Download The Noun

FOREWORD
The book is mainly written as a self-study book, but may also be used in class
with a teacher. It revises some of the most difficult points of grammar that third-year
students have already studied; it will also introduce them to many more features of
English grammar appropriate to an advanced level of study.
The book consists of two parts: Morphology and Syntax. There are 15 large
units in the book. Each one covers a particular area of grammar and contains some
smaller units, helping to present the information in a systematized way. The book
concentrates on the areas students need to pass the exams and gives thorough
explanations of them. Special attention is given to those points which are often a
problem for students: Noun, Articles, Adjective, Adverb, Oblique Moods, SubjectPredicate Agreement, Simple and Composite Sentences, Predicative Сomplexes.
The main aims of the book are as follows:
 to help the students improve their knowledge of English grammar so that they
could use English at a near-native level of grammatical competence;
 to raise their awareness of how the English language works and to be able to speak
on the use of grammar structures in English using appropriate examples;
 to raise the students’ awareness of the creative use of grammar;
 to ensure the students that they can communicate efficiently with a number of
grammar patterns they learn;
 to develop the students’ ability to translate from Russian/Belarusian into English
using appropriate grammar structures.
All the grammar rules are lavishly supplied with explanations and examples.
The book is supplied with the glossary (p. 122), where there are all the linguistic
terms and their Russian equivalents.
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CONTENTS
MORPHOLOGY
THE NOUN ................................................................................................................... 7
The Category of Number ........................................................................................... 9
The Genitive Case .................................................................................................... 13
Types of the Genitive Case................................................................................... 14
THE ARTICLE ........................................................................................................... 18
Functions of the Article ........................................................................................... 19
The Use of Articles with Abstract Nouns ................................................................ 22
The Use of Articles with Material Nouns ................................................................ 26
The Use of Articles with Predicative Nouns and Nouns in Apposition .................. 28
The Use of Articles in Some Set Expressions ......................................................... 29
The Use of Articles with Some Semantic Groups of Nouns ................................... 33
Articles with Names of Seasons and Parts of the Day ......................................... 33
Articles with Names of Meals .............................................................................. 34
Articles with the Nouns school, college, prison, jail, church, hospital ............... 35
Articles with Names of Parts of the Body ............................................................ 35
Articles with Names of Specific Periods .............................................................. 36
The Use of Articles with Proper Names .................................................................. 36
Names of Persons ................................................................................................. 37
Geographical Names ............................................................................................ 39
Calendar Items ...................................................................................................... 40
Miscellaneous Proper Names ............................................................................... 41
THE ADJECTIVE ....................................................................................................... 43
Morphological Composition .................................................................................... 43
Semantic Characteristics .......................................................................................... 44
The Position of Adjectives ....................................................................................... 45
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Degrees of Comparison............................................................................................ 46
Patterns of Comparison ............................................................................................ 47
Intensifiers of Adjectives ......................................................................................... 50
Substantivized Adjectives ........................................................................................ 52
Adjectives and Adverbs ........................................................................................... 54
OBLIQUE MOODS .................................................................................................... 57
Temporal Relations within the Oblique Moods....................................................... 59
Subjunctive II ........................................................................................................... 60
The Conditional Mood ............................................................................................. 63
The Suppositional Mood and Subjunctive I ............................................................ 65
SYNTAX
THE SENTENCE ....................................................................................................... 71
The Simple Sentence. Structural Types ................................................................... 72
Communicative Types of Sentences ........................................................................ 73
THE SUBJECT ........................................................................................................... 79
Ways of expressing the Subject ............................................................................... 79
Structural Types of the Subject ................................................................................ 80
“IT” and “THERE” as Subjects ............................................................................. 82
THE PREDICATE ...................................................................................................... 84
AGREEMENT OF THE PREDICATE WITH THE SUBJECT ................................ 89
Grammatical Agreement .......................................................................................... 89
Pronouns as Subjects ............................................................................................ 90
Agreement with Homogeneous Subjects ............................................................. 91
Notional Agreement ................................................................................................. 92
THE OBJECT .............................................................................................................. 95
Types of Objects ...................................................................................................... 96
Structure and Ways of Expressing ........................................................................... 98
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Predicative Constructions that Function as Objects ................................................ 99
THE ATTRIBUTE .................................................................................................... 101
THE APPOSITION ................................................................................................... 104
THE ADVERBIAL MODIFIER ............................................................................... 105
Structural Types of the Adverbial Modifier .......................................................... 106
Semantic Characteristics of the Adverbial Modifier ............................................. 106
ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS ................................................. 108
THE COMPOSITE SENTENCE .............................................................................. 111
The Compound Sentence ....................................................................................... 111
The Complex Sentence .......................................................................................... 114
Nominal Clauses ................................................................................................. 114
Attributive Clauses ............................................................................................. 116
Adverbial Clauses ............................................................................................... 118
WORD ORDER ........................................................................................................ 121
Glossary of Linguistic Terms .................................................................................... 124
List of Books ............................................................................................................. 127
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Who climbs the grammar tree distinctly knows
Where noun and verb and participle grows
Dryden
MORPHOLOGY
THE NOUN
Nouns are names of objects, i.e. things, human beings, animals, materials,
abstract notions, states (e.g. table, house, man, dog, snow, music, love, sleep).
Semantic characteristics.
All nouns can be divided into two main groups: proper nouns and common
nouns.
A proper noun is used for a particular person, place, thing or idea that is
unique. It is generally spelled with a capital letter. Sometimes proper names can be
used as common nouns: Ford ― a Ford = a car; Repin ― a Repin = a painter like
Repin, etc.)
Common nouns can be classified into count nouns (denoting object that can be
counted), uncount nouns (denoting object that cannot be counted) and collective
(собирательные) nouns (denoting a group of persons)
Count nouns may be concrete denoting animate (boy, child) or inanimate
(table, book, tree) objects and abstract (idea, question, problem).
Uncount nouns nouns may be abstract (fun, socialism) or material (bread,
iron).
Many uncount nouns can also beсome countable in certain contexts.
Count nouns
Uncount nouns
He bought an evening paper.
He bought wallpaper.
She was a beauty.
Beauty is a great power.
I’ll tell you about my life experiences.
We need someone with experience
this field.
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in
Bring me a glass of water.
Glass is widely used in industry.
A noun of material as a count noun may denote kind of, type of; a portion:
She always drinks Chinese tea.
In this shop you can buy different teas.
Cheese is rich in cholesterol.
French cheeses are delicious.
She is fond of coffee.
A coffee, two lemonades and three ice-creams,
please.
Collective nouns may be nouns of multitude (people, police, cattle, clergy,
gentry, folk, poultry, etc.) or collective proper (family. crew, government, company,
staff etc.) Collective nouns of multitude are used in the plural. Collective nouns
proper are used in two ways: if you regard a particular noun as a single body, it is
used in the singular: The audience was enormous. If you regard a noun as a group or
persons, then it is used in the plural: My family are watching TV now.
Morphological composition.
Nouns may be simple, derived and compound.
Simple nouns consist of only one root-morpheme: dog, chair, room, roof, leaf.
Derived nouns (derivatives) are composed of one root-morpheme and one or
more derivational morphemes (prefixes or suffixes): teacher, friendship, kindness.
Compound nouns consist of at least two stems. For example, a seaman, a
bluebell, a pickpocket, a looking-glass, a father-in-law, a forget-me-not, pick-me-up .
Morphological characteristics.
Morphologically nouns are characterized by the grammatical categories of
number and case. Gender doesn’t find regular morphological expression. The
distinction of male, female and neuter may correspond to the lexical meaning of the
noun: masculine (names of male beings) ― boy, bachelor, cock; feminine (names of
female beings) ― girl, wife, cow, bird; neuter (names of inanimate objects) ― table,
stone.
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The Category of Number
English count nouns have singular and plural forms. These nouns are called
variable nouns. Singular nouns denotes one, plural ― more than one. Other nouns
are used either only in the singular or only in the plural. They are called invariable
nouns.
Variable nouns (regular plurals): Noun + -s/-es. The suffix -es is added to
nouns ending in:-s, ss, sh, ch, x, z, o: glasses, watches, tomatoes, heroes.
Nouns in -o have the plural in -os: a) after a vowel: zoos, radios; b) in proper
names: Romeos, Eskimos; c) in abbreviations: photos, kilos; d) in musical terms of
Italian origin: pianos, solos, tangos, sopranos.
Nouns ending in -y, preceded by a consonant, change -y into -ies: stories, flies.
Only -s is added: a) after a vowel: boys, toys; b) in proper names: the
Kennedys, Marys; c) to compounds: stand-bys, lay-bys.
Note: The plural of abbreviations is sometimes formed in spelling by doubling
a letter: Ms (manuscript) ― MSS, p. (page) ― pp., Mr (Mister) ― Messers, MP
(Member of Parliament) ― MPs [‘em’pi:z] (or MP’s), MD (Doctor of Medicine) ―
MDs [‘em’di:z].
Irregular plurals. They form their plural by:
1) a change of a vowel: man ― men, woman ― women, tooth - teeth, foot ―
feet, mouse ― mice, goose ― geese, louse ― lice;
2) voicing (twelve nouns ending in -f (e) form their plural changing -f(e) into
-ve: wives, lives, wolves, calves, knives, halves, selves, shelves, thieves, leaves, elves,
loaves. In other cases -fs: proofs, beliefs, still-lifes, etc. In a few cases both -fs and ves forms are possible: scarf ― scarfs (-ves), dwarf ― dwarfs (-ves), handkerchief ―
handkerchiefs(-ves);
3) -en plural: ox ― oxen, child ― children, brother― brethren;
4) retaining the singular form in the plural: a) a sheep ― sheep, a swine ―
swine, a deer ― deer,
a fish ― fish, a craft ― craft, b) nationality nouns in -ese,
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-ss: Japanese ― the Japanese, a Swiss ― the Swiss; с) quantitative nouns: hundred,
thousand, million, dozen, stone (3 dozen eggs, but dozens of people);
5) retaining -s of the singular unchained in the plural: a means ― means, a
works (завод) ― works, a barracks ― barracks, a headquarters ― headquarters, a
series ― series, a species ― species;
6) plurals of foreign origin: -us — -i [ai]: stimulus – stimuli; -a — -ae [i:]:
vertebra ― vertebrae, formula ― formulae; -um — -a [a:]: datum – data; -is [iz] —
-es [iz]: basis – bases, crisis ― crises; -on — -a [a:]: phenomenon – phenomena, -ex,
-ix — -ices: appendix – appendices.
Invariable Nouns
Singular invariables (singularia tantum). Here belong:
1) material nouns: sand, gold;
2) abstract nouns: music, homework;
3) substantivized adjectives with abstract meaning: the inevitable, the evident;
4) proper names: London, the Thames;
5) some diseases: diabetes, mumps, measles, rabies, rickets, shingles;
6) some games: bowls, billiards, draughts, darts, skittles;
7) the word news;
8) subject names in - ics: aerobics, classics, genetics, linguistics, mathematics,
phonetics, statistics, etc. Some of these nouns are occasionally used in the plural,
when you are talking about a particular person’s work or activities: His politics are
uncertain. The statistics are optimistic.
9) some proper nouns: Athens, Brussels, Wales, the United States, the United
Nations.
10) collective nouns: money, advice, weather, jewellery, information, fruit.
But: the fruits of my investigation. This drink is made from four tropical fruits. The
tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit.
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Plural invariables
1. Summation plurals (= nouns denoting objects consisting of two parts): braces,
shorts, glasses, jeans, leggings, tights, trousers, scissors, scales, binoculars, etc.
Note. When you want to refer to a single piece of clothing or a single tool you
can use “some” or “a pair of” in front of the noun. You can refer to more than one
item by using a number or a quantifier with “pairs of”. When you use “a pair of” with
a noun in the plural form, the verb is singular if it is in the same clause, and plural if
it is in the following relative clause: A new pair of new shoes brings more happiness.
He put on a new pair of shoes, which were waiting for him.
2. Substantivized adjectives denoting people: the rich, the poor, the old, the
young, the English.
3. Miscellaneous nouns: wages, sweepings, the contents of a book (but the
silver content of the coin), archives, arms, ashes, customs, earnings, goods, greens,
looks, stairs, manners, minutes, outskirts, riches, surroundings, thanks, the Middle
Ages.
4. Some proper names: The Netherlands, the Midlands, the Hebrides], the East
Indies.
Note the singular and the plural form of the noun in the following patterns:
He spared no effort to get you out. ― Он не жалел сил, чтобы помочь вам
выбраться.
It’ll require/it’ll cost them a lot of effort.
― Это потребует (от них)
большой затраты сил (больших усилий).
You have no grounds for complaint. ― У вас нет основания для жалоб.
Don’t go into detail. ― Не вдавайтесь в детали.
She described it in (great) detail. ― Она описала это в (мельчайших)
подробностях.
He has a good eye for detail. ― Он замечает все детали.
On second thoughts he decided not to tell her anything. ― Поразмыслив, он
решил ничего ей не говорить.
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He had betrayed his mother without a second thought. ― Он предал свою
мать, и никогда не сожалел об этом.
He was deep in thought. ― Он был погружен в свои мысли.
Note 1. Compound numerals with one: twenty-one, thirty-one, etc. take a noun
in the plural. Twenty-one students were present at the lecture. ― На лекции
присутствовал двадцать один студент.
Note 2. The nouns grapes, carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, radishes, etc.
(виноград, морковь, свекла, картофель, лук, редис) are always plural when used
collectively. Lemons contain a lot of vitamin C.
Note 3. There are a few nouns in English which have only the plural form and
lack the singular (pluralia tantum nouns). But they happen to be homonyms of nouns
which are used in both forms, i.e. regular plural. These nouns are:
1) colour — colours (= hues) — colours (= regimental flags)
2) a force — forces (= powers) — forces (= an army)
3) a custom — customs (= habits) — customs (= taxis on imported goods)
4) a draught — draughts (= currents of air) — draughts (= a game)
5) a glass — glasses (= vessels for drinking from) — glasses (= spectacles)
6) a manner — manners (= ways) — manners (= behaviour)
a moral — morals (= lessons of a story) — morals (= standards of behaviour)
8) a minute — minutes (= spaces of time) — minutes (= secretary’s record of
proceedings)
9) a quarter — quarters (= forth parts) — quarters (= lodgings)
Some nouns which belong to the singularia tantum group are occasionally used
in the plural form for stylistic reasons suggesting a great quantity or extent: the sands
of the Sahara; the snows and frosts of the Arctic; the waters of the Atlantic; the blue
skies of Italy; in all weathers, etc.
Note 4. Some nouns which are singular in English are plural in Russian:
applause, cream, debate, fighting, evidence, gossip, hair, ink, knowledge, progress, a
gate, a funeral, a watch, a sledge, a race, a vocation.
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The plural in compound nouns
1. As a rule in compounds it is the second component that takes the plural
form: housewives, tooth-brushes, shoe shops.
2. Compounds in - ful have the plural ending at the end of the word: handfuls,
spoonfuls or spoonsful.
3. Compounds in which the first component is “man” or “woman” have plurals
in both parts: men-servant, women-doctors. But: man-eaters, woman – haters.
4. Compounds ending in man change it into men: policeman — policemen.
5. Such nouns as German, Roman, Norman are not compounds and therefore
they have regular plurals: Germans, Romans, Normans.
6. In compounds originating from a prepositional noun phrase where the
preposition is a linking element only the first noun takes the plural form: editors-inchief, mothers-in-law, men-of-war (военные корабли).
7. In compounds with a conjunction as a linking element the plural is taken by
the second noun: gin-and-tonics.
8. In compounds formed by a noun plus a preposition, or an adverb, or an
adjective only the first element takes the plural: passers-by, lookers-on, courtsmartial, attorneys-general.
9. When a compound is a substantivized phrase which doesn’t contain a noun,
the last element takes the plural form: forget-me-nots, merry-go-rounds, stand-bys,
grown-ups, close-ups, pick-ups (случайные знакомства), drop-outs (дезертиры),
go-betweens (посредники).
The Category of Case
Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other
words in a sentence. The main meaning of the genitive case is that of possession.
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The genitive case may be marked, i.e. having an apostrophe s (’s) or unmarked,
e.i. with an apostrophe only.
The Form.
1) add ’s to singular nouns and names not ending in –s: Tom’s hat;
2) add ’s to singular nouns ending in -s: an actress’s career;
3) add ’s to irregular plural nouns: children’s games, sheep’s wool;
4) add an apostrophe (’) after the -s of regular plurals: the girls' teacher;
5) add ’s to proper names ending in -s: Charles’s car, Denis’s birthday, St.
James’s Park;
Note: In many older, foreign and classical (ancient Greek and Roman) names,
just add an apostrophe: Guy Fawkes’ night; Socrates’ wife; Cervantes’ Don Quixote;
Euripides’ plays; Archimedes’ Law; Achilles’ heel.
6) add ’s to the final component of a compound noun: my mother-in-low’s
dress;
7) add ’s to the last word in a phrase: The Duke of Norfolk’s sister; the
Secretary of State’s private room; someone else’s gloves; in an hour two’s time; the
boy on the left’s sister.
Possessives usually replace articles before nouns. We can say the car or Sue’s
car but not Sue’s the car or the Sue’s car.
Types of the Genitive Case
The dependent genitive
In this case a noun in the genitive case generally precedes another noun which
is its head-word. The dependent genitive may be of two kinds:
1) the specifying genitive.
It may be replaced by the of-phrase. This genitive case is used with proper
names, as a rule. The common meanings are those of:
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a) possession: Mary’s doll, Mary’s new doll;
b) personal or social relations: John’s wife;
c) relation of the whole to its part: the cat’s tail, the aspen’s leaves;
d) subjective relations: the doctor’s arrival = the doctor arrived;
e) objective relations: Peter’s arrest = Peter was arrested;
f) authorship: Byron’s poems;
g) the genitive of origin: the girl’s story = the girl told the story.
The specifying genitive may also be used with:
a) collective nouns: the government’s decision;
b) the names of countries, towns and continents: Britain’s population, Europe’s
future;
c) the names of newspapers and nouns denoting different kind of organization:
the company’s plans, the Gardian’s analysis, the Geographical Society’s gold medal,
the school’s history;,
d) nouns of special interest to human activity: the mind’s activity, science’s
influence, the brain’s cells;
e) such nouns as: ship, boat, car: the ship’s crew, the car’s wheel.
Note. Differentiate between the following structures containing a proper noun
used prepositively: Nelson’s tomb, the Nelson Column; Shakespeare’s birthday, the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre; Queen Victoria’s reign, the Queen Victoria Memorial;
Lincoln’s speech, the Lincoln Memorial. The noun in the genitive case denotes
possession. The proper noun in the common case denotes the name of the person to
whom something is dedicated.
2) The classifying (descriptive) genitive
The noun in the genitive case here completely loses its meaning of possession
and comes to denote a quality and refers to a whole class of similar objects: a girls’
school (= a school for girls), sheep’s eyes, man’s blood, a doll’s face, a doctor’s
degree, woman’s work, a soldier’s uniform.
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The classifying genitive is also used with nouns denoting time and distance,
such as: an hour’s trip, a moment’s delay, a week’s time, a few minutes’ silence. We
don’t use the indefinite article with a plural possessive: a two-hour lecture but twohours’ lecture; a four-day journey but four-days’ journey.
This type of the genitive case is also used in set expressions:
at a snail's pace,
to our hearts' content,
to keep out of harm's way,
at my wit's end,
in my mind's eye,
to keep others at arm's length,
by a hair's breadth,
to have at one's fingers' ends,
within/at a stone's throw,
the lion's share.
3) The group genitive
This type is considered to be a specific feature of the English genitive case ―
’s may be added not only to a single noun, but to a whole group of words:
a) to a group of co-ordinate nouns: Jack and Ann’s house (the house belongs to
Jack and Ann); cf: Jack’s and Ann’s houses (= Jack has a house and Ann has a
house);
b) to an extensive noun phrase: the Prime Minister of England’s residence;
c) to a noun + possessive pronoun: somebody else’s umbrella;
d) to a group ending in a numeral: an hour or two’s walk.
Note that the group genitive is not normally used with a nominal group when
the head-word is postponed by a phrase or relative clause: The name of the man
walking in the street/who arrived yesterday.
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The independent (absolute) genitive
A noun in the genitive may be used without a head-word. It is used:
a) to avoid repetition: “Whose hat is that?” — “Virgina’s”;
b) to denote places where business is conducted: at the hairdresser’s, at the
butcher’s;
c) People’s houses can be referred to in this way when we are talking about the
host-guest relationship: We hold a lovely evening at Peter and Helen’s. Roger was at
the Watsons’ last night;
d) Firms and institutions, hospitals, churches and cathedrals often have names,
ending in -s genitive. The names of firms are often written without an apostrophe:
Harrods, Selfridges, Bank of Berkley’s (or Barkleys), McDonald's (or McDonalds),
Marks and Spencer's (or Marks and Spencers), St Paul’s (Cathedral), St John’s
(College).
There is also the double genitive. It is used when a noun is modified by two
successive nouns one of which is in the genitive case and the other with the “of”phrase: a friend of my father’s.
The noun in the genitive case must be both definite and personal: a story of
Agatha Christie’s, a story of my father’s, but not: a story of a writer’s.
Note also that the noun preceding the “of” - phrase cannot be a proper noun:
Mrs Brown’s Mary but never Mary of Mrs. Brown.
It is important to remember that the noun preceding the “of” - phrase is
premodified with the indefinite article as the meaning of the double genitive is “one
of many”: a friend of Mrs White’s, but not the friend of Mrs White’s.
It is also possible to use demonstrative pronouns which presuppose familiarity:
this wife of John’s, that idea of Ann’s.
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THE ARTICLE
The article is a structural word specifying the noun. There are two articles in
English — the definite article the and the indefinite article a.
The indefinite article conveys the idea of indefiniteness. The definite article
conveys the idea of definiteness. Definiteness suggests that the object presented by
the noun is individualized and singled out from all the other objects of the same kind,
while indefiniteness means a more general reference to an object.
Both the definite and the indefinite articles have developed from notional parts
of speech, whose influence is traced in their meaning and use.
The definite article developed from demonstrative pronouns this, that, which
account for its meaning of definiteness. The demonstrative force remains in many
phrases, such as at the time, of the kind.
The indefinite article developed from the cardinal numeral one. The numerical
meaning is evident in such phrases as at a time, in a moment, not a sound.
Since the choice of articles is determined by the context or the general situation
we should pay attention to different attributes modifying nouns. All attributes are
generally divided into restrictive (or limiting) and descriptive.
A descriptive attribute is used to describe an object (or a group of objects) or
give additional information about it:
He wore a large straw hat.
A restrictive attribute indicates such a quality or characteristic of an object
which makes it distinct from other objects of the class:
She accepted the coffee he offered her.
Both descritive and restrictive attributes can be premodifying (occupying the
position before the noun), and postmodifying (used after the noun).
Nouns modified by restrictive attributes are used with the definite article,
nouns modified by descriptive attributes are mainly used with the indefinite article.
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Functions of the Article
The Indefinite Article
The indefinite article is used in the following functions: classifying, generic
and numerical.
1) Classifying .
In this function the article serves to refer an object to the class or group of
objects of the same kind. The article has the meaning of the indefinite pronoun
some:
Somewhere a telephone began to ring.
I saw a speck in the distance. It was a boat.
The door opened and a girl entered.
The noun preceded by the indefinite article in its classifying function may be
accompanied by premodifying and postmodifying descriptive attributes:
I’ve read a very interesting novel.
This is a novel which is very suitable for staging.
He was a man who travelled a lot.
Marion came out of the garden, wearing a very old garden shirt.
2) Generic (any, every).
In this function the indefinite article implies that what is said about one
representative of the class (a thing, animal or a person) can also be said about other
representatives of this class. The indefinite article in its generic function has the
meaning of any, every:
A crane is a tall bird with a very long neck and beak.
A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines.
A library is a collection of books.
A complex sentence has two or more clauses.
In this function the indefinite article is used in proverbs and sentences
expressing some general truth:
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A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A hungry man is an angry man.
3) Numeric(al)
In this function the indefinite article preserves its original meaning of the
cardinal numeral one:
I won’t say a word.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The idea of oneness is evident with nouns denoting time, distance, measure: a
hundred, a thousand, a minute, a day, an hour, a year; after the negative not — not a
word, not a thought.
The Definite Article
The main functions of the definite article are: specifying and generic.
1) Generic
In its generic function the definite article refers to the whole class of objects of
the same kind. It is used to indicate that the noun becomes a composite image of the
class:
The lion is the king of animals.
The tiger has always had the reputation of being a man-eater.
The whale is in danger of becoming extinct.
The rose is my favourite flour.
The generic reference suggests the highest degree of abstraction in a countable
noun, so with the words man and woman in their generic meaning no article is used.
As for the noun man, it can also have the idea of “mankind”:
Man is not made to defeat.
Woman is physically weaker than man.
Note 1. The generic use of the definite article occurs with nouns denoting
social classes: the proletariat, the bourgeoisie, the gentry, the intelligentsia.
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Note 2. The use of the definite article before substantivized adjectives in their
collective or abstract meaning is also generic: the poor, the strong, the obvious, the
beautiful.
Note 3. The definite article is used in its generic function with nouns denoting
different inventions and discoveries:
Popov invented the radio.
2) Specifying
In this function the definite article serves to single out an object or a group of
objects from all the other objects of the same kind.
The specification can be provided by:
a) a premodifying restrictive attribute. It may be expressed by the following
words: very, right, wrong, left, only, opposite, last, next, same, following, first, most:
Are we on the right road?
He is the only man for this position.
But: She is an only child in the family.
b) a postmodifying restrictive attribute. It may be a clause, a prepositional
phrase, or a participial phrase:
I’m convinced Luke is the man we are looking for.
The woman standing by the window is my teacher.
The students of our institute are taking their exams in June.
c) the preceding context
The noun with the definite article may be a mere repetition of the noun
mentioned before, or the reference to the words or statement just mentioned:
I saw a girl in the garden. The girl was crying bitterly.
“My wife has left me”. Daniel could hardly get the words out.
d) the situation
Though the object is mentioned for the first time, no attribute or context is
necessary for the speaker to point out and for the listener to understand what object
is meant:
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After visiting a theatre: I liked the acting and the music.
After a flower exhibition: The flowers were splendid.
In everyday situations: Go to the kitchen. Pass the butter.
e) the meaning of the noun
The definite article in its specifying function is used with unique objects or
notions: the sun, the moon, the earth, the sea, the world, the horizon, the south, the
north:
The sky had cleared.
He sailed round the world.
The sun sank below the horizon.
Note: nouns denoting unique objects may be preceded by the indefinite article
in its classifying function when some aspect or phase of the object is meant or when
the word is used figuratively. Usually there is a descriptive attribute describing a
noun:
The sun shone in an unclouded sky.
In this country she discovered a world of which she had never dreamed
before.
A warm September sun was brightening the tree tops.
The Use of Articles with Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns fall into two large categories: count abstract nouns and noncount (mass) abstract nouns. The line between count and mass nouns is not always
easy to draw. Among abstract nouns there are many with dual class membership.
They often have considerable difference in meaning: Beauty is to be admired ― She
was a beauty. They walked in silence ― He began to speak after a long silence.
Count abstract nouns (e.g. answer, belief, doubt, effort, fact, opinion, idea, job,
lie, plan, question, visit) can be used both in the singular and in the plural. The use of
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article with count abstract nouns is practically the same as with concrete count (class)
nouns: You could have a very happy life with her. He always has such brilliant ideas!
The use of articles with non-count abstract nouns (e.g. anger, chemistry,
impatience, jealousy, modesty, pride, relief, violence) is presupposed by the
following:
1. When non-count abstract nouns have generic reference they are used without
any article. This is the case when a certain quality, state, action are meant:
Experience is the power of wisdom.
Knowledge is power.
She has attached herself to youth and hope and seriousness and they had
failed her more than age and despair.
Abstract nouns with generic reference are often used in attributive and
adverbial prepositional phrases after of, with, in:
A slight feeling of uneasiness came over him.
She was fighting down the rising feeling of panic.
Four pairs of eyes were on him, black with suspicion and accusation.
He turned round in annoyance and then walked away.
The tendency to use the noun in attributive and adverbial prepositional phrases
without an article is so strong that even count nouns may have no article in these
function: a man of principle, a woman of feeling, a carpet of colour, etc.
Generally no article is used when the abstract noun is modified by a descriptive
attribute:
His mouth fell open and he stared at her in startled amazement.
His small clear voice was heavy with passionate determination.
We find no article if the attribute qualifies the noun from the point of view of
nationality and geography (English literature, French poetry, Russian painting,
Moscow time), time (modern physics, contemporary art, ancient sculpture), degree
and authenticity (great value, perfect surprise, sheer delight, complete satisfaction,
infinitive fatigue, real importance, genuine sorrow):
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For once he showed real irritation.
It gives me great pleasure.
When I heard the news I felt perfect relief.
Note the use of the definite article in combination with the limiting of-phrase:
the English literature of the 19th century, the French poetry of that period, etc.
2. Non-count abstract nouns can be used with the indefinite article when they
are modified by descriptive attributes which bring out a special aspect of a quality,
feeling, state, etc. expressed by the noun. This use of the indefinite article may be
called aspective:
She looked several years younger and there was a new dignity about her.
Then the two women slimed at each over with a curious tenderness.
Some grammarians point out that the use of the indefinite article in such cases
seems to be optional and depends on the intention of the speaker to lay particular
stress on the special aspect (“некий”, “какой-то”) expressed by the attribute
modifying the noun.
The indefinite article seems to be obligatory when the abstract noun is
modified by the adjective certain, curious, peculiar or by a descriptive attributive
clause:
You have a curious influence over me.
The girl interrupted him with a certain impatience in her voice.
He had a patience which amazed his friends.
His face had a calmness that was new to her.
3. Abstract nouns in specific use take the definite article. Identification is based
on the linguistic context or the situation of utterance. The specification can be
provided:
a) by a limiting of-phrase:
I was wrapped in the security of childhood.
I was torn between the fear of hurting a nice woman’s feeling and the fear of
being in the way.
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b) by a restrictive (particularizing) attributive clause:
I couldn’t help showing the resentment which flared up within me.
His apologetic laugh did not disguise the pleasure that he felt.
c) Identification can result from the whole situation of utterance:
“And how did you like the music?” she asked.
“The weather is changing for the best.” he said.
4. Some abstract nouns are never used with the indefinite article: weather,
money, news, work, luck, fun, progress, luggage and some others:
It was raw weather.
What bad news we are having!
It was weary, weary work.
That’s hard luck.
We hid his watch for fun.
Note: The noun work can be used with the indefinite article in the meaning of
“a book or a piece of literary or musical composition, literary or other product”: Miss
Tray says the portrait was the best thing she had ever done. That means it was a
really great work.
5. Some syntactic structures affect the use of articles. Such nouns as pity,
pleasure, comfort, relief, shame and some others generally tend to be non-count, but
in certain constructions they are regularly used with the indefinite article:
a) structures with the formal it as subject
It’s a shame to act like this.
It’s a pleasure to see you.
b) structures with the exclamatory what
What a pity!
What a relief!
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The Use of Articles with Material Nouns
Most material nouns do not have plural forms and are never used with the
indefinite article. Yet the English language makes it possible to look upon some
object from the point of view of both count and material, as in the case of cake:
a cake, two cakes, several cakes
I’d like
some cake, another piece of cake
There are many nouns with dual class membership which often have
considerable difference in meaning in the two classes: to read an evening paper ― to
wrap up a present in brown paper, to press clothes with an iron ― to use tools made
of iron.
1. When material nouns have generic reference they are used without any
article. This is the case with mass nouns referring to the whole class:
This is lead, not silver.
Blood is thicker than water.
It was not built of brick or lofty stone, but of wood and plaster.
On the travel he drank tea, but in the cabin it was thick coffee with sugar and
tinned milk.
Material nouns take no article when they are modified by descriptive attributes:
He sat there for a long time, drinking cup after cup of strong black tea.
The men moved heavily as though they were walking in thick mud.
Names of material can change their meaning and become count nouns when:
a) Various sorts of materials and food products are meant:
They are now giving you bad teas at the club.
“And now,” announced Vernier, “the king of wines”.
There never was a better wine than Chambertin, and there never was a better
Chambertin than nineteen-eleven.”
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b) A portion of food or drink is meant:
If you want to please the boy, buy him an ice.
“I would rather have a whisky.”
Note that this use is restricted to cafes and restaurants. For example, you might
ask for two teas in a cafe, but people in their own home would probably say Would
you like some tea? or Would you like a cup of tea? rather than“Would you like a tea?
2. In specific use, i.e. when a definite part of the substance is meant, material
nouns take the definite article. Identification is based on the linguistic context or
situation of utterance.
Linguistic context:
a). Reference backwards: identification is made by something already said (by
prior mention):
Here’s a glass, some water and three coins. Watch! I pour the water into the
glass, then drop the coins one by one into the water.
She brought him milk to drink, and food: he couldn’t touch the food, but he
drank the milk greedily.
b). Reference forwards: identification is made by something about to be said
when names of material are modified by a particularizing attribute:
The water in this glass has now turned pink.
The wine on the table was served in pretty glasses.
He poured the fragrant golden wine that accompanied the lobster.
Situation of utterance
Pass me the salt, please.
Lets start our breakfast. The coffee will be cold.
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The Use of Articles with Predicative Nouns and Nouns in Apposition
1. As a rule, predicative and appositive nouns are used with the classifying
indefinite article which shows that the speaker is characterizing a person, object or
event as a specimen of a certain class of thing. With plural nouns no article is used:
She is really an excellent creature but a complete fool, as I said.
I had several companions and they have all been complete fools.
2. If there is a limiting modifier, predicative and appositive nouns are used with
the definite article:
He is the only person here with medical knowledge.
Philip had been the hero of his childhood.
3. If predicative and appositive nouns denote the position (rank, state, post or
occupation) which is unique, i.e. can be occupied by one person at a time, either no
article or the definite article is used. These nouns are often used after the verbs to
appoint, to choose, to elect, to become and some others:
Mr. Henderson is manager, not under-manager any longer.
His ideal was professor Edward Edwards, head of the Department of
Chemistry.
They chose him chairman of the Society.
He was elected (the) President of the country.
The definite article tends to be left out in sentences like:
It was nearly 40 years before she became Queen.
When he was President he often longed for more privacy.
As some grammars point out, it would be unnatural to leave in the definite
article and say “She became the Queen” or “When he was the President” though the
article can be used when the noun is followed by of.
Note that when talking about a person rather than describing someone’s role
you need an article: The Queen is strongly against the project.
Note the absence of article in set expressions with the verb to turn: to turn
traitor, to turn miser, to turn pirate.
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4. The nouns son and daughter predicatively and appositively generally take
the definite article when modified by an of-phrase if they express mere relationship:
She is the daughter of a doctor.
If the speaker wants to emphasize the idea that there are several sons and
daughters in the family, the indefinite article is used: She is a daughter of a doctor.
When the stress is laid on the social position of the person in question, no
article is used: She is daughter of a doctor.
5. No article is used in structures with enough where predicative nouns acquire
an adjectival character, denoting a certain characteristic of the person in question:
Surely Bella isn’t fool enough to believe that sort of stuff?
6. The article is also omitted when predicative nouns are used in clauses of
concession with inverted word order: Child as he was, his judgment was sound.
7. If the appositive noun denotes a well-known person or work of art, the
definite article is generally used: John Galsworthy, the famous English writer, was
of a Devonshire family.
But if the person or work of article is not widely known, the indefinite article is
used: “Pericles”, a comedy by Shakespeare, is hardly ever staged.
The Use of Articles in Some Set Expressions
Nouns in set expressions used with the indefinite article
to be at a loss
растеряться,
быть
замешательстве
to be / get in a fury (in a rage)
быть, прийти в бешенство
to fly into a passion
прийти в бешенство
to have a good time
хорошо провести время
it is a pleasure
приятно
it is a shame
стыдно
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в
all of a sudden
неожиданно
a great / good deal of (with non- много
count nouns)
a great many (with count nouns)
много
to take a fancy to
увлечься, проникнуть симпатией
to take an interest in
интересоваться
in a low / loud voice
низко, громко
to have a mind to do something
склоняться что-л. сделать
to put an end to
положить конец
to come to an end
закончиться
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Nouns in set expressions used with the definite article
to keep the house
сидеть дома
to keep the bed
соблюдать постельный режим
to tell / speak the truth
говорить
правду,
по
правде
говоря
in the original
в оригинале (подлиннике)
on the whole
в целом
to play the piano / the violin
играть на рояле / на скрипке
the other day (referring to the past)
на днях
on the one hand
с одной стороны
on the other hand
с другой стороны
to take the trouble to do smth
потрудиться
to be on the safe side
на всякий случай, для верности
at the beginning
в начале
at the end of smth.
в конце чего-либо
in the singular
в единственном числе
in the plural
во множественном числе
in the distance
вдали
to be on the point of
собирать что-л. сделать
to be in the habit of
иметь привычку
it is out of the question
об этом не может быть и речи
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Nouns in set expressions used without an article
at night
ночью
at sunrise
на рассвете
at sunset
за закате
at peace
в мире
at work
за работой
at hand
близко, под рукой
at first sight
с первого взгляда
to keep house
вести хозяйство
to make haste
торопиться
to make use of
использовать
from time to time
время от времени
from head to foot
с ног до головы
from morning till night
с утра до ночи
to give (get, ask for) permission
дать
/
получить
разрешение
to take notice of
замечать
to catch sight of
увидеть
by name
по имени
by mistake
по ошибке
by chance
случайно
by land
сушей, по суше
by sea
морем
by air
по воздуху
to go to sea
стать моряком
on deck
на палубе
to take offence
обидеться
to take care of
заботиться
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/
просить
The Use of Articles with Some Semantic Groups of Nouns
Articles with Names of Seasons and Parts of the Day
1. Names of seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) and parts of the day
(day, night, morning, evening, noon, afternoon, dawn, sunrise, sunset and the like)
take no article when used predicatively: It was summer / autumn/ morning/ evening/
night.
No article is used when such nouns are modified by the adjectives early, late,
broad, high which do not describe any season or part of the day but indicate the time
more precisely:
It was early morning / spring.
It was late evening / autumn.
It was broad day.
2. When the names of seasons and parts of the day are modified by a
descriptive attribute, they are used with the indefinite article:
It was a fine clear morning.
It was a foggy evening in November.
He returned on a bright January morning.
3. The definite article is found with names of seasons and parts of the day in
specific use, i.e. when some particular day, high summer or spring is meant.
Identification is achieved by means of:
a) Linguistic context:
I shall not forget the evening I spent with him.
By the summer of 1943 Penny felt as though the war had been going on for
ever.
In all these sentences the nouns in question have a limiting modifier.
b) Situation of utterance:
The day was hot and muggy.
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The night was warm and beautifully still.
She went to Scotland for the summer.
4. The use of articles with names of seasons seems to be optional in
combination with such verbs as: to come, to approach, to fall, to set in, to break and
some other phrases. In such instances reference can be made to particular season
(specific use) or to any season in general (generic use):
Night / morning came at last.
Day / dawn was breaking when we set out.
Night / twilight was falling quickly.
5. Note the use of articles in some prepositional phrases: in the morning, in the
evening, in the daytime, in the afternoon, in the night, at night, at dawn, before dawn,
after sunset, from morning to night, early in the morning, late in night, all through
the day, day after day, night after night, through the autumn, for the winter, during
the summer.
Articles with Names of Meals
1. Names of meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, tea) usually take no
article:
Dinner is ready.
Breakfast tomorrow will be at 8 o’clock.
2. When names of meals are modified by a descriptive attribute they are used
with the indefinite article:
I saw to it that he had a good dinner.
He ordered a modest lunch.
I want you to have a nice breakfast.
3. When some particular meal is meant the definite article is used. Specific
reference is made clear by the context or situation:
He was eating greedily the lunch his mother had given him.
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The dinner was very sound.
Articles with the Nouns school, college, prison, jail, church, hospital
These nouns are used without any article when the general idea of these places
is meant, i.e. the purpose they are used for. Thus we say A child goes to school; A
student goes to university / college; A criminal goes to prison, etc.:
Why aren’t the children at school today? (as pupils)
Mrs. Kelly goes to church every Sunday (for a religious service).
Ken’s brother is in prison for robbing (he is a prisoner).
Two people were injured in the accident and were taken to hospital (as
patients).
But: Mr. Kelly went to the school to meet his daughter’s teacher.
Excuse me, where’s the church to repair the roof.
Ken went to the prison to visit his brother.
Nora is now working as a cleaner at a hospital.
Articles with Names of Parts of the Body
Possessive pronouns, not articles are generally used to modify nouns denoting
parts of the body, personal belongings and the like:
The man stood frowning, his hands in his pockets.
She wore a string of pearls round her neck.
I sprained my ankle skiing in the mountains.
However, the definite article is used in prepositional phrase, associated with
the object or, in passive constructions, with the subject:
The woman took the boy by the hand.
The dog bit her on the leg.
The definite article is also used to refer to a touch, blow or pain:
35
She had a pain in the side.
Articles with Names of Specific Periods
Names of decades, centuries, and historic periods referring to only one
particular period have the definite article: the nineteen-eighties, the twentieth century,
the iron bronze age:
Her best novels were written in the eighties of the nineteenth century.
Past, present and future generally take the definite article:
I’m not making any plans for the future now, I only think about the present or
remember the past.
Present and future can be used after at and in respectively without any article:
Try to remember it in future.
It’s not possible to grant your request at present, I’m afraid.
The Use of Articles with Proper Names
Proper nouns are individual names of specific people (Paul, Shakespeare),
countries and cities (England, Paris), months and days of the week (August, Monday)
and so forth. The main classes of proper nouns are: personal names, calendar items
and geographical names: a) continents, b) countries, c) cities, d) rivers, lakes, seas
and oceans, e) mountains, etc.
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Names of Persons
1. Normally, a personal name, being the name of someone imagined as unique
needs no article:
Anthony shrugged his shoulders.
Philip Lombard grinned.
Family relations with unique reference (Mother, Mummy, Mom, Father,
Daddy, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Grandmother, Grandfather) behave like proper nouns.
They are treated as such by the members of the family and are usually written with
the capital letter: “I’d like to see Mother,” said Emily. But: The father was the tallest
in the family.
Personal names with nouns denoting titles, ranks or scientific degrees take no
article: Lord Byron, Professor Higgins, Dr. Watson, President Lincoln, Colonel
Brown. No article is used in combinations like Aunt Polly.
2. The definite articles is used:
a) with a family name in the plural denoting the whole family:
The Forsytes were resentful of something, not individually, but as a family.
We had dined with the Browns several times before.
b) when names of persons are modified by a particularizing attribute (a limiting
of-phrase of a restrictive attributive clause):
This Pat wasn’t at all like the Pat of his memories.
This was not the Simon he had known so long.
c) when names of persons are modified by descriptive attributes indicating a
permanent quality of the person in question, or by common nouns denoting a
profession:
At that moment they were interrupted by the beautiful Mrs. Shobbe.
Have you ever heard about the painter Reynolds?
37
No article is used when names of persons are modified by the following
adjectives: little, old, young, dear, poor, honest: Old Jolyon invited him in, but Young
Jolyon shook his head.
d) when the speaker wishes to emphasize that the person named is the very one
that everybody knows:
You say Shakespeare lived here. Do you mean the Shakespeare or somebody
else?
“Who is this?” ―“Good heavens, don't you know? It is the great Einstein!”
3. The indefinite article is used:
a) to indicate that one member of the family is meant:
His mother was a Devereux: Lady Margaret Devereux.
There is a young American girl staying at the hotel. She is a Miss Pender.
b) to indicate a certain person, normally unknown to the hearer:
At a table in a corner the Colonel was introduced to a Mrs. Bilst and a Mrs.
Peek.
I’m spending the day with a Miss Warren.
4. Proper names can be converted into common nouns indicating a) concrete
objects or b) someone having characteristics of the person named. In this case they
take the article according to the general rule:
Lanny has sold them an especially fine Goya.
Bert Smith had a Citroen, and he drove swiftly and well.
If you are a Napoleon, you will play the game of power; if you are a Leonardo,
you will play for knowledge; the stakes hardly matter.
“I don’t pretend to be a great painter,” he said. “I’m not a Michael Angelo,
no, but I have something.”
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Geographical Names
1. Names of continents, countries, states, cities, and towns are normally used
without articles. No articles is used either when they have premodifying adjectives as
in: (North) America, (modern) France, (South) Africa, (old) England, (Central)
Australia, (ancient) Rome, (Medieval) Europe.
2. Some names of countries, provinces and cities are traditionally used with the
definite article: the Argentine (but Argentina), the Ukraine, the Lebanon, the United
States of America, the Netherlands, the Crimea, the Hague, the Caucasus, the Ruhr.
3. Geographical names modified by particularizing attributes (a limiting ofphrase or a restrictive attributive clause) are used with the definite article:
Did he quite understand the England of today?
The Philadelphia into which Frank Cowperwood was born was a city of two
hundred and fifty thousand and more.
This is the booming, rapidly expanding the London of the 1860’s.
4. The indefinite article is found when a geographical name is modified by a
descriptive attribute bringing out a certain aspect: You haven’t come to a very
cheerful England.
5. Names of oceans, seas, rivers and lakes usually take the definite article: the
Atlantic (Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific (Ocean, the Black Sea, the
Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Baltic (Sea), the Volga, the Thames, the Amazon, the
Baikal, the Ontario, etc.
No article is used when names of lakes are preceded by the noun lake: Lake
Baikal, Lake Ontario, Lake Ladoga.
6. Names of deserts are generally used with the definite article: the Sahara, the
Gobi, the Kara-Kum.
7. Names of mountain chains and group of islands are used with the definite
article: the Alps, the Andes, the Urals, The Bermudas, the Canaries, the West Indies,
etc.
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8. Names of mountain peaks and separate islands are used without articles:
Elbrus, Everest, Mont Blane, Madagascar, Sicily.
9. Note the pattern “the + common noun + proper noun” in: the Cape of Good
Hope, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Finland, the City of New York, the Bay Biskay,
the Lake of Geneva, etc.
Names of universities where the first part is a place-name usually have two
forms: the University of London (which is the official name) and London University.
Universities names after a person have only the latter form: Yale University, Brown
University.
Calendar Items
1. Names of months and days of the week generally take no article. May, April,
September, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
Slowly, slowly, the hours passed. Wednesday dragged on, and it was
Thursday.
2. Names of days are used with the indefinite article when one of many
Mondays, Fridays, etc, is meant:
We met on Friday. (Мы встретились в пятницу.)
We met on a Friday. (Мы встретились однажды в пятницу).
This was May, a Friday, noon.
3. When names of months and days of the week are modified by a descriptive
attribute, the indefinite article is used:
A cold May is a usual thing in these parts.
4. When the nouns on question are modified by a rescriptive attribute, the
definite article is used:
“Are you really getting married?” ― “Yes. The first Saturday in May.”
Mrs. Trotwood came on the Friday when David was born.
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Miscellaneous Proper Names
1. Names of streets and parks are generally used without articles: Oxford
Street, Regent Street, Fleet Street, Wall Street, Pall Mall, Picadilly; Trafalgar
Square, Russel Square, Picadilly Circus, Hyde Park, Central Park, Memorial Park.
Note that some streets are traditionally used with the definite article: the
Strand, the High Street.
2. Names of theatres, museums, picture galleries, concert halls, cinemas, clubs
and hotels tend to be used the definite article:
the Bolshoi Theatre, the Opera House, the Coliseum Theatre;
the British Museum, the Oriental Arts Museum, the Hermitage;
the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Tretyakov Gallery;
the Festive Hall, the Albert Hall, the Carnegie Hall;
the Empire, the Odeon, the Dominion;
the National Liberal Club, the Rotary Club;
the Ambassador Hotel, the Continental Hotel, the Savoy, the Ritz.
3. Some grammarians point out a growing tendency not to use articles with
names of airports and railway stations: London Airport, Moscow Airport, Victoria
Station.
4. Names of ships and boats are used with the definite article: the Titanic, the
Sedov.
5. Names of newspapers and magazines are generally used with the definite
article: the Times, the Guardian, the Lancet, the Language; some of them have no
article: Punch, Newsweek.
6. Names of territories consisting of a word combination in which the last word
is a common nouns are generally used with the definite article: the Lake District, the
Yorkshire Forests, etc.
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7. Names of well-known organizations are typically used with the definite
article, which they keep when they are abbreviated: the United Nations (the UN), the
BBC, the Labour Party, the FBI, the EC.
If the abbreviation is pronounced as a word, there is no article: NATO,
[‘neitou], UNICEF [‘ju:nisef].
Business and chairs of shops are referred to with no article. General Motors,
Sony, Woolworths, Shell, Nissan, Singapore Airlines.
If a word like company is used, then the definite article often occurs: the Bell
Telephone Company.
8. Names of most political or government bodies and institutions have the
definite article: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the House of
Representatives, the Senate, the Department of Trade of Industry, the State
Department, the Cabinet, the Bundestag.
Note the following exceptions: Parliament, Congress, and the names of
councils: Kent County Council, Leeds City Council.
9. Names of musical groups can have either no article or the definite article;
Queen, the Beatles, Dire Straits, the Supremes, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones,
the Shadows, the Eurythmics, the Doors.
10. Names of sporting events usually have the definite article: the Olympic
Games, the World Cup, the Superbowl, the Cup Final, the Boat Race, the Grand
National, the British Open, etc.
11. Names of religious and other festivals take no article: Christmas, Easter,
Carnival, Corpus, Christi, Ramadan, Midsummer’s Day, Mother’s Day, New Year’s
Day, St.Valentine’s Day.
Note the difference between: Happy Easter! and I wish you a happy Easter or
Did you have a good Easter?
42
THE ADJECTIVE
Adjectives are words expressing properties and characteristics of objects (e.g.
blue, simple, progressive, etc.) and, hence, qualifying nouns.
Grammatically,
four
features are generally considered to be characteristic of
adjectives:
1) their syntactic function of attributes;
2) their syntactic function of predicatives;
3) their taking of adverbial modifiers of degree (e.g. very);
4) their only grammatical category — the degrees of comparison.
Adjectives in English do not change for number or case.
Morphological Composition
Simple adjectives — old, kind, bad, good, etc.
Derived adjectives. Many adjectives are formed from other parts of speech by
adding different suffixes:
-able: comfortable;
-ic: atomic;
-ible: visible;
-ish: childish;
-ant: elegant;
-ive: attractive;
-ent: dependent;
-ful: careful;
-al: cultural;
-less: careless;
-ly: brotherly, friendly;
-ous: dangerous;
-y: dirty, sleepy
Some past participles ending in -ed (e.g. excited) and some present participles
ending in -ing (e.g. exciting) are used as adjectives. Common pairs of -ed/-ing
adjectives are:
amazed / amazing; annoyed / annoying; bored / boring,
enchanted / enchanting.
43
Compound adjectives. They are used with hyphens: grass-green, deaf-mute,
blue-eyed; long-legged; fair-haired.
Semantic Characteristics
Semantically adjectives can be divided into two groups.
1. Qualitative adjectives denote properties of a substance directly ― great,
cold, beautiful. According to their meaning they may be further differentiated as:
a) descriptive ― denoting a quality in a broad sense ― cold, light, wonderful;
b) limiting ― denoting a category, a section of a whole, a number, i.e.
specifying the substance (noun) ― the previous page, an equestrian statue, medical
aid, the left hand, several pages.
2. Relative adjectives describe properties of a substance through relation to
material: woollen, wooden, feathery; ― time: daily, weekly, monthly; place:
Northern, European, Italian; some action: defensive, preparatory.
Relative adjectives are limiting in their meaning.
Many adjectives reveal a descriptive or limiting meaning depending on the
head-word or the context.
Descriptive adjective
Limiting adjective
little finger ― just a small finger
little finger ― the last finger of a hand
fast actions
fast train
foreign manners
foreign languages
musical voice
musical instrument
dramatic scene
dramatic performance
Adjectives are also distinguished as gradable and non-gradable. Most
adjectives are gradable. That means that they can be modified by adverbs of degree
and themselves change for degrees of comparison. Non-gradable adjectives admit no
comparison on account of their meaning.
44
All dynamic adjectives are gradable. Most stative adjectives are gradable too.
Non-gradable adjectives are participle adjectives and adjectives describing origin,
material, type and purpose: perfect, unique, full, empty, square, round, wooden,
upper.
The Position of Adjectives
When we use more than one adjective before a noun, there is often a preferred
order for these adjectives. However, this order is not fixed: opinion + size/physical
quality/shape/age + colour + participle adjectives + origin + material + type +
purpose + noun.
an old plastic container
(= age + material + noun)
a hard red ball
(= quality + colour + noun)
a frightening Korean mask
(= opinion + origin +noun)
a round biscuit tin
(= shape + purpose (for
holding biscuits) + noun)
a small broken plate
(= size + participle adjective +
noun)
a useful digital alarm clock
(= opinion + type + purpose +
noun)
Note that there are a few adjectives which go before or after nouns and they
change in meaning according to their position:
This elect body meets once a year (specially chosen).
The president elect takes over in May (who has been elected).
George was late for the meeting (didn’t come in time).
The late George Brown was an outstanding musician (who is dead now).
45
Present employees number 3.000 (who work at present).
The employees present should vote on this (who participate in the meeting).
Degrees of Comparison
There are three degrees of comparison: positive (or absolute), comparative and
superlative. There are three ways of forming the comparative and the superlative
degrees: synthetic, analytical and suppletive.
Synthetic: by adding the suffix –er to the comparative degree and the suffix
-est to the superlative degree.
Types of adjectives forming their degrees of comparison in a synthetic way:
1) monosyllabic: great ― greater ― greatest;
2) disyllabic: ending in –y: lovely ― lovelier ― loveliest;
-ow: narrow ― narrower ― narrowest;
-le: simple ― simpler ― simplest;
-er: clever ― cleverer ― cleverest;
-some: handsome ― handsomer ― handsomest;
Analytical: the comparative degree is formed by adding the word more, the
superlative ― most: careful ― more careful ― most careful; personal
―
personal ― most personal; tired ― more tired ― most tired
Suppletive (Irregular):
good ― better ― best; bad ― worse ― worst; little ― less ― least;
many ― more ― most;
near ― nearer ― nearest (for distance) // next (for time);
46
more
far ― farther ― farthest (for distance) // further ― furthest (for time &
distance);
old ― older ― oldest (for age) // elder ― eldest (for seniority);
late ― later ― latest (for time) // last (for order);
Comparison of compounds.
Compound adjectives can be inflected in two ways:
1) the first element is inflected if it is an adjective or an adverb (regular with
well-): well-known — better-known — best-known;
2) an analytical way: kind-hearted — more kind-hearted — most kind-hearted.
The following adjectives do not form degrees of comparison:
1. Limiting qualitative adjectives which single out or determine the type of
things or persons, such as: previous, middle, left, childless, medical, dead, etc.
2. Relative adjectives such as: wooden, woolen, leathern.
3. Adjectives with comparative and superlative meaning which are of Latin
origin: former, inner, upper, junior, senior, prior, superior, minimal, etc.
Word combinations with less and least are not considered to be analytical
forms of degrees of comparison. Remember the phrase ― the lesser of two evils,
lesser is not a comparative degree but an adjective meaning ‘not as great as other(s)’.
Patterns of Comparison
Apart from morphological ways of denoting gradation of quality, there are
some sentence patterns in which comparison is expressed.
47
MEANING
PATTERN
EXAMPLE
POSITIVE
Equality
as… as
DEGREE
If a stupid woman marries a smart man she will
become as sharp as he is.
Inequality
not as… as
Her car is not nearly as economical as mine
not so… as
She is not so tall as he is. He is not so clever.
twice as… as
A mile is just one and a half times as long as a
kilometer.
excess
too + Adj [+
The grass is too short [to cut / for me to cut it].
Inf]
sufficiency
Adj + enough
He’s rich enough [to own a car / for me to marry
[+ Inf]
him].
COMPARATIVE
parallel
DEGREE
the –er… the -er The more dangerous it is the more I like it.
increase/
decrease
… -er as…
He became more cautious as he grew older.
The less I study the less I know.
inferiority
less + Adj…
John is less naughty than his sister
than
48
superiority
… -er than
She is quieter than he is.
twice –er than
This task is twice easier than that one.
The tower is 3 times taller than the house.
-er than it is +
The room is longer than it is wide.
Adj
the –er of the
Jack is the taller of the two.
two
Of the two boys, John behaves the more politely.
Of the two…
the -er
SUPERLATIVE
DEGREE
inferiority
the least… of/… She is the least tolerant person I’ve ever met.
superiority
the –est
Edward is the youngest of all / in the family / ever
of/in/ever/
elected president / that I’ve ever taught.
that…
Of the three…
Of the three boys, Bob behaves the most politely.
the -est
the second –est
Ann is the second oldest of the children.
of
Note the following patterns introduced by “more of a”, “as much of a”, “less of
a”, etc.:
He is more of a sportsman than his father.
It was as much of a success as I expected (it would be).
You are less of a fool than I thought (you were).
He was enough of a man to tell the truth.
49
He is too much of a coward to go there.
Pay attention to the following set expressions:
a change for the better (for the worse) ― перемена к лучшему (худшему)
so much the better (the worse) ― тем лучше (хуже)
none the worse for ― ничуть не хуже от…
··
if the worst comes to the worst ― в худшем случае
·
to go from bad to worse ― становиться все хуже и хуже
·
as best as ― в полную меру старания
·
at best, at worst ― в лучшем случае, в худшем случае
·
none the less ― тем не менее
·
in the near future ― в ближайшем будущем
·
the younger generation ― молодое поколение
·
In the last / past few days / weeks / months / years ― за последние дни /
недели / месяцы / годы
·
with every passing day / year / month ― с каждым днем / годом / месяцем
Intensifiers of Adjectives
EMPHASIZERS with
EXAMPLE
POSITIVE DEGREE
Very
It’s very awkward.
ever so
The book is ever so interesting.
Too
Everybody would be only too glad to see you.
far too
It’s far too expensive.
Most
“Yes”, she thought, “everybody’s been most kind.”
a most
The 5th Symphony by Tchaikovsky is a most beautiful piece
50
of music.
That
Are things that bad with you?
repetition of the
I agree with every word you’ve said ― every single word.
intensifier or the Adj
You bad, bad boy. It’s very, very bad.
COMPARATIVE DEGREE
much, a lot, lots
My brother is much younger than myself
He thought how much more advanced the young were.
a great / good deal,
The performance proved to be a great deal better than
a good bit
I could ever expect.
Still
The first edition is good, the new one is still better.
Ever
Environmental issues acquire an ever greater scope.
Far
I’ve been with good people, far better than you.
Adj + by far
He is funnier by far.
No
This method is no better than the one we’ve been using.
none the + Adj
He was none the wiser for that answer, but he didn’t try to
analyse it.
all the + Adj
His remorse was all the more painful because of the
irony of his mistake.
Adj + and + Adj
The sound grew fainter and fainter.
SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
by far
“The Swan Lake” is by far the best ballet we have.
Adj + possible
It’s difficult to go about in the wrongest way possible.
the very
She put on her very best dress.
51
Idiomatic intensifiers. All the grammar rules are lavishly supplied with
explanations and examples.
You can find all the linguistic terms and their Russian equivalents on page
common collocations.
The cake is rock hard!
He is bone idle and won’t do a stroke of work.
Ssh. The baby’s fast asleep at last!
She is fully conversant with the problems.
The boss has got a brand new car.
I slept like a log and now I’m wide awake.
Substantivized Adjectives
When adjectives function as nouns denoting groups of people or things they are
called substantivized adjectives. They can be partially substantivized (i.e. acquiring
only some of the morphological characteristics of nouns) or fully substantivized (i.e.
can be used with all articles).
MEANING
FORM ARTICLE
VERB
EXAMPLE
sing.
the beautiful, the unknown.
pl.
the rich, the blind, the old
sing.
Russian; the English we use;
PARTIALLY
- abstract notions Sing.
the
- groups of
persons
WHOLLY
- languages
Sing.
zero
52
(treated
the, a
His was a nervous, graphic
English
as abstract
uncounts)
- persons (social, Sing.
a
sing.
an ordinary ― ordinaries
political,
the
&
a liberal ― liberals
zero
pl.
an Indian ― Indians
& pl.
national,
etc.
a private ― privates
characteristics)
treated as counts
- colours
Sing.
zero
sing.
grey; the grey of the earth;
(uncounts,
&
the, a
& pl.
The trees were turning
shades – counts)
pl.
yellows and
reds.
- studies and
Pl.
examinations
zero
sing.
finals, practicals;
the
& pl.
politics, phonetics,
mathematics
- substances,
collections of
Pl.
zero
pl. (&
movables, valuables, greens,
the
sing.)
chemical(s)
things
Note 1: When a substantivized adjective denotes a group of people (e.g. the
rich, the wise, etc.), it is always in the plural. If we want to indicate a single person or
a number of persons, we must add a noun.
The old man receives a pension.
The young man is fishing.
53
Note 2: Some adjectives denoting nationalities and ending in – (i)sh: British,
English, Irish, Welsh; in –ch: Dutch, French and in –ese: Chinese, Japanese,
Portuguese and the adjective Swiss are used with the definite article to form a
substantivized adjective in the plural: the English, the Japanese. In other cases we
should use the + the plural form: the Canadians, the Russians, the Americans.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Some adverbs are formed from an adjective + -ly: happy ― happily, etc.
When an adjective already ends in –ly (cowardly, daily, friendly, kindly, lively,
lonely) we don’t add –ly to it to make an adverb. Instead we can use a prepositional
phrase with the words fashion, manner, or way:
He smiled at me in a friendly way.
She waved her hands around in a lively fashion.
N + -ly = Adj in a [Adj] manner/way = Adv
Adj = Adv (in
form)
N
Adj
Adv (phrase)
Man
manly
in a manly way
woman
womanly
in a womanly way
best
friend
friendly
in a friendly way
daily
coward
cowardly
life
lively
in a lively way
fast
love
lovely
in a lovely way
hourly
mother
motherly
in a motherly way
monthly
father
fatherly
in a fatherly way
weekly
brother
brotherly
sister
sisterly
better
in a cowardly way early
in a brotherly way worse
in a sisterly way
54
worst
king
kingly
in a kingly way
soldier
soldierly
in a soldierly way
sick
sickly
in a sickly way
silly
in a silly way
yearly
Most participle adjectives ending in –ed don’t have an adverb form and we can
use a similar prepositional phrase:
They rose to greet me in a subdued manner.
She walked around the room in an agitated way. (or in agitation.)
However, some do have an adverb form with –ly, including the following
common ones: allegedly, belatedly, contentedly, dejectedly, deservedly, excitedly,
hurriedly, markedly, pointedly, repeatedly, reportedly, reputedly, supposedly,
unexpectedly, wholeheartedly, wickedly:
The weather had turned unexpectedly stormy.
Some adverbs have two forms, one ending in –ly and the other ― without it:
cheap(ly), clean(ly), clear(ly), fine(ly), slow(ly), thin(ly). These pairs of adverbs
usually have different meanings. Compare:
We live close to the church (=near).
The prisoners were guarded closely (= very
attentively).
The rain stopped dead (suddenly and
He is deadly serious (= very).
completely).
She is deadly pale today (= like death).
I am dead certain (= completely) / (adj) deadly poison / deadly struggle
dead tired / dead asleep / dead drunk /
(adj) a deadly sin (= mortal)
dead calm / dead sure / dead right.
He pushed his stick deep into the
He was deeply offended (= very).
sand (= to a great depth).
I am deeply privileged.
‘Do I have to change trains in Leeds?’ I’ll be with you directly (= very soon).
55
‘No, you can go direct (= without He saw Susan directly (= straight) ahead.
stopping)’.
Just take it easy (= remain calm) and
I can easily finish it today (= without
tell us exactly what happened.
difficulty).
Easy does it = тише едешь, дальше She is easily the best student in the class. (=
будешь
undoubtfully)
You must play fair. (= in a just or
Cut the meat fairly small, but not too small.
honest manner, or according to the
(= to some degree, rather, quite)
rules)
She worked really hard and passed The telephone line was so bad, I could
her exams.
hardly (= only just) hear what he was
saying.
He kicked the ball high over the goal. Everyone thinks highly of her teaching.
(= they praise her for it).
She was sitting just here (= exactly)
As you justly observed (= rightly, correctly)
They stayed up late to watch the I’ve been feeling very well lately (= in the
election results on television. (= after recent past and up until now).
the usual, arranged, or expected time)
They live quite near (her) (= not far He was nearly as tall as his friend (= not
from, close to).
exactly, approximately).
It’s pretty cold today. (= quite, She smiled prettily. The room was prettily
rather)
decorated.
The meeting starts at 3 o’clock sharp
 “Don’t talk nonsense”, she said sharply
(= exactly).
 (= suddenly and rather firmly or angrily)
Turn sharp right at the crossroads
(= suddenly and quickly).
They cut short their holiday when The speaker will be arriving shortly
John became ill. (= went home early)
(= soon). Please take your seats.
56
The windows were shut tight against I wouldn’t like to live in a society, which is
the rain (= shut very firmly).
very tightly controlled (= closely, firmly).
The door was wide (= completely) It won’t be difficult to get the book. It’s
open so I just went straight in.
widely available. (= in many places)
Remember that good is an adjective and well is an adverb:
I asked Francis to clean the car, and he did a good job. / and he did the job
well.
However, well is also an adjective meaning healthy:
You’re not looking too well. Are you okay?
I don’t feel very well today.
Note that after the link verbs look, sound, smell, taste, feel, seem we use
adjectives, not adverbs:
She looks nice / bad / pale / awful / strange.
It smells sweet / horrible / bad / wonderful.
OBLIQUE MOODS
MOOD is the form of the verb, which shows in what relation to reality the
speaker places the action expressed by the predicate verb. There are the following
moods in English:
THE INDICATIVE MOOD presents actions as real facts in the present, past or
future. Indicative mood forms distinguish the categories of tense (present, past,
future), aspect (common, continuous), correlation (non-perfect, perfect), voice
(active, passive), number and person.
57
THE IMPERATIVE MOOD expresses a command of a request to perform an
action addressed to somebody, but not the action itself. The Imperative Mood has
practically only one form, which coincides with the stem of the verb (e.g. Do. Begin).
THE OBLIQUE MOODS express unreal (hypothetical) or problematic actions.
Unreal actions are those contradicting reality; problematic actions may be viewed as
desired, necessary, possible, supposed, imaginary, etc.
There are different forms of the verb employed for this purpose, and they may
be grouped as Subjunctive I, Subjunctive II, the Conditional Mood and the
Suppositional Mood. Subjunctive II and the Conditional Mood express unreal
(hypothetical) actions, i.e. contradicting reality; Subjunctive I and the Suppositional
Mood express problematic actions. All the forms of the mentioned above Moods can
be presented in the following table:
Mood Subjunctive
Form
I
Subjunctive the
II
Conditional the
Mood
Suppositional
Mood
Non-perfect
Be
were
would/should be
should be
come
came
would/should
should come
go
went
come
should go
would/sould go
Perfect
—
had been
would/should have should
had come
been
had gone
would/should have should
come
been
58
have
come
would/should have should
gone
have
gone
have
Temporal Relations within the Oblique Moods
Oblique mood forms distinguish the categories of aspect, correlation and voice,
but they have no tense category. Otherwise stated, they cannot refer the action
directly to the present, past or future. They can only indicate if the action of the verb
in the Oblique Mood coincides in time with the action of the indicative mood form in
the principal clause, or precedes it. This relative expression of time-reference is based
on the category of correlation, that is, a non-perfect form of Subjunctive II, the
Conditional or the Suppositional Mood (see the table above) in the subordinate clause
denotes an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the indicative mood
form in the principal clause:
I wish I were home (were denotes a present action which is simultaneous with
the present action).
I was wishing I were still there (were denotes a past action since it is
simultaneous with the past action ).
Perfect forms of Subjunctive II, the Conditional and the Suppositional Mood
indicate priority to the action expressed by the indicative mood form in the principal
clause. So perfect forms always express past actions:
I wish I hadn’t got into this mess (hadn’t got denotes a past action which is
prior to the present action).
If there is no indicative mood form in the sentence than a non-perfect oblique
mood form directly refers the action to the present or future:
I wouldn’t do a thing like that without telling you.
If wishes were horses beggars would ride.
Perfect oblique mood forms refer the actions to the past:
Ten years ago, Maurice wouldn’t have spoken like this.
If we’d been caught last night – what would have happened to us?
59
Subjunctive II
Form: Subjunctive II has two basic forms: non-perfect Subjunctive II is
synthetical and is homonymous with the Past Indicative: spoke, went, built, wrote,
did, etc. The only exception is the verb to be, whose Subjunctive II from is were for
all persons: I/she/he/ it were (was is also possible with I/he/she/it and is more
common in conversational English). Perfect Subjunctive II is homonymous with the
Past Perfect Indicative for all verbs: had done, had gone, had written, etc.
Meaning: Subjunctive II represents an action as contrary to reality:
I always wish I were like you (as a matter of fact, I am not like you).
Use: Subjunctive II is used in simple sentences and in certain subordinate
clauses of a complex sentence.
A. Simple Sentence
1. Subjunctive II is used in exclamatory sentences beginning with “Oh, that …”,
“If only …”:
Oh, that the storm were over! (present)
If only Rowley had come! (past)
Such sentences express wish or regret.
2. Subjunctive II is found in simple sentences with modal verbs. In the
sentences referring to the present or future the modal verb in Subjunctive II is
followed by a non-perfect infinitive, in the sentences referring to the past – by a
perfect one:
Could you come again tomorrow?
You might have opened the door for me.
60
3. Subjunctive II is also found in simple sentences containing the modal
phraseological expressions had better, would rather, would sooner. Such sentences
express preference of advice:
I would rather know the painful truth than imagine it (preference).
You’d better keep out of sight until it’s all over (advice).
B. Complex Sentence
Subjunctive II is used in nominal and adverbial clauses.
Nominal Clauses
1. In predicative clauses introduces by the conjunctions as if, as though. The
predicative clauses with Subjunctive II immediately follow the link verbs be, seem,
look, feel, sound:
It was as if she were trying to tell him something (simultaneous action).
I feel as though I had never been away (prior action).
2. In object clauses after the verb “to wish”:
I wish we were both about ten years older than we are (simultaneous action).
I wish I hadn’t come (prior action).
Sentences with wish-clauses express regret. When rendering them into Russian
it is possible to use a clause with the opposite meaning, introduced by жаль, как
жаль, какая жалость or by the finite form of the verb “сожалеть”.
With reference to the future, after the verb to wish a combination of the modal
verb would in Subjunctive II and the Infinitive is often used in the sense of insistence,
habit or willingness:
61
I wish you wouldn’t sing in the bath.
I wish you would shut up!
Would + Infinitive is possible only when the subject of the subordinate clause
and that of the principal clause do not denote the same thing or person. Would” +
Infinitive shows that the fulfillment of the wish depends on the will of the person
denoted by the subject of the subordinate clause:
I wish you would treat me better.
If the fulfilment of the wish depends more on the circumstances, may (might) or
could + Infinitive is preferable:
I wish I could help you.
I only wish I might be with you.
3. In attributive clauses after the expressions It is time. It is high time. It is
about time:
It is time I made up my mind.
In attributive clauses only non-perfect Subjunctive II is used.
Adverbial Clauses
Subjunctive II is used:
1. In adverbial clauses of comparison or manner introduced by the conjunctions
as if, as though:
His voice broke as if he were going to cry (simultaneous action).
He speaks as if he had never seen me before (prior action).
2. In adverbial clauses of unreal condition or concession (after the conjunction
even if, even though). The principal clause contains a form of the Conditional Mood:
I shouldn’t take this line if I were you (present action).
62
Even if they had wanted me to stay I would have refused (past action).
Clauses of unreal condition may be introduced asyndetically (without any
conjunctions). In this case inversion serves as a means of subordination:
Had Mr Robbins been other than a distinguished visitor, he would have
answered sharply.
Had they wanted me to stay I would have refused.
Such sentences are characteristic of literary style.
The Conditional Mood
Form: the Conditional Mood is an analytical form built up by means of the
auxiliary verb should (for the 1st person) of would (for all persons) and the Infinitive.
The non-perfect Conditional Mood employs the indefinite or continuous Infinitive:
should do, would be going; the perfect Conditional Mood is formed with the help of
the perfect or perfect continuous Infinitive: should have done, would have been
reading.
In Modern English for the first person should and would are both possible with
no real difference in meaning:
I should (would) never have thought you read anything but the sporting news.
Meaning: The Conditional Mood, like Subjunctive II, represents an action as
contradicting reality. The different between the two moods is in their form and in
their usage.
Use: A. The Conditional Mood is used to denote unreal actions in simple
sentences:
1. with an adverbial modifier of condition expressed by a but for - phrase:
He would not have come, but for me.
63
2. with implied condition:
I wouldn’t waste my time on rubbish in your place (condition is implied in the
phase in your place = If I were in your place).
3. to sound polite, less straightforward. Here the Conditional Mood differs
from the Indicative only stylistically:
I should very much object to you reading trashy novels (= I very much object).
B.
The Conditional Mood is used in the principal clauses of complex
sentences with the subordinate clauses of unreal condition or unreal concession
(where Subjunctive II is used). The choice of actual forms depends on the timereference of the actions:
1. If the unreal actions in both the principal and the subordinate clause relate to
the present or future, the non-perfect forms of respectively the Conditional Mood and
Subjunctive II are used:
I should never forgive myself if I profited by his generosity.
2. If both the actions contradicting reality relate to the past, the perfect
Conditional is used in the principal clause and perfect Subjunctive II in the
subordinate one:
I’d have gone this morning if I’d been able to get away.
3. The actions in the principal and subordinate clauses may have different timereference. Sentences of this kind are said to have split condition (or mixed type). The
unreal condition may refer to the past (past Subjunctive II) and the unreal
consequence to the present (non-perfect Conditional):
How much better I should write now if in my youth I had had the advantage of
sensible advice!
The unreal condition may refer to no particular time (non-perfect Subjunctive
II) and the unreal consequence may refer to the past (perfect Conditional):
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She wouldn’t have told me the story if she disliked me.
The Suppositional Mood and Subjunctive I
These two moods will be treated together because they have the same meaning
and are practically interchangeable in use. They differ in form as well as stylistically.
Form: Subjunctive I is a synthetical form which survived from Old English. It
has only one form, which is homonymous with the verb stem: be, do, have, go, write,
etc.
The Suppositional Mood is an analytical form which is built up with the help of
the auxiliary verb should for all persons + the Infinitive. The non-perfect
Suppositional mood: should be, should do, should write. The perfect Suppositional
Mood: should have been, should have done, should have written.
Meaning: Both Subjunctive I and the Suppositional Mood express problematic
actions, not necessarily contradicting reality. These actions are presented as necessity,
order, suggestion, supposition, desire, request, etc.
Expressing the same kind of modality, Subjunctive I and the Suppositional
Mood are used in the same syntactic structures and are, to a great extent,
interchangeable. However, they differ stylistically: thus, in the British variant of the
English language Subjunctive I is only preserved in elevated prose, poetry or official
documents. In neutral, everyday speech the Suppositional Mood is used. In American
English Subjunctive I in neutral and colloquial speech is the norm:
He even suggested that I should play cricket with his sons (Br.E.).
He suggested that I come for her (Am.E.).
65
Use: A. Simple Sentence
In simple sentences only Subjunctive I is used in a few set expressions as a
survival of old usage (the so-called formulaic expressions).
1. Most of them express a wish:
Long live the Army!
Success attend you!
Be yours a happy meeting!
Far be it from me to spoil the fun / to conceal the truth.
Suffice it to say that he is a liar .
God bless you! God save the Queen! Heaven forbid!
Confound your ideas!
Subjunctive I in such expressions can be replaced by “may + Infinitive”:
May success attend you! May your meeting be happy!
May the Army live long!
2. Some formulaic expressions have a concessive meaning:
Happen (come) what may (will).
Cost what it may.
So be it (Be it so).
Subjunctive I in these expressions may be replaced by Let + Infinitive:
Let it be so.
3. The only productive pattern of a simple sentence with Subjunctive I is the
sentence expressing a command or a request with an indefinite pronoun as the
subject:
66
Everybody leave the room!
Somebody switch off the light!
Subjunctive I may be replaced in such sentences by “let + Infinitive”:
Let everybody leave the room.
4.
The Suppositional Mood is used only in one type of interrogative
sentences beginning with And what if …? (А что если вдруг …?):
And what if he should come back?
B. Complex Sentence
Subjunctive I and the Suppositional Mood are used in nominal (subject, object,
predicative), attributive appositive and some adverbial clauses.
Nominal and Attributive Appositive Clauses
1. Both Subjunctive I and the Suppositional Mood (non-perfect) can be used in
subject, object, predicative and attributive appositive clauses if in the principal clause
a modal meaning is expressed (that of order, recommendation, suggestion,
supposition, desire, command, etc.)
Subject clause
It is necessary that…
It is important that…
It is strange/odd that…
It is natural that…
It is surprising/shocking that…
It is necessary that all (should) work hard
It is important that a young man should have really trustworthy friends
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Predicative clause
Our order is that…
Our requirement is that…
Our suggestion is that…
Му greatest wish is that…
Our requirement is that all (should) work hard.
My greatest wish in the world is that you should be happy.
Object clause
I suggest that…
We demand that…
We require that…
I order that…
I insist that…
We require that all (should) work hard.
He suggested that I (should) go out and help them.
Attributive clause
He gave an order that…
Do you agree with the suggestion that…
I haven't the least desire that you should dine with me on that day.
Do you accept our requirement that all (should) work hard?
2. Only the Suppositional Mood (both non-perfect and perfect) is used in
nominal and attributive appositive clauses if in the principal clause a personal
68
reaction to events is expressed (for instance, with words like amazing, interesting,
shocked, sorry, normal, natural, it's a shame, etc.):
It was astonishing that so short a break should have destroyed the habit of
years (subject clause).
I'm surprised you should want him to stay in that house (object clause).
3. The Suppositional Mood (mostly non-perfect, though perfect is also
possible) and rarely Subjunctive I are used in nominal and attributive appositive
clauses after the expression of fear in the principal clause. The subordinate clause
may be introduced by the conjunction "that" or the negative conjunction lest (typical
of literary style):
I was terrified lest they should notice me (object clause).
I'm very much afraid that I shouldn't be acceptable (object clause).
Our fear was lest we should be late (predicative clause).
Our fear lest he should hive away our secret was great (attributive clause).
Adverbial Clauses
1. In adverbial clauses of purpose introduced by the conjunction "so that",
"lest" (literary style) the non-perfect Suppositional Mood is used, or, rarely,
Subjunctive I:
Mary lowered her eyes so that he should not see the faint gleam of amusement
in them.
Bertha dared to say nothing lest he should hear the tears in her voice.
After the conjunctions that, so that, in order that, so, the modal phrases may
(might) or can (could) + Infinitive may be used:
I tell you this so that you may understand the situation.
He came up closer so that he could see the picture better.
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2. In adverbial clauses of concession introduced by though, although,
whatever, whoever, whenever, wherever, etc., the non-perfect Suppositional Mood or
Subjunctive I may be used with reference to the present or future:
Though he should make every effort he cannot succeed.
Whatever the reason be, the fact remains.
More usual, however, are the modal phrases may (might) + Infinitive:
Whoever he may be, he has no right to be rude.
Though he might have been suspicious, he gave no sign.
3. In the adverbial clauses of condition referring to the future the
Suppositional Mood is used to show that the action is possible, though unlikely. Such
clauses may be rendered into Russian as: случись так, что …, если случайно …,
если так случится, что …, если вдруг ….
In the principal clause the Conditional Mood, the Future Indicative or the
Imperative Mood may be used:
If it should be wet they would stay at home.
If you should find another way out, will you inform me?
If you should meet him, give him my best regards.
In literary style conditional clauses of this type are sometimes joined to the
principal clause asyndetically (without any conjunctions), by means of inversion:
Should I see him, I will inform him about your decision.
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SYNTAX
THE SENTENCE
In the process of communication words combine to form utterances. Most
utterances fall into two groups: sentences and non-sentence utterances.
Non-sentence utterances are:
1. Vocatives: Charles! Mr.West!
2. Yes-no answers.
3. Interjections: Hi! Dear me!
4. Conversational formulas: Thank you. Bye-bye.
The sentence is a minimal text unit which may be used in communication to
express a complete message.
From the point of view of their structure sentences fall into the following
types:
Sentence
Simple
Composite
One-member Two-member
Complete
Incomplete
Complex
Compound
Complete Incomplete (Elliptical)
(Elliptical)
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The Simple Sentence. Structural Types
Two-member sentences
The basic pattern of a simple sentence is one subject-predicate unit. There are
several variations of this basic pattern, depending on the kind of verb
(transitive/intransitive) occupying the predicate position:
a) unextended patterns (those with no secondary parts):
The child laughed.
Mary is a nurse.
Mary is kind.
b) patterns extended by obligatory elements:
The child caught the ball.
John lives in London.
We proved him wrong.
If one of these extending elements is omitted the sentence is incomplete.
c) patterns extended by optional elements:
The child laughed merrily.
My friend Mary is a very kind nurse.
One-member sentences
A one-member sentence contains only one principal part which is neither the
subject nor the predicate. There are nominal and verbal one-member sentences:
a) Nominal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a
noun. They state the existence of things. They are typical of descriptions:
Silence. Summer. Midnight (unextended).
English spring flowers! (extended)
b) Verbal one-member sentences are those in which the principal part is
expressed by a non-finite form of the verb, either an infinitive or a gerund. These
sentences are mostly used to describe different emotional perceptions of reality:
To think of that!
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Living at the mercy of a woman!
A one-member sentence is complete. No other element of it is implied or felt
as missing or necessary.
Elliptical (incomplete) sentences
An elliptical two-member sentence is a sentence in which one or more wordforms in the subject and the predicate positions are omitted. These words can be
omitted because they have only grammatical, structural relevance, they do not carry
any new important information and they can be easily restored to complete the
meaning of the sentence:
“Where are you going?” ― “To the library”.
“Who lives in that house ?” ― “John and Mary”.
Some kinds of ellipsis are likely to be found only in casual speech:
Looks like rain.
See what I mean?
You sure?
Other kinds are typical of certain restricted uses of writing, for example notices
and headlines:
Children not admitted.
No smoking here.
Many kinds of ellipsis, however, are common in both speech and writing as a
means of reducing repetition or sharpening contrast.
Communicative Types of Sentences
According to their role in the process of communication sentences are divided
into four types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory sentences.
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These divisions are usually applied to simple sentences. In a complex sentence
the comminucative type depends upon that of the principal clause. In a compound
sentence coordinate clauses may belong to different communicative types.
Declarative sentences
Declarative sentences, or statements, form the bulk of monological speech and
the greater part of conversation. A statement may be positive (affirmative) or
negative:
I have just come from a business trip.
I haven’t seen my sister yet.
Grammatically, statements are characterized by the direct order of words.
A statement can be emphasized by the auxiliary verbs do, does, did put in front
of the base form of the verb:
I do feel sorry for Roger.
Besides their main function of information carriers, statements may be used
with the force of questions, commands and exclamations:
I wonder why he is so late.
You mustn’t talk back to your parents.
Interrogative sentences
The communicative function of interrogative sentences consists in asking for
information.
All varieties of questions may be of the following types:
General questions
A general question opens with a verb operator (an auxiliary, modal or link
verb) followed by the subject. It is characterized by the rising tone:
Does it hurt much?
Can you speak French?
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Ready?― elliptical question.
Haven’t you posted the letter yet?
Note the meaning of Yes and No in answers to negative questions:
Isn't he a bore? ― Yes (He is a bore).
Isn’t he a bore? ― No (He isn’t a bore).
Yes and No are used according to the facts and not according to the form of the
question. Compare with Russian: Вы не были в Париж?― Нет, была. / ― Да, не
была.
Tag questions
A tag question is a short yes-no question added to a statement. This is usually
done when you expect the person you are addressing to agree with you or confirm
your statement. Tags are most often used in spoken English.
It is quite warm, isn’t it?
― positive statement+negative tag
You didn’t know I was an
― negative statement+positive tag
artist, did you?
That hardly counts, does it?
― the tag is positive because the statement
contains a semi-negative word
I’m controlling it, aren’t I?
― note the negative tag with “I”.
Nobody had bothered to
― note the use of the plural pronoun in the tag
do this, had they?
Come into the kitchen,
― to make your order sound less forceful
will you?
See that she gets safely back,
won’t you?
Don’t tell Howard, will you?
― after a negative imperative only
a positive tag is used
Let’s forget it, shall we?
Note the answers to the following tag questions:
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You don’t know French, do you? ― No, I don’t (If you don’t know it).
You don’t know French, do you? ― Yes, I do (If you know it).
Alternative questions
An alternative question or an “either-or” question, implies a choice between
two or more alternative answers. It opens with an operator and the suggestion of
choice is expressed by the conjunction or. The yes-no answer is impossible. Words,
word groups and clauses can all be linked in this way:
Do you like your coffee white or black? ― Black, please.
Will you have your whisky, or do you want dinner straight away? ― Whisky.
Suggestive questions
Suggestive, or declarative, questions form a peculiar kind of “yes-no”
questions. They keep the word order of statements but serve as questions owing to the
rising tone:
You’re working late tonight?
Suggestive questions are used:
1) when we want to confirm something,
2) when we want to express surprise,
3) as leading questions to get exact information,
4) in echo-questions repeating the structure of the statement that came before:
He said you were a very good teacher. ― He said that?
The use of indefinite pronouns and adverbs has a positive orientation (unless
negation is meant).
You have something to tell me? ― Just a few words.
Pronominal questions
Pronominal questions or special, or wh- questions, open with an interrogative
pronoun or a pronominal adverb the function of which is to get more detailed or exact
76
information about a particular person, thing, place, reason, method, or amount.
Question words may have various syntactic functions. The word order is
characterized by inversion except for the cases when a wh- word is the subject of the
question. The tone is usually falling:
And then what happened?
What am I going to do without you?
Who discovered this?
Who did she marry?
Who did she dance with?
Which is the best restaurant? (which is used when there is a limited choice)
Where do you think he is now? (the parenthesis “do you think” does not call for
the inverted word order).
Pay attention to the fact that question words in English and in Russian may not
coincide:
What is this plant called? ― Как называется это растение?
What does a unicorn look like? ― Как выглядит единорог?
What do you think? ― Как вы думаете?
Rhetorical questions
Both general and pronominal questions may serve as rhetorical questions. A
rhetorical question contains a statement disguised as a question. Usually it is a
positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected:
Can anyone say what truth is?
Rhetorical questions are used in emotionally coloured monological speech,
especially in oratory, poetry and the writer’s digressions.
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Imperative sentences
Imperative sentences express commands. Besides commands proper imperative
sentences may express prohibition, a request, an invitation, a warning, persuasion,
etc.
Formally commands are marked by the predicate verb in the imperative mood,
absence of the subject, and the use of the auxiliary do in negative or emphatic
sentences with the verb to be:
Don’t be afraid of them.
Speak louder, please.
Would you do me a favour?
Let Philip have a look at it.
Let’s go outside.
Don’t let’s quarrel about trifles.
Let’s not quarrel about trifles.
Somebody switch off light.
Silence, please (a verbless command).
Exclamatory sentences
Exclamatory sentences express ideas emphatically:
What a funny story she told us!
How beautiful her voice is!
How I hate posters!
What a situation!
Isn’t it funny!
Doesn’t she sing beautifully!
If only I were young again!
Fire!( one-member sentence)
To think that she should have said so!
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THE SUBJECT
Every English sentence except the one-member and the imperative must have a
subject. The subject is one of the two main parts of the sentence. The subject is that
which is spoken of. In declarative sentences it comes before the predicate, but in
questions its position is after an auxiliary verb. The subject determines the form of
the predicate, which agrees with it in number and person.
Ways of expressing the Subject
The subject can be expressed by these parts of speech and groups of words
which are connected with the idea of subjectivity:
1. A noun in the common case or a nominal phrase with a noun:
Love filled his soul.
A great number of trees were cut down.
2. A personal pronoun in the nominative case or a nominal phrase with a
pronoun:
She is a very talkative person.
It never rains, but it pours.
Who told you this?
Her dress was the best at the party.
3. A numeral or a nominal phrase with a numeral:
Seven is a lucky number.
Two thousand people were believed to be injured.
4. An infinitive or a gerund:
Seeing is believing.
To understand is to forgive.
5. An infinitive phrase or a gerundial phrase:
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To go on like this was dangerous.
Doing several things at a time doesn't bring good results.
6. An Infinitive predicative construction or a gerundial construction:
For me to go there is impossible.
Your doing this is very strange.
7. A clause, which makes the whole sentence a complex one:
What is done cannot be undone.
What he expected began.
8. Any word or words used as quotations:
Your "i" must be dotted.
"The War of the Worlds" was first published in 1898.
Structural Types of the Subject
Structurally the subject falls into four types: simple, phrasal, complex and
clausal.
1. The simple subject is expressed by a single word-form:
Spring has come at last.
Smoking is bad for your health.
To live is to struggle.
2. The phrasal subject is expressed by any of the phrases mentioned above
(nominal phrases, infinitive phrases, gerundial phrases):
Building houses becomes more difficult.
To ask him again was impossible.
The blue of the sky deepened visibly.
3. The complex subject is expressed by different predicative complexes:
a) For-to-infinitive constructions:
For him to earn bread was a problem.
b) Gerundial constructions:
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My meeting him again was a surprise.
4. The clausal subject is expressed by a subject clause:
Who has done this is still to be found.
Where he lives is unknown to me.
Note: A noun in the genitive case can be the subject. This may occur when a
noun denotes someone's place of business or residence:
The grocer’s was full.
The hairdresser’s is at a stone’s throw away.
It may also be the result of an ellipsis:
Jim’s was a narrow escape (Jim’s escape was a narrow one). This type of the
subject is rather emphatic.
As the subject is the grammatical centre of the sentence which determines the
form of the predicate it would be possible to assume that the sentence is
unimaginable without the subject. However, practice proves that sentences without
the subject exist. These are mainly imperative sentences, one-member sentences, twomember elliptical sentences:
Sit down!
Silence. Winter.
Looks like rain.
“Where is John?” ― “Went to Paris.”
According to the classification suggested by Professor Smirnitsky there exist
the following types of the subject.
a) definite personal
b) indefinite personal
c) impersonal
Definite personal subject denotes a concrete person or a non-person and can be
expressed by nouns, pronouns, numerals, infinitives, gerunds, predicative complexes,
clauses:
To marry Fleur would be to hit his mother in the face.
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She had never been afraid to experiment.
What you say is a good piece of advice.
Indefinite Personal subject may denote:
1. a person in broad sense; in this case the subject is expressed by a definite
pronoun one or a personal pronoun you:
When one has a fever, one’s ideas become grotesque and fanciful.
2. more or less definite group of persons; in this case the subject is expressed
by personal pronouns we and they:
They say this is a difficult place to work.
Impersonal subject is used in sentences describing various states of nature or
things in general, or characteristics of the environment. It also denotes time, distance
and other measurements:
It is spring.
It is cold today.
It seems that he is not frank with us.
“IT” and “THERE” as Subjects
NOTIONAL “IT”
PERSONAL
DEMONSTRATIVE
It stands for a thing mentioned in the
It points out some person or thing expressed by a predicative noun, or it
previous context:
may refer to the thought contained in a preceding statement, thus having
a) The door opened. It was opened by a
a demonstrative meaning:
young girl of ten.
a) It is John.
b) The postman brought the letter. It is on
b) It was a large room with a great window.
the table.
c) Mary returned home late. It irritated his mother.
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It = This
FORMAL SUBJECTS ‘’IT” AND “THERE”
a)
IMPERSONAL
EMPHATIC
IT
IT
Natural
phenomena,
characteristics
of
the
INTRODUCTORY
IT
Structures
THERE
with
There introduces the notional subject
emphatic it are used to
It is difficult to
environment.
give any part of the
translate
It was October, drizzling and
sentence
article.
There was silence for a moment.
dark.
importance.
To translate this
There is a time for all things.
b) Time
The structure of such
article is difficult
b) pronouns (some, any, somebody, no
It was nine o’clock.
sentences
c) Distance
follows:
more
is
as
It is a long way to Ireland.
d) State of things in general
It
“It
is
+
is/was
+
all
over,
Mrs.
emphasized part of the
Thingummy!”
said
the
sentence + who/that +
surgeon.
the
rest
Note:
sentence:
of
this
the
1) Here belong sentences with
expressed by:
a) noun:
one, anything):
It is strange that
There was nobody in the room.
he didn’t come.
There is nothing new under the sun.
That
c) gerund, gerundial phrase:
he
didn’t
come is strange.
There is no smoking here.
d) clause:
It is awfully hard
First, there is what we might call a
work
pattern.
doing
nothing.
Note:
the predicate expressed by the
It is they who give
It
is
no good
1) There is used with the verb to be to
noun time followed by the
wisdom
going
there so
talk about something that exists. It also
Infinitive:
understanding.
early.
It was high time to take the
It is the last straw that
It
departure.
breaks
crying over spilt
go, to appear, etc.
milk.
2) There can be found in the following
2)
Sentences
with
the
and
the
camel’s
back.
precedes the following group of verbs:
is no use
predicate expressed by the
to remain, to exist, to live, to come, to
idiomatic expressions:
verbs: to seem, to appear, to
Note: The predicate
Doing nothing is
There’s no point / There’s no sense +
turn out, followed by a clause:
agrees
awfully
in
It seemed that he didn’t know
emphasized part not
the place (state of affairs).
with who:
3) Sentences with predicative
It is I
adjectives preceded by too
laughed at.
There’s no need + Infinitive/ For-to-
and followed by an Infinitive:
It is they who are
Infinitive Construction:
It was too late to start (time).
losing a game.
There is no need to phone him.
with
the
work.
hard
+
Gerund/
Gerundial
Complex:
There's no sense in your doing this
who am
It is you who are
wrong.
A number of common expressions include It is no... or There is no.... Study
the following examples:
It is no secret that the President wants to There is no alternative but to ask her
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have a second term.
to leave.
It is no surprise that his latest production There is no denying that he is a a very
was a success.
good footballer.
It is no wonder Dad felt angry.
There is no hope of getting money for
It is no use telling me this.
the research.
It is no good getting so annoyed.
There is no need to explain how it
It was no coincidence that they left the works.
party at the same time.
There is no point in buying an
It is no longer necessary to have a visa to expensive computer.
visit this country.
There is no question of agreeing to his
demands.
There is no reason to be pessimistic.
There is no chance of meeting him.
It ... patterns are used with the following verbs: amaze, annoy, bother,
frighten, please, surprise, appear, follow, happen, seem. Such sentences have the
following structure: It+Verb+(Object) + that-clause:
It surprised me that they didn’t come to any agreement.
It worried me that he drove so fast.
Some verbs are commonly used with an it ...pattern when they are in the
passive: accept, agree, believe, decide, expect, intend, plan, think, understand:
It is believed that a horseshoe brings good luck.
It is planned that they will come tomorrow.
THE PREDICATE
The predicate is a word or a group of words that informs us of what is
happening to the person, object or phenomenon indicated as the subject in the
sentence. It is the second main part of the sentence and its organizing centre.
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The predicate may be considered from the semantic (= dealing with the
meaning of words) or from the structural point of view.
According to its semantics (= the meaning of its components), the predicate
may denote an action, a state, a quality, or an attitude to some action or state ascribed
to the subject.
From the structural point of view there are two main types of the predicate: the
simple predicate and the compound predicate.
The simple predicate can be verbal and nominal:
The simple verbal predicate
The simple nominal predicate
The simple verbal predicate can be The simple nominal predicate can be
expressed by:
expressed by:
1. a verb in its synthetic or
1. a noun:
Me, a liar!
analytical form:
His words frightened me.
2. an adjective:
I shouldn’t think the idea so
You sad!
unreasonable.
3. an
2. a verb phrase:
infinitive
an
infinitive phrase:
a) denoting single actions: to have
My boy insult a gentleman at
a look, to have a smoke, to give a
my table!
cry, to make a move, to have a
4. Participle
talk, to make a remark, to pay a
I
or
a
participial phrase:
visit, etc:
She spying!
I took a walk as far as the river.
b) denoting
or
various
kinds
The simple nominal predicate doesn’t
of contain a link verb. In the meaning of
actions: to change one’s mind, to the simple nominal predicate there is an
get hold(of), to take care (of), to implied negation. Sentences with this
lose sight (of), to make fun (of), to type
make up one’s mind, etc:
of
predicate
are
always
exclamatory and are used in colloquial
85
They have been taking care of your English, although not frequently.
children long enough.
The compound predicate consists of two parts: the structural (which comes
first) and the notional (which follows the structural part). The notional part may be
expressed by a noun, an adjective, a stative, an adverb, a verbal, a phrase, a
predicative complex, or a clause. The notional part is the main bearer of meaning.
The structural part is expressed by a finite verb ― a phrasal verb, a modal verb, or a
link verb. The structural part carries grammatical information about the person,
number, tense, voice, modal, attitudinal and phasal meaning of the whole predicate.
The compound predicate can be verbal and nominal.
The compound verbal predicate falls into three types:
The compound verbal
The compound
The compound verbal predicate
phasal predicate
verbal modal
of double orientation
predicate
The
compound
verbal The
compound The compound verbal predicate
phasal predicate denotes verbal
modal of double orientation consists of
the beginning, duration, predicate consists of two parts. The first part is the
repetition or cessation of a modal part and an finite verb which denotes the
the action expressed by infinitive
(or
a attitude to, evaluation of or
an infinitive or a gerund. gerund). The modal comment on the content of the
It consists of a phasal part
may
be sentence.
The
second
part
verb and an infinitive or a expressed by:
denotes the action performed by
gerund. The phasal verb
the
can be a verb of:
1. beginning:
1. a
to
begin, to start, to
person
/
non-person
modal expressed by the subject. The
verb:
first part of this type of predicate
You will have to can be expressed by:
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commence, to set
do as you were
about, etc:
told.
The man began to play
1. intransitive
verbs
of
seeming and happening:
2. a
modal
to seem, to appear, to
a lively tune.
expression of
2. duration: to go on,
nominal
He seemed to have heard the
to keep, to proceed,
nature: to be
news.
to continue, etc:
able, to be
2. some
Royce continued to
allowed, to be
work quietly as the
going, to be
other two talked.
anxious, etc:
3. repetition: would,
We
were
used to (denoting a
anxious
repeated action in
cooperate.
to
the past):
prove, to turn out, etc:
verbs
in
the
passive voice:
a) verbs of saying: to say, to
declare, to state, etc:
The delegation is said to have
arrived.
b) verbs of mental activity:
to believe, to consider, to
He would go there
find,
to
think,
every afternoon just
understand, etc:
to
for pleasure.
He has never been known to
4. cessation: to stop,
lose his temper.
to finish, to cease,
c) verbs of perception: to
to give up, etc:
feel, to hear, to see, to
I gave up smoking.
watch, etc:
The lady was seen to leave
the house.
3. phrases
with
some
modal meaning: to be
likely, to be sure, to be
certain, etc:
The weather is not likely to
change.
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The compound nominal predicate can be of two types: proper and double.
The compound nominal predicate
The compound nominal double
proper
predicate
The
compound
nominal
predicate The
compound
nominal
double
proper consists of a link verb and a predicate consists of two parts both of
predicative (a nominal part).
which are notional. The first one is
The link verb can be of 3 types:
expressed by a notional verb denoting
1. link verbs of being: to be, an action or process performed by the
to feel, to sound, to smell, person / non-person expressed by the
to taste, to look, etc:
subject. The second part of the predicate
He looked awful.
is expressed by a noun or an adjective
2. link verbs of becoming: to denoting the properties of the subject.
become, to grow, to turn, to This type of predicate is often used after
get, to make:
verbs
which
perform
the
double
The girl will make a good function of denoting a process and
teacher.
serving as link verbs: to die, to live, to
3. link verbs of remaining: lie, to marry, to sit , to stand to shine,
to remain, to continue, to etc. The predicate denotes two separate
keep, to stay:
notions:
The children kept silent.
The moon was shining cold
The predicative can be expressed by and bright ( a) The moon was shining;
nouns, adjectives / adjectival phrases, b) The moon was cold and bright).
pronouns,
numerals,
infinitive
phrases
gerunds
/
or
gerundial
infinitives
/
My daughter sat silent.
constructions,
phrases
He died a hero.
or
The moon rose round and
constructions, participles / participial yellow.
phrases, prepositional phrases, statives,
88
indivisible groups of words and clauses:
It’s me.
Her eyes grew angry.
That is what has happened.
My idea is to go there myself.
My hobby is dancing.
AGREEMENT OF THE PREDICATE WITH THE SUBJECT
Grammatical Agreement
It means that the verb-predicate agrees with the subject in number and person.
Our only guide was the stars.
The stars were our only guide.
The verb-predicate is used in the singular if the subject is expressed by:
1. An infinitive or infinitives:
To labour in peace was all he sought.
To love and to be loved was his dream.
2. A clause:
How you persuaded them is beyond my understanding.
Where you found them does not concern us.
Note: If by two clauses, the plural predicate is used.
What I say and what I do are my own affair.
3. A numerical expression of arithmetic calculation (addition, subtraction,
division):
Two and five is seven. Ten minus two is eight.
Twenty divided by five equals four.
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Note: Multiplication presents an exception as the verb may be in the singular
or in the plural.
Twice ten is/are twenty.
4. The word-group “many a + noun”:
Many a lie has been told.
5. With here-there constructions followed by subjects of different number, the
verb-predicate agrees with the first subject:
Here is Tom and James.
There was a young woman and two children in the yard.
There were two children and a young woman in the yard.
6. Plural words and phrases count as singular if they are used as names, titles,
quotations, etc.:
“Fathers and Sons” is the most popular of Turgenev’s novels.
“Senior Citizens” means people over sixty.
Note: The titles of some works which are collections of stories, etc., however,
can be singular or plural:
The Canterbury Tales exist/exists in many manuscripts.
Pronouns as Subjects
1. Indefinite pronouns ( somebody, someone, anybody, something, anything);
universal pronouns (everybody, everyone, everything, each); negative pronouns
(nobody, no one, neither, etc.) have a singular predicate:
Everyone thinks he has the answer.
There was nothing to attract our attention.
Nobody has come except him.
However the negative pronoun none may have a singular or a plural verbpredicate, it depends whether one person is meant or more than one:
None of us understands/understand it.
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2. Interrogative pronouns who, what have a singular verb-predicate:
Who is this man? What is there?
If the question refers to more than one person, a plural predicate may be used:
Who are with him? Who have agreed to act?
3. If the subject is expressed by a relative pronoun (who, which, that) the verbpredicate agrees with its antecedent:
It is I who am wrong. It is you who are wrong.
You are the one who is wrong. I don’t know the boys who live next door.
Shish Kebab is one of those dishes, which have to be cooked outdoors.
4. The universal pronoun both has a plural predicate:
Which of the books are yours? Both are mine.
5. The pronoun all in the sense “всё” has a singular verb, while all in the sense
все has a plural verb:
All is well that ends well.
All were ready by that time.
Agreement with Homogeneous Subjects
1. A plural verb-predicate is used with homogeneous subjects connected by the
conjunction and:
John and Peter are my friends.
Note 1: If coordinated nouns refer to one person or thing, a singular verbpredicate is used:
The bread and butter was wholesome food.
The secretary and typist is in the office.
If the article is repeated, two persons or objects are meant, and a plural verbpredicate is used:
The bread and the butter are on the table.
The secretary and the typist are in the office.
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Note 2: If a singular subject is modified by two or more attributes connected by
and, a singular verb-predicate is used, when one person or object is meant:
A black and white kitten was lying on the sofa.
But if the attributes modify different persons or objects, the verb is in the plural
and the article is repeated:
A black and a white kitten were lying on the sofa.
But uncountables have no articles:
Classical and light music have both their admires.
In modern hotels hot and cold water are supplied in every room.
2.With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions not only ... but
also, either ... or, or, neither ... nor the verb predicate agrees with the nearest subject:
Not only my brother but also my parents were present there.
Either your brakes or your eyesight is at fault.
Neither you nor I am ready for the trip.
3. With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions as well as, rather
than, as much as, more than, with (or together with) the verb-predicate agrees with
the first subject:
The manager as well as/ rather than/ more than/ as much as/ the members of
the firm is responsible for the present situation.
My parents as well as my sister are teachers.
A woman with her children was sitting under the tree.
The students together with their teacher are in favour of the plan.
Notional Agreement
In Modern English agreement is often a conflict between form and meaning
when the principle of grammatical agreement is not observed. It means that the form
of some nouns may be singular but the meaning occurs plural, or the form may be
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plural but the meaning is singular. This type of agreement is sometimes called
notional agreement.
1. With subjects expressed by collective nouns which are plural in meaning but
singular in form (family, committee, crew, board, team, government, party, army,
etc.) the predicate is either in the singular or in the plural; taken as a whole, or a
collection of individuals taken separately:
The government has issued a new edict.
The government were divided in their opinion.
My family are all sportsmen.
My family is small.
2. Subjects expressed by collective nouns of multitude (cattle, poultry, police,
infantry, clergy, gentry, guard, people) though singular in form, always have a plural
verb-predicate.
Note: The noun “people” in the meaning “народ”, “нация” has a singular
verb:
The people were sitting at their doors.
This people inhabits the Northern deserts.
The police are all over the place.
The cattle are all gone, probably driven off.
3. Subjects expressed by nouns denoting measure, weight, time, etc. have a
singular verb-predicate when the whole amount is meant, not the units:
Three yards is not enough for this dress.
Ten years is a long time.
A million dollars is a lot of money.
4. Notional agreement is also observed with word-groups, the first element of
which denotes quantity, such as a number of, a variety of, a lot of, plenty of, a mass
of, etc. In most cases the form of the predicate depends on the second element:
A number of cars were parked before the building.
A great variety of books were recently published.
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There were a lot of students at the grand meeting.
There was a lot of time yet.
The nouns “number” and “variety” as subjects may retain their concrete
meaning “количество”, “разнообразие”. In this case they are used with the definite
article and a singular verb-predicate:
The number of books is not great.
The variety of questions was surprising.
5. Subjects expressed by such invariable plural nouns as goods, contents,
riches, clothes, wages, etc. have a plural verb-predicate:
The boy’s clothes were shabby.
The goods have just arrived.
The contents of his letter are unknown.
6. Subjects expressed by such invariable singular nouns as hair, money, gate
(ворота), information (сведения), progress (успехи), funeral (похороны), advice
have a singular verb-predicate:
His money is in the drawer.
Her hair is long.
The gate was locked.
Subjects expressed by invariable singular nouns ending in –s (measles, mumps,
billiards, dominoes, economics, statistics, news) have a singular verb-predicate:
No news is good news.
Though nouns in -ics, which are names of sciences and other abstract notions,
have a singular agreement, they may have a plural verb-predicate when denoting
practical application, qualities, different activities, etc.:
What are your politics?
His phonetics are not bad at all.
Statistics in this article are not quite correct.
Your tactics are obvious.
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Note 1. The phrase more than one, though logically plural, always takes the
verb in the singular. On the other hand, the expression one or two always takes a
plural verb:
There is more than one answer to your question.
There are one or two things I need to discuss with you.
The reason may be the fact that an accompanying noun in the former case is in
the singular, while in the latter — in the plural.
Note 2. The plural forms heaps and lots, when used colloquially to mean a
large amount or number, take a singular or a plural verb depending on the
construction:
There is lots (heaps) more to do
There was lots (heaps) of love in his letter
There are lots (heaps) of people who don’t think so.
Note 3. Nouns like family, team, group, class, party, government take a
singular verb when combined with the relative pronoun which, and it can be
substituted by it. A plural verb goes with the relative pronoun who, which can be
substituted by they:
His family, which is a numerous one, can trace its history back to the Middle
Ages.
His family, who are great musicians, have received their education in Paris.
THE OBJECT
The object is a secondary part of the sentence which refers to any other part of
the sentence expressed by a verb, an adjective or an adverb specifying, completing or
restricting its meaning.
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Types of Objects
From the point of view of the sentence structure, there are three types of the
object: direct, indirect and prepositional.
1. The direct object typically denotes an animate or inanimate participant
affected by an action, or directly involved in an action (without being an agent or a
recipient), or the result of the action: He wrote a poem. It has the following formal
characteristics. It:
a) is found with transitive verbs only: All the men wore dark suits;
b) typically follows the verb, but there may be preceded by an indirect object:
They sent me a telegram;
c) corresponds to the subject in passive paraphrases: A telegram was sent to
me.
In some cases the direct object does not really express a participant role, but
rather a verbal notion. This is true of cognate objects, which most typically repeat the
meaning of the preceding verb. Verbs combining with cognate objects are normally
intransitive and do not otherwise take a direct object. The object contains a noun
derived from, or semantically related to, the same verb. The noun generally has some
sort of modification, which carries the main new information:
He began to smile his secret smile.
He lived a long life.
He died the death of a hero.
2. The indirect object denotes a recipient of an action directly involved in the
process, or a beneficiary of an action (for whose sake the action is carried out):
Tactics can win you these games. It has the following formal characteristics. It:
a) is found with ditransitive verbs only: I’ll show you the garden;
b) is normally placed between the verb and the direct object: They sent me a
telegram;
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c) may be retained as object, or correspond to the subject, in passive
paraphrases: I was sent a telegram;
d) often allows a paraphrase with a prepositional object: They sent me a
telegram. ― They sent a telegram to me.
The indirect object denoting a recipient of an action can be replaced by a tophrase: We paid them the money. ― We paid the money to them. Here is a list of
verbs which take recipient indirect objects. They are verbs of transferring goods,
services or information from one person to another:
Bring
hand
owe
post
sell
teach
Give
lend
pass
promise
send
tell
Grant
offer
pay
read
show
write
The indirect object denoting a beneficiary of an action corresponds to a forphrase: I’ll get you some coffee. – I’ll get some coffee for you. The following verbs
take beneficiary indirect objects. They denote actions carried on somebody’s behalf
or for somebody’s benefit:
Book
cash
find
keep
play
save
Bring
cook
fix
leave
pour
spare
Build
cut
get
make
prepare
win
Buy
fetch
guarantee
mix
reserve
write
There are two possible sequences of the direct and indirect objects:
1) verb – prepositionless indirect object – direct object;
2) verb – direct object – prepositional indirect object.
The second sequence makes the indirect object a little more emphatic. Such
word order is obligatory when:
1) both objects are personal pronouns: Give it to me;
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2) the direct object is a personal pronoun, while the indirect object is a noun:
Show it to John.
3. The prepositional object is an object introduced by a preposition (agree on
a plan). It has the following formal characteristics. It:
a) occurs with prepositional verbs (intransitive phrasal verbs with
prepositions): I’m sure we can count on him, he’ll never let us down;
b) is normally placed after the verb: It is better when one does not have to rely
on other people;
c) can become a subject in a passive paraphrase: We agreed on the plan. ―
The plan was agreed on.
Here is a list of some prepositional verbs:
account
count on
drive at
laugh at
reckon on
take after
dispose of
keep to
look after
stand for
worry at
for
allow for
Structure and Ways of Expressing
From the point of view of its structure, the object may be simple, phrasal,
complex or clausal.
1. The simple object is expressed by a single word-form (a noun in the common
case, a pronoun, a substantivised adjective or participle, a numeral, a gerund, an
infinitive): I’ve never seen him. He decided to stop.
2. The phrasal object is expressed by a phrase (a nominal phrase, a gerundial
phrase, an infinitive phrase): She was looking at the distant hills. A man hates being
run after.
3. The complex object is expressed by a predicative construction (a gerundial
construction, a for-to-infinitive construction, an objective infinitive construction, an
objective construction with Participle I, an objective construction with Participle II,
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an objective construction with non-verbals): I’ve never seen her crying. I want it
done at once.
4. The clausal object is expressed by a clause (an object clause): I don’t know
what it was.
Predicative Constructions that Function as Objects
A predicative complex is a syntactical unit intermediate between a phrase and a
clause. It consists of two parts, the first denotes the doer of the action and the second
one denotes the action itself. The first part of the predicative complex may be either a
noun or a pronoun and is called a nominal part. The second part may be an infinitive,
a participle, a gerund, an adjective, an adverb or a noun and is called a verbal part.
The for-to-infinitive construction is a predicative complex in which the nominal
part is introduced by the preposition for, while the verbal part is an infinitive with the
particle to. The construction can be used as an indirect object of certain verbs (ask,
watch, etc.) and adjectives (anxious, eager, impatient, sorry, willing):
I watched for him to appear through the bushes.
Everybody was impatient for the experiment to begin.
The gerundial construction is a predicative complex with the predicate part
expressed by a gerund. It may be either a direct or an indirect object in the sentence:
She liked his worrying about his wife.
He insisted on my claims being acknowledged.
The following predicative constructions can perform the function of an object
only.
The objective with the infinitive construction may combine with a wide range
of verbs and is usually used as a direct object, though it may also occur in the
function of an indirect object.
Verbs which may take the objective with the infinitive construction as a direct
object:
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a) and require the infinitive with the particle to:
― verbs of wish and intention (wish, want, desire, choose, prefer, should /
would like, intend, mean, etc.): I did not mean it to be told to her;
― verbs of mental activity (think, suppose, consider, believe, know, find,
expect, imagine, understand, assume, acknowledge, feel, trust, etc.): I supposed him
to have been married to her years ago;
― verbs of declaring (declare, report, pronounce, etc.): Everybody
pronounced him to be a complete failure;
― verbs of inducement (order, command, ask, allow, etc.): She would not
allow the life of the child to be risked;
b) and require the bare infinitive (the infinitive without to):
― verbs of sense perception (see, hear, feel, observe, notice, etc.): We saw
planes zoom into the air;
― the verbs let, make: She made him cry.
The objective with Participle I construction can be used with:
― verbs of sense perception: There we saw the crocodiles swimming about;
The objective with Participle II construction can be attached to verbs of four
semantic groups:
― verbs of sense perception: I heard my name called;
― verbs of wish: Nobody wanted it done in such a way;
― the causative verbs have and get: I would like to have my hair cut.
The objective construction with non-verbals can be attached to:
― verbs of mental activity and sense perception: I thought it a wonderful
opportunity;
― causative verbs: All this made her angry.
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THE ATTRIBUTE
The Attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which refers to a noun or
another word of nominal nature (pronouns, substitute words), thus forming a nominal
phrase with its headword.
Like any part of the sentence, from the point of view of its structure the
attribute can be expressed by:
a) a single word-form (synthetic and analytical):
The sand glittered like white sugar in the sun.
She is a beautiful girl.
b) a phrase:
It was a letter from his devoted friend.
c) a predicative complex. There are two predicative complexes that can
function as an attribute ― the For-to-Infinitive Construction and the Gerundial
Predicative Complex:
This is a lesson for you to remember for the rest of your life.
He is just the man for you to consult.
I am the cause for your going away.
There were no signs of his supporting us.
d) a clause:
He is the man I am particularly fond of.
I know a place around the corner where we can have a cup of strong coffee.
From the point of view to their connection with the headword and other parts
of the sentence, attributes may be divided into:
a) non-detached (close) attributes. Non-detached attributes form one sense
group with their headword and are not separated form it by commas:
The ladies present were shocked.
101
I haven’t got time to spare.
Her walking shoes were elegant.
Non-detached premodifying attributes may be unextended, consisting of one
word only, or form chains of homogeneous attributes with identical reference.
Attributes with identical reference are usually interchangeable and are set off by
commas or joined by a conjunction:
There were yellow, white, and crimson flowers in the garden.
If attributes form a string with different reference (in which case their order is
fixed) no commas are required:
We saw a large black and white hunting dog there.
b) detached (loose) attributes:
And for a moment I hesitated, unable to start talking.
Detached attributes are separated by commas. They are loosely connected with
the headword and are often optional from the point of view of structure, although
very important semantically.
From the point of view of the position of attributes in the nominal phrase, they
may be:
a) premodifying (i.e. preceding the noun they modify):
She is a pretty girl.
b) postmodifying (i.e. following the item they modify):
The people involved were reported to the police.
He would not run the risk of being too late.
The position of an attribute depends on the following factors:
1. The morphological nature of the attribute. Adjectives, Participle I, nouns,
ordinal numerals and quotation nouns generally premodify the headword (a little
man, riding clothes, apple trees, a child’s language, the third attempt, “a-place-foreverything-and-everything-in-its-place” kitchen).
102
Adverbs,
statives,
cardinal
numerals
and
infinitives
are
generally
postmodifying attributes (the woman upstairs, the child asleep, page five, money to
spend).
2. Attributes are used in postposition in some fixed phrases, in several
institutionalized expressions (mostly in official designations): the president elect,
attorney general, proof positive, court martial, Poet Laureate, time immemorial
3. A few adjectives have special meanings when they occur after the noun.
Compare:
the present members (= those who are members now)
the members present (=those who are present here, not absent)
I think the picture would look better on the opposite wall.
I noticed that the man opposite was staring at me.
Janet is a responsible girl.
The girl responsible has been expelled.
4. The extension of the attribute. Non-detached attributes are postmodifying
when expressed by extended phrases or complexes. Compare:
It is a sensible suggestion.
It is a suggestion sensible in many ways.
He found himself in a difficult situation.
He found himself in a situation difficult from his point of view.
We are looking for skilled people.
We are looking for people skilled at design.
5. Sometimes the headword is embedded between parts of the attribute. This
happens with different, similar, the same, next, last, first, second, etc.; comparatives
and superlatives; and a few other adjectives like difficult and easy.
a different life from this one
the best mother in the world
the next house to the hotel
the best man available
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the simplest way out possible
THE APPOSITION
The apposition is a peculiar attribute expressed by a noun or nominal phrase
and referring to another noun, nominal phrase, or a clause. The apposition may give
another name to, or description of the person or non-person, or else put it in a certain
class of persons or non-persons.
From the point of view of their relation to the headword, appositions are
subdivided into two types:
a) non-detached appositions:
Sir Peter, Doctor Watson, Colonel Davidson, Mount Everest, etc.
Your friend George Lamb has just telephoned.
b) detached appositions:
Cooper was three inches taller than Mr. Warburton, a strong, muscular young
man.
References to words, books, are often expressed in the appositive form: the
word “geese”, the good ship “Venus”, the play “Romeo and Juliet”.
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THE ADVERBIAL MODIFIER
Adverbials differ from other types of secondary parts of the sentence in at least
three respects:
1) Adverbials are usually optional, i.e. they may be omitted without making the
clause unacceptable.
2) Adverbials are not restricted in number, i.e. there may be any number of
adverbials in the sentence.
3) Adverbials are often mobile, i.e. they can occur at different places in the
sentence.
1. From the point of view of structure (but not communicative value), the use
of adverbials may be optional (non-obligatory) or obligatory.
Optional adverbials provide additional information, they are part of the
structure of the sentence, but they are not essential to the structure:
Sometimes the children played by the lake.
Adverbials are obligatory when the sentence structure demands one or when
their absence changes the meaning of the verb. This is the case:
a) after to behave, to act, to treat:
He behaved bravely.
b) after stative and durative verbs: to live, to wait, to last, etc.:
John lives in London.
c) after verbs implying direction : to put, to send, etc.:
Put the book on the shelf.
d) after verbs of motion and position in space: to come, to step, to sit, etc.:
He went to the dressing-room.
2. From the point of view of their relation to the modified parts of the sentence,
adverbials may be non-detached and detached.
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Detached adverbials are more loosely related to the modified parts, they are
never obligatory and are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Detachment of adverbials may be caused by:
a) their meaning and structure:
He saw the boat, its decks deserted (Absolute Construction).
b) their extension or unusual position in the sentence:
Like him, she saw the danger in it.
c) the speaker’s desire for emphasis:
“He was her father”, said Frances, gravely.
Structural Types of the Adverbial Modifier
From the point of view of its structure the adverbial modifier may be simple,
phrasal, complex, clausal.
Simple: We started early.
Phrasal: We started at five in the morning.
Complex: John sat with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped.
Clausal: When the cat is away, the mice will pay.
Semantic Characteristics of the Adverbial Modifier
Semantically adverbials modifiers denote place, time, manner, cause, purpose,
result, condition, concession, attendant circumstances, comparison, degree,
exception, thus forming semantic classes, such as adverbials of place, time, etc.
1. Adverbial Modifier of Place. Identifying questions: where? where to?
where? how far? where from?:
He lives far from his parents.
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2. Adverbial Modifier of Time. Identifying questions: when? how often? how
long?:
We owned an Alsatian dog once.
3. Adverbial Modifier of Manner. Identifying questions: how? in what way?
by what means? Prepositions which may introduce them: with, without, by, by means
of, with the help of, etc.:
Hooper danced badly, but with great energy.
4. Adverbial Modifier of Cause (Reason). Identifying questions: why? for
what reason? Prepositions which may introduce them: because of, due to, owing to,
on account of, for the reason of, thanks to, etc.:
Thanks to my parents I got a decent education.
5. Adverbial Modifier of Purpose. Identifying questions: what for? for what
purpose? Prepositions which may introduce them: in order, so as ( never used before
an infinitive complex), for (introduces nominal or gerundial phrases):
Jane has come to help us.
6. Adverbial Modifier of Result. It refers to an adjective or adverb
accompanied by an adverb of degree too, enough, sufficiently, so… (as; too signals a
negative result; enough suggests a necessary amount of quality to perform the action;
sometimes modifies a noun with qualitative meaning; so… as implies a realized
action:
It is too cold to go out.
7. Adverbial Modifier of Condition. Identifying questions: in what case? on
what condition? Prepositions which may introduce them: but for, except for, without;
conjunctions if, unless:
Without faith there can be no cure.
8. Adverbial Modifier of Concession. It shows an idea that is in contradiction
with what is stated in the modified part of the sentence. Identifying questions: in spite
of what? Prepositions which may introduce them: in spite of, despite, conjunctions
though, if:
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Despite his smile, the man was difficult to deal with.
9. Adverbial Modifier of Attendant Circumstances and Subsequent
Events. It states a fact that accompanies the event presented by the modified part of
the sentence or an event following the event presented.:
We walked three miles without meeting anyone.
He woke up to see that it was daylight
10. Adverbial Modifier of Comparison. Conjunctions introducing them:
than, as, as if, as though, etc.:
A mountain is higher than a hill.
11. Adverbial Modifier of Degree. Identifying questions: how much? to what
extent?:
The story is extremely long.
12. Adverbial Modifier of Exception. Prepositions which may introduce
them: but, except, save (formal), but for, except for, save for (formal), apart from,
aside from, with the exclusion of, etc.:
These men were quite civil save during certain weeks of autumn and winter.
ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
These constructions are called absolute because they are not dependent on any
other part of the including sentence, though they cannot be used without it, as they
lack a finite verb form and thus have no predicate.
1) From the point of view of their transformational possibility, absolute
constructions fall into two types: verbal and non-verbal.
А. Constructions with verbals as their second part.
When transformed into clauses they retain their predicate part, which takes a
proper tense-aspect form.
She sat on the porch, Mary playing with her doll. ― She sat on the porch, and
(while) Mary was playing with her doll.
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В. Constructions with non-verbals with an adjective, a stative, an adverb
or a noun (with a preposition) as their second part.
When transformed into clauses, a proper form of the link verb to be must be
introduced, as these constructions lack a verbal component of their own.
He marched out of the room, his head high up. ― He marched out of the
room, and his head was high up.
2) Absolute constructions may have two forms: non-prepositional and
prepositional. The latter is introduced by the preposition with (in the case of the
infinitive construction it may be without):
He was coming to us, his hands up.
Dinner over, everybody rose.
Non-prepositional Absolute Constructions
1. The absolute nominative with Participle I construction (the most
frequently used):
It being late, he bolted the windows.
2. The absolute nominative with Participle II construction:
Dinner served, Mrs Marlow rang the bell. ― When dinner was served…
3. The absolute nominative with the Infinitive construction:
There they remained, some of them to be entirely forgotten. ― … and some of
them were to be entirely forgotten.
4. The absolute nominative with the adjective construction:
She stood under the tree, her head full of strange ideas. ―…and her head was
full…
Her heart full of despair, she could not say a word. ― As her heart was full…
5. The absolute nominative with the stative construction:
The gallery door slightly ajar, I could hear the steps of the soldiers.
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6. The absolute nominative with the adverb construction:
Tea over, she again summoned us to the fire. ― When tea was over…
7. The absolute nominative with a prepositional noun construction:
I waited, every nerve upon the stretch.
All in the room, she called in Molly.
Prepositional Absolute Constructions
1. Prepositional absolute construction with Participle I:
With his head aching from the slap of the bullet and the blood dripping over
the ear, he went over to the Frenchman.
2. Prepositional absolute construction with Participle II:
A Negro boy lay on the pavement, with his throat cut.
3. Prepositional absolute construction with the Infinitive:
You’ll lose the last minutes, without someone to take care of you.
4. Prepositional absolute construction with the adjective:
She hurriedly left the room with her eyes red.
5. Prepositional absolute construction with the stative:
He stood there trembling, with his face ablaze.
6. Prepositional absolute construction with the adverb:
He turned away, with his hand still up.
7. Prepositional absolute construction with a noun:
They marched towards the square, with little flags in their hands.
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THE COMPOSITE SENTENCE
The composite sentence is a sentence consisting of two or more clauses, and
therefore containing two or more subject-predicate groups. In its structure a clause is
similar to a simple sentence, but unlike a simple sentence it forms part of a bigger
syntactical unit.
Within a composite sentence clauses may be joined by means of coordination
or subordination, thus forming a compound or a complex sentence respectively.
Coordination is a way of linking grammatical elements to make them equal in
rank.
The Compound Sentence
The compound sentence consists of two or more clauses of equal rank which
form one syntactical whole in meaning and intonation. Clauses that are parts of a
compound sentence are called coordinate, as they are joined by coordination.
Coordinate clauses may be linked together with or without a connector, in the
first case they are joined syndetically, in the second case ― asyndetically.
From the point of view of the relationship between coordinate clauses, we
distinguish four kinds of coordinate connection: copulative, adversative, disjunctive
and causative-consecutive. The type of connection is expressed not only by means of
coordinating connectives, but also by the general meaning of clauses conveyed by
their lexical and grammatical content.
1. Copulative coordination implies that two events or ideas conveyed by
coordinate clauses are merely joined in time and place.
The copulative connectors are: the conjunctions and, nor, neither ... nor, not only ...
but also, as well as, both, and the conjunctive adverbs then, moreover, likewise,
besides, again, further, thus and conjunctive particles also, too, even.
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And is the conjunction most frequently used to realize copulative coordination.
It may suggest mere addition.
Then she (Ellen) went home and wrote Brody a thank-you note for being so
nice, and she also wrote a note to the chief of police commending young Martin
Brody.
The events described in copulative coordinate clauses may be simultaneous or
successive:
The Black Cadillac made its hunting sound through the night and the tyres
sang on the slab and the black fields stretched with mist swept by (simultaneity).
The front door to the house opened, and a man and a woman stepped out on
the wooden porch (succession).
Occasionally the second clause may contain some commentary on the previous
clause:
She was familiar with the petty social problems, and they bored her.
Owing to its vague copulative meaning the conjunction and may also link
clauses with adversative or causative-consecutive connections.
Copulative connection may also be expressed asyndetically, the clauses joined
in this way may describe simultaneous or successive events:
Our Elsie was looking at her with beg imploring eyes; she was frowning; she
wanted to go (simultaneity).
The bus stopped, the automatic door sprang open, a lady got in, then another
lady (succession).
2. Adversative coordination joins clauses containing opposition, contradiction
or contrast. Adversative connectors are: the conjunctions but, while, whereas, the
conjunctive adverbs yet, still, nevertheless, nonetheless, and the conjunctive particle
only. Adversative coordination may also be realized asyndetically. The main
adversative conjunction is but, which expresses adversative connection in a very
general way. The clause introduced by but conveys some event that is opposite to
what is expected from the contents of the first clause:
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The story was amusing, but nobody laughed.
The conjunctions while and whereas specialize in expressing contrastive
relations:
Peter is an engineer, while his brother is a musician.
Some people prefer going to the theatre, whereas others will stay at home
watching TV programmes.
3. Disjunctive connection denotes choice, usually between two mutually
exclusive alternatives. The disjunctive conjunctions are or, either ... or, the
conjunctive adverbs else (or else), otherwise:
You can join us at the station, or we can wait for you at home.
The correlative either emphasizes the exclusion of one of the alternatives.
Either listen to me, or I shall stop reading to you.
4. Causative-consecutive coordination joins clauses connected in such a way
that one of them contains a reason and the other ― a consequence. The second
clause may contain either the reason or the result of the event conveyed by the
previous clause. The only causative coordinating conjunction is for.
The days became longer, for it was now springtime.
A causative clause may be also joined asyndetically.
At first I thought that they were brother and sister, they were so much alike.
A for-clause differs from a subordinate clause of reason in that it never
precedes the clause it is joined to. If a sentence begins with for, it means that the
sentence is linked with the previous one:
When I saw her in the river I was frightened. For at that point the current was
strong.
Consecutive connectives are so, so that, therefore, hence, then.
The weather was fine, so there were many people on the beach.
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The Complex Sentence
Within a complex sentence clauses are joined by means of subordination, thus
forming a complex sentence. Subordination is a way of linking grammatical elements
that makes one of them dependent upon the other.. The first one is called the main (or
principal) clause, the clause which is dependent on it is the subordinate clause. In a
sentence there is one main clause and there can be several subordinate clauses.
Complex sentences can be formed by joining subordinate clauses to the main
clause with conjunctions or conjunctive words (syndetically) or without them
(asyndetically):
You can call yourself an extreme sports enthusiast (main clause) if
(conjunction) you ski off cliffs (subordinate clause).
Sometimes I wish (main clause) life had subtitles (subordinate clause).
Conjunctions are the formal signals of subordination the only function of
which is to link clauses and express the relation between them (that, because,
through, in order that, as far as, if only, etc.):
Everybody knows that money doesn’t grow on trees.
Conjunctive words which are used to join nominal clauses combine two
functions: to link clauses and to be a part in the subordinate clause (who, what, when,
why, where, etc.):
Do you realize how far it is to Hawaii?
Subordinate clauses function as different parts of the sentence (subject,
predicative, object, apposition, attribute, adverbial modifier). Subordinate clauses can
be classified under three headings: a) nominal (or noun) clauses (clauses functioning
as nouns in various syntactical positions); b) attributive (or relative) clauses; c)
adverbial clauses.
Nominal Clauses
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1. A subject clause may be introduced by the conjunctions that, if, whether,
because, either...or, etc. or the conjunctive words who, what, which, where, how,
why, wherever, etc.. Complex sentences with subject clauses may be of two patterns:
a) When a subject clause precedes the predicate of the main clause:
What was making him sad was the fact that his ladylove wasn’t with him.
What I want is for you to build me a house.
Whatever you say is wrong!
Because I ask too many questions doesn’t mean I am curious.
b) When a subject clause is in final position, the usual place of the subject
being occupied by the formal introductory it:
It is understood that modern science allows such experiments.
It was lucky that she agreed to undertake the job.
2. A predicative clause may be introduced by the conjunctions that, whether,
as, as if, as though, because, lest, etc. or the conjunctive words who, whoever, which,
where, when, how, why, etc.:
The question is whether he has signed the contract.
It was as though our last meeting was forgotten.
A predicative clause has a fixed position in the sentence ― it always follows a
link verb: to be, to seem, to appear, to feel, to look, to sound, etc., with which it forms
a compound nominal predicate:
It appears he hasn’t been there.
Note 1. Predicative clauses introduced by the conjunctions as, as if, as though
should not be confused with adverbial clauses of comparison introduced by the same
conjunctions. A predicative clause immediately follows the link verb. Compare the
following sentences:
It seems that there is no cure (a predicative clause).
It seems evident that there is no cure (a subject clause).
Note 2. If both the subject and the predicative are expressed by clauses the
principal clause consists only of a link verb:
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What he says is that he goes away.
3. An object clause may be introduced by the conjunctions that, if, whether,
lest, etc. or the conjunctive words who, whoever, what, where, when, why, how, etc..
Everybody knows (that) money doesn’t grow on trees.
He asked me if I wanted to stay.
An object clause may either follow or precede the main clause:
What she thinks it would be impossible to say.
Swithin said he would go back to lunch at Timothy’s.
Object clauses may be used after adjectives expressing feeling, perception,
desire, assurance: afraid, glad, happy, certain, sure, sorry, pleased, desirous,
anxious, aware, etc.:
I’m very sorry I disturbed you.
He was glad that no one was at home.
Note: Like subject clauses, object clauses may be preceded by the formal it:
I like it when people are nice to me.
You must see to it that there should be no quarrel.
An object clause may be joined to the main clause by the prepositions after,
about, before, for, of, beyond, etc.:
I want to be paid for what I do.
Attributive Clauses
Attributive clauses serve as an attribute to a noun (pronoun) in the main clause.
This noun or pronoun is called the antecedent of the clause:
Holiday resorts which are crowded are not very pleasant.
According to their meaning attributive clauses may be divided into appositive
and relative ones.
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1. An appositive clause may be introduced by the conjunctions that, if, whether,
as if, etc. and the conjunctive words what, how, etc..
An appositive clause discloses the meaning of a noun (the antecedent) with a
general meaning, such as: idea, fact, reason, desire, question, remark, comment, etc.:
The fact that his letter did not require an immediate answer would give me
time to consider.
The original question, why he did it at all, has not been answered.
She had a strange sensation as if something had happened.
2. A relative clause may be introduced by the relative pronouns and adverbs
who, whose, whom, what, which, when, where, etc.:
He went to the next house, which stood in a small garden.
The clause is called a relative clause because it “relates” to the noun, in this
case, by means of the word which. Relative clauses (like adjectives) describe persons,
things and events.
Relative clauses can be defining (limiting/restrictive) and non-defining
(descriptive/non-restrictive/commenting).
Defining relative clauses are very closely connected with the antecedent,
provide essential information about it and therefore they cannot be removed without
destroying the meaning of the sentence. Defining relative clauses are used without
commas:
What kind of government would be popular? ― The government which
promises to cut taxes.
A library is a place where they keep books.
Non-defining relative clauses contain additional information about the
antecedent which can be omitted without serious change in the meaning of the main
clause. Non-defining relative clauses are usually used with commas:
The government, which promises to cut taxes, will be popular.
I consulted my father, who promised to help me.
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Note: There are only two conjunctions that can introduce non-defining relative
clauses. They are who and which.
.
Adverbial Clauses
An adverbial clause performs the function of an adverbial modifier. It can
modify a verb, an adjective or an adverb in the principal clause. According to their
meaning we distinguish the following kinds of adverbial clauses: adverbial clauses of
time, place, cause (reason), purpose, condition, concession, result, manner and
comparison. Adverbial clauses can be identified by asking and answering the
questions When? Where? How? Why? etc.
Time : Tell him as soon as he arrives
: (When?)
Place : You can sit where you like
: (Where?)
Manner: He spoke as if he meant business : (How?)
Reason : He went to bed because he felt ill : (Why?)
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1. Adverbial clauses of time
An adverbial clause of time shows the time of the action expressed in the
principal clause. Time clauses are introduced by after, as, as long as, as soon as, for,
just as, once, since, before, by the time (= before, not later than), when, while,
until/till (= up to the time when), the moment (that), whenever, every time,
immediately, the first time, the last time, the next time etc.:
George had to wait for half an hour before the doctor came.
Time clauses follow the rule of the sequence of tenses; that is, when the verb of
the main clause is in a present or future form, the verb of the time clause is in a
present form and when the verb of the main clause is in a past form, the verb of the
time clause is in a past form too:
I’ll stay in the office until I finish the project.
She arrived before the clock struck nine.
When the time clause precedes the main clause, a comma is used. When the
time clause follows, no comma is used:
When he was in Washington, he met the President.
He met the President when he was in Washington.
2. Adverbial clauses of place
An adverbial clause of place shows the place of the action expressed in the
principal clause. Adverbial clauses of place are introduced by the conjunctions where
and wherever, anywhere, everywhere:
I am quite comfortable where I am.
Deronda placed himself where he could see her.
3. Adverbial clauses of cause (reason)
An adverbial clause of cause (reason) shows the cause of the action expressed
in the principal clause. Clauses of reason are introduced by: as, since (= because),
because, for (= because), as long (= because), for the reason that, on the grounds
that:
She didn't come on time because she was held up in a traffic jam.
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When the clause of reason precedes the main clause, we separate the two
clauses with a comma:
Since she isn't at home, we'll go out without her.
4. Adverbial clauses of purpose
Adverbial clauses of purpose state the purpose of the action expressed in the
principal clause. They are introduced by the conjunctions that, in order that, so that,
lest, in case, for fear (that) and some others:
We’ve arrived early so that we may/can/will get a good view of the
procession.
I arrived early so that I might not miss anything.
5. Adverbial clauses of manner
Adverbial clauses of manner characterize in a general way the action expressed
in the principal clause. They can be introduced by the conjunctions as, in the way
(that), as if, as though:
Type this again as I showed you a moment ago.
She acted as if she were mad.
6. Adverbial clauses of comparison
Adverbial clauses of comparison denote an action with which the action of the
principal clause is compared. They are introduced by the conjunctions than, as,
as…as, not so…as, as if, as though:
We were going up the road as fast as we could.
7. Adverbial clauses of condition
Adverbial clauses of condition state the condition which is necessary for the
realization of the action expressed in the principal clause. They are can be introduced
by the conjunctions if, as long as, assuming (that), even if, if only, on the condition
that, so long as, provided/providing (that), unless:
He’ll definitely win, even if he falls ill.
Suppose/supposing (that) we miss the train, what shall we do?
Unless the management improve their offer, there’ll be a strike.
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8. Adverbial clauses of concession
Adverbial clauses of concession denote the presence of some obstacle which
nevertheless does not hither the action expressed in the principal clause. They can be
introduced by the conjunctions although, considering (that), though, even though,
even if, whereas, no matter how much, while, however much/good, badly:
From this minute he begins to be a different person, even if he doesn’t realize
it.
However far it is, I intend to drive there tonight.
9. Adverbial clauses of result
Adverbial clauses of result denote the result of the action expressed in the
principal clause. They can be introduced by the conjunctions that after so + adj, that
after so + adv., that after such (a) + noun (or adj. + noun):
His reactions are so quick (that) no one can match him.
He reacts so quickly (that) no one can match him.
They are such wonderful players (that) no one can beat them.
WORD ORDER
In English we distinguish between direct and indirect (inverted) word order:
1) direct ― Subject ― Predicate ― Object (declarative sentences);
2) indirect (inversion of some parts for greater emphasis or with a special
grammatical or communicative value).
Inversion can be of two types:
― full (when the predicate precedes the subject);
― partial (when only part of the predicate precedes the subject).
Inverted word order fulfils three following functions:
1. Grammatical
a) in questions:
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Is he at home?
b) in exclamatory sentences which are negative in form but positive in
meaning:
Doesn't she sing beautifully!
c) in conditional clauses introduced asyndetically:
Had he gone to her aid he would only have got himself caught.
d) in adverbial clauses of concession (if the predicative is a noun the article is
omitted):
Child though he is, he is completely aware of the situation.
Tired though he was, he continued walking.
e) in the author's words in direct speech:
"Be quick!", said Pat.
But: “Be quick!”, he said (no inversion when the subject is a pronoun).
f) in stage directions:
Enter Napoleon.
Exit Lady Hummond.
2. Communicative (in order to provide the final position for the rheme, the
most important communicative part — this is the so-called end-focus)
a) In sentences with the introductory there, here:
There were not too many people at the zoo.
b) In sentences beginning with adverbial modifiers, often protracted:
At a square table, on a stiff armchair of black wood sat Mr. Johnson.
c) In sentences beginning with so or neither (showing that the remark applies
equally to someone or something else):
I like this melodical sound very much. — So do I.
But! We do not use inversion when so is used for emphatic confirmation.
You have stained your blouse with cherry. ― Oh, so I have.
3. Emphatic (to make any part of the sentence prominent by putting it in an
unusual position)
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In sentences beginning with:
a) negative words never, not,not only, not once, on no condition, on no
account, no sooner, under no circumstances:
Never has she spoken with so much confidence.
b) semi-negative time adverbials: seldom, scarcely, hardly, rarely:
Hardly had we entered the house when the storm began.
c) words of restrictive meaning: well, many, little:
Little do they know about her.
Well do I remember her.
d) after only +time expression:
Only then did they realize their mistake.
Only when she came home did she realize that she had lost her purse.
But: Only Mary knows the answer (no inversion here).
e) words like so and such followed by that:
So dangerous did the weather become, that all the flights were cancelled.
Note: The inversion is partial here!
f) in sentences beginning with a predicative, adverbial modifier of manner or a
postposition.
Tall and graceful was Jim.
Up flew the plane.
But: Up it flew.
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Glossary of Linguistic Terms
abstract noun
adverbial clause
adverbial clause of circumstances
adverbial clause of concession
adverbial clause of condition
adverbial clause of manner
adverbial clause of place
adverbial clause of purpose
adverbial clause of reason (cause)
adverbial clause of result
adverbial clause of time
adverbial modifier
adversative coordination
affirmative
alternative question
analytical form
animate noun
apposition
appositive clause
asyndetic
attribute
attributive clause
auxiliary verb
causative-consecutive coordination
collective noun
common noun
comparative degree
complete sentence
complex object
complex sentence
composite sentence
compound nominal predicate
compound sentence
compound-complex sentence
compound verbal predicate
conjunction
conjunctive adverb
coordination
абстрактное существительное
придаточное обстоятельственное
придаточное сопутствующих условий
придаточное уступительное
придаточное условное
придаточное образа действия
придаточное места
придаточное цели
придаточное причины
придаточное результата
придаточное времени
обстоятельство
противительная связь
утвердительный
альтернативный вопрос
аналитическая форма
одушевленное существительное
приложение
придаточное определительное
аппозитивное
бессоюзный
определение
придаточное определительное
вспомогательный глагол
причинно-следственная связь
собирательное существительное
нарицательное существительное
сравнительная степень
полное предложение
сложное дополнение
сложноподчиненное предложение
сложное предложение
составное именное сказуемое
сложносочиненное предложение
сложное предложение с сочинением и
подчинением
составное глагольное сказуемое
союз
союзное наречие
сочинительная связь
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copulative coordination
count noun
declarative sentence
definite article
degrees of comparison
descriptive attribute
detached
direct object
direct word order
disjunctive coordination
disjunctive question
exclamatory sentence
expanded (extended) sentence
general question
genitive (possessive) case
homogeneous
imperative mood
impersonal
inanimate noun
incomplete (elliptical) sentence
indefinite article
indicative mood
indirect object
intensification
interrogative sentence
in the plural
in the singular
introductory
intransitive verb
invariable noun
inversion
limiting clause (also: restrictive,
defining clause)
link verb
material noun
negative
nominal
nominative absolute construction
non-detached
notional verb
non-limiting clause (also: nonrestrictive, non-defining clause)
соединительная связь
исчисляемое существительное
повествовательное предложение
определенный артикль
степени сравнения
описательное определение
обособленный
прямое дополнение
прямой порядок слов
разделительная связь
разделительный вопрос
восклицательное предложение
распространенное предложение
общий вопрос
притяжательный падеж
однородный
повелительное наклонение
безличный
неодушевленное существительное
неполное предложение
неопределенный артикль
изъявительное наклонение
косвенное дополнение
усиление
вопросительное предложение
во множественном числе
в единственном числе
предваряющий (вводный)
непереходный глагол
неизменяемое существительное
инверсия (обратный порядок слов)
придаточное определительное
ограничительное
глагол-связка
вещественное существительное
отрицательный
именной
абсолютная номинативная
конструкция
необособленный
смысловой глагол
придаточное определительное
неограничительное
125
object
object clause
obligatory
oblique moods
one-member sentence
optional
positive degree
predicate
predicative
predicative clause
principle clause
pronominal (special) question
proper name
prepositional object
relative pronoun
restrictive (limiting) attribute
rhetorical question
simple nominal predicate
simple verbal predicate
subject
subject clause
subordinate clause
subordination
substantivized adjective
suggestive question
superlative degree
suppletive form
syndetic
synthetic form
transitive verb
two-member sentence
uncount noun
unexpanded (unextended) sentence
дополнение
придаточное дополнения (объектное)
обязательный
сослагательное наклонение
односоставное предложение
необязательный
положительная степень
сказуемое
предикатив (смысловая часть
составного именного сказуемого)
придаточное предикативное
главное предложение
специальный вопрос
имя собственное
дополнение с предлогом
относительное местоимение
ограничивающее определение
риторический вопрос
простое именное сказуемое
простое глагольное сказуемое
подлежащее
придаточное подлежащное
придаточное предложение
подчинительная связь
субстантивированное прилагательное
вопрос-предположение (с прямым
порядком слов)
превосходная степень
супплетивная форма
союзный
синтетическая форма
переходный глагол
двусоставное предложение
неисчисляемое существительное
нераспространенное предложение
126
List of Books
1. Aspects of English Grammar. Mn.: MSLU, Department of History of English
and English Grammar, 1999.
2. Hewings M. Advanced Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999.
3. Kaushanskaya V.L. A Grammar of the English Language. Л.: Просвещение,
1973.
4. Kobrina N. An English Grammar. Morphology. Syntax. СПб.: Лениздат;
Союз, 2001.
5. Krylova I. P., Gordon E.M. A Grammar of Present day English. Practical
Course. ― М.: Книжный дом «Университет», 2002.
6. Lomgman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson Education
Limited, 1999.
7. Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Svartvik J. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. Longman, 1972.
8. Swan M. Practical English Usage. Oxford, 1984.
9. Vince M. Advanced Language Practice. Heinemann, 1994.
10.Арбекова Т.И. Английский без ошибок: Учеб. пособие для ин-тов и фак.
иностр. яз. М.: Высш. шк., 1990.
11.Петрашкевич
Н.П.,
Дубовик
М.Е.
Сослагательное
наклонение
в
современном английском языке: Метод. пособие для самостоятельной
работы студентов третьего курса по практич. грамматике англ. языка. 2-е
изд. Мн.: МГЛУ, 1995 ― 67 с.
12.Петрова Е.С. Сложное предложение в английском языке: Варианты
формы, значения и употребления: Учеб. пособие. М.: ГИС, СПб.: Филол.
фак-т. СПбГУ, 2002. ― 136с.
127