singular verb. These nouns do not change in the plural
but if used in a plural sense they would take a plural verb; they can take
numerals and the verb form is dictated by the determiners, if there are
any, e.g.
Mary has bought three trout;
My friend has sold ten sheep;
John caught ten salmon yesterday;
The three trout are in the kitchen sink;
Ten sheep were bought and taken to Johns farm etc.
There are some nouns denoting varieties of fish that can be used in the
plural form and would take a plural verb, e.g. crabs, eels, herrings,
lobsters, sardines, sharks.
The noun game, used by sportsmen to mean an animal/animals hunted,
is always in the singular, takes a singular verb and indefinite
predeterminers. Nouns like duck, partridge, pheasant etc. have a dual
functioning, sportsmen use them in the singular form, meaning both a
singular and a plural, while other people would normally add an -s for
the plural and use either a singular or a plural verb, depending on the
form chosen.
2.6. Gender
In an inflected language, GENDER is a grammatical category of nouns;
usually masculine, feminine and neuter they are declined in accordance
with the corresponding declension patterns of the respective language
(see any of the Romance languages, German, Slavic languages etc.). In
such a language articles and adjectives are also inflected and agree in
number, gender and case with the noun they modify. Therefore, in an
inflected language it is important to know whether a noun belongs to
any of the grammatical genders in order to attach to it the modifiers in
the corresponding form (see Romanian, e.g. casă frumoasă, băiat
frumos, scaun frumos etc.)
English is an analytical language, i.e. one in which the relations among
words are mainly based on the use of prepositions, auxiliary verbs, word
172
order etc. and very little on changing the basic form of the words. If the
category of number is strongly represented in nouns, that of gender is
grammatically absent because nouns in English cannot be classified in
terms of agreement with articles, adjectives or even verbs (Palmer, F.
idem) - articles and adjectives are invariable as far as gender is
concerned. According to Frank Palmer, treating English nouns in terms
characteristic of Latin only because that is the type of grammar mostly
accepted in European linguistics is a mistake, on the one hand, and a
grave distortion of the English. It is true that in English there are pairs of
words of the type man/woman, boy/girl, stallion/mare, brother/sister,
uncle/aunt etc. but this is a lexical feature, not a grammatical one,
related to sex, not gender. We should talk of these, then, in terms of
male and female not masculine and feminine. According to Palmer
(idem), if we divide up the words in English according to the pronouns
used to replace them we find not three classes but seven, since some
words are referred to by two or three pronouns, e.g.
he
she
it
he, she
he, it
she, it
he, she, it
- man, boy, uncle
- woman, girl, aunt
- table, chair, tree
- doctor, teacher, cousin
- bull, ram, boar
- ewe, sow, ship*
- cat, dog, thrush
*there is one odd word here ship, and we can add car, boat, engine. It
could be argued that since these are sometimes referred to as she that
English has gender, since this is not a matter of sex but of the arbitrary
kind of classification found in French, Romanian etc. But, first, these are
very few in number (and we should not wish to build a grammatical
category on a few examples) and they belong to a clearly defined class
of mechanical things. We can add to this class, and in recent years,
plane and hovercraft. This is not then a matter of grammatical gender
at all but simply that she is used for females and mechanical objects (a
class defined semantically). Where there is co-reference with reflexives,
it might seem we have agreement within the clause, and a similar point
could be made with emphatic forms with -self since we find The boy
himself and The boy hurt himself not *The boy hurt herself. But this is
still determined by sex, not grammatical gender. The choice of one of
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the following will depend on a judgement about sex: The dog bit
himself/The dog bit herself/The dog bit itself (Palmer idem)
In conclusion, when discussing English gender (another term is needed,
but sex is not acceptable and another one has not yet been invented),
readers should be warned that the term is used to mean reference to
biological sex and not to the abstract grammatical category. Modern
linguists suggest that English nouns should be divided into two large
classes:
animate - within this class, according to their natural sex, nouns can
denote males and females, usually referred to as he or she (though
it is sometimes possible);
inanimate - i.e. nouns denoting things, abstractions, natural phenomena,
feelings, actions, states, qualities etc.
Within the class of animate nouns male and female are rendered by a
variety of means, e.g.
 by a pair of distinctive words (not instances of derivation), e.g.
bachelor/spinster, boy/girl, brother/sister, bull/cow, cock/hen,
daddy/mammy, dog/bitch, drake/duck, earl/countess, father/
mother, gander/goose, fox/vixen, stallion/mare, king/queen,
husband/wife, lord/lady, man/woman, master/mistress, monk/nun,
nephew/niece, ox/cow, ram/ewe, son/daughter, uncle/aunt,
wizard/witch etc.
 by suffixation, from nouns denoting male creatures, e.g. actor/
actress, baron/baroness, emperor/empress, heir/heiress, tiger/
tigress, host/hostess, lion/lioness, prince/princess, steward/
stewardess,
waiter/waitress,
hero/heroine,
administrator/
administratrix, sultan/sultana etc.
 by using different words that clearly state the sex of the key
noun, e.g. man/woman, preceding or following the key noun,
man/maid, lord/lady, boy/girl, cock/hen, bull/cow etc. can be used
to make up compounds whose gender is clearly stated; male and
female are very general in use and can be chosen whenever we do
not know what other word to choose to distinguish a female creature
from the male one, e.g. man servant/woman servant, man
character/woman character, (man) teacher/woman teacher. Man/
woman/lady in front position, however, are not very common in
distinguishing the sexes of the nouns denoting professions because
174
this distinction is either irrelevant in the context or, if necessary, it
can be done by using the personal pronoun, possessive adjectives or
pronouns or various other lexical means, e.g. My English teacher is
a very special person - the sex is not stated, but the speaker might
continue: She is a real professional - this time the sex has been
stated, or It is a she who …etc.
There are lots of nouns denoting professions and various other notions
which have only one form for both sexes, the distinction being made in
the context, e.g. architect, artist, associate, author, beginner, buyer,
child, client, companion, owner, painter, photographer, physician,
physicist, manager, passenger, philosopher, physiologist, pilot, player,
worker, writer etc. In final position, however, man/woman/person are
usually interchangeable and necessary to state the profession and the sex
of the person performing it. Such nouns denoted initially male persons,
but, in the course of time the term for the other sex appeared necessary,
e.g. gentleman/gentlewoman, policeman/ policewoman, salesman/
saleswoman,
milkman/milkwoman,
chairman/chairwoman/
chairperson, barman/barmaid, landlord/landlady, boyfriend/girlfriend
(=lover/sweetheart), schoolboy/schoolgirl etc.
Birds and animals can be distinguished, by specific words (cock/hen,
bull/cow etc.) e.g. cock-sparrow/hen-sparrow, cock-bird/hen-bird, bull
camel/cow camel, bull elephant/cow elephant, and also male or female
bird or animal.

proper nouns and the personal pronoun he/she are sometimes
used to distinguish sex in animals, e.g. tomcat, Tomcat/pussycat,
Pussycat, Billy goat/Nanny goat etc., he wolf/she wolf, he
parrot/she parrot, he bear/she bear, he eagle/she eagle; the terms
male and female can also do the trick.
For animals and birds there is a common gender noun that is used as the
name of the species and also two distinct names for the two biological
sexes, e.g.
Common gender/male animal female animal
bear
cat
cattle
he-bear
tomcat
bull
she-bear
pussycat
cow
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deer
dog
duck
elephant
buck
dog
drake
bull-elephant
doe
bitch
duck
cow-elephant etc.
NOTE: When a human noun is replaced by a pronoun and the sex is not
known or specified, traditionally he is used rather than she, e.g. A
martyr is someone who gives up his life for his beliefs; however,
nowadays, this bias toward the male term is widely avoided, and he or
she (or him or her etc.) is often used instead, e.g. A martyr is someone
who gives up his or her life for his or her beliefs; as this example
shows, however, he or she etc. can have an awkward effect, especially
if repeated. Another method of avoiding sex bias, well established in
<spoken English>, is the singular use of they, e.g. A martyr is someone
who gives up their life for their beliefs. This ungrammatical mixing of
singular and plural is making its way into <informal> writing. Since
none of the above alternatives is entirely satisfactory, it is often possible
to avoid the problem of sex-neutral third-person reference by changing
from the singular to the plural, e.g. Martyrs are people who give up
their life/lives for their beliefs; here, of course, the use of they causes
no problem in itself, although indirectly it may cause other problems,
such as whether to use life or lives in the above example. Other
solutions to the problem of how to avoid male bias include the use of the
subjective pronoun s/he, the use of he and she and the use of she as a
sex-neutral pronoun. The mixed form s/he is convenient in writing, but
has the disadvantage of not having any oblique forms such as *s *him
or *s/his. Another disadvantage is that its pronunciation is not
distinguishable from that of she.
2.6.1. Sex and gender determiners
Nouns denoting beings other than man are either masculine or feminine,
when their sex is expressed by pairs of antonyms (see above). Nouns
denoting beings other than man and having no gender antonyms are
generally treated as objects and are therefore replaceable by it. This
happens particularly when no special attention is given to them, when it
is considered unnecessary to specify their sex, when the animals are
very small, or when their sex is unknown. Special attention should be
176
paid to pet animals, animals presented as characters in fables etc.
because they are treated either as masculine or feminine, e.g
or
Soon a little folk of sparrows and other small birds assembled to
feed as usual. One of them sat on the edge of the tray and was
just going to hop in, when she spied the caterpillar. (John
Lubbock, The Beauties of Nature).
The brave little insect never remained there, she came out in the
search of her friends (ibid.);
The fox had only thin soup to eat, and he put it in a flat soupplate.
The crane was a tall bird. She had a long neck and a long bill, so
she could not eat from a soup-plate (Stories about Insects and
Birds);
An otter, curled in the dry upper hollow of the fallen oak, heard
them, and uncurling, shook herself on four short legs (H.
Williamson, Tarka and Otter).
Such examples as these point to the importance of context in order to
establish both the gender of the noun and the speakers attitude towards
the animal etc. which it denotes. In their dictionary state, these nouns
resemble nouns in the inanimate class; it is important to notice that
sometimes gender of nouns is determined by subjective criteria, such as
the speakers attitude of love, depreciation, indifference etc. not only by
objective ones (real sex).
Personification can affect a large variety of inanimate nouns, and,
consequently, these nouns take sex-marked determiners (his/her,
him/her) and the Saxon genitive, e.g. ships (vessels of any kind) and
cars are generally feminine and take feminine determiners; train and
plane are occasionally feminine etc.
2.7. Case
Like in all languages the case expresses a relation between certain
parts of speech but the category of the case has acquired specific
characteristics in English. According to most contemporary
grammarians there are only two cases in English: the common case (i.e.
the nominative, the dative and the accusative) and the possessive case
177
(the genitive); other grammarians accept the existence of three cases in
English, i.e. the nominative, the genitive and the objective. In Old
English there were four cases characterized by a large number of
inflections, as Old English was still a highly inflected language like all
the other Germanic languages to which it belongs. Has the
disappearance of the case inflections led to the disappearance of the
cases? The answer is no. What has actually disappeared is the endings
characterizing three of the cases, but their functions have remained, and
are realized in other ways, i.e. word order [The girl (nominative) saw the
boy (accusative)] and the use of prepositions [I made it for Mary] etc.
Since cases express a relation between certain parts of speech, the
function that a noun has in the sentence will be the reason for accepting
four cases in English, i.e. the nominative, the genitive, the dative and the
accusative, each corresponding to at least one important function. This is
useful in studying English in relation to the inflected Romanian which
has five cases ...., the vocative in English is considered a form of the
nominative and is called  the nominative of address.
2.7.1. The nominative
The nominative is the basic form of the noun, and syntactically, may
discharge the function of:

a subject, e.g.
John/The student has been asked to repeat the question;
The doctors were very busy;
Tom and Jerry are famous cartoon characters etc.

a predicative, e.g.
His son was an extremely good student;
Michaela is a very good teacher etc;

an apposition, e.g.
Mr. Brown, the English teacher, invited all his students to a
party;
The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twains masterpiece,
was written in the second half of the 19th century etc.;
178

the nominative of address replaces in certain grammars the
vocative, e.g. Come in, John!
There are also several constructions with the nominative

the nominative with the infinitive, e.g.
Tom was believed to have escaped disguised as a clown;
He is thought to be hiding in the woods;
He is supposed to be washing the car;
They are believed to have landed in America etc.
This construction is used after:
intransitive verbs: seem, appear, happen, chance, prove, turn out etc.,
e.g.
He seemed to be happy with his present;
They appeared to like their new house;
declarative verbs in the passive: say, declare, report, announce, assert,
proclaim, pronounce, reveal, suppose, e.g.
The little boy was reported to be missing;
John Williams was declared to be guilty of murder;
NOTE: suppose in the passive can have two meanings, i.e. the passive
meaning of the verb and obligation. Compare the following examples:
He is supposed to live in Paris (=we suppose that he lives in
Paris) and
You are supposed to know the laws of your country (=it is your
obligation to know the laws of your country);
She is supposed to finish her work soon (=we assume that she will
finish her work soon OR she is obliged to finish her work
soon, the meaning depending on the larger context)
after the link verb BE + likely/unlikely, sure, certain, e.g.
She is unlikely to arrive tonight;
He is likely to leave tomorrow;
He is sure to finish soon;

the nominative with the present participle, e.g.
179
They were caught stealing the apples;
She was found writing a letter etc.
In meaning this construction is very similar with the Nominative with
the Accusative; the nominative with the present participle is frequent
with verbs that can take the Accusative with the present participle (see,
hear, notice, watch, feel, observe, find, leave, set, catch, send etc). It
consists of subject + verb in the passive + present participle, e.g.
The girl was seen leaving the house;
The man was found dying;
The boy was caught stealing apples;
She was left crying.

the Absolute Nominative Construction (Gălăţeanu, Comişel,
1992: 199). The absolute nominative is used when the subject of the
construction with the infinitive or participle (present or past) is
different from the subject of the clause containing a predicative
verb. The absolute nominative construction contains in its structure
a noun in the nominative and an infinitive/present or past participle
which is in predicative relation with the noun, e.g.
They forwarded the heavy equipment by sea, the perishables to be
sent by air;
The original text being too difficult, he asked for a translation;
His hopes attained, he was perfectly happy.
NOTE: the subject of the Absolute Nominative Construction with the
present participle may be anticipated by IT or THERE, e.g.
There being nothing to say, they sat looking at each other.
This construction is used to contract adverbial clauses of time, cause,
condition and they are infrequent in spoken language, but rather
frequent in written English.
2.7.2. The genitive or the possessive case
The genitive, or more frequently called the case of possession, or the
possessive case expresses a multitude of relations in English. There are
two types of genitive in English, i.e. the synthetic genitive or Saxon
genitive and the analytical one or prepositional as it is usually called.
180
The uses of the two forms of the genitive are not exclusive; they are
sometimes interchangeable although there are instances when only one
can be used, the other form being, normally, unacceptable.
The synthetic genitive has survived from Old English and expresses a
large number of relations in Modern English.
2.7.2.1. Form
The synthetic genitive is marked by an s or only by a () which is
attached to the noun/noun equivalent representing the possessor and is
followed by the object possessed; depending on the form of the noun it
is attached to, one or the other of the specific endings is used, e.g.
possessor + the (s) inflection + object possessed is used when there
is:
common nouns in the singular e.g. the childs book, my mothers
watch; his sons name etc;
irregular plural nouns, e.g. the mens coats; the womens hairstyle; the
childrens parents etc;
names consisting of several words, e.g. Henry the Eighths wife, the
Prince of Waless helicopter etc.
with compounds, the mark of the genitive being added after the last
word, e.g. my brother-in-laws car, the editor-in-chiefs authority
etc;
with words consisting of initials, e.g. the PMs secretary, the VIPs
escort etc.
A simple apostrophe () is added after:
regular nouns in the plural, e.g. the boys book, his parents arrival,
the wolves habits etc.
classical names ending in -s usually add only an apostrophe(), e.g.
Archimedes law, Sophocles plays, Hercules works, Pythagoras
theorem etc.
other names ending in -s can take either an s or only an apostrophe
(), e.g. Mr. Jones house or Mr. Joness house; Yeats poems or
Yeatss poems etc.
181
NOTES:
the attributes of a noun in the genitive are not inflected, e.g. my sister
Marys new dress, his friend Peters contribution to the paper.
the genitive of a group is marked only at the end, e.g.
John and Marys apartment = John and Mary own the same
apartment;
Mother and fathers decision = mother and father made the same
decision, while
when the object is own separately, the sign of the genitive is added to
each of them, e.g.
Johns and Georges cousins = Johns cousins + Georges
cousins;
The boys and the girls suits = the boys suits + the girls suits
etc.
2.7.2.2. Uses of the synthetic/Saxon genitive
The synthetic genitive is used:

preferentially with several classes of nouns, although the
prepositional construction can be sometimes used alternatively e.g.
with common nouns denoting persons; it is not normal, however,
to say *the son of the man when the mans son is easier and clearly
renders the essence of the construction, i.e. the man has a son or that
the son belongs to a man; so, we say the womans daughter, the
aunts refusal, the teachers trip to London, a rich mans car etc.
The prepositional construction is preferred when the possessor is
followed by a post determiner (an of-phrase, a relative clause etc.),
e.g.
John is the son of the man who came to our house yesterday.


with proper nouns, names of persons, e.g. Jacks son, Henrys
brother, Shakespeares poems, Washington’s fame, dr. Brown’s
surgery, my daughter’s new dress etc.
with common or proper nouns denoting animals, e.g. the cats bowl,
the horses shoe, Spots tail etc.
182
 with names of countries, especially when the speaker attaches
importance /affection to them (=personification), e.g.
Englands sons have always fought for her freedom and welfare
etc.
Europe’s future depends on all its inhabitants.
Taiwan’s economic developments has been astonishing lately.




with nouns denoting chronological divisions, measurements,
distances, prices, weight, and the word worth, e.g. a ten minutes
talk, a days work, yesterdays newspaper, a ten minutes talk, at
ten miles distance, ten pounds worth of ice cream etc.
personifications of the nouns denoting vehicles and mechanical
things, e.g. ships, trains, cars, airplanes: the ships mast, the
gliders wings, the trains heating system etc.
in phrases and idioms, e.g. a foots difference, at a stones throw,
for heavens sake, for goodnesss sake, for charity’s sake,
journeys end, the waters edge, on a razor’s edge, to ones hearts
content, for mercys sake, in the winds eye, to a hairs breadth,
for pitys sake, out of harms way, at ones wits end, at ones
fingers end, the water’s surface, at (an) arm’s length, within
arm’s reach, etc. or
in a double genitive (a prepositional genitive and a synthetic one);
the original sense of such structures was selective but in Modern
English the meaning has extended considerably, e.g.
He was a friend of Smiths;
Have you read that book of Johns? (slight derogatory attitude)
etc.
The double genitive is important because it enables the speaker to make
a difference in meaning between, e.g.
a picture of my mother (the picture showing my mother) and
a picture of my mother’s (the picture belongs to my mother)
a painting of Rembrantd (a painting showing Rembrandt) and
a painting of Rembrantd’s (one painted by him)

two synthetic genitives are sometimes possible, e.g.
That boys friends jacket is on the chair;
Toms uncles car is expensive;
Their friends uncles apartment;
183
Olivias sisters hair is blonde etc.

in the implicit genitive: initially, this type of constructions
contained a standard synthetic genitive which, for the sake of
simplicity and in order to make the construction shorter (particularly
in written media) has agglutinated to the word preceding it or the
apostrophe () marking the genitive has been dropped, e.g. the
United Nations Organization < the United Nations Organization,
the Students Organization < the Students Organization etc.

names of the owners of some businesses can take a synthetic
genitive form, e.g. Sothebys, Claridges etc.; some very wellknown shops call themselves by the possessive form and some drop
the apostrophe (), e.g. Foyles, Harrods, Carmens etc.
Omission of the accompanying noun
When a noun has been mentioned previously or when it would be a
word like house, office, church, shop, surgery etc. and particularly
when the synthetic genitive is preceded by a preposition the head noun
is usually left out and only the genitive is retained, e.g.
or
Is it your bicycle? No, it is my brothers. (the object was
mentioned before, so there is no need to repeat it);
to go to the bakers (shop), to go to the doctors (surgery), the
entrance to Saint James (church);
They are going to their uncles (house);
Lets go to Anns (house);
We bought it at the greengrocers (shop) etc.
2.7.2.3. The analytical/prepositional genitive
It is an alternative form to the synthetic genitive; its form is object
possessed + OF + possessor, e.g. the colour of the fence, the wall of
the house, the roof of the house etc. This type of genitive is used:
when differences in meaning are involved, e.g. a picture of my mother
= a picture representing my mother; a picture of my mothers = a
picture belonging to my mother (it is irrelevant what is in the
picture);
184
when a prepositional phrase or relative clause must be attached to the
possessor and the use of the synthetic genitive would generate
confusion, e.g. * This is the boys book who came yesterday is
incorrect because it means that the book came yesterday, so This is
the book of the boy who came yesterday is the only admissible form
etc.
the prepositional form is preferred when the modifying noun phrase is
long, e.g. the departure of the 4.30 train for London and not *the
4.30 train for Londons departure which is at least confusing;
in a partitive genitive, e.g. a cloud of dust, a barrel of beer, a bottle of
milk, a glass of water, a vase of flowers, a litre of oil, a game of
cards, a pair of scissors, a pair of shoes, a pair of trousers etc.

the genitive of gradation which is a synonym of the absolute
superlative, e.g. the book of books, the beauty of all beauties, the
king of kings, the prince of princes etc.
NOTE: with inanimate possessors the prepositional genitive may be
replaced by attributive constructions, e.g. the walls of the house = the
house walls; the keys of the car = the car keys; the legs of the table =
the table legs etc.
2.7.3. The dative case
The dative is the case which shows towards whom or towards what
the action denoted by the verb is directed and syntactically,
discharges the function of an indirect object. The dative is marked by
the prepositions TO and FOR or by strict word order, e.g.
He gave the man a book = he gave a book to the man (the
construction is used under certain conditions);
He made me a sandwich = he made a sandwich for me.
The preposition FOR is used when the action is made instead of
somebody or in somebody s benefit (see above).
The relative interrogative pronoun corresponding to the dative is WHO
(the form WHOM- theoretically correct- is considered very formal and
is never used in spoken language), e.g.
185
WHO does this car belong to? is perfectly acceptable in English
today; the form with the preposition preceding WHOM is
considered formal and rather old fashioned.
*To WHO(m) does this car belong ?
The preposition FOR is used with the following verbs: buy, choose, do,
leave, make, order, reserve, spare, prescribe etc., e.g.
(1) Mother bought her/Mary a nice dress.
(2) Mother bought a pair of shoes for her/Mary.
(3) I made him a sandwich.
(4) I made the sandwich for Mary because she was busy packing.
NOTE: - forms 1 and 3 are commonly used, unless the direct object is
long or is followed by a post determiner, a relative clause etc.
Sometimes verbs that usually take a TO indirect object may take a
FOR indirect object provided the user is aware of the difference, e.g. I
wrote a letter TO my mother (=for her to receive) and I wrote a letter
FOR my mother (=presumably she has a broken arm and is not able to
write the letter herself = instead of her)
The dative case is used:
after certain intransitive verbs that require a personal indirect object:
come, happen, occur, propose, submit, surrender, yield etc., e.g.
He came to me/my mother;
It never happened to him to meet such a wonderful person;
It occurred to her that he might be just lying to her;
He proposed to her and he never thought that she would refuse
him.
after transitive verbs (see page 58/1, 2, 3)
after certain nouns: attitude, cruelty, kindness, surprise etc. The
indirect object is introduced by the preposition TO, e.g.
Her attitude to animals was surprising;
The warriors cruelty to their prisoners was astounding;
It was a surprise to me that the police released the delinquent in
a matter of hours;
after certain adjectives that imply comparison: adequate,
corresponding, equal, equivalent, similar, inferior, superior, e.g.
186
The result was not equal to his effort;
Man is superior to animals;
Johns paper is very similar to Peters;
2.7.3.1. The place of the direct and indirect objects
For the sake of simplicity, and in order to deal with this issue only once,
we will consider the order of the direct object and indirect object at a
time, in the following paragraphs.
When the objects are expressed by nouns, the preferred order is
VERB+INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT, e.g. I gave
John/my friend/the man a book. However, if the user wants to adds a
determiner after the direct object, the two objects switch places and the
indirect object is introduced by the preposition TO/FOR, e.g. I gave a
book to the man in blue/who came yesterday/you met two days ago.
Direct and indirect objects expressed by nouns and/or pronouns - table
of compatibilities:
I gave the man a book.
I gave a book to the man (in blue).
*I gave him it (unacceptable).
I gave it to him.
*I gave the man it (unacceptable).
I gave it to the man.
When the direct object is expressed by a pronoun form, the direct object
must come immediately after the verb and the indirect object is
introduced on the second position by the preposition TO/FOR.
According to the place of the direct and indirect objects, verbs fall into 3
main classes:
1) of the type GIVE: deny, hand, lend, offer, pay, read, tell, throw,
write, that can be followed by the direct and indirect objects in either
order, depending only on other constraints, e.g.
or
I lent John a lot of money;
I lent a lot of money to one of your best friends.
They offered me a well-paid job;
187
They offered a well-paid job to one of the immigrants who passed
the job interview.
2) of the type ASK (some are double transitive verbs): cost, save,
charge, wish etc. that require the person object (if there is one) on the
first position, immediately after the verb, e.g.
I asked (John/them) a lot of questions;
*I asked a question to John (unacceptable)
They charged (us) a lot;
It cost (them/my parents) a fortune.
3) of the type EXPLAIN: address, announce, communicate, describe,
introduce mention, relate, repeat etc. that require the indirect object to
be introduced by a preposition, whether it comes after the direct object
or not, e.g.
The teacher explained (the lesson/it) to his students;
*The teacher explained his students the lesson (unacceptable)
She introduced him to her parents;
She addressed the letter/it to her mother.
2.7.4. The accusative case
The accusative is the case of the direct object and its place in a sentence
is after a transitive verb; for the place of the direct object see the
explanations under the dative case, section 2.7.3.1. The accusative is
unmarked in English and can be identified according to its place or
prepositions, other than TO/FOR; The boy (subject) saw the girl (direct
object); if we switch the two nouns in this sentence and say The girl
(subject) saw the boy (object), the meaning is reversed; the noun or
noun equivalent that is on the right hand side of the verb is the direct
object, while the noun/noun equivalent that precedes the verb is the
subject. Or They were walking through the forest (prepositional
object).
There are double transitive verbs that can be used with two direct
objects, e.g. ask, envy, excuse, forgive, save, strike etc. Examples:
188
She asked him several questions;
They envy me my beautiful garden;
They saved me a lot of trouble.
The accusative is used:

after transitive verbs: drink, eat, meet, need, plant, seek etc.,
e.g.
She drinks a coffee every day;
We ate the cake with pleasure;
We met them at the station;
He needs love;
They planted some fruit trees;

the accusative of content is an accusative akin to the verb which
the former accompanies; usually an intransitive verb is used as
a transitive one in these combinations, e.g. to dream a nice
dream, to smile a broad smile, to live a miserable life, to laugh
a loud laugh, to die a heroic death, to fight a just fight, to
weep bitter tears, to smell sweet smell etc.
They lived a miserable life in spite of their hard work.
My parents died in WW 2 but they were strongly convinced that
they were fighting a just fight for the liberation of their
country.
The child was smiling in his sleep and the mother was
convinced that he was dreaming a beautiful dream.

after prepositions other than TO/FOR, e.g.
She is looking at John/at me;
I left the book with the secretary;
She put her bag on the chair.
The direct object can be expressed by:

a noun/pronoun (see under dative the table of compatibilities).
According to (Gălăţeanu Fârnoagă, Comişel, 1992: 185) the direct
object can also be expressed by:
189

a non-significant IT - certain intransitive verbs can be
followed by IT as a formal direct object, e.g. to lord it - a o face
pe stăpânul, to carry it - a învinge, to catch it - a o păţi; a o
încasa, to foot it - a merge pe jos, to rough it - a face faţă, a se
descurca, e.g.
The explorers had to rough it when they got into the jungle;
John is a nice person but sometimes he likes to lord it.

a compulsory reflexive pronoun: to behave oneself, to calm
oneself, to comb oneself, to enjoy oneself, to excuse oneself, to
help oneself, to lose oneself, to wash oneself etc. When used in
a sentence the pronoun ONESELF must be replaced by the
corresponding form of the reflexive pronoun, myself, yourself,
himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, e.g.
Children should behave themselves when they are with
grownups;
Peter had a huge birthday party and I was also invited; I enjoyed
myself tremendously;
John lost himself in Paris;
We washed ourselves and then left.
There are verbs that can take both a reflexive pronoun and a
noun/personal pronoun in the accusative, BUT the meanings are
different: to wash oneself/somebody, to hurt oneself/somebody, to dress
oneself/somebody, to comb oneself/somebody, to shave oneself/
somebody, to hide oneself/somebody, e.g.
She washed herself and put on her nicest dress
She washed her (=her daughter) and dressed her
He hurt himself while (he was) repairing the car
He hurt him (=his friend) unintentionally in the heat of the game
Mother dressed herself and left in a minute
Mother dressed her(=her daughter) and put her on the school bus

reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another, e.g.
They helped each other;
190
The children helped one another;
They hit each other before anyone could stop them.
2.7.4.1. Constructions with the accusative
2.7.4.1.1. The accusative with the infinitive
The accusative with the infinitive is an extremely useful construction
as it keeps the structure short while communicating a lot; e.g. in the
structure
I want (V1)
to go (V2)
both verbs refer to the same subject; if a noun/pronoun/noun equivalent
in the accusative is introduced between V1 and V2, the meaning
changes, i.e. the predicate refers to its subject while V2 refers to the
accusative form
I want (V1)
you/John/ (accusative)
to go (V2)
means that I want that somebody else (i.e. you or John) to do the second
action, i.e. to go.
A detailed classification of the most frequently used verbs as V1 in this
construction is possible (Gălăţeanu Fârnoagă, Comişel, 1992: 195-196).
Verbs (V1) that take the accusative with a LONG infinitive:

verbs expressing mental activities: think, know, consider,
expect, suppose, believe, imagine, fancy, understand etc, e.g.
They know him to be very good at maths;
We expected them to come yesterday;
Mary supposed her brother to be married;

verbs expressing desire or intention: want, wish, desire,
intend, mean etc., e.g.
We wanted them to stay overnight;
They wished Paul to leave immediately;
Do you mean him to leave or stay?
191

verbs expressing feelings: like, dislike, love, hate, prefer etc.,
e.g.
Id like him/John to come at once;
Hed love his son to become an artist;
I hate you to be troubled/disturbed when you work;

verbs expressing an order or permission: command, order,
request, allow, compel, force etc. e.g.
The mother allowed her son/him to go to the disco with friends;
They requested us to fill in the forms;
The police forced the thief to surrender;

with declarative verbs: declare, pronounce, report (with an
animate subject), e.g.
They declared him/John to be good for the job;
The president reported them to be fit to do the work;

some prepositional verbs: count on, depend on, wait for, hope
for etc., e.g.
They waited for the weather to change;
She depended on him/her former husband to pay the taxes for
their children;
Verbs (V1) that take an accusative with a SHORT infinitive:

verbs of the senses: see, hear, watch, feel, notice, perceive,
observe etc. e.g.
Has any of you seen John take the book?
Did you watch the children play tennis yesterday?
Last night I heard him come home late, unlock the door and enter
the hall.

causative verbs: cause, make, have, get, induce and let, e.g.
What made you think he was wrong?
They did not let him come before noon;
I had him repair his bicycle on the terrace;
192
The passive form of the accusative with the infinitive construction
ALWAYS requires a long infinitive as V2, with all types of V1, except
LET which takes a V2 in the short infinitive, e.g.
They were reported to be in London already;
The students were allowed to leave sooner than usual;
They were seen to take the plane;
We were heard to open the door;
John was noticed to steal from the supermarket; BUT
They were let go;
Let cannot normally be used in passive sentences. Instead be allowed
(with a to-infinitive), or another verb or phrase with the same
meaning is used, e.g.
They were allowed to go;
Nobody had permission to park their car next to the president’s
residence
Another use of the accusative with the infinitive is after adjectives and
nouns. The two prepositions used are TO and FOR + adjective (see
under constructions with the adjectives ); it + be + adjective/noun +
FOR/TO + object + Infinitive.
Adjectives frequently used in this construction: unusual, lovely,
interesting, marvellous, nice, wonderful, ridiculous etc., e.g.
It is unusual (for him) to come home so early;
It was marvellous (for the kids) to have a new bicycle to ride;
Nouns: madness, stupidity, disaster, accident, etc., e.g.
It was a disaster for us to have to leave so soon;
It was an accident for him to cross the street without making sure
the traffic lights were green;
2.7.4.1.2. The accusative with the present participle
This construction is chiefly used with verbs of the senses as V1 and the
verbs find, leave, set, catch, send. The verbs of the senses can be
followed by a present participle as an alternative of the infinitive; the
193
meaning then changes, i.e. the accusative with the infinitive states that
the speaker has seen the whole action expressed by the infinitive, while
the construction with the present participle suggests that the speaker has
seen only part of the action expressed by the participle e.g.
I saw him cross the street (=I saw the entire action of the crossing
of the street)
I saw him crossing the street (=I saw only part of the action and I
only assume that the rest was also performed)
In most instances the above difference is irrelevant, but in others it may
be very important. Students are advised to use the construction with the
present participle when in doubt.
With the verbs find, leave, set, catch, send only the present participle
can be used as V2, so no confusion can appear, e.g.
We found him washing his car;
Mary left her son writing his homework;
They caught her stealing apples from the neighbours;
NOTE: only the verb catch used as V1 expresses an action that should
not have been done by the subject.
2.7.4.1.3. The accusative with the past participle
This construction observes the following pattern: subject + predicate +
noun/ pronoun/ noun equivalent in the accusative + past participle.
The general meaning is an action that refers to the accusative. It is used
mainly with:

verbs of the senses: see, hear, feel, notice, watch, observe etc.,
e.g.
She saw her car parked near the house;
They heard their names called by the teacher;
They felt their clothes ripped off by the strong wind;

verbs expressing an order: order, command, charge, compel,
decree, demand, direct, enjoin, instruct, ordain, prescribe,
request, require etc., e.g.
194
The captain ordered the trench finished in 2 hours;
The professor requested the paper concluded the following day;
The authorities required the place evacuated immediately;

the causative verbs HAVE and GET (=to have/get something
done). The meaning is to employ someone to do something for
the subject, e.g.
She had her hair cut (=she employed someone to cut her hair);
We have our house cleaned/done every week (=we employ
someone to clean/to do the house for us every week);
He had his car repaired (=he employed someone to repair the car
for him);
GET used instead of HAVE is more colloquial.
HAVE/GET + object + past participle construction can also be used
colloquially to replace a passive verb, usually one concerning some
accident or misfortune (Thomson, Martinet, 1997: 122 B), e.g.
He had/got his fruit stolen before he had a chance to pick it (=His
fruit was stolen before he had a chance to pick it).
He had/got two of his teeth knocked out in the fight (=Two of his
teeth were knocked out in the fight).
195
3. THE ADJECTIVE
The adjective denotes some characteristic of an object, interpreted
either as a quality (positive or negative, objective or subjective), or
as a space, time, quantity etc. coordinate. There are several kinds of
adjectives, e.g.
Demonstrative: this, these, that, those
Indefinite: some, any
Negative: no
Distributive: each, every, either, neither
Quantitative: some, any, no, little, few, many, much
Interrogative: which, what, whose
Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
Of quality: good, red, simple, political, medical, remarkable,
easy, beautiful etc.
3.1. Adjectives of quality
3.1.1. Various classifications of adjectives
A. According to form, adjectives can be:

simple, e.g. good, red, simple, nice, early, positive, negative,
sombre, sober, modern, ready, wide, fat, far, fresh, new, soft,
old, late, dark etc.

compound, e.g.
adjective + adjective: light blue, dark brown, Anglo-Saxon, redhot, deaf-mute, politico-economic, icy-cold, lukewarm etc.
adjective + present participle: good-looking, easy-going, earlyrising, dark-looking, hard-working, high-flying etc.
derivatives, e.g. mechanical, customary, profitable, chgildish,
economic, moneyless, short-sighted, inspiration, exploitation,
unpronounceable, reflective, womanhood, sufficient etc.
196
adjective + past participle: clean-cut, clean-shaven, deep-seated,
far-fetched, far-gone, fresh-oiled, high-strung, modern-built,
ready-made, true-born, widespread, newfound, soft-spoken,
short-lived, long-lived etc.
noun + adjective: bloodthirsty, night-blind, colour-blind, footballmad, carefree, duty-free, waterproof, light-proof, homesick,
watertight, train-sick etc.
noun + present participle: heart-breaking, awe-inspiring, breathtaking, earth-shaking, freedom-loving, soul-destroying etc.
noun + past participle: man-made, home-made, frost-bitten, windshaken, awe-struck, god-forbidden, spellbound, horror-struck,
airborne, communist infiltrated, factory-packed etc.
pronoun (self/all) + adjective/noun: self-assertive, self-conscious,
self-evident, self-important, self-pleased, self-sufficient, all-fair,
all-black, all-holy, all-complete, all-just, all-action, all-cash, allelectric, all-female, all-male, all-rubber, all-steel, all-woman,
all- wool, etc.
pronoun (self/all) + present participle: all-affecting, all-arranging,
all-binding, all-destroying, self-destroying, self-killing, selfserving, all-absorbing, all-consuming, all-demanding, allengulfing, all-knowing, all-loving, all-pervading, all-prevailing,
all-seeing etc.
adjective (frequently in the comparative of superiority) + most:
innermost, uppermost, farthermost, inmost (=all these are
superlatives).
well + past participle/adverb: well-acquainted, well-adjusted,
well-advised, well-affected, well-appointed, well-balanced,
well-behaved, well-beloved, well-born, well-chosen, wellconditioned, well-built, well-connected, well-covered, well-cut,
well-defined, well-deserved, well-endowed, well-earned, wellestablished, well-fed, well-grounded, well-groomed, wellinformed, well-intentioned, well-kept, well-mannered, wellmatched, well-off etc.
ill + past participle/preposition + adjective: ill-at-ease, illadvised, ill-affected, ill-assorted, ill-behaved, ill-bred, illconsidered, ill-defined, ill-disposed, ill-favoured, ill-founded,
ill-gotten, ill-humoured, ill-judged, ill-mannered, ill-natured, illstarred, ill-timed etc.
197

derivatives, e.g. mechanical, customary, profitable, childish,
economic, moneyless, short-sighted, inspiration, exploitation,
unpronounceable, reflective, womanhood, sufficient etc
 complex adjectives (composition + derivation), i.e. adjective
+ noun +[-ed] e.g. pig-headed, white-skinned, kind-hearted,
blue-eyed, large-windowed, heavy-walled, dark-skinned etc.
without formal indices, (simple or compound) i.e. the adjectives in this
class are not marked for the morphological class they belong to, e.g.
dear, good, nice, far, high, fast, direct, near, clean, bad, simple, light
blue, Anglo-Saxon, clean-cut, waterproof, self-evident etc.
with formal indices, (derivatives or complex adjectives) i.e. adjectives
in this class have a special ending that makes them identifiable as
adjectives; the rules of suffixation are complex, but for obvious
reasons they need not be given here. The most productive adjectiveforming suffixes are:
- able/-ible - attaches to noun and verb bases, e.g. comfortable,
fashionable, honourable, knowledgeable, pleasurable, valuable,
charitable, hospitable, miserable, personable, reasonable etc.
- al - attaches to nouns, e.g. accidental, additional, classical,
continental, departmental, emotional, experimental, fanatical,
historical, institutional, mechanical, musical, oriental, political,
residential, statistical, sentimental, traditional, transitional, vocational
etc.
- an/-ian/-n - attaches to names of places to describe someone or
something that comes from that place: African, American, Arabian,
Asian, Austrian, Brazilian, Californian, Chilean, Cuban, Egyptian,
European, Hungarian, Indian, Italian, Jamaican, Korean, Nigerian,
Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, Syrian etc.
- ary/-ery - attaches mainly to nouns, e.g. cautionary, complementary,
complimentary, customary, disciplinary, honorary, legendary,
momentary, parliamentary, planetary, rudimentary, salutary,
secondary, voluntary etc.
- based - attaches to nouns, e.g. acid-based, class-based, educationbased, export-based, market-based, money-based, nuclear-based,
protein-based, water-based etc. or to adjectives/adverbs, e.g. broad-
198
based, broadly-based, firmly-based, solidly-based, soundly-based,
widely-based etc.
- bound - attaches to nouns, e.g. class-bound, culture-bound, deskbound, duty-bound, earthbound, fog-bound, home-bound, honourbound, house-bound, snowbound, tradition-bound, wheelchair-bound,
westbound, city-bound, London-bound, inbound etc.
- esque - attaches to proper nouns of famous people, e.g.
Beethovenesque,
Chaplinesque,
Dantesque,
Hydenesque,
Hoffmanesque, Pinteresque, Rembrandtesque, Tarzanesque etc.
- fold - attaches to numerals, e.g. twofold, threefold, fourfold, sixfold,
tenfold, eightfold etc.
- free - attaches to nouns, e.g. accident-free, additive-free, caffeinefree, carefree, crime-free, debt-free, disease-free, dust-free, duty-free,
guilt-free, ice-free, meat-free, nuclear-free, oxygen-free, pain-free,
rent-free, pollution-free, stress-free, sugar-free, tax-free, trouble-free
etc.
- ful - attaches to nouns, e.g. beautiful, boastful, cheerful, deceitful,
delightful, dutiful, forceful, graceful, harmful, helpful, hopeful, joyful,
merciful, peaceful, playful, successful, shameful, tactful etc.
- ic - attaches to nouns, e.g. acidic, acrobatic, alcoholic, angelic,
atomic, autocratic, democratic, diplomatic, enthusiastic, heroic,
idiotic, ironic, linguistic, magnetic, patriotic, pedantic, photographic,
poetic, artistic, capitalistic, idealistic, journalistic, nationalistic,
opportunistic, etc.
- ish - attaches to proper/common nouns and adjectives, e.g. British,
Danish, English, Finnish, Irish, Jewish, Polish, Scottish, Spanish,
Swedish, Turkish; amateurish, babyish, boyish, childish, devilish etc.
- led - attaches to nouns and adjectives, e.g. American-led, communistled, community-led, consumer-led, employee-led, investment-led,
market-led, Muslim-led, moderate-led, opposition-led, worker-led etc.
- less - attaches to nouns, e.g. airless, brainless, childless, endless,
flawless, harmless, heartless, helpless, hopeless, lifeless, meaningless,
motherless, motionless, nameless, powerless, restless, seedless,
speechless, spineless, tactless, tuneless etc.
199
- like - attaches to nouns, e.g. animal-like, baby-like, bird-like,
childlike, clocklike, dagger-like, desert-like, dog-like, doll-like,
dreamlike, flower-like, ladylike, prison-like, vice-like etc.
- made - attaches to nouns and adjectives, e.g. American-made, Britishmade, country-made, custom-made, factory-made, foreign-made,
French-made, fresh-made, hand-made, home-made, machine-made,
man-made, purpose-made, ready-made, tailor-made etc.
- minded - attaches to adjectives that refer to potential qualities of the
human mind, e.g. absent-minded, broadminded, dirty-minded, evilminded, generous-minded, liberal-minded, mean-minded, narrowminded, open-minded, practical-minded, serious-minded, singleminded, strong-minded, tough-minded etc.
- most - attaches to adjectives (as an equivalent of the superlative
relative form), e.g. easternmost, hindmost, innermost, lowermost,
nethermost, northernmost, outermost, rearmost, southernmost,
topmost, uppermost, westernmost etc.
- ous - attaches to nouns, e.g. adventurous, ambiguous, ambitious,
anonymous, cautious, contemptuous, continuous, courageous,
courteous, curious, dangerous, enormous, famous, furious, gracious,
mysterious, nervous, obvious, previous, religious, serious,
spontaneous, various etc.
- proof - attaches to nouns, e.g. accident-proof, bullet-proof, burglarproof, child-proof, dust-proof, fire-proof, flameproof, frost-proof,
greaseproof, heatproof, inflation-proof, leak-proof, rainproof etc.
- related - attaches to nouns, e.g. age-related, career-related, cityrelated, disaster-related, drink-related, drug-related, income-related,
injury-related, job-related, oil-related, race-related, school-related,
smoking-related, stress-related, tobacco-related, work-related etc.
- rich - attaches to nouns, e.g. carbon-rich, cash-rich, energy-rich, fatrich, fiber-rich, information-rich, mineral-rich, nitrate-rich, nutrientrich, oil-rich, oxygen-rich, protein-rich, resource-rich, sugar-rich etc.
- ridden - attaches to nouns, e.g. bullet-ridden, class-ridden, clichéridden, debt-ridden, draught-ridden, fear-ridden, flood-ridden, guiltridden, mouse-ridden, penalty-ridden, plague-ridden, rumour-ridden,
scandal-ridden, storm-ridden, tension-ridden, terror-ridden etc.
200
- side - attaches to nouns, e.g. bedside, desk-side, dockside, fireside,
graveside, hearthside, hillside, kerb-side, lakeside, mountainside,
Oceanside, park-side, poolside, ringside, riverside, roadside etc.
- size/sized - attaches to nouns, e.g. apple-sized, button-sized, cat-sized,
city-size, coin-sized, cottage-size, envelope-sized, finger-size, fist-sized,
mansion-size, man-sized, page-size, pea-size, pin-size, postcard-sized
etc.
- some - attaches to nouns and verbs, e.g. adventuresome, bothersome,
burdensome, flavoursome, loathsome, lonesome, meddlesome,
quarrelsome, venturesome, awesome, fearsome, irksome, tiresome,
troublesome, wearisome, worrisome etc.
- stricken - attaches to nouns, e.g. awe-stricken, famine-stricken, fearstricken, grief-stricken, guilt-stricken, horror-stricken, panic-stricken,
plague-stricken, poverty-stricken, terror-stricken etc.
- style - attaches to nouns and adjectives, e.g. American-style, antiquestyle, baroque-style, British-style, buffet-style, bungalow-style,
commando-style, English-style, European-style, military-style,
modern-style, new-style, Tudor-style, Victorian-style etc.
- type - attaches to common/proper nouns and adjectives, e.g. academictype, Burmese-type, church-type, European-type, executive-type,
gothic-type, hormone-type, hospital-type, military-type, police-type,
schoolboy-type, snack-type, war-type, Western-type etc.
- wright - attaches to nouns, e.g. Cartwright, millwright, playwright,
shipwright, wainwright, wheelwright etc.
B. According to position adjectives can be attributive and predicative:
a) in attributive position adjectives can be placed before or after the
noun/noun equivalent:
1. in general, adjectives precede the noun they modify, e.g. good girl,
nice person, early train, interesting book, blue-eyed woman, AngloSaxon literature, elderly person, extreme sports etc. As far as the
adjectives of quality are concerned (Thomson and Martinet, 1997: 35)
the authors give a fairly usual order of these, explaining that several
variations are possible.
201
The adjective closest to the noun is marked a) and the most frequently
encountered order is the following:
a) adjectives of size (except little),
b) adjectives of general description (excluding adjectives of personality
and emotion),
c) adjectives of age and size,
d) adjectives of shape,
e) of colour,
f) of material,
g) of origin,
h) of purpose (these are usually gerunds used to form compounds:
walking stick, riding boots, reading lamp, washing machine etc.);
examples: a long sharp knife, a small square table, red velvet
curtains, an old plastic bucket, an elegant Swiss clock etc.
Adjectives of personality and emotion come after adjectives of physical
description, including dark, fair, pale, but before colours, e.g. a small
suspicious official, a pale anxious girl, an inquisitive brown dog, a
long patient queue, a kindly black doctor etc. The adjectives little, old
and young are often used, not to give information, but as part of an
adjective - noun combination. They are often placed next to their nouns,
e.g.
Your son is a nice little boy (Fiul tău este un băieţel
drăguţ/simpatic).
That young man drives too fast (Tânărul acela conduce prea
repede);

Adjectives that have one meaning when used attributively and
another when (if) used predicatively. They belong to various
subclasses, e.g.
NOTE: some of the adjectives listed below can have the same meaning
when used attributively and predicatively. The reader should be aware
that no classification can be perfectly delimited and this fact is true not
only here but for all classifications in any grammar book.
 Intensifiers (in the positive or negative sense): certain, pure,
clear, mere, outright, sure, simple, true, real, definite, sheer,
utter, complete, perfect, extreme, absolute, close, very, entire,
firm total, great, strong etc; slight, feeble
202
Examples: A certain fact was not taken into consideration at all
You are a complete fool if you think that religious intolerance
has been eradicated
He has donated his entire salary to the charity organisation
helping the orphans
He did not make the slightest effort to help his family
A close friend of mine from France has recently visited
Romania and found it extremely interesting
In a good detective story the reader discovers the criminal at the
very end of the book

Restrictive adjectives: they restrict the reference of the noun,
e.g. certain, precise, exact, former, old, present, occasional,
small, late, hard, big, good, bad, excellent etc.
My former English teacher has just got married
We visited Ann yesterday and we met an old friend who had
recently come back from China
John is a very bad swimmer
Small farmers should get more financial help from the government
Although very young and inexperienced, Tom is a hard worker
Little + old + noun is possible: a little old lady, but little + young is
not. When used to give information, old and young occupy position c),
e.g. a young coloured man, an old Welsh harp etc.
Adjectives of personality/emotion can precede or follow young/old, e.g.
a young ambitious man/an ambitious young man, depending on what
the speaker wants to emphasize, as the first adjective counting from left
to right carries a stronger stress; the adjective little can be used similarly
in position c), e.g. a handy little calculator, an expensive little hotel, a
little sandy beach, a little grey foal; but small is usually better than
little if size is emphasized.
The adjectives fine, lovely, nice and sometimes beautiful + adjectives
of size, shape and temperature express approval of size, shape or
temperature, e.g. a beautiful big room, a lovely warm house, fine big
steaks, imply that the speaker likes big rooms, warm houses or big
steaks. The above mentioned adjectives can be used similarly with a
number of other adjectives: fine strong coffee, a lovely quiet beach, a
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nice dry day. When used predicatively, such pairs are separated by and,
e.g.
The coffee was fine and strong;
The day was nice and dry.
Pretty is both an adjective and an adverb; followed by an adjective with
no comma between them is an adverb of degree, meaning very/quite,
e.g.
She is a pretty tall girl or
A tall, pretty girl (= a girl who is both tall an pretty).
2. There are, however, cases in which adjectives follow the nouns they
modify, forming a sort of compounds, e.g. knight errant, attorney
general, secretary general, court martial, those present/absent, poet
laureate, literature proper etc.
b) in predicative position adjectives of quality follow a verb such as:
be, become, seem, or verbs like appear, get/grow (= become), feel,
keep, look (=appear), make, smell, sound, taste, turn, e.g.
Tom became rich;
Ann seems happy/nice;
Your mother has become impossible;
Tom felt cold;
He made her happy;
He got/grew impatient.
The idea sounds interesting;
They feel tired;
Adjectives in this position are called predicative adjectives while the
verbs used in this way are called link verbs or copulas.
The verbs appear, get/grow (=become), feel, keep, look (=appear),
make smell, sound, taste, turn when not used as link verbs can be
modified by adverbs in the usual way, e.g.
He looked calm (adjective) =he had a calm expression
He looked calmly (adverb) at the angry crowd (looked =a
deliberate action)
She turned pale (adjective) =she became pale
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He turned angrily (adverb) to the man behind him (turned =a
deliberate action)
The soup tasted horrible (adjective) =it had a horrible taste
He tasted the soup suspiciously (adverb) (tasted =a deliberate
action)
According to this criterion, adjectives fall, mainly, into 4 different
classes; the delimitation of the four classes is not perfect.
I.
Adjectives that can function as both attributes and predicatives
and the meaning remains the same (Tom is a good student or The
teacher is good)
II. Adjectives that can function as both attributes and predicatives
but whose meaning changes depending on the position (He is a
little farmer compared to *The farmer is little)
III. Adjectives (denominal adjectives) that can function as attributes
and very rarely, if ever, as predicatives (medical, instrumental,
historical etc.)
IV. Adjectives that can function only as predicatives; all the adverbial
adjectives, beginning in a- , e.g. afloat, adeck, ajar, alone etc. plus
well or ill.
3.1.2. Substantivisation of adjectives
Quite a large number of adjectives referring to the human character or to
the human condition can get a definite article (the) in order to represent
a class of persons having the respective quality. These nouns have a
plural meaning and take only a plural verb, e.g. blind, deaf, disabled,
healthy, sick, living, dead, rich, poor, unemployed, wounded, quick,
mute etc, e.g.
The poor are people who have a difficult life.
The mute and deaf are usually instructed in special schools;
The unemployed were put on a list with the view of finding jobs
for them;
Adjectives denoting groups of people belonging to various nationalities
(adjectives ending in -sh, -ch, -se, -ss) take a definite article and
generate collective nouns denoting those groups of people. They are
always written with a capital letter and take a plural verb, e.g. the
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French, the Dutch, the English, the Swiss, the Welsh, the Irish, the
Burmese, the Siamese, the Chinese, the Japanese etc., e.g.
The French have a very good wine;
The Swiss make famous watches;
The Chinese are very good at cooking;
Other nationality adjectives take a definite article and a plural form, e.g.
the Spaniards, the Italians, the Romanians, the Americans, the
Russians, the Germans etc
Certain colours that refer to the skin colour
of the people take a definite article and a plural form
to denote: the whites, the blacks, the red-skinned etc.
There are occasional adjectives with a singular meaning, e.g. the
accused, the unexpected etc.
3.1.3. Degrees of comparison
The forms assumed by an adjective to show that a quality may exist
in various degrees with two objects or with one and the same object
at different times are called degrees of comparison. There are three
degrees of comparison in English, i.e. a) the positive degree, b) the
comparative degree, and c) the superlative degree.
The positive degree is the basic form of the adjective, e.g.
That book is interesting;
Your sister is beautiful;
She has a nice dress;
The weather is dry;
The comparative expresses a comparison between two or more objects;
when we compare things we may find that the quality exists in equal
amount in two objects, and this is the comparative of equality; the form
is as + an adjective in the positive degree + as, e.g.
This book is as interesting as the one you bought yesterday;
Her dress is as nice as mine.
The inequality of the quality expressed can be compared from either
end, i.e. from the lower end or from the upper end; in the former
206
situation, when the user views the comparison from the lower end a
comparative of inferiority is implied; this can be done in various ways,
i.e.
-
by negating the comparative of equality: not as/so + an adjective
in the positive degree + as, e.g.
My book is not as/so interesting as yours,
Your sister is not as/so beautiful as Mary,
This ring is not as big as that one;
-
by using less + an adjective in the positive degree + than, e.g.
My book is less interesting than I thought,
Your sister is less beautiful than Mary,
* This ring is less big than that one is not incorrect, but the form
with not so/as is more usual;
If the comparison is viewed from the upper end the form is called
comparative of superiority*, and this can be done with a suffix
(adjective in the positive degree + -er), or with an adverb (more + an
adjective in the positive degree) + than, e.g.
Her dress is nicer than Mary's;
That book is more interesting than I thought;
The superlative shows that the quality of an object is in its highest
degree; this can be seen as

relative* - when the object is chosen from a limited number of
elements or a restricted area; the superlative relative is constructed
either with a suffix (an adjective in the positive degree + -est) or
with the adverb most + an adjective in the positive degree; in
both cases the construction is preceded by the definite article the,
e.g.
She is the nicest person in our class;
Mary is the most beautiful girl in our town;
This is the most interesting book on grammar of all the books you
lent me;
The only two prepositions that can be used with the superlative relative
are in (to select from a limited area) and of (to select from a group or a
certain number of things);
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
absolute – when the quality exists in an object in the highest degree
possible; the absolute superlative is made up of the adverb very +
an adjective in the positive degree, e.g.
She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen;
This is the most expensive dress you could have bought;
You have a very interesting profession.
*SPELLING NOTE on the comparative of superiority and the
superlative relative:
-
*Monosyllabic adjectives take the suffixes -er or -est to form the
comparative of superiority and the superlative relative, e.g.
nice/nicer/nicest, dry/drier/driest, big/bigger/biggest etc., except
right, wrong, real, just which do not normally have degrees of
comparison;
- Plurisyllabic adjectives take only the adverbs more and the most,
e.g. beautiful more beautiful, the most beautiful/interesting, more
interesting, the most interesting etc;etc.
- Bisyllabic adjectives take either one or the other of the two forms,
depending on their ending, so
- bisyllabic adjectives ending in -er, -y, -ly, ow, -ble/ple, e.g.
clever/cleverer/cleverest, pretty/prettier/prettiest, holy/holier/
holiest, narrow/narrower/narrowest, noble/nobler/noblest,
happy/ happier/ the happiest (but unhappy takes more and the
most) etc; while
bisyllabic adjectives ending in -re and -ful take the adverbs
more and the most, e.g. obscure/more obscure/the most
obscure, careful/more careful/the most careful etc; certain
adjectives ending in –ful can also take –er and –est, e.g.
cheerful,cheerful(l)er, the cheerful(l)est or cheerful, more
cheerful, the most cheerful etc.
Adjectives that can used in the comparative of superiority and the
superlative relative by employing both formation patterns, i.e. by
suffixation and with more and the most, e.g.
- monosyllabic adjectives: free, calm, sound, vague, frank
- disyllabic adjectives: angry, likely, healthy, friendly,
happy, bitter, humble, noble narrow, handsome, pleasant,
quiet, common etc
- adjectives made negative by prefixes: unhappy, insincere,
unpleasant, impolite etc.
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The degrees of comparison of compound adjectives
To make it easier for the learners the comparative of superiority and the
relative superlative of compound adjectives can be summarized as
follows:
- compound adjectives generally take more and the most,
with a few exceptions that are better not mentioned here,
e.g. intelligent-looking/more intelligent-looking/the most
intelligent-looking, bad-looking/more bad-looking/ or
worse-looking/the most bad-looking or the worst-looking,
ill-advised/more ill-advised/the most ill-advised, illmannered/more ill-mannered/the most ill-mannered,, shortsighted/more short-sighted/the most short-sighted, strongheaded/more strong-headed/the most strong-headed, heartbroken/more heart-broken/the most heart-broken etc.
There are several adjectives that have irregular comparisons, e.g.
good, well
bad(ly), ill
little
many, much
far
near
old
late
hind
fore
better
worse
less
more
farther
further
nearer
older
elder
later
latter
hinder
former
the best
the worst
the least
the most
the farthest (of distance only)
the furthest (used more widely)
the nearest / the next
the oldest (of people and things)
the eldest (of people only)
the latest
the last
the hindmost/the hindermost
the foremost
elder and eldest imply seniority rather than age. They are chiefly used
for comparisons within family, i.e. brothers and sisters; elder refers to
two elements while eldest implies more than two, e.g. my elder
brother(=I only have one brother who is older than me), her eldest
son/daughter (=there are more than two brothers or sisters in the family)
etc; but elder is not used with than, so older is necessary here, e.g.
He is older than I am/me (elder would not be possible).
In colloquial English with boys/girls/children, e.g.
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His eldest son is at school, the other is still at home (he has only
two sons). Although formally incorrect, this use is particularly
common when eldest, oldest are used in constructions like the
one above or Tom is the eldest.
Other constructions with comparisons:
Parallel increase is expressed by the + comparative ...... the +
comparative, e.g.
House agent: “Do you want a big house?”
Ann: “Yes, the bigger, the better”.
Tom: “But the smaller it is, the less it will cost to heat it”,
The more expensive the book is, the more people will buy it etc.
Gradual increase or decrease is expressed by two comparatives joined
by the conjunction and, e.g. The weather is getting warmer and more
beautiful every year etc.
Gerunds and infinitives can be part of the comparison, e.g.
Riding a horse is not as easy as riding a motor cycle;
It is nicer/more fun to go with someone than to go alone;
Reading is easier than writing etc.
Comparisons with like and as – in theory like (a preposition) is used
only with nouns, pronouns and gerunds, e.g.
He swims like a fish;
You look like a ghost;
Be like Peter: go jogging;
The windows were all barred – it was like being in prison; while
as (a conjunction) is used when there is a finite verb, e.g.
Do as Peter does: go jogging;
Why don't you cycle to work as we do? But in colloquial English
like is often used here instead of as: Cycle to work like we do.
Like + noun is a comparison while as + noun is actually what the noun
says, e.g.
He worked like a slave (very hard, as slaves do) and
He worked as a slave (he was a slave);
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She used her umbrella as a weapon (she struck him with it).
When the same verb is required before and after than/as an auxiliary
can be used instead of the second verb, e.g.
I earn less than he does;
He knows more than I did at his age etc.
When the second sentence is reduced to subject (first and second
persons, singular and plural: I, we, you) and verb, and there is no change
of tense, it is usually possible to omit the verb, e.g.
I am not as old as you (are);
He has more time than I (have);
When than/as is followed by the third person (he, she, it, they) plus
verb, the verb is normally kept, e.g.
You are stronger than he is;
She sings louder than he does.
In colloquial English however, it is customary to drop the pronoun in the
nominative and the verb, and use the personal pronoun in the accusative:
me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them only, e.g.
He has more time than me;
You are stronger than him;
These rules also apply to comparisons made with adverbs, e.g.
I swim better than he does/than him;
They work harder than we do/than us;
You can't type as fast as I can/as me.
3.1.3.1. Synonyms of the absolute superlative
The standard absolute superlative is constructed with the adverb very +
an adjective in the positive degree. For many reasons, subjective and
objective, there is a strong tendency to avoid the standard absolute
superlative and use instead other forms and devices; the speaker has a
large variety of options to choose from, each form being useful in one
context or other:
a) adverbs like awfully, exceedingly, extremely, grossly, deeply,
surprisingly, extraordinarily, highly, greatly, terribly, tremendously,
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mighty etc. are often used instead of the adverb very because the
speaker feels that the standard form is, possibly, not strong enough for
what he means, too formal, or because he needs a different form for the
sake of diversity etc., e.g.
Father was extremely tired when he came home;
John Bell's novel was surprisingly interesting;
It is terribly cold there;
His presence there was mighty important for all of us –
Mighty is the approximate equivalent of the Romanian tare used as an
adverb for the absolute superlative, therefore it is usually thought of as a
colloquial/popular form of the absolute superlative.
b) rather is an adverb that has several meanings which are distinguished
by collocation. If the idea is accepted that adjectives as well as adverbs
can mainly fall into 3 classes according to the extent they express
something desirable, likeable etc. or something undesirable or
negative, then rather is used with “positive” adjectives or adverbs, its
meaning being nearly equivalent to very, e.g.
She is rather clever (= She is very clever);
The book you bought is a rather interesting one;
Her sister is a rather beautiful woman and an excellent actress;
It is a rather a good play - is definitely a recommendation while
It is a fairly good play - would discourage others from going to
see it.
c) quite is another adverb used instead of very in the following two
instances:
1) used with a word or phrase which expresses the idea of
completeness and which cannot be associated with the adverb very, e.g.
all right, certain, determined, empty, finished, full, ready, right, sure,
wrong etc., e.g.
I'm quite ready;
That bottle is quite empty;
She was quite certain about it;
You are quite right;
You are quite wrong about that.
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2) with very “strong adjectives/adverbs” which cannot be associated
with the adverb very, e.g. amazing(ly), extraordinary/ extraordinarily,
horrible/horribly, perfect(ly), fantastic(ally), e.g.
It was quite extraordinary to hear it from him;
Don' be impatient, I'm quite ready etc.
d) most (without the) in front of adjectives (or adverbs) is not used to
express a relative superlative but an absolute superlative equivalent with
extremely, etc.
The doctor was most unhappy to tell the woman about her
husband’s accident (=extremely/very unhappy)
His fiance is most beautiful (=very beautiful)
e) prefixes are often used to make up a form that is very close to the
standard absolute superlative, e.g. ultra-, extra-, over-, super-, hyperetc.:
ultracentral,
ultramodern,
ultramarine,
ultrashort,
superabundant, superfine, overactive, overambitious, overgenerous,
oversensitive, hypersensitive, hyperactive, e.g.
She has an ultracentral apartment (very centrally placed);
They got everything from an overgenerous sponsor (very
generous);
He's always been hyperactive etc.
f) an apparently analytical genitive is sometimes used to express the
existence of a quality in the highest degree; the construction is not meant
to be taken literally; it sometimes has an equivalent in Romanian and
sometimes does not, e.g. a mountain of a wave (=un munte de val); it
means that the wave was very high, and its association with the
mountain suggests exactly this; a queer fish of a girl (=o zgâtie de fata);
a monster of a dog (un monstru de câine); that dungeon of a playroom
(approx. O cameră ca o închisoare) etc. are constructions suggesting that
there is a quality existing in the highest degree in the child, girl or dog
etc.
g) the genitive of gradation which is a synonym of the absolute
superlative, e.g. the book of books, the beauty of all beauties, the king
of kings, the prince of princes etc.
213
h) combinations of prepositions and nouns, e.g. beyond/past/without
compare (=dincolo de orice comparaţie/fără termen de comparaţie);
without equal (=fără egal) etc., e.g.
That girl is beautiful beyond compare;
Our childhood with our grandparents was happy beyond
compare/without equal;
i) the repetition of the same adjective/adverb suggests that the quality
exists in the highest degree; this synonym of absolute superlative is
sometimes used in poetry as a poetic device, e.g. My love's like a red,
red rose (Robert Burns); again, children who do not master the standard
absolute superlative very frequently express the same idea by repeating
the adjective/adverb, e.g. …”and then we saw a big, big house” ...
(=very big house); ... “the green, green grass of home”...;
j) the synonymic substitution for an absolute superlative; the two terms
of the construction are synonyms and their association is meant to
enhance the idea that the quality exists in the highest degree; these
constructions are fixed forms, generally (but not always) having an
equivalent in other languages, Romanian included, e.g. null and void
(=nul şi neavenit); safe and sound (teafăr si nevătămat); hard and fast
(very rigid, about a rule); each and every (absolut fiecare); far and
away (categoric, fără îndoială); lord and master (domn şi stăpân) etc.
k) the hyperbole – this is an exaggerated statement made for effect and
not intended to be taken literally, e.g. scared to death (=speriat de
moarte); waves as high as Everest (=valuri cat muntii);
immensely obliged (approx. din cale afară de obligaţi); full to the brim
(=plin până la buză); in this last example the adjective full is one of
those that is not generally used with very (see quite) so the speaker must
find an adequate construction to express an absolute superlative and the
hyperbole is one of the solutions.
l) a superlative + adjective ending in –able/-ible (possible, imaginable
etc.) construction enhances the idea of superlative, e.g.
That was the best movie possible;
This is the sweetest child imaginable
m) the simile – another class of synonyms of the absolute superlative –
is a comparison of equality comparing elements belonging to different
214
spheres of notions and is meant to emphasize a certain characteristic of
one of the elements; these comparisons may differ from one language to
another, although lots of them are identical in English and other
languages; if it does not exist an identical form in the target language,
the user must find an equivalent or skip the simile altogether if he
cannot find one in the other language; these comparisons are very
frequent in spoken English (and Romanian) and are the reflection of a
certain culture; the items marked with an asterisk* have equivalents in
Romanian, although they compare other objects than in English
(sometimes there is no comparison implied); two asterisks** will mark
the similes that are hard to translate into Romanian or do not have a
straightforward equivalent in the target language:
1. Comparisons implying beings:
sprinten ca o maimuţă
orb ca o cârtiţă
curajos ca un leu
harnic ca o furnică/albină
viclean ca o vulpe
beat criţă etc.
as agile as a monkey
as blind as a bat*
as brave as a lion
as busy as a bee
as cunning as a fox
as drunk as a lord*
2. Comparisons implying objects:
as bitter as gall
as black as coal
as clear as crystal
as clean as a new pin**
as clean as a whistle**
as cold as ice
as cool as a cucumber **
as cross as two sticks**
as dark as midnight
as pretty as a picture
as ugly as sin
as weak as water
as white as snow/a sheet
as pale as death
amar ca fierea
negru ca tăciunele
curat ca cristalul
rece ca gheaţa
negru/întunecat ca noaptea
frumoasă ca o cadră
urât ca păcatul
subţire ca apa
alb ca zăpada/foaia
palid ca un mort
215
l) the metaphor (or implicit comparison) is defined as a series of words
meant to indicate something different from the literal meaning, e.g. He
has the heart of a stone (=he is not easily moved); a bookworm is “un
soarece de biblioteca”; “an oyster” is a person who does not talk; He is
a fox; ... blowing hot and cold...; a naughty child is a “monkey” etc.
m) litotes – is the use of negative to express the contrary, e.g.
It is not bad! Actually means that something is very good;
He is not a coward (=somebody is very brave).
3.1.4. Adjective patterns
Adjectives can have different types of complement, such as
A. a prepositional phrase (I feel sorry for her);
B. a that-clause (Everybody is pleased that she is making such good
progress);
C. a to-infinitive (I am glad to hear she is recovering).
A. Adjectives with a prepositional phrase – Adjectives have different
prepositional complements: good at, ready for, afraid of, convinced of,
interested in, keen on, close to, content with etc. A particular adjective
requires a particular preposition that should be preserved in all
instances. Adjectives with prepositions are often -ed or -ing adjectives,
e.g. participial adjectives like: interested (in), worried (about)* (Leech,
1991: 215-216) etc.:
Planners are worried about the noise and dirt in our
environment;
I may have sounded a bit annoyed at your failing to give me the
information;
Would you be interested in writing an article for my series?;
My friends were only faintly conscious of foreign affairs;
Elvira was uncertain of what the words meant;
Industry is independent of natural conditions, while agriculture
is continually dependent on the fluctuations of nature;
This product is based on confidential information etc.
B. Adjectives with a that – clause. Adjectives which take a that-clause
as complement may have a) personal subjects or b) an introductory it as
subject:
216
a) Adjectives with personal subjects – that is often omitted (zero
that), e.g.
I'm sure (that) she can do it;
We are confident (that) she will have a distinguished academic
career;
I'm glad (that) you can cheer her up a bit etc.
When the that-clause expresses a 'putative' idea (i.e. expressing joy,
surprise, amazement etc) it contains should, e.g.
We are surprised that he should have to resign;
I'm amazed that somebody with his background should get the
post.
The following adjectives can have a that-clauses as complement:
certain, confident, proud, sad, alarmed, annoyed, astonished,
disappointed, pleased etc. Such adjectives can also have a
prepositional phrase as complement, e.g. annoyed at, certain of,
pleased with etc. It is to be noted, though, that in English a preposition
cannot introduce a that-clause; compare:
They were amazed that the cost should be so high <> They were
amazed at the high cost.
b) Adjectives with introductory it as subject. Adjectives with thatclauses frequently have introductory it as subject, e.g.
It's a bit odd that the state he lives in has no university;
It's possible that we will be a little bit late;
It's true that she never turned up.
Other adjectives that can be followed both by it-constructions and thatclauses are: certain, curious, disconcerting, embarrassing, evident,
extraordinary, fitting, fortunate, frightening, important, irritating,
likely, cold, obvious, possible, probable, sad, shocking, surprising, true
etc. After adjectives that express a putative idea the that-clause also
contains should or a verb in the subjunctive proper, e.g.
The school board considered it essential that the opinions of
teachers should be ascertained/... that the opinions of teachers
be ascertained.
217
C. Adjectives with a to-infinitive construction. According to (Leech,
1992: 216, 217) there are mainly, 4 types of different adjectives which
have a construction with to-infinitive. The meaning of the 4
constructions are different as can be seen from the paraphrases, e.g.
a) She is wrong to say a thing like that (It's wrong of her to say a
thing like that);
b) Such people are hard to find nowadays (It's hard to find such
people nowadays);
c) I was delighted to make that personal contact (It made me
delighted to make that personal contact);
d) Many dealers were quick to purchase the new shares (Many
dealers quickly purchased the new shares)
a) Other adjectives like wrong are: clever, good, kind, naughty, nice,
rude, silly, splendid, stupid, e.g.
He was silly to go ahead with the plan;
They were stupid not to take the opportunity offered;
He was clever to follow your advice.
b) Other adjectives like hard are: convenient, enjoyable, fun, good,
pleasant, difficult, easy, impossible, surprised, e.g.
The extent of this tendency is difficult to assess;
All this is very easy to arrange;
Your question is impossible to answer etc.
The construction with introductory it is more common and sometimes
the only possible alternative, e.g.
It is difficult to assess the extent of this tendency;
It was really good to see you before Christmas;
It is impossible to say that in English etc.
c) Other adjectives like delightfed are: amazed, angry, annoyed,
disappointed, surprised, worried, furious, glad, pleased, sorry etc., e.g.
She will be furious to see him behave that way;
I'm glad to see you looking so well;
I'm very sorry to hear that Hattie has been ill etc.
218
d) Other examples of adjectives like quick are: willing, careful, prompt,
slow, quick etc., e.g.
Nick is willing to do hard work (=he does it willingly);
They were careful to avoid all mention of the child (=carefully
avoided);
They were prompt to act (=acted promptly);
This student is bright but rather slow to pick up new ideas etc.
There are also other adjectives which take an infinitive construction but
do not fit into the types described, e.g.
I might be able to afford it;
She is now very anxious to return to the university;
There are bound to be social and economic differences between
distant parts of the country;
He was always ready to listen to the views of others;
I have been unable to contact him during the past week or so;
3.2. Relative adjectives
Another modifier of the noun/noun equivalent is the relative adjective,
so called because it shows qualities characterizing an object by referring
it to another object. Generally, relative adjectives are used attributively
and do not have degrees of comparison, e.g. a brick house, a wooden
hut, a silk dress, a stone wall, a gold mine; the general meaning is that
of “made of” or “containing” ....
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4/5.DETERMINATIVE
ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS
For practical reasons adjectives and pronouns of the same kind will be
considered together; the main difference between an adjective and a
pronoun of the same kind lies in the fact that the adjective goes with the
noun/noun equivalent while the corresponding pronoun expresses the
same thing and also replaces the noun/noun equivalent, e.g. a
demonstrative adjective is a word that determines a noun/noun
equivalent while a demonstrative pronoun expresses the same meaning
as the demonstrative adjective, but unlike the latter it also replaces the
noun/noun equivalent: this book is mine (adjective), this is mine
(pronoun).
Adjectives
Pronouns
1. Demonstrative
2. Indefinite + negative
3. Possessive
4. Interrogative
5. Relative whose
6. Adverbial
7. -----------8. -----------9. ------------
Demonstrative
Indefinite + negative
Possessive
Interrogative
Relative
-----------Personal
Reflexive/emphatic
Reciprocal
4/5.1. Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
Demonstrative adjectives
this/these
that/those
the same
another
the other
other
such
Pronouns
this/these
that/those
the same
another
the other(s)
others
such
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This/these, that/those used as adjectives, agree in number with the
nouns/noun equivalents they determine and are the only adjectives to do
so, e.g.
This beach was quite empty last year;
This novel was written two centuries ago;
These children only came yesterday;
That exhibition closed a month ago;
Those pencils are not mine;
Do you see those birds at the top of the tree? etc.
When used as pronouns the idea of number is still there, referring either
to one object or to more than one (= plural), e.g.
This is my book and that is Ann's;
Those were not here yesterday;
These are longer than those (ones).
Those can be followed by a defining/restrictive relative clause
(atributivă propriu-zisă), e.g.
Those who could not walk were carried on stretchers;
Those who are interested can apply now;
This/That can represent a previously mentioned noun/phrase or clause,
e.g.
They are digging up my road; they do this every summer;
He said I wasn't a good wife. Wasn't that a horrible thing to say?
When there is some idea of comparison or selection, the pronoun
one/ones is often placed after this/these, that/those, but it is not
essential except when these demonstratives are followed by an adjective,
e.g.
but
This chair is too low; I'll sit on that (one);
I like this (one) best;
I like this blue one/these blue ones, in the last example one/ones
cannot be left out.
The same (acelaşi, aceeaşi, aceiaşi, aceleaşi); as an adjective the same
can be used with all kinds of nouns, countable or mass, singular or
plural, e.g.
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The same person(s) I saw yesterday told me to buy that book;
Nothing has changed, the same old books on the same old
shelves;
As a pronoun the same can represent a previously mentioned noun,
phrase or any longer unit e.g.
The same was said about his parents, the same here can stand for
a word, a sentence or a whole story.
Another (un alt, o altă) is singular in meaning and as an adjective takes
a singular noun while as a pronoun it replaces a singular countable
noun, e.g.
Give me another book, I don't like this (one);
Then another young man showed up and told me to go back at
once;
I saw a man shooting, then another and another etc.
There are exceptional cases when another can be associated with a
plural noun because this plural noun can be taken as a unit, e.g.
I had a five-day vacation and the whole family went for a trip into
the mountains; a winter storm came and we couldn't leave, so
I called my boss and asked for another three days off.
Another is sometimes opposed to one, e.g. One says “yes”, another
says “no”.
Other (an adjective) (alţi, alte) can take plural countable nouns, e.g.
She does not know what to say, other things are more important
now;
Don't show yourself, other people may come soon etc.
The other (celălalt, cealaltă, ceilalţi, celelalte) as an adjective takes
singular or plural countable nouns, e.g.
One man came yesterday, while the other person has just arrived;
... because other women never came etc.
The other(s) (celălalt, cealaltă, ceilalţi, celelalte) as a pronoun can
replace any countable noun in the singular or in the plural, e.g.
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One said “yes, the other said “no”;
Most of the people came this way, the others took another road
etc.
Such (an adjective and a pronoun) “can be a determiner referring back
to something that has already been mentioned”; it can take a plural or
replace a plural noun, e.g.
Such good students are rarely met, or
Such were the participants that everybody felt happy etc.
In the singular, an indefinite article follows such, e.g.
She is such a nice girl!
It was such an interesting book that I could not put it down.
4/5.2. Indefinite and negative adjectives and pronouns
Most of them are both adjectives and pronouns and the meaning is the
same in either form, therefore the explanation will be one.
Adjectives
Pronouns
a) numerical
several
several
many/more/most
many/more/most
(a) few
(a) few
each
each
every/all
- /all
both
both
either
either
neither
neither
b) numerical and quantitative
some
some
any
any
no
none
lots of
a lot
enough
enough
c) quantitative
(a) little
(a) little
much/more/most
much/more/most
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d) only pronouns
some/any/no + body/thing/one;
the same as above + else
Several, which is both an adjective and a pronoun, is not followed by
ones, unless there is a qualitative adjective after it, e.g.
Several persons told me the same thing;
I know several people who do not like fish;
Did you buy any books? Yes, I bought several; and also
There are several new ones on the table.
Many/more/most – more and most can be used quite freely, and so can
many with negative verbs, e.g.
They didn't buy many books;
He gets a lot of books, but she doesn't get many;
They make more mistakes than admitted;
Most people are not familiar with these notions. But many with
affirmative and interrogative verbs has a restricted use, i.e. many is
possible with affirmative verbs when preceded by a good/a great, or
when modified by so/as/too and very, e.g.
I made a good many friends there;
He has had so many jobs that he doesn't even remember their
number.
When not modified, many is usually replaced by a lot/lots of (+noun)
or by a lot/lots (pronouns), e.g.
I saw a lot/lots of seabirds;
I expect you saw a lot, too.
Compare the following: He hasn't won many races; but you've won a
lot/lots of races or You've won a lot/a great many races. The same
restrictions of use are applied to much/more/most, i.e. the quantitative
indefinite adjective and pronoun that is mentioned under c) above.
Examples:
but
We don't have much coffee;
They drink too much;
He spends a lot/lots of/a great deal of money on his house;
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compare with
or
He didn't eat much fruit;
She ate a lot/lots of/a great deal of fruit;
She ate a lot/a great deal.
Little and few (adjectives and pronouns) denote scarcity or lack and
have almost the force of a negative, e.g.
There was little time for consultation;
Little is known about the side-effects of this drug;
Few towns have such splendid trees etc.
This use of little and few is mainly confined to written English,
probably because in conversation little and few might easily be
confused with a little and a few. In conversation, therefore, little and
few are normally replaced by hardly any or a negative verb +
much/many, e.g.
We saw little = We saw hardly anything/We didn't see much;
Tourists come here but few stay overnight = Tourists come here
but hardly any stay overnight etc.
But little and few can be used more freely when they are qualified by
so/very/too/extremely/comparatively/relatively etc., e.g.
I'm unwilling to try a drug I know so little about;
They have too many technicians, we have too few;
There are fewer butterflies every year.
Only placed before a few means a small number in the speaker's
opinion, e.g.
Only a few of our customers have accounts.
But quite placed before a few increases the number considerably, e.g.
I have quite a few books on English morphology (=quite a lot of
books).
A little/little can be adverbs mainly used with verbs e.g. They grumbled
a little about having to wait, and with 'unfavourable
225
adjectives/adverbs', e.g. a little anxious, a little annoyed, a little
impatient etc., and with comparative adjectives and adverbs, e.g.
The paper should be a little thicker;
Can’t you walk a little faster?
All /each/every – all means a number of people or things considered as
a group, while each/every means a number of people or things
considered individually.
“Each is an adjective and a pronoun while every is an adjective only;
each can be used of two or more persons or things, and is normally used
of small numbers; every is not normally used of small numbers, e.g.
Every man had a weapon = All the men had weapons; Each man had a
weapon = the speaker went to each man in turn and checked that he had
a weapon” (Thomson and Martinet 1997: 64). Each can be followed by
of + these/those/nouns/pronouns in the accusative, e.g. each of
these/the boys/them/us. Each can be associated with the personal
pronoun, e.g.
We each sent in a report;
They each have been questioned etc.
All as a pronoun can be followed by of + the…/this/these/that/those/
possessives/proper nouns in the possessive case; e.g. all of the
students were there; all of his life he has only…; all of these were
bought…; all of Tom’s boys were…; the preposition of can be omitted in
the examples above, but it cannot be left out in the construction all+ of +
personal pronoun, e.g.
all of it; all of us etc.
All of it was rotten;
All of us went by train;
All of them were invited to the party
If, for some reason, the preposition of must be left out, all follows the
noun, e.g.
I want it all;
They wanted us all etc;
The teacher wanted to see us all.
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Both (an adjective and a pronoun) means ‘one and the other’ and takes a
plural verb, e.g.
Both (doors) were open;
Both (students) handed in the applications in time;
Both (kids) were fond of playing football
A personal pronoun in the nominative/accusative + both is also
possible, e.g.
We both knew him or Both of us knew him;
They called us both or They called both of us.
When one of these pronoun + all/both combinations is the subject of a
compound tense the auxiliary verb usually precedes all/both, e.g.
We are all waiting and not *We all are waiting
You must both help me;
We are all ready;
We are both ready etc.
Either/neither are both adjectives and pronouns. Either means ‘any
one of the two’ and takes a singular verb, e.g.
I have two English books; you can take either (of them);
Either of you come here and help me.
Either + a negative verb can be replaced by neither + a positive verb,
e.g.
I haven’t read either of these (books) = I have read neither of
these (books).
When neither is the subject of a verb it cannot be replaced by either + a
negative verb, e.g. only Neither of them knew the way is possible.
Neither means ‘not one and not the other of the two’. It takes a singular
verb and can sometimes replace either + a negative verb, except when
it is the subject of a construction (see above). Either/neither can take a
prepositional phrase: of + the/these/personal pronoun/possessives, e.g.
I tried both keys but neither of them worked;
Neither of them knew the way;
Neither boy knew the way;
I’ve read neither of these books.
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Personal pronouns and possessive adjectives associated with
either/neither (singular adjectives or pronouns) used of people should
technically be he/him, she/her, and his/her, but in colloquial English
the plural forms of the personal adjectives or pronouns are generally
used, e.g.
Neither of them knows the way, do they?
Neither of them had brought their passports, hadn’t they?
Either …..or/ neither……. nor are double conjunctions, e.g.
Neither threats nor arguments had any effect on him;
You must either go at once or wait till tomorrow.
The double conjunctions must connect identical parts of speech or
identical constructions (two nouns, two pronouns, two verbal forms etc)
b) Numerical and quantitative adjectives and pronouns.
Some and any are used mainly with plural countable nouns and mass
nouns (nişte), e.g.
SOME, eg.
There are some students waiting for you;
Some people are used to staying up late;
She bought some pencils;
I needed some English books;
He’s left some time now;
We need some wood etc.
Some is used in affirmative structures (=an affirmative verb) while any
is mainly used in interrogative and negative structures, e.g.
Are there any students there?
There aren’t any books on that table.
Some is also used
 with singular countable nouns to mean vreun/vreo/o/un/oarecare,
e.g.
He’s living at some place in Africa;
I’ve read that story in some book or other etc.
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
with singular countable nouns, with a deprecating meaning
or implying the fact that the person or object is unknown to the
speaker, e.g.

The man was writing some novel:
There’s some man in the hall;
There’s some suitcase in the other room etc.
In spoken English the intonation is enough to make the difference; in
written English, however, the larger context does the same.

with singular countable nouns, stressed, in familiar English
denoting appreciation, e.g.
Now, that is some joke!
Wow, this is some car! (asta zic şi eu maşină!)

with
plural countable nouns to contrast with other +
noun/others, e.g.
Some people learn languages quickly (while others don’t);
Some people like their coffee hot (other people like their coffee
cold) etc.

with countable or mass nouns to mean ‘a considerable
quantity/number’ (it is always stressed), e.g.
I willl be away for some time (fairly long time);
Mr, Green spoke at some length (considerable length);
The railway station is at some distance (quite a long way);
in interrogative constructions in form but which are actually
invitations or requests, e.g.
Will you have some coffee?
Would you buy me some bread?
Would you like some cake?
in interrogative constructions when they refer to a part of the whole
or of a quantity, e.g.
Could I take some apples, please?
Do you have some change about you?
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
in interrogative sentences if the question does not refer to some
(Leviţchi), e.g.
Why are there so many mistakes in some exercises?
Do you want to suggest that some people don’t like fish? etc.
As pronouns some and any follow the same rules as those mentioned
above, e.g.
Did you buy any stamps? Yes, I bought some/No I did not buy any
etc.
ANY, e.g.
As already mentioned, any is used with countable or mass nouns mainly
in negative and interrogative constructions, as an equivalent of some,
e.g.,
I haven’t seen any books on the table;
Did you buy any apples yesterday?
There isn’t any coffee left.
Any is also used:

with hardly/barely/scarcely (which are almost negative), e.g.
I have hardly any spare time;
She has hardly any money to live on;

with without when without any means with no, e.g.
She crossed the frontier without any difficulty/with no difficulty;
He is able to swim across the lake without any visible effort/with
no effort etc.

after if and whether and in expressions of doubt, e.g.
If you need any money, let me know;
I don’t think there is any petrol in the tank;

in affirmative sentences with the meaning of orice, oricare,
indiferent, e.g.
Any book on horse riding will tell you how to mount a horse;
Any grown–up knows that hard work is the only way out of
poverty;
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Can I take a book? Of course, you can take any etc.
No (an adjective) and none (a pronoun) can be used with an affirmative
verb to express a negative (as an alternative to any + a negative verb);
it can be used with countable or mass nouns, e.g.
I have no apples = I don’t have any apples;
I had some last year, but I have none this year/…but I don’t have
any this year;
No work was done;
None of the tourists wanted to climb the mountain etc.
A lot of/a lot(see under many/more/most, section 4/5.2)
Enough – is both an adjective and a pronoun on the one hand, and an
adverb on the other. As an adjective enough precedes the noun/noun
equivalent it determines, e.g.
She has enough money to buy whatever she wants to;
You have enough time to get there on foot;
I could not tell whether it was enough or not etc.
As an adverb enough follows the adjective/adverb/verb it modifies, e.g.
She is tall enough to be a basketball player;
We worked enough for today;
She speaks English well enough etc.(for more details see under
adverb)
c) Quantitative adjectives and pronouns – for practical reasons
quantitative adjectives and pronouns have been dealt with in parallel
with other adjectives and adverbs, so, for
little (see under little and few, section 4/5.2)
Much/more/most (see under many/more/most and few above)
d) pronouns – some, any and no combine with body, thing and one, the
resulting compounds being pronouns. These compounds are: somebody,
something, someone, anybody, anything, anyone; nobody, nothing,
no one; as compounds of some, any and no they follow the rules for
some, any and no (see under some, any and no), e.g.
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Someone wants to speak to you on the phone;
Somebody gave me a ticket for the concert;
No one/Nobody has ever given me a free ticket for anything;
Anyone will tell you where the house is;
These pronouns can be used in the possessive case, e.g.
It is nobody’s business.
Someone’s passport has been stolen;
Is this anyone’s seat?
I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.
These pronouns have a singular meaning and take a singular verb, so
personal pronouns and possessive adjectives should logically be he/him,
she/her etc. However, plural forms are more common:
Has anyone left their luggage on the train?
No one saw Tom go out, didn’t they?
Else can be placed after the pronouns mentioned above as well as after
everyone, everybody, everything (pronouns also) and after the adverbs
somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, everywhere, e.g. somebody else,
anybody else, somewhere else etc. (compounds with alt- in Romanian,
e.g. altcineva, altundeva etc.), e.g.
I’m afraid I can’t help you; you’ll have to ask someone else;
There isn’t anyone else to ask;
somewhere else etc. - forms can be used in the possessive case, e.g.
By mistake, I took someone else’s coat;
Was anyone else’s luggage opened? etc.
4/5.3. Possessive adjectives and pronouns
Form:
Person
I
II
III
IV
V
Adjectives
my
your
his
her
its
our
your
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Pronouns
mine
yours
his
hers
---ours
yours
VI
their
theirs
Possessive adjectives and pronouns in English have only one form
which refers to the possessor and not to the thing(s) possessed, and do
not agree in number, gender or case with the object(s) possessed,
e.g.
This is our room and that is yours;
This is their car; that is theirs too;
I’ve got your pen. You are using mine etc.
In Romanian, however, things are a little more complicated and for the
benefit of the Romanian learners all the pronominal or adjectival forms
will be given in order to make it clear that there is only one form in
English for the four Romanian ones (which must agree in number,
gender and case with the object/s possessed), i.e.
PERS. Possessive Adjective
1 (eu) meu, mea, mei, mele
2 (tu) tău, ta, tăi, tale
3 (ea) ei
(el) lui
(el, ea)său, sa, săi, sale
4 (noi)
Possessive pronoun
al meu, a mea, ai mei, ale mele
al tău, a ta, ai tăi, ale tale
al, a, ai, ale ei
al, a, ai, ale lui
al său, a sa, ai săi, ale sale
There are also other means of expressing possession, i.e. object(s)
possessed + of + possessive pronoun, e.g. friends of mine/yours/his
(prieteni de-ai mei/tăi/lui).
Own (propriu/proprie/proprii) can be used after possessive adjectives
to emphasize the idea of possession, e.g.
He couldn’t trust his own friends;
She didn’t want to see me, her own mother! etc.
Parts of one’s body, pieces of clothing or personal belongings are
most frequently preceded by a possessive adjective, e.g.
Put on your coat !
Where are my glasses?
Wash your hands!
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My head aches;
She is in her room;
He won’t lend me his car!
4/5.4. Interrogative adjectives and pronouns
For persons: Nominative case: who (pronoun), dative/accusative cases:
whom/who (pronoun), of which whom is the technically correct one,
but who is used, especially in spoken English; possessive case: whose
(adjective and pronoun); what can also be used for persons and its form
is invariable.
For things: what (adjective and pronoun) has an invariable form.
For persons and things when the choice is restricted: which has an
invariable form.
Who, whose, which, what, when used as subjects are usually followed
by an affirmative verb, e.g.
Who told you this?
Who comes tomorrow?
Whose book is this?
Whose words are these?
What went wrong?
But with who, whose etc. + be + noun or personal/distributive
pronoun, an interrogative verb is used, e.g.
Who is he? Whose is that?
What is that noise?
Other examples, e.g.
Who took my gun?
Who are these boys?
Who can tell me the truth?
Whom did you see?(formal English)
Who did you see? (normal English)
Whom/Who did the committee appoint?
234
Who did you go with?
Who are you talking to?
Whose (car) broke down?
What do you base your theory on?
Which pigeon arrived first?
Which of them is the eldest?
What can also be used in other constructions, e.g.

what + action + for? meaning why?, e.g.
What did you do that for? = Why did you do that? or
What did you go there for?= Why did you go there?

what + be…..+ like? is a request for description or comment
(animate/inanimate),e.g.
What was your trip like? (possible answer: It was too long and
difficult to enjoy)
What was the weather like? (possible answer: It was cold and
windy);
What is your friend like? (possible answer: He is nice and
friendly).

what + do/does/did + they/he/she/it + look like? is a request for
description only, e.g.
What does she look like? (possible answer: She is tall and
slender);
What does it/the car look like? (possible answer: It is brand new
and as quick as one could imagine).

what + be + you/he/she/they? is a question eliciting an answer
about one’s profession, e.g. What are you? (possible answer: I am a
teacher).

what (and how) are used in questions about age and
measurements, i.e. depth/height/length/width, although in
conversation it would be more usual to say how old/deep/high/
tall/long/wide?
Formal English
What age are you? What is your age?
235
Conversation
How old are you?
What height is she? What is his height?
What is the weight of the parcel?
How tall is he?
How heavy is it?
Ever can be placed after who/what (as well as after the adverbs where,
why, when, how) although it is not necessary; when added, it
emphasizes the speaker’s surprise/astonishment/anger/irritation/dismay.
It has the same meaning as on earth/in the world and it is not polite,
e.g.
Who ever are you? (it expresses the speaker’s irritation, the other
person is probably an intruder);
Who ever told you about it? =Who on earth told you about it?
What ever are you doing in my room? =What on earth are you
doing in my room?
Who ever and what ever (two words) are different from whoever
(pronoun only) or whatever (pronoun and adjective); whoever means
“the one who”, “he/she who” (whoever, whichever and whatever are
relative adjectives/pronouns, but it seems logical to mention them here
as well), e.g.
Whoever gains the most points wins the competition;
Whoever gets home first stars cooking the dinner;
Whoever cleans the windows doesn’t make a good job of it;
In order to emphasize the importance of a request or command
whatever you do is often placed before or after it, e.g.
Whatever you do, don’t mention my name;
Whatever you do, don’t spend that money.
4/5.5. Adverbial adjectives
They are hundreds of words that begin in a- that is usually attached to
nouns, adjectives or verbs, e.g. aback, abask, abeam, ablaze, abloom,
ablush, aboard, abreast, acock, adrift, afar, afield, afloat, afoot, afore,
afresh, agape, agaze, aghast, aglow, agog, aground, ahead, ajar etc.
These words are neither pure adjectives nor pure adverbs since they
partly show the state of an object and partly its characteristic at a given
236
moment; they are classed as adjectives, however, because of the
following reasons:
1. ’state’ being a transient quality of something, the general meaning
of these words falls under the heading of qualitative adjectives;
2. they are morphologically non-flexional; some may combine with
more and the most, e.g. more afraid, more alive etc.;
3. syntactically they combine with other parts of speech, like any other
qualitative adjectives: with adverbs, e.g. he was painfully alive to
the great universal things (Jack London); with prepositional
combinations, e.g. He walked away under a sky of clear steel-blue,
alive with stars (Galsworthy);
4. They combine with infinitives, e.g. He is afraid to come back;
5. they are usually predicatives, e.g.
They are asleep;
The door was ajar;
The crew were ashore.
4/5.6. Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses which can be a) defining/
restrictive relative clauses or b) non-defining/non-restrictive relative
clauses;
a) Defining relative clauses describe the preceding noun in such a
way as to distinguish it from the other nouns of the same class. A
clause of this kind is essential to the clear understanding of the noun,
e.g. The man who came yesterday refused to give me his name - who
came yesterday is the relative clause; if we omit it, it is not clear what
man we are talking about.
Relative pronouns used in defining/restrictive relative clauses:


for things: N. who/that, D. and Acc. Who(m)/that, G. whose;
for things: N., D., Acc. which/that, G. whose/of which
Examples:
-
for persons, nominative: The man who robbed you has been
arrested: that is a possible alternative after all, everyone,
237
everybody, no one, nobody and those; if in doubt, use who, e.g.
Everyone who/that knew him liked him;
for persons, accusative: the pronoun changes from the formally
correct, whom, to the more usual one, who, then to that or it is left
out altogether, e.g. The man whom/who/that/-----I saw told me to
come back yesterday;
-
for persons, genitive: People whose rents have been raised can
appeal;
-
for things, nominative: This is the picture which/that caused such
a sensation; that is a possible alternative to which, but when in
doubt, use which;
-
for things, accusative: the pronoun changes from which to that or
is left out completely, e.g. The car which/that/----- I hired broke
down;
-
for things, genitive: A house whose walls were made of glass cost a
fortune;
A defining/restrictive relative clause can be replaced by an infinitive or
a participle (see section 1.6.1.2.)
b) Non-defining/non-restrictive relative clauses are placed after nouns
that are definite already, so they do not define the noun, but merely add
something to it by giving some more information about it; unlike
defining relative clauses, they are not essential in the sentence and can
be omitted without causing confusion; the pronouns, however, can never
be omitted as they play an important role in the subordinate clause. This
construction is fairly formal and more common in written than in
spoken English.
Relative pronouns in non-defining relative clauses:


for persons: N. who, D., Acc. who(m), G. whose
for things: N.,D., Acc. which, G. whose, of which
Examples:
-
for persons, nominative: My friend, who doesn’t like fishing at all,
went fishing yesterday;
238
-
for persons, accusative: Peter, who(m) everyone suspected, turned
out to be innocent; --for persons, genitive: Ann, whose children are
at school today, is trying to get a job;
-
for objects, nominative: That block, which cost $2 million to build,
has been empty for years;
-
for objects, accusative: These books, which you can get at any
bookshop, will give you all the information you need;
-
for objects, genitive: This house, whose windows were all broken,
was a depressive sight.
Which (ceea ce) can also modify a whole main clause, or a longer unit
that was reported before, e.g.
or
Apart from his talent, he was tall and handsome, which made the
jury select him for the main part in the movie;
……(a longer unit), which left him poor and broke.
Both in defining and non-defining relative clauses the preposition, if
there is one, should be kept after the verb it belongs to. The preposition
may precede the relative pronoun sometimes, but this construction is
rather formal and is never used in spoken English, although it may
appear in written form: so, it is more usual to say The man I was
travelling with was from San Francisco than The man with whom I was
travelling was from S.F, in which the preposition precedes the relative
pronoun; the same is true for all instances of relative pronouns
associated with prepositions.
The importance of commas in relative clauses
A defining relative clause is written without commas, while a nondefining relative one is always put between commas, or comes after a
comma, at the end of the sentence. The presence of commas is very
important as the meaning changes when commas are inserted, e.g.
The students who wanted to go on a trip were disappointed when
it started to rain (=not all were disappointed, only those who
wanted to go on a trip) and
The students, who wanted to go on a trip, were disappointed (all
wanted to go on a trip and all were disappointed).
239
4/5.7. Personal pronouns
Pronouns are words which replace nouns; the personal pronoun has
an anaphoric function, i.e. they replace nouns previously mentioned or
notions the interlocutor(s) is/are already informed about.
The personal pronoun has number (singular and plural), gender
(masculine and feminine, and the inanimate it), and case (nominative,
and dative/accusative):
Person/number
Nominative
I singular
II singular
III singular
I plural
II plural
III plural
I
you
Thou*
he
she
it
we
you
they
Dative/ Accusative
(for/to) me
(for/to) you
(for/to) thee*
(for/to) him
(for/to) her
(for/to) it
(for/to) us
(for/to) you
(for/to) them
*Thou and *thee are old forms that can be found in literature or in
extremely formal speech; very infrequently encountered in
contemporary English.
For the position of the pronoun objects see under noun, the category of
the case (section 2.7)
Synonyms of personal pronouns:
-
myself can stand for I, e.g.
John and myself went on foot;
or after as/than/but, e.g.
No person has ever been more intolerably tortured than myself;
240
-
we can stand for I as the so-called “modest we” or “royal we”, e.g.
an author writing an article may choose to write: We experimented
all the…, instead of : I experimented all the…;
-
we is sometimes used instead of you especially
- when talking down (doctor to patient)
How are we feeling today? or
- when talking to children, e.g.
Are we hungry?
We haven’t eaten anything today.
the undersigned can be used instead of the first person singular in
applications;
The pronoun IT has been explained under noun, the category of gender;
it has other functions as well, e.g.
Demonstrative IT- very much like the demonstrative adjective, when
the pronoun could be replaced by a demonstrative, e.g.
Who is it?
Have you ever drunk wine? It is very tasty.
It’s all right.
Impersonal IT- used with time, weather, distance etc., e.g.
It is late;
It is early;
What time is it?
It is cold;
It is warm;
It is far;
It is 10 miles’ distance away etc.
Introductory-anticipatory IT - it introduces the sentence and
anticipates the logical subject/object, being itself a formal grammatical
subject or object; it also introduces passive constructions (for other
introductory functions see under adjective of quality), e.g.
It is easy to learn English;
241
It is clear that he won’t do it;
It is said/it is believed/it is suspected that… etc.
Introductory-emphatic IT- sometimes the speaker feels that it is not
strong enough to use only the subject and the predicate, he feels the need
to emphasize the subject, e.g. The doctor prescribed the medicine
(=Doctorul mi-a prescris medicamentul) is not convincing enough, so
the speaker says: It is/was the doctor who prescribes/prescribed the
medicine (=Doctorul e cel care mi-a prescris medicamentul); or It was
only yesterday that I found out the truth; It was the teacher who told me
what to do etc.
An emphatic-predicate IT- when it refers to person/thing/situation
which is final or ultimate, e.g. This is it! That’s it!
An empty-meaningless IT- because of the compulsory presence of a
subject, e.g. It is Monday; It is raining etc, very much like b), the
impersonal IT.
4/5.8. Reflexive and emphatic pronouns
The form of the reflexive pronoun is the same as the emphatic pronoun,
the two can be distinguished in use.
Person/Number
Reflexive/Emphatic/Emphasizing pronoun
I singular
II singular
III singular
myself
yourself
himself
herself
itself
ourselves
yourselves
themselves
I plural
II plural
III plural
The indefinite reflexive/emphasizing pronoun is oneself.
1) as reflexive pronouns they are used as objects of a verb when the
action of the verb returns to the doer, i.e. when the subject and the object
are the same person; the word order is: subject + verb + reflexive
pronoun, e.g.
I cut myself;
242
He can’t shave himself;
Reflexive pronouns can be used after verb + preposition, e.g.
He spoke to himself;
Look after yourself!.
The preposition by preceding any of these pronouns changes their
meaning to alone, not accompanied or without help, e.g.
He was sitting there by himself =he was sitting there alone;
I did it by myself =I did it without any help etc.
2) as emphatic pronouns, they have a different place, i.e. subject +
emphatic pronoun + verb + object OR subject +verb + object +
emphatic pronoun, e.g.
Ann herself opened the door =Ann opened the door herself;
The king himself gave her the medal;
She made the cake herself =She herself made the cake etc.
4/5.9. Reciprocal pronouns
They are one another and each other; both can be used for two or
more, but each other is preferred when there are no more than two, e.g.
Tom and Ann looked at each other;
The reciprocal pronoun can be used in the genitive, e.g.
The boys whispered in each other’s ears;
It was a general fight, people tearing each other’s clothes etc.
In contemporary usage each other is frequently preferred over one
another, even when there are more than two people present.
243
6. THE NUMERAL
The numeral is a word that denotes an abstract number or the
abstract numerical order of objects; it can be a noun, an adjective or a
pronoun.
The questions they answer are: how many? how much? which?
Irrespective of their morphological status, numerals are invariable, e.g.
Ten multiplied by two is twenty (noun);
Ten students left by bus (adjective);
Not all the students were present, ten had left earlier (pronoun);
The first (student) asked whether to stay or to leave (pronoun/
noun)
Numerals can be classed according to various criteria, e.g.
1) according to form:
a) simple: one, two, three, nine, ten, eleven etc.
b) compound: twenty two, fifty one etc.
c) by derivation: thirteen, fourteen, thirty, sixty and all the ordinal
numeral etc.
2) according to content:
a) cardinal numerals
b) ordinal numerals
c) fractional numerals
d) multiplicative numerals
e) distributive numerals
f) adverbial numerals of recurrence
6.1. Cardinal numerals
a) cardinal numerals show the number of objects:
1
2
3
one
two
three
10
20
30
244
ten
twenty
thirty
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
40
forty
50
fifty
60
sixty
70
seventy
80
eighty
90
ninety
100 one hundred
1,000 one thousand
1,000,000 one million
1,000,000,000 one billion
How to use the cardinal numeral:
-
-
-
numerals hundred, thousand, million, billion do not get a plural
suffix when used with numbers, e.g. 3,000 = three thousand,
5,000,000 = five million; however when used to show an indefinite
number, they are used in the plural , e.g. thousands and thousands
of people, tens of millions of books etc.
use and before the tens, e.g. 1,157 is read one thousand one
hundred and fifty seven; 3,004 reads three thousand and four etc.
a comma (,) is used instead of a full stop (.) to separate millions
from hundreds of thousands, thousands from hundreds, e.g.
3,457,908 etc. and a full stop (.) instead of a comma (,) in decimal
fractions, e.g. 5.7; 234.987 etc.
years are read as follows: the first two figures together and the last
two together, e.g. 1991 = nineteen ninety one; 1809 = eighteen oh
nine; starting with 2000 the years are read as follows: 2000 = two
thousand; normally for the first nine years of each century oh[ou] is
used to express 0 (zero), but exceptionally for the first decade of
the 21st century and is used to express 0 (zero) so 2001 is read two
thousand and one etc.
245
-
-
-
the cardinal numeral is also used instead of the ordinal numeral to
show the number of a house, bus, flat, chapter, section, volume
etc, e.g. book ten; section nine; volume three; flat twenty seven etc.
telephone numbers: there are several ways of reading the
telephone numbers; they are usually read figure by figure if the
figures are different, e.g. 41 72 45 = four one seven two four five; if
there is a kind of symmetry in the number, it may be read by twos,
e.g. 41 56 41 = forty one fifty six forty one; if a figure is repeated, it
is read “double…”; e.g. 45 33 22 = four five (or forty five) double
three double two; or 55 77 08 – double five double seven 0 (oh OR
zero) eight etc.
telling the time: the traditional way of telling the time uses
prepositions (past and to) and cardinal numerals for hours and
minutes etc., e.g. it is twenty to five or it is twenty past five; there is
a newer form that has been forced upon users by international use
(flights, train etc.) and which consists in the juxtaposition of two
cardinal numbers, the first telling the hour and the second telling
the minutes, e.g. five twenty five (am or pm); four fifty (am or pm)
etc, 1002 becomes ten oh[ou] two; the military have a special way
of telling the time, when it is a whole number, e.g. for two o’clock
sharp = two hundred hours etc.
6.2. Ordinal numerals
the first
the third
the fifth etc.
the second
the fourth
Except the first three ordinal numerals whose form is different, the
others are formed from the cardinal numeral, and all are preceded by
the.
Uses:
telling the date: the date may be written in various ways, but it is read
as follows: the + the numeral + of + name of the month and then
the year, e.g. June, 4th , 2000 = the fourth of June, two thousand etc.
to show regular intervals, e.g. every third week = o dată la trei
săptămâni, twice every second week etc.
246
6.3. Fractional numerals
-
common fractions: 2/3 = two thirds; ¼ =one fourth; 4/6 = four
sixths; ½ half; 3 ½ = three and a half etc.
decimal fractions: special attention should be paid to the fact that
instead of comma in the European system, a full stop/a period is
used in the Anglo-Saxon system, e.g. 5.6; 3.56; 2.8765; 1.2 etc.
6.4. Multiplicative numerals
Show how many times a quantity or number increases, e.g.
-
adjectival use:
double - dublu
threefold - întreit
fourfold - împătrit
The form is an ordinal numeral + –fold.
adverbial use:
twice - dublu, îndoit, de două ori
three times, threefold - întreit, de trei ori
four times, fourfold - împătrit, de patru ori
a hundred times - de o sută de ori
6.5. Distributive numerals
These numerals show the distribution and grouping of objects:
(one) by one - (unul) câte unul
by twos - câte doi
by threes - câte trei
6.6. Adverbial numeral of recurrence
247
Shows how many times an action is repeated or how many times a
quantity or number is larger/smaller than another quantity or number,
e.g.
once - o dată
twice, two times - de două ori
three times, thrice - de trei ori
four times - de patru ori
once and a half - o dată şi jumătate
three times a year - de trei ori pe an
many times - de multe ori
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